W50: Weekend
This weekend feels like the start of something new, perhaps earlier than anticipated. Now might be a good time to go ahead and shift your mindset for the fresh starts and continued climbs coming in the new year.
California's supporting more hydrogen and electric infrastructure projects with 1.4 billion dollars of additional investment. While it's good to see California and other states leaning in, it's almost more remarkable to see other states actively avoiding the future and clinging so desparately to the past. Combustion engines won't dominate forever - it's past time to modernize.
Glen Powell is proving the value of commitment on what seems like a daily basis. He's queued up projects as an actor, director, and producer - of his own work and of others' as he announces development of the erotic thriller 'Homewreckers'. Powell worked hard and long to earn the year he's experiencing, and he's managing to take advantage of so many opportunities to push further. Great reminder that being ready to take advantage of situations is crucial - he could be in the same place without any of these relationships, plans, or pre-existing works ready to roll.
The predicted rise of Open Source AI security tools is upon us as more and more options become readily available to help support a safe and secure ecosystem. We're still in the 'blind trust' phase of AI adoptions in many cases, which is scary enough even when we consider the machines to be benevolent. We'll need much more effective cyber capabilities to ensure we don't have to worry about more than just the veracity of their output.
The next chapter of Bungie's toxic culture saga is writing itself as the long-time and recently fired executive Chris Barrett sues. He's alleging that his firing was orchestrated to prevent a $45 million payout. The entire situation is terrible, with well-documented claims about a painful culture of harassment at Bungie in the years leading up it, but also a lack of any kind of public evidence related to his firing. It's time for transparency in these kinds of procedures.
Want to steal Nosferatu's bed? For a mere $20,000 it can be yours without the larceny and the team at Architectural Digest has even done the work to try it out. Film publishing has gone wild this year, and it seems every major film is trying to one up the next by creating more effective cultural moments and touchstones as part of their marketing campaign.
The Witcher franchise returns with a female lead. In latest iteration of the extraordinarily popular franchise, The Witcher IV, the player will take the role of Ciri in her fight against all things monstrous. From our perspective, this will be a nice change of pace, although it keeps the playable world of the series relatively small. Of course, the typical communities have seen an outpouring of vitriol, criticizing her appearance, gender and sex, and role.
Anne Hathaway has done nearly everything, except for a Christmas movie. Everything - absolutely everything - has value. While holidays films may be looked down on by some, it's refreshing to see genuine interest in the genre, especially when great holiday movies aren't just good for what they are - they can also just be excellent films.