He was about to get some bad news.
Author: Chris Aldrich
I'm a biomedical and electrical engineer with interests in information theory, complexity, evolution, genetics, signal processing, IndieWeb, theoretical mathematics, and big history.
I'm also a talent manager-producer-publisher in the entertainment industry with expertise in representation, distribution, finance, production, content delivery, and new media.
👓 Perspective | Trump lied to me about his wealth to get onto the Forbes 400. Here are the tapes. | Washington Post
Posing as ‘John Barron,’ he claimed he owned most of his father’s real estate empire.
A liar to create perceptions about himself for decades and decades…
👓 The Ugly Coded Critique of Chick-Fil-A’s Christianity | Bloomberg
The fast-food chain's "infiltration" of New York City ignores the truth about religion in America. It also reveals an ugly narrow-mindedness.
👓 Trump gets lost in translation amid West Wing shuffle | Politico
The departure of key aides over the past two months has widened the disconnect between the president and his staff, leading to episodes like this week's sanctions flap.
👓 Meet the journalism student who found out she won a Pulitzer in class | CJR
ON MONDAY AFTERNOON, Mariel Padilla, a master’s student at Columbia Journalism School, sat around a table with classmates, listening to Professor Giannina Segnini lead a discussion about email encryption for reporting across borders. A couple floors below, journalism bigwigs and other members of the press crowded into the World Room, an ornate, high-ceilinged chamber reserved for the event, eager to watch Pulitzer Prize Administrator Dana Canedy announce this year’s winners. For Padilla, who moved to New York last year from the small town of Oxford, Ohio, just being in geographic proximity to the announcement was a thrill.
“I knew I was going to be two floors above where it was happening,” she says, reflecting on the moment, “and I remember thinking, Oh, that’s cool, I can tell people that I was in the same building [where] the Pulitzers are being announced!”
Little did she know she was about to become a Pulitzer winner herself.
If it was me, I think I’d have interrupted class to break the news that a fellow student had won.
👓 Michael Cohen Has Said He Would Take a Bullet for Trump. Maybe Not Anymore. | New York Times
Roger Stone says Mr. Trump has long treated Mr. Cohen, his lawyer and fixer, “like garbage.” Now he could end up cooperating in a criminal investigation against Mr. Trump.
👓 North Korea says it will suspend nuclear and missile tests, shut down test site | Washington Post
TOKYO — North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has declared that he will suspend nuclear and missile tests starting Saturday and that he will shut down the site where the previous six nuclear tests were conducted. The surprising announcement comes just six days before Kim is set to meet South Korean President Moon Jae-in, a precursor to a historic summit between Kim and President Trump. The U.S. president is set to meet Kim at the end of May or beginning of June, although a location has not yet been set.
🎞 Miss Sloane (2016)
Directed by John Madden. With Jessica Chastain, Mark Strong, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Michael Stuhlbarg.
In the high-stakes world of political power-brokers, Elizabeth Sloane (Jessica Chastain) is the most sought after and formidable lobbyist in D.C. Known equally for her cunning and her track record of success, she has always done whatever is required to win. But when she takes on the most powerful opponent of her career, she finds that winning may come at too high a price.
Stood up reasonably well even on a second viewing, though I think I appreciated it more the first time.
Watched via Amazon Prime on big screen 40″ television streaming using Amazon Fire Stick
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🎞 The Circle (2017)
Directed by James Ponsoldt. With Emma Watson, Tom Hanks, John Boyega, Ellar Coltrane.
A woman lands a dream job at a powerful tech company called the Circle, only to uncover an agenda that will affect the lives of all of humanity.
Even more interesting to watch this after the Facebook/Cambridge Analytica scandal. It was sad to see the simplistic surface level only analysis of ideas in the film though.
Watched via Amazon Prime on big screen television through Amazon Fire Stick.
Rating:
👓 Defining Drupal’s values and principles | Dries Buytaert
Dries Buytaert (dri.es)We need to better document Drupal's values and principles, as it is at the core of everything we do.
👓 Thoughts on The Rule of Links | Amit Gawande
Amit Gawande (amitgawande.com)Every post I write oftentimes has a link to an external post, either as a reference or as a recommendation. And every single time, I go through this struggle of deciding which word should carry the link. It was so naive of me to think Dave Winer won’t have written about it. Of course, Dave had. He...
🎞 The Wizard of Oz (1939) – ★★★★
Directed by Victor Fleming, George Cukor, Mervyn LeRoy. With Judy Garland, Frank Morgan, Ray Bolger, Bert Lahr.
Dorothy Gale is swept away from a farm in Kansas to a magical land of Oz in a tornado and embarks on a quest with her new friends to see the Wizard who can help her return home in Kansas and help her friends as well.
Haven’t seen this in years. Much more surreal than I remember, especially in HD on a big screen instead of an old TV set. I don’t think I’ve seen this since college sometime, and before that when CBS ran it annually before Turner bought it.
Watched via Amazon Prime (recently released there) on 40″ large screen television streamed through Amazon Fire Stick
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👓 An IndieWeb reader: My new home on the internet | GoDaddy
Aaron Parecki (The Garage: GoDaddy)What if you could reply to a blog post in your feed reader, and your reply would show up as a comment on the original post automatically? Or if you had one place to go to follow all of your friends’ blogs and more? An IndieWeb reader might be the answer. Get insight from the cofounder of the IndieWeb movement.
/me salivates…
👓 Introducing Lost Notes | KCRW
Hear a preview of Lost Notes, an anthology of some of the greatest music stories never truly told. Top journalists present stand-alone audio documentaries that highlight music’s head, heart and beat, with host Solomon Georgio as your guide.
Following Lost Notes from KCRW
An anthology of some of the greatest music stories never truly told.
This eight-part series includes a look at the FBI investigation into a classic rock anthem, unheard conversations with Captain Beefheart, a critical examination of New Edition’s basketball connection and the chronicle of a man plucked from Folsom Prison by Johnny Cash and thrust into country music stardom.
h/t Kevin Smokler