Capitalogix

Facts or Fiction: How Faithful is Your Favorite "True" Movie's Story?

Recently, there's been a lot of talk about fake news and fact-checking the contents of the news and what public figure say.  However, I haven't heard much about measuring the veracity of movies.

This site was kind of interesting.

It purports to rank the relative veracity of various movies. 

For example, "Selma" is impressively accurate  (as is "The Big Short") ... "The Imitation Game"?  Not so much.

 

via Information is Beautiful

This interactive breakdown lets you be as "pedantic" as you want -- letting the "truth" be relatively flexible, or seating the truth-scale at "only what objectively happened".

So, where does your favorite film fall?

Pretty interesting.

Quick, Draw!

Our non-human overlords haven't taken over yet.

However, A.I. is getting smarter faster.

Can a neural network learn to recognize doodles?

Google's Quick, Draw! will try and guess what you're drawing.

It did pretty well with mine, and I did not inherit my dad's artistic skills. 

Try it by clicking below!

 

 

Kind of cool!

Finding Dory

On Father's Day, my son took me to Finding Dory.  

Let's not dissect the story ... I appreciated spending time with my son  (but also the art and the technology used to make it).

   

 

The current state of animation is mind-blowing (not just 3D ... the textures, shading, and sense of natural movement.

The rendering math is cool.  Yes, I know that makes me a nerd.

But, they are using GPU servers to do massive computation (just like a Quant Fund).  

Watch the video, below, to see how they did it.

 

 

CNet via YouTube.

I don't think this is what Beyoncé had in mind ...

I recently went to a Beyoncé concert.  Not as good as a Cowboys game, but impressive talent nonetheless.

Meanwhile, this guy has some talent and is covering her material ... just not enough of his body.  All The Single Ladies, will never be the same.  Worth a watch for the laugh.

 

via YouTube.

 

This was fun too.

 

 

via YouTube.

And here is a link to Beyoncé doing that same song a little differently.

 

Happy New Year

Best wishes to you and yours.  JibJab nailed my resolutions for the year!

 

 

JibJab via YouTube.

Looking forward to a great 2016!

Cool Comparison of Harry Potter and Star Wars [Infographic]

The first reactions to 'Star Wars: The Force Awakens' are here, and people are thrilled ... Even Wired liked it.

Ah, the Hero's Quest ... a formula that has worked for centuries.

Check out this document showing the differences between the plots of Harry Potter and Star Wars.

 

 

J.K. Rowling has said, "I haven't the faintest idea where my ideas come from."  Well, Wikipedia lists over two dozen influences and analogues (and is interesting, if you like that sort of thing.)

Or, you could just glance at the following infographic.  It highlights the similarities between Harry Potter and Star Wars pretty clearly.

 

 

Sometimes it is better not to analyze the trick and just enjoy the magic.

Other times, just let Saturday Night Live do a parody of it.

Related articles

• Incredible Infographic - The Fascinating Franchise of Harry Potter (basekit.com)
• The Magic Of Harry Potter (grumbleltd.wordpress.com)
• Bank on Harry Potter to conjure up the cash (telegraph.co.uk)

Here Are Some Links For Your Weekend Reading

In the spirit of 'Independence' ... here is a photo of the British Royal Family.  It could be captioned: "Did Phillip Fart?"

The expressions are priceless!  Notice Harry, and of course, the Queen.

 

 

What do you think?

Here are some of the posts that caught my eye. Hope you find something interesting.

 

Lighter Links:

• What Happens When Our Computers Get Smarter Than We Are? (TED)
• Pixar’s 22 Rules of Storytelling. (Aerogramme Studio)
• Watching Porn With Porn Stars Is Hilariously Awkward. (HuffPost)
• U.S. Suspects Hackers in China Breached 4 Million People’s Records. (WSJ)
• IBM is buying thousands of Macs for its employees. It wants to deploy around 50,000 MacBooks by the end of the year.  (9to5mac)

 

Trading Links:

• Most Millionaires Think They Are Middle Class. (CNBC)
• Uber is Now Worth MORE than Federal Express. (Lindzon)
• Feds’ Crystal Ball Shows Oil Comeback. (Investing Daily)
• Who Is Saudi Arabia Really Targeting In Its Price War? (OilPrice)
• How The Fed "Engineered A Massive Squeeze In The Markets" with the Help of 683x Leverage. (ZH)

The Dangers of Selfie Sticks - PSA Parody

This PSA parody warns people to stop abusing their selfie sticks.

Apparently, self-obsessed people will go to any lengths to top other selfie addicts. This results in longer selfie sticks, and increasingly dangerous situations. 

 

 

via YouTube.

The video ends by asking viewers to “please selfie responsibly,” an aptly-timed message considering Disney World’s recent ban on selfie sticks at the theme park.

This social commentary is a cleverly disguised Pizza Hut ad.

A Different Look at Things

This video was taken at the SXSW conference.  While it seems a little silly, the video illustrates an interesting point.

 

 

via TimeSlice Films, pioneers in multi-camera array imaging.

 

Perspective is important. 

Being able to see the 'invisible' makes the 'impossible' possible

 

via Flug.

New technology seems like magic until you understand how it is done.

Mana Lisa's Smile (Nope, It's not a typo)

Mana Lisa had a strange smile ... and eyes that seemed to follow you around the room.

The journey of a thousand miles starts with one step. Sometimes you don't recognize when the journey starts ... other times you do.

 

 — with Ming Alihan at MAD Museum of Art & Design, Singapore.

 

And sometimes you have to go half way around the world, just to get to the starting line.

Best wishes on all your journeys.