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SpaceX has given us a peek into the Crew Dragon capsule it's currently building to take astronauts to the ISS. And as you can see from the images and video below the fold, it looks downright luxurious inside despite its no-frills guitar pick-shaped...

Apple's shown its hand in more ways than one

Boy, did Apple have plenty to show off today. Both of the new iPhones - the iPhone 6S and iPhone 6S Plus - are now out in the open for all to gawk over until they release on September 25.

The completely overhauled Apple TV was unveiled today, too. Apple CEO Tim Cook said on stage that he thinks "the future of the television is apps," and that's what Apple's new set-top box is all about.

And, of course, we can't forget the iPad Pro, Apple's "WTF?" announcement for this year, and a worthy one at that. It's unabashedly a Surface Pro 3 killer, and that shows with a Jobs-defying stylus and a rivaling keyboard cover, the Smart Keyboard.

But we all know the highlights, and I'll get into those momentarily, so what about the less … bombastic takeaways? You know, the things that Apple executives said (or didn't say) in between those sizzle reels.

These are the moments from Apple's September 9 event worth hanging onto just as much as Apple's shiny new pieces of gadgetry.

The almighty iPhone is reborn (again)

"The iPhones that you are about to see are the most advanced iPhones ever," Cook said on stage. "And, in fact, they are the most advanced smartphones in the world."

For the first time since Apple launched the iPhone back in 2007, Apple's hyperbole just might be right. The firm's force-sensitive 3D Touch display technology just introduced smartphones to the right-click that took computing to a whole new level some 40 years ago.

Plus, there's the sharper cameras, 4K video recording, those weird Live Photos that turn stills into GIFs automagically and the newer, stronger 7000 Series aluminum construction. But why go on when all the info is right here?

Apple quietly avoided the battery life question

Sometimes, Apple's events are as much about what is said as what isn't said. The number one offender in this case? Battery life for the iPhone 6S and iPhone 6S Plus - not a peep was made about how long each of these phones will last.

Surely, I don't have to explain why this is worrisome. Why, of all the cool points to make and iThings to show, was one of the most chief concerns of phone buyers not addressed? (For Pete's sake, even the Siri Remote's 3-month battery life was given mention.)

Is it because Apple simply ran out of time? Doubtful, considering it had time to address everything else regarding its new products. It's more likely that the numbers are less than what Apple would want to publicize in the phones' debut event.

Likely culprits include that Siri in iOS 9 is always listening for "Hey, Siri?" and the new Taptic Engine within the phones. Of course, we'll have to save full judgment there for the full reviews.

Hey, remember when Apple invited Microsoft?

As Apple SVP of Worldwide Marketing Phil Schiller strapped the audience in for a few demos of its iPad Pro in action, he said, "It would be great to have a developer come and show us what's possible with professional productivity, and who to know better about productivity than Microsoft?"

The words were met with stunned silence, broken only with a nervous "yeah" from Schiller that brought the audience into seemingly awkward laughter and applause as he finished with, "these guys know productivity."

What ensued was a normal, seamless Apple event demo like any other, only what was being demoed was software from one of Apple's fiercest rivals on its flashy new device. It was … weird.

Clearly, the animosity between the two companies has leveled out a bit, but what could it mean for the future? Is this simply Microsoft showing it knows that its best way into the BYOD (bring your own device) movement in enterprise is to join up? Only time will tell that one.

The fabled iPad Pro is fable no more

This thing has been rumored, reported on and leaked since late 2013, so it's about time that Apple came around and made good on the scuttlebutt. As expected, the iPad Pro is a 12.9-inch Apple tablet with a 2,732 x 2,048 resolution and the shiny new A9X processor.

What came as a true surprise was that Apple actually developed a stylus for it, the goofily-named Apple Pencil. (To which Jobs must be turning in his grave right about now.)

Then, if it wasn't clear already that Apple's taken copious notes from Microsoft's trajectory with its Surface Pro line of tablets, the company created the Smart Keyboard. This keyboard cover looks mighty similar to Microsoft's, and it even makes up for the iPad Pro's lack of a kickstand.

We'll see whether Apple's bullish attempt to push Microsoft out of the enterprise, BYOD hardware scene pays off. But probably not before the Redmond, Wash. firm responds in kind - rumor has it Microsoft has a fall hardware event in store.

'The future of television ... is apps'

In an attempt to rile up the audience before he unveiled the new Apple TV, Tim Cook took public issue with a stagnation in innovation he's noticed in the television space for decades. Meanwhile, phones flew past the TV in this regard, namely thanks to Apple's pioneering App Store. And so…

"The future of television is apps," Cook said.

But wait, hasn't that future been happening for the past decade, right under Apple's nose? (In fact, Apple's been right there in the thick of it the whole time.) Almost every major TV network has a set-top box app, not to mention the countless independent streaming apps, like Netflix and Hulu.

The future that Apple SVP of Internet Software and Services Eddy Cue depicted during an exhaustive breakdown certainly looked better, but not at all different from how any cord cutter experiences TV today or has so for the past five years.

Where was Apple's long-rumored, supposedly revolutionary take on live broadcast television? Nowhere to be found. All I'm seeing is a seemingly far better box than any of its rivals, which is nothing to scoff at, but let's not call this "the future." This is the present - a better present, but still just that.

Apple TV has its second coming

As expected by everyone, Apple announced its latest crack at the set-top box, a new Apple TV. This time, the device comes with improved hardware on the inside - namely the iPhone 6's A8 chip and AC Wi-Fi - and outside, with a new Siri Remote with voice control and a touch surface for navigation.

The number one super cool feature? Siri can respond when you utter something like, "What did she say?" by rewinding the playback by 15 seconds and briefly activating captions. Brilliant.

But Apple also detailed a new operating system exclusive to its new puck: tvOS. It's based on iOS, with largely all the same protocols and tools, but has been tailored for this new interface and brings the App Store to Apple TV. Developers are already working on the beta version of the software, so the new Apple TV's release in late October.

Apple took a piece of the carriers' pie

Inspired by the countless installment plans - or contract-free leases, really - that carriers have put forth for new phones in the past few years, Apple came up with its very own. It's dead simple, too, something the carriers can't exactly say.

Starting in the US and later expanding worldwide, Apple will allow customers to enter its iPhone Upgrade Program. This allows you to get the latest iPhone every year, unlocked, with the firm's AppleCare+ protection plan starting at $32 per month.

After 12 monthly payments, you'll be eligible to trade in your current iPhone for the latest model right from within an Apple Store. The AppleCare inclusion here is key, as no carrier can currently compete with that. Take that, Uncarrier!

Finally, we plebs get the rose gold Apple Watch

That's about it, really. Apple announced a rose gold version of the aluminum (i.e. remotely affordable) Apple Watch Sport, much to everyone's delight. Now, you don't have to drop 10 grand on a watch in your favorite color - just 350 bucks. Thanks, Papa Apple.

Netflix, having already aired the first two seasons of the U.K.'s Black Mirror here in the U.S., appears to be taking their support of the dystopian anthology series one step further.

According to the RadioTimes, Netflix has agreed to terms with Black Mirror creator/writer Charlie Brooker and his production company House of Tomorrow to produce "multiple episodes” of the show - which could either result in spaced apart chapters like the show's Christmas special (featuring Jon Hamm, Rafe Spall, Janet Montgomery, and Oona Chaplin) or an official Season 3.

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Lucasfilm is heading back to the Emerald Isle for Star Wars: Episode VIII.

While earlier reports out of Ireland said that Star Wars: The Force Awakens was returning to the rocky island of Skellig Michael this month for further shooting, Entertainment Weekly now reports that the filming slated to take place there will actually be for Episode VIII.

However, EW did reveal "that smaller scale

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Humor writers are inadvertently prophetic at times -- just ask The Onion, whose joke about five-bladed razors was all too prescient. And apparently, that translates to the world of tech-themed comics. Hijinks Ensue and Sharksplode creator Joel Wa...

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (Sept 4, 2015) – On Wednesday, the California gave final approval to a bill that would effectively nullify in practice some Food and Drug Administration (FDA) rules that prevent terminally-ill patients from accessing experimental treatments. The vote was 76-2.

Introduced in January by Asm. Ian Calderon (D-Whittier) and nine bipartisan co-sponsors, Assembly Bill 159 (AB159) gives terminally ill patients access to medicines that have not been given final approval for use by the FDA.

“AB159 is simple: If your parent or your child or even you are faced with a terminal illness, you have the right to try and save your life,” Calderon said.

The Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act prohibits general access to experimental drugs. However, under the expanded access provision of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, 21 U.S.C. 360bbb, patients with serious or immediately life-threatening diseases may access experimental drugs after receiving express FDA approval.

AB159 bypasses the FDA expanded access program and allows patients to obtain experimental drugs from manufacturers without obtaining FDA approval. This procedure directly conflicts with the federal expanded access program and sets the stage to effectively nullify it in practice.

SIGNIFICANCE

Twenty-four other states have already approved ‘Right to Try’ legislation. However, passage in California is particularly significant, not only because of the impact of the state’s politics on national policy in general, but also because it follows a path that voters there started nearly twenty years ago.

Back in 1996, California voters recognized that keeping medicine away from sick people was a federal policy they could no longer ignore, and they passed Prop. 215 to legalize medical marijuana.  The Right to Try Act is based on the same principle. And when enough people and enough states say no to federal bans, there’s not much that Washington D.C. can do about it.

NO-BRAINER

The bill passed originally passed the Assembly with a 74-2 vote in May. It was passed unanimously by the Senate this week. But, the 40-0 vote included a few minor technical amendments, sending it back to the Assembly where it was given final approval yesterday.

“The Right to Try Act is a no-brainer,” said Mike Maharrey of the Tenth Amendment Center. “When someone is on their deathbed, the fact that FDA regulations would let them die rather than try, has got to be one of the most inhumane policies of the federal government. Every state should nullify the FDA like this.”

ADDITIONAL PROTECTIONS

The bill prohibits state officials from any actions that would prevent the lawful administering of experimental procedures to eligible patients. AB159 reads, in part:

An official, employee, or agent of this state shall not block or attempt to block an eligible patient’s access to an investigational drug, biological product, or device… Counseling, advice, or a recommendation consistent with medical standards of care from an individual licensed… shall not be considered a violation of this section.

This is important, since in the early days of legal medical marijuana – and still to some extent today – local law enforcement worked closely with federal agencies to take aggressive actions to stop the program.

“Including this provision ensures that the ‘boots on the ground’ for law enforcement – the locals, won’t be taking any action to stop sick people from trying new treatments. The feds will have to handle it, and they don’t have the manpower or resources to get the job done,” said Boldin.

Health care providers are also protected under the bill, with a prohibition against revoking a license or issuing sanctions based on recommendation or issuance of such investigational treatments. They are also protected from lawsuits. AB159 reads, in part:

A state regulatory board shall not revoke, fail to renew, or take any other disciplinary action against a physician’s license based solely on the physician’s recommendation to an eligible patient regarding, or prescription for or treatment with, an investigational drug, biological product, or device…

[AB159] does not create a private cause of action against a manufacturer… or against any other person or entity involved in the care of an eligible patient using the investigational drug, biological product, or device, for any harm done to the eligible patient… unless there was a failure to exercise reasonable care.

NEXT UP

Although these laws only address one small aspect of FDA regulation, they provide us with a clear model demonstrating how to nullify federal statutes that violate the Constitution. The strategy narrows the influence of nullification to limited aspects of the law itself. The strategy works because it focuses on ending specific federal policies large numbers of Americans from across the political spectrum oppose.

Now that AB159 has passed both chambers, it will now go to Gov. Brown’s desk for consideration. Inside sources suggest that he’s likely to sign the bill.

ACTION ITEMS
For California: Take steps to support this bill at THIS LINK.

For other states: Take the steps to get a similar bill passed in your state at THIS LINK.

App attacks jailbroken and nonjailbroken devices alike by perverting MDM API to attack more hapless users

With Gotham: The Complete First Season, hitting DVD and Blu-ray this Tuesday, IGN has an exclusive clip from the behind-the-scenes footage that is part of the collection.

In this clip, Sean Pertwee ("Alfred Pennyworth") and David Mazouz ("Bruce Wayne") discuss the importance Batman's beloved butler has to the character and how his dedication stands out.

Check out the footage below.

Gotham: The Complete First Season is available Tuesday, September 8th on DVD and Blu-raty.

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Surprise, surprise, the Internet has expressed a desire to "pork" a puppet pig.

Kermit the Frog and Miss Piggy announced they had split last month, after four decades of what much of America assumed to be a loving relationship that was going to last forever.

Now, as ABC's “The Muppets” is nearing its premiere date set for Sept. 22, the network has released photos and video of Kermit's new girlfriend, Denise.

She may be a "homewrecking pig," but that hasn't stopped the Internet from comparing her to beautiful human women such as "Game of Thrones" actress, Natalie Dormer.

In response to that tweet, another Twitter user -- @Vapo_Rob -- escalated the madness by writing, "You're right. So hot. I'd totally pork that."

The puppet pig was also compared to not-puppet and not-pig actress, Olivia Wilde.

There was a time when pigs were pigs, puppets were puppets, and people were people.

Bacon my day, this wouldn't have flown, but Denise apparently can ham it all.

 

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-- This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.

“Mr. Robot” is poised on a knife’s edge.

Its debut season has been so impressive and so adventurous yet assured that I almost fear what comes next. The show attempted to achieve an astounding number of goals, thematically and aesthetically, and it nailed the dismount on an impressively high percentage of those tasks over the course of Season 1. 

The twisty finale left me nerve-jangled and amped up, in a good way. They’re tonally quite different shows, but the season-ender brought to mind the “Mad Men” Season 1 finale, which delivered on the promise of that show’s debut season and, as “Mr. Robot’s” wrap-up did, provided many visuals, conversations and speeches worth thinking about for months afterward.

“The Wheel” was far more sentimental than Elliot’s final 2015 adventure, but the episodes shared a sense of invigorating possibility and unpredictability. Both, in their own distinctive ways, explored ideas about family, loss and men who aren’t quite who they say they are. And yet "Mr. Robot" wasn't imitating anything else, not by a long shot. It drew on a very different cinematic language than "Mad Men" -- it's far more "Three Days of the Condor" than Douglas Sirk -- and over the course of 10 taut episodes, it created the kind of distinctive world that made it instantly stand out even in a very crowded TV landscape. 

 When a finale surprises me -- when events feel this unexpected and yet this inevitable -- it’s hard not to feel like I’ve just downed four too many espressos, and this giddy, tragic, strange hour produced that sensation.

Season 1 of “Mr. Robot” experienced the occasional glitch, but overall, it was just so damn good, and the finale wrapped things up with such a fitting series of indelible images and canny brain-melters that I can’t worry too much about whether creator Sam Esmail will be able to pull off something quite this audacious and coolly entertaining next year. So I’m trying hard not to think about the last time I was this wowed by the heights attained by a debut season and the many ways in which that promising show (“True Detective”) fell off a cliff in Season 2.

I’m going to erase that section of my brain’s code and just reiterate the main reaction I’ve had to this drama: More, please.

The finale was a bit of a doughnut, to be sure: Part of the middle is missing. We still don’t know what happened to Tyrell Wellick (the terrific Martin Wallström) and how, exactly, the massive hack on E Corp was pulled off. It’s reasonable to assume that a combination of efforts from Elliot (who must have entered a different mental state or a different personality for a few days), Wellick and/or the Chinese hacker group touched off the Internet conflagration that caused a series of economic earthquakes.

Is the White Rose (B.D. Wong) playing a double game? Is he working his own agenda but using Evil Corp and fsociety as his pawns? How much did Michael Cristofer’s CEO character know about fsociety’s machinations and is he looking to ride this wave of discontent to his own personal benefit? Will Evil Corp come out of this even stronger?

These are tantalizing questions for next season, but all in all, it made sense for the hour to avoid focusing on people typing on their computers, which rarely makes for distinctive visuals, and instead, zero in on outcomes, breakdowns and aftermaths. In any case, whatever happens when the show returns, I’m pretty sure Cristofer’s character (who plays E Corp CEO Phillip Price, but whom I will call Truxton Spangler because I consider “Mr. Robot” to be a spiritual sequel to the late, lamented “Rubicon”) will be just fine. 

How do I know this? The show told me -- and not with words.

As “Mr. Robot” has done with such panache and intelligence this season, the most relevant information was offered visually. After delivering his weirdly bracing truth bombs to a stunned Angela, Spangler swept up to a podium overlooking a well-appointed, tastefully hued circle. The moment, which was infused with warm golds and muted sepia tones, stood in contrast to everything that transpired in the pale, spare offices of AllSafe and on the lower levels of E Corp. The very air in those bland spaces seems soulless; everything has a sickly green hue and characters are pushed to the edge of the frame.

Not so for Spangler, who literally looked down on everyone else as he manipulated death to his own ends. Everything and everyone below that balcony was controlled by him; he stood above it all like a Roman emperor or a Medici prince. Every chair was lined up perfectly. The staging of that moment was right out of “Triumph of the Will,” and the authoritarian overtones of the tableau lead me to believe Spangler will be pulling strings for some time -- until he’s not. 

There was a strange hush to many of Angela’s scenes, which was another reminder that few other shows on TV use silence and sound as well as “Mr. Robot.” Her quiet conversations with Spangler reflected the fact that she has ascended to the high, cosseted realms that get to be quiet. She’s ascended, through her own series of power grabs, into the well-appointed rooms where the noise of the rabble is not allowed to penetrate.

The scene in the shoe shop was small but pivotal: That place, too, was silent, white, pure and thus faintly ominous. The suspended hush was appropriate to the moment, because Angela used that moment to assert her status as a new member of the overlord class. She was in the center of the frame, not off on the sidelines. She wants to stay in the rooms where things are clean and quiet and human complications are reduced to ruthless formulations. So the shoe clerk will know his place and bring her the damn Prada pumps.

If you think about it, Angela’s been infected with malware -- malware named Elliot Alderson. His effect on the lives of others is not unlike that of Walter White, who caused endless destruction in his pursuit of doing things he told himself were justified. The difference is that I truly believe Elliot does want to do good things, but he’s unable or unwilling to see the unintended consequence of his actions. Is the chaos he unleashed -- knowingly or unknowingly -- truly better than the fat-cat capitalism that he and fsociety hate so much?

Well, think about the dogs (I will spare you the “Who let the dogs out?” reference). Darlene and fsociety let all those ill-fated pooches out of their cages, but who will feed them? If they’re sick, who’ll take care of them? Is a life on the streets -- running around not unlike masked fsociety sympathizers -- better than a shorter lifespan that involves less suffering? As entertaining as Christian Slater’s angry rant was, dogs still need food and human beings still want access to their savings and their 401(k) plans. Tearing society apart and remaking it sounds great in theory until you realize how much destruction (“World Destruction”) the process leaves behind.

And that brings us to the finale’s most disturbing image: That of the E Corp executive shooting himself on live television. First of all, USA Network was right not to air this image last Wednesday, so soon after a similar tragedy happened on TV in Virginia. Those awful images were just too reminiscent of each other for one to air on the day the other occurred.

Second of all, it’s worth thinking about how the scene was shot as well. We never saw the questioner grilling the executive, we just saw the man’s nervous and increasingly despondent face. It’s hard not to feel a sense of doom when watching a disembodied voice hector a clearly suffering man, even if he’s lying a lot. As Todd VanDerWerff has pointed out, “Mr. Robot” makes terrific use of compositions that push many characters to the edge of the frame, highlighting their alienation and their marginal status.

But in the scene, we saw the camera right in the center of the frame, looming like an unfeeling judge. The unblinking eye saw this man for who he really was; he couldn't escape its glare. The thought of how he looked in that moment unnerved him so much he was pushed past his personal limit, and he took his own life. 

No wonder Elliot hides, lurks in the corners and edits his story and himself. Direct experiences with reality can be unrelentingly awful. Seeing things for what they really are -- and being seen for what you really are -- can be a terrifying prospect. Being fully seen, by a loved one or an enemy, involves a loss of control, and that is one thing Elliot (and many other human beings) cannot contemplate.

As fun as it is to fall down “Mr. Robot” rabbit holes and get tangled up in tangents and suppositions and “wake up sheeple”-style conspiracy theories, that’s not what the show is primarily about. Of course, it has fed the message-board hordes quite a lot of red meat and there's no doubt many of them are determined to “solve” the show. But it’s not ultimately about the mythology. Like truly worthwhile stories, it asks a series of questions; it’s not just a delivery system for answers.

Through its dynamic and well-chosen visuals, and its great use of an atmospheric score and outstanding songs, it’s telling the story of a broken man who is editing reality and himself in an effort to survive great pain. The amazing Times Square scene was proof, if we needed it, that Elliot is an unreliable narrator, but without a deeply realized character attached to that phrase, it’s meaningless jargon. 

What Elliot does -- manipulating his identity, trying to find out what makes other people tick, editing the base code of his very personality -- is just an an extreme version of what we all do, every day, online and offline. We want people to see us a certain way and we want to produce certain reactions and outcomes, according to our own needs and agendas, and we often use technology to help us do that.

Elliot’s just frighteningly good at those things, and able to do them on a much larger scale, but he has no idea how to control these programs -- or himself -- once he’s hit “execute.” Like him, we want to connect but we don’t want to be hurt, but that’s easier said than done. What we experience via electronic devices and computers and apps is just as real as what happens in “real” life. These moments are just as able to wound, surprise and please us as anything that happens in meatspace.

That’s why we slipped so easily into the role of his co-conspirators. Framing, music, sound design, that strung-out emotional tone: Its artistic choices took “Mr. Robot” to the next level this season, but the use of the audience may have been the show’s most witty and useful device. What’s subjective and objective in this world? What’s real and unreal? It’s appropriate that fsociety’s headquarters were in a Coney Island dive, because the whole show was made up of funhouse mirrors, all of them reflecting shards of Elliot and ourselves at us, from angles that made us see ourselves and this unknowable character in new ways. 

Of course, it’s fun to think about “solving” Mr. Robot, but I just want to note that I think it’s more interesting if some elements remain ambiguous. Nailing everything down into a Grand Unified Theory of Elliot kind of sucks the air out of this inspired concoction. On some level, the show is trying to say something about our capacity to do good and be better than what we are and escape our own shells of selfishness and cold calculation. It’s not really a math problem at heart.

It's the show's willingness to explore non-cliched ideas about connection and alienation and how we mediate loneliness -- or fail to --  that makes “Mr. Robot” stand apart. It’s not taking expected and often tiresome stances about technology -- that it’s a chilly and destructive manipulator of individuals and that it ultimately reduces and diminishes relationships and societies, blah blah blah. As Cristofer’s character said, it’s all in how the machines are used by flawed human beings. The core of the show is Elliot’s attempts to connect -- with other people, with his hacking targets, with the audience -- and hoping he can learn from his mistakes. Was hacking the world a mistake or an opportunity? Or both?

Ultimately, the depth and richness of this show’s visual, aural and moral universes makes me more able to forgive some of its patchy elements. On the one hand, I can absolutely believe that hackers could do massive damage to world economies and big corporations, and yet the show never quite explained in a satisfying way how Evil Corp’s troubles would cause so many other dominos to fall all over the globe. Yes, everything is connected now, but there was a lot of handwaving when it came to making it clear why this corporation’s downfall would be so epic.

But that wasn’t the only element of the season that felt undercooked. Carly Chaikin is a talented actress and I hope next season she gets more to do than yell at various people, with occasional forays into being Exposition Sister. I hope next season I’m able to remember the rest of fsociety’s names, because during Season 1, they never managed to become actual characters. The connections between Wellick and Elliot never quite came into focus, even though I absolutely loved every scene featuring Tyrell Wellick and his terrifying wife. Thanks to a cold smile that never reached her eyes, this corporate Lady Macbeth resembled a possessed Hummel figurine in her finale scene with Elliot. Wow. 

Wellick, his wife and Cristofer’s character all seem to indicate that you must become a sociopath to make at the highest corporate levels in America. (Shades of “Mad Men’s” Jim Hobart.) Maybe Elliot already is that, twice over. Thanks to the show’s well-handled twist -- Slater’s character is actually a splinter of Elliot himself -- we’re meant to see Mr. Robot and Elliot as two sides of the same coin.

But I find that the idea of Elliot as Wellick’s twin or doppelgänger is somehow even more evocative. Both men are ruthless in pursuit of their goals. Both can be single-minded and utterly unconcerned with the needs of other people. Both have been broken by rejection and pain caused by their families. And both want to bend the world to their will.

The difference between them is, Elliot has done just that. And is it progress for him if he and Wellick did it together?

A few stray thoughts:

• I have to say it again, the jittery/ominous score, the song choices (Jim Carroll!) and the auditory experience of this show are just exceptional. I can’t wait to watch it again to see how deftly they all fit together.


• I won’t soon forget the image of Elliot framed against the striped exterior of that Times Square building -- an image that evoked the American flag.


• Thank goodness Christian Slater got to go Full Slater in that Times Square rant. He’s been terrific all season long, and often restrained in ways that he doesn’t quite get credit for. But his full-on rant was a delight and ignited all kinds of “Pump Up the Volume” memories.


• It’s a standard of the thriller genre that our world is run by tuxedo-clad men sipping Champagne inside plush mansions, but I enjoyed the finale so much and I love Cristofer and B.D. Wong’s charismatic performances so much that I couldn't help but enjoy that last scene, even though I half-expected Dr. No to walk in petting a Persian cat.


• I’m going with the theory that Wellick recorded the fsociety video seen in the finale. Right? Right. Maybe.


• Of the many "Mr. Robot" pieces out this week (and I'm reading them all!), here's a great interview with the show's ace cinematographer. Here's a good interview with creator Sam Esmail. 


• Dan Fienberg had some interesting thoughts about “Mr. Robot” and how it compares to another tale of the rebellion of a corporate drone.


• As the season progressed, I was more and more impressed by “Mr. Robot” and its ability to conjure clammy dread while sustaining an unmistakable sense of forward momentum. Yet in the early days, I’d ask myself, “But do I love this show?” It took a while to get there, but yes, I certainly do now. Elliot may be a chilly customer but Rami Malek infuses him with vulnerability and yearning, and without that central performance, none of the other elements would fully work. All of the awards for Rami Malek (who was also great in “The Pacific,” check it out!)


• I hope we see a lot more of Wong, Cristofer, Martin Wallström and Stephanie Corneliussen (Joanna) next season. I would watch a whole spinoff about Joanna Wellick trying to get her son into the right Manhattan pre-school.


• Who was at Elliot’s door? I had a moment where I thought we had entered a time loop and Wellick was arriving at Elliot’s door for the first time and none of what we saw had actually happened (or had it?). And then my brain exploded.


• Ryan McGee and I discussed "Mr Robot" and "BoJack Horseman" on the latest installment of the Talking TV podcast, which here, on iTunes and below. 

 

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All men must die drive. 

In the upcoming movie "The Transporter Refueled," actor Ed Skrein takes the wheel from Jason Statham for the action-packed role of transporter Frank Martin, and (spoiler alert) he totally delivers. Pun, intended.

If the new transporter looks familiar, that's probably because you've seen him before, "Game of Thrones" fans. The actor originally played Daario Naharis in Season 3, leaving fans everywhere pretty confused when actor Michiel Huisman took over the role in Season 4, since, you know, they don't look anything alike.

Who wore it better? 

Me, Bill Bradley, meeting both Daarios: Ed Skrein (L) and Michiel Huisman (R). Neither expressed interest in having me join their "GoT" mercenary group.

 

Reports have indicated Skrein left "GoT" for "The Transporter," but the actor told TooFab that "contrary" to what the press says, it wasn't his choice to walk away.

The actor elaborated on the topic in a conversation with The Huffington Post:

In this industry you have politics and things like that, so nothing is ever as straight forward as it’s reported. It was a character that I would’ve loved to have continued to portray, and he’s a wonderful character, but you know Michiel Huisman's done a great job taking over the mantle, and that’s the way it goes, you know?

Though he may not have necessarily wanted to leave "GoT," things have worked out pretty well for the actor. In fact, the only problem with his new "Transporter" gig seems to be that there are already a lot of package delivery services in the game.

When The Huffington Post asked Skrein why people would come to him over other services like UPS and FedEx, the actor said his advantage is "a unique skill set for close combat." He added, "I don’t know what UPS and what those other guys provide, but I wouldn’t be able to comment." (No need, man. You had us at combat.)

Skrein also has a major role as the villain Ajax in the highly-anticipated "Deadpool" movie, which he told AOL Build turned out "exactly" as it should be.

After opening up about "Game of Thrones," Skrein added, "I never look backwards." It's a great motto, but for the sake of other people, we just hope the new transporter doesn't stick to it while he's driving."

Image: YouTube

"The Transporter Refueled" cruises into theaters Sept. 4.

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File under: Latest News

Clynt Garnham Transportation / Alamy Drivers are putting lives at risk every time they hit the road by not wearing the right glasses, with more than a third of motorists admitting to driving with blurred vision. Research released by Asda Opticians, in conjunction with road safety charity Brake, has discovered 35 per cent of UK motorists... continue reading

File under: Latest News

Photo credit: AOL/BMW AOL/BMW BMW has developed technology that enables drivers to get their cars into the tightest of parking spots - from standing outside of the vehicle. The technology allows motorists to squeeze their cars into forward spaces via a 'BMW Display Key'. This enables the owner to control the speed of their vehicle as it either drives into, or... continue reading

A new generation of Intel Compute Sticks with Skylake CPUs is approaching.

For the longest time, televisions have been in a resolution war. For Pete's sake, we've already heard plenty about 8K TVs. But, soon enough, color will become the new benchmark by which we measure the screen quality.

It might sound like an absurd proclamation when 4K is finally gaining traction in the television world just this year. However, after seeing Hisense's new premium Ultra LED 4K TVs, I found myself more blown away by the amazing color rendition than the sharpness of 4K.

Now, that's not to say Hisense's latest 65-inch, 4K television is lacking in resolution – it looks plenty sharp with 3,840 x 2,160 pixels. But what makes the 65H10B's picture truly pop is the display's ULED technology, which combines the incredible contrast that 240 lighting zones produces with the accurate, vibrant colors that a quantum dot filter renders.

Making sense of ULED

The underlying secret behind Hisense's trumpeted ULED technology breaks down into two parts.

Firstly, there's the backlight, which illuminates the screen according to 240 separate zones. In simple English; the more local dimming zones you have, the easier it is to create scenes that are both dark and bright in different parts of the frame.

The 240 local dimming zones is huge, especially to help increase the contrast ratio on a 65-inch screen. To put it in perspective, a same-sized 4K TV from Vizio's P-Series only has 64 active LED zones.

Both LG and Samsung have withheld the number of local dimming zones built into their highest-end models, the LG65UF7700 and UN65HU9000, respectively. However, from my time with the Hisense, it seemed to produce blacks that were crisper and deeper than those I've seen on most 4K televisions.

When it comes to having the highest number of local lighting zones, Vizio has everyone beat, with its 65-inch Reference series TV packing a full array of 384 lighting zones. With an OLED 4K TV, every light-emitting diode acts as its own light source, so you could technically say a screen such as the 65-inch LG EG9600 has 8.29 million lighting zones.

Tiny, little quantum helpers

Of course black levels are just one part of the equation, the other key piece to the Hisense TV's dramatic picture quality is a quantum dot-laden color filter. 3M Advanced Physics Research Specialist Dave Lamb eloquently explained that quantum dots convert blue light into lower-energy green and red light.

"What's special about that light is it's really narrow in its spectral bandwidth," Lamb added. "There are very few wavelengths in there so you get really pure greens and reds."

The quantum dots just don't knock out unnecessary blue light, they also help prevent color bleeding and increase the overall color gamut without making the entire picture warmer.

This isn't the first time quantum dots have been employed in a 4K TV. At CES 2015, the technology made its debut in the LG 65-inch UF9400 and Samsung's SUHD Curved TV. In both cases, the quantum dots boosted color accuracy and saturation by 22 to 30%.

Still catching up with CRT

While it might seem like an overall advance in panel technology, quantum dots are in reality trying to make up for the shortcomings of LCDs.

"You actually get less color than you did with CRT," 3M Business Director of Optical Systems Eric Jostes says. "There's still a lot of room for improvement, because current [LCD] TVs only show about 35% of what [color gamut] the human eye can see."

Now, the question you might have is, "Why wasn't color a big focus when LCD TVs replaced CRT screens 15 years ago?" According to Jostes, "There was no economic solution available, so no one broke ranks [in the television industry]."

Improved color is the next frontier

But now, Samsung looks to adopt its own quantum dot-based, nano-crystal technology. Meanwhile, LG is delving into OLEDs for screens with improved color. The end result is more vibrant TVs for both existing media and High-Dynamic Range (HDR) content to come.

Netfilx has begun rolling out content in 4K, with shows such as Daredevil and House of Cards, but soon it plans to also add HDR shows to its repertoire. Amazon, on the other hand, has already beat Netflix to the punch by making season one of Mozart in the Jungle and the Red Oaks pilot available in HDR format.

"Hollywood is more excited about HDR and high-color gamut than 4K, because it's really bandwidth hungry, and [UHD] really does not provide you much bang for the buck," Jostes highlights. "I think we'll see the industry move towards a 20/20 color capability with HDR content."

• What's next for streaming tech at Netflix?

Last week, viewers of Starz’ new comedy series Blunt Talk were introduced to a very different kind of character for Patrick Stewart, as the man known for his iconic works as Captain Picard and Professor X made his debut as Walter Blunt. Despite his on-air persona as a tough newsman, Blunt is a huge mess – an immature, drug-abusing type who finds himself at a crossroads in his life, even while still expecting to be catered to.

I sat down to discuss the series with both Stewart and his co-star, Adrian Scarborough (The King’s Speech, Les Miserables), who plays Blunt’s manservant, Harry – someone Walter depends on to a ridiculous degree to get through the day.

The duo discussed working on the show, which comes from executive producers Seth MacFarlane (Family Guy) and Jonathan Ames (Bored to Death), and the dynamic between their characters in the series, which Starz gave a two-season order to from the get-go.

Continue reading…

One does not simply walk into Mordor with this much bread.

According to Popular Science, a study in the Journal of Interdisciplinary Science has calculated how many calories the fellowship of the ring from The Lord of the Rings would need to consume to make it from Rivendell to Mordor.

First of all, the caloric needs of each of the nine members of the fellowship had to be figured out. For example, hobbits need 1,800 calories a day, while elves only need 1,400. The total was calculated with an ideal trip in mind, so in this version of events, everyone makes it to Mordor in one piece.

Continue reading…

Many in the tech sphere will tell you that HBO's Silicon Valley is sometimes too accurate in its send-up of the San Francisco Bay Area's frequently ridiculous startup culture. But how good would it be if someone who actually came from the industry...

Syfy has announced that it has renewed both Dark Matter and Killjoys for a second season each.

Dark Matter will receive another 13 episodes, set to premiere in 2016.

Dark Matter averaged 1.8 million viewers in its first season. The series, created by Stargate franchise writers Joseph Mallozzi and Paul Mullie, follows six people who wake up on a derelict spaceship with no memory of who they are or how they got on board. It's based on a Dark Horse graphic novel of the same name.

Killjoys, meanwhile, will air 10 episodes once more for its second season in 2016. It averaged 1.5 million viewers in its first season.

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German candy company Katjes has revealed its new 3D printer for gummies.

Named the Magic Candy Factory, the 3D printer is located at the Cafe Grün-Ohr in Berlin; Katjes claims that it is the first 3D printer for food available to the public.

According to 3dprint.com, the printer prints out strings of candy which, when layered, can create 3D shapes. Each 10-gram piece of candy takes around five minutes to print. Using an iPad interface to customise their candy, customers will be able to choose between 10 flavours and seven colours, with more coming soon.

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Karen Gillan is set to co-star in the upcoming film adaptation of Dave Eggers' novel, The Circle.

According to Deadline, Gillan will play Annie - a warm, goofy, but intelligent member of the titular Circle.

Karen Gillan as Doctor Who's Amy Pond.

The Circle is an internet monopoly that links users' emails, social media, banking, and online purchases with their universal operating system. That results in one online identity - and as moviegoers will find out, that may not turn out to be a good thing.

Continue reading…

The CW has unveiled the key art for Arrow: Season 4.

The poster features Stephen Amell's Oliver Queen, fully clad in his new superhero getup. It's worth noting the art is actually a reworking of the first photo the network revealed showcasing Arrow's new costume for Season 4.

Arrow returns to The CW on Wednesday, October 7 with a premiere titled "Green Arrow." In the meantime, watch our SDCC interview with Stephen Amell, Emily Bett Rickards, and executive producer Wendy Mericle below.

Continue reading…

There's a slew of familiar faces in the new trailer for iZombie's second season, and a handful of teases for what we might expect.

iZombie: Season 1 Review

Liv's boss Ravi appears, Season 1 villain Blaine returns, and Max Rager head Vaughn Du Clark (returning guest star Steven Weber) shows up in his menacing glory.

A quirky action drama, iZombie is based on the Vertigo comic written by Chris Roberson and illustrated by Michael Allred. Starring Rose McIver as Olivia Moore, the show depicts Liv's struggle to solve crimes after discovering she can access the memories and personality of anyone whose brains she eats.

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Acer has announced the Revo Build M1-601, a super-small Windows 10 unit that can be expanded and customized with a series of stackable blocks. So, in the base unit you'll find a super small form factor PC that only occupies 125 square millimeters o...

If you wanted an insane looking router with an almost as-insane boast, then say hello to ASUS' new router. Touting it as the best for gaming, 4K streaming and smart home networking, the RT-AC5300 router will apparently give speeds that are 67 perce...

MIT and the National Research Foundation of Singapore recently tested an autonomous vehicle they developed together. No, it's not a car or a truck -- it's a golf cart. The researchers created a self-driving golf cart called SMART and deployed sever...

Back when Disney released the first trailer to Star Wars: The Force Awakens, one of the characters that caught most people's eye was BB-8. And for good reason: it's an adorable rolling droid. Now, Disney is bringing it to everyone through Sphero, t...

Star Wars merchandise is big business. So big, in fact, that the films' stewards are streaming an unboxing marathon for all of the Force Awakens toys coming out on "Force Friday" tomorrow. We weren't going to pay much interest, but two items in par...

If you live in a metropolitan area like San Francisco, New York or Chicago, you understand the appeal of a tiny car. It's easier to swoop through traffic and it can be parked nearly anywhere. Smart says the Fortwo is the tiniest of the tiny cars av...

Spotify has released a new privacy policy after the internet whipped itself into a furor over the last one. The streaming company got itself into trouble last month with an update that some onlookers labeled "eerie" and "atrocious." Of course, it w...