Available on HBO Max and in theaters Tom and Jerry stars Chloe Grace Moretz, Colin Jost, and Pallavi Sharda as well as the adorable cat and mouse. Set in NYC the familiar Tom Cat and Jerry Mouse are inhabiting the Royal Gate Hotel in the midst of an identity theft during a traditional Indian wedding. The SNL star Colin Jost is the leading man in the subplot of Tom and Jerry’s infinite game of cat and mouse. Pallavi Sharda shines as the leading lady.
Tim Story does an excellent job or blending over the top cartoons with real life drama. Michael Pena is hilarious- laugh out loud funny. Ken Jeong does a great bit with Jerry as a strict kitchen leader. Jordan Bolger plays the romantic interest to wildly successful child actress Chloë Grace Moretz.
Favorite scenes- 1. Tom, Jerry, and a drone. 2. Kayla, Terence, Mr. Dubros 3. Kayla and Terence Walkie Talkie busting Tom and Jerry 4. Tom’s Satisfying Contraption 5. Patsy Feran’s character suggesting the Garden. 6. Elephant’s. 7. After Credits Scene.
The Soundtrack was really good. John Legend is magnificent. Solid names on the child rap songs including A Tribe Called Quest, Rick Ross, Flo Rida, and that classic wedding jam by Jagged Edge.
2020 was a lot of things for a lot of people. For me it was a year of prolific video creation. Total Videos published across Youtube, TikTok, Instagram, and Facebook was 907. The amount of stories created on Snapchat, Instagram, Facebook, and even Twitter is a multiple of that number. Here are the top 10
#10- Dalmatian Puppies 2nd Sunday-
This is part of the 7 part Dalmatian puppies Christmas series
#9- 2020 Cleveland Browns Game #5
After beating a bad Dallas team in Texas this was the point in the season where we knew the Browns were a playoff contender
#8- Joe Buck and Troy Aikman Caught on a Hot Mic
This off the cuff video originally made on TikTok was crossposted to YouTube and made some waves.
#7- The Best Ohioans of All Time-
Made in August this is now on the older half of the videos I have made but still is one of my personal favorites. Inspired by Dan Carlin’s Hardcore History podcast and the sound design in the new Netflix show- Unsolved Mystery
#6- It’s Gardening Time-lapse
The YouTube Algorithm likes long videos and my Pakistani social media manager assigned me the task of making an hour long video. I still enjoy putting this time-lapse on my screen
#5- Burning a Larry Nance Jr. Jersey in my Backyard
The most controversial video of the year went viral on Twitter and allowed me to experience a two minutes hate. It did spawn a podcast that I enjoyed participating in.
#4- Columbus Unrest 5/30/2020
Posted under a different YouTube account this video describes the atmosphere in the country around Memorial Day.
#3- Outlet Replacement TikTok
First video that went anywhere on TikTok this was a time-lapse installing a new USB outlet.
#2- Doc’s House- Installing 5” Recessed Lights and Cans
The Grandfather of all the videos this video was the first foray into publishing content online. Without this video the other would not exist.
#1 – LED Mirror Install
TikTok. At 800k+ views, 75k+ engagement, and 6k+ hour watch time this video was well received and a lot of fun. More home improvement videos to come in Q1 of 2020
Honorable Mention- The Final Supper with the Dalmatian Puppies, Seneca Golf Course August Flyover, Space Puppies, 4th of July Dog Jumping, The Hen and the Golden Eggs, World Series 2020 LA v TB Turner. Manfred. , Cleveland Museum of Art, One Minute Film Review- Wonder Woman 1984, Doc’s House USB Outlet, Ohio Dog Olympics, 4k Tree Time-lapse, Dalmatian Puppies 4th Sunday
Where do you go when you need information? Whether it be chrome, the url, or maps- Google is the search monopoly. Bing and DuckDuckGo have a ~ 7% and 0.5% market share of search and Apple Maps has 11% of maps.
Why should Google’s search business be plucked away from the rest of its segments?
The ad business has been so lucrative for Google that they are able to lose money in other segments and destroy competition. The acquisition of open source mobile operating system Android allowed Google to sink mobile plays from Nokia, Blackberry, Amazon, and Microsoft. They licensed the software for free (anti-competitively) and once they achieved a duopoly with Apple they wrote the iPhone maker a check to ensure they were nearly 100% of mobile search. This anti-competitive behavior leaks into Alphabet’s (Google’s “parent company” organized in 2015) other ventures allowing them to go for power grabs in internet infrastructure and cutting edge technology.
While not considered a social media power Google has the largest video hosting site (YouTube) and the most popular email domain (Gmail). This additional personal information (on top of your search history and your location information from maps) allows Google to provide personalized search. When you are looking for information on the internet google will provide you a personalized result. This is too much power and influence. The world’s most valuable resource is no longer oil, its data.
Section 230- provides liability protection for distributors of content. This piece of the 1996 Telecommunication Act is having trouble fitting the social media age. Google is not responsible for the content that a third party publishes on YouTube or a bad comment because YouTube is a platform. YouTube does have an obligation to check content for copyright and restrict certain types of content. Like search, when you explore the media available on YouTube- Google again will provide a personalized result based upon what it knows about the user. YouTube has been purging counts for violating community guidelines. This means Google could be targeted for being a monopoly and it’s status as a publisher under a new section 230 if it editorializes the members of its community. These community guidelines give the “provider of an interactive computer service” unilateral ability to shape the content on their site via selective enforcement in kangaroo courts.
Facebooks case for antitrust is weaker. It relies on ad revenue just as Google does. It does lead the non-google companies in personalized data collection. It’s a good debate as to whether Google or Facebook has the more valuable data trove. Facebook does not have a monopoly. Facebook does engage in anticompetitive tactics. It’s primary tactic is purchasing their competitors (Instagram and WhatsApp). The backup tactic is to copy their competitors (Snapchat and TikTok). They are an easy target for an antitrust movement because breaking them up would be simply to reverse the acquisitions. Facebook does push Section 230 to the edge by engaging in editorial decisions about the content on their platform. The NY Post Hunter Biden story is the latest example of a social media giant acting as both a distributor and an editor. This position of being perceived as a partisan company/ scapegoat is like wearing a bright red target on your back when regulation is coming.
Amazon has questions to answer in the big tech anti trust push due to its anti-competitive tactics with competitors and its private label line of AmazonBasics. It has squeezed out e-commerce competitors like diapers.com in the past by losing money until their war chest overwhelmed the smaller companies. The AmazonBasics line now identifies high margin items that exist on the site, duplicates them, and then outrank them when searching amazon.com. Amazon does face strong competition with WalMart and has some possible headwinds with labor on the horizon. They are one of the few tech giants able to avoid the section 230 reckoning.
The section 230 reckoning. At a newspaper stories pass through an editors desk before being released for publishing. At a social media site they pass through an algorithm. The algorithm is making decisions based upon a number of factors on how to engage the user. The algorithm also happens to be a unique asset to the company. The growth of TikTok is due to its algorithm/ recommendation engine. TikTok is really good at giving people short form video content that keeps them on the platform.
A new section 230. Politicians on both sides of the aisle see their power and influence waning to these tech giants. The top 5 tech companies comprise 1/4 of the the S&P 500.
A new section 230 has to establish which ingredients cannot go into an algorithm for it to be considered exempt from liability. Reducing distribution of stories that negatively affect your preferred presidential candidate would be an example of something that should be prohibited. Deplatforming and locking up accounts for violations of selectively enforced community guidelines is also going to have to be examined in the next set of rules.
The idea used to be that your home is your castle. Now with mass data collection your ISP, phone, and social media accounts know more about you than you know about yourself (see the Social Dilemma).
Amazon has a new Ring indoor security drone that will fly around your house and alert you if there are any security threats. It has a camera and begs the question about whether the benefits of the tool are worth the cost of the loss of privacy.
If you value your privacy the easiest way to ensure you are not being surveilled is to disavow technology. Avoid Google, Amazon, social media, and the whole of the internet. The disadvantages that you would incur are obvious. At this point I would recommend expelling the idea that your home is your castle and retreat to the idea that your master bedroom is your tech free sanctuary. Old school alarm clock and plug those phones and tablets far away at night.
3 Straight- Florida, Iowa, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, and Maine’s second congressional district. These states voted for Trump in 2016 and Obama in 2012 and 2008
5 Straight- Ohio and Florida- they both went George W. Bush in 2000 and 2004
6 Straight- Ohio and Florida- they voted Clinton in 1996
7 Straight- Ohio voted Clinton in 1992. Florida went George H.W. Bush
8- Ohio did go George H.W. Bush in 1988
10- Ohio went Reagan in 1984 and 1980
11- Ohio went Carter in 1976
13- Ohio went Nixon in 1972 and 1968
14- Ohio went Lyndon B. Johnson in 1964
That’s it. Ohio voted for Nixon over Kennedy in 1960 and Kennedy won. In that election California voted Republican (Nixon’s home state) and Texas voted Democrat (Kennedy’s running mate Johnson’s home state)
The Ohioan 