Month: November 2023

Renaissance: a Film by Beyoncé review – sparkling, party vibe with backstage insights | Beyoncé

This year will go down in cinema history for Barbenheimer but 2023 has also been the year of “Tayloncé”. Just as Barbie and Oppenheimer joined forces to rejuvenate cinema, so Taylor Swift and Beyoncé have cemented their status as joint queens of pop this year. Both singers inspire fanatical devotion, both embarked on stadium tours so huge they warped local economies, and both are closing out 2023 with a movie. Taylor Swift: the Eras Tour became the highest grossing concert movie of all time in October; now comes Queen Bey’s Renaissance movie, doubtless looking to do similar wide-release box office. To be clear, there’s no rivalry here: Beyoncé attended Swift’s LA premiere in October; On Thursday night Swift returned the favour at Renaissance’s London premiere. Where Swift’s movie faithfully replicated the live experience, Renaissance gives us the “making of” as much as the performance. Swift gives us the gliding swan; Beyoncé shows us the legs kicking beneath the waterline as well. It’s arguably a braver move: as with her 2019 movie Homecoming, this works well …

You Should Root for the Cybertruck

You Should Root for the Cybertruck

Of the many quirks of Elon Musk’s Cybertruck, the Cybertruckiest of them all might be this: its windshield wiper. Not wipers, wiper. Tesla’s electric pickup, which debuted today and starts at $61,000, has just a single gigantic rain-wicking blade—a monstrosity that stretches several feet and Musk says is “like a katana.” (The original idea, laser-beam wipers, apparently didn’t work.) Nothing about the wiper or, frankly, about the Cybertruck makes much sense. It is a subzero fridge on wheels, a chef’s knife that went on the supersize-me diet and gained thousands of pounds. Tesla’s long-awaited model, its first entirely new one in four years, has a bullet- and arrow-proof exoskeleton, but it apparently struggles to climb up a dirt hill. The car is capable of pulling “near infinite mass” (according to earlier Tesla marketing) and can “serve briefly as a boat,” (according to Musk), but its angular design means that even tiny manufacturing flaws stick out “like a sore thumb” (again, according to Musk). Frankly, it is an impractical meme car for an impractical meme CEO—the …

Defense startup Epirus CEO leaving to take new job at a public company

Defense startup Epirus CEO leaving to take new job at a public company

Defense startup Epirus, Inc. is getting new leadership. Staff were told at an all-hands meeting this morning that CEO Ken Bedingfield was leaving, TechCrunch learned. The news was later confirmed by a company spokesperson, who told TechCrunch that Bedingfield accepted a role at an unnamed public company. He will be replaced by COO Andy Lowery, effective immediately. Bedingfield held the title of CEO at Epirus for less than a year. Prior to that position, he served as COO and CFO since June 2020. He came to Epirus from aerospace and defense giant Northrop Grumman, where he served as CFO. Torrance, California-based Epirus develops “directed-energy” weapons that can be used to counter drones and other aerial vehicles. The product line, called Leonidas, uses high-power microwave technology mounted on a gimble to neutralize systems from up-close or afar. At the beginning of this year, the company landed a $66 million contract from the U.S. Army to deliver several Leonidas prototypes this year. Epirus’ tech has garnered considerable interest from investors too: last year, the startup closed a …

Son of Labour chief of staff Sue Gray to stand for party as London MP | Labour

The son of Keir Starmer’s chief of staff, Sue Gray, has been selected to stand as a Labour candidate at the next general election. Liam Conlon will run to become an MP in the Beckenham and Penge constituency in south-east London in the election expected to take place in 2024. He tweeted: “Thank you everyone who supported me and engaged in this process. The past weeks have shown the incredible potential of our new local party. “Look forward to campaigning to win Beckenham and Penge together.” The seat is set to be newly created under the recent boundary review. Bob Stewart, who previously said he would step down before the next election after being found guilty of racially abusing an activist, is currently an independent MP for Beckenham. The former Conservative is understood to be appealing against his conviction. According to Jill Rutter, an associate fellow at thinktank British Future, Conlon has been active in the party for longer than his mother. Gray, who investigated parties held in Downing Street during the coronavirus lockdowns, quit …

Sunak accused of sending wrong signals on climate crisis as he heads to Cop28 | Cop28

Rishi Sunak has been accused of sending out the wrong signals on tackling the climate emergency as he heads to the Cop28 summit in Dubai after saying his revised net zero targets show he is “not in hock to the ideological zealots”. The prime minister will allocate about £1.6bn of climate finance during the summit and claim that the UK will exceed its target of spending £11.6bn over the five years to 2026. But he faces accusations from charities and non-governmental organisations that the UK is on track to meet the target only by changing the way it calculates climate aid – and otherwise would fall far short of the total. Before the summit, Sunak also chose to emphasise his “pragmatic” approach to tackling the climate crisis, having two months ago decided to water down his net zero targets on phasing out petrol cars and gas boilers. “The transition to net zero should make us all safer and better off,” he said on Thursday. “It must benefit, not burden, ordinary families. The UK has led …

Tesla’s cheapest Cybertruck won’t drop until 2025

Tesla’s cheapest Cybertruck won’t drop until 2025

Bad news: If you had your heart set on a sub-$40,000 Cybertruck, it ain’t coming next year, if ever. Though Tesla plans to ramp up production of its electric pickup in 2024, the company clarified today after its splashy delivery event that the cheapest Cybertruck variant will be available in 2025. Tesla first announced a single-motor Cybertruck variant with rear-wheel drive back in 2019, with a towing capacity of 7,500 pounds and a 250-mile range. Originally, the automaker said it would cost $39,900. Then came the pandemic, and more delays, thanks at least in part to the Cybertruck’s rigid steel body.  Seasons changed, and so did Tesla’s Cybertruck price estimates. The automaker now estimates it’ll charge $57,390 — or $49,890 after $7,500 in federal tax credits. That’s more than the starting price for a Ford Lightning or Silverado EV (both around $50,000).  It’s possible that Tesla will eventually drive down the starting price of its pickup, just as it has done with its other EVs. But in 2025, a $39,900 Cybertruck sure sounds like a …

Tesla Cybertruck delivery event: everything Elon revealed about the EV pickup

Tesla Cybertruck delivery event: everything Elon revealed about the EV pickup

With dubstep as the soundtrack and neon lighting as the backdrop, Elon Musk handed the first Cybertrucks over to a select group of customers that included Reddit co-founder and VC fund Seven Seven Six founder Alexis Ohanian and Trousdale Ventures founder and CEO Phillip Sarofim. The live streamed portion of the Tesla Cybertruck delivery event was a short affair — around 30 minutes. But the event still had all the traditional trappings one has come to expect from Tesla: the pomp and pumpy music, VIP guests and of course, Musk. The Tesla Cybertruck deliveries come at least six years since Musk first tweeted about building a truck and four years since he debuted the futuristic-looking picup. Looking beyond some of the flashier features — it’s bullet proof — here’s everything we know so far. Three versions Image Credits: Tesla/screenshot The Tesla Cybertruck will eventually be available in three configurations. The cheapest of the batch, a rear-wheel version with 250 miles of range, a 6.9-second zero to 60 miles per hour acceleration rate and a $60,990 …

Liverpool through as Europa League group winners after dismantling Lask | Europa League

Liverpool’s superiority over their Europa League opponents has never been in doubt, an off-night in Toulouse notwithstanding, and they sealed a place in the last 16 as group winners with a convincing defeat of Lask at Anfield. Jürgen Klopp’s side delivered the victory they required and also got the result they needed from Toulouse against Union Saint-Gilloise to record a 10th successive home win in all competitions this season. Victory looked assured from the moment Luis Díaz headed home in the 12th minute. A brace from Cody Gakpo and the 199th goal of Mohamed Salah’s Liverpool career sealed passage to the knockout phase with something to spare. Liverpool wasted little time in following Klopp’s instruction to qualify at Anfield rather than waiting until the final group game, away at Union Saint-Gilloise, when the “most intense period of the whole season” would be well under way. A place in the top two was in effect guaranteed inside 15 minutes against the outclassed Austrians. There was nothing wrong with Lask’s ambitious approach given they had to win …

Former Blue Origin rocket engine manager alleges wrongful termination for whistleblowing on safety

Former Blue Origin rocket engine manager alleges wrongful termination for whistleblowing on safety

The former program manager of Blue Origin’s BE-4 rocket engines has filed a lawsuit against the company alleging whistleblower retaliation after he spoke up about safety issues. The complaint was filed on Monday in the Los Angeles County Superior Court. It includes a detailed narrative about program manager Craig Stoker’s efforts over seven months to escalate his concerns over safety and a hostile work environment at Blue Origin. Allegedly, Stoker told two VPs in May 2022 that then-CEO Bob Smith’s behavior caused employees “to frequently violate safety procedures and processes in order to meet unreasonable deadlines.” Smith would “explode” when issues would arise, generating a hostile work environment, the complaint says. Stoker sent a follow up email to the two VPs – Linda Cova, VP of the engines business unit, and Mary Plunkett, senior VP of human resources – that included a formal complaint against Smith. “Myself, my leadership team and others throughout the company should not have to constantly apologize and make excuses to ourselves and our teams for the CEO’s bad behavior,” the …

Police injured as Legia Warsaw fans denied access to Aston Villa game | Aston Villa

Police were injured after violence from Legia Warsaw fans before their game at Aston Villa. Missiles were thrown at police as the visiting fans were held in the coach park near Villa Park, before they were due to enter for the Europa Conference League game on Thursday. Three police were injured but the game started on time, although no Legia fans were allowed into the stadium before kick-off. A Birmingham Police statement on X, formerly Twitter, said: “We’re currently unable to allow away fans into Villa Park following disorder outside the stadium which has seen missiles thrown at officers. “Three officers have already been injured & a significant policing operation continues. Please avoid Witton Lane where possible.” More to follow … Source link