#'it was...once again...overreliance on technology

[swan2swan]

"Life is actually a series of encounters in which one event may change those that follow in a wholly unpredictable and even devastating way." --Ian Malcolm

[kevinsreviewcatalogue]

Review: Y2K (2024)

Y2K (2024)

Rated R for bloody violence, strong sexual content/nudity, pervasive language, and teen drug/alcohol use

<Originally posted at https://kevinsreviewcatalogue.blogspot.com/2024/12/review-y2k-2024.html>

Score: 3 out of 5

The '90s have become for my generation what the '50s were for my parents' generation. It's funny, given that I still remember movies like Pleasantville and Blast from the Past that were actually made in the '90s and presented the '50s as the utter antithesis to such, an era of wholesome family values and patriotism versus the decadent and depraved times in which a lot of people believed we were living back then. (Or, alternatively, stories like Fallout and -- again -- Pleasantville that explored the flip side of this, depicting the '50s as an era of authoritarianism and social repression that probably shouldn't be romanticized.) And yet, while the finer contours of '90s nostalgia are obviously different from those of the '50s, framing it not as a time when people were more morally upstanding but one where they were cooler and more chill, the broad strokes are similar: it was a more innocent time when everybody more or less shared the same values and most of society's "real" problems were assumed to have been solved.

And just like the '50s, everybody has a theory as to where it all went wrong and the dream of the '90s fell apart. People on all corners of the political spectrum have used this question for partisan ax-grinding, to say nothing of the impact of 9/11, but one rather apolitical theory that I'm partial to is that the internet was what killed it. The subject of breathless hype at the time (and well into the next two decades) from hacker and techie culture and the nascent Silicon Valley tech industry about how it was gonna revolutionize the world and bring us into a new golden age, its actual consequences for society have been far more of a mixed bag. On one hand, it empowered previously marginalized voices and let them speak truth to power, allowed academics and niche communities to network and share their ideas, and allowed independent artists and journalists to cut out the middleman of an often extortionary mainstream media and entertainment industry. On the other hand, however, it also elevated unhinged conspiracy theorists, hostile foreign powers, and rank bigots, allowing them too to network and spew retrograde, anti-intellectual garbage, all while the shared culture that we had dissolved into a mass of subcultures and the tech industry slowly but surely became a corporate behemoth even worse than the "legacy media" it displaced.

It's this theory that the movie Y2K, in its better moments, is sympathetic to and tilts towards. It's a movie about the worst predictions about the Y2K bug coming to pass and then some, in the form of a sentient AI computer virus that hijacks everything with a computer chip in it in order to exterminate humanity. It's a very dumb and silly movie whose presentation of computer technology is laughably inaccurate to the point of explicit parody, and whose sense of humor is overreliant on '90s pop culture references and plot points lifted from other, better teen movies. Fortunately, once the plot gets rolling it finally finds its footing, still a pretty dumb and silly movie but one that manages to tread the line between a farcical horror/comedy spoof of that period in time and an exploration of our relationship with computer technology. It felt like a movie made for people like me who remember not only the hype surrounding the Y2K bug but also the broader pop culture and aesthetics of the time period, and while I feel that there were a lot of ways in which it could've cut much deeper than it ultimately did, it still hit the spot as pure, empty-calorie cheez whiz, a fun throwback that does for the late '90s what Stranger Things does for the '80s.

The worst parts of the movie are unfortunately front-loaded, with a teen comedy plot that's mostly a second-rate retread of Superbad (whose star Jonah Hill produced this) but with characters who aren't half as interesting. On December 31, 1999 in the anonymous American suburb of Crawford, high school loser buddies Eli and Danny decide to crash a New Year's Eve party that their rich jock classmate Chris is throwing at his place, largely so that Eli can ask out Laura, a friend of his who he has a crush on. The big problem is fundamentally one of asymmetry between its male and female leads. Rachel Zegler is charming and charismatic as Laura, but unfortunately, I could not say the same about Jaeden Martell as Eli. This film's protagonist may as well have been a blank slate, a generic "cool loser" of a sort we've seen in countless teen comedies before who's motivated purely by a desire to get laid, and neither the writing nor Martell's performance do anything to elevate him. While Laura is the one who actually figures everything out and drives the plot forward in the second half of the film, and she was clearly having fun doing its spoof of Hackers towards the end, it still asked me to treat Eli and his quest for Laura's love as a story on equal footing with such even though I couldn't be bothered to care about it. If it were up to me, I would've switched around Laura and Eli when it came to their importance to the film. Spend more of the first act focusing on Laura not just as the cute "girl next door", but also as the computer whiz who designed her school's web page. Have her get an inkling early on that the Y2K bug might not be as much of a nothingburger as everybody thinks, so as to build up some tension in the first act. Keep Danny, because he was pretty entertaining as the comic relief who embarrasses our protagonist in front of the cool kids, but have him be Laura's friend in addition to Eli's (maybe he's part of the computer club with her?) so that his arc affects her as much as it does him, the two of them even perhaps bonding over it. Don't make Eli the hero, make him the love interest, a well-meaning guy who Laura initially finds cringy but eventually warms up to as he proves himself. As it stood, though, half this movie's story felt like the most basic, boilerplate teen sex comedy I could imagine, and after a certain point I was just waiting for the real action to start.

It's a good thing, then, that once this movie gets to that point it picks up admirably. As the title suggests, the Y2K bug arrives at the stroke of midnight, and it does far more than just knock out the power. No, it's a sapient, malicious AI computer virus that takes over everything with a computer chip in it, from actual computers to RC cars to microwaves to Tamagotchis, and uses it to try and kill humans like in Maximum Overdrive, with various hijacked objects eventually coming together into humanoid, mechanical monsters. The party turns into a very fun bloodbath full of creative kills, and both the violence and the killer robots are done with gnarly practical effects. It's never a particularly scary movie, but it is a very fun joyride, with the supporting cast getting far more room to shine. Fred Durst shows up as himself, the movie making all the requisite jokes about Limp Bizkit but also clearly having an unapologetic affection for the much-maligned nu metal band, especially when Lachlan Watson's "rebel" chick Ash meets him. The subplot with the off-the-grid stoners who call themselves the Kollective was an amusing diversion that fed nicely into the themes of the story, which the film doesn't beat you over the head with but which are readily apparent if you're paying attention. You see, the Y2K bug doesn't want to wipe out humanity, but wants to enslave them, implanting chips into everybody's heads in order to use their brains for processing power while trapping their consciousnesses in a digital realm, like a version of The Matrix that went much heavier on the retro '90s internet aesthetics. After all, we've already outsourced plenty of our decision-making to technology and have grown more and more dependent on it, so it may as well make our enslavement to the internet official. The Y2K bug itself, presented on various screens as a polygonal digital being straight out of The Lawnmower Man, is one of my favorite characters in the movie, a foul-mouthed, malicious creature that holds nothing but naked contempt for the stupid, lazy meatbags that make up most of the human race, like if Bender from Futurama decided to turn evil one day. The science fiction side of this film's comedy was far better than the teen sex romp it started out as, making me wish that the film had leaned that much further into it, its teen movie homages being less a throwback to American Pie and more a spoof of WarGames and Hackers.

The Bottom Line

Y2K was a movie that didn't know what its best qualities were, especially early on, but once it got going it became a fun nostalgia trip of a sci-fi horror/comedy, even if I will admit that my own personal affection for the era of my childhood probably caused me to like this more than I should've. Consider this a qualified recommendation for children of the late '90s and early '00s.

[instantbee]

Okay so far we have -General appearance -Overreliance on technology -Smug sense of superiority about their city -Member of the ruling council -Too eager to use the military -Road to hell is paved with good intentions -Shot a child off a cliff Once again, Jayce Talis and James Ironwood are the same man

[permeatingdusk]

Youichi Nakamura Char. Info

This is written in a little bit of a different style  its meant to mirror a government document.

Name: Nakamura, Youichi Jesus 中村今村耶穌

Age (approx.): 29

Birthdate: November 14th 2387 二三八七年十一月十四號

Birthplace: Lower Lanfeng, Lanfeng City, Venus

Status/Caste: Exile, former member of several criminal cabals endemic to the upper reaches of the Venusian floating resort city of Lanfeng, catering to wealthy casino bosses and the banking clans which permeate the city’s governance, Mr. Nakamura is indubitably guilty of a litany of crimes the most severe of which follow: larceny, extortion, assault both of commoners and more egregiously of higher blood, flouting and denigrating the largesse of our refulgent emperor and the heptarchy, and breaching the computer data terminals belonging to the nascent outpost of MCI within the city. Although Mr. Nakamura was by virtue of pecuniary aggrandizement relatively wealthy compared to many people who are born in the lower slums of Lanfeng, however his family shares no blood moieties with any of the noble families either through marriage or through consanguinity, and as such is considered to be of common heritage, thusly all personal wealth was bequeathed to his paramour after its confiscation. Mr. Nakamura is suspected of an even more severe transgression, the murder of Aynala DeBeers of the DeBeers-Tang banking and mining corporation, he was narrowly exculpated of the crime by a paucity of evidence, and the winnowing chances of conviction in a protracted trial. It is worth noting that Nakamura’s implication in the crime is no mere calumny, his role as the hacker and occasional enforcer for an avaricious and rapacious crime gang which employs a wide sundry of executioners means he could have been contracted to murder along with his typical tasks. Narrowly dodging the death penalty by escaping the murder conviction, Nakamura’s other crimes still resulted in the glorious viceroy Ivan Ngyuen deigning to offer him an ultimatum with the options of being sent to asteroid labor camps or being impressed into colonization of the outer solar system, which is the path he out of his own volition selected. Nakamura’s government issued threat level is defined at level A, the penultimate value, due to his criminal activity, technological erudition, as well as the lingering suspicion of his involvement in murder.

Occupation (if applicable): Mr. Nakamura’s assigned role in his exile was to be as part of an expeditionary force meant to spearhead colonization of the outer solar rim, specifically the Jovian system, as I am confident anyone who has the classification to become privy to these documents is already well aware, he was delegated to become the chief mechanic and technological expert of the nascent outpost in the abyssal plain of the satellite Europa which remains largely unexplored, and comprehending the biota which is endemic to the biome is germane to any further settlement of the moon. He will working under the supervision of a security Synth known as 4L3-X, as to ensure that any inklings of intransigence are swiftly quelled prior to their ability to interfere with the mission.

Appearance: Nakamura’s skin tone is a dark sallow, having light umber overtones with more auric undertones, as expected for someone of his ancestry. His eyes have epicanthic folds characteristic of Asiatic descent with lissome raven black eyebrows which arch slightly at the slope of his brow ridge. His eyes are ringed by a slight shadow which he often accentuates with make-up to be imposing. The hue of the eyes is mostly aptly described as an ardent amber color, with nuances of both cerise and a sylvan wood brown. Amongst his facial features the jaw line features imminently and is a tad rectangular with a prominent chin. Nakamura stands at 1.8 meters with a weight of 82 kilograms. Obsession with his appearance and his employment as an enforcer, has led to the development of a greatly toned physique with great strength, his shoulders are a tad bit disproportionate with his trunk as a result of this insinuating the overreliance on chest exercise in his physical activity regimen. Arranging his carbon black facial hair into a goatee and a thin line moustache takes up a copious amount of his morning routine, which was observed during his captivity. His hair is a similar obsidian color and is generally worn in a close cropped style with copious amounts of styling gel applied in order to spike it. Sartorially, Nakamura enjoys garishly patterned suits emblazoned with foliage, low-cut silk V-necks, as well as expensive shorts and slacks. He also was a flagrant violator of sumptuary laws by choosing to wear a copious amount of jewelry, including gold which is expressly forbade for someone of commoner status including gold and sapphires, however, all of his illicit jewels were confiscated and will remain government property in perpetuity. Lastly, Nakamura has extensive tattooing across the entirety of his back, most of which features iconography associated with Japanese culture along with stylized depictions of Scorpions and Tigers.

Personality 性格: Successfully maintains a stoic facade even under extreme duress, enigmatic, former members of both the Flying Tigers and Golden Blood gangs attest to his rather laconic and intimidating personality, however they also drew a direct juxtaposition for the complete transmogrification he could undergo in situations which incurred his wroth, with former victims of his brand of extortion often noting his Machiavellian stemming in part from what one [Redacted]; an account which used to serve at the behest of the Venusian Yakuza; best described as an “…abyssal magnetism, the way his eyes could bore into the reaches your very soul, exhuming the most stygian thoughts. It was almost as if a conflagration solely made of the most gelid ice burned in the surface of his eyes, the darkest of scintilla” Nakamura was not on the most amiable terms with the crime-boss, in spite of his deft manipulation and hacking skills he was referred to as “recalcitrant”, “intransigent”, and “pugnacious” during his absence from meetings. He was also known to employ his purportedly debonair appearance to his advantage, leveraging salacious behavior when interacting with those whom can presumed to be susceptible to such facades, however his paramour remarked that he knew of no known instance of infidelity. The aforementioned fact seems to be part of a broader trend, for the façade which Mr. Nakamura dons in public seems to be the antithesis of his domestic life, both his paramour Nikita [Redacted] and his mother Marissa [Redacted] described a man who was profoundly romantic at his core, even sometimes maudlin, as well as someone who was inordinately affectionate. His eldest child similarly seemed quite melancholy at the possibility of his father’s exile, and seemed to hold the man in great esteem. The main point of similarity was that he maintained his terseness even at home, often preferring tactile expression of his emotions rather than verbal, along with vagaries in his moods. Psychoanalyst [Redacted], who performed the hypnosis sessions upon Nakamura, believes this dichotomy in his chosen mien intimates a broader instability in his personal identity, specifically a peculiar fixation on machismo (a scion of his father absconding at a young age) and the need to project a sense of virulence and masculinity designed to guise a in truth rather fragile ego and the opprobrium still extant in Catholic communities over homosexuality, this is supported by the garish opulence of his home as well. She also classified him as displaying a number of symptoms characterizing Borderline Personality Disorder. His capricious, violent, and disobedient personality in combination with the lingering suspicion of his guilt is the central reason as to why his threat designation has been elevated to the echelon of A, which would usually be reserved for only the most truculent of individuals, the vacillations which can characterize his tumultuous moods makes his stability in a crisis unreliable, as such the leader of the mission has the additional onus of canvassing his behavior for any signs of duplicity which could spark any further rebellious tendencies, however it is worth noting his knowledge of electronics makes him an invaluable asset to this mission assuming that the signals detected indeed end up being genuine evidence of artificial constructions on the planet and not mere disruptions in the magnetic field, as such, should Nakamura behave in a manner lacking a certain “decorum” we have outfitted him with a repressed code activator during his hypnosis sessions. For your convenience, merely state the word “coruscating” followed by a command and Nakamura’s Phi-2351 neurological implants will coerce him into obedience, however only use this sparingly, the electrical output would overload the grey matter if used at regular intervals; it is meant for only dire situations.

Education: Recipient of a Master’s degree in Computer Science from the College of Technology based in the upper districts of Lanfeng, where he was a scholarship candidate based on his penury status, once again solely the result of the generosity of the Venusian court, and was amongst the zenith of his class in terms of academic marks. It appears that during this time he was scouted for his deft hacking abilities by the Golden Blood gang(later absorbed into the Flying Tigers), who entreated him through extending an offer of subsidizing his mother’s income in the interim period of entering the organization as a neophyte. Choosing to specialize primarily in the rather arcane field of data terminal management surprisingly turned into a major boon for Nakamura considering the paucity of government surveillance on the planet, which allowed him to furtively purloin extensive sums from the merchants and casino bosses who caved to intimidation tactics. Mr. Nakamura’s public education in contrast was rather rudimentary, being sent to the systems of Lower Lanfeng with the majority of the tail end of the Cupric class which populated the city slums, and as such also retained networks of allies amongst the demotic classes.

Technical Skills: Nakamura’s talents in the area of coding and hacking should not be understated, he operates on a level of sophistication analogous to only the most adroit agents employed in the annals of MCI history, he has managed to surpass what were prior thought to be insuperable barriers to Hackers including the ZhangChengSan or the Third Great Wall along with the Moscow invective tracer. Data terminals remain one of the sole bastions which keeps the Venusian colonies from plunging into tumult for their role in maintaining MCI operations until infrastructure is updated in compliance with the new Surveillance standards, and he managed to override several head terminals within Lanfeng. Nakamura is a savant with computational systems as well, and was documented to be the secondary mechanic working on Synths and androids which were illicitly employed in the gambling and prostitution coteries by the Flying Tigers after their merger with the Golden Blood, as such it is worth once again reiterating that Nakamura should never be made aware of the true nature of his guardian. Nakamura also used his amassed wealth to fund several implants (besides those which he is unwittingly carrying as per MCI regulation to quell high level plants), and has Gama-994 implants to ameliorate ocular problems which plagued him as a child according to his mother, as well as an Epsilon prosthetic to replace a portion of his hand which he was made bereft of during a territorial conflict between rival gangs of Yakuza, both of which grant his a slightly elevated physical prowess in addition to his natural upper body strength. Infelicitously his talents are going to be squandered in preforming rudimentary computer repair in the Jovian system, at least in the temporary until proper deference to the government can be instilled into him, at which point he could prove to be an asset to the MCI.

Political/World Views: Ardent antipathy to the Auric and the Sapphiric classes was apparent during the conscious and torpor-induced phases of Nakamura’s interrogation, with special rancor reserved for the viceroy of Venus and the nobility of Lanfeng. Whether this animus was engendered following his implication and subsequent arrest for the murder of Aynala DeBeers or was already extant prior to his capture is concurrently unknown, yet, it can be extrapolated through Nakamura’s personality profile that disregard for authority was likely ingrained into him from a young age with the absconding Father and the embezzling uncle. His hypnotherapy sessions allowed our agents to elucidate the fact that his perspective and philosophical outlook is rather negative, and as expected from someone with such a turbulent personality, it also appeared that a deeper penchant for both the occult and spirituality is obfuscated beneath a veneer of aggressive stance against organized religion.

Orientation: Undeclared, since adolescence Mr. Nakamura has ardently and aggressively refused to cooperate with data garnering drones in the procurement census data on Venus during the annual count. The last extant record of Mr. Nakamura’s personal data in government sanctioned data banks prior to his aforementioned arrest and interrogation was retrieved when he was only fourteen, before the question is cogent. Due to the dearth of operatives within the Venusian colonies, and their age, direct surveillance data is insufficient as well. Unfortunately, Mr. Nakamura remained recalcitrant even when subjected to the most efficacious extraction techniques, as such no verbal confession of his preferences was retrieved either. His laconic nature forces us to theorize based upon the parentage of his three children that Mr. Nakamura is a Homosexual, with the actuarial division giving this approximately 96% confidence, however this is merely an extrapolation and thusly should not engender a sense of complacence amongst the female settlers who will share housing with him. Considering his belligerent nature and criminal past MIC strongly cautions against EVER entering an amorous relationship with him.

Religious Affiliation: Pouring through the census data from the last available date, Mr. Nakamura appears to have abjured formal religious participation since adolescence, with his response being recorded as Agnostic. In addition, the official promulgation necessitating the return of temple attendance rolls is generally regarded as moot amongst the Venusians, due to the lack of an entrenched bureaucracy, so the trajectory of Mr. Nakamura’s spirituality remains nebulous. Meticulous analysis of interview footage captured subsequent his arrest, along with that of his hypnosis sessions, both show Mr. Nakamura’s demonstrable disregard for social morays and a disdain for the avariciousness which he believes permeates any ecclesiastical organization. Nakamura’s sentiments were likely engendered by the scandal which besmirches his matrilineal line, caused his uncle who used his position as a Catholic priest to embezzle copious amounts of money given in donation. The opprobrium which resulted from this event is   theorized by MCI psychoanalyst [Redacted] to be a quintessential factor contributing to his descent into poverty and thusly criminality, as such it should be regarded as a topic of great sensitivity and should be avoided in conversation. By pilfering through his confiscated personal belongings, the agency discovered several religious talismans of both a Shinto and Christian nature, intimating some level of personal spirituality.

Children: Known father of three children, a set of twins both aged 2 and another child 4, based upon SNP analysis across the gamut of retrieved genetic material for the Five Heavenly Cities, all of which were produced by inverse Oogenesis and subsequent extra-maternal incubation with another man, lending further credence to MCI’s hypothesis of Mr. Nakamura’s preferences. The other father in question was the aforementioned former Flying Tigers member and executioner turned MIC double Agent Nikita “Nick” [Redacted] known colloquially as “Ice-pick Nick”, who was invaluable to the dissolution of the criminal syndicate and unwittingly the arrest of his paramour. Nakamura has intentionally not been made privy to this fact.

Star Sign 生肖: Scorpio

Nationality 種族: Japanese Hispanic

[neptunecreek]

It's Copyright Week 2019: Join Us in the Fight for Better Copyright Law and Policy

We're taking part in Copyright Week, a series of actions and discussions supporting key principles that should guide copyright policy. Every day this week, various groups are taking on different elements of copyright law and policy, and addressing what's at stake, and what we need to do to make sure that copyright promotes creativity and innovation.

Copyright affects so much about our daily lives, often in ways people don’t even realize. It obviously impacts the movies we watch, the books we read, and the music we listen to. But it also impacts everything from who can fix a tractor to what information is available to us to when we communicate online. That means that copyright law and policy should be made to serve everyone.

Unfortunately, that’s not the way it tends to work. Instead, copyright law is often treated as the exclusive domain of major media and entertainment industries. They’ve been able to shape a law that affects us all to suit their desires, making it harder and harder to access, use, and work with content, information, and devices that we have rights to.

That doesn’t mean we can’t change the status quo. Seven years ago this week, a diverse coalition of Internet users, non-profit groups, and Internet companies defeated the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and the PROTECT IP Act (PIPA), bills that would have forced Internet companies to blacklist and block websites accused of hosting copyright infringing content. These were bills that would have made censorship very easy, all in the name of copyright protection.

This year sees another positive development in the world of copyright: January 1, was the first day in decades that saw new works enter the public domain in the United States. In theory, copyright is supposed to grant exclusive rights for a limited period—enough time for creators to make money off of their works, incentivizing them to create them. Once copyright expires, works enter the public domain, where anyone can make any use of them, perpetuating the cycle of culture building on itself that drives innovation and creation.

In an example of how large media and entertainment companies successfully make copyright laws for themselves, they prefer to have control of things long after the people who actually created them have passed away. They successfully lobbied to have the term of copyright extended, essentially keeping the public domain from growing for decades. The public domain is an important resource for anyone looking to study, build on, or preserve culture. This year, we finally see it grow again.

We continue to fight for a version of copyright that does what it is supposed to. And so, every year, EFF and a number of diverse organizations participate in Copyright Week. Each year, we pick five copyright issues to highlight and advocate a set of principles of copyright law. This year’s issues are:

Monday: Copyright as a Tool of Censorship. Freedom of expression is a fundamental human right essential to a functioning democracy. Copyright should encourage more speech, not act as a legal cudgel to silence it.

Tuesday: Device and Digital Ownership. As the things we buy increasingly exist either in digital form or as devices with software, we also find ourselves subject to onerous licensing agreements and technological restrictions. If you buy something, you should be able to truly own it–meaning you can learn how it works, repair it, remove unwanted features, or tinker with it to make it work in a new way.

Wednesday: Public Domain and Creativity. Copyright policy should encourage creativity, not hamper it. Excessive copyright terms inhibit our ability to comment, criticize, and rework our common culture.

Thursday: Safe Harbors. Safe harbor protections allow online intermediaries to foster public discourse and creativity. Safe harbor status should be easy for intermediaries of all sizes to attain and maintain.

Friday: Filters. Whether as a result of corporate pressure or regulation, overreliance on automated filters to patrol copyright infringement presents a danger to free expression on the Internet.

Every day this week, we’ll be sharing links to blog posts and actions on these topics at https://www.eff.org/copyrightweek and at #CopyrightWeek on Twitter.

As we said last year, and the year before that, if you too stand behind these principles, please join us by supporting them, sharing them, and telling your lawmakers you want to see copyright law reflect them.

from Deeplinks http://bit.ly/2Cpbt5h

[doctorwhonews]

Twice Upon A Time

Latest Review: "Twice Upon A Time". Written by Steven Moffat  Directed by Rachel Talalay Starring Peter Capaldi, David Bradley, Mark Gatiss and Pearl Mackie This review contains spoilers from the Doctor Who Christmas Episode    To be frank, the more recent “Doctor Who” Christmas Specials have somewhat fallen flat in my humble opinion, predominantly due to Steven Moffat’s overreliance upon festive frivolities and holiday humour. Indeed, with the possible exception of Matt Smith’s swansong, "The Time of the Doctor", I haven’t ‘thoroughly enjoyed’ one of these seasonal-themed shows since Russell T Davies’ 2008 masterpiece “The Next Doctor”. I’m also not the greatest fan of Peter Capaldi’s tenure as the time-travelling Gallifreyan either, and believe the Scottish actor’s considerable talents were woefully wasted during his first two seasons, and only really came to the fore once he was ably accompanied by characters like Bill Potts and Nardole. "Twice Upon a Time" however, does not seemingly fall into many of the tinsel-laden traps its predecessors have succumbed to, and instead tells a relatively straightforward story of the Timelord trying to understand whether a company capable of replicating the memories of the deceased should be universally viewed as a villainous malignancy or, somewhat perturbingly for the Doctor, an actual cause for the greater good. In fact, the realisation that this particular adventure specifically occurs on Christmas Day only becomes relevant (and resultantly noticeable) at the episode’s end when it enables the titular lead to engineer a military ceasefire through the manipulation of a few blessed hours of time. Peter Capaldi’s portrayal of a Timelord desperately seeking peace after two thousand years of life, is also far more watchable (and likeable) than the version who required Clara Oswald’s hastily-written handy cards in “Under The Lake” so as to demonstrate even the smallest amount of compassion and humanity. Despite being tired of living himself, the Doctor isn’t about to stand by and watch a single lone soldier die if he can help it, even when Mark Gatiss’ World War One British officer nobly agrees to sacrifice his life in the belief it will save others. Such natural empathy and warmth on behalf of the Twelfth Doctor was sadly missing through so many of his earliest adventures, so it’s nice to see a far more agreeable attitude being shown throughout his final adventure. Far more impressive though, has to be David Bradley’s ‘tour de force’ as the First Doctor. For those old enough to remember, I thought Richard Hurndall’s performance in the Twentieth Anniversary special “The Five Doctors” would be hard to beat, yet the star of “An Adventure in Space and Time” effortlessly transforms into the grumpy grandfather’s role and proves a pleasure to watch; even if he is given the majority of Moffat’s less than subtle sexist jokes – ‘smacked bottom’ for Pete's sake…  Admittedly, some of the “original” Doctor’s athletics are a bit hard to accept. The oldster’s zigzagging in between numerous Dalek disintegration beams as he fast approaches a watchtower belonging to the only ‘good’ Kaled in the galaxy takes a bit of getting used to, and one could certainly never imagine the frail-looking William Hartnell hurling himself from atop the TARDIS onto the ground, even if his fall was cushioned by a sheet of Antarctic snow. Fortunately, such physicality doesn’t jar too much upon the senses, and are always quickly eclipsed by Bradley’s acting gravitas. In fact, one of the highlights of the story is the heart-wrenching despondency etched upon the old man’s face when he comprehends that he will become “The Doctor of War” his adversary is seeking after. This fate, despite being engineered through the sheer necessity needed in order to fight the universe’s many wrongs, clearly reaches down to the very core of the Timelord’s fears as to what his violent legacy may become should he accept the need to regenerate for the first time, and the Yorkshire man ‘nails’ this inner turmoil on-screen marvellously. Mark Gatiss’ Lethbridge-Stewart is similarly an inspiring casting choice, with the English screenwriter putting in a remarkably charming, stiff upper-lipped performance. Such firm fondness for a non-regular character is particularly impressive considering his sombre introduction, trapped inside a bomb blast crater with a wounded German soldier pointing a pistol at him. Yet the World War One Officer (“Sorry… Spoilers.”) soon becomes a decidedly engaging companion, whose baffled bewilderments and naïve nobilities quickly endear him to both the audience and the Twelfth Doctor. It’s certainly a role which seems to far better suit the actor’s strengths than his previous foray into the world of “Doctor Who” as the decidedly over-the-top villain-come-monster Doctor Lazarus. Plot-wise, "Twice Upon a Time" undoubtedly still suffers from some of Steven Moffat’s infamously head scratching discombobulations, as no-one ever seems to properly rationalise just why the Gallifreyan’s dual contemplation of ‘ending his travels’ causes a participant of the Great War to be erroneously dispatched to the South Pole in the year 1986? There’s also little explanation provided as to just how the universe’s mysterious benefactors ever came to be in a position to extract everyone’s memories just before their moment of death, nor how they developed the technology to travel back in time and do so retrospectively? Similarly disconcerting, though perhaps understandable given this adventure is supposed to finish with a feel good finale, are the handful of sickly sweet cameos thrust upon the Doctor at the very end of the show. Rusty the Dalek’s somewhat bizarre appearance mid-way through the tale definitely caught me by surprise, but it at least provided a valid contribution to the plot, seeing as how the Matrix no longer existed, and even Mark Gatiss’ revelation that he was Alastair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart’s ancestor made some sentimental sense. Yet the sudden materialisation of Nardole in No Man’s Land appeared to have been manipulated purely to provide the tenth season TARDIS crew the chance for a last group hug, whilst the ‘blink and you’ll miss her’ manifestation of the Impossible Girl, Clara Oswald, was seriously super sugary-strong stuff… Sadly, this particular Christmas Special also insists on treating the Timelord’s regeneration as an opportunity for the lead actor to perform a lengthy swansong; a trend arguably initiated by Russell T Davies dreadfully drawn-out dramatics for the Tenth Doctor in “The End of Time”. True, Matt Smith’s ���like breath on a mirror” speech from “The Time of The Doctor” was memorably magnificent and encapsulated much of his tenure on the television series within the space of a few minutes. However, Peter Capaldi’s soliloquy seemingly comes across as a bit of an emotionless rant, in which the show’s producer appears, once again, to be trying far too hard to be funny or clever, and thus disappointingly causes the Twelfth Doctor’s final moments to be far more reminiscent of his disagreeable early days rather than the more warm, likeable time traveller he has become over the past twelve months. http://reviews.doctorwhonews.net/2017/12/twiceUpnATime.html?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=tumblr

[swelldomains]

5 Easy Ways to Sabotage Your AdWords Campaign

I'll be the first to confess AdWords could be aggravating. REALLY frustrating.

And with all the brand-new functions, settings and also updates Google's regularly rolling out, it ain't getting any easier!

Yet, time as well as time once again, I see AdWords marketers making the same relatively basic blunders in their campaigns that completely undermine their efforts.

It's a pity also due to the fact that a great deal of advertisers that might be extremely effective with AdWords surrender because they think AdWords doesn't function. As well as instead of bring in the dough while vocal singing AdWords' applauds, they wind up blowing a great deal of cash while cursing its failures.

So while AdWords does not help every business/situation ... often times the failures advertisers encounter are their own doing.

What are a few of the usual ways advertisers sabotage their AdWords accounts? Below are the top 5 I stumble upon ...

1. Mixing Browse and Show Networks in 1 Campaign

When you run an AdWords project, there are two main networks where your ads may be displayed.

The initially is the Look Network. This is just what the majority of people consider when they think about AdWords. Someone mosts likely to Google, enters a keyword phrase and also pertinent advertisements show up on the page.

The various other is the Show Network. This is a network of thousands of sites that present Google advertisements on them. It has a lot higher reach (in terms of readily available perceptions) than the Look Network, though the high quality of traffic has a tendency to be less than Search.

Search and Present are 2 completely different pets. Just how you select key phrases, create advertisements as well as established bids is really various for each.

Because of this and also since the mindset of someone seeing your ads on Look vs. Present is really different, you have to run them in SEPARATE campaigns.

Google's obtained a little sly lately and presented an option called "Search With Display Select". They bill it as the "Finest opportunity to reach the most consumers".

And, yes, technological it is just that. Is getting to the most clients actually your goal in AdWords?

For most marketers, the answer is no way!

A much better goal would be creating highly targeted projects that reach as several of the right prospects as possible with the best message while obtaining the finest return on the money you invest on clicks.

So if you want to attempt both Search as well as Display, by all methods do. Simply be certain to create one campaign targeting Browse and one targeting Show so you could enhance them separately.

2. Unloading all your search phrases in one Project and also Ad group

A couple of sentences earlier, we spoke concerning creating extremely targeting projects to reach your excellent potential customers with the right message. That applies to separating Search and also Present, as well as it also relates to exactly how you organize your keywords.

Let's state you run a site that markets sporting goods. A few of the search phrases you may bid on could consist of running footwears, bowling rounds and baseball bats.

Now, I'm very certain you 'd agree with me that the individual looking for running footwears is searching for something fairly different from the individual trying to find baseball bats.

So, if in AdWords, you have all these various keywords in the very same ad group (an ad group is a collection of search phrases that share the same advertisements), how can you compose extremely targeted advertisements that talk to the specific key words someone's inputting into Google?

Sure, you can compose a really generic ad like ...

Tom's Sporting Goods tomssportinggoods.com We've got all your sporting Good needs right here!

... but just how efficient is that going to be? Does it truly talk with the person browsing for running footwears or bowling rounds? Certainly not!

The far better strategy is to group very associated keyword phrases right into one ad group.

For instance, all your bowling round associated key phrases would be positioned in one ad group, and after that you would certainly write a minimum of 2 ads for that Advertisement team specifically stating bowling rounds. Those advertisements would certainly after that lead searchers to the bowling round web page on your website.

Using that framework in your campaigns will certainly aid you obtain more clicks as well as conversions versus the disposing all your key phrases together approach.

Oh, and also as an included benefit, structuring your projects into tightly themed advertisement teams must help you obtain greater Quality Scores which will cause lower click costs. (Quality Rating is the formula Google utilizes to establish the cost/rankings of ads in the auction. With a premium quality Rating you can place more than your competitors however pay much less compared to they do for clicks.).

Cha-ching!!

3. Using Only Broad Match Keywords

We still see a great deal of campaigns counting on Broad suit search phrases. Most of the times, that's a large no no.

See, with Broad match keyword phrases, you allow Google establish just what search terms trigger your advertisements to be presented for. The problem is Google's concept which search terms belong to the Broad match keyword phrases in your project may be WAAAYYY various from yours.

Here are a couple of real world instances of search terms we've seen trigger advertisements for Broad suit key words:

Broad match keyword phrase: ear surgery

Search inquiries ads were shown for: listening to implants, ear implants, otoplasty cost

Broad suit key phrase: mathematics tutor

Search questions advertisements were revealed for: math teacher, risk-free personal tutor, mathematics tutorial

Broad suit keyword: solar panels

Search questions ads were revealed for: solar system, solar batteries, solar energy

Not the kind of searchers these marketers had in mind when they established their campaigns!

A whole lot of advertisers end up blowing a whole lotta dough in AdWords since of an overreliance on Broad match keywords.

For new marketers especially, we 'd suggest sticking with Precise and Expression match key phrases as well as, once you're a little bit much more comfortable with AdWords, use some Broad Suit Modifier too.

But, unless you're a seasoned pro and have excellent need to use Broad suit, I 'd suggest you avoid it in your campaigns.

Here's a cool chart that reveals you the difference in between all of the different suit kind options Google has available.

4. Ignoring Your Landing Pages

When running an AdWords campaign, it's very easy to obtain captured up in all the advertisement groups, key words, positionings, advertisements, as well as the linked metrics and also forget regarding your website.

However, the success of your AdWords project is extremely reliant on the effectiveness of the landing web pages you send your traffic to. As well as, at the end of the day, it's the conversions that happen on your website that put cash in your checking account-- not impressions, clicks, clickthrough prices, etc.

Just a few percentage point distinctions in the conversions of your touchdown web pages could make a HUGE distinction in the performance of your AdWords campaign. Actually, if you can double your conversion rate, your price per purchase will quickly be reduced in fifty percent which suggests you could either make even more cash otherwise you have more cash to spend to obtain new customers.

One of our customers was undergoing a harsh spot with AdWords recently. A few new competitors came into their particular niche which had an unfavorable influence on their account's efficiency. It specified where points were nearly recover cost for them.

How'd we fix it?

It was by creating new landing web pages that enhanced their conversion rate a few percent points that made the most significant distinction. That increase substantially improved the earnings of the account as well as additionally enabled us to bid greater for a few of their top keyword phrases (since the better you are at converting web traffic right into dollars, the much more you can profitably bid for keyword phrases).

One various other thing to remember when it involves landing pages. The present web pages you have on your website that work well for SEO might not be preferably matched for AdWords traffic.

Another client of ours used the very same touchdown web pages for both Search Engine Optimization as well as PPC. With a few of the recent changes in Google's natural algorithm, we ended up with the following issue ...

If we enhanced the pages for SEO, the web pages placed greater organically yet the conversion price for our Pay Per Click traffic took a hit. If we went back the various other means as well as maximized a lot more for Pay Per Click, the conversion prices returned up however the natural rankings dropped off.

The remedy? We produced separate landing web pages for SEO and also PPC. That gave us the most effective of both worlds.

You could find a similar method is excellent for your website as well.

Landing web page optimization really isn't really optional any longer when it pertains to PPC.

Ignore it at your own peril.

5. Not Split Testing

Every ad group in your AdWords campaign should have at the very least 2 advertisements running in it. Google will certainly revolve the ads for you so, if you have 2 ads-- one will certainly be displayed about half the time as well as the other will be shown the various other half.

Over time, you'll likely see one ad outperform the various other. When that happens, you intend to eliminate the losing ad and also change it with another.

This technique is referred to as split testing and also has been a vital component of successful direct feedback marketing for decades (and, by the way, AdWords is really straight feedback advertising on steroids!).

Split screening your ads (as well as your landing pages too) on a regular basis has to do with one of the most reliable means to boost the performance of your AdWords campaign.

It aids elevate the clickthrough prices (CTR), Top quality Ratings (and better Ratings indicate reduced expenses each click), as well as conversion rates in your campaign.

And split screening touchdown web pages can result in large boosts in conversion rates (we already talked about just what a large effect that could carry the success of your project).

The first ads/landing pages you utilize in your project probably typically aren't mosting likely to be one of the most reliable ones for your campaign. By consistently split testing with time, you'll weed out the inadequate performers as well as allow your victors drive you to better efficiency and also profitability.

How a number of the errors detailed above have you made? What other errors have you made (or seen others make) that have messes up AdWords projects? Share them in the comment area below.