#travis japan: moving pieces

[kpopmultifan]

Travis Japan has released a set of artists photos for their upcoming 2nd single “Moving Pieces” which is scheduled to be released globally on May 15th followed by their 1st EP on June 5th.

[dayseternal-je]

Travis Japan - "Keep On Smiling" Memories Montage Video

🥺💕💕💕

[jpopstreaming]

🆕🎶 「 Moving Pieces - EP 」 new single by Travis Japan is now available worldwide! 🌐 Listen now and discover new sounds from Japan on our weekly updated playlist 🎧 https://spoti.fi/3lgjH73

[innervision-dai]

Travis Japan 「Moving Pieces」 Music Video

Gaffer（照明監督）は、PerfumeやCrazyBoyさん作品とかのYosuke Shimadaさん。

[manorag]

4 Amazing Dances From Around The World That Will Get Your Feet Tapping

Speedy Jumplinks to Navigate

The Fandango of Spain

The Capoeira of Brazil

The Tinikling Dance of the Philippines

The Kabuki Dance of Japan

Smash hit Domestic Tour Packages Smash hit Himalayan Treks The rhythms of the world are totally enveloped with one single action Dance. Be it the delicate pulsates of the heart, the stir of leaves, the sprinkle and fall of the stream as it overflows on a stone, mood is all over and where there is cadence there is dance as well! Joy, delight, collect, festival or simply various phases of life, there is dance for everything and for however long there is dance, we really want not stress over satisfaction being far away from us.

Go along with us, on this delightful excursion as we map the world for yourself and take you around through 4 different dance steps.

The Fandango of Spain

This enthusiastic, abundant dance has a place with the energetic place that is known for Spain. Typically acted in triple meters by couples, the dance is speedy and epitomizes crude enthusiasm. This vivid dance structure started in this very land and has since spread to Portugal and different areas of the planet. Portrayed by the vigorous hints of Spanish guitar, the excellence of the dance wakes up with the musical examples made with the tapping beats and applauding, called 'palmas' in Spanish. The rich red streaming outfits of the artists make the dance structure even more awesome!

The Capoeira of Brazil

After that thrilling structure, how about we take our feet to match the gymnastic rhythms and hints of Capoeira! A native type of dance, began in Brazil and is a mix of combative techniques, gymnastics and music customary to its African roots. The high speed kicks, fast yet complex moves utilize tremendous strength and influence to additional integrate turns and other gymnastic methods. The music is typically joined by male vocals, conventional African drums and side percussions like Reco, Berimbaus a breeze instrument and pandeiros. Music is an indispensable piece of Capoeira as it chooses the state of mind of the presentation.

The Tinikling Dance of the Philippines

The Tinikling is Philippines National dance. It is a quick cadenced dance that mirrors the developments of the “tikling” birds in the rice fields in their work to try not to be cut with the bamboo traps. The artists are Asian Pacific Heritage Committee individuals. During their presentation Col. Steve Arquiette and spouse Deb are welcome to hit the dance floor with Carrie Basaca,School Age Coordinator at Travis Youth Center and Major Clarence Gagni from 60 MDTS/SGQC.

Tinikling is a dance structure that started in the frontier period in the Phillipines. Moved around the tapping Bamboos, the dance mimics the developments of a neighborhood bird called 'Tikling'. Local people emulate the effortless activities that the bird makes to get away from the bamboo traps set by the ranchers and is moved around Bamboos that are tapped on the ground to make examples of beats. The artists then explore between the bamboos two by two. A nearby cousin of this dance is the Cheraw or Bamboo dance in Mizoram, India. From its unassuming people roots, the mood of the dance has added to it being educated at school levels as an aerobatic and wellness practice.

The Kabuki Dance of Japan

From the cheery and folksy to the out and out dramatic, bizzare but breathtaking, Kabuki is a dance structure that starts in the baffling place that is known for Japan. An exciting creation of Dancing and Singing, Kabuki is unmistakably beautiful in view of its ensembles and methods utilized for make-up. Advancing from its prior profane and interesting topics, the dance has seen numerous destructions and was nearly cleared out. Because of the endeavors of artists, Kabuki has now recovered itself in the period of headphone directs and has likewise been acted in English.

[ironclawpoint]

travis, jeane, and henry are shelter children: the abridged nmh3 headcanon for pals who havent killed the past

(and yeah there’s spoilers)

Who is Kamui?

In The Silver Case, Kamui Uehara is a legendary serial killer in Japan’s 24th Ward; he was arrested for the killings of several political figures in 1979 and suddenly broke out of prison and resumed activity in 1999. He notably had silver eyes. Plot twist: THIS IS A LIE, the 1979 Kamui and 1999 Kamui are different people (ish), and the No More Heroes Kamui is technically not this Kamui, even if he technically... is.

Danni, what the fuck.

Yeah man I know Kill the Past lore is fucked up.

How is this possible?

It’s a government conspiracy!!! The 1979 Kamui, also known as “Format” Kamui, had a personality type (obedient & with a lot of “criminal power” - aka capacity for chaos/destruction) that the Powers That Be determined would be really good for creating numerous controllable government sleeper agents to shift the balance of political power as they saw fit. This personality base was mass produced by imprinting it onto vulnerable young boys in the Shelters (Kamui Maspro) and later young girls (Ayame Maspro).

What’s a Shelter?

Horrible dystopian toddler reeducation bunker where young children were kidnapped, forced to do menial soul sucking tasks in a sterile environment, and reeducated before being subtly planted back into society as sleeper agents. Thousands of kids from the 24th Ward were taken. 1999 Kamui and NMH Kamui were both products of the Shelter. Specifically, NMH Kamui is the “ultimate” Kamui Uehara, having successfully absorbed the memories of previous Kamui consciousnesses to become a quasi-godlike meta-aware and fourth wall breaking being, in conjunction with the mysterious powers of the silver eye he had implanted into his socket, which also grants functional immortality...

DANNI WHAT THE FUCK

YEAH I KNOW BEAR WITH ME.

Isn’t that kind of like the Coburn Elementary stuff in Killer7?

IT SURE IS! Coburn and the development of Emir Parkreiner as a Japanese sleeper agent in American politics is quite close to Kamui/the Shelters. I also headcanon that Coburn is an American iteration of the 24th Ward’s Shelter Project, as, essentially, the government in both Killer7 and TSC are invested in controlling the population via (often violent) social engineering.

So how do Henry, Jeane, and Travis play into this?

As of NMH3, Henry has revealed that he and his siblings fled from their serial killer father and were captured and brainwashed into believing they had separate lives. In this headcanon, I posit that the three of them have been manipulated and influenced to become assassins due to whatever conditioning they received at this event, possibly at another Coburn-like project or facility. I’m undecided on whether the father who raised Travis / abused Jeane is their blood relative and the same as the serial killer or not, as it’s possible Travis and Jeane were returned to him after conditioning.

first of all HENRY HAS A FUCKED UP GREEN THIRD EYE LIKE EMIR. LIKE, LOOK AT IT.

NMH Kamui, in Travis Strikes Again, notes many similarities between himself and Travis: he has similar fourth-walling abilities to the type of being that Kamui has become and, like him, has a large amount of criminal power. On their own this doesn’t necessarily mean anything except travis fourth wall break kill real good, but combined with all the other heavy Kill the Past stuff we’ve seen and Henry’s backstory reveals, it’s not too tough to read into Travis having unknowingly developed into a being on the same level of existence as Kamui: in other words, a self-aware viewpoint for the player.

“Ayamestock” or “Kamuistock” characters, due to their conditioning, are often found in dangerous careers and think little of bloodshed; they are also usually being moved around like chess pieces by higher outside forces.

We don’t know what the hell the UAA or Sylvia is doing as of NMH3. The UAA was no longer false as of NMH2, but why do we still need this bureaucracy / to have the fights taped and widely circulated on the dark web as of TSA? Not to mention that Travis is an “above-ground” assassin while there’s an underground... tl;dr, I suspect Sylvia of manipulating Travis as a pawn, as she has since NMH1, in a way that might involve the Emerald Order and whatever figures were originally manipulating Travis/Jeane/Henry.

The siblings’ separation also fits neatly into the concept of the Shelters: at least one pair of siblings was separated via the Shelter Project, conditioned, then adopted into different families for the sake of spreading out that influence.

Travis has issues with unearthing suppressed memories (perhaps due to tampering?) in NMH3, plus Henry’s experiences with Mimmy in NMH2 suggest Henry does as well.

We don’t know much about Jeane, but “failed” Ayames and Kamuis -- those who didn’t take up the programming well enough -- are usually people on the fringes of society who aren’t placed anywhere influential and have to reckon with their latent violent tendencies some other way, ie CRIME and MURDERS. With her brothers as possible Kamuis, it’s possible she was an Ayame candidate as well, but remained an outcast due to her lack of compatibility. Ayames are also known for being purer / more given to bloodlust as the Ayame project, taking place after the Kamui one, had perfected the conditioning process-- see: the fact that she nearly took Travis out.

Finally: it would be cool and I like it.

[simransky]

In Search of a Pen Pal!

Hello! My name is Simran, I am 21, and I am in search of a pen pal! 

About me: I live in the US and I work in finance, I am a recent college grad, and am studying for the GMAT to get into grad school. I have a god that is basically a child, I travel often and everywhere! I’ve been to every continent except Australia, and the Antarcticas.I garden often, go on hikes, practice yoga, I’m an amateur photographer (As is anyone with a smart phone honestly), I draw every once in a while, I love DIY projects, scrap booking, and crafts in general!

I’m very into literature, I’m currently working on reading all of Haruki Murakami’s works, and then moving onto Sylvia Plath. Other than that I have a soft spot for strange books, like picnic and hanging rock. Also I love mystery and thriller novels as well!

Other than that, I basically watch every single show Netflix has; I watch Izombie, stranger things, The OA, The Good Place, Dark, Disenchanted, etc.

I also really like anime! One Piece is by far my favorite, but I love all kinds of anime and manga, like Fullmetal Alchemist, madoka magica, OHSHC, Skip Beat, Fruits Basket, and I’m currently trying to get through the Evangelion series.

I go to a lot of concerts and music festivals, so let me know if you have a favorite artist and I can bring you back a shirt haha. Currently going to go see Marina and the Diamonds, Lizzo, and James Blake! I also like Post Malone, Travis Scott, Billie, Lana Del Rey, Carly Rae Jepson, Taylor Swift (Her new album is very good), Kendrick Lamar, the Beach Boys, etc.

Ideal Locations: I would love a pen pal from the UK, Japan, France, Spain, Australia, New Zealand, or the Netherlands.

But if you live in the US/ anywhere else that is totally okay too! 

 I’m open to write to anyone anywhere as long as we get along, I’m especially looking for those locations to hopefully do a culture/language exchange.I recently went to Hong Kong and realized how many things are different country to country. 

I am Looking to transition to snail mail, so that means packages, post cards, the works! Culture exchange would of course be package based eventually, so I can learn your culture and you can learn mine! 

If any of this sounds interesting to you please feel free to message me and introduce yourself! 

preferably looking for pen pals 18+

If you are interested please either message me on tumblr @simransky 

Insta is also okay, just let me know that you saw the ad in a DM!

Instagram: simssunflowerletters

[kpopmultifan]

[J-Pop] Travis Japan has released their 1st digital EP “Moving Pieces.”

[highlight medley]

1. Moving Pieces [MV] 2. Charging! 3. Still on a Journey 4. Keep on Smiling

[Apple Music/iTunes] [Spotify] [YouTube Music]

[bunkershotgolf]

TR20 – Honma’s New Woods & Irons

By ED TRAVIS

Honma Golf is making a significant effort to capture a bigger portion of the golf equipment business in the United States and the newest string to their bow is the TR20 family of clubs. TR20 stands for Tour Release 2020 and the line is slotted in the better-player category.

There are two driver models (440cc and 460cc) both having a titanium frame with extensive areas of the body in strong but lightweight carbon fiber. The adjustable hosel is interesting since rather than the conventional design where the entire head or shaft turns as loft or face angle are changed, Honma uses an inner hosel ring that moves so head and shaft orientation remain constant.

The TR20V irons are forged from soft carbon steel in a cavity back design and the TR20P are forged from S35C steel with an L-cup face. Honma tells me they are similar enough in design to make a combination set helpful to players wanting a more forgiving long iron in the bag.

“TR20 drivers are a feat of engineering craftsmanship from our incredibly talented teams in Sakata and Carlsbad. Combining innovative carbon construction with the legendary shaping of our takumis in Japan is something we’re very excited for golfers to experience,” said Honma President John Kawaja.

Honma’s Vice President of Global Product Chris McGinley said about the two iron models, ““The combination of Honma hand-crafted looks with tour level performance, modern constructions and expert designs provide a blend of looks, sound and feel that golfers will love.”

On the PGA Tour the number nine player in the Official World Golf Rankings, Justin Rose, is playing a prototype TR20B that is expected to be available this summer.

WYNTK TR 20 drivers

Better-players category

440cc or 460cc heads

Three adjustable sole weights (choice of 3,6,9,12, & 15grams)

Adjustable hosel – face angle +/- 1.5°, loft +/- 1°, lie <2°

Titanium frame with carbon fiber crown/sole

Thin cast titanium face with vertical grooves in back

Stock shafts VIZARD 50, 60, 70, plus Tour upgrade options

At retail in March for $649.99

WYNTK TR20V irons

TR20V players category

Forged one-piece modern cavity back

Smaller head than TR20P

March retail $174.99 steel shafts /$199.99 graphite

WYNTK TR20P irons

Players-distance category

Forged body with L-cup face

Stronger lofts

Internal pocket with tungsten weight

March retail $174.99 steel shafts /$199.99 graphite

[jpopstreaming]

🆕🎶 「 Moving Pieces 」 new single by Travis Japan is now available worldwide! 🌐 Listen now and discover new sounds from Japan on our weekly updated playlist 🎧 https://spoti.fi/3lgjH73

[jerseydeanne]

Roseberrycupcakes

In Japan, there is an entire class of art devoted to repairing broken pottery; it’s called Kintsugi, the “golden repair,” and it has been around for centuries. Instead of throwing away broken pottery, the potters choose to join the broken pieces with lacquer mixed with gold. The results are stunning; in fact, they’re more beautiful than they were before getting broken.

There’s a deep philosophy behind this historical technique. Instead of viewing flaws as something to be ashamed of, they’re embraced. Objects are not done serving their purpose just because they’re broken; they’re not tossed away; they can be repaired and turned into something even more beautiful.

Such optimistic ideology behind Kintsugi is also expressed in one of my favorite worship songs, Just as I am by Travis Cottrell. This hymn was also performed at the funeral of the well-renowned pastor Billy Graham. The chorus of this deeply moving piece include the following words:

“I come broken to be mended I come wounded to be healed I come desperate to be rescued I come empty to be filled I come guilty to be pardoned By the blood of Christ the Lamb And I’m welcomed with open arms Praise God, just as I am”

We can’t be mended unless we’re broken. We can’t be healed unless we’re wounded. We can’t be rescued unless we’re desperate. We can’t be filled unless we’re empty.

So it’s OK to hit rock bottom in life at times. In fact, there’s a perverse sense of security you feel when you ARE in your lowest points in life, because in a way, you are assured that life can’t get any worse; as long as you survive this bit in life, you can survive anything else life throws at you.

It’s going to be OK. It really will be. Just hang on tight for this bit. God will glue back your broken heart with his own special lacquer mixed with gold. God won’t just make your heart whole again; He will make it more beautiful than ever before.

-Roseberrycupcakes (RCC)

Thank you, RCC- very touching. I had one of the girls suggest that you would perfect for Harry and I agreed! 

[recentanimenews]

Anime in America Podcast: Full Episode 4 Transcript

  Hi, you may have noticed that this week's Anime in America podcast is all about the 18+ topic of Hentai. *Takes a long drag of a Virginia Slim*. Well, buckle up, because this is the full transcript! 

  The Anime in America series is available on crunchyroll.com, animeinamerica.com, and wherever you listen to podcasts. 

    EPISODE 4: YES I DO, HENTAI TOO

Guest: Jacob Grady

  Disclaimer: The following program contains graphic material and language not suitable for audience members under the age of 18. Discretion is advised.

  [Lofi music]

  Just like with most things in anime in america, hentai got its start with Osamu Tezuka. In the twilight of Mushi Production’s years, having already sold the anime that would be localized as Astro Boy and Kimba the White Lion to NBC, Mushi produced a series of three animated films called “Animerama,” A Thousand and One Nights, Cleopatra, and Belladonna of Sadness which were commercial failures that likely contributed to the studio shuttering its doors in 1973. All the same, they were revolutionary for their time as “adult” animation, riding on the heels of Japan’s wave of live action “pink” sexploitatoin films gaining popularity during the same period.

  While there are surviving animated hentai from as early as 1932 such as “Suzumifune” the content was illegal in Japan during that period. Imagine their surprise, seeing Japan now. The Animerama films were legally produced for theatrical release and popular consumption containing nudity, erotic themes, and even rape during a period where anime was in its infancy, with Mushi and Toei competing to produce almost exclusively child appropriate programming.

  I’m Yedoye Travis, and this is hentai in America.

  [Lofi music]

  So, back to America. Animerama’s second film Cleopatra was licensed by the American Studio Xanadu and released for limited theatrical screenings. While the movie itself contains erotic themes and a LOT of topless women, Xanadu promoted the film as “porno,” localizing the title as Cleopatra: Queen of Sex. Very creative. It hit theaters April 24th 1972, missing the being “The first X rated animated film to be released in America” by just six days to the American film Fritz the Cat… or that would be the case if Xanadu had actually submitted their film to the MCAA for an official rating. They’d self-assigned the film an X rating, which I don’t think is allowed. I don’t think that’s… I don’t think that’s legal. But they did it to push the pornogapraphy angle.

  This ended up backfiring as many customers demanded their money back when they realized they were watching a serious film. An actual movie.

  Speaking of which, this seems like a good opportunity to talk a little bit about umm… why? Why hentai? Why- why is it a thing? Anime originally crossed the Pacific out of a need for cheap animation to fill air time on America’s growing menu of TV channels. The demand for porn will always exist but, if you’ll excuse the turn of phrase, we didn’t exactly have any holes that needed filling. Especially after America’s sexual revolution, our proud nation has become one of the biggest porn producers in the world. Unsurprisingly...

  Grady: For me, Western pornography it’s like, almost like corney, in a way. What I don’t like about Western pornography is it’s very rarely a realistic scenario. You know, it’s always like “pizza delivery guy comes over and you know ‘Oh! It’s my dick in the box!’” or something like that, and then- as opposed to like a relationship developing and some sort of scenario happening based on that. So the appeal of hentai for me is that I get to invest myself in the story and take part in the story and feel for the characters more than I would in a Western pornography. And it’s very rare for any Western adult material to take that route, where they’re actually creating a plot or a story, and I wish more did because I think that that would be very appealing to a lot of people. 

  That was Jacob Grady. He’ll become important later.

  To add to his, um, his point. Just as anime has found a popular appeal for its unique aesthetic and storytelling, the case is also true for the um… for the not safe for work stuff. Where the U.S. has more of a clear cut separation between what is porngrpahic and what is not, Japan is more of a sliding scale. What would normally be considered pornographic material to an American audience can exist within the context of a greater narrative. I’ll give you an example. So Yasuomi Umetsu’s Kite and Mezzo Forte [trailer for Mezzo Forte plays] were both originally released in the U.S. as grim, high production OVAs [Original Video Animations] featuring battles between assassins, an evil drug ring, and a protagonist overcoming intense childhood trauma. And they all became cult classics in the anime community. [trailer ends]

  Later on, both got new Director’s Cut releases that included sex scenes you might find under the “hardcore” tab on certain websites that SHALL NOT be named. PornHub. They were hentai the whole time, but made a name for themselves purely on the production and the story. Whi[laughing]- Which is crazy. Imagine that in American… uh, well, anything. The safe for work cut of Kite is on Crunchyroll right now, actually. So you can check it out and tell me it’s not incredible. And this is just the stuff that involves actual sex. There’s a whole genre of “ecchi” and “eros” content that has sexual themes without including actual sex or even nudity. So while Kite may be an outlier based on the raw quality of its production alongside the, umm, intensity of its adult content, it is not exactly an outlier for the amount of story surrounding the sex. Many hentai have very involved plots spanning from comedy to tragedy, featuring scenarios and characters much more sophisticated than a pizza delivery or a plumbing problem.

  When people are telling you they watch hentai for the plot, they… might not be lying. As much as it pains me to say. They might be- I mean they still could be, I don’t know. But the plot definitely exists.

  It’s also a much more respected art form in Japan, even outside of contextless black and white photography. Studio SHAFT, one of the most respected and stylistic studios with one of the most ridiculous names in this context, built their reputation entirely on their immediately recognizable visual style. This was an intentional move by founder Hiroshi Wakao who built the studio’s trademark on the work of director Akiyuki Shinbo, who SHAFT hired almost directly out of making hentai under the pseudonym Jyuhachi Minamizawa. SHAFT has Shinbo’s touch all of its work to make sure they keep with his avante garde style. Shinbo himself was also the impetus behind the creation of Puella Magi Madoka Magica.

  [Clip from a Puella Magi Madoka Magica commercial plays]

  Many hentai have found considerable acclaim for their artist’s merit alone or as genre pieces within the genres of romance, science fiction, and even horror. And we will be touching on a few titles as we go.

  [Lofi music]

  It wouldn’t be for another 14 years that the first real hentai would make its way to American shores in 1986. Although hentai manga had already been around for a while at this point, no American publishers had bitten quite yet. Localization was still the realm of major studios and broadcast networks, although the proliferation of VHS would allow smaller companies to get into the game with direct video release. The first American license of a manga, First Comic’s release of Lone Wolf and Cub wouldn’t be ‘til the next year. 

  Instead, the first hentai release in America would be a direct-to-video VHS release of the second ever erotic OVA made in Japan, Cream Lemon. Why the second? I dunno. The first was called Lolita Anime and I’ll leave it at that. Excalibur Films dubbed and localized 3 episodes of the 16-part miniseries and released them into the area behind that black curtain that says “18+” in comic shops and video stores across America under the bizarrely chosen title “The Brothers Grime,” hopefully not to be confused with the children’s anime “Grimm’s Fairy Tale Classics” that came out the next year. The literal next year.

  In 1990 the first hentai comic would make its way to comic store shelves in the extremely questionable publication “Anime Shower Special” which was basically a magazine that cut shower scenes out of hundreds of different manga that I am pretty sure it did not have the license or permission to use. It’s Canadian publisher, IANVS, would later become part of Protoculture Inc., which produced one of the earliest anime magazines, Protoculture Addicts. Protoculture would then be acquired by Anime News Network in 2005 so I guess you could say they technically got into hentai. Technically. 

  And that’s not me shaming them or anything like that, just about every company in anime has touched hentai at some point. Central Park Media had Anime 18, Manga 18, and Be Beautiful Manga labels to print hentai anime, manga, and yaoi manga respectively. Media Blasters got their start with hentai, their first title being Rei-Lan: Orchid Emblem and later created Kitty Media to manage their 18+ products. Then there was ADV’s SoftCel Pictures and RightStuf’s hentai label Critical Mass which is just a visual that… that the imagination takes care of, I’d say.

  Legitimate companies dealing in hentai was a big risk, both when it came to American promiscuity laws and the popular misconception that all anime is cartoon pornography. So, there’s that. America’s uh, kinda fucked up. Here’s an example: In 1999, Jesus Castillo, a clerk at Keith's Comics in Dallas, was accused of promoting obscenity for selling an issue of the Demon Beast Invasion manga to an undercover officer. He was fined $4,000 and sentenced to a year of unsupervised probation after the original six-month prison sentence was suspended, which is insane. First of all, the heft of that sentence; but second of all, the levity we have with what we perceive as sexual crimes. It’s a very confusing balance of things. But, you know, it’s 1999 I guess. 

  So why risk their reputation? I mean, the obvious answer why everyone risks their reputation in America: uh, because it’s profitable. Kitty Media’s president John Sirabella claimed that, by 1998, 30-40% of anime’s total revenue in the U.S. came from hentai. 40%! And it was cheap. It was, it was super cheap. You know, you don’t exactly market pornography with billboards or commercials or expensive activations. So they were spending almost nothing on advertising, but hentai VHS and DVD were among their first products to sell out on the dealers floor at anime conventions every time. 

  So moving on, in 1993 hentai finally made history in the U.S. Central Park Media’s Anime 18 division [Legend of the Overfiend trailer begins] dubbed and released the now infamous Urotsukidoji: Legend of the Overfiend in limited theaters on March 11th, [Tailer ends] making it the first animated film to receive the MPAA’s NC-17 rating which had just replaced their old X rating three years earlier in 1990. The film would reach a legendary cult status among porn, science fiction, and horror fans alike. It was also umm, a lot of Americans’ first introduction to umm… [whispered] tentacles. You know- you know tentacles. You’re familiar. The squid? [Whispering ends]

  Okay. 

  [Lofi music]

  This is unfortunately the part where we talk about tentacles...

  To understand tentacles I gotta tell you a little bit about um, about censorship law. This is a, yeah, this is a legal matter. I don’t know what else to tell you, I don’t know how else to prepare you for this. It’s a, it’s a legal matter, so bear with me. I will start by saying tentacles have a long history in Japanese pornography. You may be familiar with the famous “The Dream of the Fisherman's Wife” woodblock print featuring a lady and an octopus doing the thing. It was created around 1814 by none other than legendary Japanese artist Hokusai… you know, the guy who drew that wave that you see everywhere, on all the Uniqlo tee shirts? You know the one. Hokusai’s Wave. If you Google those words, you’ll find it. Anyway, they were far from mainstream but let’s just say they existed in the popular subconscious.

  So, when it comes to porn, Japan had and has some pretty specific guidelines requiring what is off-limits. They put a lot less emphasis on scenario and the content of scenes, and instead they focus on the appearance of genitalia. I’m sure you’re familiar, you know they got the whole pixelated mosaic over the, over the junk and the jingles and the jangles, and pretty much anything else goes. This is in stark contrast to America where seeing those parts is basically the point of adult material, but scenario and content of scenes can sometimes get you in trouble. The one where we run into problems most is portrayal of minors. Obviously. That’s uh, obviously it’s fucked up. Japan, on the other hand, has the same age of consent as us but umm… [sigh], man, oo boy, they do not follow that in hentai. I will say no more than that. This has of course led to a very unique relationship between hentai publishers and their American licensors. Some weird conversations, it gets weird.

  Often American versions of hentai are LESS censored than those in Japan, with the American distributor receiving the cut before the mosaics are added so you see the original art in all its glory. But then they might have to go in and uh, change some other things, like umm… you know, age. Obviously. A character’s age in anime can be kinda ambiguous sometimes, so they usually get away with changing a reference to class to a reference to like a “college” course, but you know, sometimes scenes would have to be cut out if it didn’t convincingly look like two adults. Which it unfortunately does. Frequently. 

  Okay, so back to tentacles. The whole censorship thing is a problem in the hentai industry that many young innovators have tried to work around, often using objects reminiscent of uh… of- of the pe- the penis as substitutes. Along came an enterprising creator named Toshio Maeda. His solution to the uh, to the censorship problem was of course, as we have set up for the past couple paragraphs: tentacles. They were alive, they moved around, but they were not dicks. It feels weird to talk about porn this much and not say the word “dick.” I don’t- why am I using so many euphemisms? I’m just gonna say dick, wherever it feels appropriate. 

  I’m gonna paraphrase from an interview with Maeda in 2002. [Music play throughout] Quote: “At that time pre-Urotsukidoji, it was illegal to create a sensual scene in bed. I thought I should do something to avoid drawing such a sensual scene. So, I just created a creature. His tentacle is not a penis as a pretext. I could say, as an excuse, ‘this is not a penis; this is just a part of the creature.’ You know, the creatures, they don’t have a gender. A creature is a creature. So it is not obscene – not illegal.” 

  Umm… some points were made. The gender thing I feel like is probably… actually, y’know, y’know, that probably, that probably lines up, actually. Depends on how sentient you believe animals are. I guess PETA would disagree. There is- they have a sex, not necessarily a gender, I guess. Huh. Well, look at me learning.

  [Lofi music]

  Okay, as far as I can tell, the first manga to actually get an official license and distribution in the U.S. was, much like Overfiend, a hell of an introduction. Prepare yourselves as I speak this next sentence. Bondage Fairies was released by Antarctic Press under their Venus Press imprint in 1994, following the adventures of Pfil and Pamela, a lesbian fairy couple who act as sort of, uh forest police making sure animals don’t… break the forest law? Where Urotsukidoji introduced many Americans to a multitude of new uses for tentacles, Bondage Fairies was a first introduction for many as well, and I hate having to say these two words next to each other, insect beastiality. Also obviously bondage. I don’t know if that was clear in the title.

  The ‘90s also saw the first eroge making their way to the U.S., a very popular genre of video games in Japan featuring sexually explicit images, often featuring “visual novel” style gameplay where you navigate through different dialogue choices to reach a number of different branching narrative paths, often to pursue a uh, “happy ending” with one of a number of different female characters, usually with a larger overall narrative. If this is news to you, then you might be surprised to learn you’re already a fan of some of them. Eroge are a pretty common source material for mainstream anime actually, usually with the sexually explicit content removed, obviously. Popular examples are YU-NO, Doukyuusei, Rumbling Hearts, and ummm, yes, the entire Fate franchise. Although that shouldn’t have been hard to guess after the uh, mana transfer scene...

  Anyway, the hentai industry was going pretty strong in the ‘90s although that fact was not, it was, you know- it was kept under wraps. A lot of legitimate anime publishers had their hentai labels happily printing, but didn’t exactly want to brag about what proportion of their profits came from porn. Nothing good can last forever, though, because in the mid 2000s when the bubble burst, anime companies started going bankrupt and their hentai licenses along with them.

  SoftCel Pictures, which was spun off from ADV, then closed down in 2005 with many of their titles being acquired by RightStuf’s Critical Mass. Central Park Media followed in 2009, many of its licenses getting split between Critical Mass and Kitty Media. The manga side was even worse. Most hentai publishers were about as small an operation as you can imagine. One example, Icarus Publishing, was responsible for the longest running manga anthology in the U.S., called AG. And he did that all by himself. When he fell ill in 2010 he just couldn’t keep it going anymore and he closed down.

  The field was narrowing, which was really bad for anyone looking to support the industry because piracy is a lot worse in hentai and all other varieties of porn, because it’s hard to get popular advocacy or any sort of regulatory agency on your side when you’re working with stuff that people pretend doesn’t exist. You know, like what do you look like in a courtroom, just arguing for porn? You know? In the ‘90’s, of course. We’re… [exasperated] moderately more sex-positive these days. I guess. 

  [Lofi music]

  Now all this was until one man changed everything...

  Grady: My name is Jacob. I created Fakku while I was in college, it was originally like a fan website, sort of like [how] Crunchyroll originated. And from that we were able to build an audience and prove that there was a market for this type of content outside of Japan. Because before we started doing it officially, there’d been only a few poor attempts to publish hentai legally outside of Japan. I know of all of them, but almost no one does. Because you know, they, that’s how under the radar it was. So with Fakku, we were able to show our partners in Japan and the publishers and the artists most importantly, “hey, you know there’s people willing to support the stuff you’re creating. Manga, anime, comics, games now, we have, but you’re ignoring the market outside of Japan.” And you may have seen scenarios where like a Japanese publisher might block all foreign IP addresses from viewing their website, because they’re like “oh, foreigners are pirates! They’re scum of the Earth, they’re awful.” That was, that was something that we had to deal with early on, to convince these publishers “hey, no. It’s because you forced the market to this- we just want to read your comics, we just want to watch your anime. We just want to fap to this and fap to that; but because you weren’t providing it, you know, people had to find it any way they could. And if you were to provide a means for them to support officially, we think that people would be willing to do that.” So that’s the argument that we made to the publishers when we first signed our first partners, and it’s been going great ever since [Laughs]. 

  The same year Crunchyroll made the switch to a legitimate anime streaming service, Jacob started up his pirate hentai streaming site Fakku, just one of many pirate pages of the era. He’d spend his days going to school and working at a grocery store stocking vegetables thinking about what he’d like the site to look like, and he would spend long nights coding. Just coding. Think about how much coding that goes into all the porn you watch these days. The site kept growing and traffic increased until Jacob started using his student loans to pay for their server cost. It actually got so bad he almost had to shut the site down, but when he relayed this to his followers the community stepped up and donated until he was able to keep the operation running.

  Using Crunchyroll as a model, Jacob made early attempts to go legitimate. After building up a large user base, he started reaching out to the license holders of his sites’ content to see if he could buy legitimate rights, but they never replied. Eventually he would leave college to start working at Bioware and step away from Fakku, handing the operations down to his team. It’s hard to say where his relationship with the site may have gone from there, but everything changed when Jacob received a cease and desist letter from the oldest hentai publisher in Japan, Wanimagazine.

  Grady: So originally they reached out to us. So when I first went to Japan and started talking to publishers, you know obviously we were completely upfront with the history of Fakku, what we were doing, and where we came from. And they were all on board with it, which was cool. Because at first, you know the first meeting I had I think we, I was invited out there by this big Japanese publisher, and I was just like “man, are they just going to like, arrest me?” But you know, I went out there and I explained my thoughts and they were like “okay, let’s do it.” And I’m like “umm, really?” And they’re like “yeah, let’s do it.” And they signed us our first licenses, and one of the first things I said was “okay, but you gotta understand. America like, we don’t do that censorship stuff, so like all those black bars and mosaics and giant glowing penises and stuff that they have in Japan, like we’ve gotta get rid of that. Is that possible? Can you get us uncensored stuff?” And they’re like “yeah. We can get you uncensored stuff.” And I was like “REALLY?!” And they’re like “yeah.” And it turns out that with the censorship, it’s actually all produced completely uncensored originally, and the publishers will then go and add varying levels of censorship, those black bars, those mosaics, depending on the medium that the comic or anime is being distributed from, because there’s different laws in Japan. So if it’s sold online it will have some level of censorship, if it’s sold in paper it’ll have a different level, and then if it’s sold internationally it’ll have no censorship at all. So they were on board with no censorship, and I was like “okay, awesome,” but like I hate DRM, right? Like I want to be able to download the comics, read them on my iPad, read them on my phone, read them on whatever, I was like “can we get a deal with no DRM requirements at all?” And they were like “okay,” and I was like “what the fuck? Really?!”

  Interviewer: Damn!

  Grady: Yeah, so like I ended up leaving Japan with honestly the best publishing deal probably any company has ever gotten.”

  After they had seen the size of the Fakku community, Wanimagazine surprised Jacob with how receptive they were to the idea of working with him, even allowing a slow transition from pirate site to legitimacy rather than cutting out all his pirated content immediately. In 2014, Jacob made the announcement Fakku was going legit.

  Grady: They were totally on board with it, obviously. Because it was like the both of best worlds. When we started removing fan content there were people who were upset, because, you know, it’s hard to convince someone to pay for something that they’ve never paid for before. Like hentai? Like, no one had ever been saying “that thing you’ve been fapping to, those thousands of things you downloaded on to your computer, those are actually like worth money. Like that’s, like some artist created that and he’s like trying to get by in Japan, he’s trying to make a living, he’s trying to survive, and like that thing is his livelihood. So you should pay for that.” So that was an early difficulty for us, to convince people to pay for this stuff.

  It was a predictably rocky transition, but Jacob was right on the mark. Once fans knew they had a way to officially source hentai, they were willing to pay up to support the creators… and that was what Jacob really wanted.  

Grady: I think that one of the most powerful things about Fakku is our brand. Like I’ve always tried to position it as not a porn company, which sounds weird, but it’s always been important to me to not you know be running a porn company for a few reasons, but like really we wanted to create a brand that was more of a lifestyle brand, where it’s like people want to support you know whatever Fakku’s doing, and right now it happens to be a lot of hentai manga. But you know we also recently as of just a year ago started publishing our first games. And then we got into anime. And then we’re getting into original Western comics. So we’re publishing a few artists from outside of Japan, and having them create original chapters for Fakku, and adult chapters. And then we’re bringing those to Japan and saying “hey, we work with this artist. They want to have their book published in Japan, is that something we can do?” So we’re like almost reverse publishing, you know Western artists in Japan, which is cool. So we’re doing a lot of crazy things. 

  Jacob did something no one in the industry had done before, pulling hentai out of the dark shadows to build a real community. Fakku isn’t the 18+ print of an official brand, Fakku is the brand. Jacob didn’t treat being a fan of hentai as anything to be ashamed of, but something to celebrate as a community, and the fandom responded. There is a fandom. Need I remind you, there is a fandom. For hentai. And all things anime. Fakku has active social media, hosts convention panels with special guests, industry parties with DJs like Anamanaguchi, art shows, and even custom skateboards. Fakku’s kinda a lifestyle brand that, it turns out, many people are proud to represent… even if it’s in the form of a- of an ahegao t-shirt.

  He also never stopped branching out. Since going official, Jacob set up a streaming agreement with Kitty Media, the lone survivor of hentai publishers after the bubble burst and the final resting place of many licenses acquired from its fallen brethren. He also worked to acquire licenses to older visual novel ero games and Fakku even published the first ero guro manga in the west… and that, if you don’t know is like umm… it’s like a portmanteau of erotic and grotesque and umm… my description of the matter ends there. You got Google for that.

  Jacob even launched a sub-label for non-pornographic manga called Denpa Books, which I guess is a huge departure from every other company that’s ever done this, and he used that to print niche licenses like the acclaimed Kaiji and ero adjacent works such as Inside Mari, Super Dimensional Love Gun, and even Maeda’s Legend of the Overfiend manga. 

  Since going legit, Fakku has become massive. 

  Grady: Like we’ve published ourselves over 1,000 manga artists. We now work with I think seven or eight hentai manga publishers in Japan. Pretty much everyone, we work with in some manner. 

  So despite all my hesitance to engage in uh, in hentai consumption in general, and across the board, I will say that there is a legitimate audience for it, and you know, whatever is your thing is your thing. And if that’s your thing, there’s a place to consume it, and there’s a rich history behind it. Surprisingly. It’s not just tentacles for tentacles’ sake. It’s a thing that makes sense, unfortunately. You almost wish it didn’t. But it does. It does. 

  So with that, in conclusion, I leave you… with this: just you know, just like the things you like, and umm maybe, I dunno, for whatever reason do some research and look into why you like those things and why they exist. 

  This has been Anime in America. I’m your host, Yedoye Travis. Tune into the next one. 

  Goodbye!

  [Lofi music]

  Thank you for listening to Anime in America presented by Crunchyroll. If you enjoyed this, please go to Crunchyroll.com/animeinamerica to watch literally NONE of the things we just mentioned! 

  Special thanks to Jacob Grady from Fakku for joining us. And you’ve heard it before, but please leave us a review and rate the show so more people can discover it, or just share it with a friend.

  This episode is hosted by me, Yedoye Travis and you can find me on Instagram at ProfessorDoye, or Twitter @YedoyeOT. Researched and written by Peter Fobian, edited by Chris Lightbody, and produced by me, Braith Miller, Peter Fobian, and Jesse Gouldsbury. Additional research and writing by Mamoudou N’Diaye. 

  By: news+feed@crunchyroll.com

[houseofvans]

SKETCHY BEHAVIORS | MEL KADEL (LA)

Los Angeles based artist Mel Kadel’s intricately detailed, carefully plotted, and insightfully drawn and watercolored works often feature her iconic female protagonist exploring, struggling, suffocating, and entangling as well as confronting, battling, and overcoming abstract obstacles and unlikely circumstances. From walls to furniture to customizing some sweet Vans Customs, Mel’s works has been featured in galleries all around the world.  Like her art, Mel is not only one thing–from running her own online shop, silk screening and hand coloring her own prints, to actively utilizing her art as a platform for her activism. In this latest Sketchy Behaviors, we find out more about Mel– from her first art show to what inspires her as well as what project she’s been the most proud of this year!  

We love Mel, so will you–Make the leap. 

Photographs courtesy of the artist | Additional photographs by Aaron Farley

Introduce yourself (and maybe a fun or interesting fact you’d like to share about yourself or background). I’m an artist living in Echo Park.  I came from the east coast with a couple suitcases to see what it was like, and I’m still here 20 years later.  I grew up in the suburbs, and when I was a teenager I delivered pizza and became obsessed with drawing.  My high school art teacher Selby and I still write each other on a regular basis.  If it wasn’t for her, I might still be delivering pizzas.       What was the first thing you remember ever drawing? What do you remember about it?  My brother is 3 years older than me, and would come home from high school when I was about 13, and give me the same art lessons he was doing in class.  One that comes to mind was turning a photo upside down and drawing it, an exercise in observation.  So he handed me David Bowie’s “Diamond Dogs” album, turned it upside down, and said “draw this”.

A lot of your work feature a female protagonist interacting, feeling, and encountering obstacles and overcoming them.  Who is she and what does she represents?  I’ve always removed myself from these characters when talking about my work, but as time goes by, I’m realizing more and more how much I’m a part of them.  They are little snap shots of emotions that I connect with enough to try and communicate.  The characters walk a fine line between strength and vulnerability, which is something most of us can relate to.  

What’s your most favorite part of the creation process? What’s your favorite thing to draw when working on a piece?  Do you have a least favorite part? The initial pencil sketch is my least favorite part.  It’s just not that interesting to me, so I try to get through that pretty quickly.  Once I begin going in with color and pen lines, I get into a really nice meditative state.  

What was your very first art show like? And how did that come about? I showed my work around LA for a couple years, in cafes and group shows, before having my first solo show at Jeff Electric Gallery in 2002.  The “Los Angeles Horse Show” was a collection of photos and drawings based on a toy horse that I carried around for months.  This horse was my copilot, coming with me to every music venue, bbq, and party.  I’d photograph people holding him, and based a large body of work from these portraits.  I had some fun times taking pics of Tony Alva, Raymond Pettibon, Don Bolles, and over 100 other friends and local characters.  I loved how social the project was.  The horse helped me get to know a lot of people and became a buffer to a relatively new city.

Favorite materials? When and why did you start staining your own paper? My materials are really basic:  Paper, pens, ink, and maybe some glue.  Years ago, I would draw on old book paper.  The yellowish color gave it an instant warmth that I liked.  But it had limitations because the sheets were so small and fragile.  So as a way to work larger and use more ink & color, I needed something stronger.  I tried to mimic these old sheets by staining thick water color paper with coffee.  The coffee’s tone helps make the colors I’m looking for, and gives me a base that feels comfortable.  I try to work on white from time to time, but It never feels quite right.

What kind of music do you listen to while creating stuff? I’m all over the place.  NPR, music, podcasts, listening to tv, and silence.  I go back and forth all day.

Who are some artists that you currently feel are creating some really cool stuff? They first few that come to mind:  Chantal Joffe, Andy Rementer, Michelle Blade, Andrew Jeffrey Wright, Wangechi Mutu, Richard Colman, Jules de Balincourt, and Travis Millard.

What would your ideal collaborative project be like? I would like to collaborate on more functional pieces like furniture, wall paper, bed sheets, lamps, anything that’s can become a part of a space.

What do you look for when you see an artist’s work? What are you drawn towards art wise? There is nothing in particular that I’m looking for, but if something strikes me it’s like a gut reaction.  Similar to the way you might feel a connection to someone when first meeting them.  It either clicks or it doesn’t.  Whether it’s a comic or an abstract painting, I’m attracted to that underlying feeling it gives me and some sense of authenticity.   

Has it been difficult being an artist?  What are some of the challenges you face, and how do you overcome them? I don’t know of anything that isn’t difficult in one way or another.  But yes, art has it’s own unique challenges beyond just creating the work.  For most people the challenges in the studio are part of the process, but trying to make a living at this can be an emotional rollercoaster.  There are these blissful moments where everything seems to be clicking, right before you’re hit with uncertainty, and that voice in your head has to keep you moving forward.  That personal dialogue can be really hard to do over and over, especially if you have some insecurity hanging around.  But really, that’s the hard stuff.  Once you get past that, you’re golden, at least for a little while. 

What project are you the most proud of? What’s something you’d love to do but haven’t had the opportunity to do yet? I put an image out this year during the Women’s March with the words “Her Rights Unite”, making posters and t-shirts.  With everything suddenly shifting in our country after the election, and this huge uproar happening, I felt very strongly about connecting my work to this moment.  It’s like the images I’ve been making my whole life about people (mostly women) struggling and persevering, connected with something larger and louder than ever before.  

How are you “Not Just One Thing?” When I’m not working on drawings, which is pretty solitary for me, I go the other direction.  Walking, hiking, gardening, dog walking, seeing friends, being a spectator.  I’m good at being a sponge.

What do you think you’d be doing if you weren’t an artist? Running my family’s arcade at Knoebel’s Grove amusement park, in Pennsylvania.  I worked at the arcade when I was 15, and still day dream about dropping everything and moving back to run the business after my uncles retire.  

What are your favorite Vans?  Canvas Old Skool

What advice would you give someone who wants to do what you do? Every artist I know has carved a very unique path for themselves.  All trial and error really.  What works for some people, doesn’t necessarily work for others.  And that path changes all the time.  So my advice is to not watch other artist’s careers too closely. Choose what feels right to you, collaborate with others, try to apply your work in different ways to keep things interesting, and while you’re busy trying to show it off to the world, remember that your work is more interesting than mimicking the vision of someone else.   The ups and downs will always be there, so enjoy the moments that feel good, there’s nothing like it.  

What do you have coming up for the rest of 2017?   The rest of this year will be spent creating work for exhibits next year.  In 2018 I have a solo show in Los Angeles, and will be traveling to Japan to do a little something at Beams.  I also have a collaborative project that I’m working on with Michelle Blade, so hopefully we’ll be releasing that next year. 

Follow Mel Kadel Website:  http://melkadel.com Instagram:  @melkadel Shop:  http://melkadel.bigcartel.com  

[magzoso-tech]

New Post has been published on https://magzoso.com/tech/50-moments-that-defined-tech-this-decade/

50 Moments That Defined Tech This Decade

Discoveries and innovations aren’t new in the world of technology. But in the past decade — particularly between 2010 and 2019, we’ve seen an enormous number of technological reforms that have changed the way we live today. Developments such as artificial intelligence (AI) and Internet of Things (IoT) have emerged from merely being some laboratory projects and become an active part of our daily lives. Similarly, smartphones that were initially termed as a mobile devices designed for entrepreneurs and aristocrats reached the hands of the masses.

Companies such as Apple, Google, Microsoft, and Samsung played a vital role in shaping various consumer-focussed technologies in the recent past. Also, contenders such as Amazon and Facebook actively participated in the evolution by bringing their new offerings. Governments additionally started showing significant interest in technology developments and built new programmes and laws to support a healthy competition among all the stakeholders.

Here, we are listing a total of 50 events in the technology world that changed our life over the past decade (in chronological order). So let’s get started.

1. Google Nexus series debuted (2010)

It was a just over a year after Google brought Android, the search giant in January 2010 decided to launch the Nexus brand to offer standardised Android hardware to the market. The Google Nexus family initially had smartphones, but it gradually added tablets and a couple of media devices. The brand was aimed to help the Mountain View, California-based company bring flagship Android products that were considered as the reference design for original equipment manufacturers (OEMs). It also enabled Google to provide a vanilla experience to consumers — without any bloatware or proprietary customisations. Nevertheless, Google in 2016 discontinued the Nexus series and shifted its focus towards Pixel devices.

2. 3D TVs entered mass market (2010)

To offer depth perception to viewers, 3D televisions aka 3D TVs forayed into the market. Just a few people know that the world’s first stereoscopic 3D television was demonstrated back in 10 August 1928. But it was CES 2010 in Las Vegas when we saw a range of 3D TVs for mass consumers. Major TV manufacturers started focussing on adding 3D options to their ranges. Similarly, customers started demanding for 3D TVs. The TV market, however, faced a significant drop in the sales of 3D models recently.

3. Google Search said goodbye to China (2010)

After facing a tough fight with Chinese authorities, Google in January 2010 finally decided to give up its search service in the country. The company explicitly announced that it wouldn’t censor searches in China. To avoid any further issues with China, it also started redirecting all its search queries from Google.cn to Google.com.hk in Hong Kong. The company, however, in the recent past attempted to make a comeback to mainland China. It even moved its headquarters from Tsinghua Science Park to Rongke Information Center and hosted the Google Developer Day China alongside releasing developer-focussed websites in the country in December 2016. Some reports even indicated that the search giant is working on a project called the Dragonfly to launch a censored version of its search engine in the Chinese market.

4. Microsoft Azure released for enterprises (2010)

Initially in the works with codename “Project Red Dog”, Microsoft Azure released as the cloud computing service by the Redmond giant in February 2010. The service was initially known as Windows Azure, though it was renamed as Microsoft Azure in March 2014. Microsoft Azure was designed to take on Amazon Web Services (launched in March 2006) and Google Cloud Platform (launched in April 2008). It offers software-as-a-service (SaaS), platform-as-a-service (PaaS), and infrastructure-as-a-service (IaaS) to enterprise customers alongside providing a platform rich of AI resources and supporting various programming languages.

5. Apple iPad makes its debut (2010)

Having tasted success with iPhone, Steve Jobs-led Apple team in April 2010 decided to go beyond smartphones and brought the iPad. The first-generation iPad emerged as a remarkable step in the tablet computing world as it offered a large-enough, 9.7-inch display with multi-touch support — sans a stylus. Apple also customised its iOS and encouraged developers to build new experiences for its iPad. All this helped bring tablets to the mainstream and provided the Cupertino company another avenue to generate revenues and grow bigger in the market.

6. Xiaomi came to its existence (2010)

In April 2010, Chinese entrepreneur Lei Jun founded Xiaomi that emerged as China’s largest smartphone company in 2014. The company, shortly after its initial growth in its home market, entered India and other South Asian markets and became a household name. It also made the competition tougher for Apple and Samsung that were once enjoying garnering profits from various smartphone markets. Apart from affordable smartphones, Xiaomi also brought its smart home devices, wearables, and a range of lifestyle products such as bags, clothes, and shoes. It has also invested in various startups to expand its portfolio of products and made an army of influencers that it calls Mi Fans.

7. Google Maps Navigation made commuting uncomplicated (2010)

To offer voice-based turn-by-turn navigation guidance, Google launched Maps Navigation as a standalone app. It was launched in beta in the US in October 2009, however it expanded to global markets by entering the UK in April 2010. The Mountain View company later integrated the Google Maps Navigation service within the Google Maps app. It enabled mobile users to navigate on-the-go, without requiring a dedicated navigator. Google also uplifted the experience by adding offline guidance and navigation support for various places in the recent past.

8. Uber kicked off app-based ride-hailing service (2010)

StumbleUpon co-founder Garrett Camp and entrepreneur Travis Kalanick launched Uber’s ride-hailing service in May 2010 — following the establishment of the company in March 2009. The company started its journey in San Francisco, California, though it rapidly went beyond the US and entered Paris in December 2011. Uber essentially revolutionised the way taxi services worked in the past. It also faced criticism for disrupting the market for traditional players and unfair treatment of drivers. The growth of Uber also brought some safety concerns for riders.

9. iPhone 4 arrived as a great piece of design and tech (2010)

Although Apple unveiled the first-generation iPhone back in 2007 that radically shifted the market of smartphones, it, in June 2010, brought the iPhone 4 as the fourth-generation iPhone that introduced many changes in the iPhone family and emerged as a reference model for future smartphones. The iPhone 4 had an all-new design that involved a stainless steel frame and glass covering at both front and back sides. It was also the first iPhone to bring FaceTime video calling and also the first in its family to include a front camera for selfies. The iPhone was launched with iOS 4 and upgraded until iOS 7.1.2. The popular “antennagate” issue also surfaced in the iPhone 4, though Apple tried to fix it by offering bumpers. In short, it won’t be wrong if we call the iPhone 4 the early inspiration for modern smartphones.

10. Netflix turned global (2010)

Netflix, the company that started its journey with a business around DVD sales and rental by mail, shifted its strategy in 2007 by introducing online streaming. The company’s streaming model was initially limited to the US. However, it expanded its media streaming business and entered Canada as the first market outside the US in 2010. Netflix also reached over 130 countries in one go including India in January 2016. Moreover, it is currently counted amongst the leading media streaming and online production companies globally.

11. Microsoft Kinect unveiled to expand motion sensing (2010)

In November 2010, Microsoft unveiled the Kinect as its motion sensing input device. It initially arrived for Xbox 360 but later expanded to Windows PCs and Xbox One game console. The Kinect was one of early technology developments that brought motion sensing experiences to regular consumers. Sony, in 2009, launched its PlayStation Move that introduced motion gaming to PlayStation gamers. But, unlike the Kinect that doesn’t require any additional hardware to enable motion sensing, Sony’s development worked through dedicated game controllers. Having said that, Microsoft discontinued the Kinect device for consumers in October 2017, though it exists for developers.

12. 4K emerged as a new video resolution (2011)

After HD and full-HD resolutions, 4K aka Ultra HD or simply called UHD emerged as a new video resolution for the masses. YouTube started supporting 4K uploads in 2010, while theatres started projecting 4K movies in 2011. Japan’s Sharp, also in 2013, launched the LC-70UD1U as the world’s first TV with THX 4K certification. The prices of 4K TVs have been dropped drastically in the recent years. Furthermore, a report by Strategy Analytics projects that more than half of US households are expected to have 4K TVs by 2020.

13. VR got expanded in real world (2011)

Virtual reality or VR was a new technology in early 2010s. But with the launch of the first prototype of Oculus Rift in early 2011, the tech world strongly embraced VR and started building ways to offer stimulated experiences. Google, in June 2014, brought the ultra-low-cost Google Cardboard that not just dropped the prices of VR headsets and brought its experience to mass consumers but also strongly encouraged developers to start building new VR apps. In 2016, the Android maker additionally released Daydream as a platform dedicated for VR developments. Facebook also, in March 2014, announced the acquisition of Oculus to expand its presence in VR space.

14. Twitch introduced as video game streaming platform (2011)

Internet entrepreneurs Justin Kan and Emmett Shear launched Twitch as a video game live streaming platform to enable gamers to live stream their gameplays. The platform, which debuted in June 2011, attracted Amazon in August 2014 that closed its acquisition at $970 million (roughly Rs. 6,907 crores). It also made way for Microsoft to bring its Mixer and Google to launch YouTube Gaming as competitive platforms for video game live streaming. Twitch is currently counted among the leading live streaming video services.

15. Steve Jobs left the world (2011)

Steve Jobs, the iconic face of the tech world who co-founded Apple along with Steve Wozniak and Ronald Wayne in April 1976, died in October 2011. Jobs was suffering from pancreatic cancer since October 2013 and on October 5, 2011, he had respiratory arrest. The iconic entrepreneur had resigned as Apple’s CEO in August 2011 and said, “I have always said if there ever came a day when I could no longer meet my duties and expectations as Apple’s CEO, I would be the first to let you know. Unfortunately, that day has come.”

16. Siri launched to bring virtual assistance to the masses (2011)

In October 2011, Apple unveiled iOS 11 along with Siri integration. Siri, which is a spin-off from a project developed by SRI International Artificial Intelligence Center, emerged as the world’s first modern digital virtual assistant. It not only provided voice assistance but also created space that was later leveraged by Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant. One may question the accuracy of voice recognition through Siri, but it is indeed the first successful assistant that enabled us to speak to our phones and wearables while on-the-move. Apple also expanded its reach by enabling Siri support through HomePod, AirPods, and Mac computers.

17. iCloud made integrated cloud computing available to mass consumers (2011)

Apple brought iCloud in October 2011 as its in-house cloud storage offering for mobile and desktop users. iCloud replaced Apple’s existing MobileMe service and provided cloud computing to consumers using iPhone, iPad, Mac, or Windows devices. It was one of the first cloud-based platforms designed for the masses. Also, with the adoption of iCloud, Apple-rival Google got the idea to bring a similar experience through Google Drive that was launched in April 2012. Both iCloud and Google Drive have undoubtedly made our lives easier as we can store our important documents, photos, and videos on the cloud storage and sync them across devices.

18. NASA Curiosity launched to search for life on Mars (2011)

In November 2011, NASA launched Curiosity under its Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) mission. The car-sized rover was designed to investigate the Martian climate and geology and understand whether there are favourable conditions for microbial life inside the crater Gale on Mars. It is considered as the basis for the planned Mars 2020 rover that is aimed to carry scientific instruments to get deeper into the Red Planet. Moreover, the Curiosity rover is still operational and is helping astronomers find new Martian facts.

19. Android emerged as the leading platform for mobile devices (2011)

In the early 2010s, Apple and Microsoft were amongst the leading smartphone operating system makers. But Google brought its Android operating system in 2008 that made the competition difficult for the two early players. Android initially didn’t receive much success, though in late 2011, it started attracting new consumers. According to IDC, by the third quarter of 2012, smartphone shipments based on the Linux kernel-powered platform captured a massive, 75 percent share of the global smartphone market — dethroning Apple’s iOS. Google, in the recent years, also expanded Android to smart TVs, game consoles, and wearables through various derivatives. The latest version of Android, which is Android 10, includes features such as a system-wide dark mode and full-screen gesture system.

20. Google Play entered the world of digital distribution (2012)

In March 2012, Google rebranded its Android Market as Google Play. That was the first step by the Android maker to broaden its presence in the world of digital services. The Google Play portfolio included the official app store for Android devices as well as Google Play Books, Google Play Games, Google Play Movies & TV, and Google Play Music. The company also gradually expanded geographical support of each of Google Play services to counter the likes of Apple’s iTunes and Microsoft Store. Furthermore, the app store available under the Google Play branding leads the world of mobile app stores with over 3.5 million apps published as of 2017.

21. Facebook bought Instagram (2012)

Originally launched in 2010, Instagram emerged as a popular photo-sharing platform with one million registered users reported in the first two months. This growth attracted Facebook that agreed to acquire the platform at $1 billion (roughly Rs. 7,124 crores) in April 2012. The deal with the social networking giant expanded the reach of Instagram and helped it include features such as Stories and comment liking that made it a strong competitor against Snapchat. However, Facebook’s ownership also brought data safety concerns as the company led by Mark Zuckerberg is infamous for putting user data at stake to generate revenues from advertisers.

22. Bitcoin Foundation established to promote Bitcoin (2012)

Although some versions of digital currencies existed for quite some time, Bitcoin emerged as the most popular digital currency in early 2010s. As some illegal transactions took place in the initial years, the Bitcoin Foundation was established in September 2012. The non-profit organisation was aimed to restore the reputation of Bitcoin and promote its development and uptake. However, in July 2015, broad member Olivier Janssens showed his concern about the near-term insolvency of the organisation.

23. Docker brought containerisation to the software world (2013)

In March 2013, IT expert Solomon Hykes brought Docker as a modern platform to deliver software in packages — commonly called containers. This brought containerisation for software packages and help provide the flexibility to run applications in various locations, such as on-premises or in a cloud. Companies such as Red Hat, Microsoft, and IBM partnered with Docker to use the software designed to host containers called Docker Engine. Microsoft earlier this year also announced that it is set to bring a Docker for Windows to provide Docker’s portability through Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL).

24. Google Hangouts released to make video chatting easier for mobile users (2013)

Google, in 2013, launched Hangouts as its solution for video chatting. Originally available as a feature of Google+, Hangouts became a standalone product in May 2013. It helped enable video conferences for enterprise as well as provided a native communication tool for mobile users. Prior to Google Hangouts, the Mountain View company offered separate messaging solutions such as Google Talk, Google+ Messenger, and Hangouts as a feature within Google+. The Hangouts app is available preloaded on Android devices, while desktop users are provided with its Web access. Having said that, Google has lately started moving away from Hangouts and giving focus to its Messages and Duo apps. It also recently announced the shutdown of its consumer version in June 2020.

25. Google Cast enabled seamless casting of media content (2013)

In July 2013, Google Cast debuted as the proprietary protocol to enable casting of media content from mobile devices and Chrome. The protocol was first provided on Google’s first-generation Chromecast player. However, it’s currently available across a range of smart TVs, speakers, and set-top boxes to give an easy option to cast audio, video, and photographs from compatible mobile devices and personal computers. The Google Cast technology also offers the convenience of mirroring content from Google Chrome window running on a personal computer. Further, the presence of the cast button makes it quite convenient for mobile users to stream videos on a large screen directly from the YouTube or Netflix app available on their smartphones.

26. Slack emerged as a communication platform for organisations (2013)

Flickr co-founder Stewart Butterfield established Slack Technologies in August 2013 by partnering with Eric Costello, Cal Henderson, and Serguei Mourachov. The startup brought Slack as a cloud-based communication tool for organisations. It offered Internet Relay Chat (IRC) like features such as channels, private groups, and direct messaging support. There are also integrations with various third-party services and platforms such as Google Drive, Trello, and Dropbox among others. Microsoft, in March 2017, brought Teams as its answer to Slack — months after attempting to acquire Slack Technologies. As of November, Teams has 20 million daily active users — significantly more than 12 million daily active users on Slack reported in October.

27. 64-bit apps became a new normal for mobile devices (2013)

In September 2013, Apple released iOS 7 that brought support for 64-bit apps. The iOS debut took place alongside the iPhone 5s that included ARMv8-A Apple A7 SoC to support 64-bit computing. Google followed Apple’s move and brought Android 5.0 Lollipop in November 2014 with support for 64-bit architectures. Apple in 2017 also released iOS 11 that completely discarded 32-bit apps and brought support only for 64-bit apps. Google also announced its plans to shift Android ecosystem entire to 64-bit structure by 2021. With the growth of 64-bit support, our systems have become capable of storing and processing more data — ultimately delivering enhanced performance results.

28. Facebook acquired WhatsApp to grow its presence (2014)

Facebook, in February 2014, announced the acquisition of WhatsApp for whopping $19.3 billion (roughly Rs. 1,37,400 crores). The deal was aimed to expand Facebook’s product portfolio and bolster the growth of the instant messaging app that was launched back in January 2009. Soon after its acquisition, WhatsApp became the most popular messaging platform globally with over 600 million users. It also added features such as end-to-end encryption, payments, and Facebook’s branding in the recent past. The app has over 1.5 billion users across the globe with more than 400 million users in India.

29. Apple HomeKit released to boost smart-home device market (2014)

In September 2014, Apple unveiled the HomeKit as its software framework to help device manufacturers and developers build new smart home experiences. The HomeKit was released alongside iOS 8 and macOS Mojave and was designed for devices based on Apple’s MFi Program. It initially required Internet of Things (IoT) devices to have an encryption co-process, though Apple changed that requirement by adding support for software authentication. Amazon followed Apple and brought Alexa Skills Kit along with a Smart Home Skill API. Google also, in April 2017, brought a software development kit (SDK) to let third-party developers build new hardware with Google Assistant support. All this expanded the market of smart-home devices. Companies such as Xiaomi and Philips also brought new smart devices with HomeKit, Google Assistant, and Alexa support to broaden IoT space.

30. Make in India programme launched for local manufacturing of tech (2014)

On September 25, 2014, the Government of India kicked off the Make in India programme covering 25 distinct sectors. The programme aimed to enhance foreign direct investment (FDI) across various sectors in the country. It has so far attracted various tech companies to establish their local facilities in India. Similarly, entities such as Foxconn and Wistron have opened their factories in the country to start manufacturing products of companies such as Apple and Xiaomi locally. The programme, however, is so far majorly enabling manufacturers to assemble their offerings through domestic facilities, while they’re yet to completely manufacture technology products in the country.

31. Hoverboard reached the streets globally (2014)

Self-balancing scooters or what normally called hoverboards were initially just a part of the popular culture. But in October 2014, American inventor Greg Henderson demonstrated the first prototype of a hoverboard working on a magnetic levitation principle. Businessman Shane Chen also filed a patent for a device in February 2013 that matches what we currently see as a commercially available hoverboard. In 2015, several manufacturers started making hoverboards based on the early patent in China. Companies such as Razor, Segway, and Swagtron are amongst the popular hoverboard makers across the global markets.

32. Amazon Echo arrived to make voice-controlled smart speakers a reality (2014)

Amazon, in November 2014, unveiled the first-generation Echo with Alexa integration. This was perhaps the first voice-controlled smart speaker designed for the masses. The Echo was designed to enable music playback through media streaming services as well as make to-do lists and set alarms. The arrival of the Amazon Echo speaker created a ripple effect for the market of smart-home devices. Also, its success somehow encouraged Google to bring Google Home speakers that recently rebranded as Google Nest devices. Apple also ventured into the market of smart speakers with its Siri-powered HomePod.

33. Self-driving vehicles left the development stage and started hitting roads (2014)

Although the concept of self-driving or autonomous vehicle existed in the automobile market since at least the 1980s. But in the 2010s, we saw a massive extension of self-driving cars and autonomous vehicles. SAE International published a classification system in 2014 based on six distinct levels — ranging from fully manual to fully automated systems. Google’s Waymo also started testing driverless cars without a safety driver in the driver position in 2017. Tesla, the company led by entrepreneur Elon Musk, also brought several advancements to its self-driving systems. Traditional automobile players such as General Motors, Ford, and Volkswagen also started promoting their developments towards autonomous vehicles in the recent past.

34. Apple Watch revolutionised market of smartwatches (2015)

In April 2015, Apple unveiled the Apple Watch as its smartwatch. The Apple Watch retained the company’s trend of launching not the world’s first but world’s most appealing hardware. It entered the race quite some time after Samsung Galaxy Gear, Sony SmartWatch 2, and Pebble attempted to influence consumers to start wearing smartwatches. However, Apple’s offering somehow succeeded over the competition and emerged as the best-selling wearable device soon after its debut in 2015. According to a report by Canalys, the Apple Watch managed to hit 4.2 million shipments in the second quarter of 2015, surpassing the smartwatches sold by Fitbit, Xiaomi, and Samsung.

35. Windows 10 released as latest operating system by Microsoft (2015)

Microsoft released Windows 10 in July 2015 as the successor to its Windows 8.1. The new operating system was aimed to enhance computing experience by delivering a range of optimisations. Windows 10 also brought support for universal apps that are based on Universal Windows Platform (UWP) to enable compatibility across devices such as PCs, tablets, and game consoles. Further, the new Windows platform was designed to deliver an optimised experience on touchscreen devices and support 2-in-1 PCs natively. It also included Microsoft Edge desktop browser and support for fingerprint and face recognition through integrated Windows Hello. The latest release in Windows 10 family is the version 1909 (10.0.18363.535) that was released earlier this month.

36. Facebook enabled live video streaming for everyone (2015)

With a view to counter Meerkat and Twitter’s Periscope, Facebook in August 2015 launched its proprietary live video streaming feature that was initially limited to people using the Mentions app. The company, however, in January 2016 expanded its live video streaming support to all users through the feature called Facebook Live. It enabled a large number of Internet users to live stream events using their mobile devices. Some criticism of live streams also surfaced in the mid-2010s as people live streamed crimes through Facebook Live and Periscope.

37. Google AMP Project debuted as ‘user-first format for Web content’ (2015)

In October 2015, Google launched the AMP Project to deliver enhanced search results on mobile devices. The project brought an AMP (Accelerated Mobile Pages) framework that allows Google to deliver cached version of webpages in mobile search results. It was launched in partnership with news publishers and technology companies such as Twitter, Pinterest, LinkedIn, and WordPress under the Digital News Initiative (DNI). However, Microsoft in 2016 also announced support for AMP in its Bing apps. Google claims that AMP pages served in its search engine load in less than one second and use ten times less data than the equivalent non-AMP pages. In 2019, the company also brought the new AMP Email section of the AMP framework to support allowing AMP components for email senders. The new move all in all helped Google retain its leadership in the world of Web search and forced webmasters to follow the given guidance to continue receiving traffic from mobile users.

38. Alphabet emerged as a parent company for Google (2015)

The year 2015 was historical for Google as alongside AMP, the company in October got restructured and received Alphabet as a new parent company. Google founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin served the executive roles in Alphabet up until recently. However, earlier this month, the CEO role was given to Sundar Pichai, the India-born executive who already leads Google. That move by Page and Brin officially separated them from Google, though both will continue to be an important part of Alphabet’s board. In addition to Google, Alphabet includes businesses such as X Development, Calico, Nest, Verily, and Fiber among others.

39. Microsoft HoloLens launched to bring MR experiences (2015)

Microsoft in 2015 unveiled HoloLens as its headset to support mixed reality (MR) technology. The device was based on Windows Mixed Reality platform, backed by Windows 10. The first-generation HoloLens Development Edition was launched in March 2016. Microsoft also announced global expansion of its headset in October and made it available in markets such as Australia, Ireland, France, and the UK for pre-orders. In December 2017, Florida-based startup Magic Leap also unveiled the Magic Leap One as its answer to the first version of the HoloLens headset. Microsoft, however, upgraded the experience by unveiling the HoloLens 2 in February this year with various hardware-level optimisations and a price tag of $3,500 (roughly Rs. 2,49,500).

40. Jio kicked off its operations to disrupt Indian telecom sector (2015)

Reliance Jio, the telecom arm of Indian conglomerate Reliance Industries Limited (RIL), soft launched its operations in India on December 2015. The telco initially started its network in a beta testing phase for partners and employees, though it became publicly available in September 2016. Shortly after its debut, Jio disrupted the telecom sector in India by offering ultra-affordable data access to customers. In September 2019, the telco expanded its presence by launching its fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) service called Jio Fiber. It also announced a 10-year partnership with Microsoft to build data centres across India based on Azure cloud technologies.

41. Drones become mass market product with DJI launching its first model (2015)

Before the 2010s, drones were majorly used in defence and available as giant unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV). But with the growth of wireless technologies and various enhancements in the market of batteries, a drone market emerged specifically for civilians. Several Chinese companies brought their small-sized drones to the market in the early 2010s. Shenzhen-based DJI also entered the race by launching its first model called the DJI S800 in 2015. The company enabled aerial photography through its drones that have been used globally. DJI Mavic 2 Pro and Mavic 2 Zoom are amongst the latest portable drones. Also, the Chinese entity recently announced its plans to build drones in California to address security concerns by the US government.

42. Unified Payments Interface (UPI) democratised digital payments in India (2016)

The National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) in April 2016 launched Unified Payments Interface (UPI) as a real-time payment clearance system. The interface was aimed to offer seamless inter-bank transactions and is regulated by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). It is widely accepted by merchants and supported by a range of mobile apps in the country. Consumers once registered with a UPI ID just need to scan a QR code to make the transaction. As of November, UPI transactions grew six percent and reached the milestone of 1.22 billion. Google Pay and Paytm are amongst the key private platforms to give boost to UPI transactions in a short span of three years.

43. TikTok brought video addiction to global markets  (2017)

TikTok, the popular video sharing app that initially launched in China in September 2016, made its debut in global markets in September 2017. Owned by ByteDance, the app offered features such as lip-syncing and looping video playback to users at the initial stage. It is already amongst the most downloaded apps across the globe. According to Sensor Tower, the TikTok app even outshined Facebook-owned Instagram with over 1.5 billion downloads. It faced public reproval over objectionable content. Its parent company also recently started looking to set up a global headquarters outside China to assuage US regulators and lawmakers over their growing data concerns.

44. Windows Phone departed the smartphone market — finally  (2017)

In October 2017, Joe Belfiore, Microsoft’s corporate vice president of experiences and devices division, revealed that the company would no longer develop new features or hardware for Windows Phone platform. That was an anticipated end for Windows Phone, the platform that was once counted among the popular mobile operating systems. The Redmond company did transform the experience from Windows Phone to Windows 10 Mobile in 2015. Nonetheless, it failed to influence developers and outshine the success of Android. Microsoft recently ended support for Windows 10 Mobile and encouraged its users to migrate to iOS or Android devices.

45. Facial recognition debuted on smartphones  (2017)

Apple unveiled the iPhone X as its tenth-generation iPhone model in November 2017. Though there were many new features in the iPhone X, its Face ID support that was based on TrueDepth Camera system made it a remarkable device in the history of smartphones. The proprietary technology ditched fingerprint recognition in the iPhone family and provided a reference model to other smartphone makers to bring similar facial recognition to their devices. Companies such as Google and Xiaomi took references from Face ID to facial recognition on their recent smartphones. Other players are likely to make similar moves in the coming future.

46. Facebook-Cambridge Analytica data breach shook the tech world (2018)

In March 2018, Facebook announced the suspension of data analytics firm Cambridge Analytica’s access to its platform. The social networking giant claimed that it had taken the move after learning that it failed to delete user data captured inappropriately by the Britain-based company during Donald Trump’s presidential campaign. The data harvesting was first reported by The Guardian journalist Harry Davies in December 2015. However, Facebook didn’t provide any clarity on the earlier reporting. The data scandal embroiled a controversy over Facebook’s access to share user data with third parties — without requiring any consent of its users.

47. GDPR to ensure protection and privacy of citizens’ data (2018)

The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) came into effect as a regulation in EU law on May 25, 2018. It is applicable to individual citizens of the European Union (EU) and European Economic Area (EEA) and is aimed to bring data protection and new privacy standards. Many technology companies that operate in EU and EEA regions updated their data policies to adopt the new privacy standards. The US state of California in June 2018 also passed the California Consumer Privacy Act that grants similar transparency and controlling rights for individuals in California. Earlier this month, the Indian government also tabled the Personal Data Protection Bill 2019 that is also aimed to provide protection of personal data and proposes the setting up of a Data Protection Authority of India. It is, however, facing criticism for not defining the scope of the legal move and granting the centre the power to exempt any agencies from the bill.

48. Microsoft xCloud debuted to offer cloud gaming to the mainstream (2018)

Microsoft, in October 2018, unveiled Project xCloud as its cloud gaming platform. Originally teased at E3 2018, the new platform was demonstrated in March 2019 and reached the first preview version in November. The company is set to use its Azure cloud computing centres hosted in 140 countries to provide gaming to the masses. It works with phones and can enable controls through Xbox or PlayStation’s DualShock controller. Google also transformed its Project Stream in March this year and announced Stadia as its offering to take on xCloud.

49. Samsung Galaxy Fold debuted as the first major foldable smartphone (2019)

Samsung in February this year unveiled the Galaxy Fold with a flexible display that can transform the phone into a tablet. There is a hinge that helps folding the Samsung Galaxy Fold into half. Samsung has also provided its custom UI on top of Android 9 Pie to bring new experiences to the users. It’s not wrong if we say the Samsung Galaxy Fold is the world’s first foldable smartphone available to global consumers as Huawei did launch its Mate X to compete against the Galaxy Fold but is yet to bring it to the worldwide markets. Months ahead of the Galaxy Fold debut, Chinese startup Royole in November last year showcased the Royole Flexpai that it claims as the world’s first foldable phone, but it’s currently limited to China. That being said, the Galaxy Fold faced criticism initially for its fragile design that Samsung had claimed to have fixed to some extent.

50. ISRO launched Chandrayaan-2 to study lunar geology (2019)

In July this year, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) launched the anticipated Chandrayaan-2 mission with an aim to study the variations in lunar surface composition and examine the distribution of lunar water. The second lunar exploration mission by the space agency was launched through a GSLV Mark III vehicle and included an orbiter, Vikram lander, and Pragyan rover. Although the spacecraft reached the moon’s orbit on August 20, the lander deviated from its planned trajectory and had lost communication. NASA released images of the impact site where the crash of the lunar lander purportedly took place before approaching the moon’s surface. Moreover, ISRO claimed that its own orbiter located the crashed lander on the lunar surface, though it’s yet to provide further details.

20 Iconic Smartphones of the Decade Past

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10 Mobile Games That Made a Mark in the Decade Past

[brettzjacksonblog]

Buy Bitcoin? Legendary Investor Dalio Expects “Paradigm Shift” in Finance

Since Bitcoin (BTC) was birthed in the wake of 2008’s Great Recession, the macroeconomy has changed dramatically. Following the brutal collapse of the stock market and the housing bubble, which resulted in mass unemployment and bankruptcy, central banks commenced “easing strategies”.

By keeping Federal Fund and interest rates lows and participating in Open Market Operations (OMOs)/Quantitative Easing (QE), the U.S. Federal Reserve spawned a reflationary environment, during which stocks rallied to new heights and economic indicators flipped positive.

Related Reading: US Congressman: You Can’t Kill Bitcoin, Libra And Others Trying to Mimic

Across the pond, the story was similar, with the European Union also participating in QE and the Bank of Japan forcing interest rates to move under 0%.

In a recent blog post, however, a legendary hedge fund manager warned that a “paradigm shift” is on the horizon, leading him to advise readers to buy gold.

Unsurprisingly, many in the cryptocurrency community have taken that as a suggestion to scoop up Bitcoin. Why is this the case though?

Buy Bitcoin, Buy Gold

According to Ray Dalio’s latest LinkedIn post, titled “Paradigm Shifts”, the world’s economy is poised to enter a tough time. In the essay-esque piece, the Bridgewater Associates co-chairman warned of central banks’ effort to devalue their currencies and inflate the economy somewhat artificially.

He also used historical shifts in the macroeconomic and geopolitical climate, like the World Wars and the Great Depression, to explain that the economy is poised to see a “paradigm shift”.

Related Reading: Bitcoin Could Drop Towards $6,100 While Still Maintaining Parabola

This paradigm shift, according to Dalio, who has a net worth of $18 billion, will see “the value of money depreciate ” and “significant domestic and international conflicts. In other words, the writing is on the wall for an alternative asset and stores of value, like gold or Bitcoin.

Dalio recommends gold, writing that it may be “risk-reducing and return-enhancing” for investors to add the precious metal to their portfolio, adding that securities and bonds could face diminishing returns.

Arguably, that was also a tacit recommendation to buy Bitcoin. You see, the inflationary policies currently being enlisted are, according to former Wall Streeter Travis Kling, “brazenly bullish for a non-sovereign, hardcapped supply, global, immutable, decentralized digital store of value.” And by that, he obviously means BTC.

Unlike traditional monies and even gold (in some cases), Bitcoin is not susceptible to warrantless, hidden inflation and is not controlled by a central authority. So, if (or when) the economy collapses due to a mishap on the part of central bankers, many, including Kling, are sure that alternatives monies will see massive inflows.

Dalio, Not a Fan of BTC

While Bitcoin arguably exhibits the same properties as gold, Dalio’s isn’t a big fan of digital assets, presumably hence why he didn’t dare to utter BTC.

In fact, as reported by NewsBTC last year, Dalio called cryptocurrencies a “bubble”, noting that the Bitcoin market is based mostly on speculation, meaning that there is a lack of real-world usage.

But one thing is for certain, there is some financial turmoil right on the horizon. As the Bridgewater co-chairman explained in an interview earlier this year:

“There are a lot of parallels between now and the late 1930s. From 1929 to 1932 we had a debt crisis — interest rates hit zero. Then there was a lot of printing of money, and purchases of financial assets brought their prices higher.”

Featured Image from Shutterstock

The post Buy Bitcoin? Legendary Investor Dalio Expects “Paradigm Shift” in Finance appeared first on NewsBTC.

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[joshuajacksonlyblog]

Buy Bitcoin? Legendary Investor Dalio Expects “Paradigm Shift” in Finance

Since Bitcoin (BTC) was birthed in the wake of 2008’s Great Recession, the macroeconomy has changed dramatically. Following the brutal collapse of the stock market and the housing bubble, which resulted in mass unemployment and bankruptcy, central banks commenced “easing strategies”.

By keeping Federal Fund and interest rates lows and participating in Open Market Operations (OMOs)/Quantitative Easing (QE), the U.S. Federal Reserve spawned a reflationary environment, during which stocks rallied to new heights and economic indicators flipped positive.

Related Reading: US Congressman: You Can’t Kill Bitcoin, Libra And Others Trying to Mimic

Across the pond, the story was similar, with the European Union also participating in QE and the Bank of Japan forcing interest rates to move under 0%.

In a recent blog post, however, a legendary hedge fund manager warned that a “paradigm shift” is on the horizon, leading him to advise readers to buy gold.

Unsurprisingly, many in the cryptocurrency community have taken that as a suggestion to scoop up Bitcoin. Why is this the case though?

Buy Bitcoin, Buy Gold

According to Ray Dalio’s latest LinkedIn post, titled “Paradigm Shifts”, the world’s economy is poised to enter a tough time. In the essay-esque piece, the Bridgewater Associates co-chairman warned of central banks’ effort to devalue their currencies and inflate the economy somewhat artificially.

He also used historical shifts in the macroeconomic and geopolitical climate, like the World Wars and the Great Depression, to explain that the economy is poised to see a “paradigm shift”.

Related Reading: Bitcoin Could Drop Towards $6,100 While Still Maintaining Parabola

This paradigm shift, according to Dalio, who has a net worth of $18 billion, will see “the value of money depreciate ” and “significant domestic and international conflicts. In other words, the writing is on the wall for an alternative asset and stores of value, like gold or Bitcoin.

Dalio recommends gold, writing that it may be “risk-reducing and return-enhancing” for investors to add the precious metal to their portfolio, adding that securities and bonds could face diminishing returns.

Arguably, that was also a tacit recommendation to buy Bitcoin. You see, the inflationary policies currently being enlisted are, according to former Wall Streeter Travis Kling, “brazenly bullish for a non-sovereign, hardcapped supply, global, immutable, decentralized digital store of value.” And by that, he obviously means BTC.

Unlike traditional monies and even gold (in some cases), Bitcoin is not susceptible to warrantless, hidden inflation and is not controlled by a central authority. So, if (or when) the economy collapses due to a mishap on the part of central bankers, many, including Kling, are sure that alternatives monies will see massive inflows.

Dalio, Not a Fan of BTC

While Bitcoin arguably exhibits the same properties as gold, Dalio’s isn’t a big fan of digital assets, presumably hence why he didn’t dare to utter BTC.

In fact, as reported by NewsBTC last year, Dalio called cryptocurrencies a “bubble”, noting that the Bitcoin market is based mostly on speculation, meaning that there is a lack of real-world usage.

But one thing is for certain, there is some financial turmoil right on the horizon. As the Bridgewater co-chairman explained in an interview earlier this year:

“There are a lot of parallels between now and the late 1930s. From 1929 to 1932 we had a debt crisis — interest rates hit zero. Then there was a lot of printing of money, and purchases of financial assets brought their prices higher.”

Featured Image from Shutterstock

The post Buy Bitcoin? Legendary Investor Dalio Expects “Paradigm Shift” in Finance appeared first on NewsBTC.

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