Free Classic Movies from Focus: Fridays on Facebook

Posted on August 25, 2017 at 10:00 am

Three great films from Focus Features will be streamed on Facebook Live over the next three Friday nights in August and September. #FocusFridays will take place each Friday night on the Focus Features Facebook Page beginning @6:00 PM PT.

Friday, August 25th: The Motorcycle Diaries (2004) won the Academy Award for Best Original Song (“Al Otro Lado del Río”). Following an inspiring journey of self-discovery and tracing the youthful origins of a revolutionary heart, the Latin American continent is unveiled in all its glory as two friends experience life at its fullest.

Friday, September 1st: The Constant Gardener (2005) sweeps audiences along one man’s emotional and global journey to uncover the truth behind a personal loss and a worldwide conspiracy. For her performance opposite Ralph Fiennes, Rachel Weisz won the Screen Actors Guild, Golden Globe, and Academy Award.

Friday, September 8th: Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004) earned Golden Globe Award nominations for its stars Jim Carrey and Kate Winslet, in an unforgettable love story, a tumultuous relationship seen through a maze of memories. Winner of the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay.

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You Can Join Mark Zuckerberg’s Book Club

Posted on January 5, 2015 at 5:42 pm

Each year, Mark Zuckerberg shares his new year’s resolution.  I was a big fan of his 2014 resolution to write a thank you note every day, a practice I highly recommend to all.  This year, he is inviting the world (or at least the 1/4 of the world who use Facebook) to join him in a book club, with the discussions taking place on a new FB page set up for that purpose.  Every two weeks, he will pick a book that “will emphasize learning about new cultures, beliefs, histories and technologies.”  The first book, The End of Power: From Boardrooms to Battlefields and Churches to States, Why Being In Charge Isn’t What It Used to Be by Moses Naim, has already sold out on Amazon (he has to learn from Oprah, who alerted publishers to have extra print runs before she announced her book club selections). It has been recommended by Bill Clinton, Arianna Huffington, GE CEO Jeff Immelt, and a range of intellectual powerhouses. This is how the publisher describes it.

We know that power is shifting: From West to East and North to South, from presidential palaces to public squares, from once formidable corporate behemoths to nimble startups and, slowly but surely, from men to women. But power is not merely shifting and dispersing. It is also decaying. Those in power today are more constrained in what they can do with it and more at risk of losing it than ever before.

In The End of Power, award-winning columnist and former Foreign Policy editor Moisés Naím illuminates the struggle between once-dominant megaplayers and the new micropowers challenging them in every field of human endeavor. Drawing on provocative, original research, Naím shows how the antiestablishment drive of micropowers can topple tyrants, dislodge monopolies, and open remarkable new opportunities, but it can also lead to chaos and paralysis. Naím deftly covers the seismic changes underway in business, religion, education, within families, and in all matters of war and peace. Examples abound in all walks of life: In 1977, eighty-nine countries were ruled by autocrats while today more than half the world’s population lives in democracies. CEO’s are more constrained and have shorter tenures than their predecessors. Modern tools of war, cheaper and more accessible, make it possible for groups like Hezbollah to afford their own drones. In the second half of 2010, the top ten hedge funds earned more than the world’s largest six banks combined.

Those in power retain it by erecting powerful barriers to keep challengers at bay. Today, insurgent forces dismantle those barriers more quickly and easily than ever, only to find that they themselves become vulnerable in the process. Accessible and captivating, Naím offers a revolutionary look at the inevitable end of power—and how it will change your world.

I’m signing up and have ordered the book. Sounds like a great adventure.

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Books Internet, Gaming, Podcasts, and Apps

New “Wizard of Oz” Facebook Game

Posted on November 4, 2012 at 3:59 pm

Spooky Cool Labs and Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment announced that The Wizard of Oz game for Facebook has launched to the public. Based on the beloved film, the game sets players on the adventure of a lifetime as they join the Wizard of Oz characters on their trip down the Yellow Brick Road.

The in-game experience includes music from the original soundtrack, video clips from the film and likenesses of its beloved characters, including Judy Garland as Dorothy and Margaret Hamilton as the Wicked Witch of the West.

Players arrive in Munchkinland right after Dorothy’s house lands on the Wicked Witch of the East. With help from Glinda, players become familiar with Munchkinland and begin to build their very-own Munchkintown. They must construct buildings, interact with and protect the locals, and build the Yellow Brick Road in order to lead Dorothy and her friends to their ultimate destination, the Emerald City.

While on their journey through the Land of Oz, players will encounter the other characters from the film, whether on the Yellow Brick Road or fending off the Wicked Witch of the West and her winged monkeys from attacking the town. Players can share their experience with friends by visiting each others’ Munchkinlands and helping with quests, as well as sharing their favorite moments and experiences through various social features.

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Internet, Gaming, Podcasts, and Apps

What Facebook Does to Kids

Posted on August 9, 2011 at 8:27 am

Atlantic Wire has a good post on the impact of Facebook on the brains of the teenagers who use it, based on a presentation to the American Psychological Association by psychologist Larry D. Rosen’s called “Poke Me: How Social Networks Can Both Help and Harm Our Kids.”  Facebook has been so transformational that it is hard to remember it has only been around for seven years and only been available outside of college campuses for five, almost hard to remember life before status updates and likes.  Our son went to college before social media.  Two years later, our daughter arrived on her campus feeling as though she was already friends with some of her classmates by meeting them online.

It hasn’t been around long enough for long-term studies of its impact, but Rebecca Greenfield rounds up some of the research so far, finding that Facebook can promote “virtual empathy” and strengthen social skills.  Perhaps most interesting, “When making friends on the social network, kids are more likely to overlook race and make friends based on interest, a UCLA study found.” But she notes that Facebook breeds narcissism and “doesn’t prepare kids for real-life talking.”

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Internet, Gaming, Podcasts, and Apps Parenting Teenagers Understanding Media and Pop Culture

You and Your Friends in the ‘Bridesmaids’ Trailer

Posted on May 13, 2011 at 3:59 pm

Do you want to appear in the trailer for “Bridesmaids?”  Upload photos of you and your friends or celebrities from your computer or Facebook to make your own version of the “Bridesmaids” trailer and see what you’d look like getting sick while you try on gowns!

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