Month: September 2015

Tesla debuts new SUV model: Delorean doors included

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Via: The Verge

Well, it has finally arrived. Originally slated to start production all the way back in 2013, Tesla just yesterday unveiled their long awaited Model X crossover SUV model; and it is every bit as cool as the public, and Wall Street analysts alike had hoped it to be.

Tesla’s new Model X. (Via Wired.com)

The model itself is a sleek, svelte crossover; similar in its aerodynamic look to the flagship Tesla Model S. However, there are a number of notable differences. It has three rows of seating, which while seeming like a somewhat analogue selling point on this futuristic crossover, is very important for drivers with families. Also, the model uses a version of the dual-motor design that is included on the Model S, making it one of the fastest crossover models in production today, with a 0-60 time of only 3.2 seconds; the same as a Porsche 911 Turbo. In terms of range, it will boast about 250 miles per charge, slightly less than the Model S, but still very manageable from a logistical standpoint.

And did we mention the doors? This is not only the first three-row, all-electric family carrier, but its also the only one boasting Delorean doors. This means the doors open upright, instead of the usual push-out design. Pretty cool touch, if we do say so ourselves. Alas, its not all fun and games with the new Model X however, as the upcoming, initial edition of the crossover will be priced at $130,000.

Ralph Lauren to step down as CEO of his namesake brand

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Via: Business Insider

Truly an American rags-to-riches story that is simply as good as it gets, legendary fashion designer and businessman Ralph Lauren has announced that he will be stepping down as CEO of the iconic brand, capping a more than four-decades-long run as the head of the label. The 75 year old will stay on as the Chief Creative Officer and Executive Chairmen.

The man himself. (Via Businessoffashion.com)

As with many classic American Dream stories, Mr. Lauren’s starts with incredibly humble beginnings. Born Ralph Lipschitz to immigrant parents living in the Bronx, he spent his childhood escaping the harsher realities of his life with movies. He would project himself onto iconic film stars like Carey Grant and Gary Cooper, and that air of elegant escapism is a noted influence on what he would eventually bring to the fashion world.

After serving in the military, the designer moved back to his native New York City, taking his first job in the fashion world as a clerk at Brooks Brothers. It was only a few short years later however, that a chance journey out to a polo match would change the course of his life, and American fashion forever. Warren Helstein, the friend who brought him to the polo match recounts; “We were exposed to fabulous things. The leather, the silver, the horses, the tall, slinky blondes with the big hats, and the high society that we weren’t really knowledgeable of.”

Of course, that would all change soon. Mr. Lauren started his classy, elegant brand soon after that; the brand that would eventually transform into Ralph Lauren. He started with ties; broad, bold ties at a time when simple, slim ones were the norm. They were an immediate hit, earning the fledgling company entry into department stores, and $500,000 in revenue that first year. Of course, he did not stop there.

Lauren’s design ideas flourished from there, producing iconically classic pieces that people would want to wear; clothing fit for a movie star. And the rest, as they say, is history.

Jordan Spieth earns his age in millions this year: $22 for 22

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Via: CNN

’22 sittin’ on $22 mil’ is a popular Drake lyric. And now young, yet certainly not ‘up and coming’, but seriously established 22 year old golfer Jordan Spieth has now imitated that art with his life, earning no less than $22 million in winnings on the PGA tour this year.

Jordan Spieth. (Via Golf State of Mind)

Now once again firmly entrenched as the top-ranked golfer in the world, Spieth hit that record breaking winnings number of $22 million with a whopping $10 million dollar pay day earned yesterday, when he clinched a victory at the Tour’s FedEx Cup Finale. The four tournament series, the closest analogue professional golf has to a playoff, concluded yesterday at a course in Atlanta; with Spieth turning in a scorecard four strokes better than his closest competitor, Australian Jason Day.

But of course, once the scores were in the books, attention turned to Spieth’s now record-breaking earnings for 2015. He broke the previous earnings record, Tiger Woods’ $21.9 million in 2007, and astonishingly, earned $3,523 PER SHOT this season.

Spieth is also incredibly hard to root against. When asked what he planned to do with the money, he answered “For me it’s important to give it back to not only the people who need it, but also to our team who made it possible.”

NASA announces that liquid water flows on Mars

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Via: The Verge

They alluded to the fact that they had some big news over the weekend, and now NASA has formally announced the results of a massive, on-going study that had been operating outside of the public eye on Mars for a number of years now. There is indeed flowing water on Mars, a fact that goes against virtually everything we thought we knew about the Red Planet. But what exactly does this mean for us, and for the search for intelligent life?

Liquid water on the surface of Mars. (via NASA)

This new information comes courtesy of of NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, which studies the planet while orbiting it within its gravitational pull. NASA had been attempting to analyze strange, dark streaks which appears on the planet during its warmer months. After years of study, it has been confirmed that those dark streaks are indeed flowing water. Briny, or salty water, at that, but flowing water nonetheless. As for the source of the water? NASA is not entirely sure yet, but scientists at the organization have called this finding unambiguous proof of water.

Does this mean that Mars could have, at one time, supported large life forms? NASA is of course mum on any speculation on that subject, and realistically, these findings create more questions than answers at the moment when pondering the larger ramifications, if any.

Instagram surpasses 400 million active users, surging past Twitter

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Via: Business Insider

Long positioned as one of two social media platforms vying for the number one spot after, of course, the tech juggernaut that is Facebook; it may be time to give that #2 title completely to Instagram.

In a recent blog post on their website, the company formally announced that they had surpassed the 400 million active user mark, only a few months after they announced that they had hit the 300 million mark last December. This type of growth is not only the exact type that Twitter interim CEO Jack Dorsey, and CFO Anthony Noto were very open about not having on their site at the time of their last earnings call, but also places the usership itself of Instagram ahead of Twitter, which has been hovering around 300 million active users for the past year or so.

(Via heidicohen.com)

Beyond creating an interesting contrast to the growth of Twitter, this news is interesting for a number of other reasons. It is surely good news for Facebook, who actually purchased Instagram for $1 billion back in 2012, and has been looking to monetize the app in a number of ways in recent months. These include sponsored ads, and soon a targeted ad program will be rolled out. Advertising revenue generated by Instagram this year will be around $600 million, and is projected to as much as double in 2016 as well. Also, the app has gone truly global, as Instagram reports that most of the most recent 100 million adopters of the app live in Europe, Asia, or South America.

Instagram is the only other Facebook-owned property that generates advertising revenue at this time, and is rated very positively by clients thus far.

Porsche unveils Tesla-rivaling all-electric E Concept car at Frankfurt Auto Show

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Via: Architectural Digest

Exciting news to report here today out of the Frankfurt Auto Show, as it appears that Tesla will soon have another competitor in their now somewhat-lonely luxury electric car market.

Indeed, making the debut at the biggest auto show in their home country of Germany, legendary automaker Porsche has announced an all-electric new concept model, the very first in the automaker’s illustrious 84 year history.

The new all-electric concept model from Porsche. (via Tampabay.com)

Indeed, Tesla has exploded in popularity in recent years, with some Wall Street analysts as much as doubling their forecasts for the automaker over the next 3-5 years. However, there is a lot to be impressed with on this new Porsche concept as well. The model, pictured above, featured a beautifully modern, windswept design; evocative of their classic Porsche 911 design, but also distinctly more modern. In terms of the technical specs, there is a lot to impressed with as well. The model will be able to travel up to 310 miles between charges, and its two motors equally distribute no less than 600 horsepower to the four wheels. This massive amount of power will give the new car a 0-60 time of only 3.5 seconds as well, besting most of even the most powerful traditional muscle cars.

But what about in terms of competing with Tesla? In terms of a side-by-side comparison, the Porsche is a bit more powerful, but the Tesla has a substantially longer range, with drivers reporting over 450 miles traveled between charges before. Time will certainly tell which luxury-electric model strikes the long term chord with consumers, but for now, Tesla still maintains a pretty lengthy lead on establishing itself as the leader in that market.

Tuesday morning movie trailer round-up

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Summer, and all of the typically blockbuster movies that come along with the season, have now more or less come and gone. While having all of that warm, glorious weather behind us is slightly depressing, there is a lot to look forward to this fall. Beyond the pumpkin-infused…everything; the slate of movies that are set to debut in the next couple of months is seriously stacked.

Indeed, there truly is something for everyone at the movie theater this fall. With intelligent dramas like the new Steve Jobs film, and others like The Witch, Crimson Peak, and the The Revenant (the latest effort from Academy Award winner Alejandro Inaritu) set to debut, even the most ardent of independent and art house film lovers will have plenty to pick from. Trumbo, about a legendary screenwriter blacklisted during the Communist witch hunts of the 1960s, and starring Bryan Cranston in some of his most substantial post-Breaking Bad work to date, (as well as Louis CK!) looks like it will fit into that intelligent drama category as well.

Beyond that, new Sci-Fi efforts like The Martian with Matt Damon starring as an abandoned astronaut struggling to survive on Mars debut next month, and even a Rocky reboot, in which the legendary yet fictional boxer trains the son of the arch enemy; Creed will be showing up in theaters.

Beyond that, there is a live-action remake of the Jungle Book set to hit theaters soon, and a controversial new Lance Armstrong biopic, The Program is certain to have people talking across the country as well. We’ve rounded up a bunch of the trailers for aforementioned films below, and the ones we haven’t, can be found elsewhere on the site.

Trumbo

Crimson Peak

The Jungle Book

The Martian

Creed

Steve Jobs

How low can it go? Goldman Sachs says $20 barrels may be possible

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Via: Source

There has been a LOT of movement in financial markets this summer. China, Greece, and geo-political instability across the world have all combined to send indexes swinging up and down intensely. And now, coming on the heels of a new report out of Goldman Sachs, another indicator of fundamental shifts in the market; this time in the commodities market, has come to the surface.

Earlier this week, Goldman Sachs has issued a statement basically saying that the global surplus of oil is even larger than they had previously predicted, and that the surplus could last into 2017, sending prices for crude oil as low as $20 dollars per barrel.

On first glance, this would appear to be a very good. This would send the price of a gallon of gas at the pump below $2 for the first time in years, and some analysts have speculated, sustained prices that incredibly low may actually spur an increase in American manufacturing; a sector of the economy which has famously (infamously?) been in decline for decades now.

However, when given a longer, more thoughtful glance, prices that low create a diminishing returns scenario. Prices this low would signal systemic weakness in the commodities market. One of the reasons we are seeing this weakness is because prices this low could create a systemic shift in the commodities field, permanently putting American shale oil businesses under. 1 and 2 year views on oil are all lower, with virtually no analysts predicting a return above around $60 per barrel. If oil stays at 30-40 dollars per barrel, economists like Erwat Prasad predict that could be the ideal set of supply and demand circumstances, keeping US production viable, but prices also low. The real problems of diminishing returns may begin if the value dips lower than that for a sustained period of time. This price level would put massive pressure on a number of governments all around the world which depend on their oil exports, like Saudi Arabia or Argentina. This would spur on central bank action, the ramifications of which are not yet known.

The commodities market is certainly one to keep an eye on in coming months.

A full one day old, the new NFL season sparks controversy

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Via: Source

It has been a tumultuous few years for the NFL. Not that any of their recent PR afflictions have hurt ratings, or the bottom line much or at all, there certainly has been no shortage of embarrassments for the largest American sport.

Last year, prominent players like Adrian Peterson and Ray Rice were suspended for lengthy amounts of time for violent indiscretions, and despite an amazing 2014 season and Super Bowl, literally the only thing talked about in relation to the NFL for the past 7 or so months was Deflategate; the-tongue-in-cheek term that the public and media had come to refer to the ball-deflating scandal that engulfed Tom Brady, and the rest of the NFL this offseason.

Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin was less than pleased at the headphone situation last night. (Via: CBS Sports)

So, when actual football kicked off last night, I’m sure it was quite a relief to the NFL PR department and everyone else with more than a rooting interest in the sport. Or, at least it should have been.

Indeed, less than one full day into the new season, the league, even more ironic; the Patriots, are involved in a new controversy. This one centers around malfunctioning headphones. As most even casual NFL fans know, play calls are communicated to the players on the field via electronic headsets, which are inside the helmets for some players, and visibly worn by coaches on the sideline. Coaches also communicate with one another via these same helmets. Well, during the game last night it became apparent that the Steelers headphones were not working, and the coaches and players were hearing the Patriot’s radio broadcast of all things, instead of the vital information they were seeking to communicate. The implications of this are obvious, and pretty devastating. If one team can communicate on the fly, and the other is forced to use hand signals, or even forced to run a player from the sideline and back to the huddle every play, there is an obvious advantage on one side.

And of course, because its the Patriots, the most successful, and controversial NFL team of the past decade; other players have chimed in with their complaints as well. Jack Del Rio, ex-coach of the Jacksonville Jaguars has claimed he experienced similar issues while playing at the Patriot’s stadium, as has linebacker Karlos Dansby, ex-linebacker for the Arizona Cardinals.

In the opinion of this writer, only one thing can be said for certain about all this; football is BACK, baby!