The Past 24 Hours: February 19, 2016

to-kill-a-mockingbird coverHarper Lee: 1926 – 2016
The Gist: A look back on the life of author Harper Lee, whose To Kill A Mockingbird was published when she was 34 and went on to sell over 40 million copies. Her friendship and work with Truman Capote, her avoidance of any public fetes in her honor, and her life after Mockingbird are here.
Source Article Here: People
Author: Stephen M. Silverman

 

McAfee antivirus creator offers to decrypt locked iPhone of San Bernardino shooterJohn McAfee Pens Op-Ed Piece: “I will, free of charge, decrypt the information on the San Bernardino phone, with my team.”
The Gist: McAfee anti-virus innovator John McAfee: ‘And why do the best hackers on the planet not work for the FBI? Because the FBI will not hire anyone with a 24-inch purple mohawk, 10-gauge ear piercings, and a tattooed face who demands to smoke weed while working and won’t work for less than a half-million dollars a year.’ You haven’t read an op-ed piece like this in a while.
Source Article Here: Business Insider
Author: John McAfee

Generic Code PhotoTech Experts Respond To McAfee’s Hack Offer…Plus, Who’s Siding With Apple In iPhoneGate
The Gist: Reaction to John McAfee’s op-ed piece, including: “Good luck to Mr McAfee trying to socially engineer a corpse into revealing its pass-code.”
Source Article Here: BBC News
Author: Chris Baraniuk

KeshaKesha Denied Preliminary Injunction In Court, Owes Sony Records 6 More Albums
The Gist: Music artist Kesha, 28, was visibly upset in court when a Manhattan Supreme Court judge denied the nullification of her current recording contract. Kesha alleges that producer Dr. Luke raped her when she turned 18 and that she fears working with him. The judge’s response to Kesha’s lawyer, Mark Geragos, and his claims on Kesha’s behalf are in the article.
Source Article Here: New York Daily News
Author: Barbara Ross

digital publishing#Writers’ Advice: Hot Questions About Freelance Writing, Answered
The Gist: A roundtable discussion with 4 globally published freelance writers on developing stories, negotiation, regional ties, side hustles, and words of advice.
Source Article Here: Longreads
Author: Eve Holland

13 Ways#Book Buzz: 9 New Titles Published This Week
The Gist: A look at 9 new works of published fiction this week, with covers and synopses, selected by Publishers Weekly staff.
Source Article Here: Publishers Weekly

 

 

Flashback Read

Rita _ ZankouA Family’s American Dream, Then Rebuilding From An Unfathomable Nightmare
The Gist: Zankou Chicken started with one location in Beirut; when the first Zankou store opened in L.A. in 1983, it grew into a SoCal must-have. In 2003, the family restaurant’s gravely ill patriarch committed a double-murder suicide that claimed his mother and sister’s life. The tragedy that fractured a family and saw his widow take over in 15 days, without a day’s experience, is detailed here.
Source Article Here: Los Angeles Magazine (April 1, 2008)
Author: Mark Arax

The Past 24 Hours: January, 21, 2016

blockhead#Writers’ Blockheads: Why Hollywood Isn’t Reflecting  Real Life
The Gist: The findings – based on new research done by a data scientist, TV writer, and researcher – on why Hollywood can’t pass the Bechdel test, even in 2015. One of the reasons: the writers’ room.
Source Article Here: Forbes
Author: Natalie Robehmed

 

lip-sync-battle-500x470#Viral Vidz: The Most Epic Lip Sync Battles, From Mike Tyson to Tracee Ellis Ross
The Gist: A collection of lip sync battles from the eponymous Spike series, with millions of views tallied, including Taraji P. Henson vs. Terrence Howard, Mike Tyson vs. Terry Crews, Anthony Mackie vs. Joseph Gordon-Levitt, and more.
Source Article Here: Essence
Author: Lauren Porter

SmartphoneWhy Social Media Skills Are Crucial To Employers & The Scramble To Teach Peeps
The Gist: $70 billion will be spent to educate the US workforce this year, from Millennials to Boomers, on social media know-how as consumers’ $1.3 trillion dollars are up for grabs to those who know how to do it well.
Source Article Here: Fast Company
Author: Ryan Holmes

hootsuite podium#Free Online Course For Social Media Education – At Your Own Pace – Right Now
The Gist: Social media management system Hootsuite has a free online course, with 6 video tutorials, on social media education and strategies (referenced in the article above) available free here.
Enroll Free Here: Hootsuite Podium
H/T: Ryan Holmes

John SkipperESPN President Says Those Who Downsize Their Cable Packages Are Older & Less Affluent
The Gist: Cord-cutting cost the deep-pocketed ESPN 7 million subscribers in a mere 2 years and hammered Disney stock in what was a palpable shock to the industry at the time, if not the network. Not so surprising, according to its President’s interview with the Wall Street Journal.
Source Article Here: Techdirt
Author: Karl Bode

 

jem-hologramsThe New Kickstarter Campaign For ‘Jem’ Live-Action Short
The Gist: After the Blumhouse Productions version of Jem and the Holograms grossed less than $1.5M and had to be pulled from theaters in just 2 weeks, the all-female Creature Productions wants a shot at continuing the lo-fi ‘80s cartoon’s story.
Source Article Here: HitFix
Author: Donna Dickens

Viacom-logo-oldForecasting Viacom: $6.5 Billion In Subscription Revenues By 2022
The Gist: Balancing revenue growth vs. declining viewership are key factors facing Viacom’s empire of cable networks, including BET, Comedy Central, MTV, VH1, and Nickelodeon, as this deep-dive into the programming giant shows.
Source Article Here: Forbes
Authors: Trefis Team

Flashback Read

typewriter#Writers Advice: “People do not always say exactly what they’re thinking.”
The Gist: This breezy post from October 2015 is a short primer on what to study and remember when you want your characters’ dialogue to be as realistic as possible.
Source Article Here: The Dialogue Architect
Author: Tony Folden