Peter Pan & Wendy’s controversial dark visuals are the whole point of the movie
David Lowery uses light and dark to tell the story — until the idea hits its limits
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David Lowery uses light and dark to tell the story — until the idea hits its limits
Snapchat hasn’t been this controversial since it removed public best friends lists in 2015.
Last week, the photo messaging app rolled out their chat bot, My AI, to all users. The feature runs on Open AI’s GPT technology and is designed to reply to your messages like a friend. But many users are complaining that the new feature is getting in the way of them chatting with their actual friends.
My AI is pinned to the top of users’ Chat feed, above even their pinned and recently snapped friends. If you don’t subscribe to Snapchat+ for $3.99 a month, there’s no way to remove My AI from the top of your feed. Techcrunch reported an influx of 1-star reviews of Snapchat after My AI’s launch, indicating that at least a portion of Snapchat’s user base is pretty unhappy with the chat bot.
In a TikTok that’s garnered more than 3.7 million views and 510,000 likes @fishnecks writes, “when my Snapchat AI thinks it has the right to be pinned above my bf.” The caption to the video reads, “PLS HOW DO I GET RID OF IT.” Thousands of comments on the video echo the TikTokker’s frustration. One reads, “the $4 was worth it to unpin.” Another says, “I blocked Team Snapchat from sending me stuff, why would I want this robot???” Others threaten to leave the platform entirely if Snapchat continues to allow only paid users to hide the AI bot.
But it’s not just My AI’s central placement that’s riling up Snapchat users. My AI uses the data that Snapchat collects about each user to make its interactions feel more like a conversation with a friend. For some, that feels like a violation of privacy. Users are especially wary of its access to their location; screenshots of My AI recommending users restaurants near them gained traction on Twitter and TikTok. Snapchat and other social media platforms have collected data about users for years and years, but My AI personifies that data collection, making its knowledge of you eerily obvious.
The chatbot also came under fire one month ago, when it was a Snapchat+ exclusive feature, for providing inappropriate and unsafe responses after being told it was talking to young teenagers. In a statement, Snapchat announced that My AI only gave “non conforming” responses to 0.01% of users. It also shared that My AI will be aware of a users’ age going forward and it “worked vigorously to improve its responses to inappropriate Snapchatter requests, regardless of a Snapchatter’s age.”
Despite all the complaints, some users have embraced My AI, calling it their bestie or homie and using it to complete homework assignments. For example, one TikTok with over 10,000 likes reads, “me talking to the new AI bot thing on my snapchat when i’m bored.”
Friend or foe, My AI is all Snapchat users can talk about.
THE CBI’s chances of survival shrank further yesterday after the Chancellor said there was “no point” engaging with the organisation.
And a top fund manager said the lobby group’s sexual misconduct scandal risked putting women off business.
Jeremy Hunt said there was no point engaging when the CBI’s own members ‘have deserted them in droves’[/caption]
The CBI, which is meant to represent 190,000 members, is in meltdown as police investigate two separate rape allegations and inappropriate behaviour across the organisation.
When asked if the CBI could rebuild trust, its president, Brian McBride, said: “I simply don’t know.”
Dame Helena Morrissey, former boss of Newton Investment Management and director of a number of City firms, said the “horrible allegations” risked “putting women off joining industry”.
She told The Sun: “I don’t know why the CBI is still trying to cling on — it’s over.
“They cannot continue to represent business.”
Chancellor Jeremy Hunt told journalists: “There’s no point engaging with the CBI when their own members have deserted them in droves.
“We are not going to wait for a reinvention of the CBI or for the CBI to get back on its feet.”
On Friday, in the wake of fresh rape allegations, over 60 companies axed, paused or suspended their membership of the CBI, including Aviva, NatWest and John Lewis.
The lobby group has mothballed its operations until a meeting in June.
PRIME Minister Rishi Sunak proclaimed his Government was “unashamedly pro-business” as he launched a charm offensive to woo company bosses.
Yesterday’s “Business Connect” summit was an attempt to re-engage with hundreds of chief executives after contact with the scandal-rocked CBI was frozen.
Sources said the Government wanted to “lavish love” on business after years of tension.
It has been shaken by the success of Labour’s Keir Starmer and Rachel Reeves having boardroom breakfasts with City chiefs in what’s become known as a “salmon and scrambled eggs offensive”.
Business confidence in the Government was rattled last year by the brief reign of Liz Truss and her mini-budget, which brought the financial system to the brink of collapse.
Company chiefs have also never forgotten Boris Johnson’s “F*** business” comment when he was Foreign Secretary.
Mr Sunak took to the stage to tell company chiefs: “We’ve got your back. We know the last year has not been easy but I believe we are turning a corner.
“Optimism and confidence are improving. Our job is to build on that positive momentum and that’s why we need to create the conditions for you to succeed and drive that growth.”
A major tech boss said: “It’s clear the Government wants to engage and listen. And that should be welcomed because business has fallen down the agenda.”
BAE Systems CEO Charles Woodburn said it was “good to have some engagement”.
And advertising tycoon Sir Martin Sorrell said: “Whatever the stimulus for this event is, the UK brand has been damaged, so any effort around that is a positive.”
Luxury handbag designer Anya Hindmarch called on the Government to appreciate Britain’s strong creative industries as a “marketing arm for the UK”.
She said: “It’s very easy to lose your edge — like sunburn, it can happen before you realise.”
Mr Sunak admitted he regularly bought Hindmarch bags for his wife and hailed the UK’s fashion universities as the best in the world.
But Burberry boss Gerry Murphy slammed the Government for failing to bring back tax-free shopping.
He said scrapping VAT relief was a “spectacular own goal” that had made the UK the “least attractive shopping destination in Europe”.
CREDIT Suisse customers pulled £55billion out at the start of the year, the Swiss bank has revealed.
The lender yesterday admitted the true scale of the turmoil that preceded its state-engineered rescue by rival UBS.
It warned that it would not be profitable until 2024 after making a loss of 7.3billion Swiss francs (£6.6billion), the worst loss since 2008.
Credit Suisse was hit by market turmoil after Silicon Valley Bank’s collapse in the US in March, causing clients to withdraw funds.
The Swiss National Bank called the subsequent takeover “systemically important” to the global banking system.
There had been concerns that unless the run on Credit Suisse was stopped, it could spread.
GYMSHARK, the athleisure brand started by the UK’s youngest self-made billionaire, has posted a 40 per cent slip in profits on the back of rising costs and weakening demand.
Ben Francis, 30, set up Gymshark 11 years ago and it was valued at more than £1billion in 2020.
But pre-tax profits fell from £45.4million to £27.8million in the year to the end of July 2022, despite overall sales rising a fifth to £484.4million.
BARCLAYS up 0.96 to 154.20
BP up 3.90 to 533.90
CENTRICA up 1.05 to 113.85
HSBC down 0.40 to 573.3
LLOYDS up 0.05 to 48.91
M&S up 0.75 to 164.65
NATWEST up 1.70 to 274.2
ROYAL MAIL up 3.80 to 254.60
SAINSBURY’S down 1.20 to 280.50
SHELL up 8.50 to 2,461.50
TESCO down 0.80 to 278.10
AN employee-owned firm is giving 150 staff a £150,000 payday after selling a stake.
4most, a provider of risk analytics, was considering a stock market listing — but has now sold a 51 per cent stake to Phoenix Equity Partners.
The windfall for staff includes graduates who had been with the firm for only two years.
The range of Nvidia 40 series GPUs expands this week with the addition of the GeForce RTX 4070 – the most affordable card in the range that nevertheless brings with it some major bonuses as an upgrade on previous generations. But how well does it stack up, and how good a value is it? We’re here to find out.
Out in the real world we’re in the middle of a wild inflationary bonanza, and it’s impossible to responsibly review these hugely decadent pieces of wonderful gaming hardware without at least considering where it might slot into people’s budgets. So let’s start there, with the 4070’s role as the current cheapest entry point into Nvidia’s hot new 40-series GPUs.
At $599/£589, the 4070 is still undoubtedly expensive. It continues a trend with the 40 series which places them as priced perhaps a little too bullishly for what might make them ‘must-have’ cards. Lop $50 off this price and it becomes extremely attractive; drop it by a round $100 and it becomes an absolute must-have. As it stands, it’s tempting, and does broadly justify its price-point – especially when taking into account the price structure of the complete range. But I do wish it were lower.
Tekken 8 director Katsuhiro Harada has confirmed that the upcoming fighting game will feature crossplay.
These days, the two big things you’ll find players asking for is rollback netcode (a technique that makes playing online much smoother than it normally would be), and crossplay, so they can easily play with their friends no matter what platform they’re on. So if you’re a Tekken fan who’s looking forward to the eighth instalment, but you play on PlayStation and your friend plays on Xbox, there’s some good news: Tekken 8 will have crossplay.
Harada confirmed that himself when asked by a fan about it on Twitter, writing, “Crossplay? Of course I will.” Interestingly, he also noted that he tried to get crossplay for Tekken 7 on the previous generation of consoles, but couldn’t because of problems between the two big platforms (PlayStation and Xbox). “When the previous generation consoles were released, I had already proposed crossplay between the two platformers. However, at that time, they were at odds with each other over their mutual interests (and P2P security issue) & repeatedly refused.”
Even after the Mothman sightings and events in Point Pleasant, WV in 1966-67, incidents are still reported to this day. The following accounts are only a few that I have received over the years.
I received the following accounts:
“I actually live about 35 minutes from Point Pleasant, West Virginia in a little town called Ripley. I have friends in Point that have had some pretty messed up encounters driving through the McClintic Wildlife Preserve. That’s where the area they call TNT is located. There are these old ammunition storage bunkers that look like giant igloos and some old worn down and deserted factories. Talk about one hell of a creepy ass place.
My buddy Brian said he and two friends were out there back in 2002 driving around the maze of back roads when they heard something hit the roof of the truck and when they looked out the back glass they could see what looked like a person hanging gliding behind them. It was very dark and they could only make out the outline. He said it followed them and kept hitting the roof for about a mile. They were losing their minds with fear the whole time. The thing was keeping up with them even when they were doing 70 plus in a couple spots. He said he’ll never forget that night and I know he wouldn’t make something like that up. He’s a very devoted Christian and churchgoer.” JR
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“Hi, Lon – I’ll start out by saying that the small town where I grew up, and where all of my family still resides, is in Monroe County, Ohio maybe twenty minutes or so outside of Wheeling, West Virginia. I was talking to my dad on the phone the other night. He told me that last week while driving home from work, he came across something he can’t explain. His voice was shaky, unlike I have ever heard him.
He works the night shift at a local coal mine and while driving home from work early one morning around 5:30 am he noticed a large creature crouched down in the road. It had bright red glowing eyes that looked directly at him. He said this creature also had very large wings which were wrapped around it as it crouched. He said he had never in his life seen anything like this. It had really upset him. He proceeded to drive by it, but when he looked behind him, it was gone! He said that he was actually scared to get out of his car when he got home in fear that perhaps it had followed him or was even in his car. After a few very tense minutes, he slowly got out of the car. There was nothing there.
I asked him if he had ever heard of the “Mothman?” He kind of paused, then said that he had never heard of it until he started talking to people about what he had seen. He said that they would say right away “It sounds like you saw the Mothman!” You hear weird stories all the time, and because you don’t really know the person who witnessed it, you just shrug it off. Knowing my dad and what a logical thinker he is, I believe he encountered something supernatural. He is usually the one who tries to come up with logical answers for things that are otherwise unexplained. He’s very skeptical when it comes to aliens, UFOs, ghosts, etc. For me to talk to him and hear him tell me about this Mothman-like creature was shocking. For this is not like my father.
I will say that I am concerned, for what I understand is that when a person actually witnesses a Mothman, oftentimes bad things happen afterward. There isn’t a doubt in my mind that what he saw was 100% true. It has completely made a believer out of me when it comes to the Mothman. I hope for the sake of my father and my family that that isn’t true and that he made a mistake of identity.” CO
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“I saw the Mothman as it flew over my school bus, and I think it was winter of 1966. The school bus driver, Odel Wallace and I were the last ones on the bus, as we had already dropped off all the other kids and were headed toward the end of the school bus route on Big Sixteen Mile Creek in Mason County. I lived another mile past that, I would walk in the morning to the bus, and home from it in the evening. And it flew over the bus and was no more than 100 feet above us, and we could see that the wing span of this thing was about the length of the bus. After it flew over, I looked up into the mirror that the driver used to watch the kids as he drove, he was looking back at me and I said did you see that, he just looked at me and nodded and nothing else was said. I haven’t told too many people about this for fear of ridicule and joking bull, but now I’m 65 years old and I don’t care what anybody says, I know what I saw was not anything normal. I’m a hunter also, deer hunter/rabbit/squirrel/groundhog/or anything else I can eat that doesn’t have antibiotics and human footprints in it, and I’ve never before seen anything like it, and not since, even though I’m always in the woods. So I know that the dang thing existed, or still exists.” MK
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“My family is from Gallipolis, Ohio, the town right across the river from Point Pleasant. About half of my life was spent there, and honestly, I think he’s real. I have some family, who live out in the country, and a good number of them have seen Mothman or encountered him. I might have had an encounter, but I’m not 100% sure, only because it was late at night, and it was hard to see. I’d been at the movies, and something swooped in front of my windshield, something big. I heard a scraping sound on the roof of my car, in the AM, 5 scratch marks down to the primer, were in the paint, spaced like human fingernails. One of the creepiest moments of my life, I hadn’t believed it before, but I did after that. There aren’t any owls in Southeastern Ohio that big, it was bigger than my windshield, about 5′ wide by 3.5′. Owls also don’t have 5 toes that spread like fingers.” OB
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“This is kind of a long story but the creepiest thing happened to me and I really need to tell this story while the details are still fresh in my mind. Although I’m pretty certain I’ll never forget it, for some reason I feel like this is important and I need to share.
Last night (May 31 – June 1, 2020) I went to Chesapeake, OH to a friend’s house to play music and sing. We jammed until around 3:00 am.
When we left we headed towards Proctorville, OH to take the bridge into Huntington WV. That stretch of road runs alongside the Ohio River. It is dark and there aren’t many street lights. So it was dark and last night, it was cold.
We were talking and trying to get the heat going when all of a sudden a tall black figure appeared seemingly out of nowhere on the side of the road, literally right beside my door (passenger side). We were going around 50-60 mph and this thing didn’t budge.
I felt it though. No other way to explain it except that it was so close to my door that I felt it. And what I felt was ‘wrong.’ It was sinister and did not come from a place of good.
It looked like it was about 7-8 feet tall. We were in a pick-up truck, a Dodge Ram I believe. It was so tall that my friend, who was driving, said maybe it was a road work roadwork a black tarp draped over it. It was taller than the truck. It looked shrouded, almost like it had wings but they were wrapped around its body. It appeared out of nowhere and it seemed like it leaned toward the truck as we passed by it. So close that I felt it. Like in my soul and in my skin. So close that if my window had been down I could’ve touched it. It made me actually shiver as we drove by it. I am an empath and I’m telling you this thing sent me everything it had and it had nothing but darkness to send. I’ve never felt anything that creepy before. Like to the core. We were both shaken by it. I still am.
My friend wanted to turn around and go back to see what it was. I did not.
Fast forward a little bit. We get to the bridge and of course, it’s closed. So we end up having to turn around and go back towards Chesapeake. Which meant we had to go back through that same stretch of road again. And right as we are getting ready to pass another car that thing comes out from behind the car and looked like it was floating or gliding across the road. And it crouched down almost like it was getting ready to pounce or take off. It was then I could see the top of its head which was shiny and black.
My friend said maybe it was a person on a skateboard because of the way it was gliding or floating in the middle of the road. They then proceeded to say that was some Jeepers Creepers sh*t!
All I know is this. It was not a 7 ft person dressed in all black at 3:00 in the morning. This was not human. It was evil and I hope I never experience it again.
Has anyone else seen this figure? If so please let me know. I need to discuss what happened.
Stay safe friends.” JC
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Have you had a sighting of a winged humanoid or huge bat-like creature in the Chicago, Illinois metro area / Lake Michigan region? The entity has also been referred to as the ‘Chicago Mothman’, ‘Chicago Owlman’ & ‘O’Hare Mothman’ or ‘O’Hare Batman.’ – Chicago / Lake Michigan Winged Humanoid Regional Interactive Map – Please feel free to contact me at lonstrickler@phantomsandmonsters.com – your anonymity is guaranteed. Our investigative group is conducting a serious examination of his phenomenon. We are merely seeking the truth and wish to determine what eyewitnesses have been encountering. Your cooperation is truly appreciated.
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