Is Elon Musks’ Twitter Tick Worth It?

Hi!

Since Elon Musk took over as owner of Twitter earlier this week, he has been tweeting consistently about some ideas he has to take the company forward under his leadership and where he can see potential revenue. This has led to him explaining that he wants to monetise the infamous Tick that ‘famous people, public figures etc’ are able to have on their account which proves that they are who they are say are. But with most people saying that they are not willing to pay for this ‘privilege’, the topic of conversation for users of the platform has become, is the tick worth paying for? In short, to pay $8 only for the tick, is outrageous and not something worthwhile, but it is lower than the initial $20 price point which he originally stated. But the true question around this is not if the product is worth purchasing, but rather what has led to him talking about introducing a paid service? Video discussing this topic available here.

The Power of Media

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As I sat down to enjoy another Academy Award season, I found myself able to appreciate and associate with everything that the nominees were talking about during their pre-interviews. Of course they spoke about how honoured they are to be there and just getting recognised is enough, they don’t need to win and things like that. (Which of course I can not relate to, like at all). But their love of film is infectious, the stories that people are able to devise and feel the need to share with others is what makes film so beautiful. When you sit down to watch a form of media, you are giving into the possibility of being transported to another time and place. To create bonds with characters who don’t exist, other than in the figment of anothers’ imagination, but that is not too invalidate their existence or the connection that we can feel with them. Much like when we read, we can associate with characters that are devised from the creative genius of someone whom we will likely never meet. From an early age, Spider-Man was my favourite superhero, initially it was because he was on tv everyday, but as I have gotten older, I am able to better identify the root of my connection with him. Over the years I have watched countless films and tv shows, listened to more music than I could ever figure out and read enough books to fill a library, but in general, if you asked me to give an opinion about any of the work I have consumed, I will most likely give you a positive response. But why is this? We are allowed to dislike something that another has created, but I have come to understand it is due to the fact that this person, has spilled blood and sweat into their idea. They allowed themselves to open up to the audience in telling a personal story that they hold dear in one way or another. Everything has a positive side or something that can be used by the viewer and taken away before being inputted into another item. Much like how our ideas are influenced by those around us, all of our opinions on media are shaped by what we have seen before and after, what writers or actors we enjoy.

Trust (2021) – Film Opinion

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Normally I would write film reviews of course, but I felt that while watching this film that it was a good commentary on relationships and how we view our significant others after time together, so instead it is a little analysis on this topic. Trust is a film that was released earlier this month (March 2021), with it having a small cast the film felt small budget and more enjoyable in terms of relationships between characters, but above all else this film is a microcosm of the life that we all currently lead with regards to relationships with our significant others and through the use of social media and technology. We have our cast of 4 characters, Owen (Matthew Daddario) and Brooke (Victoria Justice) being married, trying for a baby and being in a relationship since they were in high school, so what appears to be 13/14 years together, then Amy (Katherine McNamara) plays Owens temptress and Ansgar (Lucien Laviscount) the new artist that Brooke is representing as part of her newly opened art gallery. With Ansgar’s paintings being erotic in nature and he confirms them to be of women whom he has slept with / had intimate moments with, Owen ends up feeling threatened when seeing Brooke with Ansgar and he is concerned about their relationship. Meanwhile Owen is a news broadcaster who has to go at all hours for the latest news and Brooke begins to think that he may be cheating on her with someone else. This results in the cycle of suspicion in their marriage and we are left watching something that is effectively a very true to life relationship with its issues;

How to have Successful New Years Resolutions?

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Happy 2021! After the year of insanity that was 2020 as a whole I am sure many of us didn’t know if we would ever even reach this year, with an uncertainty around how it would even look. Well, for us in Ireland, it began with yet another lockdown, we are back to staying within 5km of our homes with most gyms, schools and places of work closed. While the vaccine is incoming, we are not sure of when vaccinations will begin for the general population, any risks involved with delaying the 2nd dose and what effect the newer strains of the disease could have on the vaccine as a whole. But thats all an issue for another day, instead as with every new year that passes, everyone wants to make themselves new goals, take up a new hobby or maybe limit / stop a destructive hobby that they have. But thanks to the way in which our brain works, how habits are formed and even the virus itself, so many things are actually against you changing your life in a positive way on a single date every year. Of course there are points for trying and we want everyone out there to succeed in changing their life positively, but this is a post about some issues with NY resolutions that you may not even be aware of and how you can combat these in your life going forward!

Peace Out 2020!

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Of course the end of 2020 and the beginning of 2021 doesn’t spell the end of the Coronavirus and the completion of all of the worlds respective quarantines. Instead, the year is going to end in much the same manner that the rest of the year has happened to Irish people, and I am sure individuals around the globe. We are in quarantine, again, this time the claims are for 2 weeks, but we all know that it is going to get extended beyond this, and who knows where that will leave us. The creation of a vaccine is helpful for everyone in the world thanks to the hope that is has also brought with it, an end is in sight, but no-one knows for sure how long we will wait for this salvation. When looking back on what experts are saying and how the previous history on pandemics has gone, it would be reasonable to believe that we could be talking about mid-2021 at the earliest before there is an improvement for a majority of people and how we live. Which I understand can sound rather pessimistic and perhaps downright frustrating, creating a sense of unease and depression for all those alive reading this and trying to be upbeat ahead of the new year. But I swear that not everything is as bad as you may believe or that I make it sound. We have the vaccine, we have a new US President, we are coming together in ways that no-one ever thought possible, and you as an individual have had more time than ever to be able to reflect and look back on your life.

Mitigating Climate Change – Needs Better Ocean Data

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I was sitting down the other day thinking about how with everything going on with the US Presidential Elections and Coronavirus that the forest fires in Brazil, Australia and the ongoing fires on the West Coast of America have sort of fallen to the wayside. Globally the effects of climate change affect us all, so we should be more aware of what we can do to limit the effects of this adjustment to our world and how we can help to improve the overall situation. So, when I was contacted by the group over at Sofar Ocean for a discussion on the role that the ocean has on the world at large in the fight against climate change, I was intrigued. While going through some of the points that they had, they pointed me towards an article that they have on their website which I felt was exceptionally interesting and I figured I would let you guys have a read of it below. If you want to see the article on their website, click here and it will bring you to the original and you can then access their archive of articles!

For years (and we mean many years), the ocean helped us mitigate the early effects of human emissions by absorbing greenhouse gases, like carbon dioxide and heat, from the atmosphere. As a result, more than 90 percent of the warming that happened on Earth between 1971 and 2010 occurred in the ocean. A selfless act by Mother Nature, but it’s catching up to us. 

Climate change, which describes long-term changes to temperature and typical weather, is accelerating at an alarming pace—and the impacts are hard to ignore. Let’s take a look at some changes to our ocean.

US Presidential Debate Takeaways

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There was the 1st of 3 US Presidential Debates last night in the US. With sitting President Donald Trump going up against Former Vice President Joe Biden, we the onlookers always believed we were in for fireworks between both sides. But what we ended up getting was mud being thrown, and both sides finishing the night being able to claim victory, which means, that nobody won. The debate was one of the worst things I have ever watched, by the end of it I genuinely don’t think I learned anything new about either candidate or what they stand for. In saying that though, Joe Biden came out in a better light than that of Donal Trump and I think he took the right course of action during the debate.

We have seen over the last 5 years since Trump entered the political landscape he has a habit of trying to destroy his opposing candidates through slander, playing with facts, and tearing down the other persons character rather than having discussions with regard to their policies. The news has repeatedly shown Trumps actions during debates, his one-liners, his tax returns, his opinion on black-lives matter, ‘grab them by the pussy’ and his imitations of others. While Biden has had times recently where he struggles with his memory and has a habit of being unable to speak correctly, with presently, him being up against someone like Trump, it is perhaps the worst thing that could have happened to him. During the primaries, Biden struggled to begin with, before he managed to rally ahead of Super Tuesday to get the nomination, so I was worried before this debate.

Is There Too Much Content Available For Consumers?

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As someone who has written hundreds of articles and opinions, it can seem a bit absurd to say that there is just too much content available out there at any one time. I have scrolled through Netflix for the past 20 minutes and ended up inevitably picking something I have watched a dozen times before. This must happen to me at least once a week (And is something that I imagine is happening to millions around the globe due to the ongoing pandemic). But with this happening to so many, we all know why we revert back to what we have seen before, we don’t want to be disappointed, we want the certainty of enjoying how we spend the next period of time that we have available.(Thankfully it doesn’t take a genius to figure out why we fall back into old habits). We have a finite amount of time, and we want to spend it watching something we know we will like rather than risking we won’t enjoy something. But in saying that why is there so much content out there;?

Is Having a Content Niche Necessary?

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Every time I sit down to write, I have no clue what to write about in the days leading up to it. I generally sort of decide in the hours before hand, (In the hope that inspiration strikes me!). This is mainly because I don’t have a niche per se, I have the same type of topics that I would regularly write about, (Which are split into categories beside where I write!) such as Mental Health, Opinions I have, films or books, any travel / places to visit and anything educational I come across. Bit of a wide variety! Then also due to the fact that I don’t exactly have a consistent upload schedule, such as media on Mondays (There’s an idea!), it can be hard to grow a large audience, with over 700 followers, it is hardly a major issue, but considering its over 2.5 years old, it is quite low. Also, by changing content a lot, some regular readers can get turned off. But do I feel that having a niche is a necessary thing when writing online?

Hans Zimmer – Appreciation

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I enjoy music, some would say too much, I generally have something in my ear at all times of the day. It used to be more media / visually driven, but while I have been working from home I have found that it is easier to have music in my ear rather than visual content. This has led to me on different weeks listening to different types of music. I have gone through the pieces that I focus on for maybe 2 weeks at a time.

But this week, I decided to type orchestra into my sky box to see what pieces came up as options. I saw Hans Zimmer in Vienna, with him being a composer I know well (Due to his work on The Dark Knight and The Amazing Spider-Man 2), so I decided I would spend 2 hours listening to his work live. After this I have now spent about 10 days straight only listening to pieces by Hans. Have to say, they are amazing pieces.