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Ava DuVernay Won’t Be Directing Black Panther Film

Two weeks ago, the Internet went on high alert with misleading news of Ava DuVernay’s apparent job offer to direct Marvel’s Black Panther flick.

However, that was not the case. DuVernay nor Marvel’s Kevin Feige confirmed the hire. “There are a lot of fans hoping that she will get the job, but at this time, there is only known information about meetings with multiple directors, not just DuVernay, ” a Blerds report said.

“It wasn’t for me. I loved exploring it. I loved the character. I love that they called me about it, but ultimately, when I delved into it, it wasn’t a good match, so I wish them luck.” DuVernay told The Huffington Post last week at the Essence Music Festival.

Marvel’s reputation for not giving auteurs the creative breathing room necessary to work continues to grow. Director Edgar Wright was a prime example. He left the upcoming Ant-Man film, a film he  pitched and wanted to work on at Marvel but left due to creative differences, opening the door for director Peyton Reed.

Joss Whedon has also reported that Avengers: Age of Ultron is his last Marvel film.

However, the Marvel machine keeps on trucking and so does DuVernay. She has two projects in the early stages of development that should appease her fans. A scripted drama for the OWN network and a Hurricane Katrina love story starring David Oyelowo are all slated for future release.

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Past and Present: 6 Astounding Black Chemists You Should Know

tumblr_njb8mfgC5Q1tb0xp2o1_400Samuel Massie Jr. (July 3, 1919–May 9, 2005)

Massie attended Fisk University. He earned a master’s degree from the university and went on to earn a doctorate in organic chemistry from Iowa State University. Massie is a pioneer in this field because he was the first African-American to teach at a U.S. military academy. In 1966, he became a professor at the U.S. Naval Academy, where he would become chairman of the chemistry department.

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Google Apologizes for Racist Auto-Tag in Photo App

Google’s new photo app introduced in May has rubbed many users the wrong way with a defective auto-tag system.

After the app tagged two Black users “gorillas,” Google has been in a mad dash to make things right. This is how Twitter user Jacky Alcine responded to the app:

Yonatan Zunger, the chief architect of social at Google, contacted the young lady thanking her for addressing the issue and pointing out the problem. “Zunger says that Google has had similar issues with facial recognition due to inadequate analysis of skin tones and lighting, ” reports Loren Grush for The Verge.

However, this racist use of labels has been a problem in other Google products like Google Maps.

“Earlier this year, searches for ‘ni**er house’ globally and searches for ‘ni**er king’ in Washington, D.C. turned up results for the White House, the residence of U.S. President Barack Obama. Both at that time and earlier this week, Google apologized and said that it was working to fix the issue,” according to Jana Kasperkevic for The Guardian.

As the issue of race becomes a dominant issue to the public, technology should not be part of the discussions and debates.

At this moment the “gorilla” label has been removed from the app.

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8 Examples of Possible Life on Other Planets and Moons in Our Solar System

Cassini-Titan-summer-2013Titan

Saturn’s largest moon has hydrocarbon lakes that could support life. Out of all the celestial bodies in our solar system, Titan has a makeup that could give potential alien life a chance at existence.

imageEuropa

Europa is one of Jupiter’s many moons and has enough water to support life. Underneath an icy surface is an extreme cold reservoir of water that may contain a variety of bacteria. As of this year, the Obama administration has provided $15 million in funding for an expedition to the moon. There is also a probe called the Europa Clipper in the works.

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7 Intriguing Facts About Popular Sci-Fi Writer Octavia E. Butler

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The Early Days

At 10 years old, Octavia Butler (June 22, 1947-Feb. 24, 2006) was dead set on becoming an author. As a young child, she had dyslexia and an unwavering love for books.

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The Patternmaster

Butler started her career at Pasadena City College, where she earned an associate’s degree. She later moved on to UCLA, where she finished her education. In 1976, she wrote her first book “Patternmaster” which is part of her Patternist Series. The book focus on a group telepathic individuals in a sci-fi setting.

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Could Tyrese Gibson Be the Next Green Lantern?

There have been plenty of rumors that the new Green Lantern film could feature more than one Green Lantern. That means that Hal Gordon, Kyle Rayner, Guy Gardner, John Stewart and others could be at the center of this brand new project from DC Comics.

In the past few weeks, there has been speculation that R&B singer and Fast and Furious actor Tyrese Gibson would be John Stewart, one of DC’s first African-American characters.

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In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, the actor stated:

“There are certain things I can’t speak on. But I will say, however this works out, it’s definitely the fans’ fault. I was at home minding my own business and fans start creating these fan-made videos of me as Green Lantern and I looked into it. I’ve been a fan of the Green Lantern. I took the oath, and I had a meeting at Warner Bros. and certain things were said and talked about. We’ll just see what happens. ”

Fans may have some trepidation about him and the role because he primarily plays comic relief roles in his films and that may not be the way fans envision John Stewart.

One of the bones of contention surrounding comic book films, in general, is the filmmakers’ vision versus the fans’. Comic book fans expect a lot out of the filmmakers and expect them to create stories that are true to the source material, but fans can’t tell directors, writers and others how to interpret that source material. Fans have to wait and see like everyone else.

So will Gibson be a good choice for this iconic character? Maybe. Some may root for Idris Elba. But who knows at this point? There are about three years before the final product is released. Let the speculation build.

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Report: New iPhones Likely to Have Force Touch

The successors of the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus will have Force Touch capabilities. This news comes from a Bloomberg tech report.

“Force Touch was introduced with the Apple Watch, which launched earlier this year. The feature can judge the sensitivity of presses on the touchscreen, pulling up a variety of control options based on how lightly the user taps the device. During Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference in June, the company revealed it would be available on future Macbooks,” according to Brett Molina for USA Today.

This feature will come with the 6S and the 6S Plus. As of now the phone will have the same dimensions. The 6S will be 4.7 inches and the 6S Plus will be 5.5 inches big.

Essentially, the screen will be able to be adjusted to the pressure of the user’s finger. The apps will be able to be activated based on how hard or how soft users press on them.  For this reason, suppliers are having difficulty in providing the right screens.

“The timing and production volume of Force Touch-enabled phones could be impacted by the supply and yield of the displays,” reports Tim Culpan for Bloomberg.

At this point, the feature is already in many of Apple’s other products, so this move makes sense.

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11 of the Best Black Characters From Popular Sci-Fi and Horror Films

Science-fiction can take the average person to awesome unexplored worlds or strange dimensions with different life forms. It can introduce new species and new ideas about the universe we all share and visions of the future we would like to see and what we wouldn’t want for humanity. Surprisingly, sci-fi also is a great way to infuse a variety of people in these new and interesting stories that other genres fail to do. Black actors have gained great notoriety for their roles in these types of films.
The-Book-of-Eli-2010‘Book of Eli’ (2010)

This neo-Western takes place in a post-apocalyptic world where a book is the most prized and sought-after object. Denzel Washington is the star and portrays Eli, the protector of the book. Washington’s intensity is what makes this film worthy of watching.

BillyDee‘Star Wars: Episode V — Empire Strikes Back’ (1980)  

Lando Calrissian aka Billy Dee Williams is the leader of Cloud City and a close friend to Han Solo. He was a vital role player in episode six when the Rebel Alliance launched a final attack on the Empire. Calrissian had nuance and a swagger that could not be replicated.

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Marvel Studio President Confirms Meeting With Ava DuVernay to Talk ‘Black Panther’ Film

All of this week there has been news that Ava DuVernay has been chosen to direct the Black Panther feature film. In fact, she has been meeting with Kevin Feige, the president of Marvel Studios, about the job, but no one has confirmed it. DuVernay has yet to confirm nor has Feige or any other official Marvel representative.

“The DuVernay choice could be great news for the future of the Marvel franchise not only because of the more diverse perspective she could bring to the table (she’d be the first non-white, non-male director to see a Marvel film to its completion), but also because in hiring someone with such strong vision, Marvel could combat accusations that its lucrative franchise is a creatively stifling place for directors,” according to writer Joanna Robinson for Vanity Fair.

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There are a lot of fans hoping that she will get the job, but at this time, there is only known information about meetings with multiple directors, not just DuVernay.

In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Feige was asked if Marvel has chosen a director for the upcoming Black Panther and Captain Marvel films, and he says:

“I think by the end of the summer, we’ll have most of those things. Black Panther especially.”

There is still a great amount of speculation and anticipation on who will get to direct the Black Panther film, but until it comes directly from Feige, we will not know for sure.