5 Interesting Things Black Nerds Want to See and Not See In 2015 (And You May Even Agree)

It’s a new year, and we are all excited for what a brand new calendar may bring. As the new year carries a blank slate in a sense, a wonderment for what comes next, there are some resolutions we wish people would make. Some resolutions include giving the people what they deserve in the year that Back to the Future II promised us many things, and some items that need to get the Stark Family treatment this year.

This list is provided by William Evans of Black Nerd Problems (@blknrdproblems):

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A Period Drama with Mostly People of Color

As cynical as I am, I’m a bit surprised we don’t have something like this yet. You can’t swing a bored TV executive by the tail without hitting a new TV drama that takes place at least 20 years ago. And, Hollywood loves to show us racism as long as it isn’t present racism so we can act like we are 1000 years removed from it. So why can’t we get that as an ongoing series? I’ve alluded to this idea before, but we really are ready to see a multi-season drama dedicated to the Harlem Renaissance. Or the life of Roberto Clemente. Or Chinese migrant workers. I find it funny how I have to hear how we are in a post-racial society, but simultaneously hear Ridley Scott and Aaron Sorkin say they can’t sell minorities in prominent roles to the American public or get those projects funded. If the recent Wire marathon taught us anything, it’s that if the quality and support is there, you can make a great show (the greatest show) no matter what your characters look like.

A Blerd Reflects on the Social Issues of 2014

I will always remember 2014 as the year America was reminded of its social issues. On the heels of the popularization of “post-racial,” the universe stood puzzled at our collective blindness and punished our hubris by revealing Donald Sterling, Sony emails and Don Lemon journalism. None of these things were new; we just collectively packed away and ignored them, like “organizing” your room by piling all your loose belongings in an overstuffed closet. The year came with other reminders as well, from cultural appropriation to domestic abuse and corrupt policing. For many of us, 2014 was the reminder we never needed.

Following the release of Donald Sterling’s voicemails and news of his history being brought to public light, fans promised a boycott at the same time others searched Hub Stub for reduced ticket prices. In the first home game following the news, reports claimed the Golden State Warriors were prepared to shake hands with the Clippers and walk off the court, refusing to play if Sterling was present. He was banned from the game and the show went on so we didn’t see if the players had the fortitude to back their claims, but the whole fiasco begged the question – how do my convictions weigh against my entertainment?

A person can be an artist of anything – for an actor, their art can be a film; for a chef, their lasagna. I can cherish the beauty of someone’s work without consideration of his or her history, relationships or personal life. Or can’t I? As consumers of art, when do we separate the art from the artist?

When it comes to being aware as a media consumer, sometimes I feel like Cypher in The Matrix:

“I know what you’re thinking, ’cause right now I’m thinking the same thing… I’ve been thinking it ever since I got here: Why, oh why, didn’t I take the blue pill?”

One of my favorite quotes is an inspirational line attributed to Bill Cosby. I recited it to myself in times of intimidation, fear and nervousness. It was the entire movie of 8 Mile encapsulated in a dozen words, with Rabbit making eye contact in the mirror through his black eye. It says, “You have to want it more than you are afraid of it.” In light of the flood of sexual misconduct claims against Cosby and his handling of the allegations, I found myself uncomfortable with my favorite quote.

Read more from Jordan Calhoun at Black Nerd Problems

Intel CEO Launches a $300 Million Initiative as He Declares War on Lack of Diversity in Silicon Valley

Intel CEO sets aside $300 Million for diversity efforts

As the entire tech industry faces off with a serious diversity problem, Intel is stepping forward with a $300 million initiative and a plan that it says will make its company diverse from the ground up by 2020.

Intel CEO Brian Krzanich made the announcement during his keynote at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) 2015 on Tuesday night and stated that just talking about diversity isn’t enough anymore.

It wasn’t long ago that tech giants like Facebook, Apple and Google revealed a stunning lack of diversity in their workforces when they published their diversity reports.

The reports revealed that the companies had less than 2 percent of Black employees and barely had any in some sort of leadership position.

The reports sparked a national dialogue about diversity in STEM careers, but many criticized the companies for not doing enough to actually boost diversity within their own company walls.

Intel is hoping to put an end to those accusations.

“It’s not enough to say we value diversity,” Krzanich said. “It’s time for us to step up and do more.”

Krzanich revealed that Intel would be setting aside a whopping $300 million specifically for the purpose of improving diversity, not only at Intel, but in Silicon Valley as a whole.

The Diversity Initiative Fund would be using the money for a variety of different projects and programs that hope to boost the overall interest that Black people and women have in the technology field.

“It’s $300 million from Intel that we’re going to commit and it’s going to go to everything from investing in minority- and women-owned companies that can help promote technology, women and minority gaming developers, universities that are going to drive more women and minorities into technology and lastly, just actually, developing up front more cash to support new initiatives, new companies, new startups that are owned and run by women and minorities,” Krzanich told Mashable after his speech.

Of course, some tech lovers were skeptical about how exactly the company planned to bring about change in the tech field.

Even with a staggering amount of money, one user sent a tweet to the company saying it’s impossible to “purchase diversity.”

While that may be true, Krzanich believes he and his team will be able to allocate those funds in a way that would promote and create diversity, especially within Intel.

He explained that the company’s plan is to have full representation in all levels of its workforce by the year 2020 and to regularly measure and report on the progress being made toward this goal.

The exact method that should be used to get to that goal remains unclear, but just having a goal in place is what Krzanich believes will set the company up to be successful in such an important endeavor.

“I’m an engineer and I believe that you only solve problems by setting aggressive goals,” he told Mashable. “So as we sat and thought about it, how are we really going to solve this problem? We decided to set a goal. We don’t know how to get there, but we’ve set a goal, made a commitment and now, as engineers, we have to go solve all the problems.”

 

10 Budding Tech Hubs Besides Silicon Valley You Should Know As An Entrepreneur

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The state’s tech sector is growing primarily because of Google Fiber, a faster broadband provider, being moved and expanded there. Tech jobs are on the rise to feed Google Fiber’s work force.

OmahaSkyline_1__fxOmaha, Nebraska

The city has five Fortune 500 companies that all require tech workers. Berkshire Hathaway, Conagra and Union Pacific are major players in the city. SmartAsset ranked the city as one of the top ten cities to be a tech worker.

Comic Girl Highlight: Pantha

Real Name: Rosabelle Mendez
Alias: X-24
Publisher: DC Comics
First Appearance: “New Titans #73” (February 1991)
Affiliation: Teen Titans
Superpower: Enhanced agility and strength, razor-sharp claws, cat’s-eye vision, skilled fighter, escape artist, healing, super hearing, super sight, super smell and super speed

Pantha was a student at NYU (New York University) who studied to become a veterinarian. She was kidnapped by Maxwell Lord and sold to the Wildebeest Society. Rosabelle was used for research and experimented on and as a result was created as a hybrid feline by the Wildebeest. Several experiments were conducted including X-24. When Rosabelle escaped, she decided to plot her revenge against the individuals who performed experiments on her. According to Comic Vine, Pantha was created by Marv Wolfman and Tom Grummett. She appeared first in “The New Titans #73” as a shadow and fully in “The New Titans #74.”

During her plot for revenge, she was at odds with Deathstroke many times. Deathstroke has become more familiar with many of us as a popular villain on the hit CW series Arrow. Under the codename Pantha, she later joined the Teen Titans, but at many times was at odds with her teammates. According to Wikipedia, she later teams up with her old allies when Cyborg, now with an entirely new level of power, threatens the entire Earth. The Justice League of America showed up also and a series of mistakes led to the entire team fighting. Pantha took on Catwoman, but neither side won as they were interrupted by blasts from Orion. Baby Wildebeest himself was subdued by Superman.

When the “Infinite Crisis” occurs, she joins another team of Titans in addition to Doom Patrol and Justice Society of America. JSA includes a previous comic girl featured in this spotlight by the name of Crimson Avenger. Pantha has feline-like strength that possesses super human strength, agility, speed, reflexes, and leaping. She also has razor sharp claws on her hands and feet that are able to cut through steel and used to crush into stone walls. She also has a slight healing factor that allows her to recover from minor injuries almost immediately.

During the “Infinite Crisis,” an altercation takes place between Pantha and Superboy Prime. In the battle, Superboy accidentally kills Pantha and he also slaughtered Baby Wildebeest.

In the “Blackest Night,” which was a Titans crossover story, Pantha is resurrected as a member of the Black Lantern and ready for battle once again with the Titans. Sadly, her body is destroyed and permanently disintegrated. Fans of the Teen Titans TV show may remember Pantha’s stint as a wrestler and wears a wrestling mask. Her debut was on the episode Calling All Titans.

Source: Jamie Broadnax at Black Girl Nerds

South Side Chicago Author Helps Give New Life to Afrofuturism and Caters to Blacks Interested in Sci-Fi, Fantasy Literature

As Afrofuturism continues to grow in popularity, one author from Chicago’s South Side is helping the movement take shape and offering a guide to sci-fi and fantasy newcomers.

For quite some time it seemed like the vast, imaginative worlds of sci-fi and fantasy arts had room for everything except for Black people.

Even today, as more comic book creators and sci-fi filmmakers make conscious efforts to boost diversity in their works, Black actors and characters often receive less than warm welcomes.

That’s where Afrofuturism comes in.

Afrofuturism is a term that describes the harmonious blend of science fiction and fantasy with aspects of Afrocentricity.

Afrofuturistic works not only aim to entertain, but they also hope to provide insightful critiques of racism and re-examine historical events.

While the term was not coined by Mark Dery until he published his essay “Black to the Future” in 1992, Chicago author Ytasha Womack was always living her life as a proud Afrofuturist.

The culture left such a substantial impact on the Chicago native that she began penning the book “Afrofuturism: The World of Black Sci-Fi and Fantasy Culture” after she graduated from Clark Atlanta University.

She graduated from the HBCU back in 1997, but it wasn’t until 2013 that Womack’s revolutionary book would hit the shelves.

The book was created as a bit of a launch pad for Blacks who were new to the sci-fi, fiction universe but always had an interest in it.

“A lot of my friends from college were really immersed in these ideas,” Womack said, according to DNA Info. “But when they graduated they didn’t know what to do.”

Womack hopes her book will help address that problem for many other Black people interested in sci-fi and fantasy works.

In addition to serving as a launch pad for Afrofuturism newcomers, the book will also aim to be a sort of history book for the sub culture.

Womack said she hopes the book is able to “preserve the movement for future generations,” DNA Info reported.

Since her book’s 2013 release, Womack says college students and professors have been constantly reaching out to her and now the book is being used to help educate students on a variety of topics including feminism and African diaspora.

The Afrofuturism book came after she wrote another book in 2010 titled “Post Black: How a New Generation Is Redefining African American Identity” and just before she released a fictional novel titled “Rayla 2212” in 2014.

The book follows the life of a woman named Rayla who lives on a former earth colony 200 years in the future.

“The idea [of Rayla] became really compelling when I was writing the Afrofuturism book,” Womack said.

Both of the works were contributing factors that helped inspire the Race in Space Conference at Duke University in October of 2013.

The conference combined science fiction with science fact and allowed seasoned researchers to give more insight about the possibilities of more advanced space exploration.

Afrofuturism has also been used to help get more Black students interested in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) careers.

New Popscope Happily Marries Cellphone Tripods and Selfie Sticks for No-Hassle Photos and Video

Cell phone accessories

A new product for smartphones of all shapes and sizes recently hit the market and is sure to be a hit with virtual gym trainers, families who live far apart, fashion bloggers who need to capture their style and anyone who is just craving for an easier way to get the perfect selfie.

The product is called Popscope and it is the happy marriage between the selfie stick and a cellphone tripod that seems to be long overdue.

In the digital age, smartphones have long waged a war against consumer cameras, so it’s only natural that tech-savvy entrepreneurs have been rushing to create accessories for mobile devices that mirror those of camera accessories.

From different lenses to external microphones, anything a consumer videographer or photographer would equip their DSLR camera with, they can now simply attach a similar version to their smartphones.

Popscope is adding to that ever-growing repertoire of accessories that are helping smartphones gear up for their battle against digital cameras by doubling as a tripod and monopod.

Tripods for smartphones are not a new invention, but Popscope may be the first product that combines the cellphone tripod with the latest trend for selfie lovers — the selfie stick.

The selfie stick is a rod that can safely secure users’ phones at the end of the stick.

The accessory also comes with a wireless remote to activate the phone’s shutter so one can take a good selfie with the phone farther away.

The Popscope not only gives consumers the option to prop up their phones on a tripod, but it also extends out to become a selfie stick of its own.

The inventor and CEO of Popscope, Vincent Smith, was surprised that such a demand had not already been met in the market.

“Trying with no luck to take a full body selfie at arm’s length before going out to send to a friend, I thought if I could set my phone on a small tripod, that would work,” he said in a press release. “I searched but could not find a product that could accomplish that. This led me to think, ‘How can I design something?’ ”

Thus the Popscope, and all 19 inches of its retractable glory, was created.

The swivel head on the Popscope allows for an impressive 90-degree bend and makes it much easier for people to video chat, record themselves for online tutorials or just take pictures.

The fact that it can collapse down to 6.49 inches makes it a breeze to tote around.

“We prize this device on being versatile, compact and incredibly useful,” Smith said. “We’ve nailed this concept as it fits most all phones, and is extremely easy to carry.”

Never again will a social media fashionista have to opt for a mirror selfie if nobody is around to capture her outfit from head-to-toe. Extended conversations on Facetime will no longer end simply because someone’s arm got too tired to keep holding the cellphone at eye level. The days of propping your cellphone up on a pile of books to watch your favorite shows are long gone.

In an age where the quality of a cellphone’s camera is more of a deciding factor of the phone’s worth than its battery life or durability, the Popscope has emerged as quite the hero for the tech-savvy, selfie-obsessed young consumers.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3w_qJ1QGfDo#t=70

 

8 Futuristic Features We Can’t Wait For Every Car To Have in a Matter of Years

Parallel_Parking_cars

Self-Parking

Parallel parking is difficult for a lot of people. In a few years, this feature will be offered in many cars. A feature like this could possibly solve urban parking issues. Self-parking cars may prevent traffic jams, allow the cars to park in smaller spaces and making parallel parking faster.

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Medical Emergency Detection

In a few years, cars will have sensors that produce injury reports when car accidents occur. These reports will help doctors diagnose symptoms much quicker.