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Adobe to Discontinue Flash in 2020

Jason Tate

Frederic Lardinois, writing for TechCrunch:

Adobe today announced that Flash, the once-ubiquitous plugin that allowed you to play your first Justin Bieber video on YouTube and Dolphin Olympics 2 on Kongregate, will be phased out by the end of 2020. At that point, Adobe will stop updating and distributing Flash. Until then, Adobe will still partner with the likes of Apple, Mozilla, Microsoft and Google to offer security updates for Flash in their browsers and support new versions of them, but beyond that, Adobe will not offer any new Flash features.

Good riddance.

Manchester Orchestra Talk With Spotlight Report

Manchester Orchestra Talk With Spotlight Report
Jason Tate

Andy Hull of Manchester Orchestra sat down with Spotlight Report:

I think so much of that comes from like giving up control for the greater good and letting go of your ego and your pride. When I was younger, it wasn’t that I knew what I was doing [laughs] or knew that I was being a certain way – it was just all I knew. As the years go on, you start to realise how un-smart you are and how much you need to surround yourself with the best people. Once I started to realise Cope was a big part of that, being in a room, working on these songs and realising other ideas were super valuable.

111 NFL Players Examined, 110 Were Found to Have C.T.E.

Jason Tate

The New York Times:

Dr. Ann McKee, a neuropathologist, has examined the brains of 202 deceased football players. A broad survey of her findings was published on Tuesday in The Journal of the American Medical Association.

Of the 202 players, 111 of them played in the N.F.L. — and 110 of those were found to have chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or C.T.E., the degenerative disease believed to be caused by repeated blows to the head.

Reports: Daniel Craig to Return as James Bond

James Bond
Jason Tate

The New York Times is reporting that Daniel Craig will be returning as James Bond in a new film in 2019:

The companies said in a statement that details about a distribution partner, international release dates and the film’s cast and director would be announced “at a later date.” But Mr. Craig’s return is a done deal, according to two people briefed on the matter, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to avoid conflicts with Eon and MGM.

Justin Bieber Cancels Tour

Justin Bieber
Jason Tate

Justin Bieber has canceled his upcoming tour:

Pop singer Justin Bieber on Monday canceled the remainder of his “Purpose” world tour citing “unforeseen circumstances” but gave no specific reasons.

The cancellation will affect 14 dates in North America and Asia through Oct. 10. Ticket holders will get refunds.

‘Dunkirk’ Has a Strong Opening Weekend

Film
Jason Tate

Dunkirk beat expectations over the weekend with a $50.5M debut:

Christopher Nolan’s Dunkirk became the first non-franchise film to top the weekend box office this summer and the first since March of this year as it delivered over $50 million this weekend. Additionally, Universal’s Girls Trip played strong, finishing in second position, while STX’s release of EuropaCorp’s Valerian failed to take off. Also, for a second weekend in a row, we have another franchise title dipping over 60% in its second weekend in release.

I saw the film on IMAX yesterday and loved it. Heart pounding and relentless.

Jay-Z Tops the Charts Again

Jason Tate

Jay-Z once again has the number one album in the country:

4:44 sold 61,000 in traditional album sales in its second week (down 65 percent from 173,000). The album was also down in streaming and track equivalencies, falling 72 percent in SEA units (22,000 — down from 82,000) and 52 percent in TEA units (3,000 — down from 7,000).

Passion Pit Announce Hiatus

Passion Pit
Jason Tate

Passion Pit have announced a hiatus for the foreseeable future to focus on mental health:

Until it is safer and healthier for us to be advocates, to be a writers, producers, and performers, I simply cannot continue making music. You’re either committed to it or not. To raise awareness one moment and announce a show the next doesn’t help me. It hurts me. And others. I love Passion Pit and I love music even more. When something would be wrong, I’d try to ignore it. Then I’d almost die. Really.History loves to repeat itself and it’s because of systems and their flaws. So, I decided to make solving this issue my priority for now. xo

how many more episodes of behind the music do we need? how many more artists need to die? sexual harassment lawsuits need to be thrown out? i make so much music on a regular basis. the only way i can do that is because i work really hard to stay healthy. better health = more art. it’s the 5th-anniversary of Gossamer, an album that is about and the product of a manic episode. I nearly lost everything, including my life. trying to make sure that Gossamer doesn’t happen to me or anyone ever again. i am always making music. will only release music if it is to benefit the work i am doing to improve the environment in which it is made.

George R.R. Martin Offers Update on Books

Game of Thrones
Jason Tate

George R.R. Martin has updated his blog on the future of his books:

“And, yes, I know you all want to know about The Winds of Winter too. I’ve seen some truly weird reports about WOW on the internet of late, by ‘journalists’ who make their stories up out of whole cloth. I don’t know which story is more absurd, the one that says the book is finished and I’ve been sitting on it for some nefarious reason, or the one that says I have no pages. Both ‘reports’ are equally false and equally moronic. I am still working on it, I am still months away (how many? good question), I still have good days and bad days, and that’s all I care to say.