Joey Bada$$’s Netflix short film earned its right to 2021 Oscar nominee
Somebody had a meeting somewhere and decided Joey Bada$$ should be everybody’s boyfriend who Noah Centineo was too busy to woo. (If you’re an ’80s baby, a better comparison would be Brandon Q. Adams or the late Merlin Santana.) Outside of Tupac Shakur, Joey Bada$$ (aka Joey Badass) may be the first Billboard hip-hop artist who seamlessly transitions from rapping to love interest — and he’s doing it well.
On everything from “Boomerang” to “Grown-ish” to “Two Distant Strangers,” he’s not just “the other man” or “the cute rapper with groupies” or “the boyfriend.” He’s managed to make his roles…
Artificial intelligence results have to stop matching to mugshots
Facebook is working on a new project: Casual Conversations. Composed of 45,186 videos and 3,011 participants, the project will be used to “understand the multifaceted, ongoing challenges of fairness and bias” in order to build more inclusive technology.
Paid users of varying skin tones provided their own ages, gender labels and unscripted responses to scripted questions. Recorded in low lighting conditions, annotators labeled each user’s skin tone using the Fitzpatrick scale, which is organized into six categories.
It’s not exactly breaking news to recognize the kind of implicit bias that Facebook is studying— based on everything from skin complexion, age…
Why race should not ‘matter’ … and why it does to me anyway
In my line of work, I talk to entrepreneurs and contractors — a lot. And my smile is always a bit bigger when I connect with black-owned businesses outside of music and sports. That’s no knock to music and sports; it’s just that we’ve been connected to those two industries for so long that it feels like a go-to. No one is surprised when Andre starts his own music label. They are, however, surprised when Andre is one of the head marketing executives. (Salute to “Black-ish.”)
But I had a conversation a few weeks ago with a business and tech…
The “American” question I was asked that made me question public school and black wealth
“You are from America, aren’t you?” he asked, gazing down at me. I sat on a garden stone and leaned my back against the bricks surrounding the outside of my kitchen window.
“Born and raised in Chicago, south side,” I responded, mildly irritated that my citizenship was being questioned. “Why did you ask me that?”
“I don’t understand why you weren’t trying to buy property years ago,” he said. “That’s what I always knew about America. Buy homes. Get money. I thought everybody in America did that.”
I paused. He was born and raised in Mexico, and I’m sure he…
When Facebook won their security text lawsuit, robocallers won, too
Either Supreme Court judges have managed to luck out and not be bombarded with robocalls, or they shrug them off as “business as usual.” Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg had to have breathed a sigh of relief, knowing Noah Duguid of Montana lost his $5 million lawsuit against Facebook for allegedly violating the Telephone Consumer Protection Act. But this case went all the way to the Supreme Court.
In short, as of January 2014, Duguid was receiving security alert text messages from Facebook, warning that someone was trying to get into his account. However, Duguid didn’t have a Facebook account. So…
Why creating more email addresses could resolve the spam problem
Every person needs at least four email accounts. This was a suggestion from a 2020 Forbes post. I raised an eyebrow, counting off seven of my email addresses — six of which very specific people would receive inbox messages from with my name as the sender. The seventh one is available for all. It may as well be a party line email; it even has “spam” in the email address. I share that one like Oprah buys cars for her fans.
I learned the hard way that giving everyone the same email address meant I would be bombarded with emails…
Yes, it is possible to have pet allergies and a dog simultaneously
Dog Twitter is an easy group to befriend. Post the dog you own. Post the dog(s) you walk. Post the dog(s) who made you laugh at a dog park. Post the dog who passed away and you miss every single day. We’re just looking for cute and funny pics of pets, especially on National Pet Day. Your dog could be doing something as simple as sleeping or eating a bone, and our hearts are melting into puddles on the floor. …
Trained officers who fall apart from name calling, please turn in your badge today
Let’s play a social media game. I want you to find your favorite athlete or music artist online. Type their names into the search engine. Now type “tough guy,” “real man,” “such a man,” “bogus,” “bum,” “fucking bum,” “fucking pussy ass bitch” and “bitch.” Did any of those people kneel on someone’s neck for 9:29 because of name calling? I am usually annoyed when I hear “most people” or “all people” to justify a point made, but I’m pretty certain all the people you chose for your search didn’t kneel on anyone’s neck today.
Know as much as you can about your neighbors as you do your potential property
One of the documents that potential condo owners receive before a purchase is meeting minutes. But being in meetings are boring enough, so why in the world would you want to read minutes from meetings you didn’t even have to attend? Do not look at it this way. In fact, meeting minutes for your homeowners association (HOA) may be the most interesting thing you’ll read of all the documents — or at least more intriguing than bylaws. Why? …
Twitter jail, Cher fandom and how I found out this suicide flag feature doesn’t work well
When former President Donald J. Trump was suspended on 11 different social media platforms after four years of instigating violence, racism and sexism, my first thought was, “What took so long?” Freedom of Speech is an interesting and gray area that allows people to speak about topics that are not always popular opinions. You always have to walk a line between giving someone the option to say what’s on their mind and knowing when it’s offensive. But there is no gray area with Twitter’s moderation option to report self-harm or suicide. If you see it, you click “Report,” then “They’re…
