Hasta La Gadget!

Adult Swim is consistently debuting new shows season after season, but usually not on Vine, right? That’s why the fact that China, IL creator Brad Neely’s Harg Nallin Sclopio Peepio is available on the network is such an interesting change. Neely’s u…

The latest iteration of the Apple TV comes with a brand new remote which is unlike the previous generation. While the remote comes with the basic functions of a remote, it also sports a touchpad where users can use it for quick navigation. It also comes with built-in sensors so that it can also be used as a gaming controller.

However if there is one thing that it does not do well, it would be typing which is admittedly rather slow and tedious, but the good news is that there is now an app for that. The folks at MacRumors have uploaded a video which shows off the upcoming “Remote” app for the Apple TV. The app was announced at WWDC but the video goes into detail what it can do.

For starters we suppose the obvious is that the onscreen keyboard in the app will make typing a whole lot easier. Also given that your iPhone comes with the same sensors like an accelerometer and a gyroscope, it will also be able to pull double duty as a gaming controller and offer up the same features as the current Apple TV remote.

Siri voice commands are also supported, such as dictation. The app is currently only available to developers and while there is no release date set yet, we can only imagine that it will probably be released alongside iOS 10 this coming fall.

Apple’s ‘Remote’ App For The Apple TV Detailed , original content from Ubergizmo. Read our Copyrights and terms of use.

I had a 21st-century moment the other day.

A telephone book came through our mail slot in London and landed with a bang on the floor. It was a mere shadow of a real phone book – probably measuring no more than 1/2 inch in diameter – but it was a bonafide phone book nonetheless.

My 15-year-old son picked it up, inspected it and turned to me, puzzled: “What’s that?” He asked.

My husband and I stared back at him in disbelief.

Not to go all 19th century on you, but man, did that make me feel old. And nostalgic.

I knew this because in our recent frenzy to declutter our home, my husband’s immediate instinct was to throw the phone book out. After all, who needs a phone book? It will just sit on a shelf somewhere gathering dust before invariably being tossed the next time we have occasion to tidy up.

And yet, I found myself resisting throwing this one away, almost as if in giving it up, I was losing something powerful that I might one day regret.

So what’s with my attachment to phone books, you ask?

Much like mood rings or candy necklaces, we all have an emotional attachment to objects that remind us of childhood. In the case of phone books, they take me straight back to the kitchen of the house I grew up in in suburban New Jersey and the colourful, chaotic and cacophonous room that housed our White Pages and its corporate sister, The Yellow Pages. Seeing that phone book all these many years later it as as if I were suddenly back in that room, competing with the dog and the classical music station and my three siblings as we struggled to dominate the nightly family dinner.

But it’s more than that. Seeing a real, live phone book was also a lovely reminder of that frisson that accompanied the process of discovery around someone’s “details” (as we say here in the U.K.) when I was young. You’d make a new friend at school or discover a boy or girl you had a crush on or possibly just wanted to know the street your weird math teacher lived on. And so you went and paged through that vast, floppy tome of ripped, extensively underlined and coffee-stained white pages to learn that your one true love (or physics partner… or jerky guy at the pizza parlor… or uptight lady at the reference desk of the local library) had a phone number. And somehow, knowing that small piece of information – that number – gave you some small measure of power. Or at least you believed that it did.

My inner social media junkie notwithstanding, seeing this phone book even made me long for the days when all you might know about a person was their phone number and their address. And you had to imagine the rest. “Oh, he lives on such and such a street and goes to that junior high. Maybe I’ll ride my bicycle over there one day after school and see what color his house is painted or if he has a big backyard.”

And remember how strange it was when someone’s number was “unlisted?” We thought people were obsessively private if they didn’t share their phone numbers with a bunch of strangers. Ha! Now we have lawsuits over whether it’s fair game to reveal someone’s sexual orientation/behavior online. Kind of makes you long for the days when “the dark web” sounded like the name of a Star Trek episode.

I’ve written before about how nostalgia is a huge part of growing up. I don’t quite put phone books in the same category as the place you grew up or your college friends or your first love – the sorts of things that can truly inspire that odd mix of longing, regret and fondness that nostalgia conjures up.

But it did feel strange – for just that brief moment – to be overcome with a desire for it to be 1975 again.

And then I threw the phone book in the bin.

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The days of meeting someone through a friend, having a long courtship, settling down and getting married are a thing of the past. Nowadays, many people meet online. Tinder, Grindr, Match, OK Cupid are easy ways to meet potential love interests, but with these ever changing ways of finding the next love of our lives come a whole new set of standards in dating that need to be followed. Because it’s 2016 and let’s face it, you’ve got a better chance of giving a guy a handjob in the back of a taxi after a shitty night of dim sum than you do a peck on the cheek after an ice cream social, it’s time to rewrite the rules of dating for this generation.

1. Respond in a Timely Fashion.

Again, it’s 2016. I don’t care who you are or what you do; chances are your smartphone is attached to your hand. So, if your new sweetheart shoots a text, it’s proper etiquette to respond in a timely fashion. I say up to twelve hours within receipt of the text, but even that’s being generous.

Here are a few valid excuses for not returning a text within twelve hours:

• Alien abduction.
• Being traded into a white slave trade, underground prostitution ring, or something to that effect.
• Finding out a relative you thought was dead has come back from the dead (though, this is debatable.)
• Your phone was stolen by a drug cartel.
• Your death.

Here are invalid excuses for not returning a text within twelve hours:

Work is crazy.

Everyone is busy these days. Unless you run a Jennifer Lopez sized corporation, a timely response to a text is important when you’re dating someone. “I’m busy at work, text you in a bit.” See, that took me all of seven seconds to type.

A death in the family.

“Sorry, my mom died. Call you tomorrow.” Again, super-fast to type. And if you play your cards right, you’ll probably get an Edible Arrangement out of that one.

I’m out with friends.

Again, just freaking respond.

It’s important when dating someone to respond to communication. Because for every text that remains not responded to, there’s a desperate thirty-something white girl grasping a bottle of Pinot in one hand and the hope that the douche bag she met three weeks ago on Match is the one in the other.

2. Be True to Yourself.

We seem to be so interested in pleasing other people that we tend to lose what we want out of life and relationships to accommodate others.

So instead of settling because you don’t think you’ll find someone better, simply say:

“I know you have a secret family living in Virginia. I’m not comfortable with it, and I’d like to no longer be dating you.”

It’s so much easier than settling.

3. Ask Questions.

Because we are so connected without ever having to actually meet one another in person – ask questions on a first date. Many people don’t update their Facebook or OK Cupid profiles for many years. Just because your new date listed ABBA, The A-Teens and Ace of Base as musical groups she likes on her profile, it doesn’t necessarily mean she still likes them. Face it, we’ve all be through a Swedish pop phase at one point in our lives, but unless you ask your date what his or her interests are in person, you’ll never know. You may be the Nancy Drew of internet sleuthing but you can never assume you know someone based off of social media. If you’re old enough to read this, you’re old enough to realize ninety percent of what you see on social media is bullshit anyway.

4. Go on an Adventure.

Or find someone to show you around town. It adds excitement to every date. Example: last week a man (or child, I’m still not sure which) asked me on a date. It was nice outside so he suggested we go to a rooftop pool. Seeing as I am not a Rockefeller and do not have a rooftop pool nor do I know someone who does, I listed off other possible adventurers we could take together:

Going to Coney Island, going to Atlantic City for the day, going to Central Park, going to The Cloisters, going to a movie, going for a ride on the ferry, seeing a show or going for a walk along the river.

Eight very viable date options (and if you live in NYC, feel free to steal any or all of these). When he didn’t like any of those, he asked to come over for hanky-panky and I responded “OK.” I never heard from him again and assume he’s under investigation from the FBI (See: Number 1.) Anyway, the point of this is that there are so many fun things to do in every city – find something great and keep it light. Post-adventure sex is very hot – trust me.

5. Keep Your Lies in Check.

It’s harder and harder to lie because we are all so connected and yet everyone continues to do so in such a cavalier fashion that it’s mind-bobbling. If you tell someone “I am working late, I can’t make it out tonight,” don’t turn around and post a picture on Instagram of you and your bros throwing some beers back at a bar two hours later. Number 5 here baffles my mind because people continue to do this all of the time and no one seems to learn their lesson. Say you have other plans or just flat out say you don’t want to hang tonight. Of course, you could always just try to not lie – but that thought never seems to cross anyone’s mind these days. I that know being honest has its downside like being trusted, reliable, kind-hearted and a respectable member of society, but I assure you it’s better than lying.

6. Stop Ghosting.

If it comes to a point when you are no longer interested in the person you are dating, please let them know in an adult manner. I understand that millennials were never held as children and therefore don’t understand human or adult connections outside of the devices implanted onto their hands, but dropping off the face of the earth without warning is not nice. Every action has a consequence and if you do something to someone else that you wouldn’t like having done to you, chances are the person you’re doing it to won’t like it either. Any excuse for breaking up is better than none at all. Come up with something, anything. Such as: “The pattern of your back hair really, really offends me, therefore, we can no longer date. Thank you and goodnight.” See how easy that was? And remember, you can ghost all you friggin’ want, but if you have an unlocked Facebook or Instagram account, chances are, your ass is getting found one way or the other.

I hope this has helped you navigate the dating world in 2016 a bit better. I guess not much has really changed, because the moral or the story is, if we’re all just honest and kind to each other while dating, everything else just falls into place. If it hasn’t, just do what my mother does: run a criminal background check on everyone you go out with from now on. It saves so much time.

Happy Dating!

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There were a lot of dramatic headlines over the weekend suggesting that Brexit signals the beginning of the end of globalization. Surely, it is too soon to understand all the ramifications of the British referendum. But at the same time, today is surely a good day to make the case for multilateralism. While there are plenty of reasons to be concerned about the future, I will argue that globalization still has promise. But to achieve that promise, we will need a fresh look at multilateralism and the role the international financial institutions can play.

My generation can be excused for assuming that history moves in one direction: We have experienced globalization and with it rising incomes and economic progress at home and abroad. Our experience was different than our parents’ generation, which came of age experiencing depression and war.

But now the Brexit vote raises the possibility of an abrupt change in direction. While that vote may have hinged on sentiments about migration and sovereignty, its effect will be the withdrawal of the U.K. from one of the greatest projects of economic integration.

European unity has been part of our generation’s narrative. From the creation of the coal and steel community in 1951, to the creation of the euro, to the re-integration of central and eastern Europe. Brexit is, at the least, an interruption in that integration process.

Could the same doubts that gave rise to Brexit lead to an interruption in globalization?

Many people say globalization is unstoppable. Integration has been achieved. There is no going back. I hope so. But Brexit and the economic trends in the world should cause us to pause, and to think again about irreversibility.

Despite decades of deepening integration, many have come to question whether closer global integration will bring them meaningful benefits, and they see costs and vulnerabilities, both economic, but also social and cultural. Without clear economic benefits, the costs, including a sense of lack of control, can dominate public opinion.

The critics can point to evidence: for people in advanced economies, the global financial crisis was a hit to wealth and, for many, retirement prospects; and growth recovery is still sluggish. People feel the effects of income inequality, stagnating wages, and a lack of job security; and they sense and fear market volatility.

At one level, we have to admit that there are some economic forces at play we don’t yet fully understand: we cannot satisfactorily answer some important questions. Are we in secular stagnation? Does the trend toward lower real interest rates over the last 15 years reflect a drying up of investment possibilities? We will need to continue looking at these questions.

So what can we say? Let me make three points:

First, globalization has lifted hundreds of millions of people out of poverty and raised the living standards across the globe. There is every reason to believe it still holds the promise of supporting rising living standards in advanced economies and emerging markets and developing countries alike. But to preserve and protect that promise, we will have to work to enhance the gains of globalization, limit the costs and vulnerabilities, and make the case to a skeptical public.

Second, as has always been the case, much of what needs to be done requires action at the individual country level. We at the Fund have called for a three prong approach to boosting growth, with support for demand coming from both fiscal and monetary policies, and with structural reforms tailored to support demand in the short run and to boost potential growth over time. While this remains the right recipe, it is clear that individual governments see limits to their room for maneuver, and so far have not made sufficient progress.

And third, we need multilateralism now more than ever. Part of the political problem today is that national leaders cannot really solve domestic problems, nor fulfill the aspirations of their people, with domestic action. That is because their country’s prospects depend too heavily on global prospects.

So, we need everyone pushing in the same direction at the same time. That is why it is important for the IMF to rally its membership to act in harmony. With each country doing its part, the impact will be greater, and leaders can have some greater assurance that growth will be based on demand creation, not demand diversion.

And we also need to consider how to make sure that the international monetary system is supportive of individual country efforts, creating growth opportunities and lowering vulnerabilities.

When I say this, I have a couple things in mind. Even if the advanced economies are facing a form of secular stagnation, in principle the emerging markets and developing countries hold the potential to be the engine of growth over the next generation, as rapid growth leads to convergence in living standards toward advanced levels. However, we are seeing a perverse slowdown in potential growth in emerging markets and developing countries. With present projections, many large emerging markets cannot expect to see convergence at all. That is perverse because with the availability of technology, Internet communications creating educational opportunities, and ample funds for investment, those countries should be accelerating and speeding convergence in living standards.

Now surely, emerging markets and developing countries still have much to do at home to adjust to global events and foster faster growth. But the volatility of the global economy and especially of large flows of short term capital has not been helping. Rather it is leading emerging markets and developing countries to have to act defensively, guarding against openness, worrying about borrowing and current account deficits, and self-insuring with weak currencies and reserve accumulation.

Re-examination of the international monetary system can help here. We can re-assess how macro prudential and capital flow measures can provide protection. We can ask how to promote growth supporting equity flows. And how we can better promote technology transfer.

And we can create a better global financial safety net, including through IMF coordination with regional financing arrangements, and possibly new IMF lending facilities.

There is also room for cooperation with the new multilateral institutions like the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, whose formation we welcome.

Let me end by observing that the new normal in global economics has a parallel in global politics. Ian Bremmer of the Eurasia Group has dubbed this a “G-zero”, a world characterized by a “vacuum of global governance”. Hegemony, for better or worse, no longer prevails. Nor are traditional security relationships coping with the evolution of security challenges. With a growing number of important geo-political risks, and their adverse impacts on economic growth and stability, we will need to pay more attention to the interplay between economics and geopolitics. We see this already in addressing events in the Middle East, Africa, and the refugee issue in Europe.

In the economic realm, the IMF can be a voice for global cooperation and collective action. The IMF is stronger than ever, and better able to deal with economic challenges. Now we must continue to address the new challenges that arise with creative, multilateral solutions that can respond to our rapidly changing world.

Watch Mr. Lipton’s speech here.

From IMFdirect Blog

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