FEATURES
Britney Spears’ Hidden Music Messages: A Timeline
Over the last decade, Britney Spears’ supernatural pop star status became overthrown by the haunting shadow of her conservatorship. Established in 2008, following messy custody battles and an involuntary psychiatric hold, the artist’s estate and finances were placed in the hands of her father Jamie Spears and attorney Andrew Wallet. In recent years, the topic of Spears’ creative and financial freedom has ballooned into a prominent discussion in modern pop culture. This year, The New York Times resurrected the conversation with its Framing Britney Spears documentary. Released on Feb. 5, it chronicles Spears’ career, the sexism she faced by the media, the origin of the conservatorship, how it has since affected her life, and the fan-driven #FreeBritney movement that follows her court proceed...
A Documentary About Legendary Electronic Outfit The Prodigy is in the Works
The history of the legendary electronic band, The Prodigy, is complex, striking, and powerful. Fans have watched the band evolve over the last three decades, up to and beyond the tragic passing of frontman Keith Flint in March 2019. Now, band members, Maxim and Liam Howlett feel it’s time to share The Prodigy’s story on the big screen. “We are making a band documentary film…so f*kin what??” Maxim and Howlett said in a joint statement. “After the devastating passing of our brother Keef in 2019, the time feels right for us to tell the story of our band, all of it, the whole 9…” The full-length feature documentary will be directed by The Prodigy’s longtime collaborator, Paul Dugdale, who worked with the band on their 2011 concert f...
Jimmy Eat World on the Phoenix Sessions and the Future of Streaming Concerts
A typical album cycle for Jimmy Eat World finds them playing about 150 shows. For their latest album, Surviving, they got in 27. They had a big summer trek all mapped out, but when touring shut down do the pandemic, what could they do? They, like everyone else, were stuck, and their fans would have to impatiently wait to hear the new material live. That opportunity finally came last month when the band launched their Phoenix Sessions concert film series (don’t call it a livestream) with a full-album performance of Surviving. Futures followed two weeks later, and this week on February 12th, they’ll close it all out with their classic Clarity. Each show came with a virtual pre-show, meet-and-greet opportunities, and exclusive merch, approximating the real concert experience as much as possib...
Why Facial Verification Is Key to Ending Facial Biometric Software Bias
As the global need for inclusive biometric security in facial identification increases, developers need not overlook the burden of a non-biased solution. Teki Akuetteh Falconer, from the African Digital Rights’ Hub, says racial profiling is a major concern in terms of facial identification software. This presents a challenge for Africa because if an individual’s identity cannot be reliably processed by both the public and private sectors, their ability to function in a digital society is hampered. The World Bank and the United Nations anticipate that by 2030 all Africans will have some form of digital identity which will prove critical when it comes to accessing essential services such as housing, schooling, healthcare and banking, to name a few. Gur Geva, Founder and CEO of iiDE...
Oil-Burning, Not-Diesel Toyota Hilux Goes to 2.4 Hours of LeMullets
The diesel-powered Toyota Hilux is one of the most indestructible vehicles on the planet. This 1974 Hilux that David Newbern is loaning to Mike Finnegan and David Freiburger is not. But the Roadkill crew was invited to participate in Cleetus McFarland’s 2.4 Hours of LeMullets at the Freedom Factory, and they didn’t have a car to drive to Bradenton, Florida, so why not take this small-block-Chevy-swapped mini-truck? David Newbern picked up the brick-red Hilux from the $3k Hooptie Challenge, where it was a capable little truck. It had an LS bolted to a Turbo 350 going to a Ford 8.8 with 3.73s, a spool and slapper bars, but Finnegan and Newbern pulled that engine to put into Newbern’s Attempted Murder Nova for episode 111 when they Zoom-raced Tony Angelo. Since then, Newbern...
Ruth E. Carter Designs Crown Royal x Coming 2 America Limited-Edition Pack
Source: Crown Royal / Crown Royal Crown Royal has linked up with the forthcoming Coming 2 America sequel and have included design royalty in the mix. Iconic costume designer Ruth E. Carter was tapped to create a limited-edition Crown Royal x Coming 2 America pack for the whisky brand. Source: Crown Royal / Crown Royal The work of the Oscar-winning Costume Designer resonated with Crown Royal, which plans to celebrate heroes of the Black community throughout Black History Month and beyond. In case you’re unfamiliar, Carter’s handiwork can also be seen in Marvel’s Black Panther. Or, you might recognize her handiwork in a gang of Spike Lee films including School Daze, Do The Right Thing, Mo’ Better Blues, Jungle Fever, and Malcolm X. Her impeccable eye for bold colors and timely fashion in her...
Ranking Every Van Halen Album From Worst to Best
It took the death of their iconic guitarist to finally stop Van Halen. For four decades, the band seemed like it could adapt to and survive anything. The arrival and departure of multiple lead singers. The rise of MTV. The births of heavier styles of rock that overtook the hearts and t-shirt collections of fans worldwide. Drugs and alcohol. Health problems. A constant clashing of egos and personalities. Even if they weren’t releasing music. Van Halen seemed destined to limp forward like a rusting muscle car for eternity. But on October 6th, 2020, the linchpin of the band’s sound, guitarist Eddie Van Halen, passed away and closed the book on one of the greatest rock groups of all time. As Wolfgang, Eddie’s son and the band’s latter-day bassist, put it to Howard Stern a month after his dad’s...
Rock Hall of Fame 2021 Nominations: The Snubs, Surprises, and Long Shots
The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame traditionally announces its annual slate of nominees in October and narrows it down to a set of official inductees in December. But like just about everything else, the Rock Hall’s schedule was disrupted last year by the COVID-19 pandemic, with the May induction ceremony concert delayed and downsized to a taped HBO special that aired in November. But this week, the gatekeepers in Cleveland finally announced the slate of 16 acts that will be narrowed down later this year to the five or seven artists who encompass the Class of 2021: Mary J. BligeKate BushDevoFoo FightersThe Go-Go’sIron MaidenJay-ZChaka KhanCarole KingFela KutiLL Cool JNew York DollsRage Against the MachineTodd RundgrenTina TurnerDionne Warwick Diversity has never been a particular strength of t...
How to Keep Hackers Out of Your Zoom Call
With the onset of the COVID-19 remote work exodus that has seen billions stuck at home, video conferencing apps have exploded in popularity. At the forefront is the service Zoom. However, with Zoom’s explosive popularity came a series of highly publicized security issues. To unpack this, ITNA’s Jenna Delport chatted with Gabe Goldhirsh, VP MEA at digital risk protection company, ZeroFOX. Here’s what transpired: Why is Zoom, in particular, the target platform of choice for dedicated cyber attacks? And was it about Zoom that made it so popular to users in the first place? The rapid movement to remote work as a result of the pandemic caused a near-overnight acceleration and adoption of all collaboration tools – especially to Zoom (due to its platform ubiquity, ease, and no/low cost licen...
Debating the Essential Hannibal Lecter
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Art is subjective. Music and movies aren’t about competition; they’re about artistic expression. Well, for those of you who know better than to believe those lies, welcome to another installment of Vs. This time, Justin Gerber, Clint Worthington, and Dominick Suzanne-Mayer debate over who played the best Hannibal Lector as Ridley Scott’s Hannibal turns 20 and Jonathan Demme’s The Silence of the Lambs turns 30. Mind you, this piece originally ran in 2016. Justin Gerber: I grew up on Anthony Hopkins’ Hannibal. It earned him an Academy Award for Best Actor. It gave his career a boost it desperately needed, and he’s been pretty much riding the waves ever since. He’s great. No question. However, there’s something about the laissez-faire performance of Brian...
2023 Ferrari Purosangue: Everything We Know About the SUV
When Will the Ferrari SUV Come Out? The Purosangue, or “thoroughbred” if you will, is due to break cover in the first half of 2022. If auto shows ever make a comeback, the Purosangue will likely make its debut at the Geneva show, which is typically scheduled for the middle of March. There are plenty of spy shots of mules running around Ferrari’s global HQ in Maranello, Italy, as well as in frosty climates for cold-weather testing. We know relatively little about what the Purosangue will look like, but according to a report by the British publication Autocar, the SUV’s design has already been finalized by Ferrari. Mules of the Purosangue that have been captured in spy shots appear to be Maserati Levantes concealing Ferrari running gear. That said, these Pur...
Honda Civic Type R Crate Engine Now Available “Complete” With ECU, Wiring Harness
Nothing in Honda’s present four-cylinder engine lineup comes close to outshining the Honda Civic Type R’s mighty turbocharged K20C1 engine, which makes it the perfect candidate for an engine swap by amateur and entry-level professional race teams looking to wring more performance out of the their Hondas. And now Honda Performance Development (HPD) has made it even easier for those teams to do just that thanks to the addition of a more complete Civic Type R crate engine package that includes the ECU, wiring setup, and more. HPD first announced the availability of the Type R crate engine back in 2017 and even displayed an example in the Honda booth during that year’s SEMA show week. The difference now is the addition of the HPD Controls Package that will make the proce...
