Theresa May Loses Another Brexit Vote: Here's Why April 12 Is Now The Key Date To Watch

MPs accused Theresa May of leading them towards a ‘blind Brexit’. (EPA-EFE)

On the day that the United Kingdom was supposed to exit from the European Union, members of parliament effectively voted down Theresa May’s Brexit deal for a third time, despite her attempts to change the substance of the motion on which they were deciding.

The House of Commons voted 344 to 286 against a government motion that would have indicated its support for May’s withdrawal agreement, settling the terms of the UK’s divorce. In two earlier votes, they had been asked to decide on the withdrawal agreement and the non-binding political declaration on the UK’s future relationship with the EU. May had hoped to chart a path forward by decoupling these two documents.

Despite having won over some prominent Brexit supporters in the days leading up to the vote, May failed to bring Democratic Unionist Party MPs and members from opposition parties on board, which ultimately led to her defeat. Notably, the Labour opposition objected to the prime minister’s decision to only present MPs with the withdrawal agreement and not the political declaration. Labour frontbenchers accused her of trying to lead the country into a “blind Brexit”.

Why a vote on the withdrawal deal alone?

Having been granted extra time to get the EU-UK Brexit deal passed, that MPs were voting only on the withdrawal agreement but not the political declaration seemed surprising.

The motivation for separating these two documents is a simple one.

When the UK sought and got an extension to the Article 50 negotiations, the EU 27 made its offer of a longer extension until May 22 conditional on MPs backing the withdrawal agreement by March 29. In other words, if what was now contentious among MPs was the nature of the future relationship and not the Irish backstop, then the EU was open to a discussion about the text of the political declaration. But it wanted to know that the House of Commons could back the text of the withdrawal agreement itself. After all, Article 50 creates a formal procedure for the negotiation of a binding withdrawal agreement that takes into account a framework of a future relationship. Legally, from an EU standpoint, it is the withdrawal agreement that really matters.

The difficulty from the point of view of the UK is that legally, parliament must approve the texts of both the withdrawal agreement and the political declaration. This is laid down in section 13 of the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018, which has been the basis for the two so-called “meaningful votes” that have seen huge defeats for the government.

In separating the withdrawal agreement from the political declaration, it was not open to the government to present this as “meaningful vote three”. Much like the indicative motions debated by parliament earlier in the week, the intention was simply to signal that a withdrawal agreement could pass, triggering the longer extension.

Helpfully, putting forward a different proposition to that defeated in the earlier meaningful votes also allowed the government to satisfy speaker John Bercow’s test that prohibited the Executive from asking Parliament to vote again on the same proposition in the same session of parliament.

The government’s defeat, however, means that the UK has until April 12 to decide what it wants to do next. In the absence of an agreement to further extend the Article 50 process, and despite MPs voting against a “no-deal” Brexit, the UK will leave the EU on April 12 without an agreement settling citizens’ rights, its financial liabilities, the Irish border issue and without any transitional framework in place.

Now what?

The prime minister now has to consider her options. She could ask leaders of EU states to offer a much longer Article 50 extension, keeping the UK in the EU. In so doing the prime minister also has a fundamental choice to make. Should she follow through on her televised address following the second meaningful vote defeat and ask the electorate to instruct its MPs to back the Brext deal – a referendum between remaining in the EU or leaving on the basis of the negotiated deal – or should she accept that her government simply cannot command majority support in the Commons for the defining policy of her premiership and trigger the process for an early general election? Is there one last roll of the dice that would allow a new and different vision of the future to be enshrined in a political declaration that would get Labour support?

A revised political declaration would open the way for a further section 13 approval vote that would also meet the Bercow test. But time is short and running out fast.

About Today's Contributor:

Kenneth Armstrong, Professor of European Law, University of Cambridge

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license.

ASCAP Screen Music Awards 2019 to Honor Film Composer Michael Giacchino, Captain Marvel Composer Pinar Toprak and Stage & Screen Songwriters Benj Pasek and Justin Paul

2019 ASCAP Screen Music Awards: Michael Giacchino, Pinar Toprak + Benj Pasek and Justin Paul (Image via ASCAP)

ASCAP, the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers,has announced its slate of major honorees for the 34th annual ASCAP Screen Music Awards and it is an incredible soundtrack. 

The awards dinner, which takes place in Beverly Hills on May 15, will see Oscar, Emmy and multi-Grammy winner Michael Giacchino receive the prestigious ASCAP Henry Mancini Award. Pinar Toprak, who scored the recently released #1 box office smash Captain Marvel and co-composed the score to the massively popular online game Fortnite, will be honored with the ASCAP Shirley Walker Award for her trailblazing achievements.

Oscar, Grammy, Tony and Golden Globe Award-winning songwriters Benj Pasek and Justin Paul will also be recognized with the ASCAP Vanguard Award, which salutes ASCAP members whose innovative work is helping to shape the future of music— the first time the award has been presented to music creators known for their film and musical theatre accomplishments.

"With such a stellar group of honorees, we couldn't be more excited for this year's ASCAP Screen Music Awards," said ASCAP Chairman of the Board and President Paul Williams. "From Up to Jurassic World to Incredibles 2, Michael Giacchino's beloved scores have powered so many of the blockbuster movies we know and love. Benj Pasek and Justin Paul's undeniable creative chemistry as a songwriting duo has captured fans' hearts and rocketed them from musical theatre school to the world's largest screens in just a few short years. And Pinar Toprak just opened her first #1 box office film with Captain Marvel, and is no doubt on track for many more. We're looking forward to celebrating all of these world-class music creators at the ASCAP Screen Music Awards on May 15."

The ASCAP Screen Music Awards is an invitation-only dinner and awards ceremony that honors composers and songwriters of the top box office film music, top-rated TV series and the most performed television music of 2018. Along with these, the winners of the annual ASCAP Composers' Choice Awards, open to voting by all eligible ASCAP writer members in early April, will be revealed at the ceremony. 

• The Composers' Choice Awards include three categories: Film Score of the Year, TV Composer of the Year and Video Game Score of the Year.

Additionally, this year, in partnership with the Guild of Music Supervisors, ASCAP will for the first time present the newly created Harmony Award to a composer-music supervisor pair for outstanding collaboration.

Michael Giacchino

Michael Giacchino is an Oscar, Emmy and three-time Grammy Award winner, best known for his collaborations with JJ Abrams, Pixar and Disney. 

The New Jersey native began by scoring groundbreaking video games and has become among the most sought after composers in both film and television. While he continues to score the world's biggest box office films, his credits span a variety of mediums. 

His early television credits were for two breakout JJ Abrams series, Alias and Lost. His first major film score was The Incredibles for Pixar and he's never looked back, creating music for the Disney-Pixar film Ratatouille which earned him his first Oscar nomination. He received the Oscar for Best Original Score for the Pixar film, Up in 2009. 

Giacchino's other film credits include: Star Trek, Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, Jurassic World, Inside Out, Zootopia, Doctor Strange, Rogue One, Spider-Man: Homecoming, War for the Planet of the Apes, Coco, Incredibles 2 and the upcoming Spider-Man: Far from Home.

• The ASCAP Henry Mancini Award is presented to composers for outstanding achievements and contributions to the world of film and television music. Previous recipients include Hans Zimmer, Quincy Jones, Randy Newman, Bruce Broughton, Angelo Badalamenti, Carter Burwell, John Powell and Craig Armstrong.

Pinar Toprak

Pinar Toprak was born and raised in Istanbul, and studied composition at a conservatory there. She moved to the United States to pursue her passion and joined the music production company Media Ventures International (Remote Control) with Hans Zimmer. 

With her eclectic style and experience working with the best, Toprak has established herself in her field and broken down barriers in the process, recently becoming the first woman to score a Marvel film with her score for Captain Marvel. 

Her previous credits span all mediums from Fortnite to the Superman prequel Krypton. 

Toprak has won two International Film Music Critics Association Awards for The Lightkeepers (2009) and The Wind Gods (2013). She recently scored the Pixar SparkShort PURL.

• The ASCAP Shirley Walker Award honors those whose achievements have contributed to the diversity of film and television music. An ASCAP member, Shirley Walker was one of the first prominent female composers working in film and television and is remembered as a pioneer for women in the film industry. Previous recipients include Wendy Melvoin and Lisa Coleman (Wendy & Lisa), Deborah Lurie and Germaine Franco.

Pasek and Paul

Oscar, Grammy, Tony and Golden Globe Award-winning songwriters Benj Pasek and Justin Paul have conquered the stage and screen. They won an Oscar and Golden Globe for Best Original Song for "City of Stars" from La La Land, with another Oscar nomination for "Audition (The Fools Who Dream)" from that same film. 

The duo earned a Golden Globe for Best Original Song and an Oscar nomination for "This Is Me" from The Greatest Showman in 2017. They recently picked up a Grammy for Best Compilation Soundtrack for Visual Media for that film. 

Pasek and Paul have a Tony Award and Grammy for their score for the six-time Tony-honored Broadway hit Dear Evan Hansen. 

The pair made their Great White Way debut in 2012 with their Tony-nominated score for A Christmas Story, a Broadway adaptation of the classic holiday film. 

Upcoming projects include the live-action movie musicals Aladdin and Snow White at Disney, and an original animated musical at Fox Animation/Blue Sky Studios.

• The ASCAP Vanguard Award recognizes ASCAP members whose innovative work is helping to shape the future of music. Previous recipients include Kendrick Lamar, Dua Lipa, Björk, Beck, Chris Stapleton, St. Vincent, Janelle Monáe, The Killers, The Strokes, The Beastie Boys, Nine Inch Nails and more.

SOURCE: ASCAP

Beyond 'Bandersnatch,' The Future Of Interactive TV Is Bright

Make a choice to see the next phase of the story. (Netflix)

Make a choice: Do you want to engage with your media passively or actively?

The December 2018 premiere of Netflix’s “Black Mirror: Bandersnatch” offered consumers a new way to influence the entertainment they’re watching. Netflix has a growing list of choose-your-own-adventure movies. What viewers might see as a simple choice, such as which breakfast cereal a character begins the day with, could affect the whole show’s storyline. There are other choices to make as well – some of which change the plot, and some of which may not.

Viewers aren’t watching these interactive films just once. Rather, they are watching them over and over again to find each ending and post maps of the diverging plot lines. I think I sat on my couch for nearly three hours straight trying to exhaust all of “Bandersnatch’s” choices as it followed a programmer and designer through the process of game development.

I’ve been teaching and researching game design and development since 2001. I see this type of experience not as just the future of entertainment, but as the expansion of a standard method of storytelling that game designers have been using for decades. Netflix is introducing new technology and new audiences to this type of entertainment, but fiction writers have been exploring similar themes for far longer, creating stories of time travel and alternative realities that let people fantasize about redoing decisions in life.

Controlling your own destiny

There is a kind of game made popular by “Dungeons & Dragons” that provides a way to understand and expand what “Bandersnatch” explores. Role-playing games let players pick characters with multiple traits, such as strength, health and special skills, and work together to achieve story-driven goals.

Fans of “The Lord of the Rings” books and movies will recognize the idea of a team of characters with different backgrounds, abilities and motivations, all trying to work together toward a goal. The adventure is not just in whether they achieve the task, but the encounters, mishaps and even battles that happen along the way. The ultimate outcome depends on the choices players make along the way.

Many role-playing games get people together around a computer to explore a collective adventure. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren)

Role-playing games started with players gathered around a table, keeping notes on paper and rolling dice to incorporate the role of chance and probability into the adventure. A human game master coordinated everything, keeping track of what was happening and working with players to advance their stories and the overall plot of the adventure.

Early computer games, such as the 1980s-era Infocom text adventures, turned the role of game master over to a game designer, who controlled the choices and their consequences. In the decades since, more powerful computers have let modern digital games offer a great many choices. Teachers have begun to use elements of role-playing games to help students learn.

Illusion of choice

With “Bandersnatch,” Netflix used software to process viewers’ choices and deliver the appropriate video. When watching and “playing,” I wondered if there were too few choices. The show offered only two choices of breakfast cereal, and the viewer couldn’t choose to skip breakfast, make eggs or open the freezer to grab some ice cream. But, there’s a very good reason for these constraints.

Every story decision requires more writing and more development. (Tony Hirst/Flickr, CC BY)

I often tell my students that when they’re creating role-playing games, the problem isn’t giving players choices: It’s deciding what happens next. Giving players lots of options is great, and fun – but with every choice the job gets harder. If there are three kinds of ice cream in the freezer, that’s three different sets of video to show vanilla, chocolate and strawberry – and possibly three different scripts, if the choice actually has consequences.

In game design, we call this a “branching narrative,” where every choice spawns as many new branches as there are options, and the tree gets bigger and bigger all the time. A movie with an enormous number of options would require multiple sets, extra time for actors, huge amounts of special effects work, extended production times and increasing budgets.

Such a complex film would also take viewers huge amounts of time to experience. Digital game players can handle this sort of effort by saving their progress and taking a break, returning to resume play hours later, or even days.

With an interactive movie, would a viewer want several days’ worth of watching? I don’t know if anyone has an idea of how long a typical interactive movie experience should last. My three hours on the couch watching “Bandersnatch” seemed about right – and ran through most of the options.

The Netflix producers borrowed from game designers, and the classic “Choose Your Own Adventure” book series, to give viewers the illusion of choices when really the alternatives were limited. My own research recommended the same technique: Allow the players some choices, but bring them back to the main narrative thread at key points.

Future of interactive media

There will be more interactive movies. Netflix has built its own software for “Bandersnatch,” which it can use for other stories too. There are already several addictive interactive kids’ shows, including “Puss in Book: Trapped in an Epic Tale,” “Buddy Thunderstruck: The Maybe Pile” and “Stretch Armstrong: The Breakout.”

Gamers are already familiar with this convergence of film, interactivity and branching narrative. Cinematic video games, like “Indigo Prophecy” and “Heavy Rain,” let players make choices in dialog and other cinematic aspects, all of which alter the endings. An academically published game, “Façade,” is considered important not just for showing that scholarly games can be fun to play, but also demonstrating that academic concepts of branching narrative and story can create meaningful play: The player visits a couple’s apartment, and depending on where the player moves and what the player says, the couple reacts in different ways.

Engaging with a couple on the rocks. 'Façade,' by Michael Mateas and Andrew Stern., (CC BY-ND)

I anticipate different genres of shows will explore interactive formats. Imagine playing through historical fiction where you can choose to execute Marie Antoinette or not. I also expect viewers will be able to make their choices in different ways than just pressing buttons on their remotes – perhaps by using voice recognition on their phones.

If artificial intelligence and machine learning systems get better at telling stories, viewers might even be able to suggest new possible choices, with the resulting content generated on the fly while people watch. Of course, there’s a strong overlap with virtual reality, offering immersive escapism, which is, in my experience, a key goal of interactivity.

In the meantime, “Bandersnatch” fans who want to continue exploring choosing their own adventures to direct a story can look for local gaming groups and game stores. “Dungeons & Dragons” and “HackMaster” are regaining popularity lately. So is live-action role-playing, in which people physically act out their fictional encounters. In these environments, players can ask “what if” without running into the limitations of software development and movie production teams. Human players can engage in the full extent of their imagination without any illusion of choice.

Live-action role playing.

About Today's Contributor:

David Schwartz, Associate Professor of Interactive Games and Media, Rochester Institute of Technology

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. 

#NutsForAHealthierWorld's Campaign from INC Raises €47,800 to Fight Against Child Malnutrition

The INC and Save the Children join forces to fight child malnutrition. (PRNewsfoto/INC International Nut and Dried)

Since January, €47,800 has been raised for the international NGO Save the Children through Nuts for a Healthier World Campaign. INC International Nut and Dried Fruit Council's global campaign has exceeded the initial €40,000 goal. 

With this achievement, Save the Children can provide a monthly supply of nutritional packs to more than 2,041 severely malnourished children from Mauritania, South Sudan and Bangladesh.

Last year, the INC created a video campaign to raise awareness of the Project, and at the beginning of 2019, Save the Children joined forces and turned all video shares into physical aid. 

• The INC also asked members to join the project by donating, and further empowering the campaign. 

The main video has been shared over 43,000 times, with other content totalling over 1.1 million views. While the campaign visibility through all media and platforms has reached more than 43 million people.

Since the partnership with Save the Children boosted the fundraiser, companies such as Starline Global Trade Inc., Bösch Boden Spies GMBH and Co. KG, Noberasco SPA, Tomra Sorting Solutions, Campos Brothers Farms, John B. Sanfilippo and Son, Inc., MWT Foods, QiaQia Food Co. Ltd., Setton Pistachio of Terra Bella, Inc., ShoEi Foods Corporation, Samsons Traders and CWS Ingredients, have become the cause's most prominent flag-bearers.

Goretti Guasch, INC Executive Director, has expressed: "I am delighted to see the nut and dried fruit industry come together again to support such an important cause." As for Save the Children's Director of International Cooperation and Humanitarian Action, David del Campo, "Nuts have much to offer in most situations of malnutrition and this campaign has helped us to ensure that pregnant women and young children have access to an accurate treatment."

• The INC thanks the INC members, the INC community and above all, Save the Children for joining the campaign.

The Video:

SOURCE: INC International Nut and Dried Fruit Council

New Permanent Exhibition Arrives for Installation at the Dallas Holocaust and Human Rights Museum Opening September 17th

The Dallas Holocaust and Human Rights Museum 

After three years of planning and construction, the first major pieces of the core exhibition of the Dallas Holocaust and Human Rights Museum arrived today. 

The Museum, set to open Tuesday, September 17, 2019, is the first of its kind to be built in the world that will honor both human rights and the memory of the Holocaust—a unique mission among 21st century educational institutions.

Leading supply chain solutions provider, NFI, delivered the first of seven 20-ton shipments from Seattle-based fabricator, Pacific Studio, to the new Museum. The materials will be installed in three main wings: the Holocaust/Shoah Wing, Human Rights Wing, and Pivot to America Wing.

• The exhibition will include a variety of pieces, including a floor-to-ceiling replica of the Brandenburg Gate and ten 17-feet-tall, free-standing artistic interpretations of modern genocides. 

The exhibition will also feature the Holocaust by Bullets Gallery that will feature 500 bullets raining down from the ceiling as a visceral representation of the bullet-by-bullet assassinations that occurred in Europe prior to the creation of Nazi death camps. 

• Additionally, visitors will have the opportunity to explore the history of civil rights in America through immersive technology kiosks.

The Dallas Holocaust and Human Rights Museum - Holocaust/Shoah Wing

"After years of intense preparation, we are thrilled to see our dream of an international center for Holocaust and human rights education become a reality," said Mary Pat Higgins, Museum President and CEO.

"We wish to thank our wonderful board member, Ike Brown, Co-Owner of NFI, who generously shipped all of the materials at no cost to the Museum," said Frank Risch, Museum Board Chair. "He is truly an Upstander and we would have trusted no one else but NFI with this precious cargo."

"The new Dallas Holocaust and Human Rights Museum is more than a museum. It is a message to the world that we will never forget the Holocaust, and we will do everything we can to make sure its lessons, especially those involving human rights, are taught to future generations," said Ike Brown. Ike and his wife Candy are the first donors to financially support the building of the Museum. "It is an honor for our NFI team to play a role in making this important institution a reality."

The Dallas Holocaust and Human Rights Museum - Plaza

SOURCE: Dallas Holocaust Museum

Related Stories:

• Dallas Holocaust Museum Presents Anne Frank Exhibit Addressing Current-Day Issues of Identity, Exclusion, and Discrimination

• Reformed neo-Nazi Christian Picciolini to Share His Story at Dallas Holocaust Museum Upstander Speaker Series Event

Why Emmanuel Macron's Plan For A European Agency To Fend Off Fake News Makes Sense

Emmanuel Macron (EPA/Ludovic Marin)

When French president Emmanuel Macron sent an open letter to the people of Europe, he said their first freedom is democratic – “the freedom to choose our leaders as foreign powers seek to influence our vote at each election”. He went on to propose establishing a European agency to protect this right. The idea would be to provide European states with experts to help them fend off cyberattacks and other kinds of threats to their elections.

It’s clear that Europe does indeed need an agency of this kind. There is significant evidence that the cyber-attacks and misinformation campaigns that targeted the 2016 US presidential election were not an isolated incident. Nor is the phenomenon geographically limited to the US.

There have been allegations of Russian meddling in the UK’s Brexit referendum and of fake news being spread in the run up to the unofficial referendum on Catalonia’s independence from Spain in 2017.

In Germany, state agencies have accused Russia of hacking into state computer systems in the run up to parliamentary elections. Concerns have been raised about misinformation being spread on social media in Estonia, Lithuania and Taiwan. And of course, the topic is important to Macron, who saw his emails hacked and leaked online just hours before his second round presidential election run off against far-right candidate Marine Le Pen.

The modus operandi of most of these incidents has been almost identical – although the actors behind the operations are becoming more diverse. Russia was the earliest adopter but Taiwanese officials claim that China has begun to employ similar means towards their citizens. And as Saudi Arabia, Iran and other Middle Eastern countries develop cyber-capabilities, they are almost certain to soon follow suit.

International threat

It’s clear that all European member states, regardless of their size, are potential targets. The same strategy – steal political intelligence through cyber-attacks, leak it online to sew discord and doubt during the run up to key democratic events – is just as viable a tool of power politics in Montenegro as it is in Germany. This adds weight to Macron’s argument that the response to this problem must come from the European level.

Equally, applying a technical, legislative solution in one EU nation won’t be enough to negate the risk. Twitter and Facebook operate across borders so the response can only be effective if it does too.

The global nature of companies like Facebook and Twitter, whose platforms are the delivery systems of these attacks on democratic processes, poses another problem which is better suited to an EU-driven response. In much the same way that trade deals negotiated on behalf of multinational blocs can often lead to better terms than those sought by individual nations alone, it’s easier for an international institution to force transnational businesses like Facebook to change their ways or accept responsibility for a problem than it would be for an individual country working alone.

The difficulties faced by British parliamentary committees when trying to force Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg to attend evidence hearings is a striking example of this. Zuckerberg repeatedly evaded them. Even when the UK worked in partnership with Canada, he resisted. An agency representing the economic and global power of the whole EU might have better luck.

Sharing knowledge

Working together also provides European nations with the opportunity learn from each other. Lithuania, for example, has taken an interesting approach by combining military and civilian infrastructures in its counter strategy. Military personnel work alongside journalists and political commentators to directly engage with fake news. They act as fact checkers and censors, removing potentially destabilising stories.

It’s early days for this approach but it does appear to be effective, at least within the Lithuanian or Baltic context. Adapting it to the European level will inevitably raise questions about censorship but there are nevertheless lessons to be learnt even if the technique is not adopted wholesale.

Due to their geographical location and the politics of their region, states like Lithuania and Estonia have been exposed to disinformation of this kind for longer, which has arguably given them a head start on thinking about a solution. This makes them ideally placed to provide the context that is still lacking in the European political debate. While everyone else is just waking up to the concept of the role and threat posed by information operations of this type, these countries are not only aware but have already been educating their citizens about this threat for years.

Emmanuel Macron meets with Mark Zuckerberg in 2018. (EPA)

Individual countries have been developing their own approaches to the kinds of problems Macron is talking about. But bringing these efforts together under a single, central body capable of pooling wisdom and expert led resources would be a significant step. Whether Macron can make it work, though, is a different matter. The French president’s vision will require a significant pooling of political will against a poorly defined threat.

Europe is seeking to deal with a number of crisis, small and large, some of which have been amplified or brought on by the very risks that this agency would seek to mitigate. Russian troll accounts have fanned the fires of the Gilet Jaunes riots in France, for example. Amid disagreement over so many other issues in Europe, forming an agency with a clear, shared role may prove an uphill struggle.

About Today's Contributor:

Alexi Drew, Research Associate, King's College London

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. 

On 20th Anniversary of the Matrix, MIT Game Industry Veteran To Release The Simulation Hypothesis

The Simulation Hypothesis - Front Cover (PRNewsfoto/Rizwan Virk)

At the Game Developers Conference (GDC), bestselling author, renowned MIT computer scientist and Silicon Valley video game designer Rizwan Virk announced that his book, The Simulation Hypothesis, will be released on the 20th anniversary of the release of the film, the Matrix. 

• This is the first serious book by a video game industry veteran to explain one of the most consequential theories of our time, that we are living inside a sophisticated video-game.

"When the Matrix came out in 1999, it was in the realm of science fiction," said Virk. "In the 20 years since, with the evolution of MMORPGs, Virtual Reality, AR, AI, and Neuroscience, we are getting closer and closer. In this book, I lay out a clear path from today's tech to building the Matrix."

Virk is the founder of Play Labs @ MIT, a video game startup incubator at the MIT Game Lab, and co-founder, advisor and investor in many video game startups including Discord, Telltale Games, Funzio, Gameview, Tapjoy and Sliver.tv.

Pulling together concepts from computer science, artificial intelligence, video games, quantum physics, and both ancient eastern and western religious texts, Virk shows how all of these traditions come together to point to the idea that we may be inside a simulated reality like the Matrix.

Science fiction writers like Philip K. Dick have explored the idea of a simulated reality. More recently, prominent figures like Elon Musk, and scientists like Neil deGrasse Tyson and others have spoken about the idea. 

Futurists like Google's Ray Kurzweil have popularized the idea of downloading consciousness, and Oxford's Nick Bostrom published a paper in 2003 that concluded we are living in a simulation.

The book explores the history of video game development and brings together arguments from these diverse thinkers. The Simulation Hypothesis is for computer scientists, science fiction fans, video game enthusiasts, and spiritual seekers looking to understand the nature of reality.

The book includes endorsements by Noah Falstein, Tessa B. Dick, Jacques Vallee, Dannion Brinkley, Brent Bushnell and Diana Walsh Pasulka. 

• The book is available for pre-order now and will be released on March 31, 2019. (Or visit the authors website at zenentrepreneur.com.)

SOURCE: Rizwan Virk

Theresa May Requests Short Brexit Extension: How To Understand This Reckless Move

Theresa May (PA)

Before the October 1964 general election, Harold Wilson was reported to have stated “a week is a long time in politics”.

Never has that maxim been truer than in relation to the politics of Brexit and the publication of prime minister Theresa May’s letter to Donald Tusk, president of the European Council, requesting an extension to the Article 50 period until June 30 2019.

Less than a week earlier, a day after MPs had for a second time rejected May’s European Union withdrawal deal by a thumping majority of 149, her own de facto deputy prime minister David Lidington had told the House of Commons that the government was opposed to seeking a short extension rather than a long one, stating::

"In the absence of a deal, seeking such a short and, critically, one-off extension would be downright reckless and completely at odds with the position that this House adopted only last night, making a no-deal scenario far more, rather than less, likely. Not only that, but from everything we have heard from the EU, both in public and in private, it is a proposal it would not accept."

Less than a week later, without parliamentary support for her deal, May has sought that very short, one-off and “downright reckless” extension, which is completely at odds with the House of Commons’ position.

A number of important consequences are likely to follow on from May’s actions on what may become known as her “Reckless Wednesday”.

Her request for a short extension is, for a start, unlikely to be accepted by all 27 European Union member states without more concessions from the UK. Upon receiving May’s letter, Tusk said the extension would be possible if MPs approved her deal first.

The EU’s chief negotiator Michel Barnier had previously reiterated that the EU27 would only countenance such an extension if it received “a concrete plan from the UK” which increased the chances of ratification of the withdrawal agreement, or if the UK requested more time to rework the non-binding political declaration setting out the rough plan for the future relationship between the UK and EU.

Tusk is meeting with EU leaders this week. (EPA/Olivier Hoslet)

May’s request letter has not set out a persuasive “concrete plan”. She cannot guarantee that any third meaningful vote on her EU Withdrawal deal will see her deal passed by MPs. She cannot even guarantee, at this stage, that a third vote will happen – given that the speaker of the House of Commons has warned that she cannot ask MPs to vote again on exactly the same proposal. In her letter, May merely states that it remains her intention to put the deal to the house for a third vote, without saying how that is to come about.

PM @Theresa_May has written to @eucopresident Donald Tusk on Brexit https://t.co/2rrQwf8cYG pic.twitter.com/WjutyC507d

— UK Prime Minister (@10DowningStreet) March 20, 2019

Nor has May requested more time to rework the political declaration. She has instead requested that the European Council approve the supplementary documents to the withdrawal agreement and political declaration agreed with Jean-Claude Juncker, the president of the European Commission – precisely the deal rejected by the House of Commons.

Was this a resignation letter?

What’s more, by ruling out a much longer extension, May has increased the odds of a no-deal Brexit. A longer extension might have enabled a clear plan to be implemented to enable cross-party support to be built for an alternative to her own withdrawal agreement. That seems unlikely in the shorter timeframe.

With that longer extension and threat to Brexit now explicitly ruled out by May, many of the hardcore of European Research Group Conservative MPs will feel that a further defeat for the government in any third vote will increase the likelihood of their preferred no-deal scenario. It will also have the bonus effect of ridding the Conservative Party of a leader and prime minister they have openly opposed, but failed to unseat in last December’s vote of no confidence.

In effect, May has set out the timetable and personal terms for her own resignation and departure as prime minister. If, as seems probable, the House of Commons rejects her EU withdrawal deal for an historic third (and likely final) time – so that Tusk cannot agree to a short extension – and then votes to seek an extension from the European Union beyond June 30, in order to allow sufficient time to negotiate an alternative Brexit or to hold a general election or further referendum, May will have little choice but to resign.

In the foreword to her party’s 2017 election manifesto, May stated: “Brexit will define us: our place in the world, our economic security and our future prosperity.”

Rarely were truer words spoken. Brexit has defined May’s premiership. It has been a shambles from first to last. It has put at risk the UK’s place in the world, and compromised its economic security and future prosperity. It was for precisely those reasons that, on April 25 2016, May herself had advocated the UK remaining in the EU.

Article 50 was triggered by May without a concrete plan for its delivery which could command the support of her own MPs, let alone a majority of the House of Commons. Now, on her own “Reckless Wednesday”, May has sought an extension to Article 50, again without a concrete plan which can command the support of her own party or the House of Commons. By her own hand, May has written her own political obituary as prime minister.

About Today's Contributor:

Simon Lee, Senior Lecturer in Politics, University of Hull

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. 

Koichi Sakamoto, Director behind "Ultraman," "Kamen Rider," "Super Sentai" and "Power Rangers," Creates New Era of "Ninja Super Hero" Ready to Be Released Worldwide

BLACKFOX: Age of the Ninja ((C) PROJECT BLACKFOX)

Samurai Drama Channel, Japan's paid television broadcasting exclusively Japanese period dramas, announced on March 20 the release of a new Japanese special-effect period drama called "BLACKFOX: Age of the Ninja" produced by director Koichi Sakamoto. 

• This will be the world's first project interlocking animation and Samurai drama, with the original SF action animation "BLACKFOX," produced by director Kazuya Nomura of Studio 3Hz.

The Japanese special-effect action costume drama has a female ninja in the leading role and, while the animation version tells the story of a ninja clan descendant set against a near-future backdrop, the live-action drama is set in the past, going back to the ninja and samurai era.

Director Koichi Sakamoto

Director Sakamoto, who is known as a key person in the Japanese special-effect "Tokusatsu" film industry, was looking to take on a new challenge: "I have included in the production everything I know, particularly what I learned from my time in Hollywood -- a sense of tempo, commitment to action and homage to my favorite work." While adding that he is delighted with the final result, he said he is ready to inspire people from Japan and elsewhere in the world.

• The first video trailer of the live-action version will be released on March 23 on the official website and the official SNS account as well as at a BS Fuji booth and an Infinite booth at "AnimeJapan 2019" that is being held at Tokyo Big Sight on the same day onwards. 

BLACKFOX - the animation version ((C) PROJECT BLACKFOX)

SOURCE: Nihon Eiga Broadcasting Corporation