DrAjao

"Adunni Dares to Dream" My Illustration Process

2017-06-19T20:42:00.000-07:00

“Adunni Dares to Dream” is a book about a young girl who grew up poor in the village in a time when expectations were much different for girls than for boys. Girls were (and in many places still are) expected to help in the home or on the farm and hope to become a mother and homemaker someday. They simply were not a priority when it came to formal education. It was rare for girls to develop a determination to break those gender barriers, even more so for a girl in a poor family. This is what makes Adunni’s journey extra inspiring.

This is my first time illustrating a book for this age range so, naturally, I assumed the book would have to be colorful, clear/clean/crisp, and easy for a child to digest what’s going on.

In hindsight, I may have been wrong but that was the summary of my strategy.

I harked back to my college days when I was in charge of the art department in one of our student fellowships. We used to make a lot of posters using cardboard cutouts. I’d make a sketch of the illustration and then figure out what colors of cardboard we would use. We’d cut the cardboards accordingly and paste them together to make a collage drawing.

Using Adobe Illustrator to digitally make the basic shapes really brings back those memories of the cardboard days. Each illustration was to look as if it was made out of cardboard cutouts but I couldn’t resist adding a little bit of realism (a shadow here, a gradient there, and a bevel here) which I believe gives it a unique look even if that strict cardboard look is compromised (meh...maybe on my next book).

Again, the idea was to use simple shapes with fine gradient colors and a hint of caricature here and there. I hoped the real kicker would be the use of patterns.

Nigerian attire is very rich with patterns and instead of highly detailed backgrounds, I use patterns in the book. Some of the patterns in the attires are based on real cloth patterns. If you look at the photo of young adult Adunni, you will see that the pattern on her dress was applied to the illustration of Adunni.

I hope this approach blends well with the touching story Taiwo wrote and the decision to include some of the original Ondo language, all coming together to make a compelling read.

Overall it’s been an eye-opening collaborative experience all the way. And we are proud to announce the birth of this book which is our first-born baby as it were. Like a real baby, it takes a village to raise it and this book has been no exception.

We hope you love it and it grows into the phenomenon that the person that inspired it truly is. We’ve seen that phenomenal inspiration in action and we hope you do to.

"Adunni Dares To Dream" is available via AdunnisDream.com

Quick One: On Typecasting

2017-06-07T13:18:00.000-07:00

Typecasting must really suck for an actor. And it's a potentially sad result of humans' lazy dispensation towards summary judgements based on appearance and first-impressions.

However some other actors dream of being so lucky to even get a role memorable enough to lead to typecasting.

On the less harmful side of typecasting is the notion that you created a character so real that it overshadowed your real self.

Jim Parsons will have to work extra hard to not be Sheldon Cooper in the eyes of the public...
...or he could just cash his cheques smiling all the way to the bank knowing his betters could possibly be bussing at coffee shops as I type.

Quick One! Hate New Technology for the Right Reasons Please

2017-06-01T03:00:00.000-07:00

Hello, any Rep. who bashes new devices or industries.
It's not really the new devices that are causing unemployment. Blame Mother Technology who keeps rearranging the labor market whenever demand crosses critical thresholds. If you must launch a campaign, launch it against technological advancement. I assure it will be a losing battle but at least you will be fighting the real 'enemy'.

I, however, urge you to be patient. The market will once again attain equilibrium...I promise.

Capitalism and Human Dignity

2017-05-18T13:36:00.000-07:00

Believe it or not, I believe in Capitalism (yikes...that sounded like when a racist starts with "I'm not racist...but...").

Sure, I believe in capitalism but only as far as it treats people with respect and dignity.

If you chase after the money far enough you will eventually find yourself reaching the limit where your legal rights abut bad PR.

I had only little pity for United Airlines after their PR fiasco. You may have the legal right to throw anyone off your plane...but you have to use common sense.

If United had offered a hundred thousand dollars for a passenger to get off the plane...they'd be in a better financial state than they were after the incident. I'm not saying they should have offered a hundred thou off the bat. I'm saying you gradually sweeten the pot until someone grabs the winnings. If nobody volunteers after you've reached $100,000, then increase it some more and keep increasing it till you are sure you can no longer afford it. Because, anyone willing to refuse one hundred big ones is really desperate to stay on that plane.

If someone is that desperate to stay on the plane, you won't be able to kick them out without bad press...let alone knocking them out cold.

Even after the fiasco, if the leadership at United had, from the get go, simply scapegoated a few and threw them under the bus (hopefully with secret compensation packages...sue me, I'm too humane), they will still be in a much better position than they are now.

Your fine print can't protect you from the court of public opinon.

What if...Your Name is Valerie...and Uber Radio

2017-05-12T00:05:00.000-07:00

What if your name is Valerie and you hail an Uber ride and as you get in and shut the door, Amy Winehouse's (sorry Mark) version of The Zutton's "Valerie" comes on? You know because Uber has some special deal with Spotify where drivers have access to a premium subscription while on an active drive.

Still not impressed?

Okay what if your favorite...no scratch that...your most favoritest (favoritestest?) song comes up? You know, because Uber has allowed you create a playlist on its servers that it streams via fairy dust and rainbows to the driver's car speakers.

Still not impressed?

Okay what if you hear a radio station where up-to-the-minute local whether and traffic conditions (plus breaking news relevant to you in particular) are being read by a Siri-like voice? You know, because magic.

Still not impressed?

Never fret. The self-driving cars will be ready for deployment in our lifetime. Sheesh.

PS. If you look hard enough, you'll find people attempting to provide such magical-ish solutions on the internet. An example is Uberstations (no relation to Uber...as far as I know).

The Netflix Effect

2017-05-10T03:00:00.000-07:00

Netflix performance chart from Google Finance

"Each Netflix show doesn't have to be a massive success in its own right....just good enough"

Part 1:

I once saw a post about a crowdfunding Hollywood studio startup and it got me thinking. While I'm mistrustful of Kickstarter startups like these, I like the idea in theory. The idea of involving the masses in choosing what gets made next.

I think of Netflix because they have perfected this model. Not in the sense of asking people what they want to watch next (like Amazon now does) though.

Netflix doesn't necessarily ask people what they want to watch (let's face it, people never really know what they want). Netflix uses algorithms and analytics to figure out what a target demographic will want to see next based on automated feedback from their viewing habits.

This is the real advantage of the streaming paradigm...the analytics...not the convenience (which is a nice perk...don't get me wrong).

Thanks to said targeting, Netflix is in a unique position to be able to revive old shows ("Voltron", "Danger Mouse", "Full House", "Gilmore Girls,' and counting) and release 'independent' films.

They don't need to spend too much trying to achieve a wide reception for their shows. Netflix' targeting is so accurate that they seem to know how many the die-hard fans of a show are...and they spend accordingly...just enough to keep up quality standards but no more.

For example, Netflix' "Voltron" has hardly any big-name stars...and they couldn't even spring for the iconic theme music. Also, I won’t be surprised to hear it was a tad difficult to get Melissa McCarthy to take a break from her blockbusters to show up on a “Gilmore Girls" set. The little money they allocate goes to the story and execution....and none of the hype factors that the old paradigm relies on. Like the reason why Scar Jo is cast to lead Ghost in the Shell...because of the fear that a no-name face wouldn't cut it. Now, let's talk about fear.

Bottom line, the fear factor is reduced with the Netflix model. The economic pressure of reaching certain audience quantities (not qualities) is just not as much. Each Netflix show doesn't have to be a massive success in its own right....just good enough. Each show shines by being part of a diverse whole that screams to the prospect subscriber, "we have enough variety to satisfy your tastes...we have everything!". The shows all come together to form a big unstoppable Voltron...more badass than the sum of its parts.

These tastes being met are not arbitrary. They are gleaned from the data, which speaks louder and more accurately than any crowdsourcing/voting can (after all, this is the same human race that didn't know it wanted smartphones...and later phablets).

The ability to make shows without undue economic pressure frees Netflix to just tell the stories without too many contrivances and audience manipulations (having no pressure from advertisers also doesn’t hurt). This makes their shows stand out as originals. Being emboldened this way means they will take more risks and since sales is a numbers game (and their risks are comparatively low-stakes) it means they will have more successes, and thus, more profits.

More profit means more emboldening and the cycle continues until one day, the bubble bursts. Bubbles always burst...but all bursts are not equally catastrophic or unrecoverable from.

"Disney can take more risks. Risks like hiring the directors of "You, Me and Dupree" to helm a major blockbuster"

Part 2:

A similar argument for the application of the new paradigm can be made for the big film studios. With the old paradigm, a movie has to make at least twice its budget (that's production and marketing combined) in order to break even.

That's why a film like "Batman V Superman" (BvS) produced and marketed for over $400 million can hardly be considered a success in spite of making over $800 million dollars; because nearly half of that money goes to the theater chains; theater chains who have to markup their concessions by hundreds of percentage points to stay solvent.

The viewers pay a premium to see the movie, the studio loses half of the money to the theaters, and the theaters can't stay afloat on that so they charge a premium to the same viewers for concessions.

This puts immense pressure on the movie to be very good (or very 'big-spectacle') or the viewer won't be able to justify the popcorn. This puts immense pressure on the studios who panic and make decisions that could end up adversely affecting a movie...such as cutting out useful minutes out of a film like BvS.

One way studios can partially relieve this immense pressure is via a merchandising mindset. This Merchandising Mindset or Theme-Park Mindset, allows a company like Disney to purchase franchise properties with high merchandising potential. They can purchase Pixar, Marvel, and the Star Wars universe in the same decade (at tens of billions of dollars no less) because of the merchandising potential of these properties.

Since Disney makes a huge sum from merchandising and theme parks, this takes some pressure off a movie to be successful in its own right. It is treated simply as part of the whole theme park attraction. Part of the 'Voltron', if you will.

This ease in pressure means Disney can take more risks. Risks like hiring the directors of "You, Me and Dupree" to helm a major blockbuster (Dude, they even hired a director from "Movie 43"!). Compare that with a studio relying on Zack Snyder for everything (don't get me wrong, I loved BvS...sue me).

More risk means more successes (remember, numbers game). This doesn't mean there won't be duds.

Disney couldn't hear the sound of "Alice Through the Looking Glass" crashing at the box office because Captain America's shield was vibrating too loud. They couldn't hear "The BFG" flopping because Dory was flapping too loud.

More profit means more emboldening...until...again...the bubble bursts.

Hopefully, till then, we can dream of seeing something like a "Friends" renewal on Netflix (nah...won't happen until Jennifer Aniston stops making movie hits and requiring a big salary) or Disney buying the Super Mario franchise (okay that was a joke but, hopefully, you get the idea). Further reading:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/384042768442961/permalink/584921608355075/ http://www.cinemablend.com/television/Insane-Amount-Money-Netflix-Spend-Content-2016-112117.html https://www.yahoo.com/news/netflix-subscriptions-boom-around-world-shares-jump-20-053523519--finance.html
https://truththeory.com/2017/04/19/netflix-just-paid-105-million-unite-worlds-greatest-actors-will-anticipated-film-century/ http://deadline.com/2017/04/roseanne-revival-roseanne-barr-john-goodman-sara-gilbert-1202078883/ http://news.nationalpost.com/arts/movies/cinema-is-gone-according-to-martin-scorsese-younger-people-just-dont-understand

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2: Quick Spoiler-Free Review

2017-05-08T13:30:00.001-07:00

Image Property of Marvel Studios

"Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 does everything a movie of its budget and scope is expected to do."

Hey folks! Look who's back from blogging retirement, though I didn't retire as much as figure out a way to distill my angst into 140 characters or less. Anyhoo, let's see how things go this time around.

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 does everything a movie of its budget and scope is expected to do.
If you're insistent on a plot-heavy, character-driven thesis on what it means to be human...yada yada yada, then you might want to consider retracing your steps. This movie might not be for you.

But if you want a humorous joyride with spectacular visuals and attendant action, you've come to the right place. The previously mentioned things the critics love are there but they won't distract you.

Yes, it's less plot-heavy than its predecessor but it's not all fluff. There's enough plot in there to keep the movie together and moving forward. There are even attempts at Oscar-baity sad moments (and that's if you can pretend that a movie like this actually gives a toss about winning a big-five Oscar).

The characters are fun, loud (and garishly-colored) and stupid enough for you to fall in love with them. Yes, there are some dumb moments that remind you that you're were supposed to be watching this with your kids...yes, some corny, sappy, over-the-top moments...

...but since when did corny-sappy-over-the-top invalidate a movie experience?

I enjoyed watching this one and I enjoyed listening to the music.
For once, a franchise that most critics can't accuse of taking itself too seriously.
It's not necessarily better than the first one (high standard to beat) but it's a worthy sequel.

8 Stars.

Why the 'color' of "The Dress" is important. Especially if you're a photographer

2015-03-02T09:38:00.000-08:00

If you're not a photographer, the 'color' of the dress is important because it shows us how two people can look at the same object and see something different (wars have been started for less).

But if you're a photographer the 'color' of the dress becomes extremely significant...especially if you don't know the science behind why people are seeing different things. Yes it is a science...and as a photographer you should not only know why the photo is color-ambiguous but also how to use your photography knowledge to simulate similar scenarios and to solve problems that could arise for your client…without use of excessive Photoshop.

Okay back to the dress. People are either seeing “White and Gold” or “Blue and Black”. Those seeing one color or the other are not color blind or a tad mentally retarded. No they are not trolling you. They are ‘seeing’ what they are seeing. Some even see a different thing at different times, and what they see at any particular point in time is not exactly within their control. As a photographer, you should be able to see both colors at will. And yes we know the real color of the dress but for scientific/educational purposes, it is immaterial. A knowledgable photographer can simulate these scenarios using simple lighting and white balances without the use of photoshop. Ends up being as subjective as a science can possibly get eh?

Now to brass tacks:

If you want to see white and gold, first imagine that there is blue-tinted shade cast over the dress (and only the dress)...or that there is a tungsten white balance where deeply orange lights are being used to light the rest of the scene (and, somehow, not the dress).

If you want to see blue and black, imagine that most of the bright background is literally white or close to white (or a daylight color of sorts).

Explanation: if you shoot a bride in her wedding dress with Tungsten white balance, everything that is white in the image will appear blue. The eye (well the brain) is able to tell when something is actually white based on the color of everything else in the image. For example, the bride’s skin will be tinted blue also. However if you use a tungsten (orange) gel over a spotlight that only hits the bride’s face, her face color will appear 'normal', while her dress still appears blue. If a photographer were somehow able to use orange spotlights to recolor everything else apart from the dress, he will have successfully, for all intents and purposes, changed the dress color from white to blue.

Check out Neil van Niekerk's blogpost (actually, check out all his blog posts) http://neilvn.com/tangents/review-litepanels-sola-4-led-fresnel-light/

In the first image on Neil's blog post, the model seems to be standing in a completely blue colored background but her face seems lit by daylight-balanced light. That’s because he used a tungsten white balance in-camera and an orange gel to spotlight her face.

It might be possible that the background is actually blue in color, but what gives it away is the blue tint of the model’s skin in areas that the spotlight does not hit.

Both views are possible in the controversial serendipitous image of “The Dress” because of the amount of dress shown relative to the surroundings and because we cannot see the rest of the dress showing the human inside it. It would have been easier to 'see' the original color of the dress (because her skin would be tinted blue or not). Also, if you zoom in on certain parts of the image, it's sometimes easier to see one color over the other, depending on what color is in the background.

This is similar to the Spinning Dancer illusion where the perceived direction of the girl's spin depends on what you see first.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spinning_Dancer#mediaviewer/File:Spinning_Dancer.gif

Granted, in this particular controversy, if you look closely, you can find evidence that points to the actual color of the dress (blue not white) because you can see many areas around the boundaries of the dress that have absolutely no fall-off of blue tint or light. This implies that the blueness we see is not from an external source (or ‘wrong’ white balance) but from the dress itself.

I know there are people out there in the Twitterverse saying, "who cares?", but as photographers we ought to care because this is really what we do for a living.

Now the actual color of the dress is not important, it's just a dress for Pete's sake. What's important is why healthy people can see different things when looking at the same image. Calls to question the objectivity of our perceptions and how much we can truly trust our convictions.

Rant over.

How was your week? :)

Quick One! Watch What You Click

2014-08-07T15:24:00.000-07:00

It's very easy to click on the wrong thing.
For example a search for "Google Earth" shows a suspect looking site as the top query.
(No reputable service needs to advertise themselves as "100% virus tested...Trusted Website")

Search results for "Google Earth".

Nigeria vs Iran, World Cup 2014: My Crazy Interpretation.

2014-06-16T17:19:00.001-07:00

Super Eagle?

Okay I'll just let you know I don't know much about soccer so stop me when I'm wrong.
Nigeria faced Iran at 3PM Eastern Time on Monday, June 16th and immediately the match started the Iranians found themselves leading by a goalless draw!
So they set out to defend that lead with all the men they had. Since all their players were standing in front of the goal post, Nigeria's Super Eagles had no choice but to try to penetrate via the flanks. The only problem was the Eagles seemed content with getting the ball along the flanks all the way to the opponents corner and then stopping. This they did over and over until the Iranians realized they didn't seem to have an interest in scoring so they figured they might as well try and attack. So the Eagle's keeper, who'd been taking a nap all this while, had to wake up and explain to the Iranians that the Eagles were not necessarily intent on losing...so the Iranians went back to their post.

A certain Osaze fellow showed up much later for the Eagles. He seemed sort of interested in scoring but there was only so much he could do by himself.

The result was a match so er, 'peaceful' that the world was only too eager to wash the blandness out of their mouths. Luckily there was a USA vs Ghana game that started shortly after. And those fellows immediately went to show that they were actually interested in scoring.

You haven't stopped me yet...

The Infinite "Why".

2014-05-23T17:23:00.000-07:00

Dear New Parent,

The time will come, and oh it will surely come, when your kid starts asking you "why"...instinctively and perpetually.

Your first experience could go like this:

Kid: Daddy can I go to the playground?

The Infinite "Why"

Dad: No.
Kid: Why?
Dad (don't bother me kid): Because.
Kid: Why?
Dad: Because I said so
Kid: Why?
Dad (hmm...it might just be easier to reason with him): Because it's too late.
Kid: Why?
Dad: Because it's dark outside
Kid: Why?
Dad (hey this is kinda fun): Because the sun's gone down
Kid: Why?
Dad: So that we can go rest and get some sleep
Kid: Why?
Dad : Because if we don't get some sleep we'll be very tired in the morning
Kid: Why?
Dad: Because we're not machines, and even machines need their rest
Kid: Why?
Dad (okay this is no longer fun): Because sleep and rest is good
Kid: Why?
Dad: Why is sleep good? Are you even serious?
Kid: Why?
Dad (now this kid is just trolling): Hey will you stop doing that!
Kid: Why?
Dad: Do you want to go to time out?
Kid: No I want to go to the playground.

Now if you were a little more experienced, things could probably go like this:

Kid: Daddy can I go to the playground?
Dad: No.
Kid: Why?
Dad (now this is the correct response to every "why" that comes after a "no"): Because it's not yet time to do that.
Kid: Why?
Dad: (now this is the ultimate response to end all "whys"): I don't know.

The F Party

2014-05-08T11:53:00.001-07:00

F Police by DrAjao

Facebook’s DNA has changed. It started as a frat party that never ended and just kept growing until it was a complete festival (a la Burning Man) with sideshows, hippie communes, concession stands, people making out, people puking, pissing, pooping, using psychedelic drugs, rocking to music, drinking, eating good food, eating bad food...just generally having a good time in a way they know how and in the way they define ‘good’...
...but it still was a party. The party became very popular. More people flocked in. They came in with family and friends and left with strangers. Some didn’t even remember why they were there anymore. Some didn’t even remember who they were anymore… ...but it still was a party. More concession stands showed up. Generally, more people showed up to sell all sorts to the party goers. The organizers of the party charged them a token to set up their stalls, which were, by and large, ignored by the party goers…. ...I mean, seriously, we’re partying here.

Then all of a sudden, the frat boys grew up and party was bought out by shark investors hoping to make a good buck from this awesome party. Dude, this was a party where those who didn’t attend were basically committing political suicide! But it still was a party. The new management started to build. The vendors and partygoers alike were certain they were building stalls, soundstages, pedestals, pulpits, multi-tiered halls with ginormous viewing screens and badass sound... ...oh what a party. It turned out the management was building prisons. Okay maybe “prisons” is a harsh term...they were just containment cells for offenders...you know, the flashers, the streakers, the party poopers, and the scammers (replete with clichéd imagery of a silhouetted character with a hat and long coat filled with stolen goods). Yaaay right? So when stone-faced bespectacled policemen started patrolling the grounds people hardly took notice. Only problem was, the policemen were not scouting for the above mentioned people. They were scouting for anyone who was being the life the party or attempting to do so. If anyone held a mic or a top hat, the Po Po was on him like Right Twix on Left Twix. Scoping him out, taking copious notes, asking people here and there whether that guy cracking jokes (in the corner full of belly-ache-laughing people) was trying to upsell them something else. If they caught anyone giving away free candy without a permit, they hauled his ‘hind off to pris...er...containment cells.

Containment Cells by DrAjao

Yep...anyone who wanted to be the life of the party from then on had to pay for a permit. Management of course felt that the term “Containment Cells” was too negative so they tried to put a positive spin on things. They claimed that they were merely temporarily detaining those whose selling tactics were getting out of control so they don’t distract too much from the party. So they called the cells “Controlment Cells”. Before long, people couldn’t easily party with their friends any more. As if it wasn’t hard enough keeping up with them in the old days. Many new vendors who had paid for permits to sell things were flooding the party and replacing the real talent as the life of the party. So things got rather mundane and chaotic at the same time...if you can wrap such an oxymoronic concept around your head. Naturally, the number of people who got dissatisfied with the party reached a quorum of sorts. Some felt inundated, others felt insecure in the chaos, others suddenly gained insight into the fact that they were addicted to the more unproductive things in life. Others realized they were addicted to productive things...but these productive things were too many to keep track of. And unbelievably, others were bored! So they packed their little belongings and moved to the other big party on the other side of town (Google +). Now this place had the stalls, soundstages, pedestals, pulpits, multi-tiered halls with ginormous viewing screens and badass sound. The place was immaculate, wall to wall of spotless white...and the toilets actually flushed. Every party had a designated room and there was nary a roadside vendor or street hustler for miles. But it was too well executed to feel like a party. You could get work done though...there were numerous offices, studios, gyms, and all sorts of neatly compartmentalized places where you could do exactly what you came to do without being distracted and with less fear of compromising security. Nah...that wasn't a party. So they left the Google ‘party’ (The G party), swallowed their pride, and came back to the Facebook party (The F Party). They were welcomed without judgement by their friends. To be honest, most of their friends didn’t even notice that they’d been gone. Some who had never left the F Party had instead taken a vow of abstinence but their withdrawal symptoms were too severe. They were also welcomed back without to much mocking. The party was much too busy for anyone to notice anything. Management noticed people coming back though. That gave them the confidence that they were doing the right thing and shouldn’t be worried about competition. At least the F Party is still a party right?

Bottled Fun by DrAjao

But what about the empty echoing halls of the G Party? Well, see, the G Party planners couldn’t care less. The whole complex has already been paid for (while the F Party people still have to pay heavy rents and mortgages). The G people also know that if a major calamity were to befall the F Party, they already have a place for all the displaced to continue their party. Till such a time (if it ever comes to that) the F Party goes on. Sadly the DNA of the frat boy party for fun’s sake has morphed into this Orwellian marketplace attempting to put the fun into bottles, cork them, and then sell to the highest bidder. So there's lots of fun to go around... ...but that's not exactly a party :-/ Epilogue: An example of a company whose DNA hasn’t changed is Walmart (hate ‘em or love ‘em). The DNA of Walmart from day one has been “lowest prices possible no matter what”. You would think that when they became one of the biggest companies in the universe, they would thumb their noses at their customers, rebrand and start charging luxury prices. Nah they stayed true to their DNA because it worked at bringing in the people. The above article is not out of malice toward Facebook. Far from it...I've spent too long studying Facebook at Hard Knocks University, so I'm in for the long haul. This is simply a warning that they could still lose their customers if they focus too much on the money rather than the value.

Bring Back Daddy's Girls

2014-05-06T13:18:00.001-07:00

#BringBackOurGirls

These days when racism rears its ugly head, you will see people rise up and clamour against it.
Chances are, you'll see that the people complaining are are not defined by their race or gender but by their being non-racist (relatively speaking of course).

So when gender discrimination rears its ugly malformed head, those clamoring should not be defined by their gender or race but by their being non-sexist (or non-ignorant-douchebags). Women should not form the majority of those campaigning against gender inequality. We men need to step up. I need to step up.

But get this, this #BringBackOurGirls issue goes beyond gender discrimination right into general disregard for basic human rights. If some other deranged faction started kidnapping boys for whatever deranged reason, should majority of the protesters be male?

If we equally campaign against removal of a fuel subsidy, or the change of the name of a university, we should equally campaign against this...even more so.

Don't worry, it shouldn't affect our man-cred to fight for our mothers and sisters and daughters :)

Rookie Dad Mistakes: Grocery Shopping

2014-04-18T16:14:00.000-07:00

Crying Toddler in Cart.

Daddy has found this to be a really good way to add to his step count. Just cruising the aisles for a couple of items could earn him up to 1000 steps. A full blown shopping list would easily be a cool 5000 steps, which is half of his daily goal.

Looking good yeah? Now, he straps a two-year-old to the cart and he’s burning more calories from pushing. He adds a four-year-old to the mix in the hope of the kid helping to push the cart. #RookieDadMistake number 1. Nope, the little tyke doesn’t help push. He grabs on to the cart alright but he simply hops on one of the cart wheels and puts his weight on the thing. More exercise...yaaay!

After a while, Two-Year-Old starts whining that he’s hungry. The fact that he’s strapped in the cart (when he could be running wild and free down the maze of aisles) doesn’t help his countenance.
#RookieDadMistake number 2: Not packing a snack for a hungry child.

So Dad relents and allows the child out of the strap. #RookieDadMistake number 3. The moment his feet reach the ground, he bursts off running and for a few minutes, Dad doesn’t know where he is. He could be with a strange looking guy in plaid and denim who’s bought power tools and acid, or he could be with a nice attendant who’s wondering how this baby could be cuter. Luckily it’s the latter.

Dad: Whew! Thankyouthankyouthankyou.
Attendant: Don’t mention it. Aww he’s so cute, I think I’m gonna keep him.
Dad: Oh that’s fine, you can return him after he finishes college.
Attendant: Ha ha ha ha

Later, Two-Year-Old is firmly strapped in place but sadly the contagious restlessness eventually gets to the Four-Year-Old. The resulting cacophony is the final ingredient in the lovely mix of calorie burning...that is, if headaches burn calories:

Dad: Okay kids let's go grab a bite at the food court.
Kids: Yaaay!

Some bites and sips later, at the bread aisle:

Four-Year-Old: Daddy can we get donuts?
Dad (Stalling): Where did you see donuts?
Four-Year-Old: There!
(Dad’s fears are confirmed. It’s not even the clichéd cops-love-em kind. Dad may have even have settled for the Dunkin’ Donuts kind. But nooo, it had to be the junk-candy kind that look like you can get cancer just by looking at them).
Dad: Nope!
Four-Year-Old: Awwwuhn! Why!
Dad: Because it’s too sweet.
Four-Year-Old: But I’ll exercise!
(Dad is surprised the kid actually knows the connection between exercise and donuts. Thanks "Sid the Science Kid" but…)
Dad: No donuts!
Four-Year-Old: Awwwuhn!

At the nuts aisle:
Dad: Pistachios baby!
Four-Year-Old: Don’t call me baby!
Dad: Shh! Wasn’t talkin’ to you.

At the juice aisle:
Two-Year-Old: Joosh!
(Daddy packs a carton of HiC and is about to load another when…)
Four-Year-Old: Hey! Daddy can we get this one?
(‘This one' is a carton of “Honest Kids” organic juice. Hey! Honest. Organic. For kids. Can’t be bad eh? #RookieDadMistake number 4.)
It turns out that this juice tastes like it’s ten times diluted or something. Dad should have known there was a catch...“40 calories only”...riiiiight.
(The only way to sell the kids on it when they got home was to call it sweet water. At least it’s a less sticky mess when Two-Year-Old decides to squeeze the juice out of the straw like a fountain. By the way, that's another indication of how ‘honest’ it tastes...they never waste the other brand. Oh wait I get it...the ‘honest’ comes from how blunt the kids are about the taste.)

At the household/domestic aisle:
Two-Year-Old: Joosh!
Dad: Whoa! Hon that's not juice. That's washing soap.

Finally it’s time to checkout:
Random Lady (cuts in): Hi, I’m not cutting in, I just want to drop this basket with the rest.
Dad: Of course. No problem :D
(what he’s really thinking is “Hey even if you were cutting in...if you were desperate...or evil...or stupid enough to cut in, then I don’t have the energy to deal with your drama. You would probably need the spot more desperately than I do”).

At the parking lot:
Dad is loading the goods in the trunk. Four-Year-Old starts doing the potty dance. #RookieDadMistake number 5: Large drinks.
Four-Year-Old: Daddy I gotta use the potty!
Dad: Er...okay...er lemme just load up and we’ll go back in.
Four-Year-Old: I GOTTA use the potty!!
You celebrate the first potty dance because it means no more diapers. Yikes! He's not wearing a diaper!
Dad (to himself): Pleasedon’tmakeamessPleasedon’tmakeamessPleasedon’tmakeamess

Eventually they make it to the bathroom just in the nick of time...whew!

The ride back home:
Four-Year-Old: Daddy I’m hungry!
Two-Year-Old: Daddy an ungwee!

#RookieDadMistake (number...er...I’ve lost count): Putting all the edibles in the trunk :(

PS. While the Honest Kids juice wasn't a hit with the kids, it wasn't wasted. It turned out to be a guilt-free way for Dad to drink juice while counting them calories.

Quick One: February Fasting

2014-01-30T15:26:00.001-08:00

The month of February is frequently chosen for fasting and other try-out resolutions because it is the shortest month (Super Bowl countries are exempt of course).

Sorry but I will be eating heartily this month. I will however be giving up something else that starts with "F" for those 28 days. This addictive drug that my body doesn't seem to be able to do without. Facebook!

My only treatment plan for the craving will be to actually pick up my phone and call someone...anyone and have some live conversation.

So let the jonesing begin.

Suggested Improvement to Facebook Groups: Searches, Categories, Timelines and Hashtags

2013-07-09T13:12:00.001-07:00

Here is a follow-up on this earlier post where I suggested that Facebook add amenities to their "Groups" feature such as "search" and "categories". Thankfully, they implemented the search feature but we're still waiting for a day when group administrators (admins) will have the power to really order and prioritize the posts on their forums via categories and other means. Also, sadly, Facebook's group search feature can't seem to search beyond a limited time-frame or number of entries, depending on whether the entry was made in a comment or in a post.

Illustration by Dr Ajao

In another post, I commended Facebook on introducing the Timeline feature which serves as a categorization feature of sorts based on time. As long as anyone vaguely remembers what time a post was made, it can be more easily found via the timeline feature. A timeline feature should be highly appreciated by admins if also applied to Facebook Groups, the same way it has also been applied to Facebook Pages.

In the absence of Timelines, Categories, and (smarter) Search features, what are we to do?

Enter, Hashtags.

Hashtags could be a feature that admins use to categorize the posts made in their groups. It would be nice if admins could prioritize (or 'deprioritize') or categorize posts using strategic hashtags that can be easier found via the group search. I understand that it may be prohibitive for Facebook to upgrade their search engine so that it catches all instances of a word. However, it should be possible to upgrade it such that it searches for hashtags within a group's context. The word "book" might be hard to search for but with a unique hashtag (say #Groupname_Book), Facebook should be able to find every instance of the word within the book.

Admins can then be tasked with ensuring that the tags are unique/unrepeated enough to make it easy for Facebook to find, irrespective of how many years have elapsed. Or better yet, the power to create special infinitely searchable tags should lie with the admins alone in the first place.

My two cents, or should I say "pounds"?

Links to earlier posts:
http://drajao.blogspot.com/2011/12/suggested-improvements-to-facebook.html
http://drajao.blogspot.com/2011/12/facebook-timeline-to-hate-or-not-to.html

Man of Steel and the Billion-Dollar Movie Club

2013-06-24T09:52:00.001-07:00

This is the second major post in what is going to become the Billion-Dollar Club series tracking the Box Office performance of movies that came out with enough hype to justify some expectation of reaching a billion dollars in worldwide ticket sales. Well some expectation on my part at least. These movies are tracked in comparison to the progress of other movies that made it to a billion. I've added a few other outliers to round the number to the top 20 movies worldwide.

While the spreadsheet I'm using features the current top 20 movies, I'll only be tracking progress in relation to movies of my choice. The next major tracking after "Man of Steel" (MOS) will be "Avengers 2" or "Man of Steel 2"...whichever comes first. If I get a special request to include a movie that could do some box office damage, say "Pacific Rim" or something, then I'll oblige. Otherwise, it's the flagship caped supers all the way.

MOS started its box office run as expected. Breaking quite a few records with a starting worldwide total of close to $250 million. MOS's week 2 domestic drop off (in the wake of the more family-friendly sequel, "Monsters University") is not commensurate with the hype that initially accompanied it. Even more disappointing is the fact that MOS could not fend off "World War Z" for a second place position. After all, Pixar has shown a remarkable ability to dominate their opening weekends, more so for a highly anticipated sequel.

The good news is that MOS is still holding those movies off internationally. We'll know soon enough if MOS is still on course to join the billion-dollar club...or whether it will need something stronger than the miraculous legs of "Toy Story 3". While a billion dollars at the box office is no joke, I have to acknowledge that 1 billion seems to be the new 800 million these days.

You can view the actual spreadsheet here. I'm very very open to suggestions at this stage. Yes that was two 'very's.

Update:
"Man of Steel" had a really impressive start but this highly polarizing film had a significantly steep second week drop to oblivion in the domestic market. It did pretty well in the second week internationally but not for long. At the week 4 mark, it's not even made up to what "The Amazing Spider-Man" had made at that same stage.
Overall, it's a successful non-sequel of a movie but I'd expected much more based on the hype and the fact that it was released after "Avengers" :P

Suggested Improvement to Facebook Group Admins

2013-05-30T14:23:00.000-07:00

I'm back again, and Facebook (FB) should listen this time because they end up implementing my suggestions anyways.

For shame! FB does not allow one to send messages to only the administrators (moderators) of a group. The closest FB comes to this is a feature available to only small groups.

What does FB mean by "small groups"? Apparently only groups with 50 members or less count as small groups.

This won't do FB. We're not able to move as fast with our four-hundred-or-so-member groups because we can't rally the administrators (admins) conveniently. Imagine having to create a new message list of recipients every time you want to reach twenty group admins (Yes some groups need that many admins...even more).

I guess, once one has created such a message the hard way, one could keep that message thread going indefinitely, instead of needing to create a new message and painstakingly repopulating the recipients field. Unfortunately, such threads give recipients the options of leaving the conversation, and the option of adding non-admins to the conversation.

So yeah, FB, we need a dedicated messaging system for admins alone...and the messages had better have their own archiving system so we can find past admin messages easily. This is very important, because many groups are run in a democratic fashion. So decisions made in private by admins need to be well documented. FB has no infrastructure for that...yet.

I moderate quite a number of groups so I know this feature would be priceless to me. Unfortunately for me, I'm a minority that FB probably doesn't care about since most people are not moderators or admins on FB.

FB should however consider the fact that when admins like me do our job properly, more people get to enjoy their use of FB one way or the other. Admins keep groups alive. Only groups that are alive stand a chance of progressing towards being highly useful. Highly useful groups, in turn, may be the only thing keeping some people on FB.

In order to battle this blatant problem, I've had to create a separate group for the admins of a group. Sounds like a rather clumsy situation for a service that is not so crazy about redundant duplicate accounts in the first place.

This also goes for you, Google+!

Rant over, back to work.

I said it...about Google!

2013-01-08T12:53:00.000-08:00

I said it blatantly in a post a year and a half ago that "Nobody is as well-positioned to benefit from the proliferation of the internet like Google is." Google's decision to provide free WiFi to one of the most densely populated metropolitan areas in the US seems to be proof of that.

Many businesses make a profit DESPITE providing free internet access to consumers. Google will probably be the first (if they aren't already) to make more money BECAUSE they provide free internet access to consumers.

It's like a car dealership knowing of someone who wants to buy a car (and can afford to make regular car payments). They could probably afford to pick that person up at his home and chauffeur-drive him to their lot to see their latest selection.

Other businesses are able to provide that free ride to that car dealership BUT they don't sell cars. They're hoping that while that person is driving off the lot in his brand new car, he notices their concession stand.

The car payments can be likened to our time and attention while the concession stand purchase can be likened to monetary expenditure.

The good news is that we'll all have free internet someday. Well by 'free' I'm referring to the ad-laden or ad-propelled version of the word. The same way radio and TV is 'free'.

Google is proof that time is more precious than cash.

Pastors and Private Jets.

2012-11-18T05:00:00.001-08:00

This is obviously a sore topic.

I do not condone pastors embezzling money. I do not condone pastors using church funds for personal gain (save their allotted salaries). I do not condone pastors being selfish and/or greedy. But that's where my outrage ends. I do not have a knee-jerk negative reaction to a jet acquisition…not until I know all the facts.

I do not believe that because one is a pastor, he cannot be well-to-do.

There are poor pastors, and there are rich pastors. There are poor doctors and there are rich doctors. There are poor and rich engineers, lawyers, musicians, Danfo drivers, and even presidents!

Wealth is not a function of one's occupation. Too many factors come into play, such as investment and/or business savvy, inheritance, use of valuable property (both material and intellectual), use of goodwill and social networks.

A pastor of a church where many of the congregants are rich will drive a better car than one where the congregants are poor. A pastor of a multinational church will be more visible than one that meets his flock in a garage.

My problem is not so much the pastor who by hook or crook actually has enough notes to rub together to acquire a private jet. It's the motivation behind it and the use of the jet in the end that is more important. Call me naive, but I believe it is possible for a person to do good with a jet...even though I acknowledge that for most of them it's bragging rights. Oops! I just made a judgement call. Not my place. The best I can do is let them know that they have a maker to whom they are going to give account of themselves to someday.

Face it people, there are stinking-rich church-goers out there. Some of them, give offerings large enough to buy jets for whomever they choose. That handles the legal aspect, though not the moral. Is it morally right for a pastor to buy a private jet? My simple answer is 'it depends'. It depends on the specific circumstances surrounding said acquisition, and it is not my place to make a judgement call without knowing the facts. Yes toys for the affluent are not necessarily bad things in and of themselves. A pastor can be rich if he likes, as long as he can handle the fact that it is harder for a rich man to go to heaven (more like 'impossible' for those who actually serve mammon).

All that said though, I strongly believe that being a pastor does not exclude one from being fiscally accountable (if not responsible). While the government does not necessarily need to tax churches, it needs to make sure that pastors give a good account of every single penny donated to their church. Even that is not enough. A pastor must be accountable to his congregation (if not his local community), not because he is mandated to do so by a government that has the backing of lethal force, but because pastors should set an example of openness, honesty, accountability and responsibility. If not the pastors, then who?

Facebook: Scammers Tactic: Dating/Relationships

2012-10-30T14:01:00.000-07:00

If you've never checked the 'Other' segment of your Facebook inbox, you're probably not missing much. However, when I checked mine I found out that the 'Others' folder is the place Facebook sends messages that pages I've liked have sent to me.

Well the pages send these messages to all their fans but they might as well have been to only me. Facebook treats the 'Others' folder as a kind of spam folder that you could decide to ignore outright, or clean up since it's possible an important mail could make its way there.

I will not complain about Facebook's 'spam filtering' because I think they try to err on the side of caution. This blog post is going to focus on messages from people that say they saw your profile and would like to pursue some sort of relationship. I've found most (99.9%) of these to be from scammers. By now, this is not a new tactic but it has replaced the slightly older tactic of claiming they are stranded in a refugee camp. Here are some tips for avoiding scammers that prey on unsuspecting people. Yes, there are still people who are new to the internet world, who are looking for love in all places. If they were not many, these scammers would be out of business.

Be on alert for the following:

Message from someone you don't have any friends in common with: Generally you shouldn't even bother with people you do not know who do not have a referral from someone you know. Sometimes they may be lucky to have been 'friended' by one of your hapless Facebook 'friends'. That gives them a leg in to add more and more of your friends. Essentially, you'll find that the mutual friends they end up 'friending' will have one thing in common with you (your high school for example).
Person doesn't have many/any friends: Not only do they not have any friends in common with you, some actually do not have friends or have restricted access to their friends list. You don't want anything to do with them either way.
Only one picture: This is usually a supposedly attractive picture of the member of the opposite sex and they claim they'll send you more pictures when you reply them. If you want to have some fun, right-click on the picture and copy the web address for that picture. A Google image search for that web address may show you that the same image has been used in other scams!

Bad grammar...yeh di person spoked bad eenglishes...

I think you should just run clear away from any message that starts with "I saw your profile and...". Please feel free to add more tips via comments. Enjoy your week.

e-Mail Hacked? Changing Password is Not Enough!

2012-10-12T22:00:00.001-07:00

A couple of days ago, a friend's e-mail address was compromised by scammers. They got access to her e-mail account and sent e-mails to her contacts (impersonating her) with the claim that she was stranded in foreign land and needed urgent financial aid. We discovered that the fraudsters had changed quite a few of her e-mail settings to make their scam keep working for them even after my friend would have changed her password! I learned quite a bit from the experience and I have a few (pre or post) cautionary measures to share.

If you suspect that your account has been hacked into, here are some tips that should be very useful (especially if you use Yahoo Mail).

Change your password! Luckily, many times, the hackers don't change your password in order to reduce your likelihood of suspicion. They know that if you're not able to log in, you're likely to contact your e-mail provider. The good scammers allow you to keep logging in, business-as-usual.
Changing your password is not enough!. You need to be sure you're dealing with the right party every time you enter your personal information. With Yahoo, you ought to create a sign-in seal. My friend was deceived into thinking she was entering her password on a Yahoo site (by the way if Yahoo contacts you and says they will delete your account if you don't update your info, it's probably scammers in disguise). To create a sign-in seal, you need to go to your account info. Yahoo will prompt you to enter your password one more time in order to access your account info.

This diagram above shows where you will create a sign-in seal (and also where you'll change your password). It could be either a phrase of text you'll recognize or an image stored on your device. The point of the seal is not for Yahoo to check whether it is you; rather, it's the other way round. Yahoo shows you the seal to show you that you're dealing with them and not a phishing site. The seal is applicable only on the device you're setting it on. You'll need to create a separate seal for your other devices.

Check your alternate contact and verification info: Make sure that the scammers have not changed the address of the additional e-mails and personal contact info you gave your e-mail provider to be used in the event of your forgetting your password. This also applies to your security questions. A good e-mail provider will alert you if such changes have been made. Thus, experienced scammers may not bother with these changes; however, one is better safe than sorry.

Check your recent log-in activity: Still under the account info, we were able to check that someone had logged in from another state in the US!

Check that your sent messages are being saved: We noticed that the scammers had unchecked the option to save a copy of sent messages in the owner's sent folder. This was so they could send numerous messages without the owner of the account noticing a thing.

Change your 'Reply-to' address: This is one of the most important steps. We noticed that the scammers had changed the reply-to address to something that looked similar to the owner's address. For example "Hum" might be changed to "Hurn" which looks similar (especially with condensed e-mail fonts with wrong kerning). "Herbie" could be changed to "Herbia" and so forth. Yes, this means they create a new e-mail account for the purpose of receiving replies from your contacts. Yes, this means if your contacts reply the fraudulent mail, it goes to the scammers...even after you've 'taken back control' by changing your password!

Check your filters: Just to be safe, make sure the scammers have not created a new filter. This is less likely, but you cannot be too safe.
Check your e-mail trash bin. If you were able to change your password on time, you may have done it before the scammers were able to delete all the replies that actually made it to your inbox. These would be replies that came from people who didn't simply click 'reply' to the scam e-mail without checking that they were replying to the wrong address, or replies from people who created a fresh e-mail rather than click 'reply'. Either way, you may be lucky to recover some of the deleted mail in the trash. Transfer those to a new folder as soon as you can so you don't lose them (preferably not back to your inbox so as not to "lose those mails in the crowd").
Still contact customer care. Still report the incident to your provider (and, I'll go as far as saying, the Police if possible). This list is not exhaustive so be vigilant and thorough. I welcome your suggestions, additions, and corrections. Good luck.

UPDATE 201306031034:

I should have mentioned that the sign-in seal is browser-specific since it is dependent on cookies. If you create a sign-in seal on a browser like Safari, it will be specific to Safari. You'll need to create another one for Opera or Chrome or Firefox. The sign-in seal is also user-account-specific, meaning if you have more than one user account (not actual users but the accounts) you'll need a different sign-in seal. If you have only one user account but many users (not an ideal scenario), then you'll have only one seal per browser. Meaning if your daughter logs you out of your Yahoo account so that she can log in, she'll see that same seal for that browser. Also, since the seal is dependent on cookies, if you are in a private browsing mode, there will be no seal.

Suggested Improvement to Facebook "Like"

2012-09-20T09:57:00.002-07:00

Seriously, Facebook should stop abusing the word "Like". We've made our peace with their abuse of the word "Friend" but the "Like" thingy may be doing them some harm. Think about it. Imagine I find a page I want to participate in not because I like the page ("like" in the literal sense not the perverted Facebook sense) but because I want to provide an alternate viewpoint. The establishment could have the exact opposite of my values, or sell products I'm not happy with, and the best way to keep tabs on them, or offer my complaint would be to "Like" the page. Problem is I don't want to be caught dead 'liking' a page I don't...well...like.

I know companies would probably want to limit the voice of the complaining customer, but some (the smart ones) will want to hear such customers so they can improve or at least know what their enemies are saying. This loss in important feedback and community activity might cost Facebook a few pennies in the long run. Wishful thinking? You're probably right, but still humor me.

Henceforth, Facebook should change every single "Like" that has ever been made to something more neutral. A new official "Like" button can then be issued for those who actually like (again, the literal sense) the page. Sorry I don't know what the neutral name of the replacement will be. "Connect"? "Touch"? "Monitor"? Darn, I'll even prefer the word "Stalk" to the misused "Like". I'd rather it be said that "OlaWale is Stalking Exorcist 2: The Heretic" rather than "OlaWale Likes Exorcist 2: The Heretic"

How was your week?

Why Do I Believe There is a God?

2012-09-19T14:28:00.000-07:00

I have not seen God, but His existence at some point is, at the very least, implied. The biggest implication of His presence is man himself. Never have I seen such an example of multi-functionality and beauty.

When we see a computer, we assume it was created. When it executes a program we assume there was a programmer. It's natural to do so because the program's creation involved intelligence and a special language. The product's appearance had some thought to its design to make it look just right to the human user. The creator had the human user's experience in mind when creating the machine...down to its aesthetics and comfort of use.

Bottom line, when we see functionality and beauty properly blended, we assume there was some intelligent influence. When we see language, we assume there exists a speaker. In man, I see a language known as DNA. It uses only a handful of alphabets but it is used to create some of the most complex things man has ever seen...including man himself. No computer program yet written by man has come close to reproducing the level of functionality and beauty (not to talk of intelligence) that we see around us.

Some believe that given enough time, unintelligent forces can create intelligent life. The science of entropy teaches us that nature's tendency is towards disorder. That's why my room will tend towards disorderliness unless I deliberately prevent it. Never once has any scientist shown that intelligence can be created from nothing. If there was a big bang (I have no proof that there wasn't so I'm not refuting it in this post), it happened only once. I tend to believe a big bang occurring only once is deliberate rather than random. Science organizes knowledge via testable explanations, so whatever way you slice it, science (as we know it so far) is not equipped to explain how we all got here.

If we evolved from monkeys (again, I'm not refuting that), then even the first cell or particle that evolved into a monkey must have come from somewhere. If it came from nothing then that happened only once. Why has such a thing happened only once? Why doesn't it just keep happening? Now you'll ask me where this 'God' came from if everything must have an origin. I don't know. Who knows, science may find that out before me because it is meticulous and methodical, but for now, it does not particularly know more than I do about what made that blob of nothingness suddenly change into the first atom or cell...it simply has not demonstrated it...yet.

Somehow, that origin has to be accepted by faith, no matter what the origin is. Mans' brain is too finite to grasp processes without beginning or end. That's where faith steps in. However, faith need not be blind. Faith can appreciate the signs and wonders around us. Faith can assume that if a process creates a computer program highly more advanced than any man can, then that process just might be more intelligent than man.

The creative process is believed to be either intelligent or not. Either belief needs some form of faith or the other. That statement is where objectivity ends. The subjectivity comes in the form of various religions that ascribe different attributes to the creator.

There are intelligent Atheists (evidenced by a high measurable IQ) and there are dumb Atheists, there are intelligent Christians and dumb Christians. There are intelligent Muslims and there are dumb Muslims. There are intelligent Buddhists and dumb Buddhists. Some of these people, I know personally, and some of those, are friends whom I love.

So faith really has little to do with intelligence and intelligence need not fly out of the door when faith is introduced.

The Dark Knight Rises and the Billion-Dollar Movie Club

2012-08-07T07:25:00.000-07:00

"The Dark Knight Rises" (TDKR) is, at the time of writing, still on course to reach a billion dollars in box office sales. I'm compiling a performance chart of the dozen members of the Billion-Dollar Club as compared with TDKR. So far I have stats for the first two weeks and I'll update as we go along until TDKR finishes its run or reaches a billion dollars...whichever happens first. Suggestions for improvement of the spreadsheet are welcome.

The sheet is currently at the two-week-performance mark. Two weeks is not a sure-fire indication that a movie will or will not make it to a billion.

At less than 359 million, "Toy Story 3 has the weakest two-week performance of the Billion Dollar Club, showing how strong its legs were. "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2" had by far the strongest two-week performance at over 855 million but it did not guarantee that it would be the highest grossing movie of all time.

TDKR's two-week performance of over 688 million, puts it at fourth place out of thirteen for week two performance. It has about seven more weeks to add the critical numbers needed to join the club. Seems like more than enough time.

Update 20120812:

This is week three and TDKR is still fourth out of thirteen for third-week performance. Last week, I had mixed up the domestic and foreign figures for "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2" (HP8), but the total two-week cume was intact. HP8 had the best two week performance but "Avatar" took over, followed by "Marvel's The Avengers".
"Toy Story 3" still has by far the weakest performance after three weeks. A further testament to the legs the film must have had up to the billion dollar point.
For more context, I have also added "The Amazing Spider-man" (TASM), whose three-week performance is on par with many billion-dollar earners, even though I doubt that it will make close to a billion based on its five-week performance.

Update 20120820

This is week four and TDKR has started to show signs of fatigue. It has dropped from fourth to fifth place out of the fourteen movies (now including TASM). Get this...it only made a little over 70 million this week, beating only TASM (figures for "Titanic" and "Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace" are still not available). Yes, Toy Story 3 made more money than TDKR during this week in their time line. However, all that said, TDKR is still currently the biggest earner in the foreign market (week 5 at the top) and is nearly 170 million ahead of its predecessor "The Dark Knight" at this point in their timeline. It is also yet to open in China and a handful of other territories. Director Christopher Nolan's "Inception" did nearly 70 million dollars in China but it is not necessarily a reliable indicator of what TDKR will do even though "Inception" was released just as late in China back then. I believe Inception didn't have to compete with the likes of TASM and "Prometheus" which, LA times reports, will be released in the same week as TDKR. This is said to be a deliberate effort by the Chinese state to limit the success of foreign films at the expense of their local productions.

Update 20120827
TDKR's performance in week five is a little better than expected based on last week's performance. Even though it has dropped from 5th to 6th place, it has a better chance at reaching a billion. TDKR's week 5 total is now at 934 million. With decay rates even as high as 50%, it should pull in an additional 46 million by week 10 (not much damage is done at the box office after week 10) without ever being released in China or Italy. So 980 million by week 10 means that, at worst, TDKR will be the highest grossing movie to fail to reach a billion dollars. At best it could do better than "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest" which ended its run at $1,065,896,541.

Update 20120903
It's finally happened. It's crossed a billion! I will be updating the spreadsheet but not right now. Still celebrating with them.

Update 20120907
Celebration's over. Finally updated the spreadsheet up to week 10 for those films that have been out at least that long. I'm stopping at week 10 because not much magic happens at the box office after week 10 (unless you count re-releases).

Update 20130624
The spreadsheet has finally been modified to track the worldwide Box Office performance of "Man of Steel" (MOS). Newer member films to the Billion-Dollar Club have been added also.

Click here to view the spreadsheet.

Source data from Box Office Mojo