Thursday, August 10, 2017

"G Whiz!" Two years ago today - Alphabet, abc.xyz was born and Google became "G"


Today (August 11, 2017) marks the 2 year anniversary when Google became the letter "G"and  part of the newly converged organization named Alphabet (abc.xyz).  Happy 2nd birthday G!

So far I haven't noticed anything different since Alphabet launched 2 years ago and began using the .xyz root server which itinially launched on February 19, 2014. Have you?     According to many SEO/SEM industry leaders and ceo.xyz, the .xyz extension has gained momentum and is here to stay.

Interesting to know stats at these URLS:
- newgTLD statistics (or copy/paste https://ntldstats.com/);
- Will .TOP Usurp .XYZ (or copy/paste http://www.domainpulse.com/2017/05/08/top-usurp-xyz-largest-new-gtld/)

As of November 2015, .xyz reached 1.5 million name registrations with speculation the growth and momentm was most likely due to Google's announcement of abc.xyz. Yet according to TheDomains.com, as recently as June 26, 2016, .xyz had over 5.5 million registrations (nearly 600K registrations per month for the 7 months (November 2015 - June 2016) and became the 4th most registered gTLD (generic top level domain) on the worldwide web after .com, .net and .org.


The Blog post below was posted on August 11, 2015 when Google became part of abc.xyz and gave birth to baby G.

In the new Alphabet world at abc.xyz, G is for Google.

As of Monday, August 10, 2015, Google has a new name, “Alphabet.”

Who would think that the renamed, reorganized, Google corporation, is officially named after a set of 26 letters in fixed order, “Alphabet.”

Of course, Google remains its own, fine-tuned, Google brand as the internet arm for Search, Advertising, Google Maps, YouTube, Chrome, Android, Google Apps, etc.; However, Google will be owned by the newly created company Alphabet where G = Google. Will C = Calico, F = Fiber, N = Nest, X = Google X, etc. ?



According to a recent blog by Google co-Founder Larry Page,
“What is Alphabet? Alphabet is mostly a collection of companies. The largest of which, of course, is Google. This newer Google is a bit slimmed down, with the companies that are pretty far afield of our main Internet products contained in Alphabet instead … Alphabet is about businesses prospering through strong leaders and independence … For Sergey and me this is a very exciting new chapter in the life of Google -- the birth of Alphabet. We liked the name Alphabet because it means a collection of letters that represent language, one of humanity's most important innovations, and is the core of how we index with Google search!” #GisforGoogle #Alphabet #abc.xyz


REORGANIZATION OF GOOGLE – What does this mean?

All of the other venture projects, i.e., Google X (moonshot which includes driverless cars and delivery drones) Calico (biotech research), Nest (smart home projects), Fiber (high-speed internet), Ventures and Capital (investing), once part of Google, will operate under Alphabet as separate entities. Google co-founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page have new titles, Alphabet CEO and Alphabet President, respectively.

Google’s new CEO is Sundar Pichai (formerly Larry Page’s deputy), who according to a recent Bloomberg post, is known as the “most powerful man in mobile.” #GisforGoogle #Alphabet #abc.xyz

Many leading economists equate this recent Google strategy to Warren Buffet’s Berkshire Hathaway business model. Although quite different, (i.e., Google innovative non-consumer product vs. Berkshire Hathaway ordinary consumer products) Berkshire’s Insurance business is the key income generator for Berkshire Hathaway just as Google Search is the key income generator for Alphabet. For the economy it means more jobs including more CEOs for many of Alphabet’s emerging entities, more financing and investment opportunities, and continued technological innovations.

RESTRUCTURING OF GOOGLE STOCK – If you own Google’s stock, what will you do?

Apparently this new stock structure has to do with transparency for Google’s investments and the new Alphabet will make future acquisitions much more seamless than before. Do you think this restructuring will shed an entirely new light to disruptive innovation and turn the markets upside down?

According to the company’s recent SEC filing, Alphabet will gradually replace Google as the publicly traded company on the Nasdaq stock exchange. Therefore all shares of Google will convert to shares of Alphabet and will represent the same amount of shares. This merger will most likely occur sometime later this year. #GisforGoogle #Alphabet

OTHER RESOURCES:
• Google SEC Filing, SEC
• Google Investor, Google
• Google Creates New Company Called Alphabet, Restructures Stock, Bloomberg
• Google Investor Relations, Google
• How Google Became Alphabet from A to Z, Wired
• A New Company Called Alphabet Now Owns Google, Wired
• What is Alphabet, Google's new company?, Business Insider

Google.com becomes abc.xyz and G is for Google is part of the "evergreen marketing insighter" series by Gloria Buono-Daly

#GisforGoogle #Alphabet Innovation and Disruptions, Google and Alphabet, google.com and abc.xyz, Larry Page and Sergey Brin

Friday, August 4, 2017

My TIFF Picks - Documentaries and Platform features

Over the past few years of attending TIFF, I’ve seen excellent documentaries on political heroes (girls’ education activist Malala Youfsafzai, the late urban planning activist Jane Jacobs), musicians (Arcade Fire, the late Sharon Jones) and obscure Hollywood players (the late costume designer Orry Kelly, who had a long affair with Cary Grant).

This year is no exception with famous subjects including Andy Kaufman, Eric Clapton, Grace Jones, Sammy Davis Jr and diverse topics from filmmakers across the globe.  Here are some of my picks from the 23 documentaries announced on August 1st in no particular order (unlike my feature film picks, you will see a bit more ethnic diversity represented here.)

Grace Jones: Bloodlight and Bami (Sophie Fiennes): Now 69, Jamaican born model, actress, musician and icon Jones is profiled over a ten year period. I remember when Jones was everywhere in the 80s and she’s always been a bit of a mystery.  Hopefully Fiennes (the sister of actors Ralph and Joseph) will offer some insight into her life as an artist.



Super Size Me 2: Holy Chicken! (Morgan Spurlock): This sequel to 2004’s “Super Size Me” sees filmmaker Spurlock opening his own fast food restaurant and battling the food industry once again.

One of Us (Heidi Ewing/Rachel Grady): Ewing and Grady, who are Oscar nominated directors for their 2006 documentary Jesus Camp, continue their religious exploration of three Hasidic Jews who wish to break away from their insular Brooklyn, NY community while facing threats of retaliation.  This will stream on Netflix later this fall.

Jane (Brett Morgen): A portrait of primatologist Jane Goodall, using footage from the 1960s with a score by Phillip Glass? Enough said.

Boom for Real: The Late Teenage Years of Jean-Michel Basquiat (Sara Driver): The pre fame years in the late ‘70s NYC of the American artist are explored in this documentary. Basquiat has been the subject of feature films and documentaries before, so I hope this one adds to the canon of his short life.

The Gospel According to Andre (Kate Novack): Vogue’s larger than life contributing editor Andre Leon Talley has long been a fun commentator in numerous fashion documentaries, so it’s about time he was the subject.  Vogue Editrix Anna Wintour, and desginers such as Mar Jacobs, Tom Ford and Valentino offer insight into his life and career.  I always enjoy a dishy fashion doc, so I hope this one is up there with The September Issue.

Scotty and the Secret History of Hollywood (Matt Tymauer): Speaking of dish, this screened-at- Cannes documentary profiles Scotty Bowers, an ex- marine who landed in Hollywood after WWII and became a sexual procurer to the stars.  Bowers, who is in his 90s, discusses the sex lives of stars during a time before coming out of the closet was acceptable.

The China Hustle (Jed Rothstein): This is billed as an “unsettling and eye-opening Wall Street horror story about Chinese companies, the American stock market, and the opportunistic greed behind the biggest heist you’ve never heard of.”  Wall Street, China, and greed?  This will probably be the dishiest one of all!

Far from boring, documentaries are often my favorite movies from TIFF. Sometimes I find myself looking forward to the documentaries more than the feature films because truth is stranger (and more interesting sometimes) than fiction!

TIFF Platform Picks

Platform is a relatively new category of programming from TIFF that highlights “visionary directors” with a prize chosen by a jury of fellow visionary directors (including Wim Wenders). One of last year’s entries Barry Jenkin’s Moonlight, went on to win Best Picture at the Academy Awards.  Of the 12 films chosen for this exclusive category, here are my picks.

The Death of Stalin (Armando Iannucci): Veep creator Iannucci mines familiar territory, lampooning the political machinations following the death of Soviet leader Stalin in 1953.  Steve Buscemi plays his eventual successor Nikita Kruschev.  Looks like a great supporting cast including Jeffrey Tambor, Michael Palin and Jason Isaacs.

If You Saw His Heart (Joan Chemla):  I usually see Gael Garcia Bernal films (Rosewater, Neruda) that come to TIFF.  This year’s entry is from France.  Bernal plays Daniel, a damaged man who teeters between a life of crime and the path to redemption in the form of a woman (Marine Vacth).

Mademoiselle Paradis (Barbara Albert):  This entry is based on the life of Austrian composer Maria Theresa von Paradis (Maria-Victoria Dragus) and her attempts to cure her blindness with the help of Franz Anton Mesmer (Devid Striesow).  Yes, another biopic/period piece but I’m not familiar with Paradis’ story and I’m sure there will be some lovely classical music on the soundtrack.

Euphoria (Lisa Langseth): A story about two estranged sisters (Eva Green and Alicia Vikander) traveling through Europe to a mystery destination.  Game of Throne’s Charles Dance also stars.  The cast and premise sounds interesting and I hope the scenery will be amazing.

More films TBA as the festival gets closer, so if anything catches my eye, I will sure to keep posting!