Of all the characters from Marvel Comics history yet to debut in the MCU, few are as highly anticipated as Doctor Doom. The legendary Fantastic Four villain is a comic book icon who has yet to receive a definitive big-screen adaptation, and fans are hopeful Marvel Studios will make that happen in the future. As word of Mads Mikkelsen’s potential MCU return in a new role has made the rounds online, folks on social media have discussed the likelihood and overall idea of him taking a swing at Victor Von Doom. «Mads slays in everything he’s in so I would run to the theater to watch his take on Dr. Doom,» commented Redditor u/BungeeJump in a thread on the topic. Even self-admitted non-Marvel fan u/terurin is intrigued by the concept, writing, «I can’t stand Marvel. But I would watch for Mads.»
As some have supported the fan casting, others have spoken against it. A major sticking point raised by commenters such as u/jkpulley1 concerns Mikkelsen’s previous Kaecilius casting and the confusion that could come with him double-dipping in the MCU. This may seem like a logical argument, but it’s not completely air-tight. Throughout the MCU’s history, numerous actors have played multiple roles. As mentioned previously, Benedict Cumberbatch plays Doctor Strange and Dormammu, Gemma Chan plays Minn-Erva and Sersi, and Sean Gunn performs motion capture for Rocket Raccoon while playing Kraglin, to name a few.
Would it be nice to get a brand new actor to play the MCU’s Doctor Doom? Certainly, but if Mads Mikkelsen is indeed returning to the franchise to play the evil leader of Latveria, he’s undeniably a strong choice.
Zulily’s former headquarters in Seattle. (GeekWire Photo / Taylor Soper)
The latest chapter in the meltdown of Zulily is reading like a bad holiday fairy tale.
The Seattle online retailer — battered after weeks of layoffs, website outages and management reversals — posted a message on its website saying that it has made “the difficult but necessary decision to conduct an orderly wind-down of the business to maximize value for the companies’ creditors.”
To help expedite that process, Zulily said Friday that it entered into an agreement with a third-party fiduciary operating under the name of Zulily ABC LLC, a subsidiary of a San Diego-based firm by the name of Douglas Wilson Companies that, among other things, specializes in receiverships and liquidating assets of troubled companies.
The so-called “assignment for the benefit of creditors” — also known as an ABC — is an alternative to a bankruptcy filing.
According to a FAQ provided by Douglas Wilson Companies, the goal of the process is to gather and sell assets and then distribute proceeds “in accordance with statutory priorities.” The process usually takes 12 to 18 months.
The new Zulily ABC entity is no longer accepting orders from customers through the Zulily website, and refunds to existing customers are unable to be processed at this time. For customers owed money by Zulily — either refunds or holders of gift cards — they are required to fill out a proof of claim form if they want a chance to receive money back. The deadline to file a claim is June 14.
“Zulily customers have always been the heart of the business and their support over the years is greatly appreciated,” the FAQ states. “Zulily regrets any inconvenience as a result of this process.”
A separate vendor FAQ notes that “we are working diligently to fulfill our obligations to vendors and regret any inconveniences this process may cause.”
The transfer of ownership to a new entity that specializes in company closures marks an official end of the line for a high-flying online retailer that was valued at $4 billion following its IPO ten years ago.
The retailer’s business deteriorated following its market debut, and after a series of financial misses the company sold to QVC parent Qurate for $2.4 billion in 2015.
The company advertised heavily to gain new customers under its new owner, including TV spots that declared it was a “shopping paradise with deals on every scroll.” In 2019, it inked an elaborate multi-year sponsorship of the Seattle Sounders FC, which included Zulily’s brand emblazoned on front of the Major League Soccer team’s jerseys.
In May of this year, Los Angeles-based investment firm Regent acquired Zulily, saying at the time that it planned to grow the company in new markets. But things quickly spiraled during Regent’s seven months at the helm.
In one of the stranger twists, Regent told Zulily employees on Dec. 7 that it would begin job cuts on Feb. 7. It also submitted filings with state employment officials, stating that the company would lay off more than 800 people and close warehouses in Nevada and Ohio as well as its headquarters in Seattle beginning Feb. 7.
But a few days later, the company reversed course and told many of the impacted employees that due to “business circumstances” they’d be laid off in December.
Zulily relocated its headquarters earlier this year to a smaller space at 95 Jackson St. in Seattle’s Pioneer Square neighborhood. This week, the office was empty with no employees inside. (GeekWire Photo / Taylor Soper)
Regent has declined repeated requests for comment.
“Our goal is to effectuate a swift and efficient process that maximizes value to Zulily’s creditors,” Ryan C. Baker, vice president at Douglas Wilson Companies, said in a statement. “We have assembled an experienced team to assist in the management of claims and proactively address questions and concerns from Zulily’s customers and creditors. We recognize the strain processes such as these place on parties of interest and are committed to responsiveness and reliability as we fulfill our fiduciary responsibilities as Assignee.”
In an interview with GeekWire earlier this month, Zulily co-founder Mark Vadon — who left his day-to-day role at the company in 2014 — said that he felt bad “for the people who worked so hard to build something that I think was truly special.”
Jane.com, another online retailer that focused on women and children, also abruptly shut down this year and is working with a similar third-party company specializing in asset liquidation.
Here’s the full note posted on Zulily’s website:
Dear Zulily Friends and Partners,
As previously announced, Zulily, LLC and its parent Zulily Group LLC (collectively, “Zulily”) made the difficult but necessary decision to conduct an orderly wind-down of the business to maximize value for the companies’ creditors. This decision was not easy nor was it entered into lightly. However, given the challenging business environment in which Zulily operated, and the corresponding financial instability, Zulily decided to take immediate and swift action.
To effectuate the process, on December 22, 2023, Zulily entered into an Assignment for the Benefit of Creditors (“ABC”) whereby an assignee – Zulily ABC, LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Douglas Wilson Companies – will complete an orderly wind-down of the business to maximize the recovery for the companies’ creditors as a third-party fiduciary.
We realize that this news comes with many questions, and we have put a team in place to address customer, vendor, and other interested party inquiries. The Zulily ABC hotline can be reached at 888-202-5829 or (+1) 747-288-6406 outside the U.S., or visit https://omniagentsolutions.com/ZulilyABC for more information and additional support. In addition, customers can send email inquiries to [email protected], while vendors and other parties of interest can email [email protected].
We appreciate your patience as we move through this process as swiftly and efficiently as possible.
Making his debut in DC Comics in Aquaman #54 in 1999, Kingfish was a far more intimidating threat to Arthur than in the James Wan film. Hoping to take over Atlantis and snatch the throne from Aquaman, Kingfish used a toxin from Gindola fish to drive his subjects insane and turn on our hero, sending the kingdom into chaos. Kingfish’s tactic spanned six issues before, thankfully, the Aqua-fam managed to end Kingfish’s plans.
While that kind of threat level doesn’t present itself in «The Lost Kingdom,» the chances of Kingfish making a comeback are unlikely. The evidence all but confirms that Jason Momoa is officially done as the King of Atlantis now that the new DCU is on the way. So, chances of Short’s returning stint as Kingfish have washed away with it. There might be an opportunity for Short to fill a voice slot in Gunn’s DC Universe in the future somewhere, but there’s no telling what the future may hold.
«Sound of Freedom» is one of 2023’s most unexpected success stories. The indie thriller made $248 million at the worldwide box office, showing that some underdog movies can do big business. However, the controversy surrounding «Sound of Freedom» has been divisive, mainly because the movie deals with the topic of child sex trafficking and has been accused of propagating QAnon-endorsed conspiracy theories. This is partly due to the casting of Jim Caviezel, who previously lent his support to a conspiracy that argues adrenochrome is being harvested from children to feed a powerful network of cannibals.
Shah Rukh Khan’s «Jawan,» meanwhile, incited industry upheaval in Bangladesh. The Indian actioner’s release came after the country’s government changed legislation to allow 10 Hindi films to be shown in theaters annually. While this edict arguably diversifies the national moviegoing experience, its critics argue that it risks overshadowing films made by Bangladeshi artists, and some of them took to the streets to protest.
«John Wick: Chapter 4» didn’t elicit any major controversies, despite the movie having a higher body count than most of 2023’s releases combined. Some of its detractors took issue with Keanu Reeves’ lack of dialogue and Scott Adkins’ fatsuit, and Oliver Stone also lambasted the film for being more like a video game than a movie. However, the other films caused debates in sociopolitical forums, with a couple actually leading to governmental action. That makes «John Wick: Chapter 4» seem tame in comparison.
No queremos pensarlo, pero a este 2023 le quedan pocos días. En nuestras cabezas rondan las celebraciones navideñas que ya tenemos encima, pero en los despachos del Apple Park ya piensan en la agenda del año que viene. 2023 ya está finiquitado, ya se han hecho todos los gestos que había pendientes para estas últimas semanas, lo único que queda es hacer caja.
Y en todos los movimientos que ha hecho Apple en este 2023 hay que pensar en todos los productos que han dejado de venderse y que perderemos para siempre. Si empezamos a contar, la lista no es tan corta como puedes creer.
El MacBook Pro con Touch Bar
Estaba bastante cantado tras el rediseño de la gama alta de los MacBook Pro. Apple ha decidido conservar un modelo básico, pero ya abandonando el diseño antiguo de los MacBook Pro salido de la época Intel y llevándose la Touch Bar por delante.
Con esto, la gama portátil de Apple se queda ya con dos diseños únicos: el de los MacBook Air y el de los MacBook Pro. Puede que algunos echen de menos los diseños en forma de lágrima de los MacBook Air antiguos, pero no creo que la Touch Bar sea algo añorado.
Los iPhone «mini»
Este le duele particularmente a muchos que defendían a capa y espada esta gama. La llegada de los iPhone 15 ha supuesto el fin de la venta del iPhone 13 mini, evidenciando que la gente prefiere la pantalla grande y la mayor autonomía antes que algo pequeño y cómodo. Es una lástima.
Aquellos que sigan queriendo un iPhone pequeño tienen como último «superviviente» al iPhone SE 3, pero va a durar poco. Los rumores afirman que el iPhone SE 4 que veremos en pocos meses crecerá de tamaño para asemejarse más al iPhone 14.
La Batería MagSafe y el cargador MagSafe Duo
En un movimiento que estaba del todo previsto, Apple ha decidido dejar de vender su propia batería externa y cargador MagSafe Duo con el que se simplificaba la carga de dispositivos. Puede que se trate de unos primeros pasos para deshacerse de todos los accesorios que usen el puerto Lightning, aunque quizás simplemente no se vendían lo suficiente como para seguir sosteniéndolos en las tiendas. Lo sabremos mejor en cuanto la transición al puerto USB-C se complete con la fecha tope de diciembre de 2024.
Los accesorios en piel
Más recortes en accesorios, pero esta vez no por regulaciones europeas si no por conciencia ambiental. Todo lo que incluía piel ha dejado de existir, pasando a destacar la silicona y los materiales de alta calidad alternativos como en el caso de las fundas y las correas FineWoven. Este material no ha recibido demasiadas opiniones positivas, con algunos llegando a decidirse por llevar su iPhone 15 Pro sin funda.
Bonus de muerte anunciada: Lightning
El cable Lightning no ha muerto aún: sigue incluyéndose con los nuevos iMac y es necesario para cargar los Magic Keyboard, Magic Mouse y Magic Trackpad. Pero hay que decir que 2023 es el año en el que quedó totalmente sentenciado. A partir de ahora el cable USB-C es el que toma la prioridad en todo.
Enterraremos oficialmente Lightning a finales de 2024, momento en que Apple deberá utilizar USB-C en todas partes por ley. A partir de ahí, el cable Lightning irá desapareciendo a medida que los consumidores vayamos renovando los iPhone. Lo seguiremos viendo, pero quedará como algo anticuado de lo que todo el mundo se querrá desprender.
As great as Robert Pattinson’s turn in «The Batman» is, Bruce Wayne’s obsession with setting the city straight means we see very little of him outside the Batsuit. If Hush appears in the next film, it would demand Pattinson play more Bruce than Batman, simply because of his new nemesis’ target.
In the comics, Hush is Thomas Elliot, Bruce’s childhood friend who sets about ruining Bruce’s life with the help of The Riddler, who, at this point, has discovered our hero’s secret identity. If «The Batman Part II» adapts this story, it’ll mean more focus on Bruce instead of Batman and show Pattinson perfect the performance of the Gotham-based playboy socialite. Notably, Christian Bale nailed the task during his stint in the Dark Knight trilogy, portraying a Bruce Wayne publicly pretending to be a vapid billionaire. Pattinson may have a more complex job.
In «The Batman,» Pattinson’s perma-brooding as Bruce Wayne arguably makes him the prime suspect for being Batman. If the sequel makes a conscious effort to show Bruce learning to handle his public identity, seeing it tested by Hush would be a compelling watch, especially when there’s a chance of more evil eyes watching him than before.
There’s one fan theory floating around that Augusta purposefully gives Neville Frank’s wand because it will make him look untalented. Before their torture and hospitalization, Neville’s parents Frank and Alice were popular and powerful wizards who fought against Voldemort (played on-screen by Ralph Fiennes), and according to one Redditor, Augusta might have wanted to keep Neville’s real talents quiet.
As u/samsg1 wrote on a thread, «Augusta (Neville’s Gran) surely expected that Neville, too, would grow to be a powerful wizard and she may have anticipated Voldemort would come back someday, or that Neville might want to avenge his parents and become an Auror himself someday, and decided to sabotage her son’s magical ability to protect him. So instead of buying Neville a wand for himself from Olliviander’s (surely coming from a seemingly well-respected and old pure-blood family she had the galleons) she decided to give him Frank’s old wand knowing Neville would struggle to use magic to his full potential.»
Other users admitted the theory was compelling, but pointed out a few flaws. First, Neville frequently mentions that Augusta is disappointed that he isn’t more like his father, and second, she’s not necessarily wealthy just because the Longbottoms are a pure-blood wizarding family. Most convincingly, though, is the fact that before his father’s wand breaks, Neville has been furiously training alongside Harry and the student vigilante group Dumbledore’s Army — because the Death Eaters who tortured his parents break out of the wizarding prison Azkaban, and Neville probably wants to avenge Frank and Alice himself.
The fact that Shimo is an ice creature is something its design appears intended to highlight. A different action figure that @Aftermaxgman shared to the X platform presents the character as quadrupedal, with white reptile skin and ice-like spikes on its back. Meanwhile, in another post, @Aftermaxgman showcased an official CGI render of the character included on the packaging of another toy. In this image its skin and those spikes are less overtly icy in appearance, meaning either Shimo can change its look, or toys of the character particularly want to emphasize its affinity for the cold.
Shimo’s powers are even reflected in its name. In Japanese, the kanji 霜 can be read as «shimo» and means «frost.» For now, these toys and its name provide the only confirmed insight into this character. That said, at about 1:50 in the first «Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire» trailer, Godzilla illuminates itself in pink light before emerging in an arctic environment. Presumably this location will somehow relate to Godzilla’s upcoming conflict with Shimo.
Pierce Brosnan was filming a new movie called «Unholy Trinity» with Samuel L. Jackson in the Yellowstone area when he allegedly trespassed into the dangerous thermal areas. Depending on how the court case shakes out, it may be the last time Brosnan’s allowed in the national park for a while.
Numerous news stories have surfaced over the years of people wandering where they shouldn’t around Yellowstone. In 2019, two men were caught in an off-limits area and sentenced to 10 days in jail, a $540 fine, and a five-year ban from the park (via the National Park Service). Meanwhile, in 2023, K2 Radio reported that a man who also ventured into protected areas of the park wound up with a seven-day jail sentence and a two-year ban.
While it would be ironic if the fifth actor to play James Bond ended up behind bars, even for a short period, that’s still preferable to the alternatives: more than 20 people have died over the years from the scalding hot waters in the park’s springs and vents. Brosnan’s alleged incident, as well as similar stories, are a good reminder of following the rules and staying far away from geysers. People may not hear about Pierce Brosnan as much these days, but this probably isn’t how he wants his name to end up in the news.
Artwork shows an interior view of Orbite’s Astronaut Training and Spaceflight Gateway Campus, with mockups of a SpaceX Dragon capsule and a Blue Origin New Shepard capsule on display. (Orbite Illustration)
Orbite Space, a venture that aims to offer down-to-Earth spaceflight training programs on a “try before you fly” basis, is raising more capital amid the company’s preparations for an expansion of operations.
The financial arrangements were reported this week in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
In the filing, Orbite reports an equity offering of $6.775 million and says that $2.725 million of the offering has already been sold. The company says those amounts include the conversion of previously issued convertible securities. So far, seven investors have taken part in the offering, according to the SEC filing.
GeekWire reached out to Orbite with additional questions about the funding round, but the company declined further comment.
Orbite traces its roots to Seattle: Its founders are CEO Jason Andrews, who formerly headed Seattle-based Spaceflight Industries; and executive chairman Nicolas Gaume, a French-born entrepreneur who also works at Microsoft.
The company’s expansion plans focus less on Seattle and more on Florida, where Orbite plans to build an Astronaut Training and Spaceflight Gateway Campus. Last month, Andrews told GeekWire that the campus is scheduled to open in 2026, and that it would become the home base for Orbite’s private-sector astronaut training programs. Between now and then, Orbite plans to offer its clients a series of space-themed travel experiences and training sessions.
“We are working to design our curriculum and facilities to support the missions of tomorrow, which will include professional astronauts, mission specialists and career astronauts working in low Earth orbit, on the moon and potentially Mars,” Brienna Rommes, Orbite’s director of astronaut training, said in a November news release.
It’s hard to imagine anyone else but Donna Reed playing James Stewart’s wife in «It’s a Wonderful Life.» But Reed was not exactly a shoo-in for the role. Movie director Frank Capra first considered Stewart’s previous movie co-star Jean Arthur for the part, according to The Stream. In addition, screen legend Ginger Rogers and several other big-name stars were also offered the role but passed on it. Reed’s daughter, Mary Owen, told Fox News that amid his casting search, Capra «knew right away» that Reed was his Mary when he met her for the first time. «Her experience of working with Frank Capra was nothing like she’d ever experienced before or after,» Owen said. «It was demanding work, but it was the most deeply satisfying work she’d ever experienced. She had worked in MGM films up to that point … But Capra was independent and a visionary. He did things completely differently. And she loved it.»‘
Reed had the opportunity to publicly thank Capra when she paid tribute to him at the 10th American Film Institute Life Achievement Award in 1982. «When I finished making [It’s a Wonderful Life»] I thought perhaps I might not make any more movies,» Reed said in her speech. «I suppose I knew on some deep level that I would never have another experience in a film to equal it.» Reed added that she «never dreamed» that people would watch the film every Christmas Eve for decades to come. To Capra, she said directly, «Frank, I am very grateful and beholden to you for letting me be Mary Bailey. Thank you.»
Shortly after Season 2’s debut, an outcry began that Alan Ritchson’s «Reacher» co-star Serinda Swan is an equally ideal fit for Selina Kyle, aka Catwoman, especially since Jack Reacher and Karla Dixon display stupid amounts of chemistry on the show. Swan joined in on the fun on Instagram, captioning a joint point with digital creator Kode Abdo, «Cats [sic] out of the bag? @bosslogic killing it [with] this art.» The images, which have over 40,000 likes, show the star in diamonds and a variation of the Catwoman outfit.
While there’s been no talk of casting calls for the Bat, or indeed the Cat, neither actor is any stranger to the DC universe, having already dabbled in it in the past. Though they never appeared on-screen together, both Swan and Ritchson had roles on the Superman prequel series «Smallville» as Zatanna Zatara and Arthur Curry, aka Aquaman, respectively.
With that in mind, James Gunn and Andy Muschietti could take fans’ advice and set up another reunion. The actors have spent a few weeks taking down fictional henchmen, so why not have them do more of the same, just with both of them wearing all black and pointy ears?
Veteran Seattle-area game designer Jordan Weisman might be most famous for co-creating the tabletop games BattleTech, Shadowrun, MechWarrior, and Earthdawn. In 2011, Weisman co-founded the Seattle game studio Harebrained Schemes, which was acquired by Swedish firm Paradox Interactive in 2018 before going independent earlier this year.
“I’m old,” Weisman says, “and I’ve been making a lot of trouble for a long time.”
Weisman’s latest attempt to make trouble is Adventure Forge, a no-code, AI-driven toolset for game development. Weisman’s new company Endless Adventures Inc. plans to publish Adventure Forge on Steam Early Access in 2024. The company raised $1.5 million to help fuel development.
Other employees include David Reid, a former NCSoft and Microsoft exec and the founder of the now-defunct MetaArcade; and Enrique Garcia, a former creative director at Microsoft Entertainment.
Weisman said his son had created a physical card role-playing game where the deck represented your character.
“We thought that was a little too random to have much narrative depth,” he said. “So I thought, well, why don’t I design an app that can be the game master [for you]?”
The card game was never released, but it got Weisman started on creating the authoring system that eventually became Adventure Forge. For a couple of years, he worked on the system as a side project alongside a couple of other engineers.
“Eventually what I arrived at was creating a series of highly contextual drop-down menus that automatically populate with everything you create,” Weisman said. “As you create characters and locations and all that stuff, eventually you can just mad-lib your way through it.”
This allows a user to make their own narrative games with Adventure Forge without having to know anything about programming or code. The sorts of games that can be made run along a spectrum, ranging from text-only adventures (Zork) and visual novels to isometric RPGs, such as the first Baldur’s Gate or Harebrained’s Shadowrun Returns.
In addition, Adventure Forgefeatures a built-in generative AI, but one with a deliberately limited base of original material. That AI was created by a startup called Scenario.GG, which built it on top of a Stable Diffusion system that has only been trained on art provided to it by Endless Adventures. This allows any assets built by the AI to maintain a consistent visual style, as well as sidestepping issues of creative control that have arisen from other generative AIs.
EAI’s first original universe for Adventure Forgeis called Tales of Fortunata. Set in a high-fantasy world that’s based on Renaissance-era Italy, Tales follows the exploits of Fortunata di Penna, a rising star in the thieves’ guild of the floating city of Venezia.
Users of Adventure Forge can use Tales as a preexisting setting for the games they create, in the same way that a tabletop gaming group might use an official sourcebook. In addition, EAI plans to make several of its own games in the Tales setting.
An official sample of art and gameplay from Tales of Fortunata, the first official setting for Adventure Forge. Here, EAI has created a dialogue-based RPG in the spirit of Disco Elysium or Slay the Princess. (Endless Adventures Image)
Toward that end, EAI’s internal artists have created 1,500 pieces of art that match Tales’ environment, such as wall textures and props. For anything else a particular creator might need, there’s Scenario.GG’s AI.
“I’m confident that we haven’t come up with everything that [players] will want,” Weisman said, “so we wanted to give them an easy mechanism to add things that are in the right style for whatever they might need in their level design. The hope is that creators find lots of interesting ways to mix all those tools together.”
Users can then share their games with one another privately, to groups, or in a number of other ways, including the possibility of sharing them with Adventure Forge’s overall community. A creator who decides they want to publish and monetize their work in Adventure Forge will have the option to do so, under a revenue-sharing option with Endless Adventures. This could include spinning a project out into a standalone game.
“This is coming from storytellers,” Weisman said. “This is not a technology for technology’s sake. This is from people whose whole lives have been about storytelling, and we want to empower storytelling, but we want to do it in a responsible way.”
Put together a charismatic cast in a caper film, load the script with smart, funny dialogue, add a priceless object and no possible way to attain it, and what do you have? Well, if you’re Steven Soderbergh, you get an enduring and popular franchise from «Ocean’s 11.» But if you’re the makers of «Righteous Thieves,» you get a project with none of the wit, charm, and suspense of the «Ocean’s» films, but a firm belief that adding attractive actors to a heist story will yield 100% success. In reality, the sum of «Thieves» is zero, which is also its current score on Rotten Tomatoes.
The team in «Righteous Thieves» are a smarmy, high-gloss bunch that, while looking great, are totally unconvincing as strategic masterminds or anything other than the waitstaff at a high-end restaurant (call them Vanderpump’s 5). Their target is a quartet of paintings looted by the Nazis (hence the «righteous» part of their moniker) and held by a cartoonish bad guy, played by Brian Cousins, with designs on creating his own version of a new Reich. The heist itself comes together with minimal planning and appears to require none of the team’s alleged special skills. No suspense, no laughs, no stylish direction — no thanks.
— Pacvue, a software startup that helps brands boost e-commerce revenue, hired Microsoft vet Sunava Dutta as senior vice president of product.
Dutta previously spent more than 18 years at Microsoft, most recently as a product leader for robotics and emerging technologies within Azure.
Pacvue launched out of Seattle and quietly bootstrapped its way to a large acquisition in 2021 to Assembly, a Los Angeles-based company that also sells e-commerce software. Pacvue still maintains an office in Seattle.
Clay Siegall. (MorphImmune Photo)
— Clay Siegall, the former longtime CEO of Seagen, was named chairman of Tourmaline Bio, a New York-based publicly traded biotech company.
Siegall co-founded and led Seagen, formerly Seattle Genetics, for more than two decades. He resigned last year following an alleged domestic violence incident involving his then-wife. Prosecutors did not press charges.
Seagen sold to Pfizer in a $43 billion deal that closed this month.
Siegall jumped back into biotech earlier this year, joining Purdue University spinout Morphimmune as CEO. The company merged with Immunome in July.
Tourmaline went public earlier this in year in a reverse merger with Talaris.
— Cassandra Chandler is stepping off the board of Seattle-based cannabis company Leafly, effective Dec. 31. Chandler previously worked for the FBI and Bank of America in various operational leadership roles.
Leafly said in a filing that the board’s audit committee will no longer have three independent members as required by Nasdaq, and expects to receive notification of noncompliance from Nasdaq the first week of January.
Leafly’s business has struggled and the company was nearly delisted from Nasdaq earlier this year. Blaise Judja-Satostepped down from the board Nov. 30.
— Ramberto Torruella, a former Navy combat systems officer and nuclear submarine operator, recently joined Seattle radio station KEXP as chief technology officer. Read more.
— Jim Breuer, president of Fluor’s Energy Solutions business group,joined the board of Portland, Ore.-based nuclear reactor company NuScale. Breuer replaced Christopher Panichi on the board.
— Microsoft is making bevy of leadership changes within Xbox following the completion of its Activision acquisition. Read more at The Verge.
Ramberto Torruella served on subs in the Navy. Now he’s CTO at Seattle’s KEXP. (Photo courtesy of Torruella)
As a teenager growing up in northern Virginia in the late 1980s, budding saxophonist and composer Ramberto Torruella faced an important choice.
Take a full ride scholarship to study music composition at Carnegie Mellon University or accept an appointment to the U.S. Naval Academy.
Torruella picked the Navy, studying physics and sailing into a 30-year career that included stints as a combat systems officer on nuclear submarines and an operations chief managing cybersecurity and complex computer systems across an array of military assets.
But Torruella — who joined choirs wherever he was stationed and more recently picked up the bass guitar — never lost his passion for music.
In August, the 55-year-old took a major career turn — leaving his high-ranking technical post with Department of the Navy to join Seattle’s progressive radio station KEXP as chief technology officer.
Talk about a career shift — from submarines to Sub Pop and dress whites to the White Stripes.
“Jumping to KEXP was an opportunity to get back into my musical roots,” said Torruella, who oversees a technology team of 15. “And I have not regretted it one bit… It has been outstanding.”
We caught up with Torruella — now splitting his time between Washington state and Washington D.C. — in a recent interview to get his take on the new job, his technical roadmap for KEXP, the role of AI in music and ambitions for a new social community at KEXP. Of course, we also had to ask him what he’s listening to these days, too. The conversation was edited for brevity and clarity.
On what drew him to KEXP: “I get to do what I am good at. And what I like to do is work with the back-end technology — everything from the websites and the apps to the broadcast engineering stuff to what the audio engineers need. I mean the whole gamut back there is a playground for me. And what’s neat is I get to do that and I get to be at the coolest radio station on the freakin’ planet.”
On the connection between his engineering mind and his musical mind: “Music is math in time, right? It is precise. Tones are precise. Harmonics are precise. And you can measure harmonics very, very precisely, just like you can, both for engineering purposes.
Music can be just as precise. But the beautiful thing about music and what makes us enjoy it is the mixture of culture, plus some science associated with how harmonies are built, plus the artistic endeavor of a creative person actually putting something together that strums right at your heart.”
On bringing his East Coast military background to a progressive West Coast radio station: “I do have to temper some of my language. And some of my impulses on how to do things, so that I’m not scaring people away. It’s fun. I am sure somebody one day is gonna want to make a sitcom about the East Coast military guy that goes to work for a rock and roll radio station.”
On his technical priorities for KEXP: “The first thing I want to do is bring a little bit of standardization to the backend. There are four technology groups there. And they’ve been kind of running on their own. And I’m trying to bring them all under a unified umbrella of how we do things.
Part of that journey is to make sure that we’ve got a really good lifecycle plan for all the gear, so that we can then forecast out our costs a little bit more accurately. That’s all the boring stuff. If I didn’t do that, I wouldn’t be a very good CTO.”
On building a new music-oriented social community: “The most exciting stuff, though, is we’re going to do some really cool things in the social arena and music. The idea is to allow the listeners that we have to be able to connect with each other over shared musical interests, whether that’s a group, or genre or location — allow those listeners to create a digital neighborhood to talk and share stories and perhaps even promote to others who would be interested.”
So essentially a social network? “It is, but social networks almost have a bad name these days, because social networks are really about selling advertising. That’s fine. It’s a great model, it works, people get paid, I get to talk to my friends from high school. But that’s not what we’re interested in here.
We’re interested in supporting music discovery, which is why I freaking love this place. So, I want to leverage that information to enhance the listener experience, so they can share stuff. But that’s only the first part. The second part are the musicians, and to be able to build communities around them, so that listeners can have a little bit more of a direct interaction there.”
Not to date us, but it sounds a bit like the original Myspace? “Myspace wasn’t bad. It was really good for its time. I’ve shared this with the team, and we are taking the first steps towards that. Basically, it’s about making sure that we can capture the listener persona in enough detail that they can create a persona. But I don’t know what that’s going to end up looking like, and we’re going to approach that kind of carefully. And when we do, we will bring everybody along with us. Our goal is not to keep it secret. I just don’t want to over promise and under deliver at this point.”
On how he’s thinking about AI at KEXP: “We’re still talking about it back at the station. It hasn’t been fully decided. What we know: we’re not going to give up our human-curated music selection. That’s almost the special sauce of what KEXP does.
However, there’s no problem with using AI to search metadata for songs to assist the DJs. And figuring out what’s a good selection. We already kind of sort of do that with the tools that we have in the backend, that access our media asset management, and we can improve that access with the use of AI.”
On using AI to combat hate speech: “The other aspect is as we begin to open up a more social experience, I would expect that we would use AI to help filter posts and input so that we can keep the hate speech out. This is about music discovery, it’s about having a place where everybody can feel comfortable to be themselves. But it’s not a place to promote hate or a narrow-minded view of the world. You can set up AI agents to help you with that. Or you can do that with a whole bunch of human beings, filtering off or blocking those things.”
On his leadership approach: “Certainly, I know how to get things done. And I know how to focus and prioritize folks. Anybody that’s come from any kind of management or leadership position can do that.
I think the big difference is a lot of folks think of the military as very regimented. But I drove submarines. And then I worked in communications and networks. And those are smart folks. And yes, we are disciplined, you get the mission done. But I fully expected my sailors to push back if I said something stupid. Or I directed something stupid, that’s expected. In fact, it’s encouraged.
“We used to have a saying on my last boat: don’t be a passenger on your own ship. You own this. You own the mission, just like everybody else does.”
We used to have a saying on my last boat: don’t be a passenger on your own ship. You own this. You own the mission, just like everybody else does. If you see something that’s going south or wrong, or whatever, speak up. That is probably the biggest shock I think, from the guys I’m working with. Because I think they expected me to be very directive. And instead I’m more like, no, ‘what do you think is the right answer?’ Because that’s how I dealt with my sailors.”
On his impressions of Seattleites: “Everybody was super nice. It’s like everyone is backpacking through life up there. And that’s cool, right? I don’t have a problem with that.”
On the power of being surrounded by music lovers every day: “At KEXP, I was happily surprised just how dedicated everybody is to the mission of music discovery. It’s not just a thing. It’s not just a bumper sticker. It’s easy to fall into the group-think of that because everyone is interested in new music. It’s just amazing.”
On discovering new music: “We had a band in the studio, the leader was from Yemen. He lives in Tel Aviv now. But he’s from Yemen. And they played traditional Yemeni songs using traditional instruments that they made out of junk. And it was mind-blowing how good they were. And it was something I’d never heard before. I didn’t think I would be so into it.”
On what he’s listening to right now: “I have an eclectic sense of taste in music. I like everything from country western to punk. I don’t know why we started to do this, but my wife and I have been listening to The Police. What’s even cooler is that I picked up the electric bass. And so I’ve been playing it for a couple of years. I’m good enough to play in a neighborhood dad band, but I’m not good enough to be a studio musician. Sting played the bass, and I’ve been learning his parts in a lot of his songs. I’m trying to get my kids to play King of Pain with me, when they get back home from Christmas. I kind of have an instrumentation because my youngest son plays mandolin, and my daughter at NYU plays the piano. And I think we can do King of Pain with the mandolin, bass and piano and it’ll be kind of something wicked cool, I’m almost certain they’re going to push back.
That’s lately what I’ve been into. But you know, check with me in a couple of weeks, and there’ll be something different.”
Mike Judge was actually worried about Crocs becoming more widespread by the time the movie came out. He continued in the interview, «[The wardrobe person] said, ‘Oh no, that’s never going to happen.’ And sure enough, by the time it comes out two years later, everyone is wearing Crocs. So it already started coming true even faster than we made the movie, really.»
While Crocs were often met with derision when they first caught on, there’s been a changing of the tide as of late. Crocs have blown up in popularity in the last few years. Many people appear to have realized they’re good to wear when standing for long periods of time. It’s also possible the COVID-19 lockdowns influenced more Croc purchases, as people opted for comfortable clothing rather than something sleeker. It doesn’t make sense to walk around the house in high heels and dress shoes when you have nowhere else to go, after all.
For many people watching «Idiocracy» today, the use of Crocs is just another example of the world going to hell in a handbasket. As noted by @StephenVanasco on X, formerly known as Twitter, «Realizing that characters of the movie Idiocracy (2006) are all wearing crocs confirms that who ever wrote the screenplay is a prophet.» Actually, the wardrobe person is to thank for that detail, and perhaps Crocs will get even more screentime if that bizarre end credits scene results in an «Idiocracy» sequel.
Another less-than-shocking inclusion in Barack Obama’s list of 2023’s top films is Christopher Nolan’s «Oppenheimer,» the story of the titular theoretical physicist and his development of the first atomic bombs. Considering the importance of this event in American history, such a politically charged movie definitely makes sense for Obama’s list.
Next up is the Jeffrey Wright-starring literary satire, «American Fiction,» another film that definitely feels at home in Obama’s wheelhouse. The rest of the picks, however, are somewhat surprising. The French courtroom drama «Anatomy of a Fall» compels its viewers to decide the truth behind a death for themselves, while «Monster» is a Japanese film exploring a mother’s concern over the erratic changes her child is undergoing.
Rounding out the list are three more entries. The intimate drama «Past Lives» explores the changing relationship between a man and a woman over 24 years, while «Polite Society» follows an East Indian martial artist determined to save her sister from an arranged marriage. Finally, the family drama «A Thousand and One» focuses on a mom trying to raise her child after a prison stint.
The list came with a statement from Obama commending both the hard work of writers and artists over the course of 2023, as well as their victories following the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes. While there has been no shortage of films and television to watch this year, cinema enthusiasts will no doubt be happily adding many of these films to their own lists.
Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell sharing the One Seattle Data Strategy at an open data hackathon on Dec. 14, 2023. (City of Seattle Photo)
The City of Seattle has a trove of internal data collected by more than two dozen departments. But if that information is inaccessible, of poor quality, or people don’t know how to analyze it, it can’t do much good.
To address this issue, Mayor Bruce Harrell recently issued the One Seattle Data Strategy, a comprehensive plan to optimize the city’s use of data to inform decision making, improve collaboration, protect privacy, foster public access, and standardize best practices across departments.
To highlight the importance of open data, the city last week hosted a public hackathon in which participants used currently available open data to build a dashboard or visualization to illustrate city programs or services.
The event was held at Tableau Software’s headquarters in Seattle and hosted by its parent company Salesforce. Ten teams and 58 people participated in the hackathon.
The winning project came from Team Bun Bun and featured a data visualization that layered multifamily building permit data onto the city’s Race and Social Equity Index Map. The map identifies census tracts with the highest priority for equity efforts, and the visualization revealed that, in fact, the highest priority areas received the largest number of housing building permits from late 2020 to this month.
Team Bun Bun, winner of the City of Seattle’s City’s first open data hackathon. (City of Seattle Photo)
Team Bun Bun formed at the event and included University of Washington students, Seattle Public Libraries staff, and other community members.
Team Bun Bun’s Wanwei Huang is pursuing a master’s degree in data science from the UW and had been working with city data for a course project. The hackathon was a chance to dig deeper.
“It is meaningful to collect data and to provide residents with a way to explore and improve the city on their own,” Huang said. Residents know best what kinds of changes are needed in their communities, she added, and access to data can bolster their requests to city leadership.
Teammate Aaron Ferguson, who holds a master’s degree in epidemiology from the UW, echoed that idea.
“I am a big believer in the power of accessible knowledge and research to help make decisions about critical topics, such as housing and racial and social equity,” Ferguson said.
Coming in second at the hackathon was Team PSRC Data, which used data on the median number of days it took to receive a permit for building housing and merged it with the city’s Racial and Social Equity Priority Areas. The team’s app included separate data visualizations for single family and multi-family developments by unit size.
Team PSRC Data was comprised mostly of staff from the Puget Sound Regional Council.
Data visualization of wait times for building permits for multifamily housing with 10-20 units. The app won second place at Seattle’s recent open data hackathon. Click to enlarge.
Event judges were Jim Loter, interim City of Seattle chief technology officer; Janis Jordan, City of Seattle innovation and performance evaluation advisor; and Matt Coles, Tableau senior product manager.
Harrell has issued an executive order instructing all city departments to enact the One Seattle Data Strategy, saying that doing so “will increase the City’s capacity to communicate data in a way that is accessible, relevant and usable for the public by strategically re-imagining Seattle’s open data resources.”
The strategy will roll out over three years and represents the city’s first comprehensive effort to address open data issues. The guidance is a product of Seattle’s participation in the Bloomberg Philanthropies City Data Alliance. The philanthropy selected the city for the initiative, which assisted multiple municipalities in improving their use of data.
The One Seattle Data Strategy includes numerous examples of how the city is using data to drive programs and policies and serve the public. They include:
Creation of the interactive Winter Weather Response Map, which provides near real-time information from the Seattle Department of Transportation regarding road treatments during icy, snowy conditions.
A pilot project for digitally recording, tracking and communicating curbside use and policies, which addresses demands for parking and loading zones for deliveries and for-hire vehicles.
Mapping tools for managing Seattle’s urban forests, including maintenance needs and data on tree species and impacts from pests, disease and climate change.
An analysis across departments by the Unified Care Team looking at public safety, hygiene, trash removal, open parks and accessible rights of way as they relate to homelessness.
