How does an automotive startup from Silicon Valley continue winter weather development when summer hits? It goes to the Southern Hemisphere, to a beautifully remote mountainous region of New Zealand. Vehicle development for SF Motors is a year-round endeavor as they near the 2019 release of their first intelligent electric vehicle, the sporty SF5 crossover. They’ve given us an exclusive first look into the SF5’s extreme cold weather development at the rarely seen Southern Hemisphere Proving Grounds (SHPG) in Wanaka, New Zealand.
Gearheads, this is a bucket list location.
During the months of July and August, multiple SF Motors powertrain development vehicles and engineering teams met at SHPG to validate the durability of key components in below-freezing temperatures, and dial-in traction control settings.
Validation efforts included extensive testing of production-intent powertrain components at below-freezing temperatures, low-grip (slippery) traction control and ABS system operation, and general vehicle winter handling. This valuable performance data is all part of a program that ensures the next generation of safe, intelligent electric vehicles.
With an office like that, who wouldn’t want to be an automotive controls engineer?
SF Motors is creating intelligent electric vehicles with the latest technology from Silicon Valley, combined with manufacturing facilities in the U.S. and China. SF Motors fuses intelligent technology with human-centered design to provide greater safety, comfort and convenience for drivers and passengers. The company is committed to accelerating, empowering and uniting the EV industry by sharing its electric and intelligent technologies with local and global partners. SF Motors is headquartered in California with domestic and international operations. For more information: http://www.sfmotors.com/
The Category 4 storm — which is expected to make landfall somewhere in the Southeastern U.S. on early Friday morning as a major hurricane — has broken with a 170-year long history of Atlantic hurricanes to now target the United States.
Since 1851, there have been 33 named-storms that churned within 100 miles of Florence’s position in the middle of the Atlantic. None of them, according to a tweet from hurricane scientist Phil Klotzbach, ever made landfall in the U.S.
But some unusual weather is steering Florence westward, straight into the U.S.
“All its friends of years gone by have all been going to the north, while this one is going to the west,” Brian McNoldy, a senior research associate at the University of Miami’s Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science, said in an interview.
33 named storms (since 1851) have been within 100 miles of #Florence‘s current position. None of these storms made US landfall. The closest approach was #Hurricane George (1950) – the highlighted track. However, Florence does not appear to be taking a climatological track. pic.twitter.com/4x02pasgPg
Specifically, a potent mass of high pressure over the Atlantic has blocked Florence from traveling north, away from the U.S.
“Usually storms that are located there are already recurving toward the north,” said McNoldy. “This an anomalous storm.”
Coming back to life
Last Thursday, Florence had lost its status as a hurricane, weakening to a tropical storm, which has sustained maximum winds speeds of less than 74 mph.
“It weakened significantly,” said McNoldy.
The storm passed through an area of powerful wind shear — winds that hit storms at their sides, and weaken a hurricane’s strength. But as meteorologists predicted, Florence made it through this temporary threat.
“As soon as it got out of that [shear] it began to regain strength,” said McNoldy. “There’s nothing to inhibit it now.”
What’s more, hurricanes feed off of warmer ocean waters, and Florence has now entered an area of the Atlantic with waters that are typically warm enough to support a hurricane. But right now, these already-warm waters are even warmer than usual, noted McNoldy.
The ocean temperatures Florence will pass through will peak near 85 degrees Fahrenheit, the National Hurricane Center (NHC) said.
“That certainly doesn’t help the situation,” McNoldy said.
The end result is that the NHC forecasts a powerful, destructive storm hitting the Southeastern U.S. early Friday with intense wind speeds of 145 mph, which are then expected to fall to around 85 mph after moving inland.
But from there, the situation will likely grow worse.
There are no influential weather systems, like the high-pressure system that steered Florence toward the U.S. in the first place, to keep it moving along. This portends heavy rainfall and flooding as the storm stalls over the area.
“That’s actually what happened last year for Hurricane Harvey,” said McNoldy, noting that Harvey stagnated over Houston and dropped historic rainfall on southeastern Texas, becoming the second-most costly hurricane in U.S. history.
As for Florence in the Southeastern U.S., “It could remain in place for the entire weekend,” said McNoldy.
Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN first reported the two sides were finalizing an agreement. Wojnarowski later reported head coach Tom Thibodeau “has made no promises to Deng on playing time and role, but has offered the chance to earn minutes.”
At the time, his four-year, $72 million deal with Los Angeles was puzzling. The Lakers were in their first year of a post-Kobe Bryant rebuild, so making that kind of investment in Deng didn’t make a lot of sense.
Deng averaged 7.6 points and 5.3 rebounds as the Lakers won 26 games in 2016-17. Then he played just 13 total minutes over the entirety of the 2017-18 campaign.
Los Angeles bought Deng out of the remainder of his contract on Sept. 1 in order to give both sides a clean break. The Lakers benefited because they now have $38 million available for free agency in 2019, per ESPN.com’s Adrian Wojnarowski and Ramona Shelburne. Deng, meanwhile, received the opportunity to join a team where he could be a more regular rotation player.
Because he played so little a season ago, it’s tough to gauge how valuable Deng can be for the Timberwolves.
Looking back at 2016-17, he connected on a career-low 38.7 percent of his field goals, and his 108.4 defensive rating was a career worst as well—excluding 2017-18—according to NBA.com.
Part of his struggles could simply be down to playing for a bad team with no playoff aspirations.
According to ESPN.com, Deng was 159th in real plus-minus (minus-0.33) two years ago. That number wasn’t great, but it wasn’t bad enough to lump him in with the league’s worst players, either. He also held opponents to 32.2 percent shooting on three-pointers and 35.5 percent on attempts from greater than 15 feet, per NBA.com.
Deng turned 33 in April, so Minnesota isn’t expecting to get the player who made back-to-back All-Star Games in 2012 and 2013. If he can be slightly better than his 2016-17 self—not an unreasonable expectation—then this move will be worth it for the Timberwolves.
One could even try to put a positive spin on him basically missing all of 2017-18. Through his first 15 seasons, Deng logged 30,536 minutes on the court, which was seventh-most during that span, per Basketball Reference. Physically, he should feel better heading into 2018-19 than he has in a long time.
Having said all of that, the Timberwolves were a landing spot that would catch the most flak for signing Deng, and the criticism isn’t necessarily misplaced.
Thibodeau continues to lean on aging veterans who were key players during his tenure with the Chicago Bulls.
Signing Taj Gibson has worked out pretty well, but then Thibodeau reunited with Derrick Rose when the team already had a capable backup point guard in Tyus Jones. Now, Deng’s arrival is likely to push second-round pick Keita Bates-Diop further down the pecking order before he’s had the chance to prove himself.
When Thibodeau joined the franchise in April 2016, the Timberwolves were a team on the rise, with Karl-Anthony Towns and Andrew Wiggins leading the way. The air has steadily come out of the balloon since then, even after Minnesota’s trip to the playoffs last season.
Beyond the team’s questionable roster moves—Jimmy Butler trade aside—there are other problems looming on the horizon. Wiggins hasn’t shown much improvement, and Butler’s agent didn’t exactly deny a report by the Chicago Sun-Times‘ Joe Cowley of Butler’s frustration regarding the “nonchalant attitudes of younger teammates—specifically Karl-Anthony Towns.”
Deng may wind up becoming a valuable addition for the Timberwolves. For now, this signing will do little to ease the anxiety fans are feeling heading into 2018-19.
Hackers can likely quickly and easily steal your Tesla Model S, but this high-tech heist comes with a catch: There’s a simple way to prevent it.
Researchers claim to have found a method to essentially clone the wireless key fobs Tesla owners use to unlock and start their cars — thus allowing them to drive away with your ride — with only around $600 worth of equipment. Oh yeah, and the encryption built into the keys as a protection against this very attack barely even offers a speed bump.
So reports Wired, which notes that the researchers in question are from the KU Leuven university in Belgium. They are set to present an explanation of the attack at the Cryptographic Hardware and Embedded Systems conference in Amsterdam, but you don’t have to wait until then to see it.
A video uploaded to YouTube shows the hack in action, and it calls to mind the relay attack that has thieves amplifying a legitimate signal from a key fob to unlock and start a victim’s car.
The Tesla hack in question is a little more complicated than that, however, and involved researchers essentially reverse engineering the Tesla Model S keyless entry system.
“Today it’s very easy for us to clone these key fobs in a matter of seconds,” researcher Lennert Wouters told Wired. “We can completely impersonate the key fob and open and drive the vehicle.”
Notably, Tesla claims that cars sold after June of 2018 aren’t susceptible to being stolen by this technique, but that still leaves a lot of vulnerable vehicles that are.
Thankfully, however, there’s an easy way to secure your fancy ride: Turn on your PIN. According to TechGuide, Tesla just pushed a software update for the Model S that allows owners to set a 4-digit passcode that must be entered before the car can be driven. With that PIN protection enabled, your car would theoretically be protected from the hack shown above.
While having to enter a code every time you drive your fancy ride may be a pain, it’s a lot less annoying than having to file a police report for a stole vehicle. So go ahead a turn it on, and sleep a little easier knowing your cutting-edge ride is protected by a technology more associated with your corner-store ATM than the future.
Online dating doesn’t have to be completely terrible and these sites prove it.
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Whether you’re straight, gay, bi, or otherwise, dating as a guy can be rough. Sometimes you want to make the first move, but you don’t want to appear over eager. After all, if it’s a lady you’re pursuing, chances are she’s received more than a few unsolicited messages already. But if you play it too cool, you risk getting beelined into the friend zone or getting ignored all together. The proposition can be frustrating and intimidating, especially if you don’t know what’s out there or where to start. How does anyone even meet new people nowadays?
There is a solution for most of your love woes: Online dating. It can be a great way to avoid the meat market hell hole at the corner bar or nightclub. But with all of the options out there, finding love is getting more difficult every day. Throw in busy lives and daily responsibilities, and the thought of combing through countless profiles sounds like the last thing you want to do.
After going through many, many dating sites and apps, we narrowed down the best options for single men looking for a casual fling or even a committed and long-term relationship.
We looked at a number of factors that make a dating app worth using, including visibility, popularity with singles, ease of use, lifestyle, and success rate with matches to find the ones that matter to single men the most. Whether you’re looking for a casual fling, a committed relationship, or just a “side piece,” we have a dating site for you and the matches you want.
Here are the 11 best dating sites and apps for single men looking for love:
Quality matches over quantity • Spend more time in reality instead of an app • No swiping
Limited number of potential matches • User base isn’t as large • You might see the same profiles again and again
If you’re looking for a serious relationship, Coffee Meets Bagel is a good alternative if you’ve exhausted Tinder. The dating app helps you meet people and spend your time together in the real world and not the digital one.
is an alternative to dating apps like Tinder. CMB wants you to “spend your time on quality matches instead of swiping endlessly.” The dating platform is not a numbers game either: it’s about quality over quantity. Because the point of dating is finding someone who clicks with you in a healthy relationship.
How it works:
Coffee Meets Bagel sends you up to six potential matches called “bagels” every day at noon. The matches are selected based on the platform’s algorithm that takes into account age, height, religion, ethnicity, and your interests.
will set up both profiles in a private chat and will ask an “icebreaker” question that should initiate conversation. This way, there’s little to no pressure on men to make the first move, which is always nerve-wracking to get it right the first time. Now matches can get off the app as soon as possible for a date in real life.
What’s unique:
There’s no swiping and matches are limited to up to six a day, so you won’t waste a ton of time on CMB like with other apps. Matches are also limited to people who are in your network of friends and family, based on your Facebook profile. This ensures that you don’t match with randoms, and can give you peace of mind since you know that your matches are real.
Since there are no fake profiles, men can be assured that the person they’re chatting with isn’t going to make them click a shady link to a seedy adult website.
Ease of use • Intuitive design • Really easy set-up process
You need a Facebook account to get started • Too many dead profiles • You have to pay for a subscription to do anything like send and read messages on the site
Although Zoosk claims to have millions of users, not many of them are active. The dating site is really easy and convenient to use, but you might be hard pressed to actually match with someone special.
is the dating site of choice because of its ease of use and fast sign up. The dating site touts an enormous amount of users, with more than 35 million members in 80 countries from around the world. It’s supported in 18 different languages, so no matter where you are, you’ll be sure to find a match.
Zoosk is also great for single men because there are more single women using the site. While most dating sites have a pretty even split between the sexes, over 52% of users on Zoosk are women.
will pick up on it and try to give you more matches that fit your characteristics in your area. It’s part of their “pick-up-and-go” and “flirty” philosophy when it comes to online dating.
However, the dating site is full of dead and inactive accounts that might make it difficult to find someone real.
is really easy to use. You don’t need to spend much time filling out long questionnaires to build your profile. You just sign up with your existing Facebook account and the dating site populates your likes, personality, and photos so all you have to do is match with potential lovers. There’s no real learning curve to start using Zoosk.
Match users are serious about finding a real relationship • No fake or spam accounts • It’s the first online dating site
The verification waiting period is annoying • Long questionnaire is tedious • It’s expensive when there are cheaper alternatives out there
If you’re serious about finding a long-term relationship and you have the disposable income, then Match is the gold standard for online dating and meeting new people. There are no gimmicks, just quality matches.
If you’re a single man and you’re continuously striking out on Tinder, then maybe you should consider leveling up to the gold standard in online dating.
has been one of the leading names in online dating, with millions upon millions of users in 25 countries speaking more than eight languages. It’s designed for older men and women who are looking for serious relationships instead of something casual or random hookups. The dating site is also responsible for thousands of lifelong matches and marriages over the last 20 years or so. Moreover, Match is considered the blueprint for all other dating sites that came after it.
How it works:
Since Match was one of the first in the online dating market, it works pretty similarly to most others that came after it, like eharmony and OkCupid. You complete a pretty extensive questionnaire about your personality and what you’re looking for in an ideal match.
has a 24-hour waiting period for verification before you can start using the service. This is so the dating site isn’t bombarded with fake profiles. But once you’re in you can message, favorite, wink, and talk with other users until you match and start going on dates in the real world.
What’s unique:
Most men on Match know what kind of relationship they want, so users are generally more serious about something long-term than users on Tinder or AdultFriendFinder.
Since it’s a premium site, there are no fake profiles that might discourage you from this whole online dating business. Match has to approve all new users before using the dating site. After verification, you can use it for free during a seven-day trial period. After that, you can decide to continue for a monthly or yearly fee.
Users are serious about finding a relationship • No fake accounts • More focused experience in online dating
It’s expensive • No search features • Filling out a profile could take as long as an hour-and-a-half
It has a great success rate with matches becoming long-term couples, along with thousands of marriages. If you’re serious about finding someone to love, this is a very good, albeit expensive, way to meet someone special.
is the direct rival of Match. Although they have similar features, eharmony is a more focused experience. In addition, the dating site is considered one of the best sites for men who are looking to get married. So if you’re a man who wants to commit to a great partner, then you should consider eharmony to find your special someone.
sign-up process is more in depth and time consuming to get through than the questionnaire on Match. The questions asked during sign-up are designed to weed out “players” and “serial daters” because eharmony is interested in matching men with compatible partners for long-term relationships.
So if you get frustrated during the sign-up process, just remember that you’re looking for a life partner and not just a random fling. But once it’s complete, the dating site has a better idea of who you are and who is your ideal match.
are a bit older than the ones you’d find on Tinder because it’s a premium site. In other words, if you’re paying to use a dating site, then you’re super serious about meeting your soulmate. That said, eharmony isn’t the best option for gay men. Instead we’d suggest you try
.” Its sole purpose is to find you the best possible matches that are more suitable to you, as it tries to “match couples based on features of compatibility found in thousands of successful relationships.”
It’s mostly free • You can find any type of relationship on the site • It has a great and intuitive design • LGBTQ friendly
There are fake accounts all over the site • You have to pay for useful features • It’s additive
There’s a reason why OkCupid is one of the leading companies in online dating. It just works! No matter what you’re looking for in a relationship or partner, there’s someone for you here.
is one of the top companies in online dating. In fact, if you’re a single man, chances are you’re on the dating site right now. One of the reasons why it’s so popular with young and single men is because it’s mostly free with millions of active users on the site daily and it’s extremely friendly for the LGBTQ community.
If you’re a young man looking for something casual or serious, chances are you’re going to find what you’re looking for on OkCupid.
How it works:
Sign up is pretty simple. It’s not as long and tedious as other sites, but after you fill out your personal information, you are then given a series of yes/no questions about your dating life and what you’re looking for in a match.
Afterwards, you can now “like” other users and if they “like” you back, you’re open to message them to get to know them or just set a date in the real world. If you live in heavily populated areas, then you’ll have a good pool of singles looking for you.
keeps marching on as a young and hip version of online dating, as it keeps reinventing itself for a new generation of single men. Users also have the option to make their answers for the site’s questionnaire public, so others can read more about you and your tastes.
While there is a premium service available that allows you to see who likes you or boost your visibility on the site, OkCupid’s free and basic version is more than enough to find good quality matches.
is a dating site for men who are looking to get laid. Also known as the “world’s largest sex and swinger community,” the site doesn’t hide that fact with euphemisms, so all of its users are very open to sex as the main reason why they are there in the first place.
With more than 25 million men and women who use the site monthly, AdultFriendFinder is the premiere hookup site on the internet. In addition, the dating site has also received numerous awards from the porn industry. If it’s some quick action you’re looking for, or if you’re just looking to connect online with people in the same mindset as you so you can get off, AdultFriendFinder is the place to be.
How it works:
After filling out a questionnaire — which is surprisingly in-depth and includes info about gender, sexual orientations, relationship status, and who you’re looking to meet — men are then taken to the main page where they can search for like-minded people who are also looking for sexual relationships, casual sex, or just straight up hookups.
AdultFriendFinder also has message boards, private chats, and even videos for premium users. Make no mistake about it, AdultFriendFinder is about finding sex in the real world, so it’s strictly NSFW.
What’s unique:
It’s one of the first dating sites that’s explicitly about getting laid.
has a very broad user base from every walk of life, so no matter what your kinks might be, there’s a very good chance you’ll find someone on the dating site who shares the same taste.
However, the site also has its fair share of fake users, which might make it very difficult to find someone to fool around with. But if you can weed through the fakes, you’ll be golden and very satisfied. If you’re strictly looking to get laid or experience no-strings-attached sex, then AdultFriendFinder is a must.
You can match with people who you see regularly • It’s great when you’re at a concert or event • It solves the problem of missed connections in real life
You might see the same matches again and again • It might enable stalkers • Not many users
Happn is a good way to actually meet the people you see on your daily commute, especially if you’re shy about making the first move. It straddles the line between romantic and creepy.
You know the missed connections section on Craigslist? Say you had a shared moment sitting next to a woman at a movie theater. She asks you about the film’s ending on the way out, but you were too shy to ask her name or her number. You just went on and on about film theory instead of asking her out. You’re now spending the day wishing you would’ve been more confident when talking with her.
is a dating app that helps you discover the people who you cross paths with in real life. We see the same people every day on the way to work or school, so Happn gives you the chance to match with them — if you find them attractive and they have the same app, that is.
How it works:
You know that cute girl who always gets the same order at the coffee shop every day, or that handsome guy who always shares the elevator with you?
allows users to connect with them, if you’re too shy to say hello in real life. But don’t worry, they won’t know that you liked them unless they like you back.
It’s easier to just “like” someone on an app, instead of approaching them and getting shot down immediately. So Happn is there to be your wing-man (or should we say wing-app) to meet the people you find attractive and interesting in the real world.
uses your daily routine and location to help you meet someone nearby. Instead of matching with random people, you can match with someone you see on a regular basis who might have the same interests and schedule.
Matches are high quality • Design is very engaging • Sign up is easy and takes just a few minutes
Reminders can be annoying • Not as many users as other heavy hitters
After a re-branding in 2017, Hinge has yet to grow as big as similar platforms like Tinder. However, with an easy-to-use app and high quality matches, the “relationship app” has separated itself from the pack. So if you’re looking for a relationship guys, this app is for you.
massively overhauled their platform and mechanics to differentiate themselves from other dating sites like OkCupid and Tinder. Hinge is more about engaging men to interact with women instead of endlessly swiping for someone who might be better.
is built for more interaction and engagement. There’s no series of photos, names, and ages to swipe, or traditional bios to read through. Instead it’s designed to give a little piece of information about a potential match as you go through a profile.
What’s unique:
Hinge is more about quality over quantity when it comes to matching with singles. You’re only presented with matches who are friends of friends on your Facebook page, so you don’t have to worry about fakes or randoms.
also encourages you to scroll through entire profiles before you make a decision to “like” or “dislike.” There are reminders to keep the conversation going instead of ghosting people. Hinge is also less intimidating for men to make the first move with potential matches because of the reminders for both sides of a match to keep the conversation going.
launched as a dating and social networking app for “queer, discreet, anonymous, twink, geek, daddy, leather, military, rugged, bear, otter, guy next door, college, muscle, bisexual, or trans” people everywhere.
It’s the most popular gay-friendly mobile app in the iTunes App Store, while it’s also available in 192 countries with about two million active users. If you’re a single gay man, then chances are you’re already on Grindr.
How it works:
There’s no swiping or filtration system, but rather just a large selection of profiles with demographic info and how close each person is to you — geographically speaking, that is.
There’s also no approval process with “likes” and matching, so you’re free to message anyone who is in your area, making it very different from dating apps that use swipes and likes for users to message each other.
is exclusively for “gay, bi, trans, and queer people,” setting it apart from the heteronormative dating apps like Tinder that have “gay-friendly” features in a sea of straight people looking for love.
It’s also designed as a hookup app, but that doesn’t mean there’s no room for romance, while
Free to use • You can connect your Instagram and Spotify accounts • Almost every single person uses it
Fake profiles • Easy to ghost someone • No “go back” feature
If you’re single, then you’re already using Tinder. It’s a good app to find other singles who are also looking to have a good time. While it’s easy to use, finding a serious relationship is not easy to find. Most people use Tinder for hookups, flings, and short-term dating.
is responsible for reinventing the platform for mobile devices. Tinder introduced and popularized the concept of “swiping” to like or dislike a profile to find a match back in 2012. In fact, if you’re a single man, then it’s very likely that you have Tinder on your smartphone right now.
It has a bad reputation as a “hookup” app, but over the years men have found long-lasting love and companionship here as well. It’s all about being up front and expressing what you’re looking for.
How it works:
Sign up with your Facebook account and then filter who you’re looking for in a match, such as sex and location. Once you set your preferences, you’re given a stack of profiles in your area with a series of photos, names, occupations, and ages.
You then swipe left for “pass” and swipe right to “like” the profiles. You have the option to “Super Like” someone who catches your eye — this lets them know you’re interested.
Once you match with someone, you’re free to chat with them and ask them out on a date in the real world.
is the first dating app that uses the practice of swiping through profiles to find an ideal match. It’s also one of the most popular dating apps with singles, so its user base is larger than most dating apps with comparable mechanics.
The dating app is also ideal for men looking for casual relationships because most singles who use Tinder are looking for something fun instead of something serious.
Privacy and verification are top notch • Very comprehensive profiles • Serious relationships welcome
Long and tedious questionnaire • No search • The site is very limited without premium account
Elite Singles skews older than most dating sites with most of its users ranging from about 32-50 years old in age. The dating site is considered one of the best for working professionals with busy careers, but who also want deep and long-lasting relationships.
is a great options. This dating site is aimed directly at successful professionals looking for other successful singles who are not often found on traditional dating sites like
Filling out the Elite Singles questionnaire is a long and lengthy undertaking. It roughly takes about 45 minutes to an hour to complete, so the dating site is for men who are serious about finding a partner. This means the men and women who are on Elite Singles are generally in their mid-30s to late-50s.
Sorry millennials, this dating site is aimed at older singles who are looking for other working professionals.
What’s unique:
While there is no search option, Elite Singles offers user features that filter matches based on their preferences, such as height, religion, distance, and so on.
The dating site also offers users three to seven matches a day, along with a useful “Have you Met” feature that shows you potential matches who fall slightly outside of your preferences, so you don’t miss out on others you might not have considered.
is so confident with their intelligent matching system that they do all the hard work for you. After all, your career is busy enough as it is, so you probably don’t have time to endlessly swipe through profiles. Leave it up to Elite Singles and let them do the heavy lifting for you.
Tiger Woods won’t win his first golf tournament in five years Monday.
He will, however, continue to build momentum ahead of the season-ending Tour Championship.
The former world No. 1 carded a five-under 65 in the final round of the 2018 BMW Championship at Aronimink Golf Club, going into the clubhouse at 17 under for the tournament in a tie for fifth place. He is three strokes behind leader Keegan Bradley, who is still on the course.
With the course conditions soft, Woods said following Saturday’s round that he’d have to shoot a 61 or 62 to have a chance to contend. The final round was Monday because of rain.
“I’m going to have to shoot one of those 61s or 62s just to have a chance,” Woods told reporters. “The golf course is soft. Everyone is making birdies. You can be aggressive. I got to take a run at it.”
Woods did just that, taking advantage of the wide fairways and going at holes to put himself in a position for birdies. The aggression paid off, with Woods finishing his round with seven under-par scores. Five of his seven birdies were within 12 feet of the hole.
When Tiger looks back on his final round, he’ll likely be frustrated about the two moments in which his aggression backfired. He found a fairway bunker off the tee at No. 10 and struggled to get up and down around the green to save par. That bogey undid a near-flawless front nine that saw Tiger make the turn with a four-under 31.
Another bogey came four holes later at the par-three 14th, when he found bunker again off the tee and barely missed a 19-footer for the par save.
Putting wasn’t the same source of misery it had been in recent tournaments, but Tiger missed a pair of golden opportunities on the front nine. He sent a nine-foot birdie sailing past the hole on No. 2 and a six-foot downhill birdie on No. 7 past the cup.
As a round of golf, though, Tiger played well, got himself on the fringes of contention and ensured his qualification for the Tour Championship, which starts Sept. 19 at East Lake Golf Club.
If Tiger can finally figure out his putter, there’s a real chance he leaves next weekend with not only his first win since 2013 but also a check for $10 million as the FedEx Cup champion.
First Man is a big film about the small things that went into an enormous event.
It’s no spoiler that the climax here is Neil Armstrong’s 1969 walk on the moon. For the first 90 minutes, though, First Man holds back on the inherent drama of that premise.
It follows Neil (Ryan Gosling) as he makes his way through the NASA ranks, and at home as he mourns the death of his young daughter. It spends time on a bunch of promising missions that go nowhere, and on complex questions the engineers will have to solve. There’s some action sprinkled in there, and a few precious moments of euphoria. Mostly, it’s sweating the small stuff.
That choice is puzzling at first, even frustrating: We know the guy gets to the moon, so let’s get on with it already! Why are we wasting time with all this minutiae?
But those tedious concerns and disappointing dead ends are exactly the point. First Man is about work, and more specifically about the enormous amount of work (and luck) that goes into an achievement as momentous as the moon landing. It demands patience, but it gave back what I put into it several times over.
A rocket takes off in First Man.
Image: Warner Bros.
Director Damien Chazelle keeps his eye on the unromantic details that usually get glossed over in retellings of historical events. Literally: Much of this movie is composed of shots of dials, switches, and the top half of Gosling’s face. The vast expanse of outer space is usually shown from the ground, or from the dinky scratched-up windows of a rocket.
Likewise, the emotions in this movie tend to be muted. Neil weeps for his daughter Karen early on, then rarely brings her up again after that. Her death is simply the cloud hanging over everything that he or his wife Janet (an underused Claire Foy) does. He’s so reserved, even repressed, that even after two hours he feels like an enigma.
First Man doesn’t just show us what it looks like to go to the moon. It considers how it must have felt to go to the moon.
All of which just means that when First Man does go big, it feels immense. I saw the film in IMAX, and for much of its runtime I wondered why they’d bothered – the jumbo screen wasn’t really adding anything to the shaky view from inside a cramped spaceship, or the extreme close-ups of rivets and screws.
Then when the IMAX sequence kicked in, and I knew right away that I’d be seeing this again when it opened, and on the biggest IMAX screen I could find.
First Man doesn’t just show us what it looks like to go to the moon. It considers how it must have felt to go to the moon, after years of fretting and fine-tuning and trying not to think too hard about the fact that anything and everything could go wrong at exactly the worst moment. I can’t speak to how Armstrong actually felt in that moment, and neither can Chazelle. But watching a simulation of that moment, I felt overwhelmed.
Here is the Apollo 11 mission presented not as solitary and singular success or the culmination of some dramatic destiny, but as the result of a hundred, a thousand, a million calculations and failures and disappointments and incremental revelations. And here is a movie that knows that all the waiting and working is what makes the payoff worth it.
What’s next for Marvel’s Spider-Man? The end credits have answers.
The Marvel Cinematic Universe knows how to keep fans on the hook, and it’s got everything to do with all of those dang post-credits scenes. Every fan is trained at this point: Whenever there’s a new movie, we wait and we watch the credit roll in anticipation of a tease for what’s next.
The same holds true in Marvel’s Spider-Man (that’s the official title of the PS4 game, btw). The game has its own story to tell, one that’s disconnected completely from the MCU. But the intro is Marvel’s now-familiar page flip movie logo. And sure enough, two entire scenes pop up during the end credits.
Let consider what they’re saying. Needless to say, spoilers ahead.
Spidey meets Spidey
This straightforward scene is filled with meaning if you have any background in Spider-Man comics.
At the end of the game, we see Miles Morales moving into his new digs, an apartment he shares with none other than Peter Parker himself. At this point in the game’s story, the two are friends but both are hiding secrets: Peter, that he’s Spider-Man; and Miles, that he’s picked up powers after being bitten by an escaped Oscorp spider.
In this moment, both men come to understand who the other really is. It’s powerful. It’s probably setup for a sequel where Miles dons the Spider-Man tights. If we’re very lucky, it might even be a co-op game where Peter and Miles are playable simultaneously.
Can you imagine?
But there’s some comic book history here, too. In Marvel’s books, Miles Morales was introduced in the “Ultimate” line of stories as a new Spider-Man. Just like the game’s Miles, comic book Miles got his powers from a spider bite.
He comes from a different background than Peter, and as a result he deals with a different set of internal struggles. His comic book father, Jefferson, is a reformed ex-convict and his uncle, Aaron, is a career criminal.
In a loose parallel of Peter’s arc, Uncle Aaron dies as an indirect result of Miles’s actions. But where Peter’s lesson from that moment was framed around his moment of inaction and how it rippled outwards — thus reinforcing his deep-seated need to be everywhere and solve all problems at once — Miles came to the realization that criminal behavior may just be in his DNA. Both men fight crime, but their reasons for doing so are different.
Of course, that’s not necessarily the case with video game Miles. In the game, his dad (still Jefferson) is a cop who dies heroically during a super-villain attack. We never see Miles complete his transformation into crimefighter, but it’s fair to speculate that he’ll be driven to follow in his father’s footsteps.
The Osborns
There’s a lot to unpack here.
So. We now know that Marvel’s Spider-Man is a sort of origin take on Doctor Octopus and the Sinister Six. The game introduces Norman Osborn, Harry Osborn, Oscorp. Norman is the mayor, and he’s kind of a dick. He’s also some manner of mad scientist.
Let’s look to the comics first (the original versions, since there are so many). Spider-Man really has two trademark arch-nemeses: Doc Ock is one, and Green Goblin is the other. Norman Osborn is the Green Goblin.
So is Harry, later on. He takes on Norman’s super-villain alter-ego after he learns that Peter is Spider-Man. See, the original Norman Osborn died (not really, but just go with it) when he, too, learned who Peter was and kidnapped Gwen Stacy, Peter’s SO at the time. Norman didn’t actually die, but he appeared to, and he disappeared for a long time.
Now, back to the game. If you spent any time exploring Norman’s apartment when MJ sneaked around in there, you saw evidence of powered armor and other equipment that could be used by a Green Goblin-esque villain. You also saw Norman’s secret lab space with all of its experiments.
The post-credits scene returns us to that lab space. Harry, who we learned earlier in the game is sick with an incurable, terminal illness, is back home with his dad and apparently living in some kind of liquid-filled tank. He’s unresponsive (seemingly), but alive.
There’s something funky about that tank, though. Look closely and you’ll see a tangled network of black strands arrayed all around Harry. Further, there’s some suggestion that those strands are conscious; in the final seconds of the scene, as Norman rests his head against the tank, a tendril of the stuff suddenly appears and adheres to the glass next to Norman’s head.
There’s nothing to confirm it at this point, but everything about those ropey, black strands screams one thing: Symbiote. If that one isn’t familiar to you, try this one on: Venom.
Yes, it sure looks like the second post-credits scene is teasing the emergence of Venom in an eventual sequel. The character of Venom is part-human, part-alien. The human side is the person inside the “suit.” The suit, meanwhile, is actually a symbiotic alien life form that wraps itself around its host.
It’s not clear how Harry came into contact with the Symbiote. He’s never worn the Venom mantle in the comics before, so this is uncharted territory for those who might be looking to the comics for answers. But given the creative liberties taken in the game with so many familiar characters, it’s a safe bet that this won’t be the Venom you know— if it even is Venom in the end.
Those tendrils are an unmistakable reference to the Symbiote, though. Could we be in for a Green Goblin/Venom team-up in Marvel’s Spider-Man 2? Anything is possible. But there’s plenty here to mull over while we wait for the inevitable sequel to surface.
The Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees were not happy with Josh Donaldson‘s trade to Cleveland in August.
According to Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic, both teams “voiced displeasure” with the deal. He added: “To the irritated clubs, Donaldson’s status amounted to a contradiction: He was sufficiently recovered from a left-calf injury to go on revocable trade waivers and get dealt, but not healthy enough to join [Cleveland] immediately, requiring another trip to the disabled list instead.”
The Houston Astros also reportedly inquired about the deal and why Major League Baseball allowed it and were “satisfied with the response,” per Rosenthal.
It all came down to the timing of the deal. Had Donaldson been dealt after Sept. 1, he wouldn’t have been eligible to play for Cleveland in the postseason. The slugger has been out of action since May 28, and his return grew complicated when the Blue Jays determined he was healthy enough to play, while the player and his agent maintained he wasn’t.
Donaldson ultimately agreed he was healthy enough to return and was put on waivers, appearing in a rehabilitation assignment on Aug. 29, per Rosenthal. But upon arriving in Cleveland, he was immediately put back on the disabled list, which smelled fishy to some executives:
“By rule, the Indians had to add Donaldson to their active roster immediately. Donaldson, however, went right back on the DL after an assessment by the team’s medical staff in Cleveland, and began another rehabilitation assignment just three days after the trade.
“‘I guess he got re-injured on the plane,’ one rival executive said, sarcastically.”
Per that report, however, “baseball allowed Donaldson to play in additional rehab games to help resolve his earlier dispute with the Jays and enable him to grow more comfortable with playing again, and made teams aware of the accommodation, sources said.”
Donaldson, 32, was reportedly traded to Cleveland for $2.7 million in cash and minor league pitcher Julian Merryweather. He’s appeared in just 32 games this season, hitting .234 with five home runs and 16 RBI. He’s one season removed from bashing 33 homers and 78 RBI for the Blue Jays, however, and came into the 2018 season with three straight seasons of 30 or more home runs.
He was also the 2015 AL MVP, and his addition could be a major upgrade for a Cleveland team seeking to end its World Series drought.
Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi has tried to ease tensions in the country’s oil-rich south with a visit to Basra, a province rocked by deadly protests over alleged corruption and government neglect.
Al-Abadi met on Monday with officials and tribal leaders in the provincial capital, Basra, where calm has returned after 12 protesters were killed and many city institutions were torched last week.
For five days, protesters had flooded the streets, clashing with security forces and torching the provincial headquarters, the Iranian consulate and the offices of armed groups.
Organisers have attempted to dissociate themselves from the violence and called for a halt in demonstrations.
Al-Abadi kept his statements in Basra to a minimum.
“Attacking a consulate or diplomatic post is unacceptable,” he said, in comments carried out by state broadcaster Al-Iraqiya.
Protesters on Friday stormed Iran’s fortified consulate, burning documents and equipment left behind by fleeing employees, none of whom were hurt, according to a consular spokesman.
Bahram Ghassemi, Iran’s foreign ministry spokesperson, denounced the incident as a “savage attack”, according to Iranian news agency Fars.
Iran is a key power broker in neighbouring Iraq and many of the militias and political parties whose offices were torched in last week’s unrest are known to be close to the Islamic Republic.
No security, no services
Basra has been at the epicentre of protests that broke out in July before spreading to other parts of the country, as demonstrators demanded jobs and rallied against high-level corruption.
Anger in Basra flared on Tuesday over a growing health crisis, after more than 30,000 people were hospitalised by pollution in the city’s water supply.
Rights groups have accused security forces of using excessive force over the death of 12 protesters.
Officials have blamed the deaths and violence on “vandals” who infiltrated the demonstrators.
“There can be no public services without security,” al-Abadi said on Monday during his visit, according to state TV.
But the prime minister has struggled to defuse the anger.
In July, authorities had already pledged a multibillion-dollar emergency plan to revive infrastructure and services in southern Iraq following the first wave of protests.
On Saturday, his government announced it would allocate an unspecified amount of extra funds for Basra.
But demonstrators were unimpressed, saying the billions of dollars pledged in July have failed to materialise.
Al Jazeera’s Rob Matheson, reporting from Iraq’s capital, Baghdad, said al-Abadi’s visit may not achieve much, adding that there were rumours on the streets of Basra of protests breaking out again.
“There is a heavy security presence in Basra and now there’s an armed group that has been parading through the city in white vans, one of those whose buildings were burned last week,” said Matheson in reference to the Hashd al-Shaabi.
“The combination of a heavy security presence and an armed group is likely to raise tension even further.”
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