Random News Stories

[Ryan Gallagher]

Or it could have just been the billionaire class finding a clever way to mess with a filmmaker that has a plot concept like that film. But unlikely, usually they would try to bury something they hate, not release it early to a bunch of interesting press coverage of the leak.

For related topics, the pre-press/pundit coverage surrounding "The Hunt" before having seen it was equally fascinating.

[Leo Enticknap]

Amazon delivery drone drops package into customer's pool

Amazon delivery drone drops ‘shocked’ customer’s package directly into swimming pool in viral video

By Ella Morrison

Published Aug. 20, 2026, 5:36 p.m. PT

A Texas woman watched in horror as an Amazon delivery drone dropped her package directly into her pool — one day after the retail giant announced plans to roll out the ultrafast air delivery services to 500 US cities by the end of the year.

Amazon shopper Lindsey Austen received an alert on Monday that her package was out for delivery by the retail giant’s Prime Air program, according to Storyful.

The Richmond, Texas, resident then heard the drone’s loud buzzing noise and raced outside to watch the newly rolled-out drone delivery service drop off her package.

Instead, Austen was left stunned as the drone opened its hatch and dropped the package straight into her swimming pool, which was caught on wild video footage.

“When it went into the pool, I was shocked,” Austen said. “I don’t think I’ll be wanting any more drone deliveries.”

The video of the drone delivery mega-fail went viral on social media Thursday — just one day after Amazon announced plans to expand its Prime Air program across 500 US cities by the end of the year.

Amazon said it’s set to expand the airborne shipping service sixfold nationwide into hundreds of new areas including the Chicago, Atlanta, Syracuse and Cleveland suburbs, where customers could receive their packages in as fast as 30 minutes.

Each drone site is set to serve multiple cities within a metro area and will primarily fly in the suburbs away from skyscrapers and major airports.

The ultrafast drone delivery service has already delivered hundreds of thousands of packages this year — but is limited to delivering one package at a time, up to five pounds in weight.

The service will be free for Amazon Prime members ordering more than $50 worth of goods or $2.99 for smaller orders and $4.99 for non-members.

While customers with backyard pools may want to stick to road delivery for the time being, Amazon spokesperson Allie Payne said delivery incidents like Austen’s are rare with the drone service, KHOU11 reported.

“Prime Air provides customers with fast, reliable delivery across a broad selection of products and the response from customers using Prime Air has been overwhelmingly positive,” Payne said.

“Incidents are extremely rare, and when a delivery doesn’t go as planned, we learn from it to improve the experience and take steps to prevent it from happening in the future,” the spokesperson added.

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WTF? The swimming pool is bad enough, but I had no idea that these drones delivered by dropping their payload from around 20 feet! This looks more like something that Guy Gibson would do than a delivery service. Still, my battery would likely have been OK, at any rate...

Jokes about bombing apart, someone being hit on the head by a 5lb object dropped from that height would likely sustain a serious injury.

[Leo Enticknap]

Here.

California DMV runs out of license plate combos for first time in 46 years, drops new plate format

By Christopher Edwards
Published Sep. 11, 2026, 12:33 p.m. PT

California is going backwards.

Home to nearly 40 million people, it was only a matter of time before the Golden State ran out of license plate numbers.

Since 1980, the Department of Motor Vehicles has relied on a seven-character sequence — one number, three letters, three numbers.

But that ended this year — with the production of the 9ZZZ999 plate, the agency stated.

Now, the state has switched over to a “mirrored” sequence for new plates — three numbers, three letters, and one number.

“Each configuration has over 100 million plate combinations. The new configuration is expected to last 40 years based on historical data,” a spokesperson for the DMV told the California Post.

In recent months, eagle-eyed Californians have been reporting spottings of the new sequence on roads from Crescent City to Imperial Beach.

“Finally saw my first new series plate here in the Bay Area! Didn’t expect it on a 90s Civic hatchback, but still cool!” one Redditor wrote.

“First new plate I’ve seen, spotted in Auburn, CA — I’ve been searching for months! I live in Sacramento and haven’t seen one down there yet,” another commenter said.

“I’ve seen 5 or 6 new plates in the SF area . This is the earliest…AB… the others are AE..AF..AG,” a third commenter shared.

The DMV first announced that they were running out of room in the old plate format three years ago — estimating the switchover would take place late this year or early next.

Interestingly, the landmark, end-of-an-era 9ZZZ999 plate has not yet been issued.

According to the agency spokesperson, there are still more than 110,000 plates with the old format remaining to be issued — stored across the state at DMV and auto club offices.

California’s license plates are made at Folsom State Prison — where inmates bang out approximately 45,000 plates per day.

Along with the standard plate, with has a blue license number and “California” written in red script, the state also has 14 special interest license plates.

Since moving to California 14 years ago I've had three cars. The first had a license plate ending in 166, the second 185, and my current 137. What are the odds of someone working in the film industry randomly receiving three tags that refer to cinema aspect ratios?

[Frank Cox]

They give you a new license plate when you change vehicles? As far as I know around here they usually just transfer your existing plate to the new one unless you specifically ask for a different plate. I've had my MAD DOG license plate since the mid-80's; it's been on four different vehicles.

[Leo Enticknap]

A regular plate in California stays with the vehicle throughout its service life. I believe that if you have a vanity plate, you can transfer it between vehicles, likely for a significant fee. But regular ones stay with the car if it changes owners.

[Leo Enticknap]

Elizabeth Holmes Documentary Receives ‘R’ Rating for Graphic Nudity

A documentary about disgraced Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes — who was sentenced to 11 years in federal prison for four counts of wire fraud and conspiracy — has reportedly received an R rating due to containing graphic nudity.

A full-length trailer for the 174-minute film, You Can See Everything, was released on Wednesday by film distributor A24, giving the public a sneak peak into filmmaker Nathan Fielder’s bizarre portrait of the disgraced Theranos founder.

The documentary contains some graphic nudity, according to a report by SFGATE.

The nearly three-hour film begins 34 days before Holmes started her 11-year prison sentence in May 2023 for her role in the fraudulent Silicon Valley startup.

“You really feel you did nothing wrong?” Fielder asks Holmes at the beginning of the trailer, to which the convicted felon replies, “I did not.”

Holmes goes on to speak to the filmmaker as though she has no understanding of her crimes, which involved fraud against her investors coming to a staggering $140 million.

The trailer also reveals that Fielder stayed in a guest room in Holmes’ San Diego-area home — along with her husband, hotel heir Billy Evans, and their two children — while a film crew captured their every move.

In one scene, Holmes tells Fielder it took her “a really long time to be okay with letting someone see me cry,” before a single tear runs down her cheek.

You Can See Everything is co-directed by Fielder and fellow filmmaker Lance Oppenheim. The documentary has already premiered at the Telluride Film Festival, and is set to be released in theaters on October 16.

At 174 minutes, the graphic nudity is probably needed to stop the audience from walking out!

This has to be one of the worst trailers (defined as how good a job it does at persuading the viewer to spend time and money to see the movie) I've ever seen. It simply shows her denying any criminal intent and her husband rejecting the accusation that she had any, both of which are things we know already. I don't need an almost three-hour long self-pitying propaganda job to tell me that. On the basis of this trailer, I would even prefer to see two Woody Allen movies back to back rather than this thing!

There is, IMHO, an interesting documentary to be made about Holmes. Before reading this book, I believed, I would guess like most people, that she started Theranos with honest intentions, and by the time it became clear that the tech she was trying to invent and develop was fundamentally unworkable, she was in too deep, panicked, and kept digging. In other words, she was a bit of a Jason Arday type. The book totally changed my mind on that score, specifically its account of how she systematically, with premeditation, and quite cleverly (e.g. by manipulating her then boyfriend and deputy CEO of the company into acting as her hatchet man) tried to destroy the lives and careers of those who tried to blow the whistle on what was happening. For that alone, Holmes deserves every day behind bars that she was sentenced to, and then some.

But unless this trailer is very misleading (and if it is, its creators did not do the filmmakers any favors), none of the real issues raised by this case - the depth of her criminal intent, how she was able to fool investors so easily, how she was able to evade regulatory oversight, the victims of her quack technology, including cancer sufferers who were erroneously given an all clear, etc. etc. - are covered in the movie. If so, that's a big missed opportunity.

[Frank Cox]

https://aerospaceglobalnews.com/news/boeing-737-touchscreen-cdu-criticism/

Boeing’s touchscreen flight controls for 737 draws backlash from pilots

Aaron Spray
5–6 minutes

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Boeing is offering a drop-in replacement for the Touchscreen Control Display Unit (TCDU) on the 737 MAX and NG airliners. The old panel of buttons is replaced by a touchscreen, with no other changes to the button configuration or layout.
Professional pilots have blasted the move, claiming touchscreens are much harder to operate in turbulent skies. Others say the tactile feedback from physical buttons gives them more confidence when operating in high-pressure situations.
Boom Supersonic CEO blasts Boeing’s new touchscreen flight control

Blake Scholl, the founder and CEO of Boom Supersonic, took to X (formerly Twitter) to write, “This is so colossally stupid I’m at a loss for words.”
Scholl then elaborated, “Boeing has a decades old flight computer design with a custom physical keyboard and monospace text UI. They introduced a touch version of this, by taking the literal same design and making it all screen.”
He then said Boeing is in the “pre-BlackBerry era” and that the cockpit is like taking a picture of a 1977 PC, putting it on a touchscreen, and then calling it an iPad. He added that he believes it won’t work well and will just give touchscreens a bad name in the cockpit.
But the Boom Supersonic CEO is not against touchscreens for the pilots in general. He says they work great when “designed thoughtfully.”
Boeing claims the “elegant interface” is preferred by pilots

Boeing is emphasising the reliability, cost, and weight benefits of the new TCDU designed by Gables Engineering.
The touchscreen is to become standard in the MAX 10 models while also being retrofittable into 737 NG and MAX aircraft.
Boeing says the TCDU is designed to emulate the physical keyboard layout of the CDU (control and display unit), MCDU (multi-function control and display unit), and FANS (future air navigation system) MCDU. It also claims that it is an “elegant interface” that users prefer and expect.
Photo: Boeing Claimed benefits include lower maintenance as glass lasts longer than worn buttons, weight savings, and future-proofing through extra connectors and software upgrades. Other benefits include no need for wiring changes or data-loading process changes.
Much of the criticism of the TCDU revolves around solving a problem that didn’t exist. Pilots note that Boeing could have changed the layout to a QWERTY keyboard as an improvement. However, any fundamental changes such as this would require expensive retraining of crews.
Conversely, the new 777X controls (built by Rockwell Collins) are fully touchscreen digital displays and have been widely well received by professional aviators. However, these are large forward displays designed for intentional multi-touch interaction and are not a direct keyboard emulation.
Pilots aren’t keen to fly with Boeing’s touchscreen CDU

Some aviation commentators mused about how the glass screen could negatively affect usability and tactility, and whether it offers any advantages over the regular CDU. There appears to be a divide between pilots and maintenance personnel. Pilots seem to prefer the older buttons and switches, while maintenance prefers a touchscreen as it’s less likely to become inoperative.
Opinions on platforms like and X were mixed, but leaned critical—especially from pilots and tech-oriented observers. One posted, “My general opinion is that physical buttons and switches are better than touch from a usability pov. I love the clicking and flipping!”
Complaints typically centre around the lack of tactile feedback and the potential to make an incorrect entry, particularly in bumpy skies. Others flagged visibility issues with glare on the glass screen in bright conditions.
Nevertheless, several pilots have said that their airlines are rolling out the retrofits at pace. For carriers, the upgrade could mean less potential to have an aircraft unserviceable over a small switch, and lower ongoing maintenance costs, all of which is very appealing to the bottom line.

My car (2025 Ford Escape) has a touch screen for stuff like setting the heat and I'm not a fan. You have to take your eyes off of the road to read the screen and make changes, instead of just reaching over and pushing a button, and that's both distracting and inconvenient. Some stuff I just can't/won't do while I'm driving.

[James Biggins]

Touch screens in any form of moving transport are dangerous.

As Blake Scholl said, "This is so colossally stupid I’m at a loss for words".

[Leo Enticknap]

If one button goes out on the old school flight management computer, you can possibly find a workaround for it. If a capacitative touch screen goes out, you're buggered - they're all gone.