Laemmle co-owner Greg Laemmle talks about the decision to screen "The Interview." A new app keeps drivers in the know about U.S.-Mexico border traffic, and a travel writer speaks in defense of parents flying with children.
How digital information flows through isolated North Korea
North Korea’s Internet access continues to be spotty after going completely dead on Monday. There's been widespread speculation about who or what was responsible for the crash.
It happened just days after President Barack Obama vowed to seek "proportional" retaliation for the hack of Sony Pictures.
But, as much coverage of this incident has pointed out, not many people in North Korea actually have access to the Internet. So how does information flow in and out of this isolated nation - if at all?
Robert Boynton directs NYU's magazine journalism program, and he wrote "North Korea's Digital Underground" for the Atlantic magazine.
About 1,300 people in the country have Internet connection, according to one estimate Boynton has seen.
"The number of people who have access to anything that we would consider the Internet is remarkably small in a country of 25 million people," Boynton said. All of the country's Internet connections go through China.
North Korea's Internet is more of an intranet, Boynton says. It's reminiscent of the kind of site AOL was.
"There are areas where you can find information about the country, there are some puzzles and video games, but there’s nothing that intrudes on the carefully curated narrative that the North Korean regime puts together," Boynton said.
Boynton says it's "virtually unheard of" for North Korean to have computers in their homes. The Internet can mostly be accessed in the country's cafes and universities.
With this limited access, Boynton feels the Internet outage had a small impact in the country.
"If this is what President Obama meant by 'proportionate response,' I'm not sure whether it really hits the mark," he said. "I can't imagine there is much of great value that is hooked up to the Internet."
It remains unknown who or what caused North Korea's Internet outage.
Laemmle Theatres and other independents will show 'The Interview'
The premiere of "The Interview" was on, then it was off, and now it's back on again.
The assassination comedy has plagued Sony Pictures in recent weeks, but it'll apparently now be available on YouTube and shown in a handful of independent theaters across the country starting Christmas Day, including Laemmle Theatres here in Southern California.
Greg Laemmle, co-owner of Laemmle Theatres, joins Take Two for more.
Drivers get US-Mexico border wait times with new app
Travelers in Southern California know all about waiting. We wait what feels like forever in long lines at the airport. We eagerly await exiting the freeway as we crawl through traffic.
For those drivers looking to head south of the U.S.-Mexico border this holiday, there is a new app from U.S. Customs and Border Protection that can help you deal with all of this waiting.
Dan Tanciar, director of travel and tourism with U.S. Customs and Border Protection in Washington D.C., says the CBP Border Wait Times app is free and can be downloaded from Apple's iTunes Store or Google Play. No registration is required, so Tanciar assures that no information is being tracked.
In addition to wait times, the app allows you to find the nearest port of entry and compare wait times to help you spend the least time at the border. The wait times are updated hour-by-hour and are reliable, Tanciar says.
Tanciar says this continues a trend toward digital efficiency at the border. One example includes active lane management that utilizes RFID technology. Tanciar says those travelers spend half the time waiting than travelers without non-facilitative technologies. There’s also mobile passport control.
“[These] are all ways in which we’re looking at strengthening security but getting people through the process faster and more efficient,” he said. “Let’s face it, these border crossers are critical to our local economies and our national economy, so we recognize that and we’re looking at any way we can to innovate, to keep people safe, but keep people moving.”
The business of bowls: Corporate America and the bloated College Football Bowl season
There will be 39 College Football Bowl games played this holiday season.
That means 78 teams qualified for a Bowl game this year; but they only needed to beat out half their opponents to do so. In other words, in some of this year's bowls, we're not talking la crème de la crème.
Regardless, more and more every year, corporations are spending big bucks for bowl naming rights. And new bowls are popping up. Case in point: This year, the Ford Motor Company Quick Lane Bowl (the de facto replacement of the Little Caesars Pizza Bowl), and the Raycom Media Camellia Bowl. Never heard of these Bowl games? You're not alone.
Even most of the bowls regarded as American institutions have a new corporate stamp on them every few years.
Take the Gator Bowl, played in Jacksonville, Florida, since 1946. In 1986, it became the Mazda Gator Bowl. That sponsor contract lasted for five years until Outback Steakhouse took over. Then it was the Toyota Gator Bowl, the Konica Minolta Gator Bowl, the Progressive Insurance Gator Bowl...and now it's just the Taxslayer Bowl -- as in Taxslayer.com.
So, how much does corporate America have to do with this expansion? What do corporate sponsors get in return for stamping their name on a Bowl -- especially a less-than-prestigious one?
Ralph Russo covers College Football for the Associated Press and he joins Take Two to answer these questions and more.
Hate flying with kids? Tips to consider before your inner Scrooge surfaces
So many things make air travel stressful during the holidays. The anticipation of spending time with relatives, messy weather and possible delays, and, of course the crowds -- it's enough to make even the jolliest of elves fret.
To make matters worse for the less-than-tolerant, more kids of all ages are flying to grandmother's house this time of year. But before your inner Scrooge starts to surface as you watch kiddos board your flight, consider what their poor parents have to deal with.
Travel writer Erica Silverstein wrote about this in her "Open Letter to People Who Hate Flying With Kids." She told Take Two that holiday flyers should keep in mind, "[Parents] are probably more worried than you are about their kids being problems, so they will have come prepared . . . with everything they can think of to keep their kids quiet on the plane."
Fatal police shooting of armed man in Missouri sparks protests
A police officer shot and killed an armed teenager Tuesday night in the St. Louis suburb of Berkeley, Mo. The shooting of the 18-year-old black man sparked protests at the gas station where it took place, just two miles west of Ferguson.
Saint Louis Public Radio reporter Rachel Lippmann joined Take Two for an update on the latest news.