Final predictions for 2018: Wedding bells for Taylor Swift, curtains for President Trump

In late December, I published a list of bold predictions for 2018 from numerous sources. After that post, many other pundits made their predictions.
What follows is a roundup of some of their most interesting predictions.

Engagement for Taylor Swift, divorce for Will Smith

Nicola Byrne, a writer for the Daily Edge, predicted that singer Taylor Swift will get engaged to boyfriend Joe Alwyn in 2018, while actors Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith will split.

Internet media acquisitions

Twitter, Snap, BuzzFeed and Pinterest are acquired (or valued in subsequent financing rounds) at 25% to 50% of their market highs, Scott Galloway, a professor of marketing at the New York University Stern School of Business, said in a post on Seeking Alpha. All four will continue to underwhelm at the hands of the Facebook and Google advertising market duopoly, he said.

Twitter will be acquired

BTIG analyst Richard Greenfield predicted that Twitter will be acquired in 2018.
“Twitter offers a unique acquisition opportunity for any company looking to own breaking news, politics and sports, infused with video on mobile devices with tens of millions of daily active users across the world,” Greenfield said in a blog post. “Add to that a vast treasure trove of data on its users and a Twitter acquisition becomes compelling for many companies … Twitter also gives a buyer a home screen-worthy mobile app that has eluded essentially everyone not named Google, Facebook, Apple and Snapchat.”

2018 Time Person of the Year: Robert Mueller

Galloway predicts that President Donald Trump will vacate the White House in 2018 (possibly for health reasons) and Vice President Mike Pence will be sworn in as the 46th U.S. president. Galloway offered no explanation for Mueller’s selection as Time’s Person of the Year. Mueller is heading up the investigation into Russia’s possible interference in the 2016 election.

Amazon will acquire Target

Loup Ventures predicted that e-commerce leader Amazon.com will buy discount retailer Target in 2018.
“Amazon believes the future of retail is a mix of mostly online and some offline. Target is the ideal offline partner for Amazon for two reasons: shared demographic and manageable but comprehensive store count,” the venture capital firm said in a blog post.

Netflix buys a studio

To ramp up its original content production, internet television leader Netflix might buy a studio this year, Variety magazine predicted.
“One potential takeover target: MGM, which oversees a large library of movies and TV shows, with James Bond, ‘Stargate,’ ‘Rocky’ and ‘RoboCop’ among its franchises,” Variety said.

Microsoft makes big security acquisition

The Information predicted that Microsoft will make a “major, multibillion-dollar security acquisition” in 2018 and named FireEye as a potential target.

Google preps consumer augmented-reality headset

Google kicked off the idea of head-mounted computing devices with Google Glass a few years ago and likely will develop augmented-reality glasses to be announced in 2018, Eric Jhonsa, technology columnist for TheStreet, said in a column.
“This doesn’t necessarily mean Google or its partners will launch consumer AR headsets in 2018, given there are technical challenges to overcome in areas such as display quality and (given the form factors involved) processing power,” he said. “But the time feels right for Google to get the ball rolling. Look for reports and/or announcements regarding a new consumer AR push before the end of 2018.”

Related reading:

Bitcoin boom and bust, Magic Leap glasses flop and other 2018 tech predictions (Dec. 23, 2017)

Psychic predictions for 2018 (Dec. 24, 2017)

Photo: Taylor Swift’s smartphone app from Glu Mobile.

12 interesting Tumblr blogs

Tumblr has become the go-to website for viral Internet content. That honor used to belong to Reddit, but the tide has turned.
A study by Priceonomics found that the No. 1 source for BuzzFeed content is Tumblr, followed by Instagram, according to the Washington Post.
What’s interesting is that Tumblr remains popular despite its heavy-handed treatment of users practicing fair use of copyrighted images.
Tumblr deleted my three blogs a year and a half ago after it received complaints from a photographer about my use of a couple of his images on just one of those three blogs. Tumblr didn’t respond to my appeal of the DMCA takedown notice and unilaterally deleted my work.
I criticized Tumblr at the time for not having at least a three-strike rule.
Fast forward to now and it appears Tumblr has finally instituted such a rule, according to a story on Techdirt. This rule may have saved my three Tumblr blogs from oblivion.
But I digress.
There are many interesting niche-themed blogs on Tumblr. What follows is a dozen of them.

Selfies at Serious Places

Selfies at Serious Places collects photos of people taking self portraits in places where they shouldn’t such as at funerals, cemeteries and former concentration camps. (See article by Business Insider.)

Lady Parts

The website Lady Parts compiles sexist casting call notices for actresses. (See article by the Huffington Post.)

Endorsement Bombing

Endorsement Bombing is a website that shows funny examples of “unexpected endorsements for surprising expertise” on LinkedIn, the professional social network.

TL;DR Wikipedia

For people who think Wikipedia entries are too long there’s TL;DR Wikipedia. The humor blog is described as “Wikipedia: Condensed for your pleasure.” By the way, TL;DR stands for “too long; didn’t read.”

Sleeping MIT Students

There have been several websites devoted to photos of students sleeping in libraries and public areas of schools. One was the now defunct Asians Sleeping in the Library, which was archived at least in part by the Chive.
Another is Sleeping MIT Students, which shows students at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology sacked out around campus. (See article by the Huffington Post.)

Napping All Over Rutgers

Napping All Over Rutgers covers sleepy students at New Jersey state university.

Ephs Sleeping In Public

Ephs Sleeping in Public highlights passed out students at Williams College.

White Boys in Salmon Shorts

White Boys in Salmon Shorts was started to draw attention to the preppy trend of white males wearing salmon-colored shorts.

Humanitarians of Tinder

Huffington Post collects screenshots from the dating site Tinder where the subjects use photos of themselves working with impoverished people in other countries. (See article by the Huffington Post.)

Signs from the Near Future

Signs from the Near Future imagines what road signs and other signage will be like in the future with advancements in technology. (See article by the Huffington Post.)

WTF Comcast

WTF Comcast features funny show descriptions from the Comcast on-screen program guide.

Pendleton Ward’s Cartoon Tumblr

As a fan of “Adventure Time,” I also like its creator’s Tumblr blog.

Interesting news media websites: Retro Report, Emergent

Some say the Internet has fostered a golden age of journalism. The Internet supports a host of new media outlets, niche-subject websites and miscellaneous blogs on writing and reporting.
What follows are several websites I have yet to spotlight on Tech-media-tainment, but are worth visiting.

Retro Report

Journalists on average are good at breaking news, but not so great with following up on those stories after their initial coverage.
Retro Report does video segments on old news stories that deserve a second look.
Launched in 2013, Retro Report is a documentary news organization that provides forward-looking coverage of older news stories. The Retro Report team includes veterans of the CBS news show “60 Minutes,” the New York Times and other prestigious journalism outlets.

Emergent

Social media is rife with false news reports. The website Emergent is trying to be the Snopes.com of breaking news.
Emergent describes itself as “a real-time rumor tracker.” The website “focuses on how unverified information and rumor are reported in the media. It aims to develop best practices for debunking misinformation.”
Emergent is a research project of the Tow Center for Digital Journalism at Columbia University.

Couldn’t Be Reached

A blog entitled “____ couldn’t be reached” documents the many times public officials decline to make themselves available to discuss important issues.
“Whether it’s an investigative, nonprofit newsroom like us, an international outlet like the New York Times, or newer media like Politico or BuzzFeed – when journalists call, officials are choosing to comment less for stories on the record,” the website says.

Where Bloggers Blog

Where Bloggers Blog shows photos of the workspaces of notable bloggers.
My reaction: their desks are way too tidy.

Thomas Wolfe Was Wrong

Author Thomas Wolfe wrote the famous adage, “You Can’t Go Home Again.”
The blog Thomas Wolfe Was Wrong documents the many times people think they’re being clever online when they write that Wolfe was wrong, you can go home again. It’s now an annoying cliche.

BuzzFeed Articles Without the GIFs

BuzzFeed has been an enormous success with its stupid quizzes and click-bait lists. It also runs a lot of articles with animated GIFs.
The website BuzzFeed Articles Without the GIFs shows how terrible those articles are without the GIFs.