Safebox Technology Begins 2025 with Strategic Growth and Innovation
Safebox Technology Begins 2025 with Strategic Growth and Innovation – Technology Today – EIN Presswire
Are you a reader who likes meeting new people? Try Milwaukee’s Silent Book Club!
Silent book clubs are popping up worldwide — including right here in Milwaukee. But what are they? WUWM’s Xcaret Nuñez and Maayan Silver stopped by a silent book club in Bay View’s Component Brewing Company to find out. Upon walking into the brewery, we find bartenders slinging snifters filled with IPAs and lagers to people sitting and talking on tall, orange barstools. Garage punk music lilts in the background.But taking a closer look, we see a smattering of others silently reading, spaced around the room. Some have their eyes buried in e-books, while others are reading paperbacks and hardcovers.Many of them are strangers, and like Tim Sentz and Jacob Anderson, they’re each reading something different.“I’m reading Moby Dick,” says Sentz, while Anderson points out he’s reading Parable of the Talents by Octavia Butler.They’re sitting at the same long wooden table and trying to figure out whether they’ve met before.“Were you reading The Silmarillion last time?” Anderson asks.“Yeah, I was,” Sentz says.“All right, I thought so,” Anderson says.“So yeah, we did meet the first time I came,” Sentz says.
Xcaret Nuñez
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WUWMSilent Book Club readers get together at Bay View’s Component Brewing Company.
A silent book club gives readers a chance to be social, but it unfolds a bit differently than in a traditional book club.First of all, you don’t have to read the same book. Silent book clubs also happen in a public place, instead of someone’s home — think coffee shop or bar.The first hour usually involves solo reading of a book of your choosing. The second part of the night is when you vibe with other readers.“We generally — and this isn’t really structured, it’s just kind of how it happens — just ask each other, ‘What are you reading?’” says Sentz. “And we present a book, and generally, people kind of chime in if they’ve heard of it or if they’ve read it.”The whole meeting usually lasts about two hours and takes place once a month, usually on Tuesdays, at various locations. And you can join in on any part or all of it, says Meredith Klusman, the curator of Milwaukee’s Silent Book Club chapter.“This takes that pressure away — it allows people the freedom to come and read the whole time, and nobody’s gonna bat an eye at you,” explains Klusman. “You can come and read for five minutes and then be like, ‘I’m not feeling it today. I just want to hang out and talk.’ And people will absolutely jive into that, too. Because the core for me, at least, is to create those connections, especially as a transplant to Milwaukee. That’s really what drove me to want to do it in the first place.”
Xcaret Nuñez
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WUWMSilent Book Club readers Meredith Klusman (left) and Jacob Anderson (right) discuss the books their reading.
Klusman’s Milwaukee chapter isn’t alone. Silent book clubs are popping up everywhere. According to the Silent Book Club website, there are over 1,400 chapters in 54 countries. Klusman says she got the idea from TikTok and started Milwaukee’s first chapter in the summer of 2023.Even though Klusman’s Facebook group has over 900 members, she says she doesn’t promote the club at all online beyond the page.“I made the page and sent it to my five cousins that live in Milwaukee, and was like, ‘All right,’ and I’m assuming that other people saw the social media posts that I saw on TikTok or whatever, and were like, ‘Hey, let’s check it out.’”Anderson, one of the readers who showed up tonight, says he appreciates turning reading from something you do by yourself to something social. “So people who are willing to go and read a book in public silently are usually like-minded people.”He says he also just likes to experience new things. “Sometimes days can blend together. They don’t when I do a Silent Book Club day.”As the first hour of reading winds down, more people join Anderson, Sentz and Klusman at the table to discuss their books. One person is reading Sherlock Holmes, which sparks some conversation.Klusman, the organizer, says the community aspect of the club is important to her, especially during the times we’re living in. “I feel like the world can be a very divisive place, especially within the last couple of years. I feel like as much as we try to move with empathy and embrace uniqueness and diversity, that’s very clearly not the MO of everybody in the world. So it’s really important to me to foster an environment that’s inclusive of everyone.”
Xcaret Nuñez
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WUWMMeredith Klusman (pictured above) is the organizer of Milwaukee’s Silent Book Club. She started the Facebook group in the summer of 2023.
Thankfully, to no one’s surprise, readers make wonderful customers, according to Component Brewing bartender Casey Sams. He’s all for normalizing reading at a bar—or in any public place, really. And he has something to say to anyone who thinks it may be “weird” to do so.“Well, first of all, book readers are not weirdos. Let’s make sure we let everyone know that.” But he adds that he’s especially supportive of the segment of the night where people get together to discuss what they’re reading. “Because how I might interpret what I’m reading could be totally different than what you’re interpreting. And we are able to get some good conversations, maybe you learn something new.”As the vibe at Component Brewing Company shifts from punk rock silent reading to its themed trivia night, Klusman starts thinking about the next Silent Book Club meeting. She says anyone is welcome to come turn the page with them, or with the second chapter of the club that recently opened up in the Milwaukee area. It’s a moment to drink, read and be social.You can visit the Milwaukee Silent Book Club’s Facebook page to learn more about this chapter.
The exciting original films of 2025: Soderbergh, Coogler, and Paul Thomas Anderson return
Forget the sequels and adaptations; 2025 will see a heaping helping of new ideas, stories, and characters coming to a theater near you. With new films by Hollywood heavyweights like Paul Thomas Anderson, Kogonada, and Ryan Coogler, blockbusters from Pixar, and Brad Pitt driving an F1 racecar, 2025 is promising some cracks in the fortress of intellectual property that the film industry has built around itself. Here are the original films coming out in 2025 to keep an eye on.
Presence (January 24)
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The first of two 2025 movies from director Steven Soderbergh and writer David Koepp, Presence is a haunted house story that, similar to last year’s In A Violent Nature, is shot from the ghost’s point of view. This spectral perspective plays to Soderbergh’s iPhone surveillance aesthetic and harkens back to his last attempt at horror, the underseen and underrated Unsane. The formal gambit might risk alienating the audience, but it might also be the best way to inject some life into a well-worn afterlife tale.
Love Hurts (February 7)
Oscar winner Ke Huy Quan takes his spot in the Hollywood upper echelon as the star of his very own against-type John Wick-style action-comedy. This one sees Quan as a Midwest realtor who gets sucked back into the life of hitmen and assassins when an old partner (Ariana DuBose) shoots her way back into his life. Love Hurts looks very much to have been crafted in the David Leitch action cinema mold, with colorful and kinetic action cinematography á la The Fall Guy, Nobody, and Bullet Train—it is the directorial debut of longtime Wick fight coordinator Jonathan Eusebio, after all.
The Legend Of Ochi (February 28)
A24’s biggest swing yet at blockbuster family entertainment, The Legend Of Ochi aims for the Amblin-loving, Baby Yoda pleasure centers deep inside the brains of American audiences. The feature debut of music video director Isaiah Saxon, Ochi follows a young girl named Yuri (Helena Zengel) as she helps an adorable little creature, known as an “ochi,” get back to its family. Saxon created the ochi through a mix of practical and digital effects, which should please everyone tired of CGI sidekicks taking all the good puppet roles. While The Legend Of Ochi isn’t A24’s first fantastical quest, this film aims for an even broader family audience than the studio’s Oscar-winning crowdpleaser Everything Everywhere All At Once.
On Becoming A Guinea Fowl (March 5)
Despite the Missy Elliot-inspired inflatable drip and sequin headgear that Shula (Susan Chardy) sports in the trailer’s opening shots, On Becoming A Guinea Fowl is a darkly surreal film about child sexual abuse in Zambia. One night, while driving on a dark stretch of highway, Shula finds the dead body of her uncle, who has been sexually abusing her and her relatives for decades. In her second feature, writer-director Rungano Nyoni follows Shula through a complicated and hallucinatory journey as she and her family plan a funeral for a monster whose crimes no one wants to discuss.
Black Bag (March 14)
The second film from the Soderbergh-Koepp team is much more in Soderbergh’s wheelhouse. Who does a heist better than him? In Black Bag, Michael Fassbender and Cate Blanchett play Mr. And Mrs. Smith-coded secret agents that end up in a game of Spy Vs. Spy when she goes rogue. Sleek, sexy spy games with Fassbender doing what he does best (graceful murder) and Blanchett being the coolest one in the room? Who are we to resist?
Alto Knights (March 21)
For his first theatrical release since Bill Murray-led calamity, Rock The Kasbah, Barry Levinson is bringing in Robert De Niro to play Frank Costello and Vito Genovese, two of the few real-life mob bosses that The Irishman star has yet to play. The film centers on Frank retiring from the mob after being injured in an assassination attempt orchestrated by Vito. Debra Messing, Katherine Narducci, and Shōgun breakout Cosmo Jarvis also star, presumably in one role apiece.
Sinners (April 18)
Finally reuniting after an iffy second trip to Wakanda, director Ryan Coogler and muse Michael B. Jordan are breaking free of IP and working off an original story by Coogler about some sort of scary monster town filled with religious zealots. Coogler and cinematographer Autumn Durald Arkapaw reportedly shot Sinners on IMAX cameras to take full advantage of the extra big frame, not unlike Oppenheimer, opening up their early-20th century landscapes. Coogler always brings out the best in the actor and vice versa, so seeing Jordan in a dual-role horror movie is an exciting prospect.
A Big Bold Beautiful Journey (May 9)
Reteaming with After Yang director Kogonada, Colin Farrell stars as David, a man on the way to a wedding. Following a magic GPS, he goes on a surreal journey through space and time, where he meets Margot Robbie, Phoebe Waller-Bridge, and Hamish Linklater. Even with this scant information, this fantastical romance sounds like a good vehicle for wistful Farrell.
Elio (June 13)
Pixar’s Elio can’t help but feel like a breath of fresh air after a sequel-heavy 2024 from Disney. Thankfully, Elio also has a cute setup: A little boy, Elio (Yonas Kibreab), is mistakenly abducted by aliens as the planet’s ambassador ahead of a trial regarding Earth’s crimes. While we don’t look forward to what the cottage industry of Disney outrage bait will make of the film’s alien setting, the “Communiverse,” we’re open to hearing Brad Garrett play a turbine-blade-wielding monster. Oh, who are we kidding? It’s just nice to see a new character lead a Disney movie for a change.
F1 (June 13)
Why shouldn’t Brad Pitt get his own Top Gun? Joseph Kosinski’s spiritual follow-up to Top Gun: Maverick that Spiderhead (now on Netflix) could never be, F1 also stars a “Last Movie Star” type doing his own death-defying stunts. Here, Pitt stars as a 60-year-old racecar driver with a need for speed and stick-and-poke tattoos. Kosinski and Pitt are committed to authenticity, with Pitt trying to out-Cruise Tom by getting behind the wheel of an actual Formula One racecar and driving the actual Grand Prix.
The Battle Of Baktan Cross (August 8)
The five words every cinephile wants to hear: “New Paul Thomas Anderson movie.” Unsurprisingly, details about this one are slim. We don’t even know if Baktan Cross will end up as the final title. Here’s what we do know: the movie stars Regina Hall and Leonardo DiCaprio, and Jonny Greenwood composed the score. It was supposedly very expensive—Anderson’s most costly—and has some car chases. DiCaprio has funny facial hair and sports boxy wrap-around shades in set photos. The film will also, reportedly, be released in IMAX—an exciting first for PTA regardless of what this thing is about.
Marty Supreme (December 25)
The second solo narrative film from Josh Safdie sees Timothée Chalamet playing a champion table tennis player with a very memorable look. Just as memorable are his co-stars: Kevin “Mr. Wonderful” O’Leary, Fran Drescher, Tyler, the Creator, and Abel Ferrera, to name just a few. It’s also noteworthy that Josh and his brother Benny are both making sports dramas for their 2025 solo projects (Benny is directing The Rock-led MMA biopic The Smashing Machine). We don’t know much about either, really, but we’ll be damned if Marty Supreme isn’t an incredible title.
Eddington (TBD)
We might be one the few movie preview writers excited for another collaboration between Ari Aster and Joaquin Phoenix. Since their last collaboration, the largely disliked (except by those who are correct) boondoggle Beau Is Afraid, Phoenix’s stock has somehow fallen even further. Well, not somehow; his abrupt exit from Todd Haynes’ latest, followed by Joker: Folie Á Deux, didn’t do the actor any favors. It’s hard to imagine how an Aster-directed black comedy neo-Western with a confusing title will bring Phoenix back into our good graces, but, as always, we remain optimistic.
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The United States and Armenia Establish Principles of Strategic Partnership: From Economy to Regional Security
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Three Salvadoran immigrants – in their words
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An Overview of Growth Opportunities and Technological Innovations in the Global Ethylene Carbonate Market, 2027
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BT Young Scientist: Cork students win special award for crop study
A group of students from Co. Cork have been recognised at the BT Young Scientist and Technology Exhibition 2025 for an agricultural science project using total leaf-area as a predictive tool for determining below-ground growth of selected root-crop plants.
Alvy Fitzgerald, Anna Duggan, Leah O’Sullivan from St Mary’s Secondary School, Mallow claimed the Teagasc Special Award and 1st Junior Group in the Biological and Ecological category for their outstanding scientific achievements.
The award-winning project, was titled “An Investigation into using Total Leaf-Area as a predictive tool for determining below-ground biomass at all stages in the growth of selected Root-Crop Plants”.
BT Young Scientist
Teagasc said that the project “showcased the students’ dedication, creativity, and passion for scientific inquiry in agricultural research”.
“Their teamwork showcased not only their academic skills but also their talent for tackling real-world problems with creative solutions,” the authority added.
The team worked to develop and present their project under the guidance of their teacher Rory Coote.
Teagasc said that the project stood out for its thorough research, experimental methodology, and the potential impact in improving the efficiency and sustainability of root crop farming.
Alvy Fitzgerald said the team was amazed by the accuracy of their model in predicting plant growth.
While her teammate Anna Duggan explained that they used a drone to scan the leaf area this year, instead of the manual method they tried last year.
The idea for the project stemmed from a first-year science class, where the students learned about photosynthesis and grew curious about the connection between leaf size and root crop growth.
Leah O’Sullivan, the final member of the team, said that “a future in agricultural science is definitely on the horizon” for the students.
Award
The Teagasc Special Award, presented by the Professor Frank O’Mara, director of Teagasc, recognises the project that best demonstrates a thorough understanding of the science of agricultural or food production.
The students will also be invited to visit one of the Teagasc sites to learn more about our work in this area.
“The students should be incredibly proud of their remarkable achievements, and we wish them continued success in their scientific journeys.
“Their dedication, curiosity, and passion for scientific discovery are truly inspiring.
“This accomplishment not only showcases the exceptional talent within their school but also underscores their commitment to addressing real-world challenges in agriculture and food research,” Professor O’Mara said.
1,000 students from schools across the island of Ireland took part in this year’s BT Young Scientist and Technology Exhibition.