YB is basically a clone of the popular messaging app Yo. The app features vocals recorded by Paul himself, and the greetings let you send and receive messages using everything from the classic "Yo b----!" phrase all the way to variations like "Bueno b----!"
YB includes in-app purchases in the form of extra greetings packs, which include additional phrases recorded by Paul.
The app also promises you'll be able to "participate in contests with Aaron to win phrase packs," but for now you can pick up a free phrase pack in addition to a host of others including a "Socrates," "Love," and "More is More" packs.
YB is only available for iOS currently, but Paul promises that an Android version is in the works.
YoBitch Android App coming early 2015. Happy Holidays Bitch. #YB
This year marks the 25th anniversary of Tim Burton's "Batman" movie starring Michael Keaton and the 75th anniversary of the Dark Knight.
Warner Bros. is releasing a two-disc special Blu-Ray Diamond Luxe edition of the film Dec. 9. to commemorate the movie.
The new release will include a featurette "Batman: The Birth of the Modern Blockbuster," detailing how the movie helped set the bar for future film franchises.
Warner Bros. shared an exclusive clip from the feature with Business Insider.
And not only was Lee one of the greatest martial artists ever, he was also a thoughtful man who developed a unique philosophy intertwined with a mixed fighting style known as Jeet Kune Do. Its main tenants are valuable for anyone determining where to take their personal and professional lives.
When asked what the most important aspect of Lee's philosophy, Shannon responded by saying that it was his theory of self-actualization.
In the collection of his writings "Striking Thoughts: Bruce Lee's Wisdom for Daily Living," Lee explains that there is a difference between the fulfillment of one's desires and the fulfillment of how one desires to appear to the world:
Most people only live for their image, that is why some have a void, because they are so busy projecting themselves as this or that, dedicating their lives to actualize a concept of what they should be like rather than to actualize their ever-growing potentiality as a human being. Wasting, dissipating all their energy in projection and conjuring up of facade, rather than centering their energy on expanding and broadening their potential or expressing and relaying this unified energy for efficient communication, etc.
The path to self-actualization requires accepting your nature and living for yourself rather than how others want you to live.
It's a concept related to Shannon's favorite quote from her father: "The medicine for my suffering I had within me all along."
If you feel stuck or trapped in your professional or personal life, take a moment to focus on who your ideal self is, not influenced by anyone else's opinion. And then decide how to start becoming that person.
"Interstellar" director Christopher Nolan is a big proponent of making his movies look as real as possible.
In “The Dark Knight Rises” he actually had a plane dropped from the sky to film the movie’s opening scene. A revolving set was used to create an elaborate fight scene in “Inception.”
So it shouldn't come as a big surprise that in his latest movie, the film's two monolith-like robots TARS and CASE had hardly any digital effects.
Several puppets weighing 200 pounds were constructed and filmed alongside cast members. TARS voice actor and comedian Bill Irwin actually lugged them around set. Digital effects were brought in later for a few select scenes and to clean up any instances of Irwin in the film.
Business Insider recently spoke with both special effects coordinator, Scott Fisher, and visual effects supervisor, Paul Franklin in separate interviews to find out how TARS came together.
"Chris [Nolan] started talking about TARS very early on in pre-production," says Franklin. "And I said, ‘Well, what is this robot going to look like?’ And he said, ‘Well, I don’t want it to be a sort of conventional idea of what a robot should be in science fiction. He didn’t want to make it look like just a mechanical mat ... which is typically what happens with robots in science fiction films. They tend to be sort of machine analogs of a human being. At the same time, he wanted the thing to have a real level of physical reality to it."
Franklin's team at visual effects studio Double Negative spent a lot of time figuring out how TARS may run, fold his arms, and do various other movements.
At the same time, Scott Fisher's practical effects team set out to configure a giant 200-pound puppet for Irwin to haul around. Fisher says TARS didn't undergo many different looks.
Production designer Nathan Crowley explains in "Interstellar: Beyond Time and Space" that a lot of inspiration for the robots came from balsa wood and lollipop sticks.
"We started working with the original designs that Nathan had and as far as the size and the shape and seeing what we could do with a person behind it, working it," explained Fisher. "We ended up with several different puppets that we could use that he [Irwin] moved around the set and was able to interact with the actors on set and … I think that’s what makes it kind of neat."
"Bill would actually be able to operate this thing and he was essentially effectively sort of shackled to the back of it," said Franklin.
The design team ended up creating four puppets on set which consisted of TARS and CASE and their own backup robots. Each was tasked with performing different movements.
"We had one that was in the ship that could raise its head," explains Fisher. "We had one that would come out of the back of the ship. We had another one that had more intricate arm movement where the arm could fold out and then a few digits could fold out from that. We had two real hero walkers."
The main challenge was nailing down TARS's movements on screen, something which Irwin helped the crew figure out.
"There’s a lot of trial and error as we built him to see what Bill could do and what he could handle and on different surfaces," tells Fisher. "In Iceland we had to walk through ... it was almost two feet of water. Each one [surface] kind of had a different challenge. Some were kind of slippery. It was hard to move on those. He [Irwin] just had to figure out what was the right kind of tool for each situation."
Fisher says TARS ended up with three different walks in total.
"There’s what we call the “ape walk” and then there’s a “crutch walk” where the two outside legs and the center spins through," he said. "And then there’s where all three legs move independently."
After filming with a practical puppet of TARS, the visual effects team made minor edits which included taking out some wires, physical props and rigs, and wiping out any instances of Irwin in the film.
"We would erase Bill if we saw him because obviously he’s a little bit taller than TARS," said Franklin. "But then we would add things like … if TARS’ arm might fold out and a smaller finer arm might come out at the end. We would add that digitally."
Digital effects were also used to add an extra wow factor to the robots for when they were moving through water and flying through the sky on other planets.
"Mostly, our digital work was confined to those moments where TARS and CASE, his twin robot, tend to do extraordinary things like turn into the waterwheel and move through the water to be able to collect Dr. Brand, pick her up, and run with her," Franklin explained.
Fisher and the practical effects team built physical rigs that allowed the visual effects team to correctly interpret the robots' interactions with the water.
"He had a sort of water wheel rig attached to a quad-bike which we could drive through the water to create all the splashing," said Franklin. "And, then we would add the digital robots into this shot. We’d raise the quad-bike and we’d have a digital robot driving the splashes."
"That produced this very extraordinary result where you believe he’s real because most of the time you’re looking at reality," he added. "When he’s running across the ice, for example, that’s a digital robot. But when he climbs up inside the spacecraft, he’s real."
Fisher noted how unusual it was for a director to take this approach to both TARS and CASE.
"I think most film directors would look at that character and instantly think CG but he [Nolan] instantly thought let’s do as much practical as we can. Let’s see what kind of a puppet we can build," said Fisher. "That's a classic kind of a Nolan thing right there."
Now watch: Adam Savage explain why he loves the design of TARS
When YouTube was first getting started, all you really needed was a webcam and an Internet connection to create videos and build an audience.
But now there's a lot that YouTube creators can do to improve the quality of their channels. YouTube itself has invested in its creators in a number of ways, launching national ad campaigns and providing venture capital to top channels.
The company has also opened YouTube Spaces in Los Angeles, New York City, London, and Tokyo, where YouTube creators with at least 10,000 subscribers can use sound stages, editing bays, and camera equipment for free.
"We invest in our creators in a myriad of ways, and the Space is a tangible resource that can help creators towards their goal of building a business on YouTube," Liam Collins, head of the YouTube Space LA, said to Business Insider.
We visited the YouTube Space in Los Angeles to see those resources firsthand. The studio, which was designed by architecture and design firm HLW, had plenty of fun features to explore.
The YouTube Space Los Angeles, located in the city's Playa Vista neighborhood, officially opened in January 2013.
The studio is part of a cluster of buildings that were once a hub for Howard Hughes' aircraft company. A helicopter in the courtyard pays homage to the area's aviation roots.
Totaling 41,000 square feet of space, the building has production stages, green screens, cameras, and electrical and grip equipment. This stage can accommodate audiences of between 100 and 150 people and has hosted a number of interesting setups. One Direction recently did a seven-hour livestream event from this stage, and Legendary Pictures brought massive sets from "Godzilla" for YouTube creators to play around with.
Actor Chris Pratt apparently wasn't too happy with the "Jurassic World" trailer that premiered last week.
Pratt stars in the sequel to "Jurassic Park," set to come out next summer. Speaking with Vulture at an awards party for "The Lego Movie," Pratt revealed the one thing that bothered him about the trailer — himself:
"I'm just like, Aw, why did I do that with my eyebrow?" he told Vulture. "Unfortunately, it was one of those things you do as an artist where you're hypercritical about it the first time you see it."
Pratt said it took him a few re-watches until he decided, "Oh my God, that is really good."
The 35-year-old actor admitted he's overly critical of all of his films, stating, "It took me two or three times seeing it before I knew it was great, but that's how I was with Guardians of the Galaxy, that's how I was with The Lego Movie, that's how I am with everything I'm in."
If you weren't blown away by the trailer, Pratt added he thinks the "Jurassic World" sequel will be "ten times better than the trailer."
It's high praise for a movie that's creating quite a buzz, and we can only hope Pratt is right.
Daniel Craig's James Bond will once again find himself behind the wheel of an Aston Martin in the upcoming "Spectre." The car that shuttles the world's greatest spy around will be the seductive DB10. Specially commissioned for the latest and 24th film of the wildly popular franchise, the DB10 was designed with the input of the film's director, Sam Mendes.
The DB10 joins the long list of eyecatching and beloved cars to have appeared in the films over the past 50 years. Some of them Q would like to have seen returned in "pristine order," while others were better off destroyed by Bond.
But for most of them, their brief appearance in a Bond flick solidified their status as pop culture icons.
Although 007 drove a Bentley in Ian Fleming's novels, the greatest and most famous of the Bond cars is the Aston Martin DB5. It's appearance in 1964's "Goldfinger" made it an overnight sensation.
In fact, the DB5 has appeared on and off in numerous Bond films —including a breathtaking cameo in 2012's "Skyfall."
The DB5 kicked off a long line of Aston Martin Bond cars, including a souped up V8 Volante in 1987's "The Living Daylights" driven by Timothy Dalton's Bond. Although Bond's V8 Volante was to be a hardtop convertible, some modified coupes (like this one pictured below) were used as well.
Those emails allegedly threaten employees' families if they don't support GOP's goals.
"We understand that some of our employees have received an email claiming to be from GOP," a Sony spokesperson told USA TODAY. "We are aware of the situation and are working with law enforcement."
The GOP seems to take issue with Sony Pictures' corporate practices, including its production of "The Interview," a forthcoming comedy about the assassination of North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un.
An alleged GOP representative told Salted Hash that GOP isn't a state actor:
"We are an international organization including famous figures in the politics and society from several nations such as United States, United Kingdom and France. We are not under direction of any state.
"Our aim is not at the film The Interview as Sony Pictures suggests. But it is widely reported as if our activity is related to The Interview. This shows how dangerous film The Interview is. The Interview is very dangerous enough to cause a massive hack attack. Sony Pictures produced the film harming the regional peace and security and violating human rights for money.
"The news with The Interview fully acquaints us with the crimes of Sony Pictures. Like this, their activity is contrary to our philosophy. We struggle to fight against such greed of Sony Pictures."
Here's the full (and slightly incoherent) email sent to Sony employees, via Variety:
I am the head of GOP who made you worry.
Removing Sony Pictures on earth is a very tiny work for our group which is a worldwide organization. And what we have done so far is only a small part of our further plan. It's your false if you if you think this crisis will be over after some time. All hope will leave you and Sony Pictures will collapse. This situation is only due to Sony Pictures. Sony Pictures is responsible for whatever the result is. Sony Pictues clings to what is good to nobody from the beginning. It's silly to expect in Sony Pictures to take off us. Sony Pictures makes only useless efforts. One beside you can be our member.
Many things beyond imagination will happen at many places of the world. Our agents find themselves act in necessary places. Please sign your name to object the false of the company at the email address below if you don't want to suffer damage. If you don't, not only you but your family will be in danger.
Nobody can prevent us, but the only way is to follow our demand. If you want to prevent us, make your company behave wisely.
In the new Discovery Channel special, "Eaten Alive," snake researcher and conservationist Paul Rosolie sets off into the Amazon Rainforest to do the impossible: capture an anaconda, allow it to eat him, and live to tell the tale.
Rosolie hopes the project will raise awareness for the species and also the destruction of the Amazon.
Produced by Alex Kuzoian. Video courtesy of Associated Press.
Daniel Craig will return as 007 and be accompanied on screen by Monica Bellucci and Léa Seydoux who will play Bond women Lucia Sciarra and Madeleine Swann, respectively.
What happened to the rest of the Bond actresses over the years?
We looked at Bond girls ages 50 and over to celebrate over half a century of James Bond.
"Dr. No" (1962): Ursula Andress popularized the now-iconic scene where she steps out on the beach as Honey Ryder.
Now (Age 78): In 2005, Andress starred in small comedy "The Bird Preachers." The following year she was named honorary citizen of her birthplace Ostermundigen.
"Dr. No" / "From Russia with Love" (1962/1963): Eunice Gayson played Bond's girlfriend Sylvia Trench in two films.
After NBC worried "about the time of the year" the show would be released (March) and not having "a complementary program to launch it with," Sarandos tells Vulture he got a call from Fey.
"We got a call from Tina Fey and from Dave Miner to come to New York. We came up literally on the last day of production, watched some of the shooting. Met with Tina and the team, heard what they were planning, and said, 'Look, if you can work it out with NBC, we’d love to do it.' And within 12 hours, we’d seen nine of the 13 episodes. And within four days, the deal was done."
The show, starring "The Office" actress Ellie Kemper as a woman who escapes from a doomsday cult and starts life over again in New York City, is produced by "30 Rock" duo Fey and Robert Carlock, who have a longstanding relationship with NBC.
"This was a strange opportunity where, usually when shows don’t make it, sometimes it has very little to do with the quality and it has everything to do with the time slot, the lead-in show, the time of year it came out," Sarandos explained to Vulture at the Gotham Independent Film Awards, where he received a career tribute award. "It was probably one of the most remarkable developments of the last couple of years in television."
And NBC boss Robert Greenblatt was on board with the swap from network TV to the streaming site, saying in a statement: "While it was originally developed for NBC, we have a very drama-heavy mid-season schedule so we’re thrilled about this Netflix opportunity; it’s an instant win-win for everyone, including Tina, Robert, and Universal Television. We’re already talking to these extraordinary creators about new development for NBC, but meanwhile, everyone here from Universal Television will do everything possible to see that 'Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt' becomes a long-running hit on Netflix."
Cindy Holland, VP of Original Content at Netflix, added to Deadline: "The very construct of 'Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt' — its offbeat premise, hilarious and rich characters and serialized storytelling — make it a perfect Netflix comedy series."
The woman, Judy Huth, filed a lawsuit and a police report accusing Cosby of getting her and a friend drunk before inviting them to the Playboy Mansion, telling them to lie about their age if it came up and then "performing a sex act on himself without her consent."
Cosby has been a frequest visitor of the Playboy Mansion and longtime friend of Hugh Hefner's, but now the 88-year-old Playboy founder has issued a statement distancing himself from the comedian:
"Bill Cosby has been a good friend for many years and the mere thought of these allegations is truly saddening. I would never tolerate this kind of behavior, regardless of who was involved."
Meanwhile, Cosby denies Huth's allegations, accusing her of lying in a bid to extort him. The comedian's lawyer says Huth reached out to Cosby and "demanded money in exchange for silence after first purportedly trying to sell her story to tabloids a decade ago," according to GossipCop.
The Associated Press notes that the woman "claims ... she discovered its impact on her within the past three years, which allows her to file the lawsuit under California law."
"Huth claims she was emotionally and psychologically damaged from the incident," TMZ reported. "As for why she filed so late, Huth claims she was so mentally scarred, that she only recently connected her psychological issues with the alleged incident."
The 88-second trailer for "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" has amassed more than 44 million YouTube views since its release on November 28th.
"Saturday Night Live" mocked the trailer by imagining what the original characters — Luke Skywalker, Princess Leia, and Han Solo — will look like in 2015's new installment.
James Franco hosted "Saturday Night Live" this weekend and opened the show by addressing last week's massiveSonyhacks.
"Something pretty crazy happened this week. I have this movie called 'The Interview' coming out at Sony and this week Sony Studios got all their computers hacked. This is true. These hackers have leaked real personal information about everybody that works at Sony. Social security numbers, emails, and I know eventually they're going to start leaking out stuff about me. So before you hear it from someone else, I thought it would be better if you hear it from me."
Franco joked: "Soon you'll know that my email is CuterThanDaveFranco@AOL.com. My password is LittleJamesyCutiePie — and this is all just a real violation of my personal life."
Then Seth Rogen joined Franco on stage, to warn his "Interview" co-star: "It's much, much worse than we thought it would be. You're not going to believe this but an hour ago they released some of our private photos from our phones."
"Like the one I took of you in your dressing room?" asked Franco.
Rogen jokingly replied, "Yes, but they also leaked this one of me teaching you how to read."
The two also joked that the hackers released photos of them pretending to be John and Yoko.
Earlier this week, leaked Sony documents revealedRogen was paid $8.4 million and Franco $6.5 million for their roles in "The Interview," a Sony movie about two journalists who land an interview with the North Korean leader and are then recruited by the CIA to take part in a plot to poison him. North Korea reacted furiously in June when Sony announced its plans for the film, denouncing it as the work of "gangster moviemakers."
Franco closed the monologue by adding: "Oh and also, all the girls who got any Instagram messages from me last year, the hackers did it! It was the hackers!"
Mark Cuban chatted with Henry Blodget at Business Insider'sIgnition 2014. Cuban, who owns the NBA's Dallas Mavericks, told us why he thought the NFL'sgreed would be the cause of its downfall. Edited by Devan Joseph. Special thanks to Justin Gmoser and Sam Rega.
As we roll into the final month of the year, Oscar season is nearly upon us.
We’ve gathered the winter movies you should see, including blockbuster hopefuls from directors Ridley Scott and Peter Jackson along with award-worthy performances from Matthew McConaughey and rising star Benedict Cumberbatch.
"Whiplash"
Released: Oct. 10
Why to see it: One of the most critically acclaimed movies of the year, the film follows a young musician (Miles Teller) as he trains under his teacher (J.K. Simmons) to do whatever it takes to become a top jazz drummer. Early reviews from Sundance called Simmons' performance the "role of his career."Teller blew audiences away in "The Spectacular Now," and it's refreshing to see him in another meaty role following a string of juvenileromantic comedies.
Why see it: Director Christopher Nolan's latest is one of the smartest movies of the year — and one of the most ambitious— as it launches audiences through wormholes and black holes with Matthew McConaughey in the driver's seat. Fans were won over by a humorous monolithic robot named TARS and an unexpected cameo from a big star more than halfway through the film. Sure, the space epic came out in November; however, it's playing in IMAX theaters until the release of "The Hobbit" sequel later this month. This is one that will leave you thinking long after you leave the movies.
Why to watch:See this for Eddie Redmayne's performance as Stephen Hawking alone. The film will undoubtedly leave you with some questions about Hawking's life; however, Redmayne gives a miraculously moving performance as the theoretical physicist that will move you to tears. Felicity Jones is also exceptional as Hawking's wife Jane.
But the ad has incurred the wrath of animal lovers.
McVitie’s Facebook pages and the comments under the YouTube video have been flooded with people accusing the brand of being irresponsible for featuring cute animals at a time of year when many pets are bought, only to be discarded once the festive cheer wears off and people realize they have to actually look after the things.
Here are some of the complaints on McVitie's Jaffa Cakes brand page:
The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has also received 44 complaints about the ad. That might seem like a small number, but it only takes one complaint for the ad watchdog to launch an investigation and potentially ban the ad (however, those investigations are often a lengthy process and often an adjudication occurs after the ad campaign has run its course anyway.) The ASA told Business Insider: “We are carefully assessing the complaints to establish if there are grounds for further action.”
Some of the complaints raised also expressed concern about a section of the ad that featured a rabbit lying on its back, which the complainants believe cause the animal distress. As a result of those complaints, McVitie’s edited ad on Friday, removing that scene from both the TV and online version.
Indeed, “abby.mercer,” who commented on Business Insider’s article about the ad wrote: “Rabbits laying like that are experiencing tonic immobility, a last ditch survival instinct which is an attempt to play dead in the hope that the predator will release them. It causes rapid changes in heart rate and increased stress.”
She later went on to encourage people to complaint to the ASA, flood McVitie’s #sweeetChristmas hashtag and tell the brand they disagreed with the use of animals in the ad on its Facebook page.
"We can confirm that no animals were harmed in the making of the McVitie’s Victoria Christmas ad. We had a professional vet and handlers on set overseeing all the filming to ensure the welfare of the animals was our top priority. The professionals on set have confirmed that in their opinion the rabbit filmed was absolutely not in a state of tonic immobility or “trancing”; the camera angles used in the filming are clearly misleading. However, we understand that the ad could mislead people into thinking that putting a rabbit on its back is recommended, when this is not the case. We have therefore taken the decision to remove this scene in the ad as soon as we can. We’d like to thank anyone who raised this issue with us and would like to remind the public that they should follow professional advice as to how to best handle animals in specific circumstances including from The Rabbit Welfare Association and Fund – www.rabbitwelfare.co.uk."
United Biscuits also provided Business Insider with this separate statement in response to the claims that the ad could encourage people to irresponsibly buy pets at Christmas.
“The McVitie’s Victoria Christmas advert has received an extremely positive response on the whole. However, we take all complaints seriously and will review any instances as necessary. We can confirm that no animals were harmed in the making of the advert, and it was never the intention to encourage viewers to buy animals for Christmas. The use of animals is a continuation of the theme used in our hugely popular McVitie’s sweeet advertisements, first aired earlier this year. The aim of the advertisement is simply to remind people about Victoria by putting a smile on viewers’ faces.”
On Sunday, naturalist Paul Rosolie was set to be swallowed by an anaconda snake on the much-hyped Discovery Channel special "Eaten Alive."
Instead, after Rosolie took off the lower-arm section of his specially designed crush-proof suit for more mobility, he wrestled with the snake, which coiled around him, before calling off the stunt.
Rosolie said the snake was squeezing his arm so tight he feared it might break.
"Guys you need to get in here ... I'm calling it I need help!" he said from inside the suit, prompting the crew to rescue Rosolie and abort the mission.
Viewers following along at home for two hours were not amused.
People took to social media to joke about the failed stunt:
"Interstellar" director Christopher Nolan is a big proponent of making his movies look as real as possible. 
When YouTube was first getting started, all you really needed was a webcam and an Internet connection to create videos and build an audience.
"This was a strange opportunity where, usually when shows don’t make it, sometimes it has very little to do with the quality and it has everything to do with the time slot, the lead-in show, the time of year it came out," Sarandos explained to Vulture at the Gotham Independent Film Awards, where he received a career tribute award. 
