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It seems like just yesterday Jamal Murray was going en fuego from three point land while Nikola Jokic dissected defenses in the bubble in Orlando. In reality, its been seventy-seven days since the Denver Nuggets were eliminated by the Los Angeles Lakers in the 2020 NBA Playoffs making this the shortest offseason in franchise history. Will Denver be able to build off the momentum of their Western Conference Finals run and become title contenders? Or will the turnover in the roster and rapid schedule cause them to stagnate? Tonight we begin to find out the answers to those questions.

Their opponent has plenty of questions to answer as well. Just a few years removed from being the most dominant team in the NBA, the Golden State Warriors are looking to bounce back from a forgettable season marred by injuries that saw them put up the worst record in the NBA. Tonight was supposed to be the start of a comeback story for the Warriors but they have already lost star Klay Thompson for the season to an achilles injury. Still, Golden State will have the services of Stephen Curry and Draymond Green, along with several solid additions to their roster. Despite being an exhibition, tonights game is sure to provide plenty of intrigue.

Who: Denver Nuggets at Golden State Warriors

When: 6:30 PM MST

Where: Chase Center, San Francisco, CA.

How to watch/listen: Denver Stiffs does not condone piracy...unless its the romanticized 18th-century type. Altitude TV where available, League Pass for non-Denver market viewers. Sneak into the Chase Center with a Chris Mullin mask. 92.5 FM KKSE Altitude Sports Radio.

Rival blog: Golden State of Mind

Player availability: Injury reports were not submitted at time of writing. Check the NBAs official injury report website for updates.

The first game of the preseason is always going to look a bit clunky. Throw in the fact that the Nuggets added seven new players to the roster and lets just say I dont expect a very smooth game. The Warriors have gone through quite a bit of turnover themselves, with newcomers Kelly Oubre Jr. and Brad Wanaker adding to the depth behind a still potent core. Golden Sate also has been dealing with some COVID-19 issues. The aforementioned Green and second overall pick James Wiseman are both out tonight after testing positive a week ago. All in all, this game has all the makings of a true blue preseason contest.

All Nuggets fans eyes are likely to be glued to two thirds of the Unicorn Brothers. Will Michael Porter Jr. start? How many minutes and where in the rotation does Bol Bol slot in? With the shortened preseason we can expect Michael Malone wont spent too much time tinkering and will instead be using these warm up games to quickly get his team ready for when the wins and losses start to count in a week and a half. There will also be less time for players to win rotation spots. Where Bol and MPJ get their minutes and how they perform in tonights game will be very revealing for their rotation prospects, at least early on in the season.

The Unicorn Brothers (Jokic, MPJ, Bol) plus Jamal Murray is a fascinating idea to think about. It might not happen this season with Bol still early in his development but its certainly possible we get to see it. Throw in Argentinian wizard (Facundo Campazzo) and Kid Lightning (R.J. Hampton) along with a healthy Gary Harris and Will Barton and this season has the makings of being something really fun. Plus Denver still has all the fire power they need to compete for a title this year if a couple things break their way. I cant wait for it to get started.

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Preview: Denver Nuggets open 20/21 campaign with a preseason game against the Golden State Warriors - Denver Stiffs

Miami would pursue a trade for Rocketsstar James Hardenif the opportunity arises, a source tells Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald. The former MVP reportedly expanded his list of preferred optionsthis week, with the Heatand Bucks joining the Nets and Sixers.

According to the source, at least two members of Miamis management team have substantial interest in adding Harden and theres no significant opposition to the move. Outsiders have raised concerns that Hardens ball-dominant style might not fit the Heats philosophy, but the belief among the front office is that Harden plays that way because thats how the offense in Houston is structured.

The Rockets havent committed to putting Harden on the market, but the source says the Heat would be among the teams to make an offer in Houston moves in that direction. The source adds that Miami would be willing to include Tyler Herroto get a deal done. The Heat prefer to keep Herro, who made a huge impact during his rookie season, but recognize that players of Hardens caliber are hard to obtain.

Assessing the situation this week, ESPNs Zach Lowe suggested Herro is better than any single player that Brooklyn would be willing to part with, though he believes the Rockets would lean toward Ben Simmonsif Philadelphia makes him available. Lowe adds that he doesnt think any substantive talks have happened with any teams regarding a Harden trade.

Jackson notes that Miami has financial restrictions to consider. Because the Heat are above the salary cap, they would have to send out close to the $41.2M that Harden earns this season. League rules state that Miami can take back as much as 125% of the salaries it parts with in the deal, plus $100K. Andre Iguodala($15M) and Kelly Olynyk($12.6M) would likely have to be included in any offer, Jackson states.

Goran Dragic, Meyers Leonardand Udonis Haslem, who all re-signed with the Heat over the offseason, have veto power over trades and cant be moved before February 6. Free agent additionsAvery Bradley andMaurice Harkless also cant be traded until that date.

Jackson sees Miamis best offer as Herro, two players from the group ofPrecious Achiuwa, Kendrick Nunnand Duncan Robinson, along with Olynyk and Iguodala to match salaries and first-round picks in 2025 and 2027. The Heat and Thunder would have to remove protections on the first-rounder Miami owes Oklahoma City in 2023 for that deal to be possible.

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Heat would be interested in James Harden trade - Yardbarker

Mariah Careys modern classic All I Want for Christmas Is You finally hit No. 1 (after 25 years) last holiday season, surely inspiring more songwriters to try their hand at a well-worn but welcome annual tradition. Our pop and jazz critics surveyed the latest releases and picked out 20 that offer worthy additions to your seasonal playlists.

Here are three veteran jazz musicians who understand the joys of a firmly pressed swing rhythm, and how far it can take you. The pianist Jackie Warren, the bassist Amy Shook and the drummer Sherrie Maricle have released three albums as the 3D Jazz Trio (it stands for 3 Divas), which grew out of their work in Maricles DIVA Jazz Orchestra. The latest flaunts the kind of powerful locomotion that drives the DIVA big band, steaming through 10 holiday tunes Warrens buoyant improvising right hand leading the way. GIOVANNI RUSSONELLO

The singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and virtuoso whistler Andrew Bird riffles through moods and genres on his holiday album: Hes wistful, sardonic, jaunty and pensive by turns. Along with Bird himself, the songwriters include Schubert, Irving Berlin, John Prine and John Cale. Bird mingles songs of his own with idiosyncratic takes on the standards: whistling a wordless O Holy Night over pizzicato strings, toying with bossa nova and Hot Club jazz in the Vince Guaraldi Peanuts tune Christmas Is Coming, bringing Western swing to Auld Lang Syne. Birds Greenwine is a gruesomely comic rewrite of Greensleeves, while Nights Falling and Alabaster offer comfort through long winter nights. JON PARELES

Greg Kurstin, a hitmaking producer with Adele, Sia and others, has been recording breezy, slyly retro pop since 2005 with the singer and songwriter Inara George as the Bird and the Bee. Their holiday album has a multitracked George harmonizing coolly with herself on songs like Sleigh Ride and Deck the Halls, and enlists Foo Fighters Dave Grohl to supply the hefty beat on Little Drummer Boy. Kurstins productions for The Christmas Song and Christmastime Is Here collapse the decades between blurry old movie scores and digital glitches. And two of their own songs, You and I at Christmas Time and Merry Merry, celebrate domestic comforts amid playfully meandering chords. PARELES

The cozy yet polished Southern California sound of Laurel Canyon in the mid-1970s returns on the holiday album by Karla Bonoff, whos entitled to it. She got her songs recorded in the mid-1970s by Linda Ronstadt and Bonnie Raitt, among others. The guitars are burnished, Bonoffs piano offers hymnlike chords and the vocals are natural and intimate. She sings old carols, Joni Mitchells River and a song she wrote with Kenny Edwards, Everybodys Home Tonight. PARELES

Barnaby Bright is Becky and Nathan Bliss, a married couple. She sings lead, hes the producer and occasional backup singer; both write songs. Their holiday album, Bleak Midwinter, explores various production styles Beach Boys in their own Star-Crossed Christmas, chamber-pop piano and cello in their If We Listen, booming drums and arena-scale reverberations in the English carol In the Bleak Midwinter, electronic percussion with big-band horns in Please Come Home for Christmas. Becky Blisss voice can be breathy and confiding, but she also has reserves of power when production drama ramps up. PARELES

Over the last two years, Fuerza Rgida has emerged as one of the leading trap corridos bands, blending nimble musicianship and attitudinal singing. Holiday music is perhaps too plainly joyful a medium for the group, but on Navidad con la Rgida it proves game, whether its the chipper tuba on Feliz Navidad or the brassy singing on Ven a Mi Casa Esta Navidad. But the album closer is closer to home: a heart-rending cover of the unerringly mournful Cada Diciembre by Los Plebes del Rancho de Ariel Camacho, on which the frontman Jess Ortiz sounds almost dizzy with sadness. JON CARAMANICA

The keyboardist and producer Chilly Gonzales mostly offers familiar songs, from Good King Wenceslas to All I Want for Christmas Is You, as restrained instrumentals, usually piano solos. He has fun with reharmonizations, sometimes switching major keys to minor ones, as he does in Jingle Bells and Auld Lang Syne: every so often, additional instruments twinkle into the mix. The standout tracks have guest vocalists: Feist tiptoeing through a new song she wrote with Gonzales, The Banister Bough, and Jarvis Cocker and Feist sharing a fondly observant song by David Berman, Snow Is Falling in Manhattan. PARELES

Goo Goo Dolls cling to the earnestness of classic rock, but also step outside it, on their Christmas album. One of the two originals, This Is Christmas, splits the difference between Simon & Garfunkel and Billy Joel, with a waltz that praises Not the things that you buy but the love that you bring. The other, You Aint Getting Nothing, looks back to Cab Calloway, with horns, a swinging bass line and wry lyrics: You think the seasons merry but you better think twice. They also resurface Tom Pettys Christmas All Over Again and a swinging Louis Prima obscurity, Shake Hands with Santa Claus. Its a music fans album, cognizant of a long past. PARELES

Cory Henry has shake-your-head-in-disbelief-level talent, and on this self-produced EP he mixes holiday-centric originals with classic carols taken in a gospel-pop style thats recognizable if you know his work with the Funk Apostles. At an NPR holiday concert held earlier this month at the Kennedy Center in coronavirus-conscious fashion, Henry sat alone at a grand piano and played a short set including Stevie Wonders Someday at Christmas, an anthemic social justice plea, as well as two of the seven songs included on the EP. RUSSONELLO

After many years stuck in the purgatory of a bad record contract, the 29-year-old singer JoJo is making up for lost time: December Baby is her second release of 2020, following the confessional R&B of Good to Know. A mix of old classics, sleek originals, and personality-driven interstitials (does anybody carol anymore?), the modern-yet-tasteful album showcases JoJos silky voice and intuitive phrasings. Bought a last-minute plane ticket so I could see you not just through a FaceTime, she sings on Coming Home, a dreamy new song that certainly conjures the Ghost of Christmas Present. But December Baby is at its best when JoJo updates familiar songs like Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas and Silent Night with her signature sass and pop-R&B cool. LINDSAY ZOLADZ

The pair of standout songs on this compilation from the Atlanta-based LVRN (Love Renaissance) imprint couldnt be more different. The wondrous, wise R&B melancholic Summer Walker leans into a damp, deliberate version of Santa Baby. And on 12 Days of Bhristmas, the charismatic female rapper OMB Bloodbath tackles the first half of the calendar, crashing a car and hitting the club and the mall, while Westside Boogie closes out with chaos, including a detour on day 10: Dont ask me bout the 10th day/got too drunk inside the daytime. CARAMANICA

Even the Leslie Odom Jr. albums that arent about the holidays almost feel like they are. On the heels of his breakthrough role playing Aaron Burr in Hamilton, Odom brought that Broadway ebullience into the studio in 2016 with a self-titled debut album. But it was Simply Christmas, released later that year, that sent him up the Billboard charts, establishing a niche beyond his stage persona. Two releases later, The Christmas Album mixes traditional gems (Little Drummer Boy, O Holy Night) with contemporary classics (George Michaels Last Christmas, Sara Bareilless Winter Song) and a couple of his own tunes (the jingle-jangly, synth-bass-driven Snow and the power ballad Heaven and Earth). RUSSONELLO

Yes, Dolly Parton admits on a hilariously hammy spoken-word bridge of the opening track, the idea for the title predated this album. Holly Dolly is just Partons second solo-billed holiday album, and her first since Home for Christmas, a collection of 10 traditional covers from 1990. The new LP features six of her own compositions: Christmas on the Square is a warm, rollicking bluegrass number; Cuddle Up, Cozy Down Christmas is a characteristically randy duet with a very game Michael Bubl. Aside from Jimmy Fallon on All I Want for Christmas, the other guests make the most of their appearances: Miley and Billy Ray Cyrus; Dollys brother Randy Parton; and, most effectively, Willie Nelson, joining with Parton to sing his own stirring 1963 holiday tear-jerker, Pretty Paper. ZOLADZ

One of the years unique holiday albums, Jordin Sparkss Cider & Hennessy is full of Christmas originals that temper tradition with modern twists. The title track is up-tempo R&B about a mother letting her hair down after a long December day, and Trapmas Medley smears Maybach and Birkin dreams over rat-tat-tat percussion. But the most radical song might be the most traditional: A Baby Changes Everything, a tender track about the trials of a teen mother (who just happens to be Mary, mother of Jesus). CARAMANICA

Maddie & Tae, the spirited duo best known for Girl in a Country Song, bring their twangy, angelic harmonies to four standards and two new songs on their festive EP We Need Christmas. The originals are a mixed bag: The mawkish We Need Christmas contorts itself to be timely (any song that contains the lyric now more than ever is probably gunning a little too hard for commercial placement), but Merry Married Christmas is a genuinely sweet ode to a newlywed couples first holiday season together. The highlight is their cover of Darlene Loves Christmas (Baby Please Come Home), which slows the tempo and draws fresh emotion from a familiar tune. ZOLADZ

Can I interest you in some Wholesome Content? Savanna Shaw and her father, Mat, became a quarantine-era YouTube success story for their acoustic duets of religious-esque songs that were pinpoint precise, verging on stern. Things are moving fast this Christmas EP is their second release in the last three months, all sung in the mode of Bocelli and Groban. Their rendition of Mary, Did You Know? is poignant and elegantly spacious, almost nervy in its conviction, and I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day has an unlikely echo of Extremes More Than Words. Throughout, Savanna sings with airy sweep, and Mat booms like a drill sergeant on Thankful, father and daughter harmonize into billowy bliss. CARAMANICA

Tinashe treats familiar Christmas songs the way hip-hop producers treat samples: as springboards for commentary, moods, tangents, associations, sonic transformations. While the track list for Comfort & Joy looks familiar from God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen to Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas Tinashe ricochets off the familiar material, adding verbal responses or surreally warping arrangements, using synthetic rhythms and her gravity-defying voice to change and challenge expectations. PARELES

Doesnt every Meghan Trainor song already sound like a Christmas song? So it should be no surprise that her originals here the frisky Naughty List, the swinging I Believe in Santa could have easily fit in on her other, yuletide-free albums. Mischievous misbehavior, hope beyond hope, belief in the impossible: Trainor, one of pops least self-conscious stars, focuses on them the other 364 days, too. CARAMANICA

The first holiday album from country musics reigning vocal assassin comes full of promise. Bombastic ballads, bring em on! Hardcore hymns, thou shalt be exalted! And yet My Gift is placid, light on melodrama. Restrained. Nice. Underwood duets with her son Isaiah, who is 5. And for most of the rest of the album she sings gently enough that he might be able to sing along. Bummer. CARAMANICA

In 1986, stars of Latin pop, mostly Mexican, recorded Eterna Navidad, a collection of Christmas songs in Spanish that became a hit across Latin America. Eterna Navidad Celebremos revisits its track list and adds a few including John Lennons Happy Xmas (War Is Over), translated as Lleg Navidad and sung by Manuel Carrasco, from Spain performed by a newer assortment of stars. The lineup features Juanes (with a hard-rock version of Little Drummer Boy) and the rapper Pitizion from Colombia along with Mexican performers including Alejandro Fernndez, Gloria Trevi, Kurt and Banda el Recodo. While the original album reveled in a contemporary, synthesizer-happy 1980s sound, the new one is more self-conscious and rootsy, placing accordions, acoustic guitars and brasses upfront, even in songs written in the United States or Britain, like Dulce Navidad (a version of Jingle Bells), Blanca Navidad (White Christmas), Diciembre (Wham!s Last Christmas) and Rodolfo El Reno (Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer), which gets turned into a cheerful cumbia by Los Tigres del Norte. Throughout the album, the voices scratchy, husky, chirpy, floating are vividly committed. Time will tell if, in 34 years, this album will sound as dated as Eterna Navidad does now. PARELES

Continued here:
20 Albums That Put a New Spin on the Holidays - The New York Times

What's the state of the Line of Succession at the end of The Crown season 4 and how does it compare to today's line-up of British Royals?

What did the British Line of Succession look like at the end The Crown season 4 and how does it compare to the present day? The most recent batch of episodes following the ins and outs of the Windsor family covereda somewhat turbulent era in British history, one that saw the rise Thatcherism, an uptick in social unrest, and the entrance of Princess Diana. The season, which spannedthe years 1979 through 1990, also featured a handful marital unions and births which would shape the Royal Family for decades to come.

Creator Peter Morgan's dramatization of Britain's mostfamousclan has often been preoccupiedwith the business-like (and often coldly detached) distribution of power, influence, and titles. The hierarchy within the Royal Family also tends to play into the psychology of its members at least the versions ofcreated for the show. In The Crown season 3, after Charles wonders why he,as heir to the throne, is treated so much more harshly than his sister, Anne replies bluntly, "Because I'm irrelevant. I rather wish she would be like that with me. It would suggest I have significance." Princess Margaret's journey throughout the quartet of seasons has largely revolved around this concept, as well, as she falls further down in the Line of Succession and more responsibilities are stripped from her. In season 4, episode 7: "Hereditary Principle,"she learns that young Prince Edward will take her place as one of the six Counsellors of State, Margaret angrily confronts her sister, shouting, "I asked you for one thing. Work! A purpose, dignity!"

Related:The Crown Season 4: What Every Character Looked Like In Real Life

In the context of the show, the Line of Succession is shownas a potent force able toinfluence the lives and emotional states of its characters and Morgan appears to be investigating the very system itself; a system which often teeters between practicality and cruelty. Here's the royal pecking-orderwhen viewers left the Windsors at the end ofThe Crown season 4and a look at where they are ranked today.

Of course, as The Crown is more-or-less conceived as a deep-dive into Queen Elizabeth's historic reign, and the monarch, played by Olivia Coleman (who wrapped her two-season run on the show), is still on the throne. However, it is easy to forget that her rise to sovereign was an atypical one, relatively speaking.Queen Elizabeth II's storyis a somewhat unusual in that she is able to remember a time in which, as a young girl, she was unlikely to rise to the throne - adetail explored ina handful of The Crown's flashbacks. After all, her father King George VI only came to the throne after his brother King Edward VIII controversially abdicated it, irrevocably changing young Elizabeth'slife as well as the nation's future. Still on the throne after a whopping 63 years, Queen Elizabeth's reign hasthe distinction of being the longest in her nation's history.

Prince Charles' status as heir apparent is rather straight-forward. As the queen's first born child and son, the Prince of Wales is next in line to assume the throne. Because of his mother's historically-long tenure as ruler, he has had, correspondingly, the longest-serving heir apparent in British history. The Crown season 4features many discussions of what kind of king Charles will be and how impactful his decisions will be on his eventual rule, so it is therefore ironic that he is yet to become monarch in the present day.

The entrance of Princess Diana marked much of this season's action and intrigue, unsurprising due to the royal-turned-humanitarian's sensational popularity in the 1980s and 1990s. However, her arrival also played into the updating of the Line of Succession and this last batch of episodes sees her giving birth to Charles' two sons Prince William and Prince Harry.Prince William has been second in line to the throne since his birth and his younger brother Harry is third by the time season 4 concludes.

Continue reading here:
The Crown's Line Of Succession After Season 4 (Compared To Today) - Screen Rant

The Las Vegas Raiders are the most confounding team in the NFL. If you dont believe me, just look at whats transpired over the past three weeks.

On November 22, Jon Grudens team pushed the defending champion Chiefs to the brink, nearly knocking off Kansas City for the second time this season before ultimately succumbing to more late-game heroics from Patrick Mahomes. Fans and analysts alike wondered aloud if these Raiders now in their third season under Gruden had finally arrived. That if somehow this 6-4 team and its potent, top-10 offense could emerge from a muddled group of AFC contenders and mount the best challenge to Mahomes and friends come playoff time. In the moment, it felt like a reasonable question. Then the next two weeks happened.

Las Vegas followed its strong showing against Kansas City with a grotesque performance against the Falcons in Week 12. Derek Carr turned the ball over four times against a resurgent Atlanta...

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The Raiders are the NFL's most confusing team - The Athletic

Could Facebook be forced to spin off WhatsApp and Instagram? Thats what the U.S. government is seeking in a long-awaited antitrust lawsuit filed Wednesday, the same day dozens of states sued the social media giant on similar grounds. Whatever happens, experts expect a long-drawn out battle that Facebook is prepared to defend vigorously and with enormous resources.

Lawmakers of both major parties are also calling for stronger oversight of Facebook and other tech-industry giants. They argue that the companies massive market power is out of control, crushing smaller competitors and endangering consumer privacy and choice. Facebook insists that its services provide useful benefits for users and that complaints about its power are misguided.

Here are some questions and answers about what the government actions against Facebook mean.

WHAT HAPPENS NEXT?

The short answer is: We wait.

The battle initiated by the Federal Trade Commission and the states could take years to resolve. At the moment, experts think its unlikely to end in a settlement, so it may be a fight to the verdict. And the two sides could spend months arguing over issues such as document disclosure before the trial even starts. Once it does, expect a slugfest.

Facebook has been well aware of the possibility for this antitrust challenge for some time and they have the resources to make this a formidable challenge for prosecutors, said George Hay, an antitrust expert and law professor at Cornell University. The one thing that is certain is that the demand for antitrust lawyers and economists will increase.

ARE APPLE AND AMAZON NEXT?

Justice Department prosecutors are pursuing a separate antitrust case against Google, one that mirrors its case against Microsoft 20 years ago. Microsoft lost that one, although it escaped a breakup when an appellate court disagreed with the trial judges order.

Its possible that more cases could follow. Congressional investigators spent months digging into the actions of Apple and Amazon in addition to Facebook and Google, and called the CEOs of all four companies to testify. The FTC and the Justice Department reportedly have been investigating Amazon and Apple, respectively.

So no one can rule out the possibility that three or even all four of these companies could end up in court.

WILL FACEBOOK HAVE TO DIVEST INSTAGRAM AND WHATSAPP?

Government prosecutors are asking for exactly that. But it could be harder than it sounds.

The FTC argues that Facebook has engaged in a systematic strategy to eliminate its competition, including by purchasing smaller up-and-coming rivals Instagram in 2012 and WhatsApp in 2014. Facebook called the governments claims revisionist history that punishes successful businesses and noted that the FTC cleared the Instagram and WhatsApp acquisitions years ago.

Thats true, although experts say it doesnt really matter at least not legally. The FTC approvals years ago dont preclude re-examining or even reversing those acquisitions. Still, its complicated.

It may be that, if the court agrees with the governments theory of the case, divestiture is the only way to cure the anticompetitive harm, said Daniel A. Lyons, a law professor and antitrust expert at Boston College. But courts traditionally break up companies only as a last resort, because unwinding two merged entities is difficult. In this case, it would involve undoing over a decade of integration.

Facebook doesnt operate the three companies as separate businesses and has been integrating functions of Instagram and WhatsApp with its main platform. For instance, users can now access messages sent on either app in Facebooks Messenger app.

WOULD A BREAKUP BE GOOD FOR USERS?

In the short term: probably not. In the medium-to-long term: maybe.

Any spinoff would involve undoing years of technical integration, and thats not easy to untangle. And a split would almost inevitably create issues that could annoy users, ranging from the loss of features added by Facebook to technical problems as engineers muck around with the apps internal code.

When Facebook bought Instagram, the photo-sharing app was a fraction of its current size, with just 30 million users; today is has well over 1 billion. It offered a simple app that users really liked, although it didnt make any money. Facebook has since added a bevy of new features, such as chats, disappearing stories and the ability to shop and create and watch longer videos.

While some original Instagram users deride the additions, others have come to appreciate them and might miss them if they were to disappear.

WhatsApp has stayed truer to its origins, although Facebook has big plans underway for the messaging app as well. For instance, shopping. Facebook argues that neither app would be where they are today if it hadnt thrown vast resources at expanding features, beefing up security and moderating content.

But a post-breakup Facebook might be so busy trying to fill Instagram- and WhatsApp-sized holes that startups formerly under its shadow could spring up with their own innovative services. Which could be good for everyone.

GIVEN ALL ITS PROBLEMS, WHY IS FACEBOOK STILL GROWING?

Facebook has 2.7 billion users, most of them outside of the U.S. In 2012, when it bought Instagram, it had 1 billion. While growth has slowed, nothing not privacy concerns, not abuse and misinformation, not criticisms about the giants power and dominance, not even unproven claims about bias against conservatives have been able to reverse this trend.

Even when people declare they are leaving Facebook, they often end up returning. And there are still enough people in the world, especially outside of the U.S. and Europe, who join and make up for anyone who flounces.

Of course, acquiring Instagram and WhatsApp has also helped Facebook fold more people into its family of apps. Its easy to join Facebook and not as easy to leave both technically and because everyone you know is on there, not to mention photos, memories and the ability to keep tabs on exes and former classmates.

Continue reading here:
Q&A: What's next for Facebook in the antitrust case? - The Associated Press

Regardless OF whether you like your IPAs dry, bitter, and pilsner-clear, or dense, soft, and opaque with polyphenol haze, youre sipping them because of how they leverage the wondrous hop flower. No other beverage so effectively captures the myriad aromas and flavors contained within those pungent catkins. Short of packing a vaporizer with a bowl of freshly rubbed hops, IPA is your best bet for experiencing the surreal expression of what hops are.

Bob Kunz, founder and brewmaster of Highland Park Brewery in Los Angeles, dropped that surreal expression line on me while discussing his approach to IPA brewing. His teams target varies with each new IPA they brewtheir output ranges from classic West Coaststyle to new-school soft and hazy ales to the more recent attempts to find a middle groundbut Kunz says his ultimate goal is to maneuver all the knobs available in the brewery to fully realize my vision.

When brewing IPA, Kunz envisions a beer that not only provides the pure experience of hops, akin to sticking your head in a fresh sack of hops, but also a beer that contains a through-line of hop expression, from the initial pour to the sensations that linger even beyond the beers finish. He wants his beers to tell the hops story with a beginning, a middle, and an end. To establish the plot, he adds hops throughout the brewing process with time-tested techniquesincluding doses of aroma hops added to the whirlpool after the boil.

In designing the brewhouse at Highland Parks second location, Kunz got help from Tim Heath. The former engineering director at Premier Stainless, Heath now helps breweries design new systems and processes. Heath breaks down the design of late-hop-friendly whirlpool vessels into three aspects: getting wort in, the geometry of the vessel itself, and getting wort out. The goals are high velocity, good hop contact, the development of a dense cone of solids, and efficiency in separating the wort from those solids.

Its hard to move a static body of liquid, and you want to get the mass moving as quickly as possible, Heath says. The swirling inside the vessel is created by a high-velocity stream of liquid at the inlet of the whirlpool. Ideally, the flow from the kettle doesnt lose any velocity at the whirlpool inlet, and the exact position, direction, and size of this port is crucial to whirlpool performance. The hardest work a pump sees in the brewhouse is pulling dense, 212F [100C] liquid out of the kettle, he says, to illustrate the importance of rugged, high-velocity pumps. Once the wort is transferred and swirling inside the tank, centripetal force pulls any solids into the center of the whirlpool and deposits them as a cone. Ports ideally positioned along the sides of the tank, just above that cone, draw off the clarified wort. Some whirlpools have a barrier between the cone and the draw-off ports to help prevent solids from leaving with the wort.

In the world of cutting-edge IPAs, little tweaks to processes can make big changes in the finished beer. Heath says hes seen brewers scale back their focus on whirlpool-hop additions in recent years. The brewers I spoke to agreed, often putting more emphasis on dry hopping. Sam Richardson from New Yorks Other Half Brewing says his late-hopping regimens for IPA are fairly minimal, rarely more than a pound per barrel. I think you see more whirlpool additions on the West Coast, he says. Hops bring bitterness to beer no matter when theyre added, but the intensity and character of that bitterness changes depending on many factors. Each hop dose adds more variables to the brewing equation, and big charges of hops in the whirlpool can quickly push the bitterness out of balanceespecially for hazy IPA brewers looking to minimize bitterness while maximizing hop impact.

You can see some negative flavors from big whirlpool additions, says Tim Sciascia, co-owner and head brewer at Cellarmaker Brewing in San Francisco. Cellarmaker is a lauded California IPA brewery whose products have evolved as the style diverged from the West Coast paradigm. Big whirlpool additions were common in the seven-year-old brewerys early IPAs, but the increased focus on dry hopping can overshadow the impact of whirlpool hops. Whirlpool additions are a big part of the complete hoppy experience but not as big a factor as we thought they would be, Sciascia says.

So why bother with whirlpool additions at all? It goes back to Kunzs through-line and brewery knobs. Adding hops post-boil, but still on the hot side, maximizes the amount of volatile aroma compounds extracted, but it minimizes the bittering that occurs at higher temperatures. It provides a sensory link between the structure of the hops added to the boil and the aromatic impact of dry hopping. If you layer hops in the process, you get a more layered character in the finished product, Kunz says. Late hopping is an opportunity to bring another layer to an IPA. Controlling the wort temperature and contact time during these hop additions are two more levers that a skilled brewer can pull to change the final flavor and aroma of their brews.

For Van Havig at Oregons Gigantic Brewing, late-hop additions are crucial even though he doesnt have a dedicated whirlpool vessel in the brewhouse. The brewery uses all whole-cone hops, making whirlpool hopping logistically impractical. Instead, the brewery whirlpools in their 15-barrel kettle and then pumps the hot wort into a 21-barrel hopback vessel, which is stuffed with 10 to 40 pounds of whole-cone hops. Not only does this hop addition provide a boost of flavor and aroma, but the hop matter acts as a filter bed to catch the trub, hot break, and hop particles from the kettle.

The process at Gigantic starts with wort just off the boil and lasts for about 70 or 80 minutes of total contact time with the hops. They have dialed in the process to make the most of the whole-cone hops, and Havig has another trick up his sleeve for when they want to focus on the more delicate volatiles in the hopsflavors and aromas that dont survive the hotter wort temperatures and longer time in the hopbackor when they want to minimize additional bitterness via isomerization: Its called dip hopping.

Havig describes dip hopping as a technique borrowed from Spring Valley Brewery in Japanpart of Kirins craft division. It combines lower-temperature late-hop additions, this time in the fermentation vessel, with exposure to active fermentation (and that brewers buzzword: biotransformation).

The Gigantic process is straightforward: load the late-hop addition into the empty fermentation vessel, purge the tank with CO2, then add some hot liquor at your target extraction temperature to create a concentrated hop tea in the tank. Hopping rates are similar to whirlpool additions0.75 to 1 lb (340 to 454 g) per barreland a half barrel of hot liquor is used for each 11 lb (5 kg) of hops. Target temperatures are 150170F (6677C), and the hops steep for about an hour before the brewers pump cooled wort into the tank and pitch the yeast. Havig says that between the lower-temperature hop extraction and the effect of active yeast on the hop matter, the aromas and flavors produced are vibrant and complex.

The processes at Gigantic touch on the biggest challenges for whirlpool-hop additions. First, of course, theres the need to have a whirlpool vessel. Gigantic gets around it with both a hopback and their novel dip-hopping method. Once the main hardware is sorted, brewers have to deal with the disparity between wort at almost 210F (99C) and the ideal extraction temperatures for whirlpool additions (150195F/6691C). There are two common methods for getting the wort into the target temperature zone: transferring through a heat exchanger or watering back the wort with cold liquor to hit the target temperature. The latter method will of course reduce the gravity of the wort, so a stronger wort must be made with this dilution in mind. Depending on the temperature of the cold liquor, a substantial volume of water may be needed to drop the temperature enough, and the mineral content of the cold liquor can impact the flavor of the cooled wort. It is a resource-inefficient method that adds more variables and complexity, but it doesnt require much extra equipment (though the mash tun must be sized to handle the higher-gravity wort production).

The heat-exchanger solution is similar at first blush, but unfiltered wort from the kettle is full of hot break, trub, and hop particles that will quickly clog a common plate-and-frame heat exchanger. A separate in-line filter is required before the heat exchanger to catch the solids before they block the flow of wort and cause significant maintenance issues.

In Portland, Oregon, Breakside Brewery has a custom shell-and-tube-style heat exchanger from JV Northwest. Not prone to clogging the way plate-and-frame units are, the shell-and-tube units have higher throughputs, an important consideration for Brewmaster Ben Edmunds. He says that the unit will drop the temperature of 10 barrels of hot wort by 30F (17C) in about 10 minutes. We could go lower, Edmunds says. Some breweries have great success with whirlpooling at around 160F [71C], but any lower than 180F [82C], and our quality assurance team gets nervous.

While more pivotal variables in recipe and process might overshadow them, whirlpool additions and other late hot-side hopping techniques provide fastidious brewers with more knobs to turn in their search for the most expressive beers. And while we may not all agree on the specifics of the perfect IPA, we can all get behind brewers developing their skills to extract the most out of every hop flower that goes into their beers.

The four-vessel brewhouse at Breakside Brewery's Slabtown Pub was specifically designed for flexibility in brewing hop-forward beers.

Adding post-boil hot-side hops to a batch of homebrew is comparatively simple. The smaller batch sizes and hop doses minimize many of the challenges of whirlpool additions at the commercial scale. Of course, you probably dont have a dedicated whirlpool vessel in your garage brewery, but here are three options for boosting the aroma of your custom IPAs.

If you use an immersion counterflow chiller in your brew kettle, you can add a hop dose while your wort is cooling. Its a time-tested method for homebrewers to add big charges of flavor- and aroma- boosting hops, but Sam Richardson from Other Half suggests using a mesh bag or some other way to contain the hop particles, lest you have a messy slurry to deal with alongside decreased wort yields.

You could repurpose a carboy or other vessel as a hopback between the kettle and your fermentation vessel (or make your own hopbacksee DIY: Make Your Own Hopback, beerandbrewing.com). Youll also need a pump to move the hot wort and a way to chill the liquid in the kettle to your target temperature (try about 180F/82C to start). Just add your dose of late hops to the hopback and rack the wort onto the hops. Give it between 45 and 60 minutes of contact time, then rerack the wort into your fermentor. Be mindful of wort temperature when you pitch your yeast thoughit might be necessary to rack to an intermediate vessel with an immersion chiller to further cool the wort.

Oregons Gigantic Brewing uses a technique called dip hopping when they want to focus on the more delicate volatiles in the hops or when they want to minimize additional bitterness via isomerization. The hardest part about adapting the process to the homebrew scale is the math, but for a 5-gallon (19-liter) batch, it works out to about 2 oz (57 g) of hops steeped in 20 fl oz (591 ml) of hot water.

Begin by loading your late-hop addition into your empty fermentation vessel. Purge the fermentor with CO2, if possible, then add hot liquor at a target extraction temperature of 150170F (6677C). Let the hops steep for about an hour before you add the cooled wort and pitch the yeast. Make sure to adjust your gravity calculations to account for the extra liquid, watch your sanitization practices, and be careful to minimize oxygen pickup from splashing water or wort.

See more here:
Hop It Like It's Hot: Whirlpools, Dip Hopping, and More Ways to Squeeze Out Aroma - Craft Beer & Brewing

250 Taylor Office BuildingSubmitting Company: Turner ConstructionLocation: PortlandOwner/Developer: 3rd and Taylor, LLC with Rockwood CapitalArchitect: Ankrom Moisan ArchitectsEngineer: KPFFAdditional Engineering Firms: GeoDesign Inc., GlumacGeneral Contractor: Turner ConstructionSubcontractors: Afghan Associates, Alliant Systems, American Heating, Balco, Bell Hardware of Portland, Bergelectric, Brian H Smith Demolition, Building Material Specialties, Carlson Testing, Cascade Tower and Rigging, Cessco, City of Roses Disposal & Recycling, Concrete Inspection Services, Cosco Fire Protection, D&H Flagging, Dennis 7 Dees Landscaping, DeWitt Construction, Dmitry Buzhduga dba Quality Cleaning Services, Don Rhyne Painting, Eagle Striping Services, Eco-Pan Inc., Encore Glass, Everlast Climbing Industries, F.D. Thomas, Faustrollean Fixture, Fencescreen, Finish Line Concrete Cutting, Fireside Contracting Services, Forensic Analytical Consulting, Fred Shearer & Sons, Glacier Northwest, Gonsalves & Santucci, Harmon, Insulation Contractors, Integrity Worldwide, K&S Masonry, Kittelson & Associates, KONE, Martin Sheet Metal, Morrison Hershfield, Morrow Equipment, National Construction Rentals, Northwest Handling Systems, Northwest Scaffold Services, OEG, Pan-Van, PERI Formwork Systems, Premier Cleaning Services, Prestige Tile & Stone, Pure Floors, R2M2 Rebar & Stressing, Ralphs Concrete Pumping, RC Building Specialties, Schulz-Clearwater Sanitation, Security Contractor Services, Snyder Roofing of Oregon, Spraylock Concrete Protection, Statewide Land Surveying, Streimer Sheet Metal Works, Sunbelt Rentals, T-Plus Steel Fabricators, Terracon Consultants, Tractel, Turner Construction (concrete), Turner Logistics, UCIT Security, Umpqua Roofing, United Rentals, United Site Services, Urban Bicycle Parking Systems, Vaughn Environmental, Westlake Consultants, Williams Scotsman

When Pacific Northwest utility company NW Natural decided on a new office space, they didnt pull any punches. They chose one of Portlands newest buildings, the 10-story, 191,500-square-foot 250 Taylor building designed by Ankrom Moisan Architects and built by general contractor Turner Construction.

Built on a half-block property fronting Southwest Taylor Street between Southwest Second and Third avenues in downtown Portland, the new building features post-tensioned concrete decks skinned with pre-fabricated, unitized curtainwall panels with integrated glass, terra cotta and metal panels that are intended to reflect the craftsmanship and aesthetic of the historic brick masonry buildings that still predominate the surrounding area.

Large windows provide plenty of daylight for the modern office spaces inside, along with the lobby and ground floor retail space. Each floor is taller than average, designed to have 11- to 14-foot ceilings and open floor plates that are largely due to the offset elevator core that forms the backbone of the structure. Two levels of below-grade parking hold 90 stalls, while the ground floor hosts a bicycle room with mechanical storage racks and locker rooms with private showers.

Tenant amenities include a prominent ninth-story double-height balcony as well as a roof deck that provides a stunning 360-degree view of the city and Willamette River.

Finally, because of the critical nature of NW Naturals operations, they also chose the location because the structure is designed for seismic resiliency that allows it to withstand a 9.0 magnitude earthquake with 50 percent greater strength than is required by code.

The rest is here:
250 Taylor Office Building - 3rd Place (Office-New Construction) Daily Journal of Commerce - Daily Journal of Commerce

"Okay, pay attention!First, you take the graham. Then you stick the chocolate on the graham. Then you roast the mallow. When the mallow's flamin', you stick it on the chocolate. Then you cover it with the other end. Then you stuff."

These are wise words from The Sandlot's Hamilton "Ham" Porter about how to make s'mores, and it's advice that Colorado's breweries are taking this winter as pandemic-induced indoor seating restrictions force them to come up with creative ways to lure customers to their lovely but often very cold patios.

Golden City Brewery, for instance, is offering s'mores kits that people can use to cook up these campfire treats typically a summer staple over their tabletop fire boxes, while Bruz Beers will welcome in a new gourmet s'mores cart, called S'amore Denver, every Thursday through December, and possibly into January and February. S'amore Denver, owned by Katrina Foster, will also appear at others breweries.

Tableside s'mores at Golden City Brewery.

Golden City Brewery

"It gives people something to look forward to in these tough times. It brings joy to the neighborhood and our customers, and lets people focus on something positive," says Bruz co-owner Ryan Evans. "It's small things like the s'mores truck that keep people happy and motivated while giving them an excuse to leave their homes and safely get outside and take a break from the constant news cycle and COVID pressure."

Over the past few weeks, several breweries including Our Mutual Friend, Epic, Woods Boss and Factotum have also hosted outdoor s'mores pop-ups alongside their beer tappings.

Support the independent voice of Denver and help keep the future of Westword free.

On December 19, S'amore Denver will visit Station 26 Brewing for the release of the brewery's anniversary beer, 7 S'more Years, an imperial pastry stout, and pair its s'mores with the new brew.

And speaking of s'mores beers, in the past few weeks, nearly a dozen breweries have tapped or released beers made with chocolate, marshmallows and graham cracker (or at least they taste like the three s'mores ingredients). They include Great Divide Brewing's still-available S'mores Yeti Imperial Stout, Someplace Else Brewery S'mores Stout, Uhl's Brewing Schtuft, South Park Brewing S'mores Stout and Make Believe Beer S'more Stout.

Left Hand Brewing is getting on board as well, having just announced that it will release a new seasonal beer in cans next year called S'mores Milk Stout as part of its rotating milk stout series.

So don't be like Scotty Smalls, who said, "I haven't had anything yet, so how can I have s'more?" Just have s'more.

Keep Westword Free... Since we started Westword, it has been defined as the free, independent voice of Denver, and we would like to keep it that way. Offering our readers free access to incisive coverage of local news, food and culture. Producing stories on everything from political scandals to the hottest new bands, with gutsy reporting, stylish writing, and staffers who've won everything from the Society of Professional Journalists' Sigma Delta Chi feature-writing award to the Casey Medal for Meritorious Journalism. But with local journalism's existence under siege and advertising revenue setbacks having a larger impact, it is important now more than ever for us to rally support behind funding our local journalism. You can help by participating in our "I Support" membership program, allowing us to keep covering Denver with no paywalls.

Jonathan Shikes is a Denver native who writes about business and beer for Westword.

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Denver Breweries Fire Up the S'Mores and S'More-Flavored Beers - Westword

W Porch, Photo Credit: The Bellevue Collection

Cozy up with your down jacket and jeans or your finest jogger sweatsuit and sip on a cocktail outdoors at The Bellevue Collection. Whether you want to warm yourself by the fire at Central or sit with your quarantine buddies in the friendly atmosphere that is Joey Bellevues, a seasonal drink awaits you for a moment of enjoyment and delight in the pandemics winter months. Start dreaming of that hot toddy under the moonlit sky and read on for a list of restaurants with patio seating this holiday season.

Cactus Bellevue

If youre in the mood for snacking on Southwestern and Mexican cuisine while sipping on margaritas and more, visit Cactus Bellevue. Their outdoor patio dining is located directly outside of the restaurant on the third floor of the Lodgewalk at Bellevue Square.

Central Bar + Restaurant

For those who have a yearning for Northwest fare with European flavors and craft cocktails like the Swipe Right, which is named after a large piece of art within the restaurant, head over to Central Bar + Restaurant. They have created an outdoor tent for dining that is lined with twinkling lights, reminiscent of a starry nights sky.

Japonessa Sushi Cocina

To enjoy a sushi cocina offering sushi, sashimi, specialty rolls and an extensive menu with drinks like lychee martini and pink kimono, Japonessa Sushi Cocina is the place to go. Their outdoor seating is located near the valet parking area at W Bellevue.

Joey Bellevue

Featuring new world flavors with an array of dishes from different regions, Joey Bellevue offers light bites like lettuce wraps and truffle fries, as well as cocktails, wines, and beer to warm you up on the inside while experiencing the outdoor crisp weather of the Pacific Northwest. The outdoor patio is located in the back of their restaurant, nestled next to Hyatt Regency Bellevue Hotel.

Tavern Hall

If you are looking for a restaurant featuring elevated tavern fare, carrying 22 beers on draught, as well as ciders, bottles, cans, and cocktails, dine-out at Tavern Hall. To accommodate pandemic guidelines, they have created an outdoor area for guests on the mezzanine, directly outside of the eatery.

Thai Kitchen Bird Pepper

Family-owned, Thai Kitchen Bird Pepper, features small plates, soups, salads and entrees with authentic Thai food and drinks. Warm up with their signature, spicy bird pepper margarita or enjoy other cocktails, beers, and wine at their outdoor space located just outside of the restaurant on the third floor of the Lodgewalk at Bellevue Square, between Nordstrom and Crate and Barrel.

W Porch

Explore W Porchs craft cocktails, Northwest beers and wine in your most favorite jacket and scarf. The porch is located on the second level of W Bellevue hotel, outside of the Living Room Bar.

For a full list of restaurants offering outdoor dining, visit The Bellevue Collections website.

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Read more from the original source:
Cozy Up and Enjoy Cocktails in Coats at The Bellevue Collection - Downtown Bellevue Network