Supposedly leaked Russian documents made the rounds on Twitter yesterday, with the official account for Nexta (a Belarusian media outlet) claiming that Russia was “[beginning] active preparations for disconnection from the global internet” to its 888k followers. 

While the authenticity of the leaked documentation is still very much unconfirmed, the letter has caused widespread speculation across social media about what is in store for internet censorship in Russia. 

The letter seems to be an order from Andrei Chernenko, Russia’s deputy digital minister, where he initially demands that all state-owned websites in Russia increase their security measures by Friday (March 11) this week. 

Now, what seems to have raised everyone’s eyebrows and helped fuel the whole “disconnection” rumour is that the document also ordered all Russian state-owned web services to make sure they have switched their DNS hosting to servers located within Russia. 

Without getting too complicated or getting lost in web jargon — DNS is essentially the “phonebook” of the internet which helps translate human-friendly web addresses like ‘DMARGE.com’ into the code that computers use to load data on web pages. So, by ordering all state-owned DNS services to make sure their servers are all geographically located within Russia, it technically means that Russia could pull itself off the global web and have an entirely self-contained internet. 

It Seems Unlikely

While this remains a possibility, Andrei Chernenko’s department said that there were “no plans” to disconnect Russia from the global internet according to the Russian news agency Interfax. 

Instead, Chernenko reassured readers that the letter was entirely focused on protecting Russian websites from foreign cyberattacks.

Cherneko’s orders come in the wake of massive cyberattacks being launched against Russia by Ukraine’s IT Army and hacker collective Anonymous. The orders seem to be less of a move to “disconnect” from the global internet as it does to protect Russian web resources. 

This opinion is shared by Alena Epifanova, a Russian cyber policy expert at the German Council on Foreign Relations, who in a report by Fortune, said that it was quite unlikely that Russia would go ahead with a full disconnection.

“To me, it looks like a normal, reasonable document against the cyberattacks which we [have observed].” 

Alena Epifanova

Still, many remain sceptical about what Putin is willing to do in the face of increasing sanctions, especially after Russia’s 2019 efforts in introducing a “Sovereign Internet” that granted the government new controls over the country’s online infrastructure. 

Pushing back against this, Epifanova said that the biggest threat to the Russian web is going to come from external sources, such as US-based firm Cogent cutting off its services to Russia. She adds that Russia is simply too interconnected with the world to pull the plug on itself:

“Russia is still not prepared to decouple itself [from the global Internet] completely. The whole Russian economy is based on the global internet—it’s not Iran or China. If disconnected, we could expect a major collapse in the Russian economy.”

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The post ‘Russia Internet Shutdown 2022’: Everything We Know So Far appeared first on DMARGE Australia.

The deadlift is already an incredibly effective compound exercise in weightlifting that can help strengthen every bone in your body (and the muscles in your posterior chain), along with increasing core stability. However, in order to reap the benefits, you need to ensure you perform them correctly.

It’s completely understandable if those new to weightlifting are a little terrified at the thought of performing a deadlift because it does bring with it the potential to cause injury if performed incorrectly.

But there could be a variation that is just as, if not more effective, and one that minimises the risk of causing an injury to your lower back.

Introduced by fitness trainer Dr Joel Seedman, founder of Advanced Human Performance, the “best deadlift you’ve never done” sees you performing a deadlift using what Dr Seedman calls the “longitudinal hanging barbell protocol.” Essentially, you have the barbell going through your legs, and you lift it using a v-grip handle attachment.

Joel says using this protocol “not only hammers the entire musculature of the legs including the quads, glutes and hamstrings, but it’s also incredibly low back friendly.”

This is because due to the way the bar hangs and is lifted, it falls directly under your centre of gravity, as opposed to being in front of it, as is the case with the conventional deadlift. This, therefore, helps to reduce the strain placed on your back, as you’re performing more of a simple standing up motion (with resistance) rather than employing more of your back to lift a barbell off the ground.

While it may be lower back friendly, and can target pretty much every muscle in your body, there are still some factors you need to ensure are nailed down perfectly in order to maximise the full potential of this deadlift variation.

Namely, Dr Seedman says, “the bar must sit perfectly in the v-grip handle without tilting. Any deviations in form, shifting, excessive momentum, loss of motor control, or postural deviations will cause the bar to tilt out of control.”

“For instance, if the lifter allows their shoulders to round over or shifts their weight towards their toes rather than driving through the heels, the bar will tilt forward towards the ground.”

In the video above, Dr Joel himself can be seen performing the longitudinal hanging barbell method, combined with 90-degree eccentric isometrics. That latter part means he slowly lowers his body (eccentric movement) until his legs are at 90-degrees.

This slow movement, combined with the importance of correct positioning, requires you as a lifter to use a much more controlled movement than perhaps you’re used to. Joel adds, “If the lifter tries to muscle or yank the weight off the floor rather than smoothly and patiently drive with their legs and hips, the bar will tilt in an almost uncontrollable fashion.”

You might get some odd looks if you were to perform this deadlift variation next time you’re in the gym, but do so and you’ll be improving your functional strength, joint health and athletic performance in no time at all.

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The post ‘The Best Deadlift You’ve Never Done’ Could Be Most Effective Variation appeared first on DMARGE Australia.

Shane Warne, Australian cricket legend, spin bowling wizard and father of three, passed away of a suspected heart attack on Friday. The King Of Spin was in Thailand in a resort with friends. He reportedly had complained of chest pains previously to his family.

Warne had also recently suggested on Instagram he was trying to get back into shape, writing 10 days ago: “Operation shred has started (10 days in) & the goal by July is to get back to this shape from a few years ago!” alongside a photo of himself from a couple of years back.

The 52-year-old had reportedly been on a 14-day juice fast shortly before suffering the suspected heart attack in his resort room on the island of Koh Samui. He had just finished the fast and his last meal was vegemite on toast, Warne’s friend (and CEO of Sporting News) Tom Hall has said.

Warne, who was known for his cheeky attitude, and his penchant for cheese toasties, baked beans and Hawaiian pizzas, and who was often photographed with iconic Aussie beers like VB (although his manager has said the media-fuelled stereotypes he was a big drinker are false), is now being mourned by a nation (and internationally).

Many cricket fans have been shaken by the news, taking to Twitter to share their thoughts and memories.

Put your smokes out for Shane.

— Simeon (@s1cox) March 4, 2022

While the exact cause of Shane Warne’s death remains under investigation, the sudden and premature nature of his passing has many middle aged Australians (particularly men) thinking about the health of their own heart. pic.twitter.com/I8bL3p9D9R

— Aussie Nurse (@FrontlineRN22) March 5, 2022

As someone else observed when the news first broke, on a Venn diagram of factors that could cause a man in his 50s to have a fatal heart attack, Warnie intersected a lot of them. (Smoking, unhealthy diet, drug use, crash dieting, drinking, covid, etc.)

Start small, work up

— Sarah (@SarahEHoll) March 7, 2022

One Twitter user, @TheUpshot, wrote: “The first page of Warnie’s autobiography is world class.” The user then includes a photo of a parody of Shane Warne’s autobiography, apparently written by an Aussie betting company a few years ago.

The fake fist page supposedly reveals the moment Warnie realised he had made it as a cricketer (which, the parody writers, pretending to be Warne, say is “the question I’m most commonly asked” even more regularly than “how does it feel to be the greatest leg spinner there will ever be?” and “how did a simple lad from Upper Fern Tree Gulley become the world’s foremost heterosexual lovemaker”).

The first page of Shane Warne’s autobiography is world class pic.twitter.com/7TDtopNBt2

— The Upshot (@UpshotTowers) March 6, 2022

Fake Warnie then goes on to describe a moment of sublime bliss, in a three-star UK hotel chain called Forte Posthouse.

“They got a bad rap but I didn’t mind them. The minbars were always full of England’s only valuable contributions to society post 1950: those big cans of Carling Black Label lager, the Double-Decker choccie bar and pickled onion Monster Munch. Add to that the as-standard double-sized ashtrays and I was in heaven. What more could a man want for in 1994?”

He continued: “I remember lying on my bed the night before my Trent Bridge debut, nibbling on the extraordinary puffed potato of my monster munch, and sipping on a tin of Carling. The Bill was on TV (for mine still the greatest police drama of all time – give me PC Reg Hollis over detective Jimmy McNulty any day), which was a year ahead of the episodes we had back home. I thought, ‘F*ck me swinging Shane, you’ve made it mate.’ I felt inescapably content.”

Though that might have been an entertaining read at the time, in the wake of his passing, we suggest reading Shane Warne’s real autobiography, No Spin. In fact, in No Spin, Shane Warne goes into how the kind of exaggerating of his personality in the media (like that seen in the parody of his autobiography above) affected him.

Some choice quotes from the first few pages of No Spin include: “Believe it or not I’d take the quiet life over the red carpet any day. The trouble is I haven’t always portrayed myself as anything but a good time boy, hunting down something different every week of the year.”

“Kerry Packer once told me, ‘Sell the blue Ferrari son, and lie low for a little while,’ so I did as I was told, and bought a silver one.”

“I have lived in the moment and ignored the consequences. This has served me both well and painfully, depending on which moment. I’ve tried to live up to the legend, or the myth in my view, which has been a mistake because I’ve let life off the field become as public as my life on it. In my defence, I’ve never pretended to be someone or something I’m not.”

Though Warnie was known as a bit of a rockstar, many people have come in over the last couple of days to shut down any kind of ugly rumours in the wake of his passing.

Former Aussie captain Greg Chappell told Sky News: “I’ve read a couple things and heard a couple things about what Warnie might have been doing in Thailand and particularly around drugs.”

“He hated drugs, he didn’t need drugs, he was high on life.”

“He was a doting father, he loved his kids, he talked about them whenever he got the opportunity.

“He was a quintessential Australian larrikin.”

Warne’s long-time manager James Erskine also dismissed any suggestions that drugs were involved.

“He was on holiday, having a lie down, siesta, he hadn’t been drinking, he’d been on this diet to lose weight,” Erskine told Fox Cricket.

“He didn’t drink much. Everyone thinks he’s a big boozer but he’s not a big boozer at all.”

“I sent him a crate of wine, 10 years later it’s still there. He doesn’t drink, never took drugs, ever. He hated drugs so nothing untoward.”

James Erskine

He also told Nine: “He did go on these ridiculous sorts of diets, and he was just finished with one.”

“It was a bit all or nothing. It was either white buns with butter and lasagna stuffed in the middle or he would be having black and green juices.”

“He obviously smoked most of his life. I don’t know. I think it was just a massive heart attack.”

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The post This Page Of Warnie’s Autobiography Is A Must Read For Every Aussie appeared first on DMARGE Australia.

The Italian-speaking city of Lugano, Switzerland is set to adopt a variety of cryptocurrencies as legal tender, where citizens will be able to use Bitcoin (BTC), Tether (USDT) and Lugano’s own LVGA token to pay for goods and services.

Lugano’s city director Pietro Poretti announced the news alongside Mayor Michele Foletti and the CTO of Tether, Paolo Ardoino during an event that livestreamed on YouTube, titled ‘Lugano’s Plan B’. 

In the days following the announcement, Ardoino sent out a tweet listing “all the things that you can pay for [with crypto]” to his 114,000 thousand followers.

According to the details shared at the “Plan B” event, citizens and companies that reside in Lugano will be able to use Bitcoin, Tether and LVGA to pay for all goods, services and even their taxes “in the near future.”

Mayor Foletti described the move to adopt cryptocurrency as a “de facto” legalisation, seeing as the Swiss franc will obviously remain the primary legal currency in Lugano and across Switzerland.

City director Poretti added that the partnership with Tether would bring Lugano into the spotlight of innovation: 

“Collaborating with a company the caliber of Tether is a magnet that will attract more companies to come to Lugano.”

Tether has partnered with the city to create a US$100 million ($135 million AUD) incentive fund to motivate startups to relocate their headquarters and staff to Lugano. Ardoino pointed out that Tether will work alongside the city to create a ‘startup hub’ in the centre of Lugano that will draw in tech startups from around the globe.

In a move to establish an educated workforce that’s proficient in blockchain technology, Ardoino said that Tether and the affiliated crypto-exchange, Bitfinex have started work with Lugano’s major universities to promote crypto-oriented courses. As a result, it is expected that over 500 students that choose to study cryptocurrency, blockchain technology and Decentralized Finance (DeFi) will receive scholarships to Lugano’s universities.

“This isn’t a marketing ploy… It’s a set of concrete steps to make Lugano the blockchain capital of the world.”

Paolo Ardoino

The city also announced that it would host an event called the Bitcoin World Forum in October later this year.

Tether & LVGA Explained:

For those reading who are unfamiliar with the ever-changing world of crypto, Tether (USDT) is a US Dollar backed stablecoin, which means its value stays pegged to the value of USD at all times; one Tether token = one US Dollar. 

The LVGA token will be Lugano’s very own stablecoin which is a slight variation of the Swiss franc-backed stablecoin; 1 LVGA token = one Swiss franc (read more about stablecoins here).

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The post Bitcoin Hits Massive Milestone In Europe appeared first on DMARGE Australia.

The term ‘icon’ gets thrown around a lot in the luxury watch world, but the Jaeger-LeCoultre Reverso is truly worthy of the name. First introduced over 90 years ago, the Reverso is one of the most enduring models in the storied Swiss brand’s history – indeed, one of the most enduring watch models ever, and its innovative reversible case remains one of the most distinctive and desirable designs in all of watchmaking.

In what’s sure to be exciting news for watch lovers in the Harbour City, Sydneysiders now have an exciting opportunity to take a deep dive into the history and evolution of this landmark watch, with Jaeger-LeCoultre teaming up with one of the country’s most esteemed jewellers to bring a rather special Reverso experience Down Under.

From the 10th to the 12th of march, a retrospective titled “Reverso: Timeless Stories Since 1931” will be held at Kennedy’s Jaeger-LeCoultre boutique on Sydney’s busy King Street. Think of it as the most luxurious museum exhibition ever, just about one of the world’s most interesting and influential watches from one of the world’s top watch brands.

The retrospective explores the creative and cultural universe of this exceptional design through four themes, leading visitors on a journey through 90 years of timeless modernity, diving deep into the history of the watch and the brand. It’s a pretty special look at such an iconic watch and one that’s rarely offered outside of Switzerland.

RELATED: Jaeger-LeCoultre Celebrate 90 Years Of An Icon: The Remarkable Reverso

Visitors will also have the chance to discover a traditional decoration technique, perlage (also called circular graining) by practising it themselves at the boutique retrospective. That’s right, you get to have a go yourself! It’s a unique chance for us normal folk to try our hands at crafting what’s one of the most recognisable hallmarks of haute horlogerie… And see why it’s so hard to master, we suppose.

The “Reverso: Timeless Stories Since 1931” retrospective is free to all and runs every 30 minutes with no booking required and walk-ins accepted. Guests can also register their interest & attendance via the Kennedy boutique team at jaeger-lecoultre.sydney@kennedy.com.au or via (02) 9061 4520.

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The post Jaeger-LeCoultre Announces A Unique Watchmaking Experience For Sydneysiders appeared first on DMARGE Australia.

Joe Rogan’s post UFC dinner would set many doctors’ pulses racing. But while the medical establishment recommends limiting your intake of red meat and processed meat, the 54-year-old UFC commentator, podcast host and comedian loves himself some four-legged fun.

Rogan is a big fan of hunting, questioning mainstream medical consensus and trying experimental diets like The Carnivore Diet (which he says gave him four weeks of boosted energy levels and two weeks of diarrhea).

Because the Standard American Diet Experiment has led to a country rampant with obesity and diabetes (whether that’s because of the diet itself or people not following it we’ll leave up to you to decide), both Rogan – and now millions of people – are willing to question whether the food pyramid we grew up with was really stacked correctly.

Though Rogan hasn’t literally said “fuck you” to medical guidelines, he loves a steak, and he loves questioning conventional wisdom – something we really need more of in this world, even if those doing it need to sometimes do so a bit more carefully (to Rogan’s credit this is something he says he trying to do better).

Though there’s something to be said for Rogan’s curious attitude – and while our fast food and carb-heavy culture are clearly due for a re-examination – we are facing a growing problem of underqualified nutrition gurus proposing wild solutions which we don’t know the long term effects of either.

RELATED: Nutritionists Reveal Why People Listen To Low Carb Gurus Instead Of Science

Their appeal – and the appeal of rigid diets like Keto or Carnivore – are completely understandable: when you lose faith in one thing, it makes sense to try and put your faith in another (no one likes drifting around aimlessly).

Rogan, who is a notable source of Instagram food porn, appears to have been convinced by the reading he has been doing on meat, and the pro-meat guests he’s had on his podcast over the years, and seems to be open-minded (putting it mildly) to the idea of replacing a lot of your carbs (though not all of them, as some people do) with protein, often in the form of meats like elk.

That said, Rogan isn’t an extreme carnivore diet advocate. After he tried it for a month last year he said: “What is it like if you extend that to 90 days, or 365 days?…Is it going to start breaking your body down? I don’t know.”

“I don’t know that it’s a way to eat all the time.”

Joe Rogan

What he does know, is that mentally, sometimes it’s helpful to just go all in on something, saying: “We need a certain amount of rigidity occasionally, that’s how you get shit done.”

Anyway: back to last night’s post UFC fight night meal. Last night, Rogan took to Instagram to share his post UFC fight night dinner, which he ate at @jgsteakhouselv. His meal had many people salivating, despite the fact that it took up (at our estimate) two-thirds of a week’s worth of recommended meat consumption, according to the NSW Cancer Council’s generic guidelines.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Joe Rogan (@joerogan)

The dinner consisted of two steaks, two green peppers, chilli, bone marrow and toast. At our estimate, the meal consists of four servings of meat (going off the Cancer Council NSW’s measurement of one medium steak equalling two serving of red meat).

Cancer Council NSW recommends you eat no more than 7 serves of meat a week. By this estimate, Rogan has blown out almost two-thirds of his entire week’s allowance of red meat, in one plate.

To Rogan’s benefit, he has also included bone marrow in his meal (he also probably exercises more than the average person). Bone marrow is thought to support joint function, decrease inflammation and promote skin health. Liver King would be proud.

Even if we thought it was a lot of meat for any man, Rogan’s fans were impressed by the meal, writing comments like: “F*ck,” “Yum,” “Incredible” and “Flinstones dinner.”

Another said: “This beats the leftover pizza I just smashed.” Others drooled over the bone marrow.

To be fair, even if you are recommended to limit your intake of red meat and processed meat, eating high-quality, grass-fed beef like the kind Rogan often consumes is almost certainly better for you than smashing junk food like frozen pizza or Mac and Cheese.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Joe Rogan (@joerogan)

However, that doesn’t change the fact that judging by the current mainstream scientific consensus, it’s better for you to replace your Mac and Cheese and frozen pizza with seasonal fruits and vegetables, or legumes (if your stomach tolerates them), or another approved non processed food, to get you some balance in your diet, rather than loading up on steak beyond the nutrition guidelines (especially if you don’t have such an active lifestyle as Rogan, or the same access to a team of doctors and nutritionists).

The worst offender for your health, really, out of the two (red meat and processed meat) is processed meats like Salami.

Some argue we should be grateful for people like Rogan who are willing to put their bodies on the line to try new things and improve the sum total of human knowledge of what works and what doesn’t. Others argue they ought to be more responsible in the example they set.

Whatever your take, it’s important to remember that different people’s bodies can respond differently to exactly the same fuel or stimuli. So it’s impossible to create a perfectly tailored, one size fits all nutrition guide.

That doesn’t mean the basic guidelines are useless though. It’s well documented that eating too much red meat and processed meat can increase your chances of colorectal cancer – despite the other benefits that come with meat.

If you want to read up on it more, the American Institute For Cancer Research recommends that: “If you eat red meat, limit consumption to no more than about three portions per week.”

It also states: “Three portions is equivalent to about 350–500g (about 12–18oz) cooked weight. Consume very little, if any, processed meat.”

“The amount of red meat specified was chosen to provide a balance between the advantages of eating red meat (as a source of essential macro- and micronutrients) and the disadvantages (an increased risk of colorectal cancer and other non-communicable diseases).”

The American Institute For Cancer Research adds: “Red meat is a good source of protein, iron and other micronutrients. For those who consume it, lean rather than fatty cuts are preferred. Poultry and fish are valuable substitutes for red meat. Eggs and dairy are also valuable sources of protein and micronutrients.”

“This recommendation is not to completely avoid eating meat. Meat can be a valuable source of nutrients, in particular protein, iron, zinc and vitamin B12. However, eating meat is not an essential part of a healthy diet. People who choose to eat meat-free diets can obtain adequate amounts of these nutrients through careful food selection.”

“People can obtain adequate protein from a mixture of pulses (legumes) and cereals (grains). Iron is present in many plant foods, though it is less bioavailable than that in meat.”

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The post Joe Rogan Says ‘F*ck You’ To Medical Guidelines, Eats Tonnes Of Steak After UFC Fight Night appeared first on DMARGE Australia.

The sad thing about most Ferraris – or indeed most really expensive cars – is that they are very rarely driven like they’re meant to be driven.

Most Ferrari owners baby their cars, driving them on only the most special of occasions and cloistering them away in garages for 99% of their life. Very few Ferrari owners take their cars out on the track or even on the highway. I mean, we get it: if you’re going to drop hundreds of thousands of dollars on a car, you want to be careful with it. But it’s still a shame.

But one Ferrari owner doesn’t care about any of that. And what a Ferrari.

Salt Lake City local and exotic car enthusiast @dryl8k has been documenting how he uses an incredibly rare and valuable Ferrari Enzo as his daily driver and has even cracked 90,000 miles (144,000 kilometres) on the thing – making it quite possibly the world’s highest mileage Enzo.

Officially known as the Type F140 or the Enzo Ferrari, the car is, as you may have guessed, named after the founder of the great Italian sports car marque of the same name. Old Man Ferrari never got to see the Enzo in real life (having passed in 1988 at the ripe old age of 90), but we’re sure he’d be impressed: the Enzo stands out as one of the most distinctive and impressive cars Ferrari has ever made.

Produced from 2002 to 2004, the Enzo was designed to be like a street-legal Formula One car. Not only does the car use groundbreaking F1 technologies such as a carbon fibre body and the transmission from Ferrari’s contemporaneous F1 car, but it also features technologies F1 cars aren’t allowed to use, like active aerodynamics and traction control.

Powered by a 6.0L V12 engine, the Enzo makes 485kW, has a top speed of over 355km/h and does 0-100km/h in 3.6 seconds: figures that still hold up today, almost two decades after it first hit the market. It remains one of the most powerful naturally aspirated production cars in the world and an incredibly desirable investment, the seller relates.

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Only 400 were ever made, and the car was originally only sold to existing Ferrari customers – specifically those who had previously bought the F40 and F50, with all cars but one sold in this way even before production began. Enzos regularly sell at auction for over US$4 million. The last example ever produced (which was previously owned by Pope John Paul II) sold for a record $6 million.

We don’t think @dryl8k’s really that hung up about the resale price of his Enzo, though. Not only does he drive it frequently, but he drives it in all conditions – including snow – and has even used it to haul tyres. That’s probably the hardest work a Ferrari of any calibre has ever done…

This man must have some seriously huge cojones.

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The post Brave American Man Uses Rare $4 Million Ferrari Enzo As Daily Driver appeared first on DMARGE Australia.

If you’ve invested any amount of money in Australia’s once-booming buy now, pay later (BNPL) sector over the last year, you’re probably still wincing every time you open up your portfolio. 

This is particularly true for anyone that bought shares in former Aussie market-darling Zip Pay (ASX: Z1P) which is currently trading for $1.72, down over 80% from its all-time high of $12.50 in February last year. So, what actually happened to Zip Pay and the Australian BNPL sector. How did Zip and the entire sector collapse in such spectacular fashion and can investors expect prices to recover any time soon?

According to the managing director of Payment Services and payments industry expert Brad Kelly, Zip Pay and the remaining Aussie BNPL providers are set to experience an “implosion” throughout the remainder of this year. 

This is because every single BNPL company in Australia, including the market leaders: AfterPay (now owned by Block) and Zip Pay are yet to turn a profit or pay a dividend. Making things worse, the companies have been running heavy losses and stacking up massive debts for years. 

Kelly warned investors that BNPL companies are extremely good at marketing and hyping up their products, but ultimately the numbers are not in their favour:

“The BNPL as an industry in Australia had total sales of $11.4 billion last year compared with credit and debit cards which came to a total of $750 billion. This gives the BNPL sector a market share of card payments of only 1.5% after 8 years of operation. These businesses are tiny and they are not the chest beating, bank killing giants that they pretend to be.”

Kelly continued his warning for the industry:

“BNPL is not the next big thing in payments, nor is anyone cutting up their credit cards and moving to Zip or the others. That is just nonsense. BNPL is a feature, not a stand alone product. The pressure on the remaining players will be immense as interest rates rise, and investors expect profits, not hollow promises. Most will not survive.”

So, if you’re thinking that now is the perfect time to load up on some discounted Zip shares as the company reaches new yearly lows and headlines from the AFR tout the recent merger between ZIP and Sezzle as a boon for business, it might be worth approaching with caution.

“Zip buying Sezzle is the same as the Titanic buying the Hindenburg — two big disasters together just makes one gigantic disaster.”

Taking two unprofitable businesses with very small revenue per customer and bolting them together ($4.50 per month per customer for Zip and around $2.60 per customer per month for Sezzle) is not going to achieve very much, except drag out the process of slowly going bust – that argument goes.

When asked if there was any chance that Zip or any of the other providers could expect to recover in the coming months, Kelly answered bluntly:

“That’s not going to happen. 70, 80, 90% of your share price isn’t going to be recovered when there is simply no pathway to profit… Neither business [Zip or Sezzle] has turned a profit and never will.”

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The post ZIP Pay: Lost Your Money, Now What? appeared first on DMARGE Australia.

After the highly successful and critically acclaimed The Dark Knight trilogy from Christopher Nolan entered our lives over ten years ago, it’s been nearly impossible for any other incarnation of a Batman film to push it off its perch as ‘best Batman movie’.

Joker, directed by Todd Phillips and starring Joaquin Pheonix, came mighty close in 2019 but I maintain that it’s not technically a ‘Batman’ film – sure, Bruce Wayne makes a cameo but the character is a child and it’s long before he becomes the crime-fighting vigilante – and while excellent, it’s just not as good as The Dark Knight.

Nolan’s Batman films have left huge shoes to fill and it’s painstakingly obvious now when a Batman is sub-par (I’m looking at you Ben Affleck in the DCEU films). Therefore, it’s clear that Matt Reeves is one brave and ambitious man, as he dared to make The Batman, the latest film adaptation of DC Comics’ most popular character (sorry Superman, I said what I said).

While The Batman was incredibly good, it didn’t measure up to The Dark Knight, or even, in my humble opinion, The Dark Knight Rises. I do think it was better than Nolan’s Batman Begins though. First of all, the cinematography and direction were phenomenal. The Riddler’s first appearance in The Batman gave me literal chills.

Robert Pattinson was excellent; he played Bruce Wayne/Batman as a broody and clearly tortured man who at the end of the day is just trying to make his city better by any means necessary, while Zoë Kravitz was a delight to watch and is hands down the best Catwoman that’s ever graced our screens. Paul Dano is the clear standout acting-wise in The Batman but in all honestly, there wasn’t a single weak link in the cast; everyone nailed their respective roles.

The plot of The Batman was interesting – although, I would’ve loved more creepy and sadistic riddles from Dano’s Riddler and more scenes of Dano and Pattinson together – but there were definitely a few scenes that could’ve been cut from the movie; which felt slightly too long. Additionally, some of Batman’s voiceovers were slightly cliched to the point of cringe.

And while Michael Giacchino’s score was beautifully written and really fit the whole emo aesthetic Reeves and Pattinson were clearly going for, the main musical motif of the score played way too much; it became painfully repetitive.

With all that being said, overall, The Batman was an extremely solid Batman film. Again, I enjoyed it much more than Nolan’s first Batman film, which means the second and third of Reeves’ Batman films – while nothing’s been officially confirmed, Reeves will undoubtedly make more Batman movies with Pattinson – have the potential to knock The Dark Knight off its perch as they’ll hopefully get better just like how Nolan’s second Batman film was infinitely better than the first.

I’d give The Batman a 7.5/10 and highly recommend that anyone who loves either comic book film adaptations or the crime genre should go see it immediately.

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