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#1 Celebrity Big Brother Meet The Famous Houseguests Of Celebrity Big Brother
Anthony Scaramucci Heads to ‘Celebrity Big Brother’ House as CBS Reveals This Year’s Cast
Scaramucci was among the latest roster of D-list celebs announced by the Eye Network on Sunday, along with other players like noted houseguest Kato Kaelin, Olympian Ryan Lochte and former heartthrob Joey Lawrence.
Scaramucci’s “Celebrity Big Brother” stay comes a year after another former member of the Trump administration, Omarosa Manigualt, spent time inside the house and offered up plenty of White House dish. Ironically, earlier this year Scaramucci told reporters that he had turned down several reality show offers. He later reportedly shopped his own show around town, to little interest.
“Big Brother” isn’t just a vanity play for these participants, however: Scaramucci and the other houseguests will be competing to win $250,000. And that’s not for charity.
The majority of the show’s new cast are no stranger to reality shows — even accomplished names like Lochte have starred on their own shows in the past. Many of the contestants have even listed “TV personality” as their occupation. And then there’s Dina Lohan, who still gives “momager” as her job.
Other successful reality stars in the house include Tamar Braxton (“Braxton Family Values”) and Kandi Burruss (“Real Housewives of Atlanta”).
Additional players include actor/host Jonathan Bennett (“Veronica Mars,” “Cake Wars”), comedian Tom Green (“Freddy Got Fingered”), Olympian Lolo Jones, actor/singer Joey Lawrence (“Gimme a Break,” “Blossom”), WWE wrestler Natalie Eva Marie, and former NFL player Ricky Williams.
There’s also quite a few former “Dancing with the Stars” contestants in the mix, including Bennett (Season 19), Braxton (Season 21), Jones (Season 19), Lawrence (Season 3), and Lochte (Season 23). Green was on “Celebrity Apprentice” with Scaramucci’s former boss Trump, while Williams was on “The New Celebrity Apprentice,” but with host Arnold Schwarzenegger (not Trump).
Julie Chen Moonves is back to host “Big Brother: Celebrity Edition,” which launches on Monday, Jan. 21 at 8 p.m., followed by another episode on Tuesday, Jan. 22 at 8 p.m. on CBS. Here’s a look at this year’s housemates, along with their stated occupations:
Jonathan Bennett (37)
Hometown: Rossford, Ohio
Current City: Newport Beach, Calif.
Occupation: Actor/host
Tamar Braxton (41)
Hometown: Washington, D.C., Maryland and Virginia
Current City: Los Angeles
Occupation: Singer/TV personality
Kandi Burruss (42)
Hometown: Atlanta, Ga.
Current City: Atlanta, Ga.
Occupation: Singer/TV personality
Tom Green (47)
Hometown: Ottawa, Canada
Current City: Los Angeles
Occupation: Comedian
Lolo Jones (36)
Hometown: Des Moines, Iowa
Current City: Baton Rouge, La.
Occupation: Olympic track and bobsled star
Kato Kaelin (59)
Hometown: Milwaukee, Wisc.
Current City: Los Angeles
Occupation: Actor/host
Joey Lawrence (42)
Hometown: Philadelphia, Pa.
Current City: Los Angeles
Occupation: Actor/producer
Ryan Lochte (34)
Hometown: Daytona Beach, Fla.
Current City: Gainesville, Fla.
Occupation: 12-time Olympic medalist in swimming
Dina Lohan (56)
Hometown: Long Island, N.Y.
Current City: Long Island, N.Y.
Occupation: Momager
Natalie Eva Marie (34)
Hometown: Concord, Calif.
Current City: North Tustin, Calif.
Occupation: Former WWE wrestler/actress
Anthony Scaramucci (55)
Hometown: Port Washington, N.Y.
Current City: Manhasset, N.Y.
Occupation: Former White House director of communications/financier
Ricky Williams (41)
Hometown: San Diego, Calif.
Current City: Venice Beach, Calif.
Occupation: Former NFL superstar
#2 NBC – Home
Inside Megyn Kelly’s troubled exit from NBC
Megyn Kelly finalized her exit from NBC News on Friday night — after months of difficult negotiations over whether she could ever talk about the backstabbing behavior from network brass and staffers.
Kelly finally resolved her exit three months after she was axed as host of the 9 a.m. hour of “Today,” landing her a $30 million payout to take her salary to the agreed amount in her contract — a total of $69 million.
The former Fox News host lasted just 18 months at NBC News, but Page Six learned during the course of her negotiations that the sticking point over her exit deal was not her astronomical salary — but her non-disclosure agreement to keep quiet about the network and its staff, which she eventually signed.
One NBC insider said, “In many ways, Megyn was set up by Andy Lack [NBC News honcho who signed her to the network] to fail. A warm and fuzzy show was never right for her. Once Megyn’s salary was made public, the knives were out. Other network talent went in demanding a raise equivalent to Megyn, and were not happy to be told ‘no’.”
The insider said the hostility towards Kelly continued, with her never being invited to substitute for the “Today” hosts between the 7 a.m. and 9 a.m. hours, and handovers becoming increasingly tense. She was not invited to join the NBC team for the Olympics, substitute on the “Nightly News” or take part in events like the Christmas Tree Lighting.
A second insider added that relations between Kelly and NBC brass went further south in September when she called for an independent legal investigation of the network over its decision to not run Ronan Farrow’s Harvey Weinstein investigation. Farrow took the story to the New Yorker, winning a Pulitzer Prize.
Then in October Kelly further ruffled feathers at NBC by saying in an interview that she didn’t believe former network golden boy Matt Lauer could make a TV comeback because, “I know too much that others don’t know.”
So in Kelly’s exit negotiations, NBC was “super sensitive” about getting her to agree to stay silent. “Look at what she was able to say when she was in the building, imagine what she might want to say when let loose,” the second insider added.
An NBC insider added: “Seems like post-breakup euphoria at 30 Rock. There’s a great team in place, ratings jumped double digits and the audience is responding enthusiastically. Everyone is happy to have turned a page in the new year.”
Kelly has said that she plans to return to TV news in time for the 2020 election, if not sooner.
A rep for Kelly referred all questions to NBC, who did not comment.
Congress now interested in that other Trump Tower once planned for Russia
Emin Agalarov, Donald Trump and Aras Agalarov attend the red carpet at Miss Universe Pageant Competition 2013 on Nov. 9, 2013 in Moscow.Victor Boyko / Getty Images file
WASHINGTON — Before Donald Trump's lawyer was pitching the Kremlin on building a Trump Tower in Moscow, the future president was negotiating to put his name on a building in a separate glitzy real estate development outside the Russian capital.
The Russians dubbed the proposed suburban development "Manhattan," and a "Trump Tower" would have been its centerpiece, according to congressional testimony and news reports.
Trump's partner in this earlier project was Aras Agalarov, an oligarch with close ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin, and the same man whose promise of dirt on Hillary Clinton set in motion the infamous June 2016 meeting at the original Trump Tower in New York.
Two Congressional aides told NBC News the Agalarov project is now drawing new scrutiny from House and Senate investigators in the wake of the revelation in court documents that Trump lawyer Michael Cohen lied to Congress about his dealings on a separate, competing Russia real estate project. Cohen was also negotiating to build a Trump Tower in a separate part of the city.
The Trump Organization asked for written questions and did not respond to them. A lawyer for the Agalarovs, Scott Balber, said it was misleading to suggest that Aras Agalarov is close to Putin, but he declined to respond to specific questions.
Trump's interest in the Agalarov proposal, which he and Agalarov began considering shortly after the men met at the Miss Universe Pageant in Moscow in 2013, reinforces the extent to which he repeatedly sought a business deal in Putin's Russia, despite his protestations during the 2016 election campaign that he had "nothing to do with Russia."
"For the record, I have ZERO investments in Russia," Trump tweeted in July 2016.
It wasn't for lack of trying. The Agalarov deal was one of five ultimately unsuccessful efforts to put the Trump name on a building in Russia, dating back to his first trip there in 1987, as he laid out in his memoir, "The Art of the Deal." A second attempt in 1996 fizzled, as did a 2005 plan with Felix Sater, the same Russian-born businessman who partnered with Cohen in another attempt in 2015 — one that wasn't abandoned until Trump had all but secured the Republican nomination for president.
In a little-noticed interview with Forbes magazine in July 2017, Aras Agalarov's son Emin said his family and Trump had signed documents to go forward with the deal, only to abandon the plan once Trump decided to run for president.
"He ran for president, so we dropped the idea, because obviously at this point his interests are slightly different," Agalarov was quoted as saying. "But if he hadn't run for president, we would probably be in the construction phase today, because he's a great person, very trusted on our side and a great developer."
He added, "It's basically an empty piece of land to this day."
Agalarov later denied documents were ever signed, but that denial was contradicted more recently in congressional testimony.
Ike Kaveladze, who represented the Agalarov family in the United States, testified to the Senate Judiciary Committee that Trump signed a letter of intent in early 2014, and that negotiations lasted for more than a year. Donald Trump Jr. represented the Trump family, he testified.
"I believe the first communication I received in regards to the project happened in December of 2013. And I believe my last communication in regards to the project was some time in October, November 2014," said Kaveladze, who was testifying about his role as a participant in the June 2016 Trump Tower meeting in New York. Trump announced his presidential campaign in June 2015.
Kaveladze's account different from that of his employer. He said the Trump organization by late 2014 appeared to lose interest in the site, and Donald Trump Jr. told him the company was busy with other overseas projects.
In November 2014, Trump announced the development of the Trump International Hotel & Tower in Baku, Azerbaijan. That project was never finished, and in April 2018 the building was badly burned in a fire.
The project was dogged by allegations that Trump's local partner was corrupt and had dealings with front companies for the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps.
By 2015, Trump's focus in Russia had turned to a different Moscow deal, one being pursued by his lawyer, Cohen, and a partner, Sater.
In November, Cohen pleaded guilty to lying to Congress about the timing of that deal. He admitted that negotiations went on longer than he had first claimed — through at least June 2016, in the middle of the presidential campaign.
Trump mentioned neither Trump Tower project on the campaign trail. The closest he came was at a July 2016 press conference, when he said that "numerous developers … wanted to develop property in Moscow and other places. But we decided not to do it."
He also said, "I have nothing to with Russia. I have nothing to do with Russia — for anything."
#5 AWS Amazon Web Services – Home
AWS Launches New Document-Oriented Database Compatible With MongoDB
AWS just released their 10th database service (15th, if you count each engine offered in the relational database services). This one, called Amazon DocumentDB, stores semi-structured data inside a scalable, highly-available managed service. While offering a MongoDB-compatible API, DocumentDB is not running MongoDB software, which caused hand-wringing among some tech watchers.
Amazon positioned DocumentDB as a drop-in replacement that's "designed to be compatible with your existing MongoDB applications and tools." AWS claims that DocumentDB offers the scalability, availability, and performance needed for production-grade MongoDB workloads. For scale, DocumentDB offers up to 64TB of storage that grows automatically (versus pre-allocating) along with your usage. Customers also have a choice of "instance" sizes that scale up to 488 GiB of memory. For availability, DocumentDB replicates data 6x across three availability zones. It also lets users create up to fifteen read replicas. And for performance, DocumentDB runs on SSD storage and is architected for low-latency read operations. According to Jeff Barr at AWS, DocumentDB includes a number of built-in database management capabilities.
Like the other AWS database services, Amazon DocumentDB is fully managed, with built-in monitoring, fault detection, and failover. You can set up daily snapshot backups, take manual snapshots, and use either one to create a fresh cluster if necessary. You can also do point-in-time restores (with second-level resolution) to any point within the 1-35 day backup retention period.
Some speculate that DocumentDB is built upon AWS Aurora PostgreSQL, but it's clear that it's NOT running MongoDB software. MongoDB, Inc is one of a handful of companies that have recently changed their license to discourage cloud providers from offering parts of their open-source software as a service. Tech industry veteran Brian Cantrill predicted that cloud providers wouldn't be deterred.
... cloud services providers are emphatically not going to license your proprietary software.
...
The cloud services providers are currently reproprietarizing all of computing — they are making their own CPUs for crying out loud! — reimplementing the bits of your software that they need in the name of the service that their customers want (and will pay for!) won’t even move the needle in terms of their effort.
Microsoft employed this API-facade strategy with their Azure Cosmos DB NoSQL database service back in 2017. Cosmos DB — interestingly enough, also called DocumentDB before being renamed — serves up both MongoDB and Cassandra APIs. That announcement, nor Microsoft's recent announcement of an Apache Kafka interface on Azure Event Hubs, failed to stir up the industry angst that this AWS one has. The president of MongoDB, which saw their stock drop following the AWS announcement, didn't mince words when talking to TechCrunch.
"Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, so it's not surprising that Amazon would try to capitalize on the popularity and momentum of MongoDB's document model," MongoDB CEO and president Dev Ittycheria told us. "However, developers are technically savvy enough to distinguish between the real thing and a poor imitation. MongoDB will continue to outperform any impersonations in the market."
In the same TechCrunch interview, a company spokesperson highlighted that the MongoDB 3.6 API used by DocumentDB (Microsoft uses the 3.2 version of the MongoDB API) is missing some key follow-on innovations.
A company spokesperson for MongoDB also highlighted that the 3.6 API that DocumentDB is compatible with is now two years old and misses most of the newest features, including ACID transactions, global clusters and mobile sync.
Some consider AWS's relationship with open-source software (OSS) complicated, as they package and offer OSS software without major contributions back to many projects. However, they also make a number of large OSS contributions themselves.One might also remember that AWS EC2 APIs themselves were cloned as part of the OpenStack initiatve. And most every object storage provider offers an Amazon S3-compatible interface.
Amazon DocumentDB is now available in the United States and Europe. Pricing for this service is based on a combination of instance class, consumed storage, I/O operations, and data transfer. The minimum monthly charge based on instance size alone would be $199.44. The Service Level Agreement for DocumentDB commits to 99.9% availability of cluster access, compared to Amazon DynamoDB that has an uptime commitment of 99.999%. For reference, Microsoft's Cosmos DB has a 99.99% SLA that goes beyond just accessibility, but also covers throughput. latency, and consistency guarantees.
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