Good morning. The summer solstice is right now! We will experience the longest day of the year, with the sun rising at 5:28 am and setting at 6:27 pm in Metro Manila. That’s 13 hours of daytime to cap off the week shining. 🌟

Tech

🖥 Frank McCourt’s TikTok Takeover: Saving the Internet, One Dance at a Time

By Tobias Bautista

Frank McCourt, the former LA Dodgers owner turned European football club boss (he owns Olympique de Marseille), has a new goal: save the internet by buying TikTok. Yes, you heard that right.

McCourt is no fan of big tech. He believes major platforms are manipulating us, causing chaos, and harming kids. Speaking at the Collision tech conference in Toronto, he pointed to political upheaval, like the rise of the far-right in France, as proof of social media's harmful impact.

He’s especially worried about the internet’s effect on children, citing increases in anxiety, depression, and even suicide rates among the young. His solution? A “new internet” where users control their own data, free from the algorithms of platforms like TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube.

McCourt’s grand plan, dubbed Project Liberty, envisions an open-source, decentralized web. Acquiring TikTok, with its massive and youthful user base, would give his project a significant boost.

Interestingly, McCourt isn’t alone in eyeing TikTok; Steve Mnuchin, Trump’s former Treasury Secretary, is also in the race. This all comes after President Biden’s bill giving TikTok 270 days to find a non-Chinese buyer or face a ban.

Despite the legal battles ahead, McCourt hopes this TikTok saga will make people realize the broader issue: our data is being collected and controlled, often without our knowledge. And that, he argues, is fundamentally undemocratic.

Sports

🏀 Brownlee, Sotto, Quiambao headline Gilas Pilipinas’ 12-man roster for the 2024 Paris OQT

By Koby del Rosario

With one more shot at a 2024 Paris Olympics appearance, the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas (SBP) has officially announced the names that will be invited to the Gilas Pilipinas Men’s training camp for the Olympic Qualifying Tournament (OQT)—who will most likely make up the 12-player lineup. 

Headlined by the returning naturalized star in Justin Brownlee, the roster is a mix of Filipino international standouts such as Dwight Ramos, Kai Sotto and Carl Tamayo, local PBA superstars in Junemar Fajardo, Calvin Oftana, CJ Perez, Scottie Thompson, and Chris Newsome, as well as collegiate sensations like Kevin Quiambao. 

Filling in for the injured AJ Edu and Jamie Malonzo are Gilas veteran, Japeth Aguilar, and Ateneo stalwart, Mason Amos. 

Before the official tourney, head coach Tim Cone will have the team continue its tradition of hosting a send-off friendly free of charge for all spectators. This time, they will be facing the Taiwan Mustangs who recently acquired former Strong Group PH import Dwight Howard and former NBA players Demarcus Cousins and Quinn Cook on the 24th of June at 6 pm at the Philsports Arena, Pasig City.

Don’t get your hopes up, though, as the aforementioned names are expected to be unavailable for the match-up but will feature former PBA swingman, Alex Cabagnot.

Gilas Pilipinas will then be put to the test with a pair of tune-up games when they fly out on the 25th of June against the national teams of Poland and Turkey. 

The team is set to be deployed in Riga, Latvia with the tournament scheduled for the 2nd to 7th of July, where the Filipino representatives are grouped with the host country and Georgia.

Cameron, Brazil, and Montenegro comprise the other group in the OQT as the top two teams from each group will move on to the crossover semifinals. The two winning teams from the semis will then duke it out for the winner-take-all battle of one of the four remaining berths for the Paris Games Men’s Basketball division.

Best of luck to our fellow countrymen in their hopes of making it to sports’ grandest stage of them all.

Lifestyle

🙌 LA stand up! Kendrick Lamar’s “The Pop Out” concert was a night to remember for the city

By Koby del Rosario

Where were you when Kendrick Lamar showed out for his home city and put the final nail in the coffin of his beef with Drake?

As it was previously announced on his socials, Kendrick Lamar kept his promise and practically united all of Los Angeles with his concert titled, “The Pop Out: Ken & Friends”.

Held at The Forum, the night was attended by several notable names in both the music and sports world such as Lebron James, Russell Westbrook, Rick Ross, James Harden, and Demar Derozan.

Guest appearances also did not disappoint as hip hop legend Dr. Dre made a surprise feature while Ab-Soul shared the stage with Lamar on “6:16 in LA”. This came along with artists such as Tyler The Creator, Steve Lacy, and Roddy Ricch performing their own live sets. 

With a setlist that featured hits from K.Dot, Jay Rock, and the aforementioned Dr. Dre, the event was also highlighted by a euphoric tribute to the late great West coast rapper, Nipsey Hussle. The marathon truly continues.

You know who else was in attendance? His wife, Whitney Alford, along with their children. We’re going to need receipts for Drake’s claims on “Family Matters” then after this.

We even got a Black Hippy reunion. It really was just a show filled with countless moments.

What a night it was for King Kenny’s side of the rap game as we’ll have to wait and see what Toronto’s Very Own has in store. 

The full concert was uploaded to Youtube and can be viewed there by fans who missed the legendary set.

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