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TikTok Goes American by Matty Merritt

William Attardi on January 24, 2026

TikTok is an American company now. Ownership of TikTok’s US operations has officially changed hands, but your experience on the app likely won’t change much…immediately. A group of American investors closed a $14 billion deal Thursday night to acquire the US version of the short-form video app and avoid a shutdown mandated by the 2024 divest-or-ban law due to national security concerns. Under the deal, TikTok’s original parent, ByteDance, will retain 19.9% of the company while Larry Ellison’s Oracle, private equity firm Silver Lake, and Abu Dhabi-based investment company MGX will split 45% of the company as managing investors. Most of the remaining shares of the new US TikTok entity will be owned by existing ByteDance investors. The three managing investors will own US user data and be tasked with moderating US content. ByteDance will still own its wildly valuable algorithm, but, according to a White House official, it will lease a copy to the owners of the US entity. For starters, you won’t need to download a new app.   A group of US investors bought TikTok

Introducing the World’s First Lensless LED Headlight: A New Era in Automotive Lighting

William Attardi on November 11, 2025

At ORACLE Lighting, we’re proud to unveil our most groundbreaking innovation yet: the world’s first lensless LED headlight—a revolutionary product that’s about to disrupt everything you thought you knew about headlight design.  Our new lensless LED headlight eliminates the lens entirely, removing the most failure-prone element of the system. This cutting-edge design is made possible by modular Bi-LED emitter pods with innovative features such as IP68 ingress protection and active thermal management. Each LED component—from the DRL to the high and low beams—is fully serviceable and replaceable, giving users and installers a dramatically improved ownership experience.  [News] Introducing the World’s First Lensless LED Headlight: A New Era in Automotive Lighting – LEDinside

TikTok’s Algorithm to Be Licensed to US Joint Venture Led by Oracle and Silver Lake

William Attardi on September 23, 2025

Tech giant Oracle will spearhead U.S. oversight of the algorithm and security underlying TikTok’s popular video platform under the terms of a deal laid out this week by President Donald Trump’s administration. All the final details still need to be nailed down among several joint venture partners that will include Oracle, investment firm Silver Lake Partners and possibly two billionaires — media mogul Rupert Murdoch and personal computer pioneer Michael Dell. . Although he no longer runs Oracle as its CEO, company co-founder Larry Ellison remains a top executive while also overseeing an estimated personal fortune of $390 billion. Ellison, 81, now could be in line to become a behind-the-scenes power player in the media, having already helped finance Skydance’s recently completed $8 billion merger with Paramount, a deal engineered by his son, David. The U.S. administration would not have a stake in the joint venture nor be part of its board, according to a senior White House official.  Oracle will manage TikTok algorithm for US users under Trump deal | AP News

High-Tech Partnership Invests $500 Billion in AI

William Attardi on January 23, 2025

President Donald Trump on Tuesday talked up a joint venture investing up to $500 billion for infrastructure tied to artificial intelligence by a new partnership formed by Sam Altman of OpenAI, Larry Ellison of Oracle, and Masayoshi Son of SoftBank. The new entity, Stargate, will start building out data centers and the electricity generation needed for the further development of the fast-evolving AI in Texas, according to the White House. The initial investment is expected to be $100 billion and could reach five times that sum. “This will be the most important project of this era,” said Altman, CEO of OpenAI. The White House has put an emphasis on making it easier to build out new electricity generation in anticipation of AI’s expansion, knowing that the United States is in a competitive race against China to develop a technology increasingly being adopted by businesses. High-Tech Partnership Invests $500 Billion in AI – electrifiED

The Statue of Liberty was made with copper but due to oxidation, it turned green.

When the “Lady in the Harbor” first arrived in New York in 1886, she didn’t look like the mint-green icon we know today. In fact, for the first twenty years of her life, she stood as a towering, metallic beacon of reddish-gold. Designed by French sculptor Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi and engineered by Alexandre Gustave Eiffel, the statue was a gift from France to America. To build her, Bartholdi chose copper for three practical reasons:

  • Malleability:It could be hammered into elaborate, thin sheets.
  • Weight:Copper is lighter than stone or bronze, making it easier to ship 350 individual pieces across the Atlantic.
  • Durability:It was strong enough to survive a 27-day ocean voyage and the harsh winds of the harbor.

When she was unveiled on October 28, 1886, her skin—made of 300 copper sheets roughly the thickness of two pennies—shone with a bright, metallic brown luster. The transformation from “penny-colored” to “patina-green” wasn’t planned. Bartholdi actually expected the statue to age into a deeper, darker red. However, the unique environment of New York Harbor—a mix of salt air, moisture, and industrial pollution—triggered a process called oxidation.

The Timeline of Change:

  1. 1886–1900:The bright copper dulled into a dark, muddy brown.
  2. 1903:The first hints of a light green crust, or “patina,” began to appear.
  3. 1906:The color change was so controversial that Congress nearly stepped in. They appropriated $62,000 to paint the statue back to its original color, but the public protested, calling the idea “sacrilege.”
  4. 1910–1920:The statue was a patchy mix of brown and green until 1920, when the oxidation was complete, leaving her entirely teal.

While we now view the green color as iconic, it actually serves a vital structural purpose. The layer of verdigris (the green patina) acts as a protective shield. It seals the copper underneath, preventing the metal from further corrosion and weathering.  By the time the color fully changed, a new generation of immigrants had arrived in America seeing a green statue.