A scam, or a confidence trick, is an attempt to defraud a person or group after first gaining their trust. Confidence tricks exploit victims using a combination of the victim's credulity, naivety, compassion, vanity, confidence, irresponsibility, and greed. Researchers have defined confidence tricks as "a distinctive species of fraudulent conduct ... intending to further voluntary exchanges that are not mutually beneficial", as they "benefit con operators at the expense of their victims ".
Tegan and Sara is a Canadian indie pop duo formed in 1998 in Calgary, Alberta. The band is led by identical twin sisters, Tegan Rain Quin and Sara Keirsten Quin. Both musicians are songwriters and multi-instrumentalists.
San Diego Comic-Con is a comic book convention and multi-genre entertainment event held annually in San Diego, California, at the San Diego Convention Center. Originally showcasing primarily comic books and science fiction/fantasy media, Comic-Con has grown to include a large range of pop culture and entertainment elements across virtually all genres.
Thomas Carl Hartmann is an American radio personality, author, businessman, and progressive political commentator. Hartmann has been hosting a nationally syndicated radio show, The Thom Hartmann Program, since 2003 and hosted a nightly television show, The Big Picture, between 2010 and 2017.
Wizard Entertainment Inc., formerly known as Wizard World, was a producer of multi-genre fan conventions across North America.
Evanna Patricia Lynch is an Irish actress and activist. She is best known for portraying Luna Lovegood in the Harry Potter film series.
John Michael Green is an American author and YouTuber. His books have more than 50 million copies in print worldwide, including The Fault in Our Stars (2012), which is one of the best-selling books of all time. Green's rapid rise to fame and idiosyncratic voice are credited with creating a major shift in the young adult fiction market. Green is also well known for his work in online video, most notably his YouTube ventures with his brother Hank Green.
Now in its 28th year the Big Apple Comic Con is the longest-running comic book/speculative fiction/pop culture convention in New York City. It was started by retailer Michael "Mike Carbo" Carbonaro in March 1996 in the basement of the St. Paul the Apostle Church. Having grown out of the church, between 1999 to 2008, the Big Apple Comic Con often featured multiple shows per year, with a large three-day "national" convention held in November, at the Metropolitan Pavilion and later at the Penn Plaza Pavilion. The show was sold to Wizard Entertainment in 2009 but was reacquired 2014 by Big Apple CC Corp in 2014. Mr. Carbonaro says Wizard could not produce a successful show in NYC.
Invader Zim is an American animated science fiction dark comedy television series created by comic book writer and cartoonist Jhonen Vasquez for Nickelodeon. The series centers on the titular character Zim, an extraterrestrial from the planet Irk. His mission is to conquer Earth and enslave the human race along with his malfunctioning robot servant GIR. However, Zim is antagonized by Dib, a young paranormal investigator who is determined to stop Zim from succeeding.
Mouth and MacNeal were a Dutch pop duo that enjoyed commercial success in the 1970s. Their recording of "How Do You Do" in 1972 topped the Dutch chart and became a US top ten hit and number 2 in Canada. They represented the Netherlands at the 1974 Eurovision Song Contest, finishing third with the song "I See a Star", which went on to become a UK top ten hit.
William Henry Green II is an American YouTuber, science communicator, novelist, stand-up comedian, and entrepreneur. He produces the YouTube channel Vlogbrothers with his older brother, author John Green, and hosts the educational YouTube channels Crash Course and SciShow. He has advocated for and organized social activism, created and hosted a number of other YouTube channels and podcasts, released music albums, and amassed a large following on TikTok.
The Amazing Spider-Man is a 2012 American superhero film based on the Marvel Comics character Spider-Man which shares the title of the longest-running Spider-Man comic book series. It was produced by Columbia Pictures in association with Marvel Entertainment, Laura Ziskin Productions, Arad Productions, Inc., and Matt Tolmach Productions, and distributed by Sony Pictures Releasing. It is the fourth theatrical Spider-Man film, serving as a reboot following Sam Raimi's 2002–2007 Spider-Man trilogy, and was followed by a second The Amazing Spider-Man film. The film was directed by Marc Webb and written by James Vanderbilt, Alvin Sargent, and Steve Kloves, based on a story by Vanderbilt, and stars Andrew Garfield as Peter Parker / Spider-Man alongside Emma Stone, Rhys Ifans, Denis Leary, Campbell Scott, Irrfan Khan, Martin Sheen, and Sally Field. Teenager Peter Parker gains spider-like powers and fights crime as Spider-Man, attempting to balance heroics with his ordinary life.
Bryan Patrick Dechart is an American actor and Twitch streamer. He is best known for his role as Connor in the video game Detroit: Become Human. He also played Eli Chandler on the television series Jane by Design and made appearances on Switched at Birth and True Blood.
Big Pharma conspiracy theories are conspiracy theories that claim that pharmaceutical companies as a whole, especially big corporations, act in dangerously secretive and sinister ways that harm patients. This includes concealing effective treatments, perhaps even to the point of intentionally causing and/or worsening a wide range of diseases, in the pursuit of higher profits and/or other nefarious goals. The general public supposedly lives in a state of ignorance, according to such claims.
Connor Joel Franta is an American YouTuber, author, artist, and businessman.
A panel discussion, or simply a panel, involves a group of people gathered to discuss a topic in front of an audience, typically at scientific, business, or academic conferences, fan conventions, and on television shows. Panels usually include a moderator who guides the discussion and sometimes elicits audience questions, with the goal of being informative and entertaining. Film panels at fan conventions have been credited with boosting box office returns by generating advance buzz.
The third season of the American television series Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., based on the Marvel Comics organization S.H.I.E.L.D., follows Phil Coulson and his team of S.H.I.E.L.D. agents and Inhumans as they face new threats to the world. It is set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) and acknowledges the continuity of the franchise's films. The season was produced by ABC Studios, Marvel Television, and Mutant Enemy Productions, with Jed Whedon, Maurissa Tancharoen, and Jeffrey Bell serving as showrunners.
Cynthia Lee Fontaine is the stage name of Carlos Díaz Hernández, a Puerto Rican drag performer and reality television personality from Austin, Texas, best known for competing on the eighth and ninth seasons of RuPaul's Drag Race. She won the title of Miss Congeniality on season 8.
Brief Answers to the Big Questions is a popular science book written by physicist Stephen Hawking, and published by Hodder & Stoughton (hardcover) and Bantam Books (paperback) on 16 October 2018. The book examines some of the universe's greatest mysteries, and promotes the view that science is very important in helping to solve problems on planet Earth. The publisher describes the book as "a selection of [Hawking's] most profound, accessible, and timely reflections from his personal archive", and is based on, according to a book reviewer, "half a million or so words" from his essays, lectures and keynote speeches.
