The Chicago Journal

Dr. John Kelly: Designing Smiles That Transform Lives

Edward Anderson Edward Anderson on April 4, 2022

A smile can bring so much joy and happiness to a person’s life. But sometimes, they might feel like their smile is not enough, that their teeth need some work. A smile gives someone a confidence boost, but it can cause some insecurities too. For years, cosmetic dentist Dr. John Kelly of Kelly Smile Design has helped people regain confidence in their smiles. His dental practice centers around restoring people’s smiles and confidence, helping them face life with their heads held high.

Dr. John Kelly is a dentist and owner of Kelly Smile Design, his dental practice based in Chicago. He has specialized in cosmetic dentistry and complex restorative dentistry. With his career spanning over 25 years, Dr. Kelly has become known for helping people get their smiles back. He uses his extensive skills and experience in cosmetic dentistry to safely enhance the smiles of thousands of patients. What sets him apart is how Dr. Kelly uses his unique background in function, physiology, and facial aesthetics to help patients achieve the smile of their dreams. 

“A smile is not just about teeth,” Dr. John Kelly said, “Cosmetic dentistry can bring about life-changing results and build a foundation of confidence.”

At Dr. Kelly’s practice, he uses innovative techniques to revitalize, restore, and transform smiles and lives. In improving a person’s smile, Dr. Kelly knows that it can have far-reaching positive effects on their self-confidence, personal relationships, and professional careers.

“I look at the person as a whole, including the life they lead and their relationships when I help design their smile,” the doctor said.

Aside from general dentistry services, Dr. John Kelly provides four genuinely unique services and techniques geared toward changing a person’s smile: Virtual Consults, Smile Test Drives, Smile Shaping, and Facially Driven Smile Design.

“These four services set me and my practice apart, and it has kept me at the forefront of the cosmetic dentistry field,” Dr. Kelly shared.

Virtual Consults entail a patient sending him a photo of their smile and all the questions and concerns they have. They will then receive a personal video addressing all their concerns and explaining what can be done. Dr. Kelly does consultations this way because it allows a patient to watch the video several times, fully absorbing all the information he provides, which will help them make informed decisions. Then, when patients are ready to take the next step, they can set up an in-person appointment. 

“During a Smile Test Drive, I place a cosmetic composite on the surface of the patient’s teeth. I then shape it, which gives them a better idea of the possible results,” Dr. John Kelly explained. By placing material directly on his patient’s teeth rather than digitally altered images, he allows them to understand the possibility that cosmetic dentistry holds. As a result, these patients get a better feel of how their teeth will change and get to see for themselves how they will look. This isn’t a permanent change yet, merely a sample that can be removed at the end of the consultation. 

On the other hand, Smile Shaping is a set of techniques that uses a person’s natural teeth rather than adding anything. It involves teeth whitening, gum contouring, and reshaping teeth edges. The results are a more symmetrical look with more conservative dentistry.

Facially Based Smile Design is a philosophy that considers a person’s unique facial features, musculature, and bone structure when designing dental work.

Dr. John Kelly explained, “As I have previously mentioned, a smile is more than just teeth. I also observe how a smile will fit in with the rest of my patient’s features and proportions. My goal is to develop a smile that blends naturally with the rest of their face, making it all the more harmonious and beautiful.”

Dr. John Kelly graduated from the University of Illinois and has since kept improving his dentistry skills, techniques and expertise. He has done groundbreaking cosmetic dental work for over 25 years.

“There are new possibilities and opportunities for individuals to get a confident smile. And I am here to help them achieve that,” he said.

Lazy 8ight Yacht Club NFT Giving the NFT World a Peek into Luxury Life in the Metaverse

danielruiz danielruiz on April 4, 2022

Access to luxury has been a recurring theme in many NFT projects. Lazy 8ight Yacht Club NFT is a new NFT on the horizon giving NFT enthusiasts value and the chance to experience luxury.

Lazy 8ight Yacht Club is the first NFT project to design 3D, fully traversable 90-meter mega yachts for the metaverse. The project sets itself apart from other artworks in the NFT world by making its yachts complex and traversable. Since the metaverse hosts a digital world on its own, holders of Lazy 8ight Yacht Club get to explore the luxury that a mega yacht offers within the digital world. They get access to and can explore every inch of the yacht, including the gyms, casinos, movie rooms, spas, and many more.

Beyond the traversable mega yacht that Lazy 8ight Yacht Club NFT offers, the project and the team behind it are passionate about doing good in the world. Thus, they have pledged a significant portion of their profits to marine conservation charities. Also, the team is in the process of creating real-work experiences to get a strong presence in the real world.

Lazy 8ight Yacht Club NFT depicts a world based on a marina and is creating value around a project based on that world. The tagline “Revolutionizing Web 3.0 with #TheMetaverseMarina” reflects the project’s commitment to ocean conservancy and showing off high-end marine craftsmanship.

Hosted on the Ethereum blockchain, Lazy 8ight Yacht Club consists of 8,888 unique, completely traversable 90-meter yachts. And as a community-oriented project, the project is expected to build a legacy that holders will be proud of.

“What we hope to achieve with L8YC is to make it synonymous with ocean conservancy and high-end marine craftsmanship. In addition, we care about community and collaboration, which is why we’re working collectively to build our community, foster valuable partnerships and launch a project that holders can see as a part of their bright digital future,” said the co-founders: Arin Alesauskas, CEO; Gunnar Dunbar, COO; and Oriana Schneps, CMO.

Lazy 8ight Yacht Club is slated to go on presale on March 31, 2022, with each token priced at 0.3 ETH. It is currently ramping up followers and support on Instagram, Twitter, and other social media platforms.Join  L8YC on Discord: https://discord.gg/l8yachtclub.

Cell-Inspired NFT Project Divinity Cells Showcases Its Artistry and Intricacies

danielruiz danielruiz on April 4, 2022

The NFT world continues to expand as more people become educated in the branding power and utility found in blockchain-based innovation. Accordingly, people are always looking out for the next big NFT project. One name that collectors should keep in mind is a project called Divinity Cells, which promises all kinds of exciting projects and campaigns.

Divinity Cells is a massive collection of 8,000 NFTs inspired by cells that live in the Ethereum ecosystem. The founding team has imagined and illustrated what some of the cells that inhabit unknown galaxies in our Universe might look like. The Cells or the artworks are unique and different from the current NFT climate. Each Cell has been artistically and individually crafted, with unique textures, shapes, sizes, and colors, categorized into different groups. The core team conceived the NFT art as an interactive tool, diving deep into the cells and unearthing the mysteries they hold. As a result, some cells will evolve together and create new works of art, which users can showcase in a new collection.

Every Cell is made with intricate details with the capacity to zoom in on every NFT artwork and discover the beauties and mysteries hidden inside them.

“Divinity Cells are cells of unknown origins, with endless colors, shapes and sizes—a creative combination between artificial intelligence and human design. We created and customized each cell individually, to make our collection as unique as possible. As a result, the collection will eventually become more and more exclusive. When mutations start, the Divinity Cells collection will decrease from 8000 to 1788 unique Cells,” says the founding team of this unique NFT Project. 

One of the unique features of this NFT is a Treasure Hunt. This is where only Divinity Cells holders will be able to participate and enjoy its privilege. It will be an interactive activity of searching for clues and icons hidden within the depths of various Cells. Holders will have the chance to win more than a hundred NFT and crypto prizes in the Treasure Hunt, including up to 1 BTC.

In this massive NFT collection, there are three types of Cells: Singular Cells, Double Cells, and Legendary Cells. Singular cells are 1,553 unique cells and have a family with 4 clones, making up 7765 cells for the entire collection. Singular cells will be able to evolve together, by combining 2 cells of the same family. The mutated cells will burn and create new evolutionary NFT artworks in a new collection. Double cells are 225 unique Cells that can mutate by themselves, creating new works of art, while preserving the original. Finally, the Legendary Cells are ten individual cells with no clones. They will be the most valuable and sought after in the entire collection. Legendary Cells can also mutate by themselves, just like the Double Cells, while preserving the original cells.

“We are a close-knit community, welcoming of all, however, our project would most likely appeal to NFT, crypto, Metaverse enthusiasts, as well as people who are interested in stocks and investments, technology, art and science,” said the founding team. The project’s community is on Discord, Twitter, and Instagram.

The NFT team is made up of eleven members and all with different backgrounds residing in America and Europe. They have common interests and goals such as revolutionizing the world of art by creating a remarkable experience.

Mukesh Asopa explores experimental ideas and out of the box themes in his movies.

danielruiz danielruiz on April 4, 2022

The best films, as is well known, share a few important characteristics: concise storytelling, excellent acting, an innovative concept, and spectacular aesthetics. And similarly the best directors and producers – who have a keen eye and will to combine all these characteristics and bring concepts to life. Mukesh Asopa, a trailblazing filmmaker from Canada is a great example of such an artist, who has gained mass popularity for his unique approach and become a pioneer in the Canadian as well as international market. 

Most of Asopa’s films explore big philosophical concepts which makes him remarkably consistent in his favored themes. One of his most obvious passions is society: how it works, how it becomes corrupted, and how our actions and prior experiences mold and even create what we call “reality.” Two of his films – The Taste of Relation and Depth of Pyaar are the most explicitly interested in the topic reflecting a  great two-shot of a shared moment between two characters that sums up their strange and convoluted relationship. Other works by Asopa include movies like Bloody Romeo which explores the serious subject of suicides, Chambers Gate which addresses the political and system corruption prevalent in today’s day, Zombie Beach, that on a lighter note has a unique concept of multicultural zombies. The upcoming movies announced by Asopa are Postal Code, Sri Dungargarh, Untitled Horror Movie.

A film must be more than technically proficient in order to have meaningful social influence. It must be able to broaden our understanding, shift our perspectives, and motivate us to take action. And for that to happen Asopa incorporates such components that make his films memorable.  But behind these iconic artworks are some surprising approaches and ideas that form the foundational process of bringing these masterpieces to the screens. 

Asopa’s films naturally mix some of the most emotive aspects from different artistic mediums into a spectacular smorgasbord of sight and sound. Through literal or abstract visuals, juxtapositional editing, and innovative use of sound design, he expresses emotions, ideas, concepts, and almost anything else. The degree to which he combines a varied variety of components to evoke or express emotion or philosophy is outstanding, and it is what distinguishes him as one of the industry’s most experimental filmmakers.

“Film is special as a medium because it depicts life in a way that other forms of art, such as painting or photography, cannot. The film is the only medium that can depict time, duration, and motion, bringing it the closest to capturing life itself.” Abiding by this, Asopa has and vows to explore his artistic capabilities and tap into the magnificent power of films – influencing people one movie at a time. 

Netflix Begins Plans to Charge for Password Sharing

Edward Anderson Edward Anderson on April 4, 2022

Photo: Associated Press

On Wednesday, Netflix said it will begin charging users who share passwords. Customers were outraged.

Netflix said in a statement that, in the past, it has encouraged account sharing among its 222 million subscribers, with features such as profiles and multiple streams, but that the practices are “impacting our ability to invest in great new TV and films for our members.”

Password sharing won’t be banned, but those who do it will have to pay, Netflix said. The new plan will be tested in Chile, Costa Rica, and Peru. Users can add up to two profiles for 2,380 Chilean pesos, 2.99 US dollars, and 7.9 Peruvian sol.

“Netflix will lose a lot of customers if they do this password sharing crackdown they plan to do,” said one Twitter user.

“How do you expect families to handle password sharing in the case of divorcees, their children, or college students away from home?” another user said. “We already pay a lot for it, now you’re just milking us for every dollar spent.”

Users who don’t pay will be able to transfer their profiles to their own accounts under the new change. Customizations like My List, viewing history, and recommendations will remain.

“We recognize that people have many entertainment choices, so we want to ensure any new features are flexible and useful for members, whose subscriptions fund all our great TV and films,” the statement said.

“Mind your business! Respectfully!” said one tweet.

Netflix has previously attempted to get users to pay for their own accounts. In March 2021, it began testing two-step verification where users would have to input a code that would be sent to the phone or email of the account owner after logging in.

Reuters reported that Netflix previously raised its US prices in October 2020 and again in January, bringing the price of its standard plans from $13.99 to $15.49.

Uber Launches Feature That Books New York Taxis

Edward Anderson Edward Anderson on April 4, 2022

Photo: Getty Images

Creative Mobile Technologies (CMT), the company responsible for the technology systems for the more than 13,000 New York City taxis, said that passengers can now book the iconic yellow taxis through the Uber app after CMT gained access to Uber’s customer base. The partnership comes as Uber struggled to meet demands and taxi drivers were swallowed by debt during the pandemic.

“This is a real win for drivers – no longer do they have to worry about finding a fare during off peak times or getting a street hail back to Manhattan when in the outerboroughs,” Guy Peterson, Uber’s director of business development, said in a statement. “And this is a real win for riders.”

CMT says that customers will have access to thousands of yellow taxis starting this summer, and taxi drivers will also see Uber-originated fares on their monitors.

For years, taxi drivers worldwide have been protesting Uber for crashing their market. When COVID-19 struck, taxi drivers were severely hit, and New York City set up a program to help with the debt. However, drivers expressed that this was not enough. Last October, they led a weeks-long hunger strike to demand more relief.

But now, as the COVID restrictions subside, the partnership between Uber and New York’s taxis may be coming at the right time.

“New York City is back!” Ron Sherman, CMT’s chairman, said. “As businesses bring their employees back, as tourists flock to New York City again, and as New Yorkers start going out and replenishing our local economy after a devastating pandemic, yellow taxis and Uber are bringing the best our industries have to offer to help this city get back on its feet.