Intel's Q3 earnings, revenue flat, but company hopes for growth with new chips

A slumping PC business affected Intel's business during the third quarter, but the company believes brighter days are ahead with its new Core and Atom chips.

The company on Tuesday reported no growth in revenue or profits during the quarter ending Sept. 28. The company reported a profit of $2.95 billion, compared with $2.97 billion in the same quarter last year. Intel reported earnings per share of $0.58.

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Quarterly revenue came in at $13.48 billion, compared with $13.46 billion in last year's third quarter. The consensus estimate from analysts polled by Thomson Reuters was for $13.46 billion.

Intel's earnings came in as expected, and the company had "modest growth in a tough environment," said Intel's CEO Brian Krzanich, in a statement.

Looking forward, the company hopes for growth through new products, Krzanich said. The company announced fourth-generation Core processors code-named Haswell for PCs and tablets. It has also started shipping new Atom tablet processors code-named Bay Trail, which are expected to become available in devices starting this week. Intel has also announced Xeon chips based on the Ivy Bridge microarchitecture for servers.

In addition, Intel is also chasing the wearable and embedded sector with the a new chip line called Quark, which consumes less power than Atom chips. The chip was announced at the Intel Developer Forum in September.

"Since August we have introduced more than 40 new products for market segments from the Internet-of-Things to data centers, with an increasing focus on ultra-mobile devices," and hybrids, Krzanich said.

Revenue for the PC Client Group was $8.4 billion, down 3.5 percent year-over-year. Growth was primarily driven by Data Center Group, which deals in server equipment, with revenue of $2.9 billion, growing by 12.2 percent.

PC shipments during the third calendar quarter fell by 7.6 percent compared with the same quarter last year, according to IDC. Earlier, IDC had projected a 9.5 percent decline shipments during the quarter, but business purchases were stronger, driven by the looming support expiration for Windows XP, coming in April of next year. However IDC expects a weak PC market through the end of next year.

Intel is projecting revenue of $13.7 billion, plus or minus $500 million, for the fourth fiscal quarter of this year.

Agam Shah covers PCs, tablets, servers, chips and semiconductors for IDG News Service. Follow Agam on Twitter at @agamsh. Agam's e-mail address is agam_shah@idg.com

Source: http://www.infoworld.com/t/technology-business/intels-q3-earnings-revenue-flat-company-hopes-growth-new-chips-228833
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Despite Being Friends, Sen. Roberts Tries To Oust Sebelius

While Republicans failed to undo any part of Obamacare before reopening the government and lifting the debt ceiling, their detest for the program is unchanged. One manifestation is a quiet movement to oust Health and Human Service Secretary Kathleen Sebelius.

Source: http://www.npr.org/2013/10/18/236697003/kansas-sen-roberts-leads-fight-to-oust-sibelius?ft=1&f=3
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Maya Angelou accepts Mailer Center lifetime award

NEW YORK (AP) — Her body weak, her voice rich and strong, Maya Angelou sang, lectured and reminisced as she accepted a lifetime achievement award Thursday night from the Norman Mailer Center.

The 85-year-old author, poet, dancer and actress was honored during a benefit gala at the New York Public Library, the annual gathering organized by the Mailer Center and writers colony . Seated in a wheelchair, she was a vivid presence in dark glasses and a sparkling black dress as she marveled that a girl from a segregated Arkansas village could grow up to become a literary star.

"Imagine it," she said, "a town so prejudiced black people couldn't even eat vanilla ice cream."

Angelou was introduced by her former editor at Random House, Robert Loomis, and she praised him for talking her into writing her breakthrough memoir, the million-selling "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings." The key was suggesting to her that the book might be too hard to write.

The people who knew her best, she explained, understood that "if you want to get Maya Angelou to do so something, tell her she can't."

Angelou, a longtime resident of North Carolina, will be back in Manhattan next month to collect an honorary National Book Award medal.

Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist Junot Diaz and the late author-journalist Michael Hastings also received prizes Thursday. Hastings' widow, Elise, teared up as she accepted a journalism award on behalf of her husband, who died in a car accident last summer at age 33.

She recalled that Hastings, best known for a Rolling Stone story about the U.S. war in Afghanistan that led to the resignation of Gen. Stanley McChrystal, felt a kinship with for the brilliant and troublesome Mailer. When the couple fought, she said, he would point out that in "comparison to Mailer he was a great husband," a reference to a notorious incident in which Mailer stabbed his wife.

Hastings was a "dissident, a cynical idealist and a breathtaking writer," she said.

The dinner event was the fifth gala for the Mailer center, named for the celebrated author who died in 2007 and dedicated to helping writers "across all genres who seek artful ways to express themselves and provoke meaningful discussion about our society."

Previous honorees include Toni Morrison, Keith Richards and Robert Caro.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/maya-angelou-accepts-mailer-center-lifetime-award-024933616.html
Category: christina aguilera   constitution day   Mr Cee   apple   Riley Cooper Racial Slur Video  

New NSA deputy expected to be leaks task force head: sources

By Tabassum Zakaria and Warren Strobel

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Richard Ledgett, who heads a new task force at the National Security Agency to handle information leaks, is expected to take over as the deputy director of the spy agency after the current No. 2 retires in January, sources told Reuters.

Ledgett is the executive in charge of matters related to unauthorized media disclosures, a position that was created after the unauthorized leaks to media of top secret spy surveillance programs by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden this year.

Ledgett's duties include overseeing improvements to internal systems and assessing what information was taken in unauthorized disclosures.

He was previously director of the NSA's Threat Operations Center and director for collection/national intelligence manager for cyber at the Office of the Director of National Intelligence.

He is expected to replace John "Chris" Inglis who is due to retire in January, said sources who spoke on condition of anonymity.

An NSA spokeswoman declined to comment.

Next year, the director and deputy directors of NSA and Cyber Command will be stepping down, giving President Barack Obama an opportunity to reshape the leadership structure.

Army General Keith Alexander, who wears the dual hat of NSA director and head of Cyber Command, plans to leave in March.

Cyber Command has the authority to engage in both defensive and offensive operations in cyberspace. The vacancies give Obama the opportunity to decide whether the NSA and Cyber Command should have separate leaders.

The deputy at Cyber Command, Marine Corps Lieutenant General Jon Davis, is due to leave in June when his two-year assignment is completed.

(Editing by Alistair Bell and Mohammad Zargham)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/nsa-deputy-expected-leaks-task-force-head-sources-223953172--finance.html
Tags: Shannon Sharpe   national coffee day   constitution day   Malcom Floyd   Miley Cyrus Vmas 2013 Video  

The mass misunderstanding of the iPhone 5c market

In the past week there have been countless stories run about the alleged production cuts of the iPhone 5c. I say “alleged” because that’s all it is right now. Allegation. And at least one of the analysts (who I shall not name) making this allegation has a very spotty track record on all things Apple.

But let’s assume it’s true. It very well may be. Isn’t it still also true that the iPhone 5s sells for about $100 more than the 5c? And wouldn’t that make it a more profitable phone for Apple to sell? Of course it would. Rhetorical question.

Apple sold 9 million of its new iPhones in the first 3 days of launch in September. That’s a pretty big number, and if more of those were the 5s isn’t this actually a good thing?

Bottom line here: If the majority of your customers want to give you more money for a more expensive (and more profitable product), resulting in a production slowdown for your cheaper product, that’s what I call a high class problem. What's more, if Apple staged the iPhone 5s as the blockbuster fall release, and the iPhone 5c as the long-tail play that follows behind it, then it's an even higher class problem.

To illustrate how well Apple is doing, look at Verizon, who just released Q3 results this morning. Out of 7.6 million smartphone sales for the quarter, the iPhone accounted for 51% of them, which is up from 43% last quarter. Year over year Verizon’s iPhone sales are up 26%.

Apple may very well may have screwed up their pricing strategy. Perhaps there aren’t enough people willing to shell out a ton of cash for what is realistically a one-year old model repackaged in polycarbonate. Maybe Apple should have been more aggressive in hitting a lower price and capturing more market share. Maybe they should have made a netbook too. But when you look at the Verizon numbers (and more carriers are bound to report results over the next few weeks), that's a tough argument to make, at least right now.

Analysts and financial writers like to write shocking headlines. They pick one number, one metric, ignore complexity, ignore the big picture, and make the facts match their narrative. But while Apple has a simple product line, they certainly don't have a simple production line. They have multiple suppliers, and a complex array of moving parts. Calamitous headlines are easy. Doing real analysis on Apple is hard.

All that aside, when you peel the onion even one layer deep isn’t it obvious that, mathematically, given they still sold huge numbers on launch, that profitability is actually climbing?

iPhone 5c
Apple's first popular iPhone with a 4-inch in-cell display, LTE 4G, and BT 4.0 LE. Fun features include:

• Polycarbonate casings in yellow, green, blue, pink, white
• A6 custom processor
• FaceTime HD camera
• iOS 7 software

Complete review >

Released
September, 2013

Alternatives
iPhone 5s, iPhone 4s

Replacements
iPhone 6 (rumored)
Fall, 2014

Resources
Buyers guide
Help forum

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheIphoneBlog/~3/CJBf3BLwAuw/story01.htm
Category: mariano rivera   9/11  

Video could transform how schools serve teens with autism

Public release date: 17-Oct-2013
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Contact: Andy Henion
henion@msu.edu
517-355-3294
Michigan State University

EAST LANSING, Mich. -- Video-based teaching helps teens with autism learn important social skills, and the method eventually could be used widely by schools with limited resources, a Michigan State University researcher says.

The diagnosis rate for Autism Spectrum Disorder for 14- to 17-year-olds has more than doubled in the past five years, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Yet previous research has found very few strategies for helping adolescents with autism develop skills needed to be successful, especially in group settings.

"Teaching social skills to adolescents with ASD has to be effective and practical," said Joshua Plavnick, assistant professor of special education at MSU. "Using video-based group instruction regularly could promote far-reaching gains for students with ASD across many social behaviors."

Plavnick developed group video teaching techniques with colleagues while a postdoctoral fellow at the University of North Carolina's Frank Porter Graham Child Development Institute. Their findings are published in the research journal Exceptional Children.

Previous studies have shown many people with autism are more likely to pay attention when an innovative technology delivers information. Before Plavnick's work, however, there were no investigations of video modeling as an option for teaching social skills to more than one adolescent with ASD at the same time.

The team recruited 13- to 17-year-old students with ASD and used laptops or iPads to offer group video instruction on social behaviors, such as inviting a peer to join an activity. One facilitator showed four students video footage of people helping one another clean up a mess, for example, and then gave them opportunities to practice the same skills in the classroom.

According to the researchers, the students demonstrated a rapid increase in the level of complex social behaviors each time video-based group instruction was used. Students sustained those social behaviors at high levels, even when the videos were used less often.

The students' parents also completed anonymous surveys and indicated high levels of satisfaction. One reported their child started asking family members to play games together, a skill the teen had never before displayed at home.

Most schools do not have appropriate staff resources to provide one-on-one help for students with autism. The video can be used with a small group all at once and has been shown to be effective.

"Video-based group instruction is important, given the often limited resources in schools that also face increasing numbers of students being diagnosed with ASD," said Plavnick, who also has begun implementing the strategy as part of a daily high school-based program.

###

Plavnick's co-authors are Ann Sam of 3-C Research Institute and Samuel Odom and Kara Hume of the Frank Porter Graham Child Development Institute.

---

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| Share

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AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.

Public release date: 17-Oct-2013
[


| E-mail



| Share

]

Contact: Andy Henion
henion@msu.edu
517-355-3294
Michigan State University

EAST LANSING, Mich. -- Video-based teaching helps teens with autism learn important social skills, and the method eventually could be used widely by schools with limited resources, a Michigan State University researcher says.

The diagnosis rate for Autism Spectrum Disorder for 14- to 17-year-olds has more than doubled in the past five years, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Yet previous research has found very few strategies for helping adolescents with autism develop skills needed to be successful, especially in group settings.

"Teaching social skills to adolescents with ASD has to be effective and practical," said Joshua Plavnick, assistant professor of special education at MSU. "Using video-based group instruction regularly could promote far-reaching gains for students with ASD across many social behaviors."

Plavnick developed group video teaching techniques with colleagues while a postdoctoral fellow at the University of North Carolina's Frank Porter Graham Child Development Institute. Their findings are published in the research journal Exceptional Children.

Previous studies have shown many people with autism are more likely to pay attention when an innovative technology delivers information. Before Plavnick's work, however, there were no investigations of video modeling as an option for teaching social skills to more than one adolescent with ASD at the same time.

The team recruited 13- to 17-year-old students with ASD and used laptops or iPads to offer group video instruction on social behaviors, such as inviting a peer to join an activity. One facilitator showed four students video footage of people helping one another clean up a mess, for example, and then gave them opportunities to practice the same skills in the classroom.

According to the researchers, the students demonstrated a rapid increase in the level of complex social behaviors each time video-based group instruction was used. Students sustained those social behaviors at high levels, even when the videos were used less often.

The students' parents also completed anonymous surveys and indicated high levels of satisfaction. One reported their child started asking family members to play games together, a skill the teen had never before displayed at home.

Most schools do not have appropriate staff resources to provide one-on-one help for students with autism. The video can be used with a small group all at once and has been shown to be effective.

"Video-based group instruction is important, given the often limited resources in schools that also face increasing numbers of students being diagnosed with ASD," said Plavnick, who also has begun implementing the strategy as part of a daily high school-based program.

###

Plavnick's co-authors are Ann Sam of 3-C Research Institute and Samuel Odom and Kara Hume of the Frank Porter Graham Child Development Institute.

---

[


| E-mail



| Share

]

 

AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.

Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2013-10/msu-vct101713.php
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RolePlayGateway is proudly powered by obscene amounts of caffeine, duct tape, and support from people like you. It operates under a "don't like it, suggest an improvement" platform, and we gladly take suggestions for improvements or changes.

The custom-built "roleplay" system was designed and implemented by Eric Martindale as of July 2009. All attempts to replicate or otherwise emulate this system and its method of organizing roleplay are strictly prohibited without his express written and contractual permission; violators will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.

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Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/RolePlayGateway/~3/-8omi4j5cNI/viewtopic.php
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SoftBank buys $1.5 billion stake in Finnish mobile games maker Supercell

By Sophie Knight, Ritsuko Ando and Malathi Nayak

TOKYO/HELSINKI/SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Japanese tech and telecoms group SoftBank Corp is paying 150 billion yen ($1.53 billion) for a 51 percent stake in Finnish mobile game maker Supercell, valuing the small maker of hit games "Clash of Clans" and "Hay Day" at $3 billion.

Softbank's bid to claim a leading role in the fast-growing mobile games market makes 3-year-old Supercell, with about 100 employees and just two free-to-play games, more valuable than Zynga Inc, the $2.8 billion company behind former hits such as "FarmVille."

Twenty percent of Softbank's investment will come from its mobile games maker subsidiary, GungHo Online Entertainment Inc, which has a market capitalization of about $8.3 billion.

Softbank's offer values Supercell, with daily revenue of about $2.4 million mainly through the sale of in-game, virtual items, at about 3.5 times projected annual sales. That is cheaper than several major recent deals such as Electronic Arts' acquisition of PopCap in 2011, which went through at about 10 to 11 times sales the year before.

Market researcher Newzoo estimates global game revenues across all platforms will reach $86.1 billion by 2016 as the number of gamers reaches 1.55 billion. It expects the fastest growth to come from mobile gaming, which will make up almost 30 percent of the total, up from about 17 percent this year.

The deal shows SoftBank Chief Executive Masayoshi Son's appetite for foreign M&A has not dimmed since his $21.6 billion acquisition of U.S. mobile carrier Sprint Corp this year.

He was quoted on Supercell's blog as saying the acquisition was part of its "quest to become the #1 mobile Internet company," showing his ambition to expand further beyond its main wireless and Internet services business.

"Mobile games are a growth market; however, franchises in mobile have been particularly tenuous," Hudson Square Research analyst Daniel Ernst said. "Look at the experiences of Zynga and Glu."

From that perspective, the Supercell deal is potentially risky.

"But it's a talented team and Softbank thinks very long term," Ernst said.

The deal underscores the spectacular rise of Supercell, which was founded in 2010. Its hit games "Clash of Clans" and "Hay Day" reached No. 1 in Apple's App Store in 137 and 96 countries, respectively, SoftBank said, citing app analytics firm AppAnnie.

Supercell and GungHo developed a relationship after striking a partnership to launch strategy game "Clash of Clans" in Japan this July, Supercell CEO Ilkka Paananen said in a telephone interview.

"How this came about is we've been very excited about the Asian market, and Japan especially, for the last 6 to 9 months ... since we launched Clash in Japan and it obviously started to do very well," Paananen said.

"Clash of Clans" ranks among the top three iOS games in Japan and China, he added.

Last year sales at Supercell rose by more than 500 times to 78.4 million euros compared with 2011, according to a filing by SoftBank, while turning a profit of 39.2 million euros after a loss of 1.8 million in 2011.

"Now that we have Softbank backing us we can take (our)existing games to new markets and strengthen our position in the big three Asian markets - Japan, Korea and China," Paananen said.

Supercell also plans to release new games at some point, Paananen said without providing a timeline.

SoftBank has the third largest market capitalisation in Japan and is set for a major windfall as Alibaba, China's top online retailer in which it owns a 36.7 percent stake, is preparing for a stock market listing.

Moreover, the tech and telecoms giant is also in final stages of talks to buy a majority stake in U.S. wireless device distributor Brightstar Corp in a deal estimated to be worth slightly more than 100 billion yen, according to a Nikkei report.

MEGA DEAL

Since Electronic Arts' $1.3 billion purchase in 2011 of casual and mobile game maker PopCap, known for "Plants vs. Zombies," Softbank's investment is the first billion-dollar mobile gaming deal.

PopCap's revenue was over $100 million in 2010 before its acquisition. Supercell is raking in about the same with sales of about $106 million or 78.4 million euros last year, according to Softbank's filing.

Venture Capital firms like Index Ventures, Accel Partners and Atomico have invested in Supercell over the last two years.

Supercell said earlier this year that it had raised $130 million through a secondary funding round, led by Index Ventures in February at a valuation of $770 million.

Globally, mobile game revenues generated through Apple iOS and Google Playstore are expected to exceed $10 billion this year, according to Adam Krejcik at technology and gaming research firm Eilers Research in California.

Led by "Angry Birds" maker Rovio, Finland's gaming industry has been a rare bright spot in a small Nordic economy which has struggled with a decline in traditional industries such as paper and machinery as well as the decline of Nokia, once the world's biggest handset maker.

Paananen, who will remain as CEO of Supercell, said the company will work autonomously.

"The most important point in the deal for us is that it guarantees our independence," Paananen said.

In a company blog post, he also reassured Finns that the company's operations would remain in Finland and that it would continue to pay taxes in the country.

"I think more and more people in this country are realising that there is life after Nokia!" he wrote.

(Editing by Richard Chang)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/softbank-buys-1-5-billion-stake-finnish-mobile-062051110--sector.html
Category: breaking bad   rose byrne   Liam Payne   Beyonce Haircut   British Open leaderboard  

Scroogled, my ass

According to Alex Kantrowitz at AdAge, Microsoft's Google-bashing Scroogled ads work. As much as I detest Google's (possibly actionable) insistence on scanning every inbound and outbound Gmail message for ad-triggering keywords, Microsoft has just as many skeletons -- albeit in different closets -- and the Microsoft transgressions are getting worse, not better.

Attack ads like the Scroogled campaign belong in dirty political mudfests at the lowest end of the gene pool, not in the computer industry where the average level of intelligence arguably approaches room temperature. American politics has degraded to the point where attack ads are indistinguishable from news broadcasts. Let's hope the computer industry doesn't fall into the same tar pit, ushered by Steve Ballmer's handpicked Executive VP of Sewage, Mark Penn.

So far, Google has refrained from slinging mud back at the 'Softies, but I wonder how much longer its reserve will hold.

Here's how AdAge characterizes the effectiveness of the Google-bashing, Microsoft-sponsored scroogled.com website:

Once viewers do hit Scroogled.com, data collected for Microsoft by Answers Research show a 45 percent favorability gap in favor of Google contracting to just 5 percent. Data collected by Answers up until this summer also show the likelihood of someone recommending Google to a friend drop by 10 percent, as opposed to a 7 percent increase for Bing, after watching the ad.

"The Scroogled campaign is having a huge impact as consumers learn the stark difference between what Google says and what Google does," wrote a Microsoft spokesman in an email. Scroogled is now on its sixth wave of ads, which have been supported collectively with $10 million dollars in spending, according to a person familiar with the campaign. They also persist despite the recent revelations about the NSA's widespread surveillance activities, something Microsoft has been tied to.

Microsoft hasn't bothered to take on Yahoo Mail -- perhaps "Yahoogled" doesn't have the same advertising ring -- but Yahoo's just as up front about its snooping as Google. From the Yahoo Mail Additional Terms of Service posting:

Yahoo's automated systems scan and analyze all incoming and outgoing communications content sent and received from your account ... to, without limitation, provide personally relevant product features and content, to match and serve targeted advertising and for spam and malware detection and abuse protection. By scanning and analyzing such communications content, Yahoo collects and stores the data. Unless expressly stated otherwise, you will not be allowed to opt out of this feature. If you consent to this ATOS and communicate with non-Yahoo users using the services, you are responsible for notifying those users about this feature.

Here's the disconnect: Just yesterday, David Pann, general manager of the Microsoft Advertising Search Group, blogged about continued progress for the Yahoo Bing network:

... changes we are making in Bing Ads and on the Yahoo Bing Network are aimed at putting our customers first ... and doing all we can to give them a competitive edge ... advertiser spend on the Yahoo Bing Network continues to grow compared to Google -- it's up 39 percent year over year while Google's share of spend is up 18 percent. A lot of that is driven by non-brand click growth, which is up 45 percent on Bing Ads due to investments in our marketplace algorithms. In addition, CPCs fell 2 percent overall as Bing Ads continues to drive improvements that benefit our advertisers. The report says "advertiser ROI has improved on Bing Ads even as the platform has been able to deliver big traffic increases with better ad-matching technology."

Source: http://www.infoworld.com/t/microsoft-windows/scroogled-my-ass-228862?source=rss_infoworld_blogs
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Yeasayer: Glass of the Microscope

There's an unknown pandemic threatening mankind. Our only hope lies in Yeasayer's laboratory-grade emulsion of science and synthesizer psychedelia. Dystopia never sounded so good.

The newest video spawned from Yeasayer's 2012 album Fragrant World sets the innate creepiness of an ominous laboratory to the song's moderately-unsettling pop macabre. That's no movie set; as director Ruben van Leer told Wired, the video was shot in some of Holland's most prestigious research labs, including the one where Antoine van Leeuwenhoek discovered the principles of electron microscopy.

With iridescent microscope video, jars of embalmed specimens, lingering shots of lab apparatus and glitch art all swirling you into a state of agitation, you might expect this fever to break in a sudden fast tempo switch. Instead, Yeasayer opts for the gradual crescendo, letting you savor the growing tension like a slow-acting drug. Breathe it in. Let it infect you. The best synth-pop scientists in the world are hard at work finding a cure. [Amazon, Spotify, iTunes]

Related

Yeasayer: Henrietta

Fragrant World, Yeasayer's new album, dropped yesterday, and if you haven't given it a listen yet, fire up Spotify right now. This… Read…

Source: http://gizmodo.com/yeasayer-glass-of-the-microscope-1446657720
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Should you go to jail for posting video of a real murder?

BestGore.com is a vile website for videos of gang executions, women being tortured, body parts being maimed — anything to turn people’s stomachs. The content is revolting and a lot of it is real. But does Mark Marek, Best Gore’s 38-year-old owner, deserve to go to jail?

In May, Best Gore published a video entitled "1 Lunatic 1 Icepick," which showed a gruesome 10-minute murder. "1 Lunatic 1 Ice Pick is without a doubt the sickest thing you will have ever seen in your entire life," Marek wrote at the time.

The clip showed the actual murder of Lin Jun, a 33-year-old engineering student from China, carried out by a psychopath who distributed the video online and then mailed the victim’s body parts to political parties. Murder trial proceedings for the suspected killer, a man who goes by the name Luka Magnotta, will begin in November.

"without a doubt the sickest thing you will have ever seen in your entire life."

In the meantime, authorities in Canada have decided to charge Marek as well. The website owner has been accused of what sounds like an Oscar Wilde-era crime: "corrupting morals," a 1949 law that can carry a jail sentence of two years and potentially much higher.

The law says anyone who "makes, prints, publishes, distributes, circulates, or has in his possession for the purpose of publication, distribution or circulation any obscene written matter, picture, model, phonograph record or other thing whatever" may be indicted for a crime. According to case law, material becomes "obscene" when it mixes sex with violence or degradation. The law also covers "disgusting objects," "indecent shows," and advertisements for abortion methods.

"It’s a very rare charge," says Laurie Wood, Marek’s lawyer. "I can only find a half dozen cases."

The last Canadian to be charged with corrupting morals was Remy Couture, a special effects artist who posted grisly staged murders on his website for a "fake diary of a serial killer." In the end, a jury ruled that the images and videos were not criminally obscene.

"The offensive material is already out there. You can’t stop it."

A conviction would have potentially wide-ranging consequences for free speech in art, entertainment, and journalism, Wood says. In her opinion, "1 Lunatic 1 Icepick" is less graphic than the show "Spartacus."

Besides, she says, the police are too late. "The offensive material is already out there," she says. "You’re going to plug one hole and open another one. You can’t stop it. It’s the internet. It’s all over the world."

But would a conviction set a dangerous precedent for free speech in Canada? David Fewer, director of the Canadian Internet Policy and Public Interest Clinic at the University of Ottawa, says no. Obscenity in Canada is well-defined, he says, and a conviction would not change the standard. He expects Marek will have a difficult time arguing that the video is not obscene. "This is just flat-out over the line," Fewer says. "He's not going to have a good defense."

Marek. (Photo: provided by Marek to the Edmonton Sun).

Fewer points out that Marek could have edited the video or released still images. "What interest does the public have in seeing that video?" he says. "There is no legitimate interest in seeing that top to bottom, and even if there is, there is no justification for putting that on the open internet available to children."

Best Gore fans have a word for people with this kind of attitude: "sheep." By contrast, the site's readers refer to themselves as "aware individuals." There is a large disclaimer when you go to Best Gore: "WARNING: Extremely Graphic and Explicit Content." The site offers you a choice: enter to be exposed to "reality," or click on a picture of a puppy to be redirected to imbecile.me, a parody site that is mostly ads.

Marek was not able to answer questions by publication time, but The Verge had an email exchange with him when the video first came out in June of 2012, long before he was charged with a crime. Best Gore had been getting 3 million unique monthly readers, which jumped to half a million readers a day after the "1 Lunatic 1 Icepick" video came out, he said at the time.

Many sheep come to Best Gore because they’re curious to see a beheading. I have warnings all over the place, but sheep just don’t care. They think they can handle it, but then see that it’s not all pink like the world they see through their fantasy shades and get offended. As a result, I receive dozens of death threats and hate mail each and every day.

The others, the aware individuals view the content to stay on top of things. They want to know the truth and are not afraid to face it. They want the real truth, the raw truth, the uncensored truth. Not the played down one presented by the media with an agenda.

Marek became interested in the gore genre when he saw photos of a hand mangled by a meat grinder on the prototypical gross-out site rotten.com. He doesn’t like the term "gore." "I prefer to call it ‘reality,’" he says. He operates more than a dozen sites in addition to Best Gore. When a judge banned him from using the internet except for his own defense, he argued that he needed to be online 18 hours a day to run his empire.

Actually, members of the Best Gore community identified Luka Magnotta as the man in the video. "We acted in public interest," Marek told us at the time. "I posted the '1 Lunatic 1 Ice Pick' video in public interest, the community identified the perpetrator in public interest and in public interest it was reported to the authorities."

"They want the real truth, the raw truth, the uncensored truth."

Under the law, Marek can be acquitted of corrupting morals "if the public good was served." This case has a lot of heat, however. Calls for Marek’s arrest started soon after the story came out. The video of Lin’s terrible murder, which includes dismemberment, cannibalism, and necrophilia, is still circulating online and has prompted a reaction video meme. Lin’s parents are devastated and angry. "The most unbearable pain for me is that the video got posted on the internet," his mother, Zhigui Du, told Yahoo News. "People watched it over and over. It's like my son is being murdered again and again."

Marek argues that gore is a reflection of real life, and that he is the victim of politically motivated persecution by people who can’t handle the truth. That line is unlikely to go over well with a jury, and the obscenity definition depends on community standards. The fact that "1 Lunatic 1 Icepick" depicts a real murder could make jurors less sympathetic even to the free speech argument.

No trial date has been set, but Marek’s next court date is November 1st. The prosecution declined to comment on the case.

Source: http://www.theverge.com/2013/10/16/4841522/bestgore-corrupting-public-morals-mark-marek-luka-magnotta
Category: lauren conrad   redskins   Apple.com   pga championship   EverQuest Next  

Apple's Oct. 22 Invites Kick Rumor Mill Into High Gear

"It seems pretty solid from the supply chain that the new iPad will have a narrow bezel and, from what I've seen from accessories manufacturers, it seems the screen is narrower at the edges," suggested Jeff Orr, a senior practice director at ABI Research. A fingerprint sensor is also highly likely because "architecturally, the iPad will follow the iPhone 5," Orr added.

Apple on Tuesday sent out invitations to an undisclosed event to be held Oct. 22 in San Francisco, fueling fresh speculation about the company's planned product launches.

It's widely expected that Apple will unveil new versions of the iPad and iPad mini, among other things.

"The most solid rumors are that we'll see a 9.7-inch fifth-generation iPad," Jeff Orr, a senior practice director at ABI Research, told MacNewsWorld.

It's generally agreed that the iPad lost market share in Q2.

"It was inevitable that they would lose share from their lofty perch," commented Stephen Baker, vice president of industry analysis for NPD Group. "However, I would contend that most of the business [Apple] has lost is not business it ever really wanted to win."

Apple did not respond to our request for further details.

What We Might Expect

Apple is expected to unveil an iPad mini with a Retina screen; another version of this small tablet with a polycarbonate case similar to the one used in the faltering iPhone 5C; a slimmer iPad with a narrower bezel; and 8 MP rear cameras in both the iPad and iPad mini, up from the current 5 MP version.

There is also speculation that Apple might launch a new Apple TV, which has not been updated for more than a year, and unveil the iWatch.

New MacBook Pros with Retina screens and Mac OS X Mavericks, Apple's next-generation desktop OS, might also make their appearance.

Whither the iPad?

"It seems pretty solid from the supply chain that [the new iPad] will have a narrow bezel and, from what I've seen from accessories manufacturers, it seems the screen is narrower at the edges," ABI's Orr said.

The iPad 5 will probably have the A7 processor, Orr suggested.

A fingerprint sensor is also highly likely because "architecturally, the iPad will follow the iPhone 5," Orr argued.

Mini-Me May Make It

An iPad mini with a Retina display will probably be in the cards for the Oct. 22 event, but "the rumor is that Apple is getting a bit behind on resolutions," Orr stated.

"As of Q2, the iPad mini has been the majority of iPad shipments, and the changes Apple make on it will impact their bottom line more than any iterations on the regular iPad," Orr averred.

However, the iPad mini will get a higher-resolution screen "only if they can make enough to satisfy demand," NPD's Baker told MacNewsWorld. "There have been some questions about their ability to build enough."

Challenges to Cupertino

Apple still dominates the market for tablets larger than 8 inches, and it doesn't compete with low-cost Android tablets smaller than 8 inches, which have been growing at a triple-digit rate throughout 2013, Baker said.

Apple's business "in the markets they compete in -- more premium-priced products -- is actually quite good," Baker continued.

As the tablet market separates into markets for larger and for smaller tablets, two questions need to be answered, Baker suggested.

One is whether Apple can continue to be competitive on features and apps in the small-tablet market, and the other is how fast the standard iPad can evolve into a hybrid productivity and consumption device to beat competing Windows, Chrome and Android offerings.

"I would like to see [Apple] take a stand with enterprise or non-consumer audiences," ABI's Orr said. "iOS 7 has broken a number of enterprise-designed applications and VPN support."

By remaining quiet on these issues, Apple is sending a negative message to business audiences, Orr pointed out.

The company gives a tip of the hat to the enterprise market when it states in financial calls that the iPad's in test or deployment with a majority of Fortune 500 organizations, but "that's a meaningless statement,' Orr contended -- "I'm sure the people who make water coolers can say the same thing."

Source: http://www.technewsworld.com/rsstory/79201.html
Tags: jimmy kimmel   iPhone 5S   college football   Will Smith Miley Cyrus   2 Guns  

US, partners study Iran offer at Geneva talks

EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs Catherine Ashton, left, walks next to Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, right, during a photo opportunity prior to the start of two days of closed-door nuclear talks Tuesday, October 15, 2013, at the United Nations offices in Geneva, Switzerland. Iran's overtures to the West are being tested as the U.S. and its partners sit down for the first talks on Tehran's nuclear program since the election of a reformist Iranian president. Negotiations between Iran and the U.S., Russia, China, Britain, France and Germany began Tuesday morning at the main United Nations building in Geneva. (AP Photo/Fabrice Coffrini, pool)

EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs Catherine Ashton, left, walks next to Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, right, during a photo opportunity prior to the start of two days of closed-door nuclear talks Tuesday, October 15, 2013, at the United Nations offices in Geneva, Switzerland. Iran's overtures to the West are being tested as the U.S. and its partners sit down for the first talks on Tehran's nuclear program since the election of a reformist Iranian president. Negotiations between Iran and the U.S., Russia, China, Britain, France and Germany began Tuesday morning at the main United Nations building in Geneva. (AP Photo/Fabrice Coffrini, pool)

US Under Secretary for Political Affairs Wendy Sherman, center, waits for the start of the two days of closed-door nuclear talks on Tuesday, Oct. 15, 2013 at the United Nations offices in Geneva, Switzerland. Iran's overtures to the West are being tested as the U.S. and its partners sit down for the first talks on Tehran's nuclear program since the election of a reformist Iranian president. Negotiations between Iran and the U.S., Russia, China, Britain, France and Germany began Tuesday morning. (AP Photo/Fabrice Coffrini, pool)

Political director at the French Foreign Ministry Jacques Audibert looks on at the start of the two days of closed-door nuclear talks on Tuesday, Oct. 15, 2013 at the United Nations offices in Geneva, Switzerland. Iran's overtures to the West are being tested as the U.S. and its partners sit down for the first talks on Tehran's nuclear program since the election of a reformist Iranian president. Negotiations between Iran and the U.S., Russia, China, Britain, France and Germany began Tuesday morning. (AP Photo/Fabrice Coffrini, pool)

General view prior to the start of the two days of closed-door nuclear talks on Tuesday, Oct. 15, 2013 at the United Nations offices in Geneva, Switzerland. Iran's overtures to the West are being tested as the U.S. and its partners sit down for the first talks on Tehran's nuclear program since the election of a reformist Iranian president. Negotiations between Iran and the U.S., Russia, China, Britain, France and Germany began Tuesday morning at the main United Nations building in Geneva. (AP Photo/Fabrice Coffrini, pool))

EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs Catherine Ashton, left, talks to Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, right, during a photo opportunity prior to the start of two days of closed-door nuclear talks Tuesday, October 15, 2013, at the United Nations offices in Geneva, Switzerland. Iran's overtures to the West are being tested as the U.S. and its partners sit down for the first talks on Tehran's nuclear program since the election of a reformist Iranian president. Negotiations between Iran and the U.S., Russia, China, Britain, France and Germany began Tuesday morning at the main United Nations building in Geneva. (AP Photo/Fabrice Coffrini, pool)

GENEVA (AP) — Six world powers sat down with Iran for a closer look Wednesday at what Tehran is describing as a possible breakthrough deal that could lessen suspicions it is interested in nuclear arms and lead to the easing of sanctions on the Islamic Republic.

Iran says it is not interested in getting the bomb. Its proposal Tuesday to the United States, Russia, China, Britain, France and Germany focused on their demands that uranium enrichment and other activities that could be used to make nuclear arms be stopped or reduced.

No details were made public. But comments from Western officials meeting with Iranian negotiators indicated interest in the proposal, described by Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi as designed to allow Iran to leave the "dark" path of international isolation.

Iran's version of success is for painful international sanctions to be lifted in exchange for possible concessions it had been previously unwilling to consider, such as increased monitoring and scaling back of uranium enrichment — a potential path to nuclear arms and the centerpiece of the impasse with the West.

International talks designed to reduce fears that Iran may make such arms have been stalled for most of their 10-year history, with Tehran insisting it has no interest in weapons production, while resisting both enticements and sanctions designed to force it into ending uranium enrichment and other activities that could be used to make weapons.

But negotiations appear now to be driven by the new wind generated since reformist President Hassan Rouhani was elected in June.

Wednesday's meeting started several hours late, as the six powers discussed further steps among themselves before the talks resumed for a closer look at the proposal.

Asked for details beyond broad outlines made public by the Iranians ahead of the talks, a member of one of the delegations at the table said the plan offered reductions in both the levels of uranium enrichment being conducted by Iran and the number of centrifuges doing the enrichment — a key demand of the six powers.

An Iranian official said any plan would be implemented in three stages lasting from six months to a year. Both men demanded anonymity because they were not allowed to discuss the confidential plan.

Iran's state TV, which closely reflects government views, said Tehran offered to discuss uranium enrichment levels. The report also said Iran proposed adopting the additional protocols of the U.N.'s nuclear treaty — effectively opening its nuclear facilities to wider inspection and monitoring — if the West recognizes Iran's right to enrich uranium.

But the Iranian official said any acceptance of the protocols would be one of the last steps in implementing the plan.

Associated PressSource: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/f70471f764144b2fab526d39972d37b3/Article_2013-10-16-Iran-Nuclear%20Talks/id-15756820968b42c093fe86965de048c2
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Watch an Artist Turn Thousands of Photos Into a Single Imaginary Moment

New York-based artist Pelle Cass turns thousands of images into beautiful time-lapse photographs for his series Selected People. It kind of feels like trick photography, but it takes a discerning eye, a quick trigger finger, and a lot of editing. Here's how he does it.

Read more...

Source: http://gizmodo.com/watch-an-artist-weave-thousands-of-photos-into-single-i-1445743151
Similar Articles: kenya   burn notice   gizmodo   Michael Girgenti   Eid mubarak  

Citigroup results hit by bond trading slowdown

By David Henry

(Reuters) - Citigroup Inc posted weaker-than-expected third-quarter earnings on Tuesday as bond market trading volume dropped, hurting revenue at the No. 3 U.S. bank and across Wall Street.

The bank's bond trading revenue dropped 26 percent, or $956 million (597.7 million pounds), excluding an accounting adjustment, and revenue at most of its major businesses dropped.

The fall in fixed-income revenue could spell trouble for investment banks Goldman Sachs Group Inc and Morgan Stanley, which post results later this week. Volumes dropped after the Federal Reserve said it plans to continue its bond buying stimulus program, giving assurance to investors that they can hold onto their bonds for a little longer.

Late in the quarter, investors also grew increasingly concerned about the government's fiscal impasse, which made many reluctant to trade.

"I don't think anybody wanted to get in front of that," said Diane Jaffee, who oversees about $6.5 billion of relative value mutual funds for TCW, and counts Citigroup among her top 10 holdings. The budget and debt ceiling crises continue to weigh on trading volumes in the fourth quarter, analysts said.

Investors pointed to Citi's efforts to control costs as the most positive part of the quarterly earnings. Similar moves could be imminent at other banks, especially as Wall Street bonus season - typically a huge part of their budgets - approaches.

In last year's third quarter Citigroup took a $4.7 billion charge before taxes, related to selling its Smith Barney brokerage business. For the bank's board, that hit was the last straw in a series of perceived missteps that ended up costing Vikram Pandit, then the bank's chief executive, his job.

Pandit's successor, Michael Corbat, has struggled to improve Citigroup's fortunes in an environment where client business is tepid and new regulations are raising banks' expenses. Those regulations are designed to make the banking system safer after the financial crisis, which forced Citigroup to seek government rescues three times.

'UNEVEN' BUSINESS CONDITIONS

Corbat told analysts in a conference call that business conditions would remain "uneven" for the rest of the year.

"While many of the factors which influence our revenues are not within our full control, we certainly can control our costs, and I am pleased with our expense discipline and improved efficiency year-to-date," Corbat said in a statement.

The bank's expenses fell nearly $500 million from the second quarter to $11.66 billion as performance-based compensation and transaction costs fell, partly reflecting a weak revenue environment, Chief Financial Officer John Gerspach told analysts.

Citigroup, which has said it was aiming to reduce costs by $1.2 billion annually, said on Tuesday it plans to cut areas like marketing expenses in the fourth quarter. But Gerspach said that no major new expense reduction plans are expected in the quarter.

Investors said that from the outside, it is hard to evaluate how the bank's cost-cutting is affecting its daily operations.

"All these banks are doing a lot on that front (cost cutting), including Citigroup, but it's hard to see from the outside what is happening," said David Ellison, portfolio manager in Boston at Hennessy Funds, which has about $4 billion under management and owns Citigroup shares.

"There's a dumpster in the driveway, but all the activity is in the house, and you can't tell what's happening inside."

CUSTOMER TRADING SLOWDOWN

The third quarter is typically a slow one for bond trading, a state that was only exacerbated by the Fed announcement, according to analysts.

Under generally accepted accounting principles, Citigroup's net income rose to $3.23 billion, or $1.00 per share, from $468 million, or 15 cents per share, a year earlier.

Excluding the Smith Barney charge, as well as the impact of tax benefits and changes in the value of Citigroup debts and those of trading partners, third-quarter earnings slipped to $3.26 billion, or $1.02 per share, from $3.27 billion, or $1.06 per share, a year earlier. On that basis, revenue fell 5 percent to $18.22 billion.

Analysts on average expected earnings of $1.04 a share, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S. A spokeswoman for the bank said that estimate was comparable to the adjusted earnings of $1.02 per share.

Citigroup shares were up 14 cents to $49.74 in midday trading.

On some fronts, Corbat is making progress. Citigroup has winnowed down the assets it is looking to shed, known as Citi Holdings, to $122 billion, down 29 percent from a year earlier and down 7 percent from the second quarter. Citi Holdings now accounts for a little more than 6 percent of the bank's overall assets, compared with about 9 percent in last year's third quarter.

But results were weak at many businesses at Citicorp, the bank's main operations. Revenue for its retail banking business fell 7 percent to $9.24 billion, and revenue for its securities and banking business fell 2 percent to $4.75 billion.

Revenue at its transaction services business was $2.613 billion, about $6 million below the same quarter last year. The bank's transaction services business, long a key driver of profitability, is facing intense competition now.

The bank earned enough taxable income in the United States to use about $500 million of its deferred tax assets, which amount to tax credits and other benefits that Citigroup can only use when it earns enough money domestically. The bank had about $54 billion of deferred tax assets at the end of June, most of which relate to U.S. taxes.

(Reporting by David Henry in New York; Additional reporting by Tanya Agrawal in Bangalore; Editing by John Wallace and Andrew Hay)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/citigroup-adjusted-profit-hit-bond-trading-slowdown-115608478--sector.html
Tags: revenge   world trade center   Shawn Burr   tony stewart   Royal Baby Pictures  

Mom did not report Baby Hope missing 'because she wasn't': report

(Reuters) - The mother of the girl known as "Baby Hope," who was murdered and put in a cooler in 1991 and just recently identified, told a TV station on Tuesday that she did not report her daughter's disappearance because did not realize the girl was missing.

The New York girl was identified as 4-year-old Anjelica Castillo, after two decades of investigation. Her mother, Margarita Castillo, told Telemundo Nueva York in an interview published online by NBC 4 New York, that the child left with her father and a sister after her parents split up.

"Because she wasn't missing - her father took them away and maybe that was my mistake, let him take them away," said Castillo, 52. "I did not go to the police because I was afraid of not being heard. I was afraid, not knowing the language."

Anjelica was living with relatives at the time she was raped and suffocated, police have said.

Conrado Juarez, 52, a relative of the victim on her father's side, was arrested on Saturday in connection with the case.

The mother told Telemundo that her biggest regret was allowing her daughter to leave with her father, according to the report.

The extraordinary brutality of the "Baby Hope" case shocked New Yorkers as news accounts cited investigators' findings about her final days.

Her bound, asphyxiated body was found packed under soda cans inside a cooler along a Manhattan highway in July 1991. She had been starved and sexually abused in the days preceding her death, investigators said.

New York detectives who worked on the case for years had called the unidentified child "Baby Hope" and paid for her funeral and burial when no one came forward to claim her - and vowed never to give up their pursuit of her killer.

A fresh lead emerged last summer after police cold case investigators launched a publicity campaign tied to the 22nd anniversary of the gruesome 1991 discovery.

Chief among the lingering questions is why no one - her mother, father, relatives, neighbors or any of Castillo's nine other children by three different men - ever reported the child missing.

(Reporting by Karen Brooks; editing by Gunna Dickson)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/mom-did-not-report-baby-hope-missing-because-164724661.html
Tags: Cleveland Indians   liam hemsworth   boardwalk empire   tim tebow   Larry Shippers  

Justin Long Poised for Return to Television in an NBC Comedy

Taking good care of Finn while mama is away, Justin Long walked Amanda Seyfried's dog in New York City on Tuesday (October 15).

The "Waiting..." star sported a slightly creepy mustache, Tulane baseball cap, Funny or Die sweatshirt, and track pants as he strolled with the popular pooch.

Ready to return to the small screen, the 35-year-old actor may soon appear in a new NBC comedy, co-written by his brother Christian, according to Deadline.

In "The Younger Man," an optimistic guy in his early 30s is happily married to an older woman while raising their teenage son to the chagrin of his judgmental mother.

Source: http://celebrity-gossip.net/justin-long/justin-long-poised-return-television-nbc-comedy-942998
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Charlie Hunnam Has Christian Grey On His Mind 24/7!

Charlie Hunnam, did you think we were doubting your sexiness?!

Because we would never do such a thing!

Fifty Shades of Grey is about to start filming and the actor is starting to feel the pressure!

Charlie opened up to Entertainment Weekly about the role, saying:

"There are so many fans of that book and I know that on the surface, I'm probably not what everybody imagined. Because reading is so personal and people bring a character to life in their imagination, they feel ownership over that character."

Well, just because you weren't the first person people imagined Christian Grey to be, doesn't mean future readers won't be thinking of you!

He goes on to say:

"That's daunting if I allowed myself to think about it too much. I'm taking it very seriously and intend to explore the nature of who this character is, what motivates him—and also dress up nice and look good in those suits."

Yes!!

We have Fifty Shades of Grey marked in our calendar and we’re counting down!

Only 294 days left!

LOLz!

[Image via Cousart/JFXimages/WENN.]

Tags: 50 shades of grey, acting, charlie hunnam, christian grey, fifty shades of grey, movies, sex, yummy yummy screw

Source: http://perezhilton.com/2013-10-10-charlie-hunnam-christian-grey-fifty-shades-of-grey-movie-film-looking-good-sex
Related Topics: south park   Emily Ratajkowski   Erwin Schrödinger   mumford and sons   Behati Prinsloo  

Lavabit reinstates service briefly so users can download emails, change passwords

Email provider Lavabit shut down in August due to government pressure in the wake the Edward Snowden leaks, but it is apparently re-opening -- for a little while. A press release issued by Lavabit indicates that there's a two-step process, with step one giving users a chance to change their password ...

Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/ARxtpjxKEXA/
Category: kaley cuoco   once upon a time   nbc news   BBC   The Conjuring  

When Banksy's latest creation comes to your neighborhood

A crowd gathers in Queens, N.Y., to view British street artist Banksy's latest work. (Grant Burningham/Yahoo N …Banksy, the British street artist and prankster, is on the loose in New York City. But what do you make of it when this international phenomenon lands in your average Queens neighborhood?

Banksy has spent the last week around the city posting stencil prints with bold messages — his once unique, now ubiquitous style. This morning, Gothamist reported that the artist's latest work appeared in Woodside, just blocks from my apartment.

So after work, I got off the subway a stop early and strolled over to see his latest opus. There was no crowd of toughs demanding money, no jealous graffiti hastily sprayed over it — just a thick but polite gaggle spilling into the dead-end street, staring at a quote from the movie “Gladiator” on the back of the most common of common buildings.

I’m of two minds about Banksy. Sometimes his creations seems more punch line than masterwork, more artifice than genius. But I had to marvel at what he’d created here in Queens.

Construction workers speaking Spanish leaned against a stop sign and discussed what they saw. Middle school kids still in uniform climbed a nearby staircase to take in the crowds. Professional photographers circled, and hipsters on bikes rode up for an Instagram. It was a thrill, like knowing Louis Armstrong lived nearby, or that Jackie Robinson worked out at your park, or that punk rock was born a couple subway stops away.

On Sunday, Banksy posted a video showing some lucky tourists at an unassuming kiosk near Central Park snapping up some of his spray-painted originals — art valued at hundreds of thousands of dollars, according to some — for just $60 apiece.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/a-yahoo-news-editor-considers-banksy-s-latest-creation-200534257.html
Related Topics: january jones   Sydney Leathers   alexis bledel   miley cyrus   Baby I Ariana Grande  

NYCC: Marvel Reveals Live-Action Stage Event to Launch 2014 (Video)

Feld Entertainment/Marvel Entertainment.

They've conquered the worlds of comic books, movies and are working on television with ABC's Agents of SHIELD, but the Marvel multimedia experience doesn't stop there, it seems -- announced at New York Comic Con Saturday afternoon was Marvel Universe LIVE!, an arena event that will let audiences get a glimpse of what it would be like to catch their favorite superheroes in the flesh.

A collaboration with Feld Entertainment, Marvel Universe LIVE! will "blow people’s minds," according to Marvel chief creative officer Joe Quesada. "The way in which [Feld Entertainment] will be bringing the Marvel Universe to life is truly mesmerizing, and there is no doubt in my mind it will be a can’t miss event for Marvel fans of all ages."

Juliette Feld, executive vice president and producer with Feld, said that the show "will be the most technically advanced live show to date, and will bring the Marvel Universe and its bigger-than-life superheroes and super villains to life before a live audience for the first time."

STORY:NYCC: Marvel Announces New 'Loki' Series, New 'Avengers' Titles

Amongst those responsible for creating the actual show are veterans of the Ringling Bros and Barnum & Bailey, 2011's Thor movie and Blue Man Group at Universal Orlando. The show will launch a North American tour in July next year, with the event heading to 85 cities across the country in its first two years.

Although this is Marvel's first such event, it follows Batman Live, a similar live-action stage show that brings DC Entertainment's Dark Knight and assorted villains and companions to life. That show launched in the United Kingdom in 2011, before beginning its North American tour in summer 2012. We can only hope that a scheduling error will bring both touring productions head-to-head at some point for a live-action version of Marvel vs. DC.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/THRComicCon/~3/xCb4kF3dIVE/story01.htm
Category: American flag   brandon jacobs   Hannah Davis   Snowden   Kidd Kraddick