smart traveller: March 2013

Sunday, March 31, 2013

Exxon has yet to excavate area of ruptured Arkansas oil pipeline

Attention, unemployed copyeditors: Macy's may soon have a job opening for you. The department store giant mailed a catalog to customers earlier this month which mistakenly offered a $1,500 sterling silver and 14-karat gold necklace for just $47. The heading: "SUPER BUY." The actual sale price was supposed to be $479, but Macy's printed the [...]

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/exxon-yet-excavate-area-ruptured-arkansas-oil-pipeline-185433705--finance.html

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DOS emulator brings Raspberry Pi back to the '90s for Doom LAN parties

Who can forget the first time they obliterated their buddy with a BFG9000 during a spirited Doom game? Raspberry Pi coder Pate wants to resurrect those good times with an rpix86 DOS emulator that opens up the world of retro PC games like the aforementioned FPS pioneer along with Duke Nukem 3D, Jill of the Jungle and others. It works by creating a virtual machine your Dad would be proud of, based on a 40Mhz 80486 processor, 640KB base RAM, 16MB extended memory, 640 x 480 256-color graphics and SoundBlaster 2.0 audio. Of course, the Pi is worlds beyond that with a 700Mhz ARM CPU, 512MB or RAM and HDMI out -- so, most enthusiasts with one of the wee $35 boards will likely be all over hacking it to play those classics.

Filed under: Misc, Peripherals

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Via: Geek.com

Source: rpix86 blog

Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/ls-45IbZwT8/

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Clean fuel regulations: EPA, oil industry vie over effect on gas prices

The Obama administration proposed on Friday new ? and more costly ? regulations of the refining industry to produce cleaner gasoline and clearer skies.

If the new rules are implemented as scheduled in 2017, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) says, they will spare thousands of people from premature death and prevent respiratory problems in tens of thousands of children. The cost: on average less than a penny gallon.

Not so, says the oil industry, which has been battling the EPA over the proposed rules. The new rules will add as much as nine cents a gallon to the cost of making fuel and will produce ?ambiguous? results, says The American Petroleum Institute. API, the industry?s lobbying arm in Washington, refers to the proposed new rules as part of a ?tsunami of regulations? the industry faces this year that could add as much as 65 cents to the cost of producing a gallon of fuel in the future.

RECOMMENDED: How much do you know about gas prices? Take our quiz!

Gasoline prices are politically sensitive. Consumers often know how much they have paid for a gallon of gasoline compared with their prior fill-up. When pump prices are rising, consumers grumble and, if prices get high enough, cut back on other discretionary purchases. As a result, economists refer to rising fuel prices as a tax on the economy.

But will Americans pay more for fuel and smile about if they believe it will result in cleaner air?

?Some will, but the majority won?t,? answers Tom Kloza, chief oil analyst at GasBuddy.com. ?There is a sense among a lot of people that we are entitled to cheaper fuel prices than the rest of the world.?

The proposed changes would make US standards the same as most of Europe, Japan, and South Korea, Mr. Kloza says. ?We would be joining 45 other countries with tougher fuel standards,? he says.

Republicans quickly attacked the proposed regulation. ?The Obama Administration is modeling our regulations after California, which has the worst economy in the nation, and today?s announcement is essentially a guaranteed energy tax hike and unfortunately is just one of many radical policies coming out of this Administration that will deal a heavy blow to middle-class families and small businesses,? said Rep. Steve Scalise of Louisiana, chairman of the Republican Study Committee, in a statement.

In January, Greenberg Quinlan Rosner Research, often associated with Democratic issues, conducted what it termed a ?bipartisan survey? of 800 registered voters for the American Lung Association on whether Americans favored tougher fuel regulations and improved antipollution laws. It found 62 percent of voters supported new gasoline and vehicle standards, and 32 percent opposed them.

If the new rules are implemented as proposed, the EPA says, the new standards would cut smog-producing chemicals by 80 percent, cut down on particulate matter by 70 percent, and reduce vapor emissions to near zero.

In the case of sulfur, one culprit in producing smog, the new standard would cut the emission to 10 parts per million in 2017 compared with the current standard of 30 parts per million. Only eight years ago the standard was 300 parts per million.

Implementing the new standards will, by 2030, avoid 2,400 premature deaths per year, 23,000 cases of respiratory ailments in children, 3,200 hospital admissions, and 1.8 million lost school days, work days, and days when activities would be restricted due to air pollution, the EPA estimates. Total health-related benefits in 2030 would be between $8 billion and $23 billion annually, according to the agency.

One proponent of the new standard is the auto industry, which is under pressure to boost fuel mileage to meet tougher government regulations on greenhouse gas emissions and fuel economy. In a background press release on Friday, the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers, a lobbying group, called the EPA announcement ?a big step forward.?

According to the alliance, cleaner fuel immediately reduces emissions from vehicles of any age. Sulfur damages catalytic converters over time, so the new regulation would be especially helpful in older vehicles.

?And, cleaner fuel allows for new energy-efficient technologies like lean-burn engines that are going to be necessary to comply with the challenging 2017-2025 greenhouse gas and fuel economy standards,? said the alliance in its release.

The auto industry would also like to see the EPA?s proposed new standards implemented because they would then be closer to those used in California. This would allow the auto companies to sell the same cars in all 50 states, says the EPA.

In fact, the EPA in its release mainly talked about the benefit to the auto industry, which the US government rescued during the height of the Great Recession.

?The Obama Administration has taken a series of steps to reinvigorate the auto industry and ensure that the cars of tomorrow are cleaner, more efficient and saving drivers money at the pump and these common-sense cleaner fuels and cars standards are another example of how we can protect the environment and public health in an affordable and practical way,? said EPA Acting Administrator Bob Perciasepe, in a statement.

The proposed rules come at a time when refinery profit margins are relatively high, says GasBuddy.com's Kloza.

?Let?s just say the environment for refining is prosperous,? he says, noting that the cost of natural gas used to make gasoline is low, and that the price of oil produced in the US is lower than oil produced in other parts of the world. This gives the refineries a cost advantage.

However, he says, the industry can see a turnaround in a hurry. ?We know refining can go from a renaissance to the dark ages in a heartbeat,? he says.

The API says it is sees nothing but rising costs ahead because of proposed federal regulations. If the EPA adds an additional mandate to lower vapor pressure, that will cost an extra 25 cents a gallon to make gasoline, the API calculates. Moreover, the API says, gasoline costs during manufacturing will rise another 30 percent if federal mandates to use more ethanol by 2015 are not relaxed. The API also worries that the EPA will propose new ozone reduction standards at the end of the year.

?That?s why we call it a tsunami of regulations,? says Carlton Carroll, a spokesman for the API in Washington.

The EPA will take public comments on the new regulations before finalizing them, possibly by year's end.

RECOMMENDED: How much do you know about gas prices? Take our quiz!

Saturday, March 30, 2013

93% The Sapphires

All Critics (98) | Top Critics (20) | Fresh (91) | Rotten (7)

Let's trivialize a legacy of cruelty and denigration, in a country where indigenous people suffered from centuries of human rights abuse! And let's make the carnage of Vietnam look like a paintball game!

[A] genial, entertaining, clich?-ridden showbiz story from Australia.

"The Sapphires" illustrates how the same old story - in this case, the one about a 1960s girl group and its struggles - can be freshened up through the novelties of place and characterization.

A very conventional story of a '60s Australian girl group gains extra power from its context and setting in this fact-based story set to the beat of Motown soul.

The performers improve it, or save it, depending on your viewpoint.

"The Sapphires" is a bit like a puppy you're trying to house break. It may have its bad cinematic moments but it's just so darn appealing that you have to love it.

If you love the music of Motown and enjoy a feel good success flick, then "The Sapphires" fits the bill.

Delirious surprises crowd out the clich?s in this thoroughly disarming movie.

Mauboy has one hell of a voice, and the Sapphires' vocal performances speak to the endless power of great soul songs.

Irresistibly feel good, sound good movie, wears hearts and social relevance on its sparkly sleeve. . .Fun and racial tolerance amidst war [with] sterling aborigine talent.

The most affable, innocuous outing ever set in a war zone.

With O'Dowd in the lead, and a hit-soundtrack-ready selection of tunes from the Stax and Motown catalogs and more, The Sapphires is popcorn entertainment, with some earned laughs and a genuine heart.

It helps that the leading actors are so skillful and appealing, beginning with Chris O'Dowd as a roguish Irishman who becomes the girls' manager...

You've seen this type of tale many times before...but the inspired-by-a-true-story Aboriginal slant adds interest, the actresses create unique characters and Chris O'Dowd really shines.

This familiar but supremely well-told and produced tale of the unlikely rise of an Aboriginal female pop group in the Vietnam War-era is feel-good entertainment at its best. Performances, solid script and great music all hit the high notes.

It sidesteps the usual cliches. Fame and fortune matter less than the human connections that are fostered and repaired on this unlikely journey.

Melodramatic and clich?d to a fault, The Sapphires is however elevated by winsome performances, particularly O'Dowd, and plentiful musically-driven charm.

Not even sweet soul music can turn Vietnam circa 1968 into a feel-good trip, but "The Sapphires" tries its darnedest.

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Source: http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_sapphires_2012/

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Friday, March 29, 2013

Toilets in Video Games Are All Pretty Gross

Though most video games never involve a player having to drop a deuce, video game worlds always seem to have dirty toilets in even dirtier restrooms. Who uses these toilets and why are they universally dirty! Video Game Toilets rounds up the toilets found in video games—it spans from like the early 80's until now—in a hilarious Tumblr. Here are a few we love (the one above is from F.E.A.R. 3). More »

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/9K_WFNlypTU/toilets-in-video-games-are-all-pretty-gross

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Google Starts Testing Google Shopping Express In SF, With Free Delivery From Target, Walgreens, Staples And More

Google is finally opening up its Google Shopping Express service to the public today, with the same day delivery service being made available as a test to select users in San Francisco and the Peninsula from San Mateo to San Jose. Participating retailers include, as we've previously reported:?Target, Walgreens, Staples, American Eagle, Toys?R?Us/Babies?R?Us, Office Depot, San Francisco?s Blue Bottle Coffee, Raley?s Nob Hill Foods, and Palo Alto Toy & Sport.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/FMw-KSJXJuk/

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Do you think it is ever appropriate for DH, BM, and skids ... - Step Talk

They are not a family unit, so should they be attending counseling as a family? If counseling is needed, shouldn't the step-parents be included, but would you want to participate? This hasn't come up in my family, yet, though we have been talking about getting someone for SS to talk to. What are your thoughts?

Source: http://www.steptalk.org/node/128565

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Thursday, March 28, 2013

Meet Some of the Lucky People Who Suddenly Owe Google $1500

We already knew about the lucky six who will officially have the honor of paying Google $1,500 in exchange for Glass and the adventures and (highly likely) ridicule that will soon follow. But now @projectglass is announcing the rest of the lucky winners by replying individually to their #ifihadglass tweets. Here are some of them in all their glory. There will be 8,000 in total. More »

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/O5znVxKm5RY/meet-the-people-who-suddenly-owe-google-1500

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Boundless Vows To Continue Disrupting The Textbook Market, Even As Second Founder Departs, Litigation Drags On

Since emerging on the scene in early 2012, the Boston-based Boundless has been on a mission to give students of all ages a free, open-source digital alternative to the pricey world of hard-copy textbooks. But when you try to rock the boat, the powers-that-be will likely have something to say about it -- especially when thousands of beta testers across 2,000 universities are using free, open alternatives.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/gp50bqOpzgU/

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Syria's Assad appeals to African summit for help

DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) ? Syria's increasingly isolated president sent a letter calling for help from leaders of five nations at an economic meeting Wednesday in South Africa to help end his country's civil war.

Bashar Assad's appeal to Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa came a day after the Arab League endorsed Syria's Western-backed opposition coalition, allowing it to take the country's seat at a summit in Doha, Qatar. The move drew strong condemnation from Damascus, which warned it will take "appropriate measures" to defend its sovereignty.

Attempts to end Syria's 2-year-old conflict through peaceful means have failed to make progress. The opposition, including the main Syrian National Coalition, says it will accept nothing less than Assad's departure from power while Assad's government has vowed to continue the battle until the rebel forces ? which it refers to as terrorists ? are crushed.

"This requires a clear international will to dry up the sources of terrorism and stop its funding and arming," Assad said in the letter, which was carried by Syrian state media on Wednesday. It was addressed to the leaders at the BRICS forum, which was started in 2009 amid the economic meltdown to chart a new and more equitable world economic order.

Assad said Syria is subjected to "acts of terrorism backed by Arab, regional and Western nations" and asked the leaders to "work for an immediate cessation of violence that would guarantee the success of the political solution."

The opposition's ascension to the Arab League further demonstrated the extent of the regime's isolation two years into a civil war that the U.N. says has killed an estimated 70,000 people.

In a further show of solidarity with anti-Assad forces, the summit in Qatar endorsed the "right of each state" to provide the Syrian people and the rebel Free Syrian Army with "all necessary means to ... defend themselves, including military means."

Following up on the endorsement, the Syrian National Coalition opened what it called its first embassy, raising its green, white and black rebel flag at different site from the now-closed Syrian Embassy in the Qatari capital.

Key opposition figures looked on, including Ghassan Hitto, George Sabra and leader Mouaz al-Khatib, who recently said he was stepping down from his post and criticized the international community for not doing enough to back the anti-Assad forces. Al-Khatib said the SNC will not discuss his resignation, leaving open the option that he could be asked to reverse his decision.

Envoys from the U.S., Turkey, France and other nations that have backed the rebels also attended the ceremony. The new embassy operations are mostly symbolic, but can serve as a base for political initiatives. Many nations in the West, Arab world and elsewhere have declared the SNC the legitimate representative of the Syrian people and have effectively broken diplomatic ties with Assad's government.

Al-Khatib criticized a decision by NATO not to use U.S. Patriot anti-missile batteries based in Turkey to help protect parts of northern Syria from attacks by Assad's military.

But the opposition alliance is marred by severe divisions among its ranks, and often disconnected from the rebel forces fighting inside Syria, so it's not immediately clear how the developments in Qatar would translate on the ground.

The Syrian government said the Arab League's decisions in favor of the opposition "violate in a flagrant way its charter." A statement carried by state-run TV said the Doha summit "encouraged violence, radicalism and extremism that form a danger not only to Syria but for the whole Arab nation and the world."

It said Damascus rejected the Arab summit's decisions and reserved its right "to take appropriate measures to defend its sovereignty and interests of its people." The statement added that Syria will continue the work to "guarantee security and stability and to protect the nation by fighting terrorism and terrorists."

BRICS countries, including Assad's key ally Russia, oppose foreign intervention in Syria and accuse the West of trying to force regime change. Russia, China and South Africa have also voted against U.N. Security Council resolutions on Syria.

At the gathering in the South African coastal resort of Durban, President Jacob Zuma and his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, were asked Tuesday whether they would use their influence to persuade Assad to allow unimpeded U.N. humanitarian access across all of Syria's borders, as requested by leading activists from BRICS countries.

Zuma did not answer, while Putin said only that "We will think about it." Earlier, the Russian president said the forum's leaders would jointly "work for a peaceful resolution to the Syrian crisis."

In his letter, Assad criticized European and U.S. sanctions imposed on his regime and urged leaders of the five countries to "exert every possible effort to lift the suffering of the Syrian people that were caused by the sanctions," an apparent reference to shortages of goods and soaring prices.

Syrian activist groups, meanwhile, reported violence in different areas in the country on Wednesday, including Damascus and its suburbs and the southern Quneitra region along the cease-fire line separating Syria from Israeli-occupied Golan Heights.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights and the Local Coordination Committees reported clashes and shelling in the Quneitra villages of Bir Ajam, Rasm al-Hawa and Ein el-Darb. The Observatory said rebels overran three army posts near Bir Ajam on Wednesday.

The area near the Golan Heights, a strategic goal of the rebels, has been the scene of heavy clashes for days.

In Israel, the military said it has provided medical care to seven wounded Syrians who arrived at the border of the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights ? the third time Israel has assisted Syrians hurt in the fighting. The two countries are bitter enemies.

The Israeli army said medics treated five Syrians at the border before releasing them back to Syria. It said two other Syrians who were severely wounded were transferred to Israeli hospitals for further treatment.

The army said it will return the wounded Syrians when their hospital treatment ends. Israel did not reveal the identities of the wounded because having been in Israel could endanger them when back in Syria.

___

Mroue reported from Beirut. Associated Press writers Brian Murphy in Doha, Qatar and Josef Federman in Jerusalem contributed to this report.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/syrias-assad-appeals-african-summit-help-115857816.html

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Wednesday, March 27, 2013

Dorf on Law: The Case That Dare Not Speak Its Naim

By Mike Dorf

In Sunday's NY Times, Adam Liptak addressed the question of whether fear of another Roe v. Wade?could influence the Supreme Court in its decision of the same-sex marriage cases. ?It's certainly possible that one or more Justices will indeed have that fear, but Liptak's article suggests--incorrectly in my view--that this is a realistic fear. ? As I wrote last week, I think that both the direction and the intensity of public opinion on SSM makes "massive resistance" to a decision recognizing a right to SSM quite unlikely.

The leading expert on backlash w/r/t SSM is Harvard Law Professor Mike Klarman. ?In my post last week, I noted that in Klarman's 2012 book, he warns of the possibility of backlash but that it's possible that Klarman has softened (from an already-hedged position) in his calculation of the odds. ?Liptak cites Klarman's book and quotes Klarman expressing the view that the intensity of opposition ot SSM is nothing like the intensity of opposition to abortion. ?Interestingly,the very same day that Liptak's article appeared, so did a Los Angeles Times op-ed by Klarman himself, in which Klarman explains systematically why backlash against a Supreme Court decision recognizing SSM is unlikely.

To be sure, even if the Justices don't need to worry about backlash, they still might. ?If they do, and if they also want to avoid writing an opinion that will come to be regarded as infamous, they will likely look for some way to decide the cases on narrow grounds. ?There are two possibilities--what I labeled options (1) and (3) respectively in my post yesterday:

(1) No ruling on the merits because executive non-defense means no case or controversy; . . . (3) Plaintiffs win "small" in the sense that Prop 8 is invalid in California (perhaps because, following the 9th Circuit, the decision to take away marriage was rooted in animus) but the Court does not say that other states must recognize SSM, and, in?Windsor, the Court relies on some DOMA-specific ground like federalism or the animus that motivated Congress . . . .

As I noted yesterday, I think it's easier to write an opinion for option (3) in Windsor?than in Perry, but here I want to say a word or two about option (1). ?I won't get into the underlying strength and weaknesses of the arguments for saying there's no standing, except to say that considered simply as a matter of standing law, I would favor a finding of standing in both cases. ?It seems to me that the courts ought to reward an executive branch actor (whether at the state or the federal level) who decides that he will enforce-but-not-defend a law he thinks is unconstitutional, on the ground that this is a useful way of obtaining a judicial resolution of the matter.

But suppose that a majority either disagrees with my legal analysis of the standing issues or thinks that the standing questions are close enough that they provide sufficient cover for the Court to use to duck the direct question of whether SSM is constitutionally protected. ?What kind of decision would that produce?

The closest parallel--as the intentionally punny title of this post suggests--might be Naim v. Naim. ?You've never heard of Naim? ?That's because it didn't decide very much at all.?The Virginia Supreme Court had rejected a federal constitutional challenge to its anti-miscegenation law. ?The case fell within what was then the U.S. Supreme Court's mandatory appellate jurisdiction. ?Nonetheless, the Justices ducked the case by vacating and remanding to the Virginia Supreme Court for clarification of a jurisdictional point. ?The Virginia Supreme Court then held that it lacked the authority to remand further to the lower state court and reaffirmed its earlier holding. ?That was 1955. The U.S. Supreme Court would not address the merits of a challenge to an anti-miscegenation law until 1967, in ?another case from Virginia, Loving v. Virginia.

Did Naim taint the Court's subsequent decision in Loving? ?No. ?But that doesn't mean that the Supreme Court could get away with a similar non-merits ruling in the SSM cases. ?For one thing, Naim was mostly beneath the radar. ?By contrast, the SSM cases are going to be the subject of full argument in the highest profile cases of the current Term.

Moreover, there's an important merits difference. ?Naim came to the Court just a year after Brown v. Board, at a time when the South was already almost literally up in arms. ?Private correspondence of the Justices--especially Felix Frankfurter--shows them worried that if the Court found a right to interracial marriage in 1955 it could spark a second Civil War. ?And so waiting another decade to tackle anti-miscegenation laws made tactical sense as a means of avoiding backlash, even if the means used for ducking the issue were somewhat unprincipled.

By contrast, it has already been a decade since the Court's last major gay rights ruling--Lawrence v. Texas. And with public sentiment pretty clearly moving irreversibly towards favoring legal SSM, there is little reason to worry about major backlash. ?In other words, even if the Court could get away with using jurisdictional grounds to duck a decision in the SSM case, there should be much less of a perceived need to do so here than there was in Naim.

Source: http://www.dorfonlaw.org/2013/03/the-case-that-dare-not-speak-its-naim.html

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Tuesday, March 26, 2013

These Android apps and games utilize your Galaxy?s S Pen

One of the neat features of the Galaxy Note, Note 2, and tablet Note 10.1 is the S Pen or stylus. The S Pen will work with a lot of current apps and games. I have tried with Angry Birds, Cut the Rope, to name a few. For the artists out there, the S Pen provides a lot of neat drawing options. Today?s post covers some new apps that utilize the S Pen. Please note, this post does not cover any drawing apps since there are enough on the Google Play store for an entirely separate write-up!

In Slice the Bombs, your job is to swipe (sorta like Fruit Ninja) with the S Pen to protect the bubbles from explosive destruction. As you move forward in the game, the difficulty increases due to more bombs, faster speeds, and the position of bubbles. You get three chances to complete each level.

The game comes with 18 levels and you need to progress in order and unlock them as you go. The graphics and music are well done. The first couple of levels are pretty easy but once the bubbles start moving around more, it gets harder. There were a few times that the game did not seem to respond well with the S Pen, but overall it is a solid little game.

Also on Android Apps

Zinio put together a survival guide for magazine lovers, now that many magazine and newspaper publishers are embracing digital. Read about their counsel in this Guest Post.

This game won the Grand Prize in the Samsung Smart App Challenge. Your job is to help the cute mouse find cheese, by following the scent vapors and drawing a line (with your S Pen) from the cheese to the mouse. The game?s perspective ?is a top down view, so you can see where you need to go and anticipate obstacles in your way. After a level or two, you will get the hang of it.

As you progress in the levels, there will be more challenges and obstacles for you to figure out how to get around. Having no words in the game does add to the challenge. The graphics are great and this version of the game comes with over 50 levels. You need to earn a certain number of stars to unlock future levels. There is another version of the game that you play without the S Pen. It comes free (with ads) and paid (no ads). No matter which you chose, you will dig this game.

This is another app that won an award from the Samsung Smart App Challenge. Papyrus is a handwriting and note-taking app. Being able to take notes using your S Pen is key. The Galaxy Note 2 comes with an app called the S Note but is very limited. With Papyrus, you can organize your notes in notebook (like Evernote) and it has a nice set of editing options such S Pen , eraser, shape, and text tools. You can also two finger scroll and pinch to zoom.

This app is free and clear of ads, but there is a paid version which comes with a few more features such as cloud service to back up your notes and extended tool packs. You can export your notes as PDFs, PNG, or JPEGs to services like Evernote or email. Papyrus also takes advantage of the multi-window support found in the Note 2 and Note 10.1. This is one of best apps I have found that really takes advantage of using the S Pen on the phone.

The calendar that comes with the Galaxy Note 2 is not terrible, but you cannot write notes by hand. Fit Tight Planner comes with a daily canvas or writing area, so you can write down notes and save them per day. Each month also gives you the ability to write down notes. Overall, this is a simple app that gets the job done.

Within the app you have the ability to change the color and style of pen ?ink.? If you do not want to write, you can also switch to text mode. You can take photos and even record a note and the undo button is extremely useful. As a relatively new app, I would be curious to see how it develops in the coming months.

These are just a few of the exciting apps out on the market that allow you to use the S Pen. On some you can use your fingers instead but where is the fun in that?

Source: http://www.androidapps.com/tech/articles/13333-these-android-apps-and-games-utilize-your-galaxys-s-pen

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Leonardo da Vinci gets 'Batman' treatment on Starz

This publicity image released by Starz shows Blake Ritson as Count Riario in a scene from "Da Vinci?s Demons," premiering Friday, April 12 at 10 p.m. EST on Starz. (AP Photo/Starz Entertainment, LLC, James Minchin)

This publicity image released by Starz shows Tom Riley as Leonardo Da Vinci in a scene from "Da Vinci?s Demons," premiering Friday, April 12 at 10 p.m. EST on Starz. (AP Photo/Starz Entertainment, LLC, Greg Wiliiams)

This publicity image released by Starz shows Tom Riley as Leonardo Da Vinci, left, and Blake Ritson as Count Riario in a scene from "Da Vinci?s Demons," premiering Friday, April 12 at 10 p.m. EST on Starz. (AP Photo/Starz Entertainment, LLC, James Minchin)

This publicity image released by Starz shows Laura Haddock as Lucrezia Donati in a scene from "Da Vinci?s Demons," premiering Friday, April 12 at 10 p.m. EST on Starz. (AP Photo/Starz Entertainment, LLC, Ollie Upton)

NEW YORK (AP) ? In these 500 years since Leonardo da Vinci, he has upstaged every genius multi-tasker in his wake. (OK, not you, Benjamin Franklin and James Franco.)

Da Vinci was a whiz as a painter (hint: "Mona Lisa" and "The Last Supper"), a scientist and engineer, and a futurist dead-set on fighting the gravitational pull of his own times.

He was an intellect, free thinker, vegetarian and a humanist who supported himself designing weapons of war.

He was tall, handsome and a hit with the ladies. He was great with a sword and, being ambidextrous, which hand didn't matter.

"The phrase 'Renaissance Man' was derived from him," says David S. Goyer, who has spent a lot of time studying and pondering him, and has created "Da Vinci's Demons," a sci-fi thriller set in the 1400s.

Another cool thing about da Vinci: He was a man of intrigue, ensconced in secret societies, his paternity unresolved (he was born out of wedlock), perhaps divinely inspired as he clashed with the Roman Catholic Church ? a man who seemed to defy the confinements of any simple narrative.

"There's a tantalizing five-year gap, stretching from when he was 27 to 32, where there's almost no record of where he was or what he was doing," says Goyer. "A gap like that is gold when you're the creator of this show."

"Da Vinci's Demons," which premieres on the Starz network on April 12, is a "historical fantasy," says Goyer, who should be up to the challenge.

Born and raised in Ann Arbor, Mich., he remembers spending half each Saturday in a comic book shop, the other half at the city's library.

Now 47, he is wiry and balding and bears a striking resemblance to the actor Stanley Tucci, whom he says he's never met but is often mistaken for.

His credits include the short-lived but ambitious sci-fi thriller "FlashForward," which prematurely fell prey to meddling by its network, ABC. He was script consultant and story developer for the video game "Call of Duty: Black Ops" and its sequel. He co-wrote the 2005 film "Batman Begins" and its two sequels, and wrote the screenplay for the upcoming Zack Snyder-directed "Man of Steel."

In Goyer's view, da Vinci was the prototype of a superhero: "I picture him as one-third Indiana Jones, one-third Sherlock Holmes, one-third Tony Stark (Iron Man) ? and he kind of was."

To play this extraordinary chap, Goyer chose English-born actor Tom Riley. The 31-year-old starred in the British TV medical drama "Monroe," and in 2011 performed on Broadway in the revival of Tom Stoppard's "Arcadia" alongside Billy Crudup and Raul Esparza.

Riley's da Vinci is sexy, mercurial and irrepressible. He savors life in his native Florence: "Chaos and culture are celebrated within these walls," he says lustily. "Florence only demands one thing of its people ? to be truly awake!"

But da Vinci suffers from being too awake. He is too driven, too full of ideas, too haunted by doubts about his life's intended mission. He is no stranger to opium, which he uses, he explains, because "I think too much. I need to dull my thoughts or I will be eviscerated by them."

At times he overreaches, stumbles and falls (though ever so dashingly). And he has an eye for a pretty face, including ? at high risk ? comely Lucrezia Donati (Laura Haddock), the mistress of Lorenzo di Medici (Elliot Cowan), da Vinci's benefactor and one of the city's most powerful figures.

He has an answer for everything, including an accuser who brands him "arrogant."

"Arrogance implies that I exaggerate my own worth," da Vinci fires back. "I don't."

Goyer says he hit upon doing a show about da Vinci only by chance. He had never done anything historical before, and when asked by Starz to create a drama focused on some towering figure from the past, he first demurred.

"I said, 'I'm not ? no offense ? interested in doing a kind of dry, BBC historical drama.' And they said, 'No, no, no. We don't want THAT!'"

A number of possible candidates were considered for what was now envisioned as a "reinvention-of-history show." There was Cleopatra and Genghis Kahn, "and also on that short list, da Vinci came up," recalls Goyer. "Then I realized, no one's ever done a show about da Vinci! That's crazy! People say he's the most recognized figure in history other than Jesus Christ!"

To prepare for the series, Goyer says he read dozens of biographies, da Vinci's journal pages and many of his letters.

He has written or co-written all eight episodes of season one (with work well under way on a second season's scripts), and directed the first two episodes of the show, which shoots in Wales.

Recapturing 15th-century Florence, not to mention the highfalutin exploits of da Vinci, demands impressive visual effects, and Goyer set the bar high: "My goal was to be at least on par with the production values of 'Game of Thrones,'" he says.

But even as it recaptures the past, the show, like da Vinci, is forward-looking.

"The central conflict is about who controls information," Goyer says. "On the one hand, you've got the Vatican Secret Archives. The Church wants to control the information. On the other hand, shortly before our show starts, Gutenberg invented the printing press.

"This is a modern-day touchstone that viewers can identify with. If da Vinci were alive today, his slogan would be, 'Information wants to be free.'"

___

Online:

http://www.starz.com/originals/davincisdemons

___

Frazier Moore is a national television columnist for The Associated Press. He can be reached at fmoore(at)ap.org and at http://www.twitter.com/tvfrazier

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/4e67281c3f754d0696fbfdee0f3f1469/Article_2013-03-25-US-TV-DaVinci's-Demons/id-e1d8acb7fb574bf29a7a9ce1cab82f11

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Google Glass already has some lawmakers on high alert

Lawmakers and privacy experts are wary of how Google Glass could be used, whether to snap photos covertly or to let drivers watch videos.

By Mark Guarino,?Staff writer / March 25, 2013

Google founder Sergey Brin poses for a portrait wearing Google Glass glasses during New York Fashion Week last year.

Carlo Allegri/Reuters/File

Enlarge

The ability to record and transmit data on the fly is not new, thanks to digital phone and tablet technology, but Google is raising the stakes by soon allowing users to snap photos and video discreetly via special glasses that operate by voice command.

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The stealth nature of Google Glass is raising concerns among some lawmakers and privacy experts who say the device makes it too easy for users to spy on others and its development signals a deeper blurring between the digital and real worlds. While we all may understand the safety hazards and social norms presented when holding our phones up to record or text others, but wearable computers, because they are more inconspicuous, present complications, especially whether they can be regulated through existing electronic surveillance laws, critics say.

?This is the way of the future. We won?t be tied to a desk anymore,? says Chenxi Wang, vice president of Forrester Research. ?I don?t think the nature of the problem changes, rather than how easy it is now for data to be recorded and transmitted and accessed. That really gets people up in arms.?

Even though the glasses will not debut until next year, West Virginia state Rep. Gary Howell (R) introduced a bill late last week that prohibits its use while driving. While Delegate Howell says people should ?have no expectation of privacy in public space,? he does worry that it presents a heightened safety hazard while driving. He says his bill is just an extension of the no-texting legislation his state passed last year.

?I can see the problem with someone driving down the road and watching a YouTube video or dictating a word document, and there is nothing in our code to cover it,? he says. ?Let?s get a discussion started on this.?

According to Google, the glasses allow users to not just record pictures or videos, but they can interact with other users using real time video, access GPS services, airport and weather information, dictate text messages, translate foreign languages, and pull up answers to common questions. The interaction pops up for display on the lens, projected by a device affixed to the right side of the frames. Even with that device, the glasses are reportedly lightweight and look no different than any other eyewear.

Federal lawmakers are watching the product's development closely to scrutinize how the far the device might push privacy boundaries, especially if it integrates components like digital facial recognition.

?A lot of people are excited about Glass, but I don't think people are excited about a situation where a stranger can identify them, by name, by simply looking at them on the street,? Sen. Al Franken (D) of Minnesota said in an e-mailed statement to Adweek last month.

?Google made a principled decision to make facial recognition an opt-in feature for its social network, Google+. So far, they have not built facial recognition technology into Google Glass. I think this shows a real thoughtfulness on Google's part, and I hope the company continues to think about the privacy issues raised by Glass in this way,? he said.

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/hqf94cqWgI0/Google-Glass-already-has-some-lawmakers-on-high-alert

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Monday, March 25, 2013

Berezovky's billions: How the tycoon lost so much

FILE - A Friday, Aug. 31, 2012 photo from files showing Russian tycoon Boris Berezovsky talking to the media after losing his case against Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich as he leaves the High Court in London. United Kingdom police have said that Berezovsky has been found dead Saturday March 23, 2013.(AP Photo/Sang Tan, File)

LONDON (AP) ? How do you burn through billions?

The unexplained death of Boris Berezovsky, whose body was found Saturday inside his upscale English home, has refocused attention on the fantastic wealth racked up by Russia's ruthless oligarchs ? and their propensity for spending it. Berezovsky, 67, had once been considered Russia's richest man ? but by this January, a British judge was wondering whether the tycoon would be able to pay his debts.

Police say Berezovsky's death is unexplained but that there was no evidence of anyone else being involved. His lawyer said the oligarch had been in "a horrible, terrible" emotional state. Because the tycoon had survived several assassination attempts, including a 1994 car bomb in Moscow, there was speculation as to whether his death was natural, part of a conspiracy or a suicide.

To understand how one man could lose so much money, it helps to see how he made it in the first place.

___

FOUNDATIONS OF A FORTUNE

Berezovsky, a mathematician, made his fortune in the 1990s during the catastrophic privatization of the Soviet Union's state-run economy. That era was marked by hyperinflation, contract killings and rampant corruption. As Russia's GDP crumbled, oligarchs leveraged their ties to ruthless criminals and crooked officials to tear off huge chunks of the country's assets for themselves, draining resources and stripping factories to build fabulous fortunes.

Berezovsky ? whose interests ran from automobiles to airplanes to aluminum ? was one of this dark period's primary beneficiaries. He became a political operator in Russian President Boris Yeltsin's inner circle, trading on his connections to rack up assets estimated by Forbes to be worth roughly $3 billion in 1997.

"No man profited more from Russia's slide into the abyss," author Paul Klebnikov wrote in a critical profile of Berezovsky titled "Godfather of the Kremlin."

Eventually, the abyss began threatening Berezovsky as well.

The tycoon had been instrumental in orchestrating the accession of Yelstin's successor, Vladimir Putin, but when the new leader and Berezovsky began to clash, his political cover disintegrated. Berezovsky then fled the country in 2000, eventually claiming political asylum in Britain.

___

LIVING LARGE IN LONDON

How much money Berezovsky really had ? and how much he was able to take with him from Moscow ? remains shrouded in uncertainty. Rich Russians at the time routinely stashed their money in labyrinthine offshore trusts or held assets under the names of associates or family members. Many deals weren't even put into writing.

What's clear is that the 1998 Russian financial crisis, coupled with Berezovsky's spectacular fall from political grace, had a big impact on his bottom line. Forbes estimated his post-Moscow fortune in the hundreds of millions. Rival oligarch Roman Abramovich testified in court that Berezovsky had been down to his last $1 million when he fled Russia.

If Berezovsky were strapped for cash, he didn't show it. He rode around London in a reinforced Maybach limousine and was often seen huddled with business contacts in the exclusive hotels that line London's Hyde Park. His string of oversize mansions in England, France and the Caribbean suggested he was a cut above the average millionaire.

Russian officials seemed to believe that Berezovsky had plenty of cash on hand, trying ? with mixed success ? to claw back some of the exile's assets. Charges are still pending against him in relation to the alleged embezzlement of some $13 million from Russia's now-defunct SBS-Agro bank. Berezovsky had also previously been convicted in absentia of bilking hundreds of millions of rubles from the airline company Aeroflot and the carmaker AvtoVaz.

___

THE BILLS PILE UP

Berezovsky often expressed a fondness for Britain's legal system, despite his frequent and expensive encounters with it. A search of British court records throws up roughly three dozen judgments ? libel, fraud, divorce, breach of contract ? involving the tycoon in some way.

Berezovsky sued a business associate over a fraudulent loan. Other business associates sued him over a botched oil deal. Berezovsky sued Forbes over an unflattering profile. He sued Russian television for suggesting he had a hand in the poisoning death of ex-Russian KGB officer Alexander Litvinenko. His second wife sued him for a divorce. His girlfriend sued him for a house he'd promised her. He sued the wife of his long-time partner, Badri Patarkatsishvili, in a complicated dispute over how to split the man's assets after his death.

The sums involved were staggering. The loan deal was worth $5 million. His second divorce settlement in 2011 reportedly cost him 100 million pounds (about $154 million at the time). Patarkatsishvili's assets could be worth hundreds of millions more. The biggest lawsuit of all, against Abramovich for breach of contract and blackmail, was for a mind-boggling $5.6 billion.

Berezovsky lost the lawsuit against Abramovich last year and the judge involved stopped just short of calling him a liar. He was stuck with tens of millions of pounds in legal bills.

___

A FORTUNE FALTERS

Whatever the extent of Berezovsky's wealth, his expensive divorce, Patarkatsishvili's death and his paper mountain of litigation left it much reduced.

In 2008, Berezovsky was forced to sell the Darius, a 110-meter (360-foot) -long custom-built yacht that many believed was an attempt to compete with an even larger ship, the Eclipse, being built for Abramovich.

Earlier this month, the Times of London reported that Berezovsky was downsizing his art collection, selling off his homes, firing staff and closing his office in London's upscale Mayfair district.

In a January ruling in a dispute between Berezovsky and his ex-girlfriend Helena Gorbunova, High Court Judge George Mann wrote that the oligarch's fortune appeared to have been spread thin.

"On the evidence, Mr. Berezovsky is a man under financial pressure," he said.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/cae69a7523db45408eeb2b3a98c0c9c5/Article_2013-03-25-Britain-Berezovsky's%20Fortune/id-da43009a23ff4eddb32a29fcfe6d2396

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Sunday, March 24, 2013

Technotronic: Pump Up The Jam

You know what, tonight we're gonna rock this. Do you need the Billboard Hot 100 from 1990 to tell you about good music? No. Because you already know that visualizing sound waves in neon colors on a zebra-print backdrop is the only real way to make a music video. More »

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/yuTSfmfQSBM/technotronic-pump-up-the-jam

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Wall Street Week Ahead: Cyprus deal could spur S&P 500 to new peak

By Chuck Mikolajczak

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stocks could break through to all-time closing highs next week - provided a resolution to the fiscal woes of Cyprus satisfies investors.

The island nation accounts for a fraction of euro zone economic output, and yet the wrangling over a 10 billion euro($13 billion) bailout package kept markets on edge throughout this past week. The S&P 500 fell for the first time in four weeks, with weakness linked to uncertainty overseas.

The Cypriot ruling party said Friday that it was close to a deal to raise billions of euros in order to secure a bailout from the European Union to avoid a financial meltdown and a potential exit from the euro.

Euro zone leaders have offered the country 10 billion euros on the condition it raises 5.8 billion euros on its own. The rescue plan is smaller in scope than previous bailouts to euro zone members, making investors worry less about a banking collapse and more about the possibility Cyprus would exit the bloc and drop the euro currency.

The worry "is the psychological knock-on effect of the credible possibility of some (country) saying ?Cyprus got out, now they are on their own, they devalued their currency, they don't have to go through austerity'," said Art Hogan, managing director at Lazard Capital Markets in New York.

"What is going to stop Greece from doing the same thing? And you start a daisy chain."

Similarly, investors had reacted harshly to proposals by European officials to tax depositors - including those protected by depositor insurance - to fund the bailout. That sparked some selling on the idea that such a plan could set a precedent for dealing with other troubled euro zone economies, and set off bank runs across the continent.

Assuming Cyprus's troubles are solved, investors will turn their attention to economic data due during the holiday-shortened week, with equity markets closed on Friday for the Good Friday holiday.

The data will include orders for durable goods orders and pending home sales for February as well as the final reading of fourth-quarter gross domestic product.

But with the trend of economic data showing a slow improvement in the U.S. economy, few negative surprises are expected next week. That could enable the S&P 500 <.spx><.inx> to once again make a run at its all-time closing high of 1,565.15. After all, for all of the worry about Cyprus, the S&P only dipped 0.3 percent this week and the benchmark index remains up more than 9 percent for the year.

"The story doesn't seem to be weakening and domestically it seems to be growing in terms of strength," said Sandy Lincoln, chief market strategist at BMO Asset Management U.S. in Chicago.

"People are looking at a better backdrop, whether it is the jobs data, the GDP data or the consumer stepping up on the retail sales side in spite of fiscal drag."

Stocks could see another boost in the form of quarter-end "window dressing" in which money managers add outperforming stocks to their portfolios.

"You are coming into the end of the quarter, everybody has some great results. You are going to get some window dressing on some of the stocks that are doing well," said Paul Mendelsohn, chief investment strategist at Windham Financial Services in Charlotte, Vermont.

With earnings season several weeks away, only nine S&P 500 companies are expected to report quarterly results next week, including discount retailer Dollar General Corp and video game retailer Gamestop Corp .

Only a few companies released results this week, but they were disconcerting. Oracle Corp , the world's No. 3 software maker, fell well short of revenue expectations. FedEx Corp , the second-largest U.S. package delivery company, cut its forecast for the year.

According to Thomson Reuters data, of the 491 companies in the S&P 500 that have reported quarterly earnings, 69 percent have topped analysts' expectations, compared with 62 percent since 1994 and 65 percent over the past four quarters.

A strong showing next week could push the index past both its record closing high as well as its record intraday high of 1576.09.

But the index has faced stiff resistance in prior attempts to break the mark, climbing as high as 1,563.62 before losing steam. As more attempts to break the mark fall short, the likelihood of a bigger dip that many analysts have been expecting increases.

"Every time it gets up there, it seems to sell off, so you have to get through that resistance point," Mendelsohn said.

"Once we get through that resistance point that will probably bring more buyers in. If you can't get through it, that will probably encourage some of the sellers a little bit."

(Reporting by Chuck Mikolajczak; Editing by Kenneth Barry)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/wall-street-week-ahead-cyprus-deal-could-spur-021518626--finance.html

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Saturday, March 23, 2013

Speedtest.net app gets a new look, iPhone 5 support, and more

Speedtest.net app updated, show us your results!

Speedtest.net Mobile Speed Test has been updated to version 3.0. The update brings a new look, iPhone 5 support, and some new features. The interface is now less cluttered than before, sporting a more modern, clean design. Additionally, Speedtest.net is now compatible with the 4-inch screen of the iPhone 5.

Other improvements include easier results sharing, improved server selection, sortable results, and a $0.99 in-app purchase to remove advertising.

So now that you have a proper Speedtest.app, download it, and head on over to the iPhone 5 speed test forum thread and post a screenshot of your results!

Free - Download Now

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheIphoneBlog/~3/yPL-s5gqVto/story01.htm

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HR Self-Improvement at the Water Cooler

Posted on March 22, 2013 by TribeHR Staff

An examination of HR news for the week ending March 22nd, 2013:

The Micromanager

Okay, we?ve all been there. You know you should leave your employees alone, trust them to do their work well and not get so involved. But you can?t help it. You figured you could do whatever it is they?re doing?only you could do it better. Welcome to the world of micromanaging. Luckily, Inc. offers up four tips this week for how to avoid turning into that particular monster.

It all comes down to setting expectations for your employees. Workers need to know that they can?t just loop you in at the last minute and expect you to move forward with whatever plan they come up with. It will only lead to your greater involvement from the get go the next time around. If they have an idea, they need to speak up, but in advance. Be open about your idiosyncrasies so that employees can anticipate them and act accordingly. If it?s deadlines that trigger your micromanagement mode, create a system to make sure nothing ever gets missed. Finally, ask them to acknowledge all of your incoming requests. That will guarantee you?re never wondering if someone is working on something... and then just end up doing it yourself.

The Dysfunctional Boss

What if it?s not you you?re trying to fix, but rather your boss? Inc. has you covered for that as well. Sometimes dysfunctional bosses just can?t be avoided. Spend some time trying to identify precisely what your problems with your boss are?and then make sure they?re her problems and not your own. Take your list and divide the issues into personal and professional (no, his ugly tie definitely does not count as a professional issue). Cross the personal issues off the list and focus your attention on the professional. Build a toolbox to help you deal with them. Say your boss has a habit of tying you down with menial tasks on Friday afternoon: Try running out for coffee or escaping through volunteering outside the office. Ah, avoidance. Sometimes it's a beautiful thing.

The Unmotivated

Irritations, like circular definitions, are irritating. But it turns out they may actually be good workplace motivators. Forbes reports this week on five common annoyances that can give productivity boosts. Receiving sarcastic criticism from a manager or client, for example, can motivate you to improve your work. Office gossip, too, has actually been proven to relieve stress and improve productivity.

Oddly enough, clutter and messy office spaces can help workers streamline their own thoughts. Similarly, background noise can help improve focus by forcing employees to hone in on the one thing they actually need to think about. Finally, that whole thing about rewards as a motivator? That might work, but the best ideas come from the innate desire to create. No reward necessary?stick to the recognition.

The Unretainable

Maybe you don?t distribute rewards. But to keep your best employees, you definitely need a competitive salary and benefits package. That?s according to TLNT in a post on things companies can do right now to hold on to their star employees. It?s essential to be clear about your expectations and employee policies, and then to actually uphold them.

Exceptions to the rules are a quick route to resentment. Get personal?taking a sincere and active interest in your employees will demonstrate that you care. Finally, show some respect. Think about how employees want to be treated, and treat them accordingly. When it comes to keeping employees happy, a little goes a long way.

Craving the best HR news? Register for free email updates or take a look at last week?s HR Water Cooler.

Source: http://tribehr.com/blog/self-improvement-at-the-water-cooler/

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Elaine Stritch ditching NYC for Michigan, playing last show at Caf? Carlyle

By Brent Lang

LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) - The raspy voiced, theatrical endurance legend known as Elaine Stritch is doing the unthinkable.

The Tony Award winner and "30 Rock" star is picking up and leaving New York City for her home state of Michigan, but she is not - we repeat - not retiring.

The 88-year old Stritch insisted in an interview with the New York Times, that her move doesn't spell curtains on a career that has been distinguished by her long association with composer Stephen Sondheim.

"What actor would ever say they're done?" Stritch told the paper.

If she does continue to perform, it's the end of an era for Stritch and the theater world. The Times reports that she has lived in New York City for 71 years, after arriving in Manhattan from Detroit for finishing school.

Fans of the actress will have one more opportunity to say goodbye and see her perform in her favorite venue, the Caf? Carlyle, which also happens to be in the same building where she maintains a suite.

Her final engagement, "Elaine Stritch at the Carlyle: Movin' Over and Out," will play for one week only, from April 2 through April 6.

Like her award-winning Broadway show "Elaine Stritch: At Liberty" it will merge songs and life stories - many of which deal with her struggles with alcoholism and memories of high-profile romances. If audiences are lucky, and for a $125 cover charge they deserve be, she'll treat them to a rendition of her signature number, "The Ladies Who Lunch."

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/elaine-stritch-ditching-nyc-michigan-playing-last-show-203203115.html

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