Computerworld - Sony and Panasonic Monday announced a joint effort to develop a next-generation standard for optical disks for professional users.
The companies also said they intend to build a 300GB disc by 2015.
Sony and Panasonic plan to use technologies each developed separately in the new standard. The companies will continue to hold discussions regarding the specifications and other items related to the new standard.
"Optical disks have excellent properties to protect them against the environment, such as dust-resistance and water-resistance, and can also withstand changes in temperature and humidity when stored," the companies said in a statement. "They also allow inter-generational compatibility between different formats, ensuring that data can continue to be read even as formats evolve. This makes them a robust medium for long-term storage of content."
Both Sony and Panasonic have developed products based on the Blu-ray format, but have said they also recognize that optical disks will need to accommodate much larger volumes of data in years to come given the expected future growth in the archive market.
In 2012, Sony commercialized a file-based optical disk archive system in for its XDCAM series of professional broadcasting products, which houses twelve 25GB optical discs in a single cartridge.
Earlier this month, Panasonic launched the 'LB-DM9 series' of optical disk storage devices, which can house twelve 100GB optical disks. A maximum of 90 magazines can be stored, providing a total storage capacity of 180TB.
Lucas Mearian covers storage, disaster recovery and business continuity, financial services infrastructure and health care IT for Computerworld. Follow Lucas on Twitter at @lucasmearian, or subscribe to Lucas's RSS feed . His email address is lmearian@computerworld.com.
Read more about Data Storage in Computerworld's Data Storage Topic Center.
KSL's Children's Television Programming Reports, as well as its FCC public inspection file, are available for viewing during regular office hours at the KSL Broadcast House or online. The station representative who can assist a person with disabilities with issues related to the content of the public files is Mike Dowdle, available during regular office hours at closed_captioning@ksl.com and (801) 575-5555.
? 2013 ksl.com | KSL Broadcasting Salt Lake City UT | Site hosted & managed by Deseret Digital Media - a Deseret Media Company??v22
The most difficult matter to do as a coach is to try out and correct a flaw that a kid has designed in excess of several years of ?exercise?. The closer the bat?s stability place is to the manage, the much easier it is to swing. And nonetheless the Cubs supporters proceed to feel.
They get coaching in the varsity level alone if they have to have further more help they could just take the baseball coaching lessons for the sports university all-around. My little ones, born in pre-Marlins Miami, grew up oblivious to baseball. Below we obtain a extremely huge variety of Derek Jeter autographed baseballs from numerous unique kinds of sellers.
Possible venues include things like well being clubs, cruise lines, recreation centers, professional medical clinics and academic institutions. ?It was anything I experienced always needed to do,? lamented Hoynes. After this there had been pretty a lot no golfing cards generated right up until about 35 several years in the past.
My title is Ryan Nicotri and I am 24 a long time old. I felt terrific stealing a base. The extending of the hand to support, by the baseball group, solidified that baseball helps raise a nation to new spirits in a time of need to have.
And just when we think we can defeat all these problems and have an satisfying existence, Steve Bartman reaches out and knocks the ball away from our grasp. However Anne Royall, a reporter, adopted Adams just one say and compelled him to give her an interview just before she would go away and allow for him to depart the river and get dressed. These sections have accessibility to numerous foul balls and give lovers a close watch of the push box.
Previous year?s Al Cy Younger winner, Seattle?s King Felix, was one particular of the few ever picked out in spite of 14 losses to go with his fourteen wins. If you are you looking for more information about sytropin reviews look into Tim McGraw is a state songs singer who has millions of admirers and is married to singer Religion Hill. The event was gained by Japan, which was an great shock for a great deal if not the majority of the observers.
A field tarp protects your floor from grass, dust, sod, h2o, wind, hearth and UV rays. They are the Latin The usa or are descendants of the Latin People in america who grew in the United States. The 1st point you should really do is to arrange for your boy or girl to take a number of lessons to demonstrate him what the video game is all about.
DETROIT ? Ford Motor Co. is recalling 33,021 C-Max hybrid cars because they may not adequately protect occupants? heads in a crash.
Vehicles involved were made between Jan. 19, 2012, and June 25, 2013, and don?t have panoramic roofs. C-Max hybrids with panoramic glass roofs aren?t involved in the recall.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration discovered during vehicle testing that the car failed to conform to safety standards pertaining to head injury risk. Ford says there have been no reported injuries related to the issue.
Ford will notify owners of the recall next month. Dealers will install additional energy absorbing material between the car?s headliner and the roof.
Owners may also contact the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration Vehicle Safety Hotline at 1-888-327-4236 (TTY 1-800-424-9153), or go to www.safercar.gov.
PONCA CITY ? The FBI says it's arrested a man in Oklahoma who was wanted in a shooting in southern California.
The FBI says authorities arrested 24-year-old Leon Lowe on Wednesday in Ponca City in northern Oklahoma. Authorities say Lowe was wanted on an attempted murder warrant in connection with a May 29 shooting in Moreno Valley that wounded one person.
The FBI says investigators believe Lowe fled California shortly after the shooting and headed to Oklahoma. Ponca City police arrested Lowe on a federal charge of unlawful flight to avoid prosecution.
Lowe is being held at the Kay County jail in Newkirk and is expected to be extradited to Riverside County sometime soon. Authorities did not know if Lowe had an attorney.
CAIRO (Reuters) - The Egyptian army is detaining ousted President Mohamed Mursi over accusations of kidnapping, killing soldiers and other charges, the state news agency said on Friday.
The army had previously said it was holding Mursi for his own safety and the report was likely to stoke tension before mass rallies on Friday billed as shows of strength between supporters and opponents of the Islamist Mursi, Egypt's first freely elected leader.
Both sides warned of the potential for bloodshed in Egypt, which has been convulsed by political and economic turmoil since the 2011 uprising that ended 30 years of autocratic rule by the U.S.-backed Hosni Mubarak.
State news agency Mena said the mooted charges against Mursi included conspiring with the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, killing prisoners and officers "deliberately with prior intent", kidnapping officers and soldiers, and setting fire to the prison of Wadi el-Natroun.
They relate to his escape from the prison in 2011, when he was arrested during the uprising against Mubarak, and provide legal grounds for his continued detention.
Mursi has been held by the military since the army ousted him from office on July 3 following huge street protests against his troubled, one-year rule. Washington has previously called for him to be freed.
His Muslim Brotherhood denounced news of the accusations.
"At the end of the day we know all of these charges are nothing more than the fantasy of a few army generals and a military dictatorship," Brotherhood spokesman Gehad El-Haddad said. "We are continuing our protests on the streets."
Throwing down the gauntlet to the Brotherhood, army chief General Abdel Fattah al-Sisi has called on Egyptians to rally nationwide on Friday to give the military a "mandate" to confront weeks of violence unleashed by Mursi's removal.
A military official said the army had given Mursi's Muslim Brotherhood a Saturday deadline to end its resistance and join a military-set road map to new elections, signalling a turning point in the confrontation.
The Brotherhood fears a crackdown to wipe out an Islamist movement that emerged from decades in the shadows to win every election since Mubarak's fall but then struggled to tackle Egypt's growing economic and social woes.
CIVIL WAR
The army has threatened to "turn its guns" on those who use violence. The Brotherhood warned of civil war.
"We will not initiate any move, but will definitely react harshly against any calls for violence or black terrorism from Brotherhood leaders or their supporters," an army official told Reuters.
A few hundred pro-army supporters gathered early Friday morning in Tahrir Square, centre of two years of turmoil in Egypt, before the main rally which might not peak until after the evening prayer marking the end of the day's Ramadan fast.
"The people, the army and the police are one hand," shouted a policeman, leading a group of chanters.
Armoured personnel carriers guarded every entrance to the square.
The Brotherhood, which has manned a street vigil for almost a month with thousands of followers demanding Mursi's return, has called for its own counter-demonstrations.
Confrontation appeared inevitable following a month of clashes in which close to 200 people, mainly supporters of Mursi, have been killed. Many people in the Arab world's most populous country feared the worst.
"I'm staying home all day, it's too dangerous to work. I didn't think things in Egypt could get this bad, but every day you hear about clashes and deaths," said Shadi Mohamed, a 22-year-old taxi driver. "Egypt is a disaster."
There is deepening alarm in the West over the course taken by the country of 84 million people, a pivotal nation between the Middle East and North Africa and recipient of $1.5 billion a year in mainly military aid from the United States.
Signalling its displeasure at recent events, Washington said this week it had delayed delivery of four F-16 fighter jets to Cairo and called on the Egyptian army to exercise "maximum restraint and caution" during Friday's rallies.
Deputy Secretary of State William Burns, however, said on Thursday the Obama administration did not intend to rule on whether Mursi's overthrow constituted a coup, wording that would have triggered the cutoff of U.S. aid.
CONFUSION
Mursi and many other Brotherhood leaders were rounded up by the authorities during the 2011 uprising that eventually swept Mubarak from power.
Many managed to escape in the ensuing confusion, alongside militants from Hamas, a Palestinian offshoot of the Muslim Brotherhood that governs in the neighbouring Gaza Strip.
Mursi and his fellow Brotherhood members have said they were freed by local residents from the Wadi el-Natroun prison. State news agency Mena said investigating judge Hassan Samir had already confronted Mursi with evidence during questioning.
Brotherhood supporters have been camped out in a Cairo square since June 28, guarded by men with sticks behind barricades and sandbags. They fear a repeat of the July 8 killing of more than 50 Mursi supporters when security forces opened fire outside a Cairo barracks.
Witnesses said army helicopters had dropped flyers at the vigil calling on people to refrain from violence. The Brotherhood says it is the authorities themselves who have stirred up violence to justify their crackdown.
Sisi delivered his call for rallies on Wednesday in full military uniform and dark sunglasses. He was appointed by Mursi in a bid by the president to rein in Egypt's all-powerful military, but Sisi turned against him after a year in which the economy floundered and support for the Brotherhood fell.
If Grammy-winning band Train ever decides to pull into its final station, singer Pat Monahan says he's got plans for a second career.
"My goal is that one day, you'll say 'why don't you just stay,' and I'll join you guys every morning," he told TODAY's Matt Lauer and Savannah Guthrie when the band came to play on the plaza Friday. "I've got my own podcast. I'm just trying to get into your world."
The band played under a gloomy sky to cheering fans, blasting through four songs: "Soul Sister," "Bruises" (which featured a duet with country star Ashley Monroe), "Drive By" and "50 Ways to Say Goodbye."
They are currently on their "Mermaids of Alcatraz" tour, and Monahan noted it has taken them to all kinds of concerts: "Tomorrow we're in Connecticut to do a barbecue, and then we do a show in Boston," he chuckled. "It's really fun."
Perhaps he's preparing for a "where in the world is Pat Monahan" segment when he joins the TODAY anchors next time.
Take a look at our some of our favorite tweets and Instagrams from the Train concert, below.
25 July 2013Last updated at 19:01 ETBy Dave LeeTechnology reporter, BBC News
The pornography filtering system praised by David Cameron is controlled by the controversial Chinese company Huawei, the BBC has learned.
UK-based employees at the firm are able to decide which sites TalkTalk's net filtering service blocks.
Politicians in both the UK and US have raised concerns about alleged close ties between Huawei and the Chinese government.
The company says the worries are without foundation and prejudiced.
On Monday the Prime Minister said TalkTalk had shown "great leadership" in setting up its system, Homesafe, which it has offered to customers since 2011.
TalkTalk told the BBC it was comfortable with its relationship with Huawei, and that the service was very popular.
Homesafe is a voluntary scheme which allows subscribers to select categories - including social media, gambling and pornography - that they want blocked.
Customers who do not want filtering still have their traffic routed through the system, but matches to Huawei's database are dismissed rather than acted upon.
Accountability question
Mr Cameron has demanded similar measures be adopted by all internet service providers (ISPs) in the UK, to "protect our children and their innocence".
He said ISPs would be monitored to ensure filtering was done correctly, but that they should choose their own preferred solution.
However, one expert insisted that private companies should not hold power over blacklists, and that the responsibility should lie with an independent group.
David Cameron: "In the balance between freedom and responsibility we have neglected our responsibility to children"
"It needs to be run by an organisation accountable to a minister so it can be challenged in Parliament," Dr Martyn Thomas, chair of the IT policy panel at the Institution of Engineering and Technology, told the BBC.
"There's certainly a concern about the process of how a web address gets added to a blacklist - who knows about it, and who has an opportunity to appeal against it," he added.
"You could easily imagine a commercial organisation finding itself on that blacklist wrongly, and where they actually lost a lot of web traffic completely silently and suffered commercial damage. The issue is who gets to choose who's on that blocking list, and what accountability do they have?"
'Policing themselves'
For almost a decade, Huawei has been a core part of telecoms infrastructure in the UK - its biggest client, BT, has routinely said it has no concerns about using the firm.
Huawei's founder Ren Zhengfei, a former officer in China's People's Liberation Army, visited Downing Street last year after his company made a ?1.3bn investment into its UK operations.
Continue reading the main story
Read more
Prime Minister David Cameron has announced that UK internet service providers (ISPs) will be putting pornography filters on domestic internet connections.
The speech is the culmination of a long campaign by the government to get ISPs to impose default filters for adult and sensitive subjects. But what will the changes mean in practice?
But Huawei's position was recently the subject of an Intelligence and Security Committee (ISC) report. It criticised the lack of ministerial oversight over the firm's rapid expansion in the UK.
The committee said "the alleged links between Huawei and the Chinese State are concerning, as they generate suspicion as to whether Huawei's intentions are strictly commercial or are more political" - but added that it had not found any evidence of wrongdoing.
It said it had worries that a UK-based testing centre set up to examine Huawei products was staffed by experts employed by the Chinese firm.
The ISC said Huawei was "effectively policing themselves".
In the US, intelligence committees have gone further, branding Huawei a threat to national security.
For its part, Huawei strongly denies having close ties with the Chinese government, pointing out it is 98.6% owned by its employees - with the remaining amount held by Mr Ren. It welcomed the ISC's call for a review of the testing centre.
Huawei executive Chen Li Fang said the company should not be treated unfairly just because it was Chinese.
The UK government said it too agreed with the ISC's call to review the testing centre, adding that it works with all major communications providers to ensure security.
"Our work with Huawei and their UK customers gives us confidence that the networks in the UK that use Huawei equipment are operated to a high standard of security and integrity," a spokesman said.
Policy enforcement
Web filtering, which is not considered critical national infrastructure, was not covered in the ISC's report.
But the logistics of how Mr Cameron's plans will be implemented have been the subject of much debate.
Initially, TalkTalk told the BBC that it was US security firm Symantec that was responsible for maintaining its blacklist, and that Huawei only provided the hardware, as previously reported.
However, Symantec said that while it had been in a joint venture with Huawei to run Homesafe in its early stages, it had not been involved for over a year.
TalkTalk later confirmed it is Huawei that monitors activity, checking requests against its blacklist of over 65 million web addresses, and denying access if there is a match.
The contents of this list are largely determined by an automated process, but both Huawei and TalkTalk employees are able to add or remove sites independently.
Illegal websites - including ones showing images of child abuse - are blocked for all customers with the help of a list maintained by the non-profit Internet Watch Foundation.
Mr Cameron said that the actions of ISPs would be monitored to ensure filtering is done correctly.
Communications regulator Ofcom is expected to play some role in this, possibly by auditing the firms and reporting back to ministers regularly.
'There's only so many times you can get punched, shoved, cheated on,' actor told MTV News at Comic-Con. By Amy Wilkinson, with reporting by Josh Horowitz
NEW YORK (TheWrap.com) - When TV executives, show runners and stars go before critics, they get a lot of maddening questions. Some of them ("Isn't this a total ripoff of 'Lost'?") are enough to make sitting onstage in an air-conditioned ballroom seem like a very bad gig.
But some questions cry out to be asked. And a few are even important. Yes, the Television Critics Association summer press tour, starting Wednesday at the Beverly Hilton, will include plenty of queries from cranks out to prove that no one does anything original anymore, or that cable is smarter than broadcast. But the TCAs are as unpredictable as humanity itself: Sometimes critics will jettison objectivity if they collectively deem a panelist adorable.
But the twice-annual junket - it's also held in January - is one of the only times network executives come close to answering to the public. Yes, viewers can express their feelings by not tuning in, or with Twitter tirades. But on TCA tours, those who cover the industry pass on those complaints. (Okay, we pass on those complaints between mouthfuls of sugary bribes provided by the networks we're supposed to hold responsible. But still.)
Here are five of the biggest questions going into this year's TCA summer press tour.
1. What are you doing about Netflix?
There's nothing critics love more than the chance to be topical, as you would have noticed if you heard the endless questions in January about what network executives were personally doing to prevent another Sandy Hook. (Answer: "Um, uh, being sensitive and conscientious? Anyone have a question about our disappointing ratings? Please?")
This year, Netflix is on a tear with "House of Cards," "Orange is the New Black," "Hemlock Grove" and "Arrested Development." "House of Cards" (starring Kevin Spacey, left) cleaned up in the Emmy nominations, which is sort of embarrassing for TV networks because Netflix isn't even a TV network.
Netflix isn't coming to TCA, which means executives at other networks will have to ask how they're dealing with the streaming service's model of letting viewers watch what they want, when they want.
2. What about ratings?
Here's another question that's most relevant to the big broadcast networks. ABC, CBS, Fox and NBC all slipped in the key demo this past season, and all but CBS were down in total viewers. CBS was slightly up.
So what do networks do now? They should come up with more hits, of course. But that's easier said than done - NBC's "Revolution" and Fox's "The Following" were the only new shows to crack the top 30 in the key 18-49 demo last season.
The other option: Produce more shows, like musical competitions or live sports, that play out in real time, so viewers feel compelled to watch live. That's the logic behind NBC's upcoming "Million Second Quiz."
Other possibilities? Maybe ask Nik Wallenda to walk across things twenty-four hours a day. And but why stop at just one Super Bowl?
3. Respectfully, and we hate to have to ask this, what's the plan for "Glee"?
The panel with Fox entertainment president Kevin Reilly will be an uncomfortable one. No one wants to ask about Cory Monteith, but someone has to. Ugh.
"Glee" co-creator Ryan Murphy has given a couple of interviews saying Monteith's character will die on the show, which unfortunately leads to many more questions. Will he, like the tragic actor who played him, die of an overdose? Ugh. We guess we'll raise our hands? Unless? no, after you. Really, go right ahead.
4. How is this year different from last year?
There's a special vanity in thinking that this year, the year when you're alive and writing about television, is the most important one in the history of television. But we still kind of feel like this is a really important year. The broadcast model is under attack from all sides: A cable drama, "The Walking Dead" was TV's top scripted show last season for the first time ever. Then there's Netflix. Amazon is making ambitious moves. And there's YouTube, Hulu, and all the rest.
Meanwhile, have you noticed how much good stuff is on? It's absurd. We've had more fun watching "Breaking Bad" and "Game of Thrones" and "Boardwalk Empire" and "Mad Men" than we have watching any movie in the last year.
Do networks need to change completely, to become not so much show delivery systems, but brands whose names indicate a particular kind of entertainment? HBO would seem to be the model - it's transcended television with HBO go, and the HBO name promises prestige drama with actors you can't quite believe you get to watch every week. Maybe we could start by not calling it the Television Critics Association anymore. 5. Isn't this show a total ripoff of "Lost"?
Perhaps the most common question at TCA is whether a show is just a ripoff of another show. TV critics, it turns out, have incredibly long memories. And they can't help but point out, often awkwardly, that "Magic City" may owe a debt to "Mad Men," or that "Game of Thrones" may have cleared the way for "Vikings."
Showrunners always shuffle in their seats during these questions, express their respect for the original show, and deflect with a joke about who in their cast they'd like to sleep with. But here's the answer they'd all like to give:
"You try making a show, genius. Everything comes from somewhere. It all goes back to the Bible or' The Iliad' or 'The Dukes of Hazzard.' Guess what? Executives aren't willing to commit to anything that doesn't have some sort of proven track record, whether it's the stars or the creator or a similarity to something that's already popular, and I need to keep my kids in gluten-free waffles and iPads.
"Do you know what a critic is? A genius who's never created anything, dismissing the work of the idiots who have."
Or at least, that's the answer we'd like them to give.
A group of top international scientists says Canada needs to dramatically up its conservation game to ensure its vast northern forests remain healthy in the face of increasing industrial pressure.
In a paper to be presented today at the International Congress of Conservation Biology in Baltimore, Md., its authors argue that Canada needs to preserve about half of its boreal forest. That's significantly more than the 10 per cent level researchers previously thought was necessary to conserve natural systems.
"Conservation science has caught up to an understanding of what is really needed," said Jeffs Wells, a scientist with the Boreal Songbird Initiative and one of 23 researchers from Canada and around the world who contributed to the paper.
"We need to have much larger spaces than was ever realized."
Scientists used to set conservation goals by looking at single species or representative slices of landscape, Wells said.
"They didn't really think about how interconnected places were and how animals moved across the landscape, how water flow is affected, all of those sorts of things. As we started to look at multiple species, whole ecosystems and how they function, we now know that it's not really possible to maintain all those values without really thinking about much bigger scales of conservation."
The boreal forest is a huge stretch of green that runs across the northern part of most provinces and the southern tips of the territories. Its 5.8 million square kilometres of forests, taiga, tundra, peatlands, salt marshes, rivers and lakes include the largest blocks of intact forest and wetlands left on Earth ? more than half the world?s intact boreal forest and its largest area of surface freshwater.
It's also home to caribou, grizzlies, wolverines, lynx and wolves as well as to many aboriginal communities that depend on it for food and cultural sustenance.
The report notes increasing industrial activity.
The authors say about 730,000 square kilometres have already been disturbed by oil and gas, mining, forestry and hyro development. Many boreal species from woodland caribou to Atlantic salmon to Canada warblers appear on at-risk lists.
Canada had the world's largest share of mineral exploration spending in 2011. Much of that probing was in the boreal forest.
Also at risk are "ecological services" such as water quality and marine productivity in places such as the Great Lakes, said Wells. Development also releases carbon stored in the boreal forest, which aggravates climate change.
Wells acknowledged that setting aside half that ecosystem will involve tough choices.
Agreements already made, such as the Canadian Boreal Forest Initiative signed between environmental groups and forestry companies, have frayed under implementation pressures. Attempts by aboriginal groups to use land claims to establish large protected areas have been resisted by governments.
But it's possible to have both conservation and economic development, said Wells.
"There are massive areas still open for development. We know that these northern communities need continued economic opportunities."
The paper says local communities, including aboriginal groups, should have an important say in development. It adds that land-use planning that takes into account connections between watersheds, ecological zones and migration paths should come before lands are opened to exploration or development.
Rigorous environmental monitoring that also watches for cumulative effects should be conducted and developers should strive for minimum impacts.
"You can't get away from the facts," Wells said. "And the facts are that if we want to maintain these values, then that's what we have to do."
Proper conservation is an investment, not a cost, he said.
"A balanced approach to conservation is avoiding the mistakes that other countries have made that they are paying for now."
Pikmin 3 is already out in Japan. It?s headed to the US on August 4. The game is the same, but the Pikmin 3 commercials couldn?t be more different.
Let?s have a look.
Here is the Japanese commercial for Pikmin 3. In the ad, actress Juri Ueno watches a Red Pikmin carry a cherry. She then tells the Pikmin to stop and comments on how cute the little character is.
(You can also watch the second and third ad in this series. Note that there are also gameplay commercials that feature a soothing voice.)
This is the US commercial. It?s certainly different from the Japanese ad.
Recently, the difference between these commercials has become a topic on 2ch, Japan?s largest bulletin board. What were the reactions? Some liked the US ad, while others preferred the Japanese one.
People have been quick to point out how the commercials vary and what that says about how Pikmin 3 is sold in each region. ?They want to sell to different segments,? wrote one 2ch commenter. That doesn?t just mean different regions, but rather, different target groups within each area.
Some 2ch users pointed out how the Japanese commercial is focused more more on the atmosphere, while Nintendo of America is trying to sell the game to kids, pushing the strategy element.
?I felt like the American version was more interesting,? wrote one commenter. It seemed like the Japanese version didn?t really offer much of an explanation of what Pikmin 3 was, the commenter continued. ?C?mon, the Japanese commercial was better,? a commenter countered.
?So much was implied that I didn?t know what was going on,? wrote one commenter. The commercial is so focused on the mood and avoids stating things outright that it ?feels Japanese?. In Japanese language and culture, much is often implied and inferred, with much going unspoken.
Another commenter pointed out that there are gameplay-only commercials (mentioned above) that provide good explanations. Wrote on commenter, ?Perhaps this style of commercials works best for Japan.? There were also opinions that the Japanese commercial seems more confident ? like, I guess, Nintendo knows the game will sell in Japan.
Here, however, there also might be an appeal of what?s different: Some 2ch commenters might prefer the American Pikmin 3 commercial because it?s direct and to the point. They also might have liked it because it was so different. By that same token, some Westerners might prefer the Japanese spot because it?s different!
?This is definitely an interesting comparison,? wrote one 2ch commenter, perhaps summing this up the best. It definitely is.
EAST CLEVELAND, Ohio ? ?The East Cleveland mayor says police will continue a search Sunday for possibly more victims after three bodies, believed to be female, were found wrapped in plastic bags about 150 yards apart.
Mayor Gary Norton said a 35-year-old suspect has not yet been charged. He said the man is a registered sex offender and led authorities who questioned him to believe he might have been fascinated with convicted killer Anthony Sowell.
Sowell was convicted in 2011 of killing 11 women and hiding their remains around his Cleveland home. He is in prison on a death sentence.
Police say a body was found Friday in a garage and two other bodies were found Saturday ? one in a backyard and the other in the basement of a vacant house.
Source: www.ibtimes.com --- Sunday, July 21, 2013 Sony India has begun a major promotional campaign - 'Big Xperia Xchange Offer', which gives discounts each worth ?5,000 to consumer who trade in their older smartphones to buy the new flagship Xperia Z and ZL models. ...
BEIJING A man in a wheelchair set off a homemade bomb in Terminal 3 of the Beijing International Airport on Saturday evening, injuring himself but no one else, Chinese state media reported.
Order was quickly restored and no flights were affected by the explosion, state-run China Central Television said on its microblog.
The official Xinhua News Agency said a wheel-chaired Chinese man set off the device outside the arrivals exit of Terminal 3 at around 6:24 p.m. It said the man was being treated for injuries, but that no one else was injured in the explosion.
CCTV, which also reported that no one else was hurt, identified the man as Ji Zhongxing, born in 1979 and from the eastern province of Shandong.
It was not immediately clear why the man set off the bomb. Police are investigating the incident, Xinhua said.
Photos posted by CCTV on its microblog showed the area outside the arrivals exit empty and filled with smoke. One photo showed medical staff and police officers hovering over a person, with a wheelchair sitting on its side a few steps away.
Reached over the phone, the airport's news office said it was not aware of the explosion, and airport police declined to answer questions.
ENTREPRENEURSHIP is the modern-day philosopher?s stone: a mysterious something that supposedly holds the secret to boosting growth and creating jobs. The G20 countries hold an annual youth-entrepreneurship summit. More than 130 countries celebrate Global Entrepreneurship Week. Business schools offer hugely popular courses on how to become an entrepreneur. Business gurus produce (often contradictory) guides to entrepreneurship: David Gumpert wrote both ?How to Really Create a Successful Business Plan? and ?Burn Your Business Plan!?.
But what exactly is entrepreneurship (apart from a longer way of saying ?enterprise?)? And how should governments encourage it? The policymakers are as confused as the gurus. They assume that it must mean new technology; so they try to create new Silicon Valleys. Or that it is about small businesses; so they focus on fostering start-ups. Both assumptions are misleading.
Silicon Valley has certainly been the capital of technology-based entrepreneurship in recent decades. But you do not need to be a geek to be an entrepreneur. George Mitchell, the Texas oilman who pioneered fracking, did as much to change the world as anybody in the Valley. Nor do you need to be a conventional innovator. Miguel D?vila and his colleagues built a huge business by importing the American multiplex cinema into Mexico. Their only innovation, says Mr D?vila, ?was putting lime juice and chili sauce on the popcorn instead of butter.?
Equally, there is a world of difference between the typical small-business owner (who dreams of opening another shop) and the true entrepreneur (who dreams of changing an entire industry). Jim McCann, the creator of 1-800-flowers.com, is an entrepreneur rather than just a florist because, when he opened his first shop in 1976, he looked at the business ?with McDonald?s eyes?, as he put it, and laboured for years to build the world?s biggest flower-delivery business.
These misconceptions matter because they produce lousy policies.The world is littered with high-tech enclaves that fail to flourish. Malaysia?s biotech valley has been nicknamed ?Valley of the BioGhosts?. The world is also full of small-business departments that fail to produce many jobs. The Kauffman Foundation, which researches such matters, has shown that the bulk of new jobs come from a tiny sliver of high-growth companies.
Daniel Isenberg has spent 30 years immersed in the world of entrepreneurship as a (sometimes failed) entrepreneur and venture capitalist as well as an academic (he previously taught at Harvard Business School and is now at nearby Babson College). He has also travelled the world accumulating examples?he is just as interested in Iceland?s generic-drug industry as in Silicon Valley?s giants. In a new book, ?Worthless, Impossible, and Stupid?, he presents a new definition of entrepreneurship. In essence, entrepreneurs are contrarian value creators. They see economic value where others see heaps of nothing. And they see business opportunities where others see only dead ends.
There are plenty of striking examples of this: Mo Ibrahim, the founder of Celtel, saw the possibility of bringing mobile phones to sub-Saharan Africa when telecoms giants saw only penniless peasants and logistical nightmares. On a trip to Tobago Sean Dimin and his father Michael observed that fishermen were leaving tonnes of fish to rot, so they created a company, Sea to Table, to get the surplus fish to New York restaurants. As a student at Harvard Business School, Will Dean noticed that social media were irrigating a fashion for extreme sports. So he established a company, Tough Mudder, that charges people to subject themselves to pain and humiliation.
Mr Isenberg emphasises that successful contrarians also need the self-confidence to defy conventional wisdom (Mr Dean?s professors told him that he was crazy) and the determination to overcome obstacles (it took the Dimins two years to get the fishermen to change their habits). Indeed, some of the best entrepreneurs are distinguished more by their ability to achieve the impossible than by the originality of their thinking. TCS is essentially a Pakistani version of FedEx. But to get it going, Khalid Awan had to overcome ?insuperable? problems such as striking deals with the gangs that control the haulage industry and sweet-talking the politicians who can shut a new company at the drop of a hat.
In it for the money
Mr Isenberg has two important bits of advice for policymakers who genuinely want to foster entrepreneurship. First, they should remove barriers to entry, and growth, for all sorts of business, rather than seeking to build particular types of clusters. Second, they should recognise the importance of the profit motive. There has been much fancy talk of ?social entrepreneurship??harnessing enterprise to do good deeds?but in truth the main motivator for entrepreneurs is the chance of making big money. This is what drives people to take huge risks and endure years of hardship. And this is what encourages investors to take a punt on business ideas that, at first sight, look half-crazy.
Politicians and bureaucrats do not just confuse entrepreneurship with things they like?technology, small business?they also fail to recognise that it entails things that set their teeth on edge. Entrepreneurs thrive on inequality: the fabulous wealth they generate in America makes the country more unequal. They also thrive on disruption, which creates losers as well as winners. Joseph Schumpeter once argued that economic progress takes place in ?cracks? and ?leaps? rather than ?infinitesimal small steps? because it is driven by rule-breaking entrepreneurs. It might be nice to think that we could have growth and job-creation without a good deal of Schumpeterian cracking. But, alas, some thoughts really are worthless, impossible and stupid.
SAN DIEGO (AP) ? Hours after President Barack Obama delivered remarks about Trayvon Martin and the George Zimmerman trial, Jamie Foxx and Samuel L. Jackson addressed the racially charged case at Comic-Con in San Diego.
Foxx was at the massive pop culture convention to promote his role as the villain Electro in "The Amazing Spider-Man 2." Holding his 4-year-old daughter Annalise, who wore a Spider-Man backpack and shoes, Foxx said he was "disappointed" in the July 13 not guilty verdict in Florida.
He had been among the most vocal celebrities expressing support for Martin's family, having met the teen's mother Sybrina Fulton at an awards show.
"She's always been courageous in saying this has never been about race. She said it's about 17-year-old kids. We have to protect our kids. So I stand with her forever," Foxx said.
"It was great to see Bruce Springsteen in Ireland dedicate a song to Trayvon. I think that's what really makes it universal in the fact that we know that there's race involved, but to see all races coming together and saying that hey, there's something wrong," Foxx said. "There's something wrong when a 17-year-old child is on his way home and someone with a gun pursues him and he ends up losing his life."
Foxx said Martin's case was part of an "epidemic" of gun violence in the US.
"When you look at Sandy Hook and Aurora and all these different things where we're losing our children. Chicago ? 67 kids, people killed in a week ? we have an epidemic," he said. "And it's up to us as the grown folks to be smart enough and intelligent and nice to each other to have a difference of opinion, but also understand that we have to come to a solution."
Samuel L. Jackson was also on hand at the convention, promoting the remake of "RoboCop." He said he'd been out of the country for much of the trial and during the verdict, but expected the result.
"I'm not really surprised by it considering the way the case was presented and the representation that the family had, and the portrayals that they put out there of the kid and how peoples' attitudes are about those particular things," Jackson said.
Still, he said, he was "encouraged by the attitude of people after the verdict, that people are willing to stand up and take a stand and get out in the streets, and let their voices be heard."
Stocks fell Friday led by a slump in technology stocks. Microsoft fell?the most in more than four years after the company wrote off nearly $1 billion on its new tablet computer and reported declining revenue for its Windows operating system.?
By Steve Rothwell,?AP Markets Writer / July 19, 2013
Specialist trader Joe Mastrolia works on the floor at the New York Stock Exchange, Friday. Technology stocks in the S&P 500 have lagged the S&P 500 this year, gaining only 8.5 percent, versus 18.6 percent for the broader index.
Brendan McDermid/Reuters
Enlarge
A bad day for technology?stocks?Friday held back the?stock?market's big run-up.
Click Here for your FREE 30 DAYS of The Christian Science Monitor Weekly Digital Edition
Microsoft led the slump in tech, falling the most in more than four years after the company wrote off nearly $1 billion on its new tablet computer and reported declining revenue for its Windows operating system. Google dropped after its revenue fell below analysts' forecasts, partly because the Internet search leader's ad prices took an unexpected turn lower.
With tech?stocks?falling, the Standard & Poor's 500 index was held to a gain of 2.72 points, or 0.2 percent. That pushed the index up to another all-time of 1,692.09. The S&P 500 has rebounded from a poor performance last month and is up 5.3 percent in July.
Despite the market's broad advance this month, a growing list of poor tech results is raising concerns about the strength of the economy and the?stock?market. Intel and eBay also reported weak results this week, and chipmaker Advanced Micro reported a second-quarter loss because of a worldwide slump in PC demand.
Technology "has definitely been a sector that people have been expecting big things from and it has not delivered," said Randy Frederick, Managing Director of Active Trading & Derivatives at the Schwab Center for Financial Research.
The Dow Jones industrial average closed down 4.80 points, or 0.03 percent, to 15,543.71. If not for the declines in Microsoft, Hewlett-Packard and IBM, the index would have gained about 70 points.
A brighter outlook on the U.S. economy from industry bellwether General Electric was also overshadowed by the slump in tech.
The technology-heavy Nasdaq composite fell 23.66 points, or 0.7 percent, to 3,587.61. The index was the only major market benchmark to end the week lower, falling 0.4 percent.
Technology?stocks?in the S&P 500 have lagged the S&P 500 this year, gaining only 8.5 percent, versus 18.6 percent for the broader index. The industry is one of four of the 10 sectors in the S&P 500 that are expected to see earnings growth contract in the second quarter.
So far, 104 companies from the S&P 500 have reported earnings. Two-thirds of them have beaten analysts' expectations, according to S&P Capital IQ data. Just under half have exceeded analysts' forecast for revenue.
Microsoft dropped $4.04, or 11.4 percent, to $31.40 after reporting its earnings late Thursday. That's the biggest one-day decline since the?stock?slumped 11.7 percent in January 2009. Google fell $14.08, or 1.5 percent, $896.60. It also posted earnings late Thursday.
The?stock?market rose sharply in July after the Federal Reserve reassured investors that it won't pull back on its economic stimulus before the economy is strong enough. The U.S. central bank is currently buying $85 billion in bonds every month to keep long-term interest rates low and to encourage borrowing and hiring.
In government bond trading, the yield on the 10-year Treasury note fell to 2.48 percent from 2.53 percent late Thursday. Ten-year Treasurys have risen, pushing their yield lower, since July 5, when the government reported strong hiring in June. The yield rose as high as 2.74 percent that day.
The pullback in bond yields should help?stocks?sustain their rally because it makes them look more attractive compared to bonds, said Paul Zemsky, head of multi-asset strategies for ING U.S. Investment Management. Lower interest rates should also support the housing market by holding down mortgage rates.
"A lot of the fears that had come from these higher rates are abating," Zemsky said. "Rates have come back down and that's good."
The price of crude oil edged up a penny to $108.05 a barrel. The price of gold climbed $8.70 to $1,292.90 an ounce.
Among other?stocks?making big moves:
? General Electric rose $1.09, or 4.6 percent, to $24.72 after posting a slight gain in net income in the second quarter. GE also said its U.S. operations are picking up steam. The results were better than analysts had forecast.
? Chipotle Mexican Grill climbed $32.22, or 8.6 percent, to $408.90 after the Mexican fast-food chain reported results that beat analysts' expectations.
? Whirlpool surged $9.54, or 8 percent, $128.91 after its second-quarter net income soared 75 percent as demand improved for its appliances. Whirlpool also benefited from some tax credits.
View the article online at http://citywire.co.uk/wealth-manager/article/a692527
';
//see which section to append to
if (data.ItemType && isInvestmentType(data.ItemType)) {
$('.jsInvestmentHeading').removeClass('.investmentHeading--hidden');
$(placeholder).insertAfter($investmentHeading);
} else if ((data.ItemType) && data.ItemType.toLocaleLowerCase() === 'manager') {
$managerHeading.removeClass('managerHeading--hidden');
$(placeholder).insertAfter($managerHeading);
}
}
},
removeFinished: function(data) {
//only select visible items as we have duplicates for wide and narrow view
var $favouriteItemToRemove = $('.jsFavouriteItem_' + data.ItemType + '_' + data.ItemID),
itemType = $($favouriteItemToRemove[0]).data('type'),
itemID = $($favouriteItemToRemove[0]).data('id'),
itemName = $.trim($('.favouritesItem__name', $($favouriteItemToRemove[0])).text()),
that = this,
message = itemName + ' has been removed from your favourites.' +
' Undo ';
$favouriteItemToRemove.remove();
favouritesWidget.displayMessage(message);
$('#undoLink').click(function(e) {
that.handleAdd({
ItemType: itemType,
ItemID: itemID,
ItemName: itemName
});
favouritesWidget.undoRemove(itemName, itemID, itemType);
e.preventDefault();
});
favouritesWidget.updateItemCounts();
if (document.citywire && document.citywire.pubsub) {
document.citywire.pubsub.publish('citywire.favourites.deleted.' + data.ItemType + '.' + data.ItemID);
}
favouritesWidget.setSize();
},
handleRemoveFinished: function(data) {
if (data.ItemID && data.ItemType) {
this.removeFinished(data);
}
},
addingFinished: function(itemData) {
var itemClass = 'jsFavouriteItem_' + itemData.ItemType + '_' + itemData.ItemID;
$.ajax({
url: '/favourites/getitemview.aspx?section=wealth-manager',
data: itemData,
success: function(favItem) {
$('#' + itemData.ItemType + '_' + itemData.ItemID).remove();
if ($('#favouritesWidget').find('.' + itemClass).length === 0) {
if (itemData.ItemType && itemData.ItemType.toLocaleLowerCase() === 'manager') {
$(favItem).insertAfter($('.jsManagerHeading'));
} else if (itemData.ItemType && isInvestmentType(itemData.ItemType)) {
$(favItem).insertAfter($('.jsInvestmentHeading'));
}
favouritesWidget.updateItemCounts();
favouritesWidget.setSize();
}
},
error: function(error) {
favouritesWidget.handleError();
}
});
},
buyNow: function() {
var models = [];
if (isModalOpen === false) {
$('.jsfavouritesBuyButtonIcon').addClass('hidden');
$('#buyAllSpinner').addClass('busy');
$('.favouritesItem__checkbox:checked').each(function(index, favouriteItem) {
var $item = $(favouriteItem).closest('.jsFavouriteItem');
models.push({
ItemName: $item.data('name'),
ItemID: $item.data('id'),
ItemType: $item.data('type'),
BasketCode: $item.data('basketcode')
});
});
if (models.length
by Alex Steger on Jul 19, 2013 at 07:58
The UK economy saw a ?9.9 billion boost?in trade and investment as a result of hosting the 2012 London Olympic games, a report has found.
The report for the government and Mayor of London said new contracts, additional sales and foreign investment were behind the boost.
Government research suggests that the?total benefit?to the UK of hosting the games could reach up to ?41 billion by 2020.
Prime minister David Cameron said: ?This ?9.9 billion boost to the UK economy is a reminder to the world that, if you want the best, if you want professionalism, if you want jobs done on time and on budget then you should think British.
?With companies across the country we are harnessing the Olympic momentum and delivering the lasting business legacy of the games that will help make Britain a winner in the global race.?
Source: www.ourafricablog.com --- Thursday, July 18, 2013 thekhooll : Mandela In Howick, South Africa, an honorary sculpture was built by Marco Cianfanelli to mark Mandela?s arrest 50 years ago by the apartheid police. The installation includes 50 steel columns that symbolize prison bars, and if you view them at certain angle, you can see Mandela?s face. ...
SALINAS, Calif. -- "Hey Moe, you ready to go do a show?" asked Jon Payne to his show horse. Payne is better known at rodeos as the One Arm Bandit. Why that name?
"In 1973 I got electrocuted and got my arm burned off and I was dead for five minutes," said Payne.? ?
The bandit puts on quite the performance. In fact, he's a 12 time Pro Rodeo Entertainer of the Year. But the real star, he says, is Moe. ?
"See how fat he is, he don't miss any meals," said Payne.? ?
The two have been partners in the show for 4 years. The bandit says he could never imagine treating Moe poorly. ?
"If something were to happen to this animal I'd have to go get me a job and that don't sound good," said Payne.? ?
That's how many performers and cowboys at the California Rodeo Salinas feel. But just in case, the Professional Rodeo Cowboy Association has 60 rules they enforce. All animals are inspected and only healthy ones can participate. There are even rules protecting animals during events, cowboys could get disqualified if they aren't followed. Also, a vet is always on hand.
"If somebody really doesn't understand this sport, I can see where they think they might be hurting the animal, but they go through drastic measures to make sure the animal is not hurt," said Carly Twinsselman, rodeo fan.? ?
The Bandit said if Moe was mishandled he wouldn't want to perform.
"You cant make a horse buck," said Payne.?
By the looks of their performance on Thursday night, Moe wants to and is having fun being the star of the One Arm Bandit Show.
In case you weren?t aware, when it comes to chilies, ?Size matters.? So said the Mandarin Oriental Bangkok?s estimable Chef Narain Kiattiyotcharoen, displaying an array of brilliantly colored capiscums: ?Don?t be fooled?this bigger chili is mild enough to eat crunchy, like a vegetable. This little one is our femme fatale.? He held out a petite, curvaceous red pepper?best known as a bird?s eye?with enough power to scorch the roof of your mouth.
For my palate, this was an important distinction, because ever since my first plate of tongue-searing, eye-watering, five-chili som tam more than three years ago, I?ve never stopped craving it.
In fact, I?m hopelessly addicted to Thai food in general, and I?m beginning to think that recovery might be impossible. Luckily, I live in Bangkok, where my next moo ping or gai yang fix is always right around the corner. But for all the time I spend scarfing down Thai food, I decided it was time to learn how to feed my own addiction. So, I signed up for a cooking class at the iconic Oriental.
Housed in a gorgeously restored antique house on the far side of the Chao Phraya, the class?s kitchen was the stuff of foodie dreams. Polished brass cookware gleamed; fresh herbs bloomed on the patio; and antiques (think a century-old wooden coconut scraper carved to look like a rabbit) decorated the corners.
For my practically private lesson, Chef Narain greeted me and one other student enthusiastically. While we noshed on Lilliputian local sweets and sipped tea, he introduced us to the essentials of Thai cuisine. Along the way, he made sure we touched, smelled and tasted each ingredient to better understand it.
Though I had encountered all of the items before, I found myself learning important tidbits along the way. I now know that there are three principle kinds of basil?sweet, lemon and holy, the latter of which was once used for offerings in India. I know that kaffir lime is actually bitter, but has an incomparable perfume; that pandan leaves smell grassy when raw, but have a vanilla sweetness when cooked; that galangal is hotter and more aromatic than ginger; and that only the purple-hearted pieces of lemongrass impart any real scent.
It wasn?t long before we were putting those ingredients to use. Pandan flavored the pouching liquid for tiny Thai bananas. Kaffir lime leaves and shredded lemongrass were tossed into bubbling oil later used to deep-fry chicken. With a loud crackle, the fragrance of citrus filled the entire room. And loads of dried chilies?along with shrimp paste, coconut palm sugar and a whole spice cabinet?s worth of seasonings?went into the curry paste for haw mok thalay (steamed seafood mousse).
It wasn?t long before we were putting those ingredients to use. Pandan flavored the pouching liquid for tiny Thai bananas. Kaffir lime leaves and shredded lemongrass were tossed into bubbling oil later used to deep-fry chicken. With a loud crackle, the fragrance of citrus filled the entire room. And loads of those chilies?along with shrimp paste, coconut palm sugar and a whole spice cabinet?s worth of seasonings?went into the curry paste for hor mok, or steamed fish mousse.
Not everything was easy. Constructing the banana leaf cradles for the haw mok felt like culinary origami. More challenging still was transforming unwieldy chicken wings into poultry-pops that were safe for even the daintiest dinner party. The process involved splitting the wing, extracting one of the bones, then sliding the meat to the very edge of the remaining bone and wrapping it in its own skin. The dish seemed fussy and a bit daunting at first, but with some patient instruction, I was able to turn out several credible specimens. (Or that?s what Chef Narain said, anyway.)
After all that work, it was time to feast. Despite our amateur efforts, the results were pretty impressive. As we nibbled on our delicate finger foods, I vowed to recreate at least some of this menu at home. The next time I get a hankering for Thai food, I may just stay in.?DIANA HUBBELL
The Oriental Thai Cooking School at the Mandarin Oriental Bangkok; 48 Oriental Ave.; 66-2/659-9000; mandarinoriental.com/bangkok; Monday through Saturday, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., Bt4,000 per person per class, or Bt20,000 per person for six consecutive classes.
Sample Menu
Gai Takrai (Deep-fried chicken with lemongrass, kaffir lime and sweet chili sauce)
Haw Mok Thalay (Curried seafood mousse)
Gaeng Ron (Coconut milk soup with glass noodles, tiger lily buds, wood-ear mushrooms and pork balls)
Gluay Khai Chueaum (Glaceed bananas with coconut cream)
@lucasmearian, or subscribe to Lucas's RSS feed 
. His email address is lmearian@computerworld.com.
thekhooll : Mandela In Howick, South Africa, an honorary sculpture was built by Marco Cianfanelli to mark Mandela?s arrest 50 years ago by the apartheid police. The installation includes 50 steel columns that symbolize prison bars, and if you view them at certain angle, you can see Mandela?s face. ...
fragrance of citrus filled the entire room. And loads of those chilies?along with shrimp paste, coconut palm sugar and a whole spice cabinet?s worth of seasonings?went into the curry paste for hor mok, or steamed fish mousse.
