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.
