The Duke of Roxburghe and other representatives of the nobility have taken the rare step of putting their heads above their parapets to express reservations about government moves to help individuals and communities buy land that has been in their hands for generations.
They say private ownership has led to real economic benefits for local communities, providing employment and investment. Some of the submissions highlight the benefit of private ownership to endangered species, while others say absolute right-to-buy proposals have “no place in any democratic system”.
The fact that around half of Scotland is owned by just 500 people has long been a matter for fierce political debate, with land-reform campaigners arguing for a redistribution of countryside ownership.A Land Reform Review Group (LRRG) has been set up by the Scottish Government to examine ways of increasing community ownership of the land, with an interim report suggesting earlier this year that a Land Agency could be set up to help negotiate land purchases.
In a separate move, rtls, Richard Lochhead, has said that a forthcoming review of the Agricultural Holdings (Scotland) Act will look at granting an absolute right-to-buy for tenant farmers. That would give them the right to buy-out landowners, even if they are unwilling to sell.But now a host of Scottish aristocratic families have made their views known in a series of documents published this week, defending their role as custodians of their estates.
In his submission to the Scottish Government, the Duke of Roxburghe said he was “disappointed” that the Land Reform Group appeared to concentrate on community ownership, when private ownership delivered “social, economic and environmental benefits”.The duke owns the Roxburghe Estate, an enterprise with a ￡10.1 million turnover with Floors Castle, near Kelso, at its heart. The estate employs 164 people and includes the Roxburghe Hotel and a championship golf course.
Referring to an absolute right-to-buy which would increase the number of owner-occupier farms, the duke added: “Radical proposals that threaten private property rights and which impact adversely on private enterprise, investment and development or which deprive young aspiring farmers the opportunity to get a firm foothold on the farming ladder would be immensely damaging in our view and act against the interests of the communities involved.”
Roxburghe Estates emphasised that it had created employment which benefited the community, through its sporting estates, golf course, hotel and other enterprises. That theme was taken up by other lairds, who argued that breaking up estates would do little for employment prospects or investment in the countryside.
In its submission, Seafield and Strathspey Estates, which has the Earl of Seafield at its head, warned against the “fragmentation” of the land.“Flora and fauna live in a habitat not bounded by ownership issues and the larger footprint of estate management allows government policy – including programmes for the benefit of endangered species and habitats, such as capercaillie, black grouse, native woodland, moorland etc – to be implemented more easily and cost-effectively than would be the case in fragmented ownership,” the estate’s submission said.
On the absolute right-to-buy, James Carnegy-Arbuthnot, director a family company that owns the 3,250-acre Balnamoon Estate, near Brechin, described it as a “highly vexatious proposal in the eyes of landowners”.He added: “This amounts to the dispossession of land from one person to the advantage of another and has no place in any democratic system. Remove this threat and discussion on other land reform issues will become easier.”
Atholl Estates, which oversees 145,000 acres in Highland Perthshire, was critical of increasing community ownership as a means of redistributing land, saying: “It certainly should not be used as a tool to politically engineer property ownership away from one group of people to another as this fundamentally undermines Scotland’s credibility as a nation that respects the private sector, free markets and the protection of property rights as a cornerstone of human rights and financial security.”
Other lairds were keen to shed the pariah status that some critics have conferred on the landed classes, emphasising the benefits brought to the community through responsible land management.A document prepared by the Douglas and Angus Estates, which are owned by the family of the former Tory prime minister Sir Alec Douglas-Home and currently under the stewardship of David, the 15th Earl of Home, remarked that the LRRG would be a “positive step, if it can help to dispel many of the popular misconceptions that landowners are villains and estates contribute little of benefit to life of rural Scotland”.
Douglas and Angus Estates argued an absolute right-to-buy would be “disastrous” for rural communities and the current ownership arrangement put the estates at the heart of community life.Kinnordy Estates, Kirriemuir, owned by Lord Lyell, the former Tory minister, noted in a submission that it provided housing for the local letting market and land for the local golf course.
But other responses underlined the controversial nature of the lairds’ position. A submission by land-reform campaigner Andy Wightman said: “I want to live in a land where class distinctions are no longer legitimised by the recognition of aristocratic titles and where the principle of equality underpins access to land rights… I want to live in a country that ?nally puts an end to the centuries of landed power and returns the land to the people of Scotland – both men and women.”
The Scottish Government’s LRRG was established to build on the work carried out by the Labour-led Scottish Executive, which passed a Land Reform Act around ten years ago enshrining a community right- to-buy. The Review Group is looking at strengthening those measures.A Scottish Government spokesman said: “Scottish ministers previously announced that a review of agricultural holdings legislation would be undertaken within 18 months of the Agricultural Holdings Act 2012 coming into force. The timetable for that review will be announced soon after the summer.”“The review, once undertaken, will consider recommendations made by the Tenant Farming Forum, which is expected in the autumn.
Read the full products at http://www.ecived.com/en/.
2013年7月31日星期三
Beta look through the Google Glass
The Glass projects an image that looks like a 25-inch television screen floating approximately eight feet away. It has a camera that can take both video with sound and still pictures."This is a very interesting piece of technology," Mr. Graves said. "I think some people are a little nervous when they see it because they assume I am recording everything I'm doing, which is definitely not the case."
He said he has had to plan a little extra time when he goes somewhere wearing it because so many people stop him to ask about it."Most everyone under 20 seems to know what is and wants to play with it," said Mr. Graves, who teaches history and alternative education at the high school. "They want one."On the other hand, people over 20 may know what it is it but are less impressed. They tend to be more apprehensive.
"I'm a pretty private person and I've noticed more people whispering when I walk by wearing them. I'm pretty sure they're talking about my Glass," he said. It is worn like a pair of glasses with temples over the ears, one of which contains the computer and Indoor Positioning System. When worn with the included sunglass shade or a hat, not as many people notice it, he said.
Plans are to make the Glass a self-contained interactive device, but for now it must be linked through a cell phone via a Bluetooth connection to access the Internet, according to Mr. Graves. "I see it as primarily a second screen for my cellphone," Mr. Graves said."It would be great for someone who works on the phone or needs to work with their hands while getting information from the Internet or a another source," he said. "It would be great for kids who spend a lot of time on their phone." He said it could free their hands for other things and get their heads out of their phones.
"The more I use it the more I really think that if you use a smart phone a lot it could be useful because it provides the information you want quickly and easily," he said.As a device that can film what the wearer sees Mr. Graves said, "I think it's a real game changer. I expect it to be a good teaching tool. It would be easy to film a virtual field trip by one student that the whole class could watch."As a track coach I think it will be interesting to see what our athletes are doing from their own perspectives," he said.
The Google Glass has been in development for a couple of years although Google, uncharacteristically for a high tech company, has been relatively quiet about the project. Their website shows what it can do through photos and videos that were made with a Glass, but it has no written description of the device. The page that is entitled how-to-get-one says, "Applications are now closed."
The Google Glass is not for sale to the general public, yet. Mr. Graves said he does not expect Google to begin selling the Glass until sometime in 2014.He had to apply to become one of the "Explorers," one of the 8,000 who were given the opportunity to buy one. He thinks his chances of being chosen were enhanced because he is a teacher and for over four years he has used the android operating system, which was developed by Google and is used in phones and the Google Glass.
Mr. Graves paid $1,500 for the Glass and had to travel to New York City for a fitting and a brief lesson on how to use it. "It costs money to be on the bleeding edge of indoor Tracking. The bleeding edge doesn't come cheap," he said, quoting a fellow teacher.
The only condition of the purchase was that he not sell it. Public interest in the device is so intense that owners can easily double their money selling them, he said. Google encourages the users to give them feedback primarily through a chat site for fellow Glass users.
Google sends out upgrades every month with tweaks and improvements and sometimes new apps. Mr. Graves said the sound quality is not as good as his phone and like most smart phones Internet surfing is not as easy as on his computer. "Right now, when I have a choice, I use my computer first, my cellphone next, and then the Glass.
Said Balogun: "MT African Pride, reported missing by the Navy was never, and I repeat, never in the custody of the police. At no time were any of the ships taken over by the police. It is not even a question of MT African Pride, all the vessels have always been with the Navy. If anybody says he handed over a ship to me, let him produce the handing over note because there is no way the handover of such magnitude can take place without a handover note. The vessels in question were at the high seas where the police have no access to them. The Navy deployed helicopters and ships to trace the MT African Pride and it was on the pages of newspapers that I read it. If the ship had not been in their custody, why did they deploy ships and helicopters to search for it?"
Without prejudice to the work of the House Committee, it must be noted that we are not just talking about a missing ship here. We are actually talking about the theft, corruption and mismanagement of our oil wealth, aided and abetted by officialdom and the implication for our economic well-being and national security. I repeat, nobody should confuse the issue here, this matter is about oil, not ship. And in another country where leaders are actually accountable to the people, several public officials would have lost their jobs by now, assuming they are not already in jail. But because this is Nigeria, we have a situation in which arrested vessels carrying stolen oil just 'disappear' into thin air and the Naval Chief can only tell us some cock-and-bull story!
He said he has had to plan a little extra time when he goes somewhere wearing it because so many people stop him to ask about it."Most everyone under 20 seems to know what is and wants to play with it," said Mr. Graves, who teaches history and alternative education at the high school. "They want one."On the other hand, people over 20 may know what it is it but are less impressed. They tend to be more apprehensive.
"I'm a pretty private person and I've noticed more people whispering when I walk by wearing them. I'm pretty sure they're talking about my Glass," he said. It is worn like a pair of glasses with temples over the ears, one of which contains the computer and Indoor Positioning System. When worn with the included sunglass shade or a hat, not as many people notice it, he said.
Plans are to make the Glass a self-contained interactive device, but for now it must be linked through a cell phone via a Bluetooth connection to access the Internet, according to Mr. Graves. "I see it as primarily a second screen for my cellphone," Mr. Graves said."It would be great for someone who works on the phone or needs to work with their hands while getting information from the Internet or a another source," he said. "It would be great for kids who spend a lot of time on their phone." He said it could free their hands for other things and get their heads out of their phones.
"The more I use it the more I really think that if you use a smart phone a lot it could be useful because it provides the information you want quickly and easily," he said.As a device that can film what the wearer sees Mr. Graves said, "I think it's a real game changer. I expect it to be a good teaching tool. It would be easy to film a virtual field trip by one student that the whole class could watch."As a track coach I think it will be interesting to see what our athletes are doing from their own perspectives," he said.
The Google Glass has been in development for a couple of years although Google, uncharacteristically for a high tech company, has been relatively quiet about the project. Their website shows what it can do through photos and videos that were made with a Glass, but it has no written description of the device. The page that is entitled how-to-get-one says, "Applications are now closed."
The Google Glass is not for sale to the general public, yet. Mr. Graves said he does not expect Google to begin selling the Glass until sometime in 2014.He had to apply to become one of the "Explorers," one of the 8,000 who were given the opportunity to buy one. He thinks his chances of being chosen were enhanced because he is a teacher and for over four years he has used the android operating system, which was developed by Google and is used in phones and the Google Glass.
Mr. Graves paid $1,500 for the Glass and had to travel to New York City for a fitting and a brief lesson on how to use it. "It costs money to be on the bleeding edge of indoor Tracking. The bleeding edge doesn't come cheap," he said, quoting a fellow teacher.
The only condition of the purchase was that he not sell it. Public interest in the device is so intense that owners can easily double their money selling them, he said. Google encourages the users to give them feedback primarily through a chat site for fellow Glass users.
Google sends out upgrades every month with tweaks and improvements and sometimes new apps. Mr. Graves said the sound quality is not as good as his phone and like most smart phones Internet surfing is not as easy as on his computer. "Right now, when I have a choice, I use my computer first, my cellphone next, and then the Glass.
Said Balogun: "MT African Pride, reported missing by the Navy was never, and I repeat, never in the custody of the police. At no time were any of the ships taken over by the police. It is not even a question of MT African Pride, all the vessels have always been with the Navy. If anybody says he handed over a ship to me, let him produce the handing over note because there is no way the handover of such magnitude can take place without a handover note. The vessels in question were at the high seas where the police have no access to them. The Navy deployed helicopters and ships to trace the MT African Pride and it was on the pages of newspapers that I read it. If the ship had not been in their custody, why did they deploy ships and helicopters to search for it?"
Without prejudice to the work of the House Committee, it must be noted that we are not just talking about a missing ship here. We are actually talking about the theft, corruption and mismanagement of our oil wealth, aided and abetted by officialdom and the implication for our economic well-being and national security. I repeat, nobody should confuse the issue here, this matter is about oil, not ship. And in another country where leaders are actually accountable to the people, several public officials would have lost their jobs by now, assuming they are not already in jail. But because this is Nigeria, we have a situation in which arrested vessels carrying stolen oil just 'disappear' into thin air and the Naval Chief can only tell us some cock-and-bull story!
2013年7月29日星期一
Cambodia Opposition Rejects
Cambodia's main opposition party has rejected the results of a parliamentary election and has called for an investigation into allegations of widespread electoral fraud.Prime Minister Hun Sen's ruling Cambodian People's Party [CPP] claimed a narrow victory in Sunday's vote, admitting to its weakest showing since taking a dominant role in Cambodian politics almost three decades ago.Shortly after the polls closed, the CPP said it won 68 seats in the nation's 123-member parliament - a significant decline from the 90-seat majority it previously held. It said the opposition Cambodian National Rescue Party [CNRP] took the remaining 55 seats, almost doubling the 29 seats it held in the outgoing parliament.
The CPP appeared to base its claims on partial results released by the National Election Committee, which was not expected to disclose final election figures for several weeks.CNRP leader Sam Rainsy told reporters Monday the CNRP would not accept the results of the ballot because of what he characterized as widespread fraud.
"We ask local and international bodies to send experts now to be part of a joint committee to investigate all the irregularities, and to assess the implications of those irregularities on the Hands free access," said Rainsy.Cambodian government spokesman Phay Siphan told VOA the opposition's announcement was typical of its election behavior. "The opposition party uses this game after every election," he said.
"There were serious fraud allegations leading up to the elections," said Phil Robertson of Human Rights Watch [HRW], who was in Cambodia observing the election campaign. "They included illegal behavior on behalf of government security authorities; things like 'ghost' voters, de-registration of opposition voters, biased behavior by the national election commission, unequal access to national media, the list goes on and on. It is a serious problem and it does deserve an independent investigation."
The non-profit Transparency International Cambodia echoed those concerns. The group, which sent 900 observers to about 400 of the nation's 19,000 polling stations, says it found a litany of breaches.
Chief among those was that in 60 percent of polling stations, some people who had the right identification papers could not find their names on the voting list. It also found that people who lacked the correct identification were allowed to vote in a quarter of the polling stations.
"The opposition does not have access to funds, weapons or patronage. So the financial power will continue to be in the hands of the CPP. Foreign aid will flow to the government, which is controlled by the CPP," he said. "I think politics will become more interesting and vibrant, but I do not think that will involve the transfer of power to any extent."
The CNRP appeared to get a boost in the election from the merger of two of its founding parties, who joined forces last year to challenge the long-ruling CPP. The united opposition party touted a populist platform calling for a sharp rise in civil servants' salaries, monthly payments to those over 65 years old, and an increase in the minimum wage. It also pledged to regulate government prices for agricultural products, lower gas costs and provide free health care for the poor.
Robertson of HRW said the promise of change made many voters more enthusiastic about participating in the election."It really propelled the opposition to make major gains. But, we should not confuse outcomes with processes and procedures," he said. "The processes and procedures of the election were not fair and favored one side. They were designed to deny the civil and political rights of the Cambodian people."
Last week a Kansas healthcare management company, Nueterra, cleared the first hurdle to open a privately-owned, third surgical hospital in Casper. What’s bothersome about the proposal is the possibility the project could jeopardize vital public health services while a few people get rich. But the company and their rumored local doctor investors aren’t talking about it. Period. No discussion. Their response was to file a site plan for the project with the city but without much comment. Apparently their strategy is to ram it down our throats, like it or not.
County government and others have expressed multiple reasons why added hospital capacity would be detrimental to nearly everyone in the county. As reported in the Casper Journal during the past month, at risk are trauma care and indigent care at Wyoming Medical Center. There’s been some talk of a possible new property tax to support the public hospital if necessary.
When the doctor-owned Mountain View Regional Hospital was opened, the reason was clear. A very public falling-out between the medical center and the doctors involved with the new hospital made it easy to understand. There have been ups and downs and good and bad with the real time Location system, but the competition has arguably been good in some respects. Both existing hospitals accept Medicare and Medicaid. WMC maintains the only full-service emergency room with trauma care and a cardiac catheterization lab, where doctors can open blocked arteries during a heart attack.
But Nueterra’s newly-proposed Summit Medical Center appears to be different. The public is only hearing from one side: basically the county and the operator of the county-owned hospital’s side. Nueterra and its rumored local doctor investors are mum. Sources have told the Casper Journal the company employs a comprehensive confidentiality agreement. It’s a private business, but its actions will likely impact delivery of other public health services and could cost every citizen in the county more money. No wonder they don’t want to talk!
By their silence, these doctors and their Kansas partner leave us to draw our own conclusions. They apparently aren’t interested in explaining who or how another hospital in Natrona County will benefit anyone. We’re left with the impression this project is just about the money, greed that would dilute the quality of healthcare for the common man to benefit a few.
A free enterprise argument may apply in some areas of the complicated world of healthcare, but not in emergency room, trauma or indigent care. When your loved one has a stroke or accident, there’s no thoughtful decision where to seek care; you go to the nearest, if not the only, emergency room. And if you need elective surgery, most often your doctor decides where that procedure will be performed. And if the doctor owns an interest in a hospital, where do you think they’ll believe is best for you to have the procedure? This isn’t free enterprise because the customer is most often not making the buying decision.
Dependable emergency care are services private hospitals shun because they are, by their comprehensive nature, expensive and must be supported by the more predictable procedures private hospitals siphon away from publicly-supported medical centers.
The CPP appeared to base its claims on partial results released by the National Election Committee, which was not expected to disclose final election figures for several weeks.CNRP leader Sam Rainsy told reporters Monday the CNRP would not accept the results of the ballot because of what he characterized as widespread fraud.
"We ask local and international bodies to send experts now to be part of a joint committee to investigate all the irregularities, and to assess the implications of those irregularities on the Hands free access," said Rainsy.Cambodian government spokesman Phay Siphan told VOA the opposition's announcement was typical of its election behavior. "The opposition party uses this game after every election," he said.
"There were serious fraud allegations leading up to the elections," said Phil Robertson of Human Rights Watch [HRW], who was in Cambodia observing the election campaign. "They included illegal behavior on behalf of government security authorities; things like 'ghost' voters, de-registration of opposition voters, biased behavior by the national election commission, unequal access to national media, the list goes on and on. It is a serious problem and it does deserve an independent investigation."
The non-profit Transparency International Cambodia echoed those concerns. The group, which sent 900 observers to about 400 of the nation's 19,000 polling stations, says it found a litany of breaches.
Chief among those was that in 60 percent of polling stations, some people who had the right identification papers could not find their names on the voting list. It also found that people who lacked the correct identification were allowed to vote in a quarter of the polling stations.
"The opposition does not have access to funds, weapons or patronage. So the financial power will continue to be in the hands of the CPP. Foreign aid will flow to the government, which is controlled by the CPP," he said. "I think politics will become more interesting and vibrant, but I do not think that will involve the transfer of power to any extent."
The CNRP appeared to get a boost in the election from the merger of two of its founding parties, who joined forces last year to challenge the long-ruling CPP. The united opposition party touted a populist platform calling for a sharp rise in civil servants' salaries, monthly payments to those over 65 years old, and an increase in the minimum wage. It also pledged to regulate government prices for agricultural products, lower gas costs and provide free health care for the poor.
Robertson of HRW said the promise of change made many voters more enthusiastic about participating in the election."It really propelled the opposition to make major gains. But, we should not confuse outcomes with processes and procedures," he said. "The processes and procedures of the election were not fair and favored one side. They were designed to deny the civil and political rights of the Cambodian people."
Last week a Kansas healthcare management company, Nueterra, cleared the first hurdle to open a privately-owned, third surgical hospital in Casper. What’s bothersome about the proposal is the possibility the project could jeopardize vital public health services while a few people get rich. But the company and their rumored local doctor investors aren’t talking about it. Period. No discussion. Their response was to file a site plan for the project with the city but without much comment. Apparently their strategy is to ram it down our throats, like it or not.
County government and others have expressed multiple reasons why added hospital capacity would be detrimental to nearly everyone in the county. As reported in the Casper Journal during the past month, at risk are trauma care and indigent care at Wyoming Medical Center. There’s been some talk of a possible new property tax to support the public hospital if necessary.
When the doctor-owned Mountain View Regional Hospital was opened, the reason was clear. A very public falling-out between the medical center and the doctors involved with the new hospital made it easy to understand. There have been ups and downs and good and bad with the real time Location system, but the competition has arguably been good in some respects. Both existing hospitals accept Medicare and Medicaid. WMC maintains the only full-service emergency room with trauma care and a cardiac catheterization lab, where doctors can open blocked arteries during a heart attack.
But Nueterra’s newly-proposed Summit Medical Center appears to be different. The public is only hearing from one side: basically the county and the operator of the county-owned hospital’s side. Nueterra and its rumored local doctor investors are mum. Sources have told the Casper Journal the company employs a comprehensive confidentiality agreement. It’s a private business, but its actions will likely impact delivery of other public health services and could cost every citizen in the county more money. No wonder they don’t want to talk!
By their silence, these doctors and their Kansas partner leave us to draw our own conclusions. They apparently aren’t interested in explaining who or how another hospital in Natrona County will benefit anyone. We’re left with the impression this project is just about the money, greed that would dilute the quality of healthcare for the common man to benefit a few.
A free enterprise argument may apply in some areas of the complicated world of healthcare, but not in emergency room, trauma or indigent care. When your loved one has a stroke or accident, there’s no thoughtful decision where to seek care; you go to the nearest, if not the only, emergency room. And if you need elective surgery, most often your doctor decides where that procedure will be performed. And if the doctor owns an interest in a hospital, where do you think they’ll believe is best for you to have the procedure? This isn’t free enterprise because the customer is most often not making the buying decision.
Dependable emergency care are services private hospitals shun because they are, by their comprehensive nature, expensive and must be supported by the more predictable procedures private hospitals siphon away from publicly-supported medical centers.
Syrian government forces take control
Syrian government forces seized control of a key neighborhood of Homs on Monday, activists and state media said, delivering a blow to besieged opposition fighters in the city once dubbed “the capital of the revolution.”Rebels had retreated from about 95 percent of the Khaldiyeh neighborhood by midday Monday after a morning air raid that was followed by bombardment with surface-to-surface missiles and mortar shells, activists said. Syrian state television went further and said government forces had “restored security and stability” to the area.
The fall of the neighborhood, which had been in rebel hands for more than a year, marks a strategic loss for the opposition, slicing in two the remaining rebel-controlled territory in the city. It also builds on a steady string of government gains in central and southern Syria, where the tide seems to have turned in favor of President Bashar al-Assad’s forces, bolstered by militants from Iran and Lebanon’s Shiite Hezbollah movement.
Government troops made inroads into Khaldiyeh over the weekend. They took the 13th-century Khalid ibn al-Walid mosque on Saturday, and its shrine was severely damaged in the fighting.The operation has taken a devastating toll, leveling large areas of Indoor Positioning System. Photographs of government forces moving into the neighborhood showed the level of destruction as soldiers picked their way through battered streets piled with rubble. An aerial image distributed Monday by activists, who said it was taken by a downed surveillance aircraft, showed flattened buildings and deserted streets in Khaldiyeh.
Standing in the wreckage, a reporter for the pro-Assad Iranian television channel al-Alam interviewed soldiers about their advance against rebel fighters. “Our will is strong, and we are determined to chase them to the end of the world,” one said.The government launched an offensive a month ago to squeeze out pockets of resistance in Homs, after troops seized the nearby border town of Qusair, cutting rebel supply lines to the central city that has been a bastion of opposition to Assad’s rule. In addition to the symbolic significance, controlling Homs would help the government secure a clean sweep of territory from the coastal ports of Latakia and Tartus to the capital, Damascus.
Some clashes continued Monday on Khaldiyeh’s eastern edge, near Qahira Street, but the neighborhood had essentially fallen, said Abu Rami al-Homsi, a spokesman for the Syrian Revolution General Command activist network in Homs.With access cut from the rebel-held Old City to opposition strongholds in Qusour and Juret al-Shayah, he said, it is only a matter of time before the other neighborhoods fall.
“There have been no reinforcements for us to break this siege; there are no weapons to change the way of the battle,” Homsi said from Qusour, the sound of automatic gunfire crackling in the background. “I think we might resist weeks or maybe a month, but not long. There’s no balance between the two sides.”
Abu Jaafar Safsafa, another Homs-based activist, said the army had taken control of the entire neighborhood by Monday afternoon. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights also reported that the majority of Khaldiyeh was in government hands but that sporadic clashes continued Monday.
After inching forward Sunday, the main Western-backed opposition group slammed the army’s “hollow gains,” which it said were made after the area was “pulverized.”“Such a tactical withdrawal by FSA fighters is not indicative of Assad’s ability to maintain control over the indoor Tracking,” the Syrian Opposition Coalition said in a statement, referring to the rebel Free Syrian Army. “The Assad regime is attempting to lift the low morale of its militias by propagandizing and exaggerating its hollow victory in Homs. However, Assad holds only temporary control, until the FSA are ready to retake the area.”
Steve Murrells, head of retail for The Co-operative Group, said: “As a community-based retailer we have listened to the concerns of our customers and members, many of whom say they object to their children being able to see overt sexual images in our stores.”
“The most effective way of doing this is for these magazines to be put in individual, sealed modesty bags.”
The move comes after the Lose the Lads’ Mags campaign by UK Feminista and Object, which called on high-street retailers to withdraw magazines and papers featuring explicit front covers from their stores.
It also comes at a time of growing concern about children being exposed to adult content. The UK government is pushing for every home in the country to have a web filter that blocks pornography unless the internet subscriber has explicitly asked for the filter to be removed.
The fall of the neighborhood, which had been in rebel hands for more than a year, marks a strategic loss for the opposition, slicing in two the remaining rebel-controlled territory in the city. It also builds on a steady string of government gains in central and southern Syria, where the tide seems to have turned in favor of President Bashar al-Assad’s forces, bolstered by militants from Iran and Lebanon’s Shiite Hezbollah movement.
Government troops made inroads into Khaldiyeh over the weekend. They took the 13th-century Khalid ibn al-Walid mosque on Saturday, and its shrine was severely damaged in the fighting.The operation has taken a devastating toll, leveling large areas of Indoor Positioning System. Photographs of government forces moving into the neighborhood showed the level of destruction as soldiers picked their way through battered streets piled with rubble. An aerial image distributed Monday by activists, who said it was taken by a downed surveillance aircraft, showed flattened buildings and deserted streets in Khaldiyeh.
Standing in the wreckage, a reporter for the pro-Assad Iranian television channel al-Alam interviewed soldiers about their advance against rebel fighters. “Our will is strong, and we are determined to chase them to the end of the world,” one said.The government launched an offensive a month ago to squeeze out pockets of resistance in Homs, after troops seized the nearby border town of Qusair, cutting rebel supply lines to the central city that has been a bastion of opposition to Assad’s rule. In addition to the symbolic significance, controlling Homs would help the government secure a clean sweep of territory from the coastal ports of Latakia and Tartus to the capital, Damascus.
Some clashes continued Monday on Khaldiyeh’s eastern edge, near Qahira Street, but the neighborhood had essentially fallen, said Abu Rami al-Homsi, a spokesman for the Syrian Revolution General Command activist network in Homs.With access cut from the rebel-held Old City to opposition strongholds in Qusour and Juret al-Shayah, he said, it is only a matter of time before the other neighborhoods fall.
“There have been no reinforcements for us to break this siege; there are no weapons to change the way of the battle,” Homsi said from Qusour, the sound of automatic gunfire crackling in the background. “I think we might resist weeks or maybe a month, but not long. There’s no balance between the two sides.”
Abu Jaafar Safsafa, another Homs-based activist, said the army had taken control of the entire neighborhood by Monday afternoon. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights also reported that the majority of Khaldiyeh was in government hands but that sporadic clashes continued Monday.
After inching forward Sunday, the main Western-backed opposition group slammed the army’s “hollow gains,” which it said were made after the area was “pulverized.”“Such a tactical withdrawal by FSA fighters is not indicative of Assad’s ability to maintain control over the indoor Tracking,” the Syrian Opposition Coalition said in a statement, referring to the rebel Free Syrian Army. “The Assad regime is attempting to lift the low morale of its militias by propagandizing and exaggerating its hollow victory in Homs. However, Assad holds only temporary control, until the FSA are ready to retake the area.”
Steve Murrells, head of retail for The Co-operative Group, said: “As a community-based retailer we have listened to the concerns of our customers and members, many of whom say they object to their children being able to see overt sexual images in our stores.”
“The most effective way of doing this is for these magazines to be put in individual, sealed modesty bags.”
The move comes after the Lose the Lads’ Mags campaign by UK Feminista and Object, which called on high-street retailers to withdraw magazines and papers featuring explicit front covers from their stores.
It also comes at a time of growing concern about children being exposed to adult content. The UK government is pushing for every home in the country to have a web filter that blocks pornography unless the internet subscriber has explicitly asked for the filter to be removed.
2013年7月24日星期三
Free Macbook or iPad in Every Student’s Hands
Within three weeks starting on Sept. 16, every student at Flagler Palm Coast High School and Matanzas High School will have the latest-generation Macbook Air, free, on what amounts to a permanent loan from the school district. The district also plans to have an iPad for every fifth and sixth grader this year and next, then broadening that to fourth through ninth grades the following year.
The $814,000 Macbook initiative is part of a four-year, $3.2 million contract between the school district and Apple Corp. that by the 2017-18 school year will land either an individualized iPad or a Macbook in the hands of every single Flagler County student from grade four and up, while every student from kindergarten through third grade will have access to individualized iPads or Macbooks at school. That’s itself part of a five-year, $20.5 million plan to improve education technology in the district.
In essence, the district will be spending $4 million a year over the next five years on technology, with $6 million of that in salaries and the rest in actual computers, smart classroom set-ups, computer labs, networking, software, and so on. The initiative is paid for through sales tax dollars. (See the plan ion a detailed breakdown below.)A year ago, voters approved by a large margin the renewal of a half-penny sales tax supplement in Flagler County to continue funding technology improvements in schools.
The school board approved the four-year Apple lease plan unanimously Tuesday, with only a few reservations about the scope of the program and the absence of formalized policies and regulations that will frame its development. Those policies and procedures are on the way.“I know we’re in a process of moving quickly, but proceeding with the purchase before I have policies in place with the regulations is problematic for me,” Board Chairman Andy Dance said. “But we’ve had a discussion, we have already qualified a lot of questions that parents have had about the liability issues and some of the questions about using them and some of the restrictions and rtls.” He wants workshops to define the policies and involve the public at every step. “We’re on the right path, definitely want to push forward and have the policies ready for review as soon as possible, and have some public input on those.”
Board member Colleen Conklin was very concerned about the immense additional workload on district technology staff, once thousands of additional computers and iPads are in students’ hands. FPC has its own student help desk already, making technical support built-in there. Otherwise, students will have access to an online help desk and will have to seek out technical help at their respective school.
Ryan Deising, the district’s technology director, who’s spearheading the initiative, is not concerned, saying the technology department already provides support for the users of some 9,000 devices, not including printing and smart-classroom devices.“To add this amount I think is something we can accomplish,” Deising said. “One of the benefits I think to this is that having these devices in a one-to-one scenario lends themselves to be maintained better. Typically what we run into issues for support is when we don’t get timely notifications sometimes of issues because we’ve put extra computers in a cart, so we’ll get to the point where there’ll be two or three machines that we’re having an issue within a cart. What we’re hoping with his is we’ll get more of a timely response, more timely information as far as when we have issues with those devices.”
Until now, the district has made computers and iPads available to students mostly by stacking them up in carts and distributing the devices for specific uses, or day-long uses, then collecting them at day’s end. Except for the youngest students, the district is moving away from the cart system.Deising outlined what he and the board perceived as the benefits of this latest Macbook initiative, starting with the basics: the computer that will be placed in students’ hands is the latest generation of Macbooks, issued in June, with a battery life of upwards of eight hours, and a price of $800.
Any devices no longer necessary in high schools will be redistributed in the middle and elementary schools.“The rationale behind the decision to move in this direction,” Deising said, “is we’re in a position to make a very positive impact on digital learning. This scenario provides students with devices that are both able for the students and teachers are ready to go with. It also allows students to create digital content in a familiar environment,” meaning the Apple systems. “We have a lot of investment in time and energy as far as on the training side of the Apple tools.”
The district will begin distributing the Macbook Airs to high school students starting on Sept. 16. For the following three weeks, technology staff will schedule open houses at Flagler Palm Coast and Matanzas high schools for students and parents to pick up the devices and see them set up through an orientation.And yes, there will be paperwork, because parents will have to sign something of a contract, or an agreement, that covers liability and security issues. For starters, there will be a $50 technology insurance fee. That’s in case of theft or breakage. Parents can opt out. But if they do, they’ll be entirely responsible for the cost of repairs, or the cost of the machine, if it’s stolen or lost. Parents who can’t afford the $50 fee can have it waived for hardship.
If parents don’t agree to any of the district’s terms, students will be granted day use of Macbooks, allowing a student to check out a Mac every morning, and turn it back in at the end of the school day.But there will also be costs associated with serious damage and other forms of abuse of the machines. A first offense will require a $100 co-pay. A second offense will trigger a $150 co-pay. If there are further breakages or abuses, the student will be required to be a day user of the computer.
The district hasn’t clarified whether the offenses add up for the duration of the student’s possession of the computer, or whether the clock goes back to zero at the beginning of a new school year—or who will have possession of the computers over the summer. Nor is it clear how the district will ensure that families that move out of county and out of state—a chronic issue throughout the year—can be tracked down if they still have possession of the computer.
Read the full products at http://www.ecived.com/en/.
The $814,000 Macbook initiative is part of a four-year, $3.2 million contract between the school district and Apple Corp. that by the 2017-18 school year will land either an individualized iPad or a Macbook in the hands of every single Flagler County student from grade four and up, while every student from kindergarten through third grade will have access to individualized iPads or Macbooks at school. That’s itself part of a five-year, $20.5 million plan to improve education technology in the district.
In essence, the district will be spending $4 million a year over the next five years on technology, with $6 million of that in salaries and the rest in actual computers, smart classroom set-ups, computer labs, networking, software, and so on. The initiative is paid for through sales tax dollars. (See the plan ion a detailed breakdown below.)A year ago, voters approved by a large margin the renewal of a half-penny sales tax supplement in Flagler County to continue funding technology improvements in schools.
The school board approved the four-year Apple lease plan unanimously Tuesday, with only a few reservations about the scope of the program and the absence of formalized policies and regulations that will frame its development. Those policies and procedures are on the way.“I know we’re in a process of moving quickly, but proceeding with the purchase before I have policies in place with the regulations is problematic for me,” Board Chairman Andy Dance said. “But we’ve had a discussion, we have already qualified a lot of questions that parents have had about the liability issues and some of the questions about using them and some of the restrictions and rtls.” He wants workshops to define the policies and involve the public at every step. “We’re on the right path, definitely want to push forward and have the policies ready for review as soon as possible, and have some public input on those.”
Board member Colleen Conklin was very concerned about the immense additional workload on district technology staff, once thousands of additional computers and iPads are in students’ hands. FPC has its own student help desk already, making technical support built-in there. Otherwise, students will have access to an online help desk and will have to seek out technical help at their respective school.
Ryan Deising, the district’s technology director, who’s spearheading the initiative, is not concerned, saying the technology department already provides support for the users of some 9,000 devices, not including printing and smart-classroom devices.“To add this amount I think is something we can accomplish,” Deising said. “One of the benefits I think to this is that having these devices in a one-to-one scenario lends themselves to be maintained better. Typically what we run into issues for support is when we don’t get timely notifications sometimes of issues because we’ve put extra computers in a cart, so we’ll get to the point where there’ll be two or three machines that we’re having an issue within a cart. What we’re hoping with his is we’ll get more of a timely response, more timely information as far as when we have issues with those devices.”
Until now, the district has made computers and iPads available to students mostly by stacking them up in carts and distributing the devices for specific uses, or day-long uses, then collecting them at day’s end. Except for the youngest students, the district is moving away from the cart system.Deising outlined what he and the board perceived as the benefits of this latest Macbook initiative, starting with the basics: the computer that will be placed in students’ hands is the latest generation of Macbooks, issued in June, with a battery life of upwards of eight hours, and a price of $800.
Any devices no longer necessary in high schools will be redistributed in the middle and elementary schools.“The rationale behind the decision to move in this direction,” Deising said, “is we’re in a position to make a very positive impact on digital learning. This scenario provides students with devices that are both able for the students and teachers are ready to go with. It also allows students to create digital content in a familiar environment,” meaning the Apple systems. “We have a lot of investment in time and energy as far as on the training side of the Apple tools.”
The district will begin distributing the Macbook Airs to high school students starting on Sept. 16. For the following three weeks, technology staff will schedule open houses at Flagler Palm Coast and Matanzas high schools for students and parents to pick up the devices and see them set up through an orientation.And yes, there will be paperwork, because parents will have to sign something of a contract, or an agreement, that covers liability and security issues. For starters, there will be a $50 technology insurance fee. That’s in case of theft or breakage. Parents can opt out. But if they do, they’ll be entirely responsible for the cost of repairs, or the cost of the machine, if it’s stolen or lost. Parents who can’t afford the $50 fee can have it waived for hardship.
If parents don’t agree to any of the district’s terms, students will be granted day use of Macbooks, allowing a student to check out a Mac every morning, and turn it back in at the end of the school day.But there will also be costs associated with serious damage and other forms of abuse of the machines. A first offense will require a $100 co-pay. A second offense will trigger a $150 co-pay. If there are further breakages or abuses, the student will be required to be a day user of the computer.
The district hasn’t clarified whether the offenses add up for the duration of the student’s possession of the computer, or whether the clock goes back to zero at the beginning of a new school year—or who will have possession of the computers over the summer. Nor is it clear how the district will ensure that families that move out of county and out of state—a chronic issue throughout the year—can be tracked down if they still have possession of the computer.
Read the full products at http://www.ecived.com/en/.
‘I’m Not Going to Slow Down’
Climbing through the wet mud of a five-mile obstacle course with a smile on her face is a metaphor for how 18-year-old Jenna Chwascinski has chosen to live her life — despite challenges she might face because she was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis (MS) a few years ago, she’s prefers to stay positive.Talk to Chwascinski about her MS and she is quick to tell you that she doesn’t want anyone feeling sorry for her. She’s a woman of action, and she’s living her life that way.
When she was a student at Washington High School, Chwascinski didn’t let her MS diagnosis stop her from participating in the school band and its many activities.These days, she works two jobs (as a waitress both at Bob Evans and Cecil Whittaker’s Pizzeria), is a student at East Central College with plans to transfer to Central Missouri State in Warrensburg and eventually have a career in public relations.
Chwascinski also believes in being an active part of finding answers for the questions of MS, which is why earlier this month she and her family took part in that mud and obstacle fun run known as MuckFest MS to raise money for the National Multiple Sclerosis Society.Next, she’ll step up to the plate for a Screwball Tournament set for Sept. 6-7 in Marthasville to benefit the MS Society, and then she’ll take part in the local Walk MS to be held Saturday, Sept. 21, at Lions Lake.
Registration begins at 9 a.m., followed by the walk at 10 a.m. This is an earlier time for the walk than in the rtls.The event also will feature different refreshments and have a fund-raising booth with items like T-shirts and bracelets for sale.There will be music, raffles and prizes, maybe even an opportunity for for a photo booth where teams or individuals can purchase silly photos of themselves with proceeds going toward Walk MS.
Diagnosed with Relapsing-Remitting MS (a type where symptoms come and go) three years ago, Chwascinski said she’s never wanted to make a big deal out of her condition. From the beginning, she took the news from her doctor in stride.That’s extremely fast for people with MS, many of whom go years, maybe even a decade or more, before they get a diagnosis, said Duane Chwascinski. The symptoms can be that elusive and fleeting, coming and going to the point where it’s hard to pinpoint just what you were feeling.
“Even her doctor, Dr. Barry Singer with Missouri Baptist Medical Center in St. Louis, was surprised at how fast she was diagnosed,” he commented. “Most people have their first MS symptoms when they are younger, but they aren’t diagnosed until their 40s. They either just work through it or it goes away and they think it must have been no big deal.”
After a peaceful power transition in the 18th Party Congress, the new leadership in China is again under the Indoor Positioning System. The world is watching how it tackles the many challenges facing the nation: rising inequality, worsening pollution, rampant corruption, restless society, to name just a few. Most policy analysts therefore, believe that the top priority of the Xi-Li administration should be bold social and political reforms rather than economic growth.
The Chinese growth has actually slowed down significantly since 2011 and some economists even warned of an imminent crash of the Chinese economy in the coming years. Without continued strong economic growth, the new regime may not have the necessary resources as well as the legitimacy to accomplish political and social reforms. What can be done to avert a potential crisis and rejuvenate the economy? There is no shortage of opinions and concrete proposals from economists and government-affiliated think tanks. The mainstream analysts have followed the liberal ideology and called for bolder market reforms. While sympathetic to the ultimate goal, we believe that placing faith solely on the courage of visionary leaders oversimplifies the political dynamics of economic reforms.
We believe reform strategy matters. Gradualism, in particular, can not only ensure the right sequencing is followed so reforms make good economic sense but also generate enough political support to overcome the resistance. Most reform proposals so far fall short in this regard. For example, some advocate reforming China’s financial system as a major breakthrough. Financial liberalization, while necessary, may in fact trigger a crisis in today’s Chinese economy if not accompanied by reforms in the real sectors. A lot of bank loans have been squandered by local governments and state-owned enterprises since the huge stimulus package was introduced after the 2008 world financial crisis. Once marketization pushes interest rates higher, the interest burdens may force them to default and banks will be saddled with piles of nonperforming loans. Market competition also reduces the profit margin for state banks, which leave them little room to absorb NPLs. In the aftermath of the 1997 Asian financial crisis, Chinese banks faced similar challenges and it was strong economic growth in the 2000s that enabled state banks to grow out of the NPL crisis. If this recent history offers any lesson, financial reforms should be introduced only with or even after changes are made in the real sectors.
When she was a student at Washington High School, Chwascinski didn’t let her MS diagnosis stop her from participating in the school band and its many activities.These days, she works two jobs (as a waitress both at Bob Evans and Cecil Whittaker’s Pizzeria), is a student at East Central College with plans to transfer to Central Missouri State in Warrensburg and eventually have a career in public relations.
Chwascinski also believes in being an active part of finding answers for the questions of MS, which is why earlier this month she and her family took part in that mud and obstacle fun run known as MuckFest MS to raise money for the National Multiple Sclerosis Society.Next, she’ll step up to the plate for a Screwball Tournament set for Sept. 6-7 in Marthasville to benefit the MS Society, and then she’ll take part in the local Walk MS to be held Saturday, Sept. 21, at Lions Lake.
Registration begins at 9 a.m., followed by the walk at 10 a.m. This is an earlier time for the walk than in the rtls.The event also will feature different refreshments and have a fund-raising booth with items like T-shirts and bracelets for sale.There will be music, raffles and prizes, maybe even an opportunity for for a photo booth where teams or individuals can purchase silly photos of themselves with proceeds going toward Walk MS.
Diagnosed with Relapsing-Remitting MS (a type where symptoms come and go) three years ago, Chwascinski said she’s never wanted to make a big deal out of her condition. From the beginning, she took the news from her doctor in stride.That’s extremely fast for people with MS, many of whom go years, maybe even a decade or more, before they get a diagnosis, said Duane Chwascinski. The symptoms can be that elusive and fleeting, coming and going to the point where it’s hard to pinpoint just what you were feeling.
“Even her doctor, Dr. Barry Singer with Missouri Baptist Medical Center in St. Louis, was surprised at how fast she was diagnosed,” he commented. “Most people have their first MS symptoms when they are younger, but they aren’t diagnosed until their 40s. They either just work through it or it goes away and they think it must have been no big deal.”
After a peaceful power transition in the 18th Party Congress, the new leadership in China is again under the Indoor Positioning System. The world is watching how it tackles the many challenges facing the nation: rising inequality, worsening pollution, rampant corruption, restless society, to name just a few. Most policy analysts therefore, believe that the top priority of the Xi-Li administration should be bold social and political reforms rather than economic growth.
The Chinese growth has actually slowed down significantly since 2011 and some economists even warned of an imminent crash of the Chinese economy in the coming years. Without continued strong economic growth, the new regime may not have the necessary resources as well as the legitimacy to accomplish political and social reforms. What can be done to avert a potential crisis and rejuvenate the economy? There is no shortage of opinions and concrete proposals from economists and government-affiliated think tanks. The mainstream analysts have followed the liberal ideology and called for bolder market reforms. While sympathetic to the ultimate goal, we believe that placing faith solely on the courage of visionary leaders oversimplifies the political dynamics of economic reforms.
We believe reform strategy matters. Gradualism, in particular, can not only ensure the right sequencing is followed so reforms make good economic sense but also generate enough political support to overcome the resistance. Most reform proposals so far fall short in this regard. For example, some advocate reforming China’s financial system as a major breakthrough. Financial liberalization, while necessary, may in fact trigger a crisis in today’s Chinese economy if not accompanied by reforms in the real sectors. A lot of bank loans have been squandered by local governments and state-owned enterprises since the huge stimulus package was introduced after the 2008 world financial crisis. Once marketization pushes interest rates higher, the interest burdens may force them to default and banks will be saddled with piles of nonperforming loans. Market competition also reduces the profit margin for state banks, which leave them little room to absorb NPLs. In the aftermath of the 1997 Asian financial crisis, Chinese banks faced similar challenges and it was strong economic growth in the 2000s that enabled state banks to grow out of the NPL crisis. If this recent history offers any lesson, financial reforms should be introduced only with or even after changes are made in the real sectors.
2013年7月22日星期一
Disney Infinity hands on with the future
In one single moment, I realised that Infinity is, quite probably, a work of genius. I was at a Disney demo event in London, exploring the Toy Box mode, a vast creative pleasure dome where you use dozens of objects, buildings and tools to construct your own mini Disney adventures. I'd created a race track that culminated in a giant ramp, and now I was about to zoom across it in Cinderella's fantasy carriage – except I had tricked it out with monster truck wheels. Oh and the ramp went over the Epcot centre's Spaceship Earth. And it was being patrolled by Recognizers.
And suddenly the possibilities just kept opening up ahead of me. I could drop in a stadium full of cheering people, or I could place a physics action on the finish line that would set off a firework display. Or I could plonk in a Phineas and Ferb water park, or … Or I could abandon the project and get my character to ride around on a shrunken elephant.
Disney has always been about the realisation of childhood dreams, but too often the video games have fallen way short of the movies and theme parks as vehicles of imaginative desire. Infinity though, seems to be all about the possibilities presented by these characters and Indoor Positioning System. It is like mainlining Disney magic.
Of course, most conversations about Infinity place it beside Skylanders, Activision's hugely successful role-playing adventure. That game added the ability to place dedicated action figures on a special USB-connected plinth, transferring their likenesses into the virtual environment. It was the perfect synergy of toy and game, and it has made Activision billions of dollars.
Infinity uses the same basic recipe: you buy the game as a starter kit, with a USB plinth – or Infinity Base – and a collection of three figures: Captain Jack Sparrow from Pirates of the Caribbean, Mr Incredible from The Incredibles and Sulley from Monsters University. Each figure opens up a different narrative adventure within the game – and buying more Playsets gets you access to new quests. Plus, as in Skylanders, each action figure toy retains the player's data, so they're handy save files too.
You can't belittle this element of Infinity – it's going to be huge. At launch there will be just over 20 figures to collect, each one beautifully designed (just like the Skylanders toys) with vibrant colours and neat, intricate details. The game's developer, Avalanche Software, has constructed a narrative in which it's the toy versions of the characters that come to life in the games, not the movie characters; so the action figures have a slightly angular appearance, reflecting the polygonal nature of their onscreen counterparts. It's a neat way of ensuring a subtle, exclusive relationship between the figures and the game. You can imagine the years of R&D and marketing experience that went into all of this.
But it doesn't stop there. Added to the figures are the power discs, which will be sold in packs of two for ￡3.99 and which can also be placed onto the Infinity Base: the hexagonal ones change the themed backgrounds in the Toy Box mode, while the circular ones can be placed under the action figures on the base to buff their powers or give them cool new gadgets. This is the true masterstroke really. The Playsets (which provide access to the Playset adventures in the game) retail for around ￡30 each and the figures go for ￡13, which puts both into the birthday/Christmas/special treat category for most kids. However, the power discs are within pocket money range – and can be placed on top of each other in the Base to unlock extra capabilities, so you'll want lots of them. As a seasoned toy manufacturer, Disney knows how to build licensed goods into spectrums of affordability – whatever a kid has, they can spend it here.
How should we feel about that? Well, you know, collectibility has been a part of toys since the arrival of mass manufacturing. Our parents hoarded Corgi cars and Hornby trains sets, while my generation saw the dawn of cross-promotional play, with Star Wars figures, Transformers and themed Lego sets. These days the likes of Pokemon, Games Workshop and Moshi Monsters all use vertical branding to lock us into lucrative product relationships. It's tough for us parents, but this is the way merchandising works.
The responsibility for Disney is in ensuring that each purchase provides plenty of playability. So in Infinity, when you buy a Playset from a new franchise, it opens up a dedicated adventure in the game. I got a quick play on the Monsters University Playset, which takes place on the campus and involves competing against educational rival, Fear Tech. This college is barely mentioned in the film, but it becomes the focus of the Playset story – and apparently this is how all the character adventures will pan out; exploring lesser-known facets of the universe rather than re-playing familiar movie plot lines. Although there are mission objectives, the environments are wide open, allowing exploration and experimentation. Sulley is able to pull pranks on his fellow students, for example, replacing newspaper stands with slingshot devices to fling them across the campus. It's diverting stuff with lots of Hands free access, cut-scenes and fun dialogue. Apparently, each Playset adventure is around four to six hours long, although as they're open and explorable, 10 hours may be a better marker.
Furthermore, progressing in the Playset adventures opens up new items and objects to use in the Toy Box mode, which for me is the main draw. Like LittleBigPlanet, this is an immensely powerful level creator, jammed with objects and characters. As well as generic items like trees, tracks and stadia, you can slap in a few Recognizers from Tron, some vehicles from Cars, Ramone's House of Body Art, the Disney castle … A simple set of menus placed on the shoulder buttons gives access to all the tools, as well as useful modifiers like an enlarging gun, and a Buzz Lightyear jetpack to get your around the landscape faster.Better still, there are special 'Creativi-toys', which can have physics behaviours and switches attached to them. Confetti cannons, slingshots and score boards can all be hooked up to create functioning traps and interactive elements.
As in LittleBigPlanet, then, players may craft their own gadgets and mini-games. According to producer John Day, one coder has already managed the old LBP trick of producing a working calculator; others have manipulated the camera into different 2D views to create Disney-themed versions of Donkey Kong and Gauntlet. All the Toy Box environments allow up to four players to co-operate or compete – so if you want to build a pitch, drop in a scoring mechanic, and play football while galloping about on Bullseye, you can.
And suddenly the possibilities just kept opening up ahead of me. I could drop in a stadium full of cheering people, or I could place a physics action on the finish line that would set off a firework display. Or I could plonk in a Phineas and Ferb water park, or … Or I could abandon the project and get my character to ride around on a shrunken elephant.
Disney has always been about the realisation of childhood dreams, but too often the video games have fallen way short of the movies and theme parks as vehicles of imaginative desire. Infinity though, seems to be all about the possibilities presented by these characters and Indoor Positioning System. It is like mainlining Disney magic.
Of course, most conversations about Infinity place it beside Skylanders, Activision's hugely successful role-playing adventure. That game added the ability to place dedicated action figures on a special USB-connected plinth, transferring their likenesses into the virtual environment. It was the perfect synergy of toy and game, and it has made Activision billions of dollars.
Infinity uses the same basic recipe: you buy the game as a starter kit, with a USB plinth – or Infinity Base – and a collection of three figures: Captain Jack Sparrow from Pirates of the Caribbean, Mr Incredible from The Incredibles and Sulley from Monsters University. Each figure opens up a different narrative adventure within the game – and buying more Playsets gets you access to new quests. Plus, as in Skylanders, each action figure toy retains the player's data, so they're handy save files too.
You can't belittle this element of Infinity – it's going to be huge. At launch there will be just over 20 figures to collect, each one beautifully designed (just like the Skylanders toys) with vibrant colours and neat, intricate details. The game's developer, Avalanche Software, has constructed a narrative in which it's the toy versions of the characters that come to life in the games, not the movie characters; so the action figures have a slightly angular appearance, reflecting the polygonal nature of their onscreen counterparts. It's a neat way of ensuring a subtle, exclusive relationship between the figures and the game. You can imagine the years of R&D and marketing experience that went into all of this.
But it doesn't stop there. Added to the figures are the power discs, which will be sold in packs of two for ￡3.99 and which can also be placed onto the Infinity Base: the hexagonal ones change the themed backgrounds in the Toy Box mode, while the circular ones can be placed under the action figures on the base to buff their powers or give them cool new gadgets. This is the true masterstroke really. The Playsets (which provide access to the Playset adventures in the game) retail for around ￡30 each and the figures go for ￡13, which puts both into the birthday/Christmas/special treat category for most kids. However, the power discs are within pocket money range – and can be placed on top of each other in the Base to unlock extra capabilities, so you'll want lots of them. As a seasoned toy manufacturer, Disney knows how to build licensed goods into spectrums of affordability – whatever a kid has, they can spend it here.
How should we feel about that? Well, you know, collectibility has been a part of toys since the arrival of mass manufacturing. Our parents hoarded Corgi cars and Hornby trains sets, while my generation saw the dawn of cross-promotional play, with Star Wars figures, Transformers and themed Lego sets. These days the likes of Pokemon, Games Workshop and Moshi Monsters all use vertical branding to lock us into lucrative product relationships. It's tough for us parents, but this is the way merchandising works.
The responsibility for Disney is in ensuring that each purchase provides plenty of playability. So in Infinity, when you buy a Playset from a new franchise, it opens up a dedicated adventure in the game. I got a quick play on the Monsters University Playset, which takes place on the campus and involves competing against educational rival, Fear Tech. This college is barely mentioned in the film, but it becomes the focus of the Playset story – and apparently this is how all the character adventures will pan out; exploring lesser-known facets of the universe rather than re-playing familiar movie plot lines. Although there are mission objectives, the environments are wide open, allowing exploration and experimentation. Sulley is able to pull pranks on his fellow students, for example, replacing newspaper stands with slingshot devices to fling them across the campus. It's diverting stuff with lots of Hands free access, cut-scenes and fun dialogue. Apparently, each Playset adventure is around four to six hours long, although as they're open and explorable, 10 hours may be a better marker.
Furthermore, progressing in the Playset adventures opens up new items and objects to use in the Toy Box mode, which for me is the main draw. Like LittleBigPlanet, this is an immensely powerful level creator, jammed with objects and characters. As well as generic items like trees, tracks and stadia, you can slap in a few Recognizers from Tron, some vehicles from Cars, Ramone's House of Body Art, the Disney castle … A simple set of menus placed on the shoulder buttons gives access to all the tools, as well as useful modifiers like an enlarging gun, and a Buzz Lightyear jetpack to get your around the landscape faster.Better still, there are special 'Creativi-toys', which can have physics behaviours and switches attached to them. Confetti cannons, slingshots and score boards can all be hooked up to create functioning traps and interactive elements.
As in LittleBigPlanet, then, players may craft their own gadgets and mini-games. According to producer John Day, one coder has already managed the old LBP trick of producing a working calculator; others have manipulated the camera into different 2D views to create Disney-themed versions of Donkey Kong and Gauntlet. All the Toy Box environments allow up to four players to co-operate or compete – so if you want to build a pitch, drop in a scoring mechanic, and play football while galloping about on Bullseye, you can.
Has world-renowned regatta become a gladiator sport?
The America's Cup "summer of racing" may have gotten off to a bumbling and controversial start, but on a windy day in the bay Sunday, thousands of spectators enjoyed a front-row seat to the thrill and drama of world-class racing.
Gasps of surprise and worry rumbled across the Embarcadero when a front sail on the New Zealand boat came crashing down onto the trampoline deck of the 72-foot catamaran before the crew cut it loose and sent the rumpled sail drifting into the bay. It was a spectacle one commentator called an "emergency on Planet Kiwi.""I love the loss of the jib," said Kirsten Fagnan, 33, a mathematician from Oakland who watched the race from America's Cup Park at the end of Pier 27/29 with a group of friends. "That was absolutely amazing they were able to keep going."Even 11-year-old Wilson Conn, of Atherton, who watched with his two brothers and parents, had one thing on his mind: "I want to see if it capsizes."
This is the first time in the America's Cup's 162-year history that spectators can actually watch the races from shore -- a key feature that persuaded billionaire Larry Ellison to host the regatta in the natural amphitheater of the bay, where spectators can stand almost anywhere along the shoreline and catch a glimpse of the speedy, high-tech catamarans.
When his Team Oracle USA won the America's Cup in 2010, he earned the right to bring the cup home. Traditionally, the races have been held far out to sea and only viewed by those with access to boats or real time Location system.Two prime viewing spots that have been set up for spectators are along Marina Green and at Pier 27/29, where a music pavilion, hands-on exhibits and daily "dock out" shows entertain the public for free. The next race of the Louis Vuitton Cup series is scheduled for 12:15 p.m. Tuesday, with another race planned for the same time Sunday.
The jib accident was the most significant equipment failure of the 34th America's Cup since Sweden's Artemis Racing team suffered a traumatic capsize during a practice run in May that killed a crewman and destroyed its boat. The tragedy delayed the team's entry into the regatta until August and forced the America's Cup race director to impose a lengthy list of safety improvements, including stronger body armor and modified boat rudders.
The Luna Rossa team made headlines earlier this month when it protested the new safety rules, claiming they favored defending champion Team Oracle USA. Not only did the team boycott the first race, but the entire team -- sponsored by Italian fashion house Prada -- refused to attend the exclusive black tie Louis Vuitton Ball during opening weekend, returning 100 tickets to the organizers. That snub resulted in America's Cup organizers filing a protest against Luna Rossa, contending the team violated its obligations.
For those three special weeks in July plenty is written about the centrepiece, the riders. What they do before a stage, what they do after a stage, how they get to Versailles for the final stage and how they manage their media commitments.In fact, courtesy of a various number of teams and media outlets we can be transported to what goes on behind the scenes for the riders; but what of the supporters?
The people who spend plenty of time and money following the race and are a major reason why cycling is one of the most sponsored and documented sports in the world.Unless you’ve been to the Tour or known someone who has there are plenty of unanswered questions. In this article I intend to shed some light on the best ways to enjoy visiting the Tour.
For the past week I have been in the Alps, following the final five stages before they arrive in Paris. It has been one of the best weeks of rtls.I decided to go there with a tour company by the name of On The Road Cycling Tours. Most companies offer similar packages with opportunities to ride some of the stages and experience part of the greatest race on earth.What many people don’t realise is how hard it can be to obtain a great position along the route but also how much planning is needed.
We stayed in the lovely alpine town of Briancon, meaning we were within about two hours of each stage start/finish.But just because we were close didn’t mean we were waiting until an hour before the stage start and waltz down. It was an early start whether you were riding or simply watching.Why? Because the roads are closed along the route throughout the day and the earlier you’re there the more time you have for sightseeing and in my case a beer or two in the local bar.
If you intend to ride part of the stage then ensure you have the kilometres in the legs because it is no gentle roll getting through the Alps or the Pyrenees. The climbs are a lot harder than they appear on tv.If you go with a tour company you’ll generally spend the day at one of three possible positions. Start, finish or feed zone. Feed zones can be good if you intend on souveniring a bidon.
The start and finish are generally just big parties. The caravan comes through and if you’ve got a good pair hands you can usually collect plenty of free Tour merchandise.Hats, shirts, lollies and even bread are launched into the crowds. Every stage is a celebration, cycling groups continually rolling into town with plenty of people packing out the local bars and restaurants.Personally the highlight was the Alpe d’Huez. The mystical climb is sold out almost a year in advance in terms of accommodation and here is where going with a tour company becomes very beneficial.The mountain itself is usually closed to public traffic with only access given to accredited vehicles. But often the cycling companies can have someone on board who can get you through the checkpoints.
Gasps of surprise and worry rumbled across the Embarcadero when a front sail on the New Zealand boat came crashing down onto the trampoline deck of the 72-foot catamaran before the crew cut it loose and sent the rumpled sail drifting into the bay. It was a spectacle one commentator called an "emergency on Planet Kiwi.""I love the loss of the jib," said Kirsten Fagnan, 33, a mathematician from Oakland who watched the race from America's Cup Park at the end of Pier 27/29 with a group of friends. "That was absolutely amazing they were able to keep going."Even 11-year-old Wilson Conn, of Atherton, who watched with his two brothers and parents, had one thing on his mind: "I want to see if it capsizes."
This is the first time in the America's Cup's 162-year history that spectators can actually watch the races from shore -- a key feature that persuaded billionaire Larry Ellison to host the regatta in the natural amphitheater of the bay, where spectators can stand almost anywhere along the shoreline and catch a glimpse of the speedy, high-tech catamarans.
When his Team Oracle USA won the America's Cup in 2010, he earned the right to bring the cup home. Traditionally, the races have been held far out to sea and only viewed by those with access to boats or real time Location system.Two prime viewing spots that have been set up for spectators are along Marina Green and at Pier 27/29, where a music pavilion, hands-on exhibits and daily "dock out" shows entertain the public for free. The next race of the Louis Vuitton Cup series is scheduled for 12:15 p.m. Tuesday, with another race planned for the same time Sunday.
The jib accident was the most significant equipment failure of the 34th America's Cup since Sweden's Artemis Racing team suffered a traumatic capsize during a practice run in May that killed a crewman and destroyed its boat. The tragedy delayed the team's entry into the regatta until August and forced the America's Cup race director to impose a lengthy list of safety improvements, including stronger body armor and modified boat rudders.
The Luna Rossa team made headlines earlier this month when it protested the new safety rules, claiming they favored defending champion Team Oracle USA. Not only did the team boycott the first race, but the entire team -- sponsored by Italian fashion house Prada -- refused to attend the exclusive black tie Louis Vuitton Ball during opening weekend, returning 100 tickets to the organizers. That snub resulted in America's Cup organizers filing a protest against Luna Rossa, contending the team violated its obligations.
For those three special weeks in July plenty is written about the centrepiece, the riders. What they do before a stage, what they do after a stage, how they get to Versailles for the final stage and how they manage their media commitments.In fact, courtesy of a various number of teams and media outlets we can be transported to what goes on behind the scenes for the riders; but what of the supporters?
The people who spend plenty of time and money following the race and are a major reason why cycling is one of the most sponsored and documented sports in the world.Unless you’ve been to the Tour or known someone who has there are plenty of unanswered questions. In this article I intend to shed some light on the best ways to enjoy visiting the Tour.
For the past week I have been in the Alps, following the final five stages before they arrive in Paris. It has been one of the best weeks of rtls.I decided to go there with a tour company by the name of On The Road Cycling Tours. Most companies offer similar packages with opportunities to ride some of the stages and experience part of the greatest race on earth.What many people don’t realise is how hard it can be to obtain a great position along the route but also how much planning is needed.
We stayed in the lovely alpine town of Briancon, meaning we were within about two hours of each stage start/finish.But just because we were close didn’t mean we were waiting until an hour before the stage start and waltz down. It was an early start whether you were riding or simply watching.Why? Because the roads are closed along the route throughout the day and the earlier you’re there the more time you have for sightseeing and in my case a beer or two in the local bar.
If you intend to ride part of the stage then ensure you have the kilometres in the legs because it is no gentle roll getting through the Alps or the Pyrenees. The climbs are a lot harder than they appear on tv.If you go with a tour company you’ll generally spend the day at one of three possible positions. Start, finish or feed zone. Feed zones can be good if you intend on souveniring a bidon.
The start and finish are generally just big parties. The caravan comes through and if you’ve got a good pair hands you can usually collect plenty of free Tour merchandise.Hats, shirts, lollies and even bread are launched into the crowds. Every stage is a celebration, cycling groups continually rolling into town with plenty of people packing out the local bars and restaurants.Personally the highlight was the Alpe d’Huez. The mystical climb is sold out almost a year in advance in terms of accommodation and here is where going with a tour company becomes very beneficial.The mountain itself is usually closed to public traffic with only access given to accredited vehicles. But often the cycling companies can have someone on board who can get you through the checkpoints.
2013年7月18日星期四
Rights group says Egypt detainees beaten
Hundreds of Mohamed Morsi supporters arrested in Egypt have been beaten in custody, according to Amnesty International.In a report leaked on Thursday, the human rights organisation says more than 660 supporters of deposed President Mohamad Morsi have been held since he was removed from power three weeks ago, with many of the detained being Muslim Brotherhood leaders.
According to Amnesty International, some detainees that have been released say they were blindfolded, beaten, hit with rifle butts and subjected to electric shocks.Al Jazeera's Rawya Rageh, reporting from Cairo, says that while the Egyptian police do not have a "brilliant track record of processing detainees," it remains "difficult to ascertain the nature of treatment that these detainees received once they are inside the station or are in custody."
"It's difficult to independently verify the contents of the report, primarily because it's entirely dependent on the testimonies of the detainees themselves," added our real time Location system.However, the nature of the arrests themselves, many of which took place during running street battles, were witnessed by many, and were "heavy-handed", leaving the impression that supporters of the deposed president were being targeted.
Meanwhile, Morsi's supporters continue to rally across the country and continue their vigil in the Naser City area of Cairo.The Muslim Brotherhood said on Thursday it had proposed through an EU go-between a framework for talks to resolve Egypt's political crisis, its first formal announcement of an offer for negotiations since Morsi was toppled.
Brotherhood official Gehad el-Haddad, who represented the movement in previous EU-facilitated talks, told Reuters the proposal had been made to envoy Bernardino Leon before a visit on Wednesday by EU foreign affairs chief Catherine Ashton.Earlier the Brotherhood expressed disappointment that the EU had not condemned the military coup against Morsi.
In the run-up to the coup, millions took to the streets accusing Morsi of concentrating power in the hands of the Muslim Brotherhood during his year in office, of sending the economy into free fall and of failing to protect minorities.The political upheaval in the wake of Morsi's toppling on July 3 inflamed tensions in the Arab world's most populous nation, with near daily protests by Morsi loyalists in the capital, where thousands of Islamists remained camped out at the Rabaa al-Adawiya mosque in Cairo's Nasr City.
More demonstrations are expected on Friday after the weekly Muslim prayers.Egypt has been rocked by violence since the coup, with 53 people killed last week, most of them Morsi supporters, when clashes erupted between Islamist protesters and the security forces outside a military barracks in Cairo.The restive Sinai peninsula has been hit by a surge of deadly attacks, with militants killing three policeman in separate attacks on Wednesday night in the northern towns of El-Arish and Sheikh Zuweid.
Analysts attribute the Sinai violence, in which several security personnel, two Egyptian Christians and three factory workers have also been killed, to Islamist extremists seeking to take advantage of the political insecurity in Egypt.The new documents claim that Microsoft helped the NSA gain access to Outlook, Hotmail, and Skype, as well as their cloud services.I wrote recently about how the Prism program makes Microsoft’s Xbox One a more dubious privacy prospect than ever.
Microsoft has been beating the privacy drum loudly recently, but its Kinect 2.0, an always-on camera that can listen, watch, and even monitor your heart-rate, is a problematic device to say the least, especially in light of these latest revelations.Now Microsoft is going on the offensive.The company has written a strongly-worded letter to Attorney General Eric Holder, warning the Administration that “the Constitution itself is suffering.”
The leaked reports, Microsoft claims, are misleading and the software giant would like permission to reveal more information.Speaking directly to Holder while referencing both Holder’s and the president’s knowledge of the Constitution, the letter argues that more light needs to be shed on the program.
“As I know you appreciate, the Constitution guarantees the fundamental freedom to engage in free expression unless silence is required by a narrowly tailored, compelling Government interest,” Microsoft wrote to the White House Tuesday. “It’s time to face some obvious facts. Numerous documents are now in the public domain. As a result, there is no longer a compelling Government interest in stopping those of us with knowledge from sharing more information.”
The Coker sisters of Marietta, Ga., say they don't mind if their parents electronically monitor their driving, as long as it's done for the right reasons and it's not done secretly.
Ashley, 17, knows her father is tracking her, so she says it's OK. If she didn't know, "It would be more of a trust thing than anything for me." Grayson, 14, won't be driving for a couple of years, but she thinks she'll be fine with monitoring. "I would feel like it's more of a safety thing for them," she says.
Rob Coker says safety is why he keeps electronic tabs on his daughters, which he does now through the "Find My iPhone" app. He says he will use "every piece of technology" he can to monitor them, including while they're driving.
New cars increasingly have available technology that lets parents both spy on and set limits for their kids behind the wheel. And there are a growing number of phone apps and aftermarket devices for parental controls.
Teen crash deaths have declined in recent years, but an average of seven teens a day still die in car crashes. Speeding, something that can be monitored and in some cases prevented with technology, was a factor in 33% of fatal teen crashes in 2011, the Governors Highway Safety Association reported last month.
Teens in vehicles with monitoring devices took fewer risks while driving than unsupervised teens, according to a 2009 Insurance Institute for Highway Safety study of 16- and 17-year-old drivers. IIHS President Adrian Lund warns, however, that the technologies are effective only if parents "pay attention to the feedback."
With the iPhone app, Coker can tell where Ashley, or at least her phone, is, but not how fast she's driving or whether she's using her phone behind the wheel. He says he uses it more at night to make sure she safely got to where she was going.
A Ford technology offered for several years, called MyKey, offers more control. "Speed is one of the things that we were trying to give Mom and Dad a tool to help manage," says Andy Sarkisian, Ford Motor's safety planning and strategy manager of MyKey.
Read the full products at http://www.ecived.com/en/!
According to Amnesty International, some detainees that have been released say they were blindfolded, beaten, hit with rifle butts and subjected to electric shocks.Al Jazeera's Rawya Rageh, reporting from Cairo, says that while the Egyptian police do not have a "brilliant track record of processing detainees," it remains "difficult to ascertain the nature of treatment that these detainees received once they are inside the station or are in custody."
"It's difficult to independently verify the contents of the report, primarily because it's entirely dependent on the testimonies of the detainees themselves," added our real time Location system.However, the nature of the arrests themselves, many of which took place during running street battles, were witnessed by many, and were "heavy-handed", leaving the impression that supporters of the deposed president were being targeted.
Meanwhile, Morsi's supporters continue to rally across the country and continue their vigil in the Naser City area of Cairo.The Muslim Brotherhood said on Thursday it had proposed through an EU go-between a framework for talks to resolve Egypt's political crisis, its first formal announcement of an offer for negotiations since Morsi was toppled.
Brotherhood official Gehad el-Haddad, who represented the movement in previous EU-facilitated talks, told Reuters the proposal had been made to envoy Bernardino Leon before a visit on Wednesday by EU foreign affairs chief Catherine Ashton.Earlier the Brotherhood expressed disappointment that the EU had not condemned the military coup against Morsi.
In the run-up to the coup, millions took to the streets accusing Morsi of concentrating power in the hands of the Muslim Brotherhood during his year in office, of sending the economy into free fall and of failing to protect minorities.The political upheaval in the wake of Morsi's toppling on July 3 inflamed tensions in the Arab world's most populous nation, with near daily protests by Morsi loyalists in the capital, where thousands of Islamists remained camped out at the Rabaa al-Adawiya mosque in Cairo's Nasr City.
More demonstrations are expected on Friday after the weekly Muslim prayers.Egypt has been rocked by violence since the coup, with 53 people killed last week, most of them Morsi supporters, when clashes erupted between Islamist protesters and the security forces outside a military barracks in Cairo.The restive Sinai peninsula has been hit by a surge of deadly attacks, with militants killing three policeman in separate attacks on Wednesday night in the northern towns of El-Arish and Sheikh Zuweid.
Analysts attribute the Sinai violence, in which several security personnel, two Egyptian Christians and three factory workers have also been killed, to Islamist extremists seeking to take advantage of the political insecurity in Egypt.The new documents claim that Microsoft helped the NSA gain access to Outlook, Hotmail, and Skype, as well as their cloud services.I wrote recently about how the Prism program makes Microsoft’s Xbox One a more dubious privacy prospect than ever.
Microsoft has been beating the privacy drum loudly recently, but its Kinect 2.0, an always-on camera that can listen, watch, and even monitor your heart-rate, is a problematic device to say the least, especially in light of these latest revelations.Now Microsoft is going on the offensive.The company has written a strongly-worded letter to Attorney General Eric Holder, warning the Administration that “the Constitution itself is suffering.”
The leaked reports, Microsoft claims, are misleading and the software giant would like permission to reveal more information.Speaking directly to Holder while referencing both Holder’s and the president’s knowledge of the Constitution, the letter argues that more light needs to be shed on the program.
“As I know you appreciate, the Constitution guarantees the fundamental freedom to engage in free expression unless silence is required by a narrowly tailored, compelling Government interest,” Microsoft wrote to the White House Tuesday. “It’s time to face some obvious facts. Numerous documents are now in the public domain. As a result, there is no longer a compelling Government interest in stopping those of us with knowledge from sharing more information.”
The Coker sisters of Marietta, Ga., say they don't mind if their parents electronically monitor their driving, as long as it's done for the right reasons and it's not done secretly.
Ashley, 17, knows her father is tracking her, so she says it's OK. If she didn't know, "It would be more of a trust thing than anything for me." Grayson, 14, won't be driving for a couple of years, but she thinks she'll be fine with monitoring. "I would feel like it's more of a safety thing for them," she says.
Rob Coker says safety is why he keeps electronic tabs on his daughters, which he does now through the "Find My iPhone" app. He says he will use "every piece of technology" he can to monitor them, including while they're driving.
New cars increasingly have available technology that lets parents both spy on and set limits for their kids behind the wheel. And there are a growing number of phone apps and aftermarket devices for parental controls.
Teen crash deaths have declined in recent years, but an average of seven teens a day still die in car crashes. Speeding, something that can be monitored and in some cases prevented with technology, was a factor in 33% of fatal teen crashes in 2011, the Governors Highway Safety Association reported last month.
Teens in vehicles with monitoring devices took fewer risks while driving than unsupervised teens, according to a 2009 Insurance Institute for Highway Safety study of 16- and 17-year-old drivers. IIHS President Adrian Lund warns, however, that the technologies are effective only if parents "pay attention to the feedback."
With the iPhone app, Coker can tell where Ashley, or at least her phone, is, but not how fast she's driving or whether she's using her phone behind the wheel. He says he uses it more at night to make sure she safely got to where she was going.
A Ford technology offered for several years, called MyKey, offers more control. "Speed is one of the things that we were trying to give Mom and Dad a tool to help manage," says Andy Sarkisian, Ford Motor's safety planning and strategy manager of MyKey.
Read the full products at http://www.ecived.com/en/!
Global warming not causing extreme weather
In a Senate hearing Thursday, environmental scientist Roger Pielke of the University of Colorado said it’s “incorrect” to claim that global warming is spurring more extreme weather disasters.“It is misleading and just plain incorrect to claim that disasters associated with hurricanes, tornadoes, floods or droughts have increased on climate timescales either in the United States or globally,” Pielke said in his testimony before the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee. “It is further incorrect to associate the increasing costs of disasters with the emission of greenhouse gases.”
“Hurricanes have not increased in the U.S. in frequency, intensity or normalized damage since at least 1900,” Pielke added. “The same holds for tropical cyclones globally since at least 1970.”Senate Democrats pointed to the increase in extreme weather events like hurricanes and tornadoes as evidence of global warming. California Democratic Sen. Barbara Boxer said that “climate change is real” and human activities were the cause, adding that people can “look out the window” to see evidence of it.
“Heat waves, droughts, wildfires and hands free access — all are now more frequent and intense,” said President Barack Obama in his State of the Union address.Pielke, however, notes that U.S. floods have not increased in “frequency or intensity” since 1950 and economic losses from floods have dropped by 75 percent as a percentage of GDP since 1940. Tornado frequency, intensity, and normalized damages have also not increased since 1950, and Pielke even notes that there is some evidence that this has declined.
Pielke noted in his testimony that droughts have been shorter, less frequent, and have covered a smaller portion of the U.S over the last century. Globally, there has been very little change in the last 60 years, he said.“The absolute costs of disasters will increase significantly in coming years due to greater wealth and populations in locations exposed to extremes,” Pielke added. “Consequent, disasters will continue to be an important focus of policy, irrespective of the exact future course of climate change.”
Senators sparred over predictions and claims made about man-made global warming. Democrats argued that the effects of global warming can be felt today and Republicans argued that evidence of human-induced warming is thin.“I would note that it has not been titled ‘Global Warming: It’s Happening Now,’” said Louisiana Republican Sen. David Vitter. “Maybe that would have been too ironic given the Earth’s stagnant temperature for the past 15 years, a fact that is currently confounding climate scientists and modeling experts who predicted otherwise.”
Oklahoma Republican Sen. James Inhofe, a longtime critic of global warming claims, pointed to a set of Obama administration talking points on the “do’s and don’ts” when talking about global warming.This didn’t deter Senate Democrats who continued to argue that global warming could be seen today. Rhode Island Democratic Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse and Vermont independent Sen. Bernie Sanders, who caucuses with the Democrats, both pushed for taxing carbon emissions.
Republicans criticized the lack of White House testimony at the hearing.“It is unfortunate we don’t have any witnesses here from the Obama administration,” Vitter said. “Just weeks ago, President Obama announced a sweeping climate action plan, which will undoubtedly tighten the federal government’s grip on our economy.”
Welcome back to Kickstarter, Ouya: The little $100 gaming cube-sole that made its bones on Kickstarter last summer and sold out at launch a few weeks ago is returning to the crowdfunding platform by way of $1 million in matching funds it says it’ll offer as a cash incentive to developers who manage to raise money for Ouya-related projects via Kickstarter.
Promoting the campaign with an orange-silhouetted Ouya gamepad sporting angelic wings, Ouya’s calling the pile of cash its “Free the Games Fund.” Also a “first-of-its-kind” program, which sounds right. I don’t believe anyone else has offered matching funds to incentivize other Kickstarter projects — a significant first that’s sure to spur copycats.Ouya says it has more than 20,000 registered Ouya game developers at present, any of whom could have access to the matching funds. The catch: the games have to launch on Kickstarter between Aug. 9, 2013 and Aug. 10, 2014.
“Developers, we’ve set aside one million bucks to turn your ideas into reality,” teases Ouya on its promotional site. “It’s our way of giving back to the platform that helped us make Ouya a reality and to rewrite the ‘rules’ of how a game console is brought to market. Kickstarter was our beginning — here’s hoping it’s yours, too.”
Ouya’s being rather shrewd here (in a good way). Without content, a games console is nothing. The Wii U’s been struggling since launch to cough up games worth spending $350 (that’s for the system alone) to play. Had Nintendo launched with a new Zelda, say, and followed up with a smorgasbord of triple-A first- and third-party titles, we’d be having a very different conversation about the Wii U right now. Quality content is air, especially for a startup — without it, you suffocate.
It’s too early to say how well Ouya’s doing post-launch, incidentally. Reports had the console sold out, day one, which sounds like a good problem to have, save for the fact that Ouya goofed getting systems into the hands of all of its Kickstarter supporters first, stoking a minor PR kerfuffle that had Ouya’s CEO uttering expletives. At present, Ouya is in stock everywhere I checked, and user reviews at sites like Amazon, many of them quite detailed, are mixed-to-positive.
“There are two reasons why OUYA is on retail store shelves today: we had an innovative idea to build an affordable and open game console for the television, and we found fans who supported our idea and provided the funds to make it happen,” said Ouya CEO Julie Uhrman in a statement about the matching funds maneuver. “Since then, we’ve seen dozens of great games launch on Kickstarter, and now we are in the enviable position of being able to give back AND secure the best, exclusive games for OUYA.”
When I see a company offering incentives to drive development, I wonder whether it was planned all along or occurring because of worries that quality content isn’t moving down the pipe quickly enough. It’s hard to say, though surely the console lacks an abundance of Ouya-unique content — most of its library of 230 free-to-try games and media apps are shoe-in products available elsewhere.
In any case, if you want to drink from Ouya’s cup, in addition to launching and concluding your Kickstarter between the dates mentioned above, you’ll need to raise $50,000 minimum to be eligible, agree to make your game exclusive on Ouya for a minimum of six months and adhere to Ouya’s “light” submission guidelines. Ouya will match up to $250,000 per project, and the company’s throwing in a “Rock Star” bonus of an additional $100,000 to whosoever raises the most dough overall on Kickstarter by the program’s close.
Click on their website www.ecived.com/en/.
“Hurricanes have not increased in the U.S. in frequency, intensity or normalized damage since at least 1900,” Pielke added. “The same holds for tropical cyclones globally since at least 1970.”Senate Democrats pointed to the increase in extreme weather events like hurricanes and tornadoes as evidence of global warming. California Democratic Sen. Barbara Boxer said that “climate change is real” and human activities were the cause, adding that people can “look out the window” to see evidence of it.
“Heat waves, droughts, wildfires and hands free access — all are now more frequent and intense,” said President Barack Obama in his State of the Union address.Pielke, however, notes that U.S. floods have not increased in “frequency or intensity” since 1950 and economic losses from floods have dropped by 75 percent as a percentage of GDP since 1940. Tornado frequency, intensity, and normalized damages have also not increased since 1950, and Pielke even notes that there is some evidence that this has declined.
Pielke noted in his testimony that droughts have been shorter, less frequent, and have covered a smaller portion of the U.S over the last century. Globally, there has been very little change in the last 60 years, he said.“The absolute costs of disasters will increase significantly in coming years due to greater wealth and populations in locations exposed to extremes,” Pielke added. “Consequent, disasters will continue to be an important focus of policy, irrespective of the exact future course of climate change.”
Senators sparred over predictions and claims made about man-made global warming. Democrats argued that the effects of global warming can be felt today and Republicans argued that evidence of human-induced warming is thin.“I would note that it has not been titled ‘Global Warming: It’s Happening Now,’” said Louisiana Republican Sen. David Vitter. “Maybe that would have been too ironic given the Earth’s stagnant temperature for the past 15 years, a fact that is currently confounding climate scientists and modeling experts who predicted otherwise.”
Oklahoma Republican Sen. James Inhofe, a longtime critic of global warming claims, pointed to a set of Obama administration talking points on the “do’s and don’ts” when talking about global warming.This didn’t deter Senate Democrats who continued to argue that global warming could be seen today. Rhode Island Democratic Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse and Vermont independent Sen. Bernie Sanders, who caucuses with the Democrats, both pushed for taxing carbon emissions.
Republicans criticized the lack of White House testimony at the hearing.“It is unfortunate we don’t have any witnesses here from the Obama administration,” Vitter said. “Just weeks ago, President Obama announced a sweeping climate action plan, which will undoubtedly tighten the federal government’s grip on our economy.”
Welcome back to Kickstarter, Ouya: The little $100 gaming cube-sole that made its bones on Kickstarter last summer and sold out at launch a few weeks ago is returning to the crowdfunding platform by way of $1 million in matching funds it says it’ll offer as a cash incentive to developers who manage to raise money for Ouya-related projects via Kickstarter.
Promoting the campaign with an orange-silhouetted Ouya gamepad sporting angelic wings, Ouya’s calling the pile of cash its “Free the Games Fund.” Also a “first-of-its-kind” program, which sounds right. I don’t believe anyone else has offered matching funds to incentivize other Kickstarter projects — a significant first that’s sure to spur copycats.Ouya says it has more than 20,000 registered Ouya game developers at present, any of whom could have access to the matching funds. The catch: the games have to launch on Kickstarter between Aug. 9, 2013 and Aug. 10, 2014.
“Developers, we’ve set aside one million bucks to turn your ideas into reality,” teases Ouya on its promotional site. “It’s our way of giving back to the platform that helped us make Ouya a reality and to rewrite the ‘rules’ of how a game console is brought to market. Kickstarter was our beginning — here’s hoping it’s yours, too.”
Ouya’s being rather shrewd here (in a good way). Without content, a games console is nothing. The Wii U’s been struggling since launch to cough up games worth spending $350 (that’s for the system alone) to play. Had Nintendo launched with a new Zelda, say, and followed up with a smorgasbord of triple-A first- and third-party titles, we’d be having a very different conversation about the Wii U right now. Quality content is air, especially for a startup — without it, you suffocate.
It’s too early to say how well Ouya’s doing post-launch, incidentally. Reports had the console sold out, day one, which sounds like a good problem to have, save for the fact that Ouya goofed getting systems into the hands of all of its Kickstarter supporters first, stoking a minor PR kerfuffle that had Ouya’s CEO uttering expletives. At present, Ouya is in stock everywhere I checked, and user reviews at sites like Amazon, many of them quite detailed, are mixed-to-positive.
“There are two reasons why OUYA is on retail store shelves today: we had an innovative idea to build an affordable and open game console for the television, and we found fans who supported our idea and provided the funds to make it happen,” said Ouya CEO Julie Uhrman in a statement about the matching funds maneuver. “Since then, we’ve seen dozens of great games launch on Kickstarter, and now we are in the enviable position of being able to give back AND secure the best, exclusive games for OUYA.”
When I see a company offering incentives to drive development, I wonder whether it was planned all along or occurring because of worries that quality content isn’t moving down the pipe quickly enough. It’s hard to say, though surely the console lacks an abundance of Ouya-unique content — most of its library of 230 free-to-try games and media apps are shoe-in products available elsewhere.
In any case, if you want to drink from Ouya’s cup, in addition to launching and concluding your Kickstarter between the dates mentioned above, you’ll need to raise $50,000 minimum to be eligible, agree to make your game exclusive on Ouya for a minimum of six months and adhere to Ouya’s “light” submission guidelines. Ouya will match up to $250,000 per project, and the company’s throwing in a “Rock Star” bonus of an additional $100,000 to whosoever raises the most dough overall on Kickstarter by the program’s close.
Click on their website www.ecived.com/en/.
2013年7月16日星期二
What Happens When Everyone Makes Maps?
On a spring Sunday in a Soho penthouse, ten people have gathered for a digital mapping "Edit-A-Thon." Potted plants grow to the ceiling and soft cork carpets the floor. At a long wooden table, an energetic woman named Liz Barry is showing me how to map my neighborhood. "This is what you'll see when you look at OpenStreetMap," she says.
Though visually similar to Google's, the map on the screen gives users unfettered access to its underlying data -- anyone can edit it. Barry lives in Williamsburg, and she's added many of the neighborhood's boutiques and restaurants herself. "Sometimes when I'm tired at the end of the day and can't work anymore, I just edit OpenStreetMap," she says. "Kind of a weird habit." Barry then shows me the map's "guts." I naively assume it will be something technical and real time Location system, but it's just an editable version of the same map, with tools that let you draw roads, identify landmarks, and even label your own house.
"OpenStreetMap is referred to as a ground-up ontology," she says. What she means is that OpenStreetMap has no established data dictionary; you can draw anything on the map and name it whatever you want. "Like oh, this point? Yes, this is a restaurant of type 'Italian'; it has a name of type 'my favorite Italian restaurant'," she explains. Before I know it, I'm mapping my favorite Park Slope bagel shop -- a strangely thrilling act that unites me with the website's one million users, who (unlike me) mostly work at technology companies.
Citizen cartography is a time-honored practice; both George Washington and Abraham Lincoln were surveyors. Crowdsourcing isn't new, either; every year since 1900, aviary-obsessed individuals have collaborated with the Audubon Society for an annual Christmas Bird Count. In the spirit of these traditions, OpenStreetMap was founded in 2004 as a response to the Ordnance Survey, England's national mapping agency, whose maps were then so inaccurate that small towns and villages put up signs warning drivers not to follow its satellite navigation.
"SUVs were barreling through churchyards and going down little dirt roads through pastures," Barry says. Finally, a frustrated physics student named Steve Coast developed OpenStreetMap as a way to give cartography back to the public. Now, data is the website's "raison d'être," says Richard Weait, a Canada-based contributor. In countries like Germany, which are considered completely mapped, a common joke is that you can route yourself to the nearest penguin because zoo enthusiasts have probably mapped them. "So because you're putting it into the hands of people, they can gather what's important to them," another mapper says. "Not only can you say, 'How can I get to my nearest penguin?' but, 'How can I get to my nearest penguin in a wheelchair?'"
Because of its origin, the website is still riddled with U.K. verbiage, which can sometimes present confusion. As we work, an older man named MacKay Wolff comes across a term he hasn't heard before. "That's for walking directions," Barry says.
"Traditional cartographers today might say some form of, 'Kids these days, they don't know the rules,'" says Eric Steiner, a former president of the North American Cartographic Information Society. "I hear that sometimes at conferences. People lament that there's this huge influx of people doing cartography who aren't cartographers." By "cartographer," they mean someone who is skilled in trade techniques like projection (transforming a globe into a flat map) or who knows how to interpret line weights. Instead, new cartographers are increasingly software engineers or developers using programming languages like JavaScript and Python. Steiner, himself a graduate of Penn State's prestigious cartography program, sees the plurality of technique as beneficial. Whether a map is good or bad shouldn't be based on the narrative of the indoor positioning system making the map, he says, but rather on the map's ability to evoke, inspire and question.
It isn't that outsiders are coming in and revolutionizing mapping; rather, a new democratization in mapping has occurred. "With the tools being much cheaper and relatively easy to learn, you get people who don't have a professional interest in being a cartographer figuring out how to make maps they want to see," Steiner says. Mary Spence, president of the British Cartographic Society, admits traditional cartographers are a "dying breed," since a large part of their job is placing themselves in the users' shoes. "I'm looking at a map of Saudi Arabia in front of me," she explains over the phone. As a cartographer, Spence would ask herself, "What do they want to see on a map of Saudi Arabia? They want to see the terrain, where the hills are and the deserts. They probably want to see the big towns and the roads. They might even want to see where the oil fields are." Now, because of projects like OpenStreetMap, users in Saudi Arabia no longer need a cartographer because they are the mapmakers.
"The thing I find interesting is that a lot of the most exciting work comes from people who aren't necessarily trained as cartographers," says Bill Rankin, a Yale University professor. Though he points to the architect Buckminster Fuller, whose 1943 Dymaxion World Map changed the way we understood the geography of World War II, Rankin -- who is also a trained architect -- might as well be describing himself.
A few years ago, he was giving a talk in Phoenix about a color-coded map he made of that city's racial segregation. In the audience were several county government officials. After the talk, they told Rankin that while segregation informed their work, as government employees they couldn't publicize the information themselves. "There was no way they could, on the official county website, say that the way to understand Phoenix is as a radically segregated city," he says. As a free agent, Rankin can use maps to make arguments the creators of the data can't always make themselves.
Though visually similar to Google's, the map on the screen gives users unfettered access to its underlying data -- anyone can edit it. Barry lives in Williamsburg, and she's added many of the neighborhood's boutiques and restaurants herself. "Sometimes when I'm tired at the end of the day and can't work anymore, I just edit OpenStreetMap," she says. "Kind of a weird habit." Barry then shows me the map's "guts." I naively assume it will be something technical and real time Location system, but it's just an editable version of the same map, with tools that let you draw roads, identify landmarks, and even label your own house.
"OpenStreetMap is referred to as a ground-up ontology," she says. What she means is that OpenStreetMap has no established data dictionary; you can draw anything on the map and name it whatever you want. "Like oh, this point? Yes, this is a restaurant of type 'Italian'; it has a name of type 'my favorite Italian restaurant'," she explains. Before I know it, I'm mapping my favorite Park Slope bagel shop -- a strangely thrilling act that unites me with the website's one million users, who (unlike me) mostly work at technology companies.
Citizen cartography is a time-honored practice; both George Washington and Abraham Lincoln were surveyors. Crowdsourcing isn't new, either; every year since 1900, aviary-obsessed individuals have collaborated with the Audubon Society for an annual Christmas Bird Count. In the spirit of these traditions, OpenStreetMap was founded in 2004 as a response to the Ordnance Survey, England's national mapping agency, whose maps were then so inaccurate that small towns and villages put up signs warning drivers not to follow its satellite navigation.
"SUVs were barreling through churchyards and going down little dirt roads through pastures," Barry says. Finally, a frustrated physics student named Steve Coast developed OpenStreetMap as a way to give cartography back to the public. Now, data is the website's "raison d'être," says Richard Weait, a Canada-based contributor. In countries like Germany, which are considered completely mapped, a common joke is that you can route yourself to the nearest penguin because zoo enthusiasts have probably mapped them. "So because you're putting it into the hands of people, they can gather what's important to them," another mapper says. "Not only can you say, 'How can I get to my nearest penguin?' but, 'How can I get to my nearest penguin in a wheelchair?'"
Because of its origin, the website is still riddled with U.K. verbiage, which can sometimes present confusion. As we work, an older man named MacKay Wolff comes across a term he hasn't heard before. "That's for walking directions," Barry says.
"Traditional cartographers today might say some form of, 'Kids these days, they don't know the rules,'" says Eric Steiner, a former president of the North American Cartographic Information Society. "I hear that sometimes at conferences. People lament that there's this huge influx of people doing cartography who aren't cartographers." By "cartographer," they mean someone who is skilled in trade techniques like projection (transforming a globe into a flat map) or who knows how to interpret line weights. Instead, new cartographers are increasingly software engineers or developers using programming languages like JavaScript and Python. Steiner, himself a graduate of Penn State's prestigious cartography program, sees the plurality of technique as beneficial. Whether a map is good or bad shouldn't be based on the narrative of the indoor positioning system making the map, he says, but rather on the map's ability to evoke, inspire and question.
It isn't that outsiders are coming in and revolutionizing mapping; rather, a new democratization in mapping has occurred. "With the tools being much cheaper and relatively easy to learn, you get people who don't have a professional interest in being a cartographer figuring out how to make maps they want to see," Steiner says. Mary Spence, president of the British Cartographic Society, admits traditional cartographers are a "dying breed," since a large part of their job is placing themselves in the users' shoes. "I'm looking at a map of Saudi Arabia in front of me," she explains over the phone. As a cartographer, Spence would ask herself, "What do they want to see on a map of Saudi Arabia? They want to see the terrain, where the hills are and the deserts. They probably want to see the big towns and the roads. They might even want to see where the oil fields are." Now, because of projects like OpenStreetMap, users in Saudi Arabia no longer need a cartographer because they are the mapmakers.
"The thing I find interesting is that a lot of the most exciting work comes from people who aren't necessarily trained as cartographers," says Bill Rankin, a Yale University professor. Though he points to the architect Buckminster Fuller, whose 1943 Dymaxion World Map changed the way we understood the geography of World War II, Rankin -- who is also a trained architect -- might as well be describing himself.
A few years ago, he was giving a talk in Phoenix about a color-coded map he made of that city's racial segregation. In the audience were several county government officials. After the talk, they told Rankin that while segregation informed their work, as government employees they couldn't publicize the information themselves. "There was no way they could, on the official county website, say that the way to understand Phoenix is as a radically segregated city," he says. As a free agent, Rankin can use maps to make arguments the creators of the data can't always make themselves.
2013年7月14日星期日
There are simple ways to gain access
Australians are treated as second-class citizens when it comes to online video, but with a little trickery you can tap into a whole world of content.
Geo-blocking stops Australians enjoying great overseas online video services such as Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Instant Video and BBC iPlayer. Australian video services such as Quickflix try to fill the gap, but we still end up paying more while getting less to watch.
Consumer watchdog Choice has joined the call for US-only services such as Netflix to abandon their geo-blocking restrictions and open their doors to Australia. Thankfully, it's not hard to take matters into your own hands, but Netflix might not be the Holy Grail you're dreaming of. There's a wide range of TV shows to choose from, but it's slim pickings when it comes to movies, even old ones. To avoid disappointment, it's better to browse what's available and find something worth watching rather than to go looking for a particular movie.
If you are keen to see how the other half lives, it takes two steps to tap into US-only services such as Netflix. The first is bypassing geo-blocking restrictions to trick foreign services into thinking you're a local. The second is bypassing the need for a US credit card.
One option for bypassing geo-blocking is to mask your location using a virtual private network (VPN) or a proxy server. Running VPN software on your computer lets you make an encrypted link to the US - which also stops your ISP snooping on what you're doing online. Free VPN options include Hotspot Shield and VPNBook, while paid options include WiTopia and StrongVPN. Alternatively, you can use a proxy service such as HideMyAss, which doesn't encrypt your traffic but simply redirects it to hide your indoor positioning system.
One drawback of VPNs and proxy servers is that you're at the mercy of their internet connection - if it's slow or congested then you might struggle with smooth video streaming. An alternative is to use a free web-browser plug in such as Hola or Media Hint. These only use a proxy server briefly when requesting geo-blocked videos. Once your video starts playing, they switch back to a direct connection so your internet speed isn't hampered.
These are all useful geo-dodging options, but they generally won't help you if you're trying to watch videos on your internet-enabled television, Blu-ray or media player. This is where you might turn to a Domain Name System-based service such as Unblock-Us, UnoTelly or Tunlr. They work with any internet-enabled device that lets you change its DNS settings. Many new internet TVs and Blu-ray players offer access to the likes of Hulu and Netflix once you change the DNS settings, as does the Apple TV media player.
Slipping past geo-blocking restrictions lets you enjoy free sites such as Hulu and BBC iPlayer, but you'll need to get your hands on virtual greenbacks to pay for services such as Netflix, HuluPlus and Amazon Instant Video. Some US-only services have unofficially relaxed their restriction on foreign credit cards, so it's worth trying your Australian credit card - perhaps using your Australian street address but a US state and zip code (opt for Delaware or Oregon to avoid state-based sales tax). You might get a call from your bank, but only because you've used your credit card overseas; and it is possible a provider may cancel your account if circumventing geo-blocking is against their terms.
Alternatively, you might be able to pay your monthly subscription using PayPal, but you'll still need a valid credit card. Some video services check to see if that credit card is issued in the US, but others don't.
If you can't get around the need for a US credit card, a pre-paid international Visa card from your bank might do the trick. You could also try a pre-paid Visa Load&Go card from your local post office. With a little persistence it's not that hard to trick US-only services into thinking you're in the land of the free and the home of the brave.
For example, this month, COSI Columbus will unveil a 4,000-square-foot exhibit focusing on energy, said John Shaw, director of experience and production at the Columbus science museum. To help show kids how and why to make environmentally conscious decisions, COSI commissioned Boss to create an energy display in which children will try to fix a neighborhood blackout.
The challenge, Shaw said, will be that returning electricity to one area could knock out the power to another area, teaching the children about the distribution of electricity. The children can continue to press buttons to turn lights off and on in an effort to return all of the power.“We try to create different levels of interaction at COSI,” he said. The exhibit has children choose a character and make decisions, such as which transportation to use or which energy-using products to buy.
Another Boss Display exhibit at COSI is a water table, which squirts water out of different spots and around a spiral, creating a small current. Children can aim a tube squirting water to make items like a small windmill spin or try to grab at items that are moving around. The goal of that display is to demonstrate physics principles.
“You want to get the message across and still keep it fun,” Boss Display President Tom Durfee said. Carl Boss founded Boss Display in Columbus in 1934, and then sold the company to Ohio State University graduates Bill Tucker and Dennis Kennedy in 1978. Durfee, who had been working there since 1986, bought the company in 2002.
“I thought the company was a good fit for the creative side of me,” said Durfee, 57, who received a bachelor’s in business from East Carolina University, but also had an interest in design and construction. He came to Ohio after working for a trade-show group in Dallas.
Boss Display is one of only a handful of companies in the world that builds interactive and meticulously assembled designs, mostly for children’s museums but also for trade shows and others needing interactive displays.
Boss Display builds 50 to 75 displays a year, depending on size and complexity. Those displays, which can range in price from $10,000 to more than $50,000, can take about 10 to 12 weeks to make from design to finish. About 80 percent of the displays are made for locations in the U.S., and the rest are for locations abroad, a figure that Durfee said has increased during the past few years.
Click on their website http://www.ecived.com/en/.
Geo-blocking stops Australians enjoying great overseas online video services such as Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Instant Video and BBC iPlayer. Australian video services such as Quickflix try to fill the gap, but we still end up paying more while getting less to watch.
Consumer watchdog Choice has joined the call for US-only services such as Netflix to abandon their geo-blocking restrictions and open their doors to Australia. Thankfully, it's not hard to take matters into your own hands, but Netflix might not be the Holy Grail you're dreaming of. There's a wide range of TV shows to choose from, but it's slim pickings when it comes to movies, even old ones. To avoid disappointment, it's better to browse what's available and find something worth watching rather than to go looking for a particular movie.
If you are keen to see how the other half lives, it takes two steps to tap into US-only services such as Netflix. The first is bypassing geo-blocking restrictions to trick foreign services into thinking you're a local. The second is bypassing the need for a US credit card.
One option for bypassing geo-blocking is to mask your location using a virtual private network (VPN) or a proxy server. Running VPN software on your computer lets you make an encrypted link to the US - which also stops your ISP snooping on what you're doing online. Free VPN options include Hotspot Shield and VPNBook, while paid options include WiTopia and StrongVPN. Alternatively, you can use a proxy service such as HideMyAss, which doesn't encrypt your traffic but simply redirects it to hide your indoor positioning system.
One drawback of VPNs and proxy servers is that you're at the mercy of their internet connection - if it's slow or congested then you might struggle with smooth video streaming. An alternative is to use a free web-browser plug in such as Hola or Media Hint. These only use a proxy server briefly when requesting geo-blocked videos. Once your video starts playing, they switch back to a direct connection so your internet speed isn't hampered.
These are all useful geo-dodging options, but they generally won't help you if you're trying to watch videos on your internet-enabled television, Blu-ray or media player. This is where you might turn to a Domain Name System-based service such as Unblock-Us, UnoTelly or Tunlr. They work with any internet-enabled device that lets you change its DNS settings. Many new internet TVs and Blu-ray players offer access to the likes of Hulu and Netflix once you change the DNS settings, as does the Apple TV media player.
Slipping past geo-blocking restrictions lets you enjoy free sites such as Hulu and BBC iPlayer, but you'll need to get your hands on virtual greenbacks to pay for services such as Netflix, HuluPlus and Amazon Instant Video. Some US-only services have unofficially relaxed their restriction on foreign credit cards, so it's worth trying your Australian credit card - perhaps using your Australian street address but a US state and zip code (opt for Delaware or Oregon to avoid state-based sales tax). You might get a call from your bank, but only because you've used your credit card overseas; and it is possible a provider may cancel your account if circumventing geo-blocking is against their terms.
Alternatively, you might be able to pay your monthly subscription using PayPal, but you'll still need a valid credit card. Some video services check to see if that credit card is issued in the US, but others don't.
If you can't get around the need for a US credit card, a pre-paid international Visa card from your bank might do the trick. You could also try a pre-paid Visa Load&Go card from your local post office. With a little persistence it's not that hard to trick US-only services into thinking you're in the land of the free and the home of the brave.
For example, this month, COSI Columbus will unveil a 4,000-square-foot exhibit focusing on energy, said John Shaw, director of experience and production at the Columbus science museum. To help show kids how and why to make environmentally conscious decisions, COSI commissioned Boss to create an energy display in which children will try to fix a neighborhood blackout.
The challenge, Shaw said, will be that returning electricity to one area could knock out the power to another area, teaching the children about the distribution of electricity. The children can continue to press buttons to turn lights off and on in an effort to return all of the power.“We try to create different levels of interaction at COSI,” he said. The exhibit has children choose a character and make decisions, such as which transportation to use or which energy-using products to buy.
Another Boss Display exhibit at COSI is a water table, which squirts water out of different spots and around a spiral, creating a small current. Children can aim a tube squirting water to make items like a small windmill spin or try to grab at items that are moving around. The goal of that display is to demonstrate physics principles.
“You want to get the message across and still keep it fun,” Boss Display President Tom Durfee said. Carl Boss founded Boss Display in Columbus in 1934, and then sold the company to Ohio State University graduates Bill Tucker and Dennis Kennedy in 1978. Durfee, who had been working there since 1986, bought the company in 2002.
“I thought the company was a good fit for the creative side of me,” said Durfee, 57, who received a bachelor’s in business from East Carolina University, but also had an interest in design and construction. He came to Ohio after working for a trade-show group in Dallas.
Boss Display is one of only a handful of companies in the world that builds interactive and meticulously assembled designs, mostly for children’s museums but also for trade shows and others needing interactive displays.
Boss Display builds 50 to 75 displays a year, depending on size and complexity. Those displays, which can range in price from $10,000 to more than $50,000, can take about 10 to 12 weeks to make from design to finish. About 80 percent of the displays are made for locations in the U.S., and the rest are for locations abroad, a figure that Durfee said has increased during the past few years.
Click on their website http://www.ecived.com/en/.
2013年7月11日星期四
Buying Wedding Bliss
The first time my mother pulled out food stamps in our local supermarket, I was confused. She had just bought me a new Kate Spade bag -- a gateway purse for any girl growing up in our wealthy enclave of Long Island. Could we really not afford cheese?
I had all the trappings of a middle class teen -- Hard Tail pants that sagged ever-so-grandly in the derrière, Juicy Couture velour, and enough Abercrombie billboard apparel to wear to every gym class. While this could hardly compete with my peers who held their books in Prada backpacks and owned a Fendi bag in every breed, I was content. I never coveted what they had. I understood that excessive tokens were bestowed on these 16-year-olds on no merit of their own. Their mothers simply wanted them to be able to keep up with the over-Keratin'ed class.
We weren't quite poor, at least not in the traditional sense. My one-bedroom apartment was modest compared to my besties' estates. Instead of a housekeeper to make me grilled cheese after school, I packed a snack and nibbled in the lunchroom of my mom's hair salon. I did all of the Indoor Positioning System.
My mom raised me by herself, with some weekend help from my Bronx-bred dad who considered brands like Express high fashion. He owned a t-shirt company and couldn't understand why I'd ever want to purchase pants with someone else's name on them when I had a perfectly good arsenal of tie-dyed sweats waiting for me at his warehouse. Despite occasionally admiring quilted clutches with signature c's, I had enough confidence on my own that I didn't need a $4,000 shield against the cruel kids.
Being at peace with my outlook on pricey goods has been almost entirely negated since I started planning my wedding. I always knew I wasn't going to spend an inordinate amount on my gown (and by that I mean, I'd keep it under $3,000) but what I didn't realize is how many other props need to be purchased to accompany your "big day," or in my case, my big week.
I chose to have a tropical destination wedding for two reasons. Firstly (and most importantly) I wanted to kidnap guests for a few days to have one extended party where they would all be laughably drunk for 48 hours with no car access. Secondly, as someone who finds decision-making impossible, I didn't want to be tempted to fixate on details like linens and votive count.
My wedding is in the hands of Mayte, a bohemian Argentine who runs the remote beach restaurant we'll be wed at in the Dominican Republic. Her average response rate between emails runs about three weeks but she closes our exchanges with "un abrazo" (Spanish for "a hug") so I feel at ease. There are entire bridal forums dedicated to this woman and the neurosis she stirs in brides who nightly fret that they won't see their centerpieces until two days before their receptions. For me, this is perfect. I sent my Pinterest board off to Mayte to give her a sense of just how many twinkle lights and peonies I want and the rest is in her trusty hands. Wedding planning complete.
Or so I thought. In an unforeseeable circumstance, I have found myself unemployed in the months leading up to my wedding. A note to brides everywhere: this may seem like a fantasy. It is not. Too many hours logged on Style Me Pretty will make you feel utterly inadequate. These virtual brides-to-be transformed from my inspiration to my nemeses who did everything better.
To fill my free time, I use task lists to feel productive. Things like "find best ever monogrammed tumblers," and "research tankinis with complementary swim skirts" have become full day affairs and sources of stress. Even after ticking off jobs, I'm left wondering if I did in fact get the perfect robe for my bridesmaids. Perhaps they'd prefer boxers, or tanks or ironic headbands. How do you pick one item that expresses proper gratitude to your friends? I know! A chevron makeup case with their initials on it definitely says, "I appreciate you." There's no harm in the occasional procrastination when you're on the clock, but when finding these items is your only occupation, absolute bride-sanity ensues. I get twitchy every night around 3 a.m. to feed my recent online shopping addiction. I feel like Michael Fassbender in Shame, with my incessant, passionless purchases, just trying to get a fix with every click, hoping I'll eventually feel a sense of calm.
One of the simultaneously best and worst things to happen to news media was the creation of 24/7 coverage. I can say this with complete authority because I once met Ted Turner. This is how I feel about the bridal publishing market. It's a blessing that I can access planning sites whenever I fancy, but also a curse. I've been able to tune out most of the chaos over the course of my nearly three-year engagement. But now, with two weeks to go, I'm beginning to worry that I didn't study enough for the exam. Did I get enough facials? Should I have stopped eating salt/white bread/white chocolate/brown soda/tequila by now? Which of the 700 workouts on Pinterest will actually give me the best bridal booty in seven days? And where do I get a trousseau? Does that come with the cake?
Every time I pass a shop window, I feel a strong pull to go inside -- maybe within lies the one purchase that will give me composure before I make this huge life change. Maybe, just this once, the high-end outpost will have the answer.
Like my grade school peers in Prada, my constant pursuit of items that I hope will transform me into my best self the week I get married has made me lose sight of what really matters. While I may not be secure in my choice of flip flops, cover-ups or crystalline sash, I am confident in my choice of who I'm marrying, even if I haven't found him a proper swimsuit yet. That's on tomorrow's to-do list.
Read the full products at www.ecived.com.
I had all the trappings of a middle class teen -- Hard Tail pants that sagged ever-so-grandly in the derrière, Juicy Couture velour, and enough Abercrombie billboard apparel to wear to every gym class. While this could hardly compete with my peers who held their books in Prada backpacks and owned a Fendi bag in every breed, I was content. I never coveted what they had. I understood that excessive tokens were bestowed on these 16-year-olds on no merit of their own. Their mothers simply wanted them to be able to keep up with the over-Keratin'ed class.
We weren't quite poor, at least not in the traditional sense. My one-bedroom apartment was modest compared to my besties' estates. Instead of a housekeeper to make me grilled cheese after school, I packed a snack and nibbled in the lunchroom of my mom's hair salon. I did all of the Indoor Positioning System.
My mom raised me by herself, with some weekend help from my Bronx-bred dad who considered brands like Express high fashion. He owned a t-shirt company and couldn't understand why I'd ever want to purchase pants with someone else's name on them when I had a perfectly good arsenal of tie-dyed sweats waiting for me at his warehouse. Despite occasionally admiring quilted clutches with signature c's, I had enough confidence on my own that I didn't need a $4,000 shield against the cruel kids.
Being at peace with my outlook on pricey goods has been almost entirely negated since I started planning my wedding. I always knew I wasn't going to spend an inordinate amount on my gown (and by that I mean, I'd keep it under $3,000) but what I didn't realize is how many other props need to be purchased to accompany your "big day," or in my case, my big week.
I chose to have a tropical destination wedding for two reasons. Firstly (and most importantly) I wanted to kidnap guests for a few days to have one extended party where they would all be laughably drunk for 48 hours with no car access. Secondly, as someone who finds decision-making impossible, I didn't want to be tempted to fixate on details like linens and votive count.
My wedding is in the hands of Mayte, a bohemian Argentine who runs the remote beach restaurant we'll be wed at in the Dominican Republic. Her average response rate between emails runs about three weeks but she closes our exchanges with "un abrazo" (Spanish for "a hug") so I feel at ease. There are entire bridal forums dedicated to this woman and the neurosis she stirs in brides who nightly fret that they won't see their centerpieces until two days before their receptions. For me, this is perfect. I sent my Pinterest board off to Mayte to give her a sense of just how many twinkle lights and peonies I want and the rest is in her trusty hands. Wedding planning complete.
Or so I thought. In an unforeseeable circumstance, I have found myself unemployed in the months leading up to my wedding. A note to brides everywhere: this may seem like a fantasy. It is not. Too many hours logged on Style Me Pretty will make you feel utterly inadequate. These virtual brides-to-be transformed from my inspiration to my nemeses who did everything better.
To fill my free time, I use task lists to feel productive. Things like "find best ever monogrammed tumblers," and "research tankinis with complementary swim skirts" have become full day affairs and sources of stress. Even after ticking off jobs, I'm left wondering if I did in fact get the perfect robe for my bridesmaids. Perhaps they'd prefer boxers, or tanks or ironic headbands. How do you pick one item that expresses proper gratitude to your friends? I know! A chevron makeup case with their initials on it definitely says, "I appreciate you." There's no harm in the occasional procrastination when you're on the clock, but when finding these items is your only occupation, absolute bride-sanity ensues. I get twitchy every night around 3 a.m. to feed my recent online shopping addiction. I feel like Michael Fassbender in Shame, with my incessant, passionless purchases, just trying to get a fix with every click, hoping I'll eventually feel a sense of calm.
One of the simultaneously best and worst things to happen to news media was the creation of 24/7 coverage. I can say this with complete authority because I once met Ted Turner. This is how I feel about the bridal publishing market. It's a blessing that I can access planning sites whenever I fancy, but also a curse. I've been able to tune out most of the chaos over the course of my nearly three-year engagement. But now, with two weeks to go, I'm beginning to worry that I didn't study enough for the exam. Did I get enough facials? Should I have stopped eating salt/white bread/white chocolate/brown soda/tequila by now? Which of the 700 workouts on Pinterest will actually give me the best bridal booty in seven days? And where do I get a trousseau? Does that come with the cake?
Every time I pass a shop window, I feel a strong pull to go inside -- maybe within lies the one purchase that will give me composure before I make this huge life change. Maybe, just this once, the high-end outpost will have the answer.
Like my grade school peers in Prada, my constant pursuit of items that I hope will transform me into my best self the week I get married has made me lose sight of what really matters. While I may not be secure in my choice of flip flops, cover-ups or crystalline sash, I am confident in my choice of who I'm marrying, even if I haven't found him a proper swimsuit yet. That's on tomorrow's to-do list.
Read the full products at www.ecived.com.
2013年7月9日星期二
A Season in the Congo
Chiwetel Ejiofor has played detectives, gangsters, a drag queen and an Othello that captivated the theatre world. But when I meet him in the flesh it is Louis Lester – the jazz musician he played in the recent BBC series Dancing on the Edge – whom he most closely resembles. Character and actor share both a measured charm, and an inscrutability. Dressed in a pale grey jumper and jeans, a cap that comes off as he greets me, Ejiofor is polite, self-deprecating – and a master of the careful response.
That Othello, which he performed at the Donmar Warehouse in 2007, put Ejiofor, now 35, in the front rank of British actors. He had already impressed with a series of stage and screen roles but his Othello astonished audiences and critics alike. It won him an Olivier Award for leading actor, beating both Ian McKellen’s King Lear and Patrick Stewart’s Macbeth, and an OBE followed months later. Critics called it ‘superb’, ‘dignified’, and reminiscent of ‘a great and noble building being destroyed by a wrecker’s ball’. But the weight of the role’s significance doesn’t stop Ejiofor confessing, early in our conversation over lunch in a London hotel, that towards the end of the run he was frequently ‘having random thoughts about whether someone had managed to get tickets, or whether they’re in the house – just as I was killing Desdemona’. He laughs, an expression that engulfs his face, before teasing out a meaning to the lapses. That may be symptomatic of being in control of what you’re doing; the point when the role has become part of you.’
The next role to ‘become part of’ him is that of the doomed Congolese businessman Patrice Lumumba in A Season in the Congo, a play by Aimé Césaire at London’s Young Vic theatre. It marks his ‘nerve-racking’, much-anticipated return to theatre for the first time since Othello. The play deals with the civil war that erupted out of Congo’s first stuttering weeks of independence from Belgium in 1960. Lumumba, who had risen from eloquent beer salesman to the country’s first prime minister of the new regime, attempted to introduce socialist ideas to Congo, but his efforts ended in military conflict and his own murder. In January 1961 he was shot by his indoor positioning system, or possibly by the Belgians supporting them, and later dismembered and dissolved in acid. The CIA and the British have been rumoured to have been involved in his assassination.
In March Ejiofor – along with the play’s director, Joe Wright, and the Young Vic’s artistic director, David Lan – visited Congo for a week-long fact-finding trip and to meet members of Lumumba’s family. Ejiofor, who was born in 1977 to Nigerian parents in Forest Gate, London, has been to Africa often, and numerous times to Nigeria, but never before visited what is arguably its most troubled state. ‘The trip itself was an extraordinary time,’ he says. ‘I knew a little about Congo, and you occasionally read bits in the paper about violence happening in the Eastern Kivu region. But really when you get there, the people in the east are living in the most extraordinary conditions. The M23 [rebel] forces have now gone back into the region and every time they do that they displace thousands of people – two million in all at the moment. And the displaced people’s camps that I went to are some of the bleakest things I’ve ever witnessed.
‘I was talking to a woman at one of them,’ he continues. ‘When the rebels came, they killed three of her children and she took her remaining child and went on the run for eight months, before she found a camp where there was water and sanitation.’
He also visited Lumumba’s house, where his family still live and which has been preserved in much the same state as it was in the 1960s. ‘I was in the study where he formed his government. The only discernible difference was there was a Dell laptop on the desk.’ Lumumba’s widow was ‘really friendly and graceful’. ‘She is pleased we’re doing the play – all his family were. She hopes it will recapture some of the energy of that time.’ Both Lumumba’s sons are politicians: ‘They admire their father but question some of what he thought’.
The play, written in 1966, is a Brechtian wail of grief over the loss of the brief chance the country once possibly had, and seemingly has never had since, to place government of the country in the hands of the people rather than a corrupt oligarchy. Joe Wright tells me that Ejiofor read the entire play to him one night by Lake Kivu, one of Africa’s Great Lakes, as a storm was coming in over the water. ‘That was an experience I will never forget,’ Wright says. ‘The performance was so impassioned; the play is so impassioned. Chiwetel has a great intelligence and a beautiful soul; he was very clearly the person to play this role. He is one of the greatest actors of his generation.’
Césaire, both poet and political activist himself, saw Lumumba as a martyr to democracy, destroyed by the machinations of the West and Lumumba’s own erstwhile friend, the future dictator Mobutu. But, Ejiofor says, the people he met on his trip to Congo feel more ambivalent about their short-lived leader. ‘They consider him heroic, but they also consider him naive,’ he says. ‘What did he achieve? He got himself killed trying to be a socialist. This other guy comes along who is an individualist capitalist thinker and he rules the country for 30 years. Even though they hate what Mobutu has done to the country they have a grudging respect for this man who managed to play the game.’
But Arinze, Ejiofor says, never dropped his link with Nigeria and his relationship with the community there – his parents were part of the Igbo tribe from the south-east of the country who suffered particularly in the Biafran conflict – and returned every year to help at a grassroots level. It was on one of these philanthropic trips that a lorry ploughed into Arinze’s car and he died, aged 39. Chiwetel, then 11, was also in the car. The crash left him in a coma, he spent 10 weeks in hospital and as a result he is permanently scarred on his forehead.
Ejiofor’s keen not to exaggerate the trauma of the loss of his father – ‘I think I have a constant reflective relationship with him, but don’t we all have that to some extent with people we have lost?’ But he knows his life is marked by his father’s influence. This ranges from the love of Shakespeare he learnt from Arinze, who particularly adored the sonnets, to his current interest on work with a focus on Africa. ‘As I get closer to the age he was when he died, the relationship is becoming more acute. But I do think there’s a constant dynamic that will continue always; and be an influence on the kind of work I do.’
Later this year, in a film already made, he stars in another piece about Africa, an adaptation of Chima-manda Ngozi Adichie’s book Half of a Yellow Sun that was filmed in Nigeria and is about the Biafran war itself. ‘Chimamanda’s version of the war was so close to what my grand-father had told me about, it brought tears to my eyes,’ he says. ‘I know my father would be really interested in the kind of topics I’m working on now; this kind of politics and the conversations around it. Perhaps proud.’
Arinze’s death meant Obiajulu had to bring up her children largely on her own. Working all hours at the pharma-ceutical business she and her husband had set up, she scraped together the money to send her children to private school. Ejiofor joined his brother at Dulwich College in south London. The school has an excellent drama department and there he caught the acting bug playing parts such as Angelo in Measure for Measure. ‘I loved reading when I was young,’ he recalls. ‘I was just completely taken by stories. And I remember taking that into English literature at school and taking that into Shakespeare and finding that opened up a whole world of self-expression to me that I didn’t have access to previously.’
Read the full story at http://www.ecived.com/en/!
That Othello, which he performed at the Donmar Warehouse in 2007, put Ejiofor, now 35, in the front rank of British actors. He had already impressed with a series of stage and screen roles but his Othello astonished audiences and critics alike. It won him an Olivier Award for leading actor, beating both Ian McKellen’s King Lear and Patrick Stewart’s Macbeth, and an OBE followed months later. Critics called it ‘superb’, ‘dignified’, and reminiscent of ‘a great and noble building being destroyed by a wrecker’s ball’. But the weight of the role’s significance doesn’t stop Ejiofor confessing, early in our conversation over lunch in a London hotel, that towards the end of the run he was frequently ‘having random thoughts about whether someone had managed to get tickets, or whether they’re in the house – just as I was killing Desdemona’. He laughs, an expression that engulfs his face, before teasing out a meaning to the lapses. That may be symptomatic of being in control of what you’re doing; the point when the role has become part of you.’
The next role to ‘become part of’ him is that of the doomed Congolese businessman Patrice Lumumba in A Season in the Congo, a play by Aimé Césaire at London’s Young Vic theatre. It marks his ‘nerve-racking’, much-anticipated return to theatre for the first time since Othello. The play deals with the civil war that erupted out of Congo’s first stuttering weeks of independence from Belgium in 1960. Lumumba, who had risen from eloquent beer salesman to the country’s first prime minister of the new regime, attempted to introduce socialist ideas to Congo, but his efforts ended in military conflict and his own murder. In January 1961 he was shot by his indoor positioning system, or possibly by the Belgians supporting them, and later dismembered and dissolved in acid. The CIA and the British have been rumoured to have been involved in his assassination.
In March Ejiofor – along with the play’s director, Joe Wright, and the Young Vic’s artistic director, David Lan – visited Congo for a week-long fact-finding trip and to meet members of Lumumba’s family. Ejiofor, who was born in 1977 to Nigerian parents in Forest Gate, London, has been to Africa often, and numerous times to Nigeria, but never before visited what is arguably its most troubled state. ‘The trip itself was an extraordinary time,’ he says. ‘I knew a little about Congo, and you occasionally read bits in the paper about violence happening in the Eastern Kivu region. But really when you get there, the people in the east are living in the most extraordinary conditions. The M23 [rebel] forces have now gone back into the region and every time they do that they displace thousands of people – two million in all at the moment. And the displaced people’s camps that I went to are some of the bleakest things I’ve ever witnessed.
‘I was talking to a woman at one of them,’ he continues. ‘When the rebels came, they killed three of her children and she took her remaining child and went on the run for eight months, before she found a camp where there was water and sanitation.’
He also visited Lumumba’s house, where his family still live and which has been preserved in much the same state as it was in the 1960s. ‘I was in the study where he formed his government. The only discernible difference was there was a Dell laptop on the desk.’ Lumumba’s widow was ‘really friendly and graceful’. ‘She is pleased we’re doing the play – all his family were. She hopes it will recapture some of the energy of that time.’ Both Lumumba’s sons are politicians: ‘They admire their father but question some of what he thought’.
The play, written in 1966, is a Brechtian wail of grief over the loss of the brief chance the country once possibly had, and seemingly has never had since, to place government of the country in the hands of the people rather than a corrupt oligarchy. Joe Wright tells me that Ejiofor read the entire play to him one night by Lake Kivu, one of Africa’s Great Lakes, as a storm was coming in over the water. ‘That was an experience I will never forget,’ Wright says. ‘The performance was so impassioned; the play is so impassioned. Chiwetel has a great intelligence and a beautiful soul; he was very clearly the person to play this role. He is one of the greatest actors of his generation.’
Césaire, both poet and political activist himself, saw Lumumba as a martyr to democracy, destroyed by the machinations of the West and Lumumba’s own erstwhile friend, the future dictator Mobutu. But, Ejiofor says, the people he met on his trip to Congo feel more ambivalent about their short-lived leader. ‘They consider him heroic, but they also consider him naive,’ he says. ‘What did he achieve? He got himself killed trying to be a socialist. This other guy comes along who is an individualist capitalist thinker and he rules the country for 30 years. Even though they hate what Mobutu has done to the country they have a grudging respect for this man who managed to play the game.’
But Arinze, Ejiofor says, never dropped his link with Nigeria and his relationship with the community there – his parents were part of the Igbo tribe from the south-east of the country who suffered particularly in the Biafran conflict – and returned every year to help at a grassroots level. It was on one of these philanthropic trips that a lorry ploughed into Arinze’s car and he died, aged 39. Chiwetel, then 11, was also in the car. The crash left him in a coma, he spent 10 weeks in hospital and as a result he is permanently scarred on his forehead.
Ejiofor’s keen not to exaggerate the trauma of the loss of his father – ‘I think I have a constant reflective relationship with him, but don’t we all have that to some extent with people we have lost?’ But he knows his life is marked by his father’s influence. This ranges from the love of Shakespeare he learnt from Arinze, who particularly adored the sonnets, to his current interest on work with a focus on Africa. ‘As I get closer to the age he was when he died, the relationship is becoming more acute. But I do think there’s a constant dynamic that will continue always; and be an influence on the kind of work I do.’
Later this year, in a film already made, he stars in another piece about Africa, an adaptation of Chima-manda Ngozi Adichie’s book Half of a Yellow Sun that was filmed in Nigeria and is about the Biafran war itself. ‘Chimamanda’s version of the war was so close to what my grand-father had told me about, it brought tears to my eyes,’ he says. ‘I know my father would be really interested in the kind of topics I’m working on now; this kind of politics and the conversations around it. Perhaps proud.’
Arinze’s death meant Obiajulu had to bring up her children largely on her own. Working all hours at the pharma-ceutical business she and her husband had set up, she scraped together the money to send her children to private school. Ejiofor joined his brother at Dulwich College in south London. The school has an excellent drama department and there he caught the acting bug playing parts such as Angelo in Measure for Measure. ‘I loved reading when I was young,’ he recalls. ‘I was just completely taken by stories. And I remember taking that into English literature at school and taking that into Shakespeare and finding that opened up a whole world of self-expression to me that I didn’t have access to previously.’
Read the full story at http://www.ecived.com/en/!
2013年7月7日星期日
No redemption as Thompson stops Price in five
It had been a wild heavyweight brawl, with Thompson tasting canvas himself in round two, before a series of powerful head shots had Price against the ropes and ultimately battered into submission. Both men looked like 'going' at numerous points in the contest, swaying like tall trees in a hurricane, as they shipped each other's heavy punches. Make no mistake, this time there was no lucky punch and no obvious excuses. If the first encounter - a second round TKO defeat in February - ended in disappointment for Team Price, then you can file this one under full-blown catastrophe. Although he wasn't flattened, the manner of defeat for Price was a hundred times worse than the last time.
With bitter rival Tyson Fury seemingly having overtaken Price in the queue for major honours, Price fans came out in droves to see whether their hero could get back on track towards an assault on the world scene. Fury of course had spent much of the week winding up Price's mentor Lennox Lewis, who had positioned himself at ringside approximately six feet from the Price corner. As somebody questioned Lewis's vantage point he could be seen to say "I'm staying right here". Nobody questioned him a second time.
Both men looked in terrific physical condition as they were introduced to the crowd – Thompson at 18st 7lb slightly lighter than the first encounter, and Price 3lb heavier than fight one at 17st 12lb. Price seemed incredibly nervous during the walk-ins and indoor positioning system. Whereas Thompson was the opposite. As Price walked out to James Brown's 'The Payback', The Tiger and all of his team took the opportunity to dance and high-five each other throughout, Thompson completely unfazed by the assignment ahead of him. This was all after what just about qualified as 'pre-fight entertainment' - a couple of midgets carrying flags and a fella committing homicide by saxophone - a truly awful rendition of 'Born In The USA'. If the music was designed to transport the listener to another place, then it certainly succeeded. Unfortunately, that place was pushing a trolley around Kwik Save on a Tuesday morning.
Back to the fight, and perhaps Price's nerves were responsible for a very cautious opening round. Thompson immediately began landing the southpaw jab, as Price pawed with his left for openings. Right hands were few and far between, and when Price did graze Thompson's chin, Tony just smiled and got on with the job in hand. In round two, although Price tried to establish his own jab, one or two landing solidly, he soon found himself backed up and under pressure, and looked all at sea. As Thompson closed the distance and moved inside, he just let his hands go. Price was content to clinch, but Thompson inflicted cumulative damage clubbing the side of his opponent's head with his free hands.
Tony wasn't waiting on the outside either - his fast jab making Price think about every attack. The crowd ignited as Thompson hit the deck from a push, but were soon cheering legitimately as Price threw a looping right to the top of the head as Thompson came in. Tony collapsed to the floor above the press row at ringside and it appeared touch and go whether he was going to beat the count. He did beat it, at nine, and ref Marcus McDonnell allowed him to continue. Price didn't go for the kill, remaining cautious as Thompson's legs appeared solid beneath him.
Round three saw some terrific action. A left hook inside had Price hanging on and appearing in some distress. He responded, slamming in a right hand of his own, sending Thompson back against the ropes and complaining of a punch behind the head. Thompson used every ounce of his experience to lean back against the ropes and out of danger from Price's follow up. Whenever Thompson attacked, Price seemed content to allow the American as much time and space as he needed to load up with hard bursts from angles. By round four, Price appeared frozen, almost statuesque with gloves protecting his chin but still plenty of target area for Thompson to place shots unchallenged.
Price looked thoroughly lost when Thompson got close, unable to get any punching leverage, Thompson dominated the close action, moving and hitting the static Scouser at will. The ending had a sense of inevitability. Thompson was by now more confident that when he attacked, and Price wasn't responding. As two solid right hands put Price in deep trouble, Thompson moved in, missing with little. Tony fired in accurate, powerful punches, Price's head now rolling around under the force. But rather than hold on, take a knee, or punch back, David allowed Thompson free rein. Price caught at least a dozen consecutive blows to the head but might have caught a break when ref McDonnell generously adjudged the ropes to be holding him up and issued a standing eight count. But upon looking into Price's eyes, he wisely called an end to the fight, Price completely done under Thompson's sustained assault.
As for what next, that is the million dollar question. Being so easy to hit in this fight, Price has serious defensive issues to address as a matter of urgency. But his lack of stamina was also disturbing - rather like Wladimir Klitschko's performance against Lamon Brewster back in 2004. He was breathing hard as early as the second round. He allowed Thompson unlimited access, and wasn't sure how to respond. The next career move will require much thought and strategising. Full credit once more to Tony Thompson, who showed class in victory and demonstrated that, despite his advancing years, he is a serious test for any heavyweight contenders out there.
Nineteen hearses departed from the medical examiner's office in Phoenix, rolled past a collection of firefighters outside the Arizona state Capitol and will pass through the community of Yarnell where the 19 died.
Firefighters, police officers and everyday people held hands over their hearts or saluted as the motorcycle-led escort slowly drove by and a quartet of bag pipers played a mournful song to a marching cadence. The firefighters' names were posted on a side window of each hearse.
The procession included several firefighting vehicles, including a truck that bore the name of the elite crew to which the 19 firefighters who died on June 30 belonged.Lon Reiman of Scottsdale carried two small American flags as he waited for the procession to begin. Reiman said he has several relatives who are firefighters and thought of them once he heard the news of the deaths.
Click on their website http://www.ecived.com/en/.
With bitter rival Tyson Fury seemingly having overtaken Price in the queue for major honours, Price fans came out in droves to see whether their hero could get back on track towards an assault on the world scene. Fury of course had spent much of the week winding up Price's mentor Lennox Lewis, who had positioned himself at ringside approximately six feet from the Price corner. As somebody questioned Lewis's vantage point he could be seen to say "I'm staying right here". Nobody questioned him a second time.
Both men looked in terrific physical condition as they were introduced to the crowd – Thompson at 18st 7lb slightly lighter than the first encounter, and Price 3lb heavier than fight one at 17st 12lb. Price seemed incredibly nervous during the walk-ins and indoor positioning system. Whereas Thompson was the opposite. As Price walked out to James Brown's 'The Payback', The Tiger and all of his team took the opportunity to dance and high-five each other throughout, Thompson completely unfazed by the assignment ahead of him. This was all after what just about qualified as 'pre-fight entertainment' - a couple of midgets carrying flags and a fella committing homicide by saxophone - a truly awful rendition of 'Born In The USA'. If the music was designed to transport the listener to another place, then it certainly succeeded. Unfortunately, that place was pushing a trolley around Kwik Save on a Tuesday morning.
Back to the fight, and perhaps Price's nerves were responsible for a very cautious opening round. Thompson immediately began landing the southpaw jab, as Price pawed with his left for openings. Right hands were few and far between, and when Price did graze Thompson's chin, Tony just smiled and got on with the job in hand. In round two, although Price tried to establish his own jab, one or two landing solidly, he soon found himself backed up and under pressure, and looked all at sea. As Thompson closed the distance and moved inside, he just let his hands go. Price was content to clinch, but Thompson inflicted cumulative damage clubbing the side of his opponent's head with his free hands.
Tony wasn't waiting on the outside either - his fast jab making Price think about every attack. The crowd ignited as Thompson hit the deck from a push, but were soon cheering legitimately as Price threw a looping right to the top of the head as Thompson came in. Tony collapsed to the floor above the press row at ringside and it appeared touch and go whether he was going to beat the count. He did beat it, at nine, and ref Marcus McDonnell allowed him to continue. Price didn't go for the kill, remaining cautious as Thompson's legs appeared solid beneath him.
Round three saw some terrific action. A left hook inside had Price hanging on and appearing in some distress. He responded, slamming in a right hand of his own, sending Thompson back against the ropes and complaining of a punch behind the head. Thompson used every ounce of his experience to lean back against the ropes and out of danger from Price's follow up. Whenever Thompson attacked, Price seemed content to allow the American as much time and space as he needed to load up with hard bursts from angles. By round four, Price appeared frozen, almost statuesque with gloves protecting his chin but still plenty of target area for Thompson to place shots unchallenged.
Price looked thoroughly lost when Thompson got close, unable to get any punching leverage, Thompson dominated the close action, moving and hitting the static Scouser at will. The ending had a sense of inevitability. Thompson was by now more confident that when he attacked, and Price wasn't responding. As two solid right hands put Price in deep trouble, Thompson moved in, missing with little. Tony fired in accurate, powerful punches, Price's head now rolling around under the force. But rather than hold on, take a knee, or punch back, David allowed Thompson free rein. Price caught at least a dozen consecutive blows to the head but might have caught a break when ref McDonnell generously adjudged the ropes to be holding him up and issued a standing eight count. But upon looking into Price's eyes, he wisely called an end to the fight, Price completely done under Thompson's sustained assault.
As for what next, that is the million dollar question. Being so easy to hit in this fight, Price has serious defensive issues to address as a matter of urgency. But his lack of stamina was also disturbing - rather like Wladimir Klitschko's performance against Lamon Brewster back in 2004. He was breathing hard as early as the second round. He allowed Thompson unlimited access, and wasn't sure how to respond. The next career move will require much thought and strategising. Full credit once more to Tony Thompson, who showed class in victory and demonstrated that, despite his advancing years, he is a serious test for any heavyweight contenders out there.
Nineteen hearses departed from the medical examiner's office in Phoenix, rolled past a collection of firefighters outside the Arizona state Capitol and will pass through the community of Yarnell where the 19 died.
Firefighters, police officers and everyday people held hands over their hearts or saluted as the motorcycle-led escort slowly drove by and a quartet of bag pipers played a mournful song to a marching cadence. The firefighters' names were posted on a side window of each hearse.
The procession included several firefighting vehicles, including a truck that bore the name of the elite crew to which the 19 firefighters who died on June 30 belonged.Lon Reiman of Scottsdale carried two small American flags as he waited for the procession to begin. Reiman said he has several relatives who are firefighters and thought of them once he heard the news of the deaths.
Click on their website http://www.ecived.com/en/.
2013年7月2日星期二
Peek into the inboxes of the rich
I don't like to boast, but yesterday I received emails from Lena Dunham and Kirsten Dunst. Lena was letting me know that she'd decided against buying the $24,000 Swedish sofa. And Kirsten was cc'ing me on some financial admin to do with selling her car to her friend Jessica.
In truth, I wasn't the intended recipient, nor was I the only person to receive these emails. Girls creator Dunham and Hollywood actress Dunst are two of 10 public figures who have agreed to throw open their Gmail accounts for a new project. The writer and film-maker Miranda July asked stars of film, fashion, science and sport to comb their sent folders and forward her 20 emails they have written to other people. She in turn is now forwarding those private emails on to the public – in the name of art. Who needs Prism?
"There will be nothing in the gallery itself," says July, who lives in Los Angeles. "I don't even have to go to Stockholm." Every Monday for 20 weeks until November, subscribers will receive a round-robin package of 10 emails from the group on a specific theme. The first, sent out yesterday, was An Email About Money, hence the insights into Dunham's furniture-buying habits and the fate of Dunst's old car. Future themes include An Email to Your Mom, An Email About Something You Want, An Email that Gives Advice and An Angry Email. All of the emails were written before the project started, to give the most authentic picture of the senders.
"I'm always trying to get my friends to forward me emails they've sent to other people – to their mom, their boyfriend, their agent – the more mundane the better," explains July. "How they comport themselves in email is so intimate, almost obscene – a glimpse of them from their own point of view."
July was originally going to ask her closest friends to contribute. "But then I thought that wouldn't be interesting to anyone except me," she says. "I realised that people needed to feel like they were friends with the emailers too. It seemed like a good use of indoor Tracking."
Along with Dunham, every girl's fantasy best friend, who says that the project is "one of the coolest things I've ever been involved with", July asked fashion designers Kate and Laura Mulleavy of Rodarte, the basketball player Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Sheila Heti, writer of How Should a Person Be? to contribute. The Israeli writer Etgar Keret, photographer Catherine Opie, Lee Smolin, a theoretical physicist, and artist Danh Vo make up the group.
It is a deliberately mixed bag. "I needed someone who would deliver, and knew that Lena Dunham would be totally uninhibited," says July. "Then I chose Kirsten Dunst as an actress whose power comes from you not really knowing who she is." Fellow writer Heti is a friend, who in turn suggested her neighbour Smolin – "I needed someone who wasn't an artist. Someone whose head works differently..." Abdul-Jabbar, the highest scorer in NBA history, came on board when July found, to her surprise, that he had written a blog praising her as "the voice of a generation". "I know no one in sport. But I knew he was a fan of mine." Did anyone say no? "No one."
July is best known for her films Me and You and Everyone We Know and The Future but has form with collaborative art. In 1996 she created Joanie4Jackie, "an all-girl video chain letter" to share short films made by women. Then, in 2002, she founded the online project Learning to Love You More, for which she and artist Harrell Fletcher set regular assignments for artists – Repair something; Climb to the top of a tree and take a picture of the view; Document your bald spot, etc. It ran for seven years, 8,000 people took part and the work is now in the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art's collection.
For July, who has her hands full with a new novel and a new baby, email proved a convenient medium for her latest artwork. Having found her correspondents, she compiled a list of subjects and simply waited for her inbox to ping. The replies ranged from the mundane to the outrageous, the administrative to the intimate. "I felt different kinds of discomfort reading them. I'd feel evil, then moved. When I first read Catherine Opie's, I was just screaming at my desk. They were unbelievable," says July. "And I was kind of surprised with Lena Dunham by how many are to her boyfriend. I assume Jack [Antonoff] knows she's doing this. And that he's cool with it."
Future mail-outs will include Dunham dispensing righteous relationship advice to a friend, Heti pondering whether to buy a new dress, the Rodarte sisters drawing up a detailed list of props for a shoot and Opie giving her niece or nephew some tough love about his/her high-school grades.
The thrill for subscribers is the chance to spy on the real lives of brilliant people. "But is it real, or is it a total illusion?" asks July. The project also raises questions about the method of communication which rules modern life and the 21st-century tendency to overshare online. Does our email style reflect our personality? Does using all caps on screen equal a VERY SHOUTY person in the flesh? Or are these emails a construct, a self- portrait in tersely tapped-out words, chosen to create an impression? Why is Dunham choosing to share that she has decided against buying a $24,000 bespoke Swedish sofa? Does it show us that (a) She has good taste (b) She is successful (c) She hasn't let her newfound wealth go to her head, or (d) All of the above? Do we glean anything more from a sweet snapshot of Dunst's feet and those of her mother in matching ballet shoes, than an illusion of intimacy with a superstar?
"It's very odd to see the way they construct themselves," says July. "It was quite sweet, really. More human and less crass than I expected. I worried that they would expose themselves too much, but in fact, everyone knows how to protect themselves. I became interested in the artful ways people came up with of protecting their privacy."
The first batch arrives in the wake of revelations about America's controversial surveillance programme, Prism. The timing is coincidental, says July, but the idea grew out of growing discomfort about the Byzantine privacy settings of social-networking sites. "Privacy, the art of it, is evolving," says July. "Does privacy even exist right now?" Not when it comes to We Think Alone, for which the original correspondence is reprinted in full, with only the email addresses and occasionally addressees redacted. "It has been quite a legal headache, to be honest," admits July.
Read the full story at www.ecived.com/en/!
In truth, I wasn't the intended recipient, nor was I the only person to receive these emails. Girls creator Dunham and Hollywood actress Dunst are two of 10 public figures who have agreed to throw open their Gmail accounts for a new project. The writer and film-maker Miranda July asked stars of film, fashion, science and sport to comb their sent folders and forward her 20 emails they have written to other people. She in turn is now forwarding those private emails on to the public – in the name of art. Who needs Prism?
"There will be nothing in the gallery itself," says July, who lives in Los Angeles. "I don't even have to go to Stockholm." Every Monday for 20 weeks until November, subscribers will receive a round-robin package of 10 emails from the group on a specific theme. The first, sent out yesterday, was An Email About Money, hence the insights into Dunham's furniture-buying habits and the fate of Dunst's old car. Future themes include An Email to Your Mom, An Email About Something You Want, An Email that Gives Advice and An Angry Email. All of the emails were written before the project started, to give the most authentic picture of the senders.
"I'm always trying to get my friends to forward me emails they've sent to other people – to their mom, their boyfriend, their agent – the more mundane the better," explains July. "How they comport themselves in email is so intimate, almost obscene – a glimpse of them from their own point of view."
July was originally going to ask her closest friends to contribute. "But then I thought that wouldn't be interesting to anyone except me," she says. "I realised that people needed to feel like they were friends with the emailers too. It seemed like a good use of indoor Tracking."
Along with Dunham, every girl's fantasy best friend, who says that the project is "one of the coolest things I've ever been involved with", July asked fashion designers Kate and Laura Mulleavy of Rodarte, the basketball player Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Sheila Heti, writer of How Should a Person Be? to contribute. The Israeli writer Etgar Keret, photographer Catherine Opie, Lee Smolin, a theoretical physicist, and artist Danh Vo make up the group.
It is a deliberately mixed bag. "I needed someone who would deliver, and knew that Lena Dunham would be totally uninhibited," says July. "Then I chose Kirsten Dunst as an actress whose power comes from you not really knowing who she is." Fellow writer Heti is a friend, who in turn suggested her neighbour Smolin – "I needed someone who wasn't an artist. Someone whose head works differently..." Abdul-Jabbar, the highest scorer in NBA history, came on board when July found, to her surprise, that he had written a blog praising her as "the voice of a generation". "I know no one in sport. But I knew he was a fan of mine." Did anyone say no? "No one."
July is best known for her films Me and You and Everyone We Know and The Future but has form with collaborative art. In 1996 she created Joanie4Jackie, "an all-girl video chain letter" to share short films made by women. Then, in 2002, she founded the online project Learning to Love You More, for which she and artist Harrell Fletcher set regular assignments for artists – Repair something; Climb to the top of a tree and take a picture of the view; Document your bald spot, etc. It ran for seven years, 8,000 people took part and the work is now in the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art's collection.
For July, who has her hands full with a new novel and a new baby, email proved a convenient medium for her latest artwork. Having found her correspondents, she compiled a list of subjects and simply waited for her inbox to ping. The replies ranged from the mundane to the outrageous, the administrative to the intimate. "I felt different kinds of discomfort reading them. I'd feel evil, then moved. When I first read Catherine Opie's, I was just screaming at my desk. They were unbelievable," says July. "And I was kind of surprised with Lena Dunham by how many are to her boyfriend. I assume Jack [Antonoff] knows she's doing this. And that he's cool with it."
Future mail-outs will include Dunham dispensing righteous relationship advice to a friend, Heti pondering whether to buy a new dress, the Rodarte sisters drawing up a detailed list of props for a shoot and Opie giving her niece or nephew some tough love about his/her high-school grades.
The thrill for subscribers is the chance to spy on the real lives of brilliant people. "But is it real, or is it a total illusion?" asks July. The project also raises questions about the method of communication which rules modern life and the 21st-century tendency to overshare online. Does our email style reflect our personality? Does using all caps on screen equal a VERY SHOUTY person in the flesh? Or are these emails a construct, a self- portrait in tersely tapped-out words, chosen to create an impression? Why is Dunham choosing to share that she has decided against buying a $24,000 bespoke Swedish sofa? Does it show us that (a) She has good taste (b) She is successful (c) She hasn't let her newfound wealth go to her head, or (d) All of the above? Do we glean anything more from a sweet snapshot of Dunst's feet and those of her mother in matching ballet shoes, than an illusion of intimacy with a superstar?
"It's very odd to see the way they construct themselves," says July. "It was quite sweet, really. More human and less crass than I expected. I worried that they would expose themselves too much, but in fact, everyone knows how to protect themselves. I became interested in the artful ways people came up with of protecting their privacy."
The first batch arrives in the wake of revelations about America's controversial surveillance programme, Prism. The timing is coincidental, says July, but the idea grew out of growing discomfort about the Byzantine privacy settings of social-networking sites. "Privacy, the art of it, is evolving," says July. "Does privacy even exist right now?" Not when it comes to We Think Alone, for which the original correspondence is reprinted in full, with only the email addresses and occasionally addressees redacted. "It has been quite a legal headache, to be honest," admits July.
Read the full story at www.ecived.com/en/!
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