Firefox OS has been on the horizon for a while now, and Mobile World Congress in Barcelona saw the first device partnerships announced for the fledgling mobile operating system. Though not showing any hardware in Barcelona, a press release was issued detailing Sony's plans to release a Firefox OS powered smartphone in 2014 in partnership with Telefonica.
What we have here isn't quite a Sony Firefox phone, not by any stretch of the imagination. But, what it is, is a working experimental build of Firefox OS for the Xperia E. In line with their plans to develop devices carrying the software, Sony hopes that interested developers and early adopters will take a look and garner valuable feedback.
The key thing to remember is that Sony has released this as an experimental developer ROM. It isn't meant to be a daily driver, although from the promo video we see here it looks reasonably functional, with even the camera app working properly.
We know some of you kids like playing around with new stuff -- our own editor-in-chief Phil Nickinson played with an early, early build of Firefox OS -- so if you happen to have access to an Xperia E and try this out, be sure to share your experiences with us.
LOS ANGELES (AP) ? Bobby Brown has been sentenced to 55 days in a Los Angeles jail and four years of probation for a drunken driving case.
City attorney's spokesman Frank Mateljan (mah-tell-JIN') says Brown was sentenced Tuesday after pleading no contest to charges he was under the influence and driving on a suspended license when he was arrested in October.
Brown was on probation for another DUI case at the time.
The 44-year-old "New Edition" singer was ordered to report to jail March 20. He also was placed on four years of informal probation and will be required to complete an 18-month alcohol treatment program.
Brown's attorney Tiffany Feder had no immediate comment on the sentence.
The sentence was first reported by celebrity website TMZ.
ASUS (2357) on Monday announced its next-generation PadFone during a press event at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. The PadFone Infinity, which is a smartphone that can dock into a tablet, is equipped with a 5-inch 1080p display, a 1.7GHz quad-core Snapdragon 600 processor and a 13-megapixel rear camera. The device also includes 2GB of RAM, NFC, LTE, up to 64GB of internal storage, a 2,400 mAh battery and Android 4.2.
[More from BGR: Samsung is just trolling us now, and it?s not alone]
The Pad portion of the phone, which ASUS calls the Infinity Station, features a 10.1-inch full HD 1,920 x 1,200-pixel display and is capable of increasing the smartphone?s battery life to 40 hours or fully recharging the docked PadFone up to three times.
[More from BGR: Another major security flaw discovered on iPhone [video]]
The PadFone Infinity will be offered in the U.K. for ?799 for the phone and an additional ?199 for the tablet dock. Like earlier models, the PadFone will not be available in the United States.
ASUS? press release follows below.
ASUS Announces PadFone? Infinity LTE smartphone with 5-inch Full HD display combines with a 10.1-inch tablet dock for seamless mobile flexibility
Mobile World Congress, Barcelona, Spain (25th February, 2013) ? ASUS today announced PadFone? Infinity, a powerful LTE smartphone with a sleek metallic design and a 5-inch Full HD display that becomes a 10.1-inch tablet when docked to its companion PadFone? Infinity Station. PadFone? Infinity features Android 4.2 and groundbreaking mobile performance, thanks to its next-generation Qualcomm? Snapdragon? 600 quad-core processor and up to 19 hours* of 3G talk time.
?PadFone? Infinity is the latest evolution of our PadFone? line,? said Jonney Shih, ASUS Chairman. ?It combines incredible design with an uncompromised user experience derived from our Design Thinking philosophy.?
Premium design with premium performance
With a slender unibody design crafted from aerospace-grade aluminum, ASUS PadFone? Infinity is both beautiful and durable. The 5-inch screen features a 1920 x 1080 Full HD resolution with an extraordinary 441 pixels-per-inch for text so crisp it looks like a printed page and wonderfully detailed high-resolution images. 64GB of storage complements the class-leading Qualcomm? Snapdragon? 600 1.7GHz quad-core processor for a smooth and responsive premium Android experience, while 100Mbit/s LTE and 42Mbit/s DC-HSPA+ ensure super-fast web browsing and downloads.
ASUS PadFone? Infinity features a high-performance 13-megapixel camera with an f/2.0 5-element lens that captures incredibly detailed images with no shutter lag. A dedicated image signal-processor enhances low-light image quality and enables PadFone? Infinity to capture up to 100 sequential photos at 8 frames-per-second, while simultaneously recording 1080p Full HD video. PadFone? Infinity can also output 1080p Full HD video via its micro-USB-compatible MyDP interface.
Share apps and mobile data instantly
The unique two-in-one nature of ASUS PadFone? removes the tedious need to synchronize data between smartphone and tablet. Data and settings on PadFone? Infinity are available instantly on PadFone? Infinity Station upon docking, and running apps are smoothly reformatted to fit the larger display. Mobile data bills are also reduced, since a single data plan can be shared between both devices.
PadFone? Infinity comes with new and exclusive ASUS apps, including SuperNote 3.1 for note taking, Story for creating stunning photo albums and ASUS Echo for voice control of PadFone? Infinity. PadFone? Infinity has up to 19 hours of 3G talk time*, which increases to up to 40 hours when docked into PadFone? Infinity Station. PadFone? Infinity Station also has sufficient battery capacity to fully recharge the docked PadFone? Infinity up to three times. ###
*Specifications may vary without prior notice. Options, pricing, performance and availability dependent upon region. For more details about the products mentioned in this press release, please visit http://press.asus.com .
Availability & Pricing ? UK
The combined price of the ASUS PadFone? Infinity and Infinity Station will be around SRP ?799 (inc VAT). Exact price and availability will be announced closer to UK launch date.
Adam Ognall, CEO New Israel Fund -
Thursday 21st 2013f February 2013
Adam Ognall, CEO of the New Israel Fund, looks at the problem of racism in Israeli football and the work of anti-racism bodies in the country in trying to deal with it
Israeli football hit the headlines due to a group of Beitar Jerusalem fans' reaction to the signing of two Muslim players. Fans unfurled a banner "Beitar pure forever," and sang anti-Muslim chants. I was in Israel that week and watched some Beitar fans booing their own team at the next away game. The Beitar offices were also torched.
Of course the strong and positive response to these events has not received the same attention. This is the real story. Israel has taken great strides to stamp out racism around football. Something that other European footballing nations could take heed from.
The Israeli FA disciplinary committee closed Beitar's east stand for five games and fined the club 10,000. The club banned 50 known troublemakers.
This did not immediately stop the trouble and when one player, Kadiev, made his debut some fans booed. This was drowned out by the applause of a far larger group.
The actions of this hardcore caused a national wave of revulsion. President Peres denounced the fans, Knesset Speaker Rubi Rivlin (Beitar fan) asked how Israelis would feel if a German or English club refused to have Jewish players, and former Prime Minister Ehud Olmert (Beitar fan) threatened to no longer attend matches.
Kadiev's debut came when Beitar played Bnei Sakhnin, the Arab-owned team. A rally held outside the ground by Kick Racism out of Israeli Football (KRO Israel) heard from Beitar legend Itzik Zohar. He said: "What has been happening here disgusts me. Football is for everyone and we cannot allow a small minority of racist fans to run the club."
KRO Israel celebrates its 10th anniversary this year. It was founded by the New Israel Fund. Its backbone is its Volunteers Forum who monitor matches and produce a weekly racism index of club's fans' behaviour. Over the years we have seen a marked reduction in racist incidents, with Beitar being by far the club with the greatest problems. KRO Israel now works closely with its FA and many clubs and it is a model that the English FA and UEFA both support and take lessons from.
gchrista89 asked: I think anon misread you. That being said, do you take photographs of your autopsies? I am asking because it was a 110% no-no at my medical school, for understandable reasons. Disrespecting your "first patient" in any way is grounds for expulsion at my college of medicine (not that taking photos is disrespectful so much as unnecessary for us.)
NO NO NO NO NO NO NEIN NIMMER NIEMALS. I don?t take photos because it is extremely disrespectful and I don?t have permission to use them, even if I wanted to use them as teaching tools.?
Parents talking about their own drug use to children could be detrimentalPublic release date: 22-Feb-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: John Paul Gutierrez jpgutierrez@icahdq.org International Communication Association
Children respond better to antidrug messages when parents don't disclose past drug use
Washington, DC (February 19, 2013) Parents know that one day they will have to talk to their children about drug use. The hardest part is to decide whether or not talking about ones own drug use will be useful in communicating an antidrug message. Recent research, published in the journal Human Communication Research, found that children whose parents did not disclose drug use, but delivered a strong antidrug message, were more likely to exhibit antidrug attitudes.
Jennifer A. Kam, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and Ashley V. Middleton, MSO Health Information Management, published in Human Communication Research their findings from surveys of 253 Latino and 308 European American students from the sixth through eighth grades. The students reported on the conversations that they have had with their parents about alcohol, cigarettes, and marijuana. Kam and Middleton were interested in determining how certain types of messages were related to the students' substance-use perceptions, and in turn, behaviors.
Past research found that teens reported that they would be less likely to use drugs if their parents told them about their own past drug use. In Kam and Middleton's study, however, Latino and European American children who reported that their parents talked about the negative consequences, or regret, over their own past substance use were actually less likely to report anti-substance-use perceptions. This finding means that when parents share their past stories of substance use, even when there is a learning lesson, such messages may have unintended consequences for early adolescent children.
Kam and Middleton's study identifies specific messages that parents can relay to their children about alcohol, cigarettes, and marijuana that may encourage anti-substance-use perceptions, and in turn, discourage actual substance use. For example, parents may talk to their kids about the negative consequences of using substances, how to avoid substances, that they disapprove of substance use, the family rules against substance use, and stories about others who have gotten in trouble from using substances.
"Parents may want to reconsider whether they should talk to their kids about times when they used substances in the past and not volunteer such information, Kam said. "Of course, it is important to remember this study is one of the first to examine the associations between parents' references to their own past substance use and their adolescent children's subsequent perceptions and behaviors."
###
The Associations Between Parents' References to Their Own Past Substance Use and Youth's Substance-Use Beliefs and Behaviors: A Comparison of Latino and European American Youth, by Jennifer A. Kam and Ashley V. Middleton, Human Communication Research
Contact: To schedule an interview with the author or a copy of the research, please contact John Paul Gutierrez, jpgutierrez@icahdq.org.
About ICA
The International Communication Association is an academic association for scholars interested in the study, teaching, and application of all aspects of human and mediated communication. With more than 4,300 members in 80 countries, ICA includes 26 divisions and interest groups and publishes the Communication Yearbook and five major, peer-reviewed journals: Journal of Communication, Communication Theory, Human Communication Research, Communication, Culture & Critique, and the Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication. For more information, visit www.icahdq.org.
[ | E-mail | Share ]
?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
Parents talking about their own drug use to children could be detrimentalPublic release date: 22-Feb-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: John Paul Gutierrez jpgutierrez@icahdq.org International Communication Association
Children respond better to antidrug messages when parents don't disclose past drug use
Washington, DC (February 19, 2013) Parents know that one day they will have to talk to their children about drug use. The hardest part is to decide whether or not talking about ones own drug use will be useful in communicating an antidrug message. Recent research, published in the journal Human Communication Research, found that children whose parents did not disclose drug use, but delivered a strong antidrug message, were more likely to exhibit antidrug attitudes.
Jennifer A. Kam, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and Ashley V. Middleton, MSO Health Information Management, published in Human Communication Research their findings from surveys of 253 Latino and 308 European American students from the sixth through eighth grades. The students reported on the conversations that they have had with their parents about alcohol, cigarettes, and marijuana. Kam and Middleton were interested in determining how certain types of messages were related to the students' substance-use perceptions, and in turn, behaviors.
Past research found that teens reported that they would be less likely to use drugs if their parents told them about their own past drug use. In Kam and Middleton's study, however, Latino and European American children who reported that their parents talked about the negative consequences, or regret, over their own past substance use were actually less likely to report anti-substance-use perceptions. This finding means that when parents share their past stories of substance use, even when there is a learning lesson, such messages may have unintended consequences for early adolescent children.
Kam and Middleton's study identifies specific messages that parents can relay to their children about alcohol, cigarettes, and marijuana that may encourage anti-substance-use perceptions, and in turn, discourage actual substance use. For example, parents may talk to their kids about the negative consequences of using substances, how to avoid substances, that they disapprove of substance use, the family rules against substance use, and stories about others who have gotten in trouble from using substances.
"Parents may want to reconsider whether they should talk to their kids about times when they used substances in the past and not volunteer such information, Kam said. "Of course, it is important to remember this study is one of the first to examine the associations between parents' references to their own past substance use and their adolescent children's subsequent perceptions and behaviors."
###
The Associations Between Parents' References to Their Own Past Substance Use and Youth's Substance-Use Beliefs and Behaviors: A Comparison of Latino and European American Youth, by Jennifer A. Kam and Ashley V. Middleton, Human Communication Research
Contact: To schedule an interview with the author or a copy of the research, please contact John Paul Gutierrez, jpgutierrez@icahdq.org.
About ICA
The International Communication Association is an academic association for scholars interested in the study, teaching, and application of all aspects of human and mediated communication. With more than 4,300 members in 80 countries, ICA includes 26 divisions and interest groups and publishes the Communication Yearbook and five major, peer-reviewed journals: Journal of Communication, Communication Theory, Human Communication Research, Communication, Culture & Critique, and the Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication. For more information, visit www.icahdq.org.
[ | E-mail | Share ]
?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
Americans? love affair with fast food may be far from over, but there are signs we may be cutting down on French fries, greasy burgers and other artery-clogging food, according to a new study.
Matt Cardy / Getty Images
A survey released on Thursday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows that, on average, adults consumed about 11.3 percent of their daily calorie intake from fast food in the 2007-2010 period ? a drop from 12.8 percent in 2003-2006.
The CDC noted that more frequent fast-food consumption is associated with higher energy and fat intake and lower intake of healthful nutrients.
During 2007?2010, the highest percentage of calories from fast food was consumed among adults aged 20?39, the survey said. But among non-Hispanic black adults in that group, 21 percent of their calories were consumed from fast food. Cheryl Fryar, one of the authors of the study, said that while calorie intake was higher in young blacks than young whites, there was little racial or ethnicity differences in older Americans. She noted that the percentage of fast-food calories in the diet dropped to as low as 6 percent in the 60-plus age group. There was little difference between men and women, she said.
Bethene Ervin, the other author of the CDC survey, declined to draw any conclusions from the results. ?We do not do public health,? she said. ?(But) the lower calories from fast food may indicate that the public health messages are getting through.? Other nutrition experts said it might show that Americans are eating more salads and other healthy alternatives offered by fast-food chains.
The survey results come almost 10 years after the film ?Supersize Me? highlighted the danger of diets heavy on fast food, such as hamburgers, French fries and pizza. In the film, director Morgan Spurlock ate only McDonald's food for 30 days. As a result, he gained 24.5 pounds (11.1 kg), his body mass increased by 13 percent and his cholesterol level shot up to 230. It took Spurlock fourteen months to lose the weight gained from his experiment. Madelyn Fernstrom, a nutritional scientist and diet and nutrition editor for TODAY, said the CDC numbers were ?a big surprise for two reasons.
?Firstly, that it is not what we hear about everyone chowing down on fast food for every meal. It is surprising that fast-food calorie content is now only 11 percent, that?s a big drop. Is it that the message about excess fat, calories and salt is getting through? Or that people are choosing healthier options??
Fernstrom said the second significant finding was that the fast-food calorie intake dropped dramatically as people age. ?It could be cost related, or is it because people are becoming more health conscious?? She said it was expected that there would be higher calorie consumption in the 20-39 age group as younger people do not think so much about the health effects of food.
?Maybe you don?t listen at 30, but you do at 60 when you are more vulnerable to clogged arteries of high blood pressure.?
Keith Ayoob, director of the nutrition clinic at Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York City, said there is evidence that the obesity epidemic in the United States is beginning to plateau, ?so these results aren't hugely surprising.?
Commenting on the lower fast-food calorie intake, he said it was not clear if people were cutting back on how often they went to fast food restaurants or simply ordered healthier menu options. ?Nowadays, they're offering a whole plethora of lower-calorie alternatives,? such as salads, low-fat dressings, low-calorie yogurt or desserts, smaller portions, low-fat and fat-free milk and water.
?It's no longer about where you eat, it's about what you choose when you're there.? I can't say for sure, but I believe McDonald's is still doing robust business, and if more of that is coming from lower-calorie foods, salads, fresh fruit, etc., then that's terrific,? Ayoob told NBCNews.com.
?It takes people a long time to change their ways and habits, but when they change them for the better and learn to enjoy the change, that's a win-win,? he said.
Also on Thursday, the CDC released the results of another nutrition survey ? on adolescents -- but its conclusions were less striking. Comparing 1999-2000 with 2009-2010, it found that boys and girls aged 2-19 both consumed more protein and fewer carbohydrates but there was no notable difference in fat consumption.
Tonight Daniel Rubino of WPCentral joins us to talk about his former life as a sleep technician. We'll also be covering tips on how to relax, breathe better, meditate, and otherwise enjoy your life better. Don't miss it!
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NSFWCORP presents This Is How You Healthcare: American Death in London by Sarah Bee:
The main things that keep me sane are the airy beauty and peacefulness of the hospital building, messages from friends and family far away on earth, the mundane magnificence of the staff: and the knowledge that all of this is free and taken care of and I do not have to fill in a single fuckforsaken form or bust one precious braincell worrying about how I might have to find money to pay for the futile care of my dying deadbeat dad.
I return to this miraculous fact many times a day, in exactly the same way that I return often to the little visitors? bedroom, lock the door and curl up on the bed. The knowledge soothes me like clean sheets and heat.
Imagine, I think in the middle of the night. Imagine if I had to worry about that stuff. With what, exactly, would I worry about it?
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Women?s and Teens All Size Clothing Swap, 7pm at the Tualatin Heritage Center Wednesday February 27th. ?Space is limited- please RSVP (reserve your spot) with?Diana at?mom@blackboxphotography.com? or 503-716-8910. ? The following categories will be available: ?size 1-5, size 6-10, size 11-16, plus sizes, maternity, shoes & accessories. ?You can bring clothes in any size and shop in another size.
When:? Wed., Feb. 27th, from 7-8pm? (arrive10 minutes before 7pm)
Where: Tualatin Heritage Center ? 8700 SW Sweek Dr., Tualatin, OR 97062
(directions below)
What to bring:
1. CLEAN clothes, shoes & accessories you no longer use, want or wear.
If you?ve never been to a clothing swap before, here?s how it works:
* First of all, it?s FREE.
* We?ll start on the hour, at 7pm, so please be here before that so we can?all start at the same time.
* There won?t be dressing rooms, so wear bike shorts & a sports bra, yoga or?some kind of clothes under your street clothes, so you?ll be able to try?things on.
* Bring CLEAN clothes, as well as shoes, accessories, and other wearables?you don?t want, use, or wear anymore. We?ll have 5 size areas, as well as a?separate pile for shoes & accessories (like: purses, belts, jewelry, etc.)
PLEASE BE SURE TO CLEAN YOUR CLOTHES BEFORE YOU BRING THEM ? especially for?those of us with allergies ? Thanks!
* On the hour we?ll look through the clothes in the area of your size.
*? Set aside the things that interest you & try them on. (Please bring a?full length mirror if you have one). What fits, you put in the sack that you?brought, what you don?t want goes back into the big pile.
(We don?t worry about how many you came with, and how many you leave with.?People tend to be very courteous and not take much more than they came with?anyway.)
Children? ? It?s much easier to ?shop? without your children with you, but?if bringing your child is the only way you can make it, then feel free to?bring them (along with a book or toy, so they don?t get bored).
RSVP to Diana if you are able to go & let me know your size category. We?will have a limited number of space, so let me know if you can be there, and?I?ll save a spot for you. Also, feel free to tell a friend who might be?interested, but be sure to RSVP!? ? (Note: I don?t always reply to rsvp?s,?so if you don?t hear from me, I?ll add you to the list and just see you?there. Thanks!)
Directions: From I-5, take exit 289, go West on Tualatin-Sherwood Rd.
Turn Right on SW Boones Ferry Rd. (you?ll see McDonalds on your left).
Follow the road past Tualatin park, curving around the corner, over the R/R?tracks. Turn left at the light. You?ll see the police station on your left &?the Heritage Center right next to it. You can use the Police station parking?lot, as overflow.
So, go clean out those closets, and we?ll see you there!
There?s a song in the rock musical Hair called "Easy to Be Hard," and it goes like this:
How can people be so heartless
How can people be so cruel
Easy to be hard
Easy to be cold
These lyrics have been running around my head since reading
the two-part series from the nonprofit Wisconsin Center for Investigative
Journalism? about the impact of Wisconsin?s new
nursing home ?tort reform? law.? And when
I say ?impact,? I?m specifically talking about current and future nursing home
residents who are abused and neglected.?
(Pay close attention, Baby Boomers.)?
Here is the series? summary:
Families? abilities to hold potentially negligent nursing
facilities accountable have been diminished by a recent change in state law
that bars records of abuse and neglect from use in the courts, the Wisconsin
Center for Investigative Journalism has found. The Center?s investigation also
shows that some long-term care facilities are failing to report deaths and
injuries, as required by law.
Not that we?re surprised.? Under the leadership Governor Scott Walker
and with the express assistance of that nasty gang-?o-corporations, the
American Legislative Exchange Council, the nursing home industry authored a bunch of
provisions to make it difficult or impossible for families to sue on behalf of
their abused or neglected (i.e., dead or injured) relative. For one, these laws make it
virtually impossible for grossly negligent facilities to ever be liable for punitive
damages.? For another - and the focus of
the series- these laws prohibit families in these tragic situations from using
any state investigation records as evidence in their lawsuit.? In the words of Milwaukee personal injury
attorney Ann Jacobs, ?When you?ve got these records that are part of the
regulatory process, the idea that you wouldn?t be able to introduce them to the
jury is just insane.? Why would we hold
that information back??? Indeed.
In one case profiled by the series, records of a four-month
period of neglect that led to a bone-deep, E-coli infected bed sore on the backside of a 32-year-old
brain-damaged and physically-disabled resident (he required horribly painful surgery and months on his stomach), could not be used in the
family?s lawsuit.?
The impact of this law extends beyond the families who do sue:
Several attorneys
said they have turned down meritorious cases because the new law makes it
harder and more costly to sue nursing homes and other health care facilities.
?Even before this legislation, these were very difficult,
expensive, time-consuming cases,? said Jason Studinski, a Stevens Point
attorney who specializes in elder abuse lawsuits. ?Frankly, once a victim knows
what hurdles are in their path, some choose to go away, even if they have a
legitimate claim.? ?
And don?t think patient safety won?t suffer.? As Dane County Circuit Judge William
Hanrahan, who prosecuted crimes against the elderly for 19 years as a district
attorney and assistant attorney general, put it:?
?It?s very important that attorneys are able to take these
cases and hold those who neglect and abuse the elderly accountable.? Some of the biggest changes come as a result
of legal action.?
Todd McFarlane?s?Spawn means something vastly different to comic book fans than what the character?s 1997 big screen adaptation might imply. But while the first attempt missed the mark, McFarlane isn?t giving up hope that his perpetually-in-development reboot could launch a franchise.
Not only is the film?s script almost completed ? with an animated TV series set to be produced after the movie is released ? McFarlane claims to have an Academy Award-winner impatiently awaiting the chance to star.
While showing off toys at the TIA Toy Fair this week, McFarlane offered an update on the Spawn reboot to MTV. Despite promising that an animated installment of Spawn was imminent years ago, it seems the plans have changed to let a live-action movie kick off Spawn?s second wind.
That might sound like putting the cart before the horse, but apparently the film already has a star in place that will turn heads ? if and when the film is green-lit:
?I continue to write a page here and there. As I?ve said before, I?ve got a guy waiting on the sidelines who?s an Academy Award-winning actor who phones every three weeks going ?Todd, where?s the script? Where?s the script??? He came out to the office, he gave me his pitch, I gave him my pitch, and he?s like ?Fine, let?s do your gig.? The pitch I gave him was that we could then do, like, ten of these for the next ten years, and he wouldn?t have to be 22 for the rest of his life.
?The plan would be to do the movie, bring the movie out and then go back on TV with the animation like we did the first time. But the cool thing with the animation is we?ve got 90 minutes all set, ready to go, other than just sending it to an animation house. We?ve done all the voice recordings, we?ve done all the backgrounds and everything. So the technology is way better than it was a decade ago. and there?s some spectacular stuff that we can now do when we bring it back that we were never able to do on HBO.?
A quick glance at Oscar winners fitting the bill of ?younger African-American males? leaves Jamie Foxx and Cuba Gooding Jr. as the most likely candidates.
Foxx has expressed interest in comic books in the past, and can next be seen playing the villainous Electro in The Amazing Spider-Man 2.?Whether that proves his ability to excel in a comic adaptation remains to be seen, but if the response to his character is mostly positive, a comic book movie with Foxx?s backing could be an attractive prospect to studios. Especially with the?$10 million budget McFarlane claims he needs?to make the film a reality.
Of course, Gooding Jr. seems the more likely of the two actors to repeatedly call up McFarlane asking to be cast in his Spawn reboot, given the current status of his career. That being said, Foxx has made a visit or two to McFarlane?s offices. That doesn?t mean the habitually-hyperbolic McFarlane isn?t exaggerating, but it proves Foxx is a fan, if nothing else.
There?s no question that a hard-R-Rated?Spawn?movie made on a budget (McFarlane wishes to write, direct and produce it himself) is an easier pill for a studio to swallow, especially after the release of?Dredd?- another underground comic legend that pulled no punches in its big screen adaptation (read?our review).
Now there?s even promises of?an R-Rated?Deadpool?movie, with mature humor and violence that could possibly bring?more?attention to the currently crowded world of comic book movies, not less.
At this point, we?d recommend that fans of Spawn try not to hold their breath, but if McFarlane isn?t simply exaggerating (and he very well could be), there may be reason to hold out hope.
What chance do you think McFarlane has of getting a second take on the character? Would you be interested in a Spawn reboot starring Jamie Foxx ? or anyone else, Cuba Gooding Jr. included ? or would it pale in comparison to the current crop of comic adaptations? Leave us your thoughts in the comments.
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CARACAS (Reuters) - After Hugo Chavez spent two months out of the public eye for cancer surgery in Cuba, the Venezuelan government hailed his homecoming on Monday and said the president had achieved another milestone - four million followers on Twitter.
The 58-year-old flew back from Havana before dawn and was taken to a military hospital. No new details were given on his health, and there were no images of his arrival. Officials say his condition remains delicate.
The normally loquacious socialist leader, who is struggling to speak as he breathes through a tracheal tube, took to Twitter with a passion back in April 2010, tweeting regularly and encouraging other leftist Latin American leaders to do likewise.
His @chavezcandanga account quickly drew a big mixed following of fans, critics and others just curious to see how his famously long speeches and fiery anti-U.S. invective would work within the social media network's 140-character limit.
But as he fought the cancer and underwent weeks of grueling chemotherapy and radiation therapy, he began to tweet less and less frequently, before stopping altogether on November 1.
Early on Monday morning, he made his reappearance.
"It was 4:30, 5 a.m. He got to his room and surprised everyone: rat-tat-tat, he sent three or four messages, and at that moment fireworks began to go off around the country," Vice President Nicolas Maduro said in a televised cabinet meeting.
During the day, Maduro added, the president's number of followers had shot up to well over four million.
"It's incredible, in just a few hours ... he's the second most-followed president in the world (after Barack Obama), and the first if we make the comparison by per capita," he said.
Obama has more than 27 million Twitter followers and is No. 5 most followed globally. Chavez is Twitter's No. 190 globally.
4TH MILLION FOLLOWER
Maduro said Chavez's four millionth follower was a 20-year-old single Venezuelan woman named Alemar Jimenez from the gritty San Juan neighborhood in downtown Caracas, near the military hospital where the president arrived earlier in the day.
"She's one of the golden generation of youth who support the fatherland and have been waiting with growing love for commander Hugo Chavez," Maduro said, before presenting a dazzled-looking Jimenez to the cameras and giving her a bunch of flowers.
"We were really emotional" she said, recounting how she was with her mother when they heard Chavez had returned. "I sent him a message on Twitter saying he must get better."
There are still big questions over the president's health. He could have come back to govern from behind the scenes, or he may be hoping to ease political tensions and pave the way for a transition to Maduro, his preferred successor.
Chavez has often ordered followers to fight back against opposition critics of his self-styled revolution by using social media, leading from the front himself on Twitter and referring to the Internet as a "battle trench."
As his ranks of followers grew, Chavez said he hired 200 assistants to help him respond to messages - which he said were a great way to receive first-hand the requests, demands, complaints and denunciations of citizens in the thousands.
During his re-election campaign last year, the government launched an SMS text message service that forwards his tweets to cellphones that lack Internet service, broadening their reach to the poorest corners of the South American country.
"He's a communication revolution!" Maduro said, later unbuttoning his shirt on TV to show he was wearing a T-shirt bearing Chavez's eyes emblazoned across his chest.
For the tens of thousands who signed up on Monday to follow Chavez on Twitter, it is unclear how much will be posted there in the weeks and months ahead. Venezuela's 29 million people are mostly wondering something similar.
(Additional reporting by Diego Ore; Editing by Todd Eastham)
BAGHDAD (AP) ? Iraq has approved the construction of a natural gas pipeline across its territory that will connect Iran to key ally Syria. The move likely to strengthen Tehran's influence over its neighbors.
The Iraqi Cabinet said in a statement Tuesday evening that it has instructed the country's oil minister to sign a framework agreement for the $10 billion project, allowing the pipeline to move ahead.
The project is designed to supply gas from the giant South Pars field to Syria as well as other export markets.
Iran signed a preliminary deal to build the 1,500-kilometer (750-mile) pipeline in July 2011 as Syrian rebels were stepping up their fight to topple President Bashar Assad. Work on the project started in November.
After Russia, Iran has the world's second-largest natural gas reserves.
Health concerns about the typical energy drink?are everywhere, so?you may not want to depend on them for energy. After all, not only can they be extremely high in caffeine, but they also tend to be full of sugar, artificial colorings and other unnatural ingredients. They don?t exactly fit my whole food, traditional diet criteria. The question is, how do you replace them?
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But having an afternoon pick-me-up can be helpful, which is why I wanted to share a few recipes for simple homemade, energy drinks.
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Chia Pomegranate Green Tea Cooler
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Why it works: Tea is a natural source of caffeine, however it also contains an amino acid called ?theanine? which is a natural relaxer with anti-anxiety properties. It helps energize you without making you jittery. When you are stressed, both the energy boost from the caffeine and the relaxing effect of the theanine can be helpful. Pomegranate juice is full of nutrients, flavonoids, and antioxidants and is low in sugar. This healthy juice can help give you a boost from nutrition alone. (It?s also worth noting that according to Bowden, it is called the ?natural Viagra? and has been traditionally associated with love and sexual vitality.) The chia seeds were traditionally used as a support for long journeys. The gel-like substance they form when put in liquid absorbs slowly into the body, for a slow release of nutrients and energy. Chia seeds are high in vitamins and minerals, making them a favorite with many nutritionists.
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Homemade Chocolate Milk
Directions: In a blender, mix 1 cup of whole milk with 1/2 to 1 tablespoon of fair trade cocoa powder, a dash of vanilla extract and 1 tablespoon of maple syrup or honey. Blend until combined.
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Why it works: Milk gives you good source of both protein and fat for sustained energy. Milk also contains some natural sugar that gives a boost of energy. Use grade B maple syrup for a higher nutrient content, and you will add both more natural sugars for a more instant energy boost. The cocoa powder gives some caffeine, as well as more antioxidants and nutrients (such as magnesium). I prefer raw, pastured milk.
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Green Drink
Directions: The darling of the raw foodie and many health conscience people, the green drink trend shows no sign of slowing down and there are many green drink mixtures available online. Make according to the package directions, or add a scoop to a smoothie.
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Why it works: Green drinks work because they are high in nutrients, very alkalizing (which makes you feel refreshed and energized). Plus, some mixes contain herbs known for their energizing attributes. Mix them with a pomegranate, noni, or other antioxidant-rich juice, or combine with a high protein snack like nuts or canned fish for sustained energy.
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The above recipes are gentle, natural options for an energy boost and are perfect for a mid-day drink. Being more natural, and not as high in caffeine, they may not keep you in a working frenzy all night long when you need it, but on the plus side, they offer many health benefits.?
Digital camera in perfect working order.?A bit clunky and a small display by today's standards, but still takes great pictures.Includes:Camera with strap and lens capBattery7 MemorySticks and carrying case(2x128mb, 2x64mb, 1x16mb, 2x8mb)ChargerUSB CableCamera to Audio and Video CableCamera to Video CableSee other auctions for camcorder and identical camera that use same battery, charger and memory.
Bricks-and-mortar stores may be on the ropes in a number of computer electronics categories, but selling Apple products doesn't seem to be one of them. Despite having a number of Apple stores dotting the world, the company has slowly expanded the number of retail partners who are willing and able to sell its iPhones, iPads, and Mac desktops and laptops, from Walmart to RadioShack.
Now, apparently, you can add Staples to that list. The office superstore has sold Apple products internationally, but hasn't been given a chance to carry them in the U.S. However, some excited Staples execs tweeted at the end of last week that a deal has been finalized for the retailer to start being an Apple partner in the States.
You can see the specific tweets at our sister site CNET, but according to Cult of Mac, those messages have either been removed or the execs' Twitter accounts made protected. Nothing specific was revealed about the deal, but because it hasn't been officially announced, it was obviously a bit of an embarrassment to leak the information on Twitter.
It remains to be seen which Apple products in particular Staples would be selling, though iPads and Mac computers would be a no-brainer. Staples also sells cell phones, so the iPhone could be on the list, which may not be a bad thing, given the rumors about its sales and customer demand. MacRumors says its source believes the full complement of Apple computing products will be available through Staples, and 9to5Mac was given a tip (via a mock-up page on the Staples Web site, shown above) about Apple TV going on sale, too.
The supposed deal may help Staples more than Apple, though it puts the latter company's products in front of even more eyeballs. Where Apple goes next remains to be seen, but I imagine OfficeDepot and OfficeMax are working furiously to be on that list. Does it matter to you where Apple sells it products? Let us know in the Talkback section below.
Microsoft is so confident it has the Internet's best email service that it's about spend at least $30 million to send its message across the U.S.
The barrage begins Tuesday when Microsoft's twist on email, Outlook.com, escalates an assault on rival services from Google Inc., Yahoo Inc., AOL Inc. and a long list of Internet service providers.
As part of the process, all users of Microsoft's Hotmail and other email services operating under different domains such as MSN.com will be automatically converted to Outlook.com by the summer, if they don't voluntarily switch before then. All the old messages, contacts and settings in the old inboxes will be exported to Outlook.com. Users will also be able to keep their old addresses.
Email remains a key battleground, even at a time when more people are texting each other on phones.
People still regularly check their inboxes, albeit increasingly on their smartphones. The recurring email habit provides Internet companies a way to keep people coming back to websites. It gives people a reason to log in during their visits so it's easier for email providers to track their activities. Frequent visits and personal identification are two of the keys to selling ads, the main way most websites make money.
That's why Microsoft, Google and Yahoo have been retooling their email services in recent months.
After keeping Outlook.com in a "preview" phase since July 31, Microsoft Corp. is ready to accept all comers.
To welcome new users, Microsoft is financing what it believes to be the biggest marketing blitz in the history of email. Outlook.com will be featured in ads running on primetime TV, radio stations, websites, billboards and buses. Microsoft expects to spend somewhere between $30 million to $90 million on the Outlook campaign, which will run for at least three months.
The Outlook ads will overlap with an anti-Gmail marketing campaign that Microsoft launched earlier this month. The "Scroogled" attacks depict Gmail as a snoopy service that scans the contents of messages to deliver ads related to topics being discussed.
The Gmail ads are meant to be educational while the Outlook campaign is motivational, said Dharmesh Mehta, Outlook.com's senior director.
"We are trying to push people who have gotten lazy and comfortable with an email service that may not be all that great and help show them what email can really do for them," said Mehta.
By Microsoft's own admission, Hotmail had lost the competitive edge that once made it the world's largest email service. The lack of innovation left an opening for Google to exploit when it unveiled Gmail nearly nine years ago.
Gmail is now the industry leader, although estimates on its popularity vary.
Google says Gmail has more than 425 million accountholders, including those that only visit on smartphones and other mobile device. The latest data from research firm comScore, which doesn't include mobile traffic, shows Gmail with 306 million worldwide users through December, up 21 percent from the previous year. Yahoo's email ranked second with 293 million users, a 2 percent decrease from the previous year, followed by Hotmail at 267 million users, a 16 percent decline from the previous year.
Microsoft, which is based in Redmond, Wash., is counting on Outlook.com to catapult the company back to the top of the email heap. During the preview period, Outlook attracted 60 million accountholders, including about 20 million that defected from Gmail, according to Microsoft. Comscore listed Outlook with 38 million users through December.
The new features being introduced in Outlook include: the ability to send massive files, including hundreds of photos at a time, in a single email; address books that automatically update new contact information that connections post on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn; and about 60 percent fewer ads than Hotmail.
None of these features are revolutionary. Google already has been giving its users the option to switch to a new version of Gmail that also allows for larger files to be sent in a single email. And address books in Gmail already fetch new contact information posted on Google Plus, although it doesn't yet mine Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.
Google declined to comment on Outlook.com. The company, which is based in Mountain View, Calif., plans to convert all of its Gmail users to its redesigned format within the next few months.
Yahoo, which is based in Sunnyvale, Calif. revamped its email service late last year in an effort to provide a more consistent experience on personal computers and mobile devices.
Outlook.com is the latest in a series of major product leases from Microsoft, which has been struggling to regain the cachet that once made it the world's most valuable technology company.
Now, both Apple Inc. and Google are worth more because they have been growing far faster than Microsoft as their products win more fans. Apple's biggest gains have come from the iPhone and IPad, while Google has been benefiting from its dominance in Internet search and its widely used Android software for mobile devices.
Microsoft has been trying to catch up with a major makeover of its Windows operating system, new smartphone software and a tablet computer called Surface. Like Outlook.com, all those products have been backed by expensive marketing campaigns in recent months.
The meteor that exploded over Russia Friday was slightly larger than previously thought and more powerful, too, NASA scientists say.
The Russian meteor explosion over the city of Chelyabinsk, on Friday (Feb. 15), injured more than 1,000 people and blew out windows across the region in a massive blast captured on cameras by frightened witnesses. Friday afternoon, NASA scientists estimated the meteor was space rock about 50 feet (15 meters) and sparked a blast equivalent of a 300-kiloton explosion. The energy estimate was later increased to 470 kilotons.
But late Friday, NASA revised its estimates on the size and power of the devastating meteor explosion. The meteor's size is now thought to be slightly larger ? about 55 feet (17 m) wide ? with the power of the blast estimate of about 500 kilotons, 30 kilotons higher than before, NASA officials said in a statement. [See video of the intense meteor explosion]
The meteor was also substantially more massive than thought as well. Initial estimated pegged the space rock's mass at about 7,000 tons. Scientists at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., now say the meteor weighed about 10,000 tons and was travelling 40,000 mph (64,373 km/h) when it exploded.
"These new estimates were generated using new data that had been collected by five additional infrasound stations located around the world - the first recording of the event being in Alaska, over 6,500 kilometers away from Chelyabinsk," JPL officials explained in the statement. The infrasound stations detect low-frequency sound waves that accompany exploding meteors, known as bolides.
The meteor entered Earth's atmosphere and blew apart over Chelyabinsk at 10:20 p.m. EST on Feb. 14 (03:20:26 GMT on Feb. 15). The meteor briefly outshined the sun during the event, which occurred just hours before a larger space rock ? the 150-foot-wide (45 meters) asteroid 2012 DA14 ? zoomed by Earth in an extremely close flyby.
Asteroid 2012 DA14 approached within 17,200 miles (27,000 kilometers) of Earth Friday, but never posed an impact threat to the planet. The asteroid flyby and Russian meteor explosion had significantly different trajectories, showing that they were completely unrelated events, NASA officials said.
Late Friday, another fireball was spotted over the San Francisco Bay Area in California. That event, also unrelated, occurred at about 7:45 p.m. PST (10:45 p.m. EST/0345 Feb. 16 GMT) and lit up the nighttime sky. Aside from the unexpected light show, the fireball over San Francisco had little other effect.
NASA scientists said the Russian meteor event, however, is a rare occurrence. Not since 1908, when a space rock exploded over Russia's Tunguska River in Siberia and flattened 825 square miles (2,137 square km) of uninhabited forest land, has a meteor event been so devastating.
"We would expect an event of this magnitude to occur once every 100 years on average," Paul Chodas of NASA's Near-Earth Object Program Office at JPL said. "When you have a fireball of this size we would expect a large number of meteorites to reach the surface and in this case there were probably some large ones."
According to the Associated Press, search teams have recovered small objects that might be meteorite fragments and divers are searching the bottom of a lake where a meteorite is thought to have landed.
You can follow SPACE.com Managing Editor Tariq Malik on Twitter?@tariqjmalik.?Follow SPACE.com on Twitter?@Spacedotcom. We're also on Facebook?&?Google+.?
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BLOOMINGTON, Ind. (AP) ? America's No. 1 team finally came out a winner twice this week.
Indiana's reward: It can stop worrying about votes and start focusing on the Big Ten title chase.
Will Sheehey scored a career-high 22 points and set a new school record Saturday by going 9 for 9 from the field and leading Indiana to its second straight blowout over archrival Purdue, 83-55.
"I thought our team was asked enough letdown questions, and I think they were tired of it, too," coach Tom Crean said. "The human dynamic can sometimes plays into it, but not today, not at all. Not with the way they are maturing, not with the way we feel about the rivalry with Purdue. It's a big, big deal."
It's not just the rivalry that's big any more.
Indiana (23-3, 11-2 Big Ten) bucked the recent trend of No. 1 teams losing games and sliding back in the poll.
Last week, the Hoosiers got a reprieve after losing at Illinois before winning at No. 10 Ohio State. They held onto the top spot only after the next four highest-ranked teams all lost, too.
The Hoosiers also assured themselves of hanging onto at least a share of the league lead as they head into Tuesday night's showdown with No. 8 Michigan State. The Spartans faced Nebraska later Saturday.
To the home-state fans, though, the most intriguing part of this game was how Indiana continued to dominate this series. The Hoosiers have won four straight over the Boilermakers (12-14, 5-8), all by double digits, handed Purdue its most lopsided home loss in school history (97-60) on Jan. 30 and on Saturday became the first Indiana team in school history to beat Purdue twice in the same season by 20 or more points.
It doesn't get much more impressive than that ? even if you're on the other bench
"Across the board, they're just a better defensive team (this year) and then you could argue that they're the best offensive team in the country," Boilermakers coach Matt Painter said. "It's a pretty good mix."
This time, Indiana didn't even need its best defender in the second half.
Victor Oladipo limped off the court in the final minute of the first half after spraining his left ankle. After the game, Crean said the medical team opted against playing Oladipo in the second half, and it's unclear whether he'll play at Michigan State.
"I hope he's going to be OK, he thinks he's going to be OK," said Crean, who is now 78-78 at Indiana. "Wishful thinking would be that he will play, but we'll have to see how he does over the next 24, 36 hours."
Losing Oladipo only slowed down the inevitable rout Saturday.
Cody Zeller finished with 19 points and nine rebounds. Christian Watford scored 10 of his 14 points in the first five minutes. Jordan Hulls had 11 points and five assists.
Indiana made eight 3-pointers, shot 56 percent from the field, forced 17 turnovers, limited the Boilermakers to just 38-percent shooting from the field, and they got a brilliant offensive and defensive game from Sheehey, who became the first player to make all nine of his field goals in school history.
The previous record of eight was done four times ? by Jared Jeffries in 2001, Matt Nover in 1992, Ricky Calloway in 1987 and Mike Giomi in 1985.
"I got excited because I got to play a little more," Sheehey joked when asked about Oladipo's injury and before turning to his shooting performance. "There's definitely a zone. If you see a couple of shots go through the hoop, your confidence goes up a little bit."
That's the last thing these Hoosiers need after winning eight of their last nine.
Purdue was led by Terone Johnson and Anthony Johnson, who each had 11. Nobody else reached double figures, and freshman center A.J. Hammons, who scored 30 points against Indiana in Round 1, was held scoreless in the first half and wound up with just six points and three rebounds.
The Boilermakers have lost five of their last six, a slump that began with the first debacle against Indiana.
"There's no doubt you're frustrated," Painter said. "We just have to do a better job of maintaining that consistent effort. Sometimes it's just a breakdown, sometimes it is effort, it's a little bit of everything."
On Saturday, Purdue never even had a chance.
Indiana broke to a 14-5 lead, made it 21-8 less than nine minutes into the game and led 33-14 with 7:06 left in the first half.
Purdue rallied to within 41-29 at halftime, then watched Indiana open the second half on a 12-4 run. The Hoosiers sealed it with a 19-4 spurt that ended with Sheehey's layup with 3:40 to go. That made it 82-48.
"The first two years, it was tough," Watford said when asked about the four-game winning streak over Purdue. "But any time you can come back and win against your rival, especially the way we've been doing it, it feels good."
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Public release date: 22-Feb-2013
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