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Thursday, 28 February 2013
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MLS starts '13 looking toward development, growth
By TIM BOOTH
AP Sports Writer
Associated Press Sports
updated 6:35 p.m. ET Feb. 27, 2013
For a change, there is no buzz about Major League Soccer's latest expansion into a soccer-crazy market or about which aging European star is bringing his game to America.
And for the first time in six years, there's no talk about David Beckham.
On the surface, the 2013 MLS season that begins this weekend might seem ho-hum because of its stability.
But this year begins a new chapter, focused on developing the quality of play and continuing to raise the profile of a league that officials hope will become among the planet's elite within 10 years.
"There is no reason that in time Major League Soccer can't be competitive with the world's best," MLS commissioner Don Garber said. "It's going to take a lot of hard work and continued investment."
The season begins Saturday with Philadelphia hosting Kansas City. That'll be followed by a Canadian showdown with Vancouver hosting Toronto, Houston vs. DC United, FC Dallas vs. Colorado, Chivas USA vs. Columbus and Seattle vs. Montreal. Sunday, defending champion Los Angeles hosts Chicago, Portland welcomes New York and San Jose faces Real Salt Lake.
New England has a bye the first week of the season, while Seattle, Los Angeles and Houston have byes in Week 2 while participating in the CONCACAF Champions League.
For the first time since 2005, expansion is not a story line. After successful entries into Houston, Toronto, San Jose, Seattle, Philadelphia, Portland, Vancouver and Montreal, the league is standing firm at 19 teams. MLS wants its 20th team to be in New York, although there is an increased effort in Orlando that could eventually lead to the league filling a geographic hole in the Southeast.
"I think they remain a very good potential MLS ownership group and Orlando is an intriguing market," Garber said.
Instead of expansion, the talk entering the season is investment. The league announced Wednesday its intensions to raise the quality of play and infrastructure to make MLS one of the world's top leagues by the ambitious date of 2022. The goal was originally supposed to coincide with a successful World Cup bid. The U.S. won't be hosting that tournament - Qatar will - but MLS is sticking with its plan.
There are other leagues taking notice of the improved quality in the league in recent seasons. Geoff Cameron left MLS for England's Premier League in August, followed by Brek Shea and Roger Espinoza during the January transfer window, and Kei Kamara is on loan to Norwich until early May. Cameron and Shea joined fellow Americans Clint Dempsey, Tim Howard, Brad Guzan and Brad Friedel, among those who left MLS for the EPL years earlier.
While the depth of players is arguably at its peak, there are no obvious favorites entering the 2013 season.
Los Angeles starts the year seeking to become the first team to win three straight MLS Cup titles, but its roster will have a different look than the one that hoisted the title last December. Beckham is now at Paris Saint-Germain and it's unclear how long before midfielder Landon Donovan will be ready to actually contribute. Donovan is expected to join the Galaxy at the end of March following a personal sabbatical away from the game, but two months of the season could be lost before he finally plays.
A slow beginning to the season didn't dampen the Galaxy's title hopes a year ago. Los Angeles got off to a miserable start, only to find its form midseason and ended up rolling to its second consecutive title.
"Every year the league is getting tougher and tougher. It's always hard," Galaxy striker Robbie Keane said. "Last year wasn't easy. We had a tough ride at the start of the season. Toward the end, the last few months of the season, we were great. If we continue to keep doing what we're doing and everyone stays healthy, we've got as good a chance as anybody. But we know it's going to be tough, as it always is."
The Galaxy headline a loaded Western Conference.
Seattle will enter the season with a roster still in flux thanks to the late acquisition of former All-Star Shalrie Joseph. Eddie Johnson reignited his career a season ago with 14 goals for Seattle and it may possess the most talented depth of midfielders in the league, but forward Fredy Montero is on loan in Colombia and defender Jeff Parke is now in Philadelphia. Seattle's management has made clear its focus this year is on the MLS Cup.
The team getting little talk before the season begins was the best one a year ago. San Jose rolled to the Supporters Shield with a 19-6-9 mark and 66 points thanks largely to the MVP season of Chris Wondolowski, who finished with 27 goals in the regular season, and returns most of its lineup. Portland should be improved under new coach Caleb Porter, while Real Salt Lake was forced by salary cap constraints to make offseason changes.
In the Eastern Conference, Kansas City was hit hardest by player movement, losing both Espinoza and Kamara to Premier League clubs for now. But KC also has one of the best defenses in the league and the majority of its roster back. Columbus could be on the rise again thanks to striker Federico Higuain, while Houston is a two-time MLS Cup finalist that was undefeated in its new stadium last season. DC United might have the most potent offensive attack in the East, led by Dwayne De Rosario.
New York underwent a significant offseason transition. Hans Backe is gone as coach, replaced by Mike Petke. Thierry Henry returns for his third full season while Kenny Cooper and Rafa Marquez are gone. Tim Cahill will be in his first full season with the Red Bulls after signing last summer from Everton in the hopes of finally finding a postseason breakthrough.
"To have a preseason with this team, with a new coach, new players, it's important I feel because to get the understanding because we've practically got a new working staff in the background and probably about six or seven new players," Cahill said. "It's basically a new team. It's something that spending these four or six weeks together is going to be important for the outcome of the season."
---
AP Sports Writer Ronald Blum contributed to this report.
? 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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PST:?New York?has the makings of a team that will again challenge for the?Eastern Conference crown, but can Thierry Henry deliver that elusive MLS Cup?
Source: http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/46662736/ns/sports-soccer/
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Mexico arrests head of teacher's union on fraud charges
MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Mexico arrested the powerful head of the main teachers' union on fraud and embezzlement charges on Tuesday, striking out at a high-profile opponent of the new government's reform efforts and seeking to assert President Enrique Pena Nieto's authority.
Attorney General Jesus Murillo said Elba Esther Gordillo was arrested on suspicion of embezzling $200 million of union funds, laying out the case against her just a day after Pena Nieto signed into law a major education reform that Gordillo opposed.
Gordillo is accused of using intermediaries to move money to bank accounts in Switzerland and Liechtenstein, then back to the United States, in order to buy property in San Diego and pay for works of art and plastic surgery.
"Clearly, we're facing a case in which the money of education workers has been misused illegally for the benefit of various people, including Elba Esther Gordillo," Murillo said. "Under this government nobody is above the law."
Gordillo, 68, is known as the "The Teacher" in Mexico. She has led her union for more than two decades and was long a prominent member of Pena Nieto's centrist Institutional Revolutionary Party, or PRI.
She also became a symbol of alleged corruption in the country, drawing widespread criticism for her expensive clothes and lavish lifestyle.
Murillo said she used union money to pay bills of $3 million at luxury U.S. department store Neiman Marcus. Detailing the charges against her, Murillo said she had declared income of just 1.1 million pesos ($86,000) between 2009 and 2012.
He said other people involved in the suspected fraud included Gordillo's dead mother, the 99 percent owner of one of the companies used to move funds.
Gordillo was detained at Toluca airport near the capital on Tuesday evening along with three other people.
Her arrest mirrors the removal of her predecessor Carlos Jonguitud 24 years ago by then-President Carlos Salinas, who took office pledging ambitious reforms, similar to the changes Pena Nieto has vowed since taking office on December 1.
Salinas also ordered the dramatic 1989 arrest of Joaquin Hernandez Galicia, known as "La Quina," who led the union at Mexico's state-run oil giant Petroleos Mexicanos, or Pemex.
Hernandez was sentenced to 35 years in prison after soldiers raided his home, where they said they found about 200 Uzi submachine guns and 30,000 cartridges. However, critics say the weaponry was planted to frame Hernandez and he was eventually released in 1997.
Salinas was also a member of the PRI, the party which ruled Mexico for most of the 20th century and returned to power with Pena Nieto last year after 12 years on the sidelines.
Opponents of Pena Nieto raised the question of whether Gordillo's arrest might have been ordered for political reasons.
The conservative National Action Party, which ran Mexico between 2000-2012 and is now in opposition, said it hoped that the investigation "is managed responsibly, seriously, and without political ends."
UNION POWER
Gordillo has held a firm grip over the teachers' union, whose 1.3 million members make it one of the most powerful in Latin America.
She has long been viewed as an impediment to education reform in Mexico, and one of Pena Nieto's first acts in office was to push for a major revamp of the education system.
Gordillo's union fought against Pena Nieto's new education law, which aims to limit union control over hiring and teaching standards in a bid to improve school standards.
Pena Nieto also plans major changes to the Mexican tax system and state oil monopoly Pemex, a company with its own powerful union that has been accused of corruption.
The blow to Gordillo harks back to the days when the PRI governed under a strong presidency that brooked no dissent.
Gordillo, was born into poverty in the south of the country and started working as a teacher at 15.
Widowed at 18, she moved to Mexico City, befriended the union leader of the day and began her ascent through the organization's ranks. After Salinas became president in 1988, teachers' protests broke out over wages, and he turned to Gordillo to bring order, naming her union boss.
Gordillo was a heavyweight of Mexican politics and at one point led the PRI in the lower house of Congress. She quickly thwarted government efforts to decentralize education, give parents a bigger role and weaken the union.
But she fell out with PRI leaders ahead of the 2006 presidential election and founded the small New Alliance Party.
($1 = 12.8 pesos)
(Editing by Dave Graham, Kieran Murray and Jackie Frank)
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/mexico-arrests-head-teachers-union-suspicion-fraud-022004391.html
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What Sony and Microsoft's new consoles will mean for Wii U
A renewed focus on games, second-screen enhancements and streaming will feature heavily in upcoming consoles. Did Wii U get the jump, or will it be beaten at its own game?
What the competition offers
Sony and Microsoft find themselves in a bit of an odd position right now in terms of convincing their customers that they need a new machine. Firstly, diminishing?returns on the advancement of graphics technology means there will not be such a defined leap between last gen and this one as there was between PS2 and PS3.
Secondly there?s the problem of services. Most the innovation and appeal of current-gen consoles has been in their services, media and social integration. Xbox 360 in particular has become a bona fide part of many people?s lounge rooms, serving up television, sport and movies on demand as well as offering a full complement of web and social services plus all manner of games delivered digitally. That can?t really be improved through new hardware. In fact it could be argued that the vast majority of new customers seen in last gen?s games boom were attracted by features that don?t need iteration, be that ESPN on Xbox 360 or Wii Fit on Wii.
People who bought a new console primarily for those things will not need a new one, no matter what?s offered. So what can Microsoft and Sony offer that will genuinely move units?
Well first of all I think they?ll move a lot less units than everybody?s expecting, at least at first. Just like with PS2, the old consoles will undoubtedly be around and actively supported for many years after the new consoles launch, and with so many people so comfy with their 360s it could be a while before critical mass. Wii U has been taking a lot of flak for its slow rate of sale, but I wouldn?t be surprised to see a similar phenomenon when the other two launch.
That said, Sony has put their flag in the ground and showed off parts of their new system, declaring?unequivocally?that the PlayStation 4 will take the focus off media and connectivity and put it squarely back on games. This is a smart move, since as I mentioned anybody not interested solely in games is likely to stick with the older hardware. Sony?s thrown a ton of technical innovation and smarts at PlayStation 4.
Its x86 processor and PC-like build will mean developers can easily use it as a lead console or port over from virtually anything to PlayStation 4. They?re also supporting self-publishing for indies. The cloud will play a big role too,?although I do sense a great deal of skepticism in the company?s ability to pull off full-game?streaming?to the extent they claim they will. All in all, Sony is making a clear power-play not just to PS3 customers but to all gamers.
No Netflix, no Twitter, no pushing services in your face. Sony wants you to believe that Ps4, like Wii U, will focus on games.
Much is yet to be seen of the PlayStation 4, and virtually all is yet to be seen of the next Xbox, but there are some features that are no-brainers. A more app-store-like online service is obligatory, for example. Nintendo made big claims about this before the launch of Wii U too, saying indies would get full support and set their own prices. The eShop is coming along but Ninty will be in trouble if either of the other two have an online store teeming at launch and ready to release handfuls of smaller titles every week. Sony recently announced that all PS4 games would be available digitally, which is another similarity with Wii U, although with some PlayStation 4 games clocking in at north of 60GB in size, that may not be much of an advantage.
Subscription and loyalty services will also play a part. PlayStation Plus has become a huge hit and will continue on PS4. Microsoft would be smart to drop the pay-for-online model and adopt a similar loyalty program. Either way free-to-play will largely replace game demos and trials, and social connectivity will still play a huge part of both consoles, so each will be looking to build a?dedicated?consumer base.
In all it?s fair to say that Nintendo had its finger on the pulse of what would matter this generation when they designed Wii U, and it absolutely has the potential to compete directly with the two upcoming consoles in many respects. It would appear that Nintendo has failed to live up to that potential somewhat in the early days, but then Nintendo doesn?t exactly colour inside the lines very often, and their social-friendly infrastructure and indie-ready online service is liable to kick off at any time. The most important thing to note here is that Nintendo does not intend to compete with the other two console directly as they compete with each other, however have the ability to successful ensured they appeal to some customers who might only want one console.
Could the new consoles improve Wii U?s fortunes?
It?s well know that stimulation within an industry can work out well for companies across the board. For example the release of a new iPad might result in an increase in interest toward Samsung tablets. Could the release of two new video game consoles result in an increase in Wii U sales?
On one hand the case of iPad vs Android is very different indeed to PlayStation vs Xbox vs Wii U. Nintendo is not seeking to provide an alternative to the other two beefier consoles. As Shigeru Miyamoto once said, the company wants to avoid the industry ?having only ferocious?dinosaurs. They might fight and hasten their own extinction?. Nintendo envisions a market in which the decision to purchase a Wii U is completely?separate?from the ?decision to purchase a PlayStation 4 or next-generation Xbox.
On the other hand, the consoles do all sit next to each other on the department store shelves, they do all offer a broadly similar experience and they do compete for mindshare and the almighty consumer dollar.
Directly following Sony?s PlayStation 4 presentation last week, some analysts were seen to point out a strange happening in the stock prices of Sony and Nintendo. The immediate reaction was that Sony Japan and Sony US dropped in value, while Nintendo Japan and Nintendo US rose in value. The most popular explanation for this is that stockholders were underwhelmed by Sony?s showing and so their confidence in Nintendo?s ability to stay competitive has been bolstered. I personally think something a little different is at play, and I reject the notion that this movement in stocks is even very weird at all. Take a look at this chart comparing some key milestones in the games industry and the simplified movement of stock for Sony and Nintendo.
The fact is stock will often drop following a major announcement or release, mainly because stock is usually building up in expectation in the weeks and months before the event (in this case Sony?s US stocks had rocketed a decent 30% in the two months prior to the announcement) and so a small downward adjustment directly afterward makes perfect sense.
But what of the upward swing for the opponent companies? ?Why did Sony gain following Nintendo?s Wii remote demo during TGS 2005? And why did Nintendo rise just recently after the PS4 event?
Put simply, people will always give more value to an?unknown quantity?than they will to a known one. When Nintendo?s Wii U is the only new console out and can only be compared to spectral, exciting, mysterious future consoles, it?s natural to be a little down on Nintendo?s machine. However once Sony?s PS4 starts to take physical shape the effect will begin to reverse itself. Once Sony and Microsoft have both released their consoles and Wii U is no longer solely compared to imaginary machines?of mythical proportions that the consoles themselves will very likely not attain, I think we?re likely to see the company stock and?people?s?opinions of the consoles level out.
5 short-term predictions
So, having said all that, what will the next few months of next-gen fever bring, and what will it mean for Wii U?
- The next Xbox will come bundled with a new Kinect and be fundamentally designed to stream to SmartGlass apps on smartphones and tablets. This will mean all three consoles have motion control, off-TV play and asynchronous local multiplayer capabilities.
- Wii U will launch its virtual console once the period of 30 cent introductory games is completed, and by the holiday season there will be a decent library of classic games and an entire eShop subsection of indie games. This will be a conscious attempt to combat the digital offerings of the two incoming systems.
- As third-parties spend more time with the Wii U dev kits more and more cross-platform games will arrive for the system, and while the two new consoles will be more powerful than Wii U it will become clear that isn?t as big a deal as it was for Wii vs 360 and PS3.
- The next Xbox will not be as game-focused as Wii U and Ps4, and will suffer initially as a result.
- Once both new consoles are revealed we will see start to see a lot less gloom towards Wii U.
Be sure to make your own predictions in the comments about how the upcoming console launches will affect Wii U.
Source: http://wiiudaily.com/2013/02/sony-consoles-wii-u/
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Faster, more efficient technique for creating high-density ceramics
Feb. 27, 2013 ? A researcher from North Carolina State University has developed a technique for creating high-density ceramic materials that requires far lower temperatures than current techniques -- and takes less than a second, as opposed to hours. Ceramics are used in a wide variety of technologies, including body armor, fuel cells, spark plugs, nuclear rods and superconductors.
At issue is a process known as "sintering," which is when ceramic powders (such as zirconia) are compressed into a desired shape and exposed to high heat until the powder particles are bound together into a solid, but slightly porous, material. But new research from Dr. Jay Narayan, John C. Fan Distinguished Chair Professor of Materials Science and Engineering at NC State, may revolutionize the sintering process.
Narayan's new technique, selective-melt sintering, allows sintering of yttria-stabilized zirconia at 800 degrees Celsius (C) -- instead of the conventional 1450 C. In addition, using the selective-melt sintering technique, it is possible to sinter zirconia at 800 C in less than a second, and create a material with no porosity at all. In contrast, traditional sintering techniques take four to five hours at 1450 C.
"This technique allows you to achieve 'theoretical density,' meaning it eliminates all of the porosity in the material," Narayan says. "This increases the strength of the ceramic, as well as improving its optical, magnetic and other properties."
The key to Narayan's approach is the application of an electric field, at approximately 100 volts per centimeter, to the material. When this field is applied, it creates subtle changes in the material's "grain boundaries" -- where atoms from different crystals meet in the material. Namely, the field draws "defects" to the grain boundary. These defects consist of vacancies (missing atoms) which can carry charges. The defects are negatively charged and draw current from the electric field to the area -- which raises the temperature along the grain boundary.
Raising the temperature along the grain boundary means that the material can be sintered at a much lower temperature, because sintering is done by selectively melting the grain boundaries to fuse the crystals together.
Normally you would have to apply enough heat to raise the mass of all the material to the melting point, even though you only need to melt the grain boundary. "Pre-heating" the grain boundary with an electric field is what allowed Narayan to lower the sintering temperature from 1450 C to 800 C and sinter the material much more quickly.
An invited viewpoint paper describing the work, "New mechanism for field-assisted processing and flash sintering of materials," is published online in Scripta Materialia. Narayan is the sole author.
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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by North Carolina State University.
Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.
Journal Reference:
- J. Narayan. New Mechanism for field-assisted processing and flash sintering of materials. Scripta Materialia, 2013; DOI: 10.1016/j.scriptamat.2013.02.020
Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.
Disclaimer: Views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.
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Wednesday, 27 February 2013
No Wi-Fi, No Problem ? Restaurant Waitlisting App For iPad NoshList Comes To Smartphones
NoshList, the restaurant waitlisting app for iPad launched just over a year ago, is today making its way to smartphones, including both the iPhone and Android devices. Although possibly not the ideal form factor for the job, the mobile app allows restaurants to test the NoshList experience on devices they likely own, before making an investment into a tablet (or multiple tablets) to run the full-screen version. In addition, the new mobile apps can serve as backup if the restaurant's Wi-Fi connection ever goes down, as they'll maintain connectivity, whereas the more affordable, Wi-Fi only iPads would have lost their signal.Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/kyChY1j3Z64/
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Is historical claim behind the mystery group of (armed?) Filipinos in Borneo?
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Twitter Windows Phone update brings it 'in line with other Twitter apps'
Twitter has finally given some love to its Windows Phone app, a change the company promises will put it "in line with other Twitter apps." On the docket are changes to the UI and a slew of new features. The app now offers tabs for Home, Connect, Discover and Me, making it easier to keep up with your feed and mentions around the Twittersphere. Also new are Tweet and Search icons, which let you perform those activities from anywhere in the app. And those who hate going to the trouble of opening the app the old fashioned way can pin searches and lists to their phone's start screen now, thanks to a new Live Tile update. For more info on the changes, click the source link below.
Filed under: Microsoft
Source: Twitter
Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/02/26/twitter-windows-phone/
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Tuesday, 26 February 2013
'Identity Thief' tops box office with $14 million
FILE -This undated publicity file image released by Universal Pictures shows Jason Bateman, left, and Melissa McCarthy in a scene from, "Identity Thief." As of Sunday, Feb. 24, 2013, ?Identity Thief?, with a cumulative total of $93.7 million viewers, is the biggest hit so far in 2013. (AP Photo/Universal Pictures)
FILE -This undated publicity file image released by Universal Pictures shows Jason Bateman, left, and Melissa McCarthy in a scene from, "Identity Thief." As of Sunday, Feb. 24, 2013, ?Identity Thief?, with a cumulative total of $93.7 million viewers, is the biggest hit so far in 2013. (AP Photo/Universal Pictures)
NEW YORK (AP) ? A week after losing the box office title to Bruce Willis, Melissa McCarthy took it back again.
McCarthy's road trip comedy "Identity Thief" topped the box office in its third week of release on Oscar weekend with $14 million for Universal. 20th Century Fox's "A Good Day to Die Hard," starring Willis, slid to fifth with $10.1 million.
The top 20 movies at U.S. and Canadian theaters Friday through Sunday, followed by distribution studio, gross, number of theater locations, average receipts per location, total gross and number of weeks in release, as compiled Monday by Hollywood.com are:
1. "Identity Thief," Universal, $14,017,085, 3,222 locations, $4,350 average, $93,619,615, three weeks.
2. "Snitch," Lionsgate, $13,167,607, 2,511 locations, $5,244 average, $13,167,607, one week.
3. "Escape From Planet Earth," Weinstein Co., $10,682,037, 3,353 locations, $3,186 average, $34,812,699, two weeks.
4. "Safe Haven," Relativity Media, $10,454,713, 3,223 locations, $3,244 average, $47,916,356, two weeks.
5. "A Good Day to Die Hard," Fox, $10,165,633, 3,555 locations, $2,860 average, $51,967,897, two weeks.
6. "Dark Skies," Weinstein Co., $8,189,166, 2,313 locations, $3,540 average, $8,189,166, one week.
7. "Silver Linings Playbook," Weinstein Co., $5,750,866, 2,012 locations, $2,858 average, $107,176,012, 15 weeks.
8. "Warm Bodies," Lionsgate, $4,825,388, 2,644 locations, $1,825 average, $58,243,441, four weeks.
9. "Beautiful Creatures," Warner Bros., $3,608,333, 2,950 locations, $1,223 average, $16,570,598, two weeks.
10. "Side Effects," Open Road Films, $3,357,039, 2,070 locations, $1,622 average, $25,099,555, three weeks.
11. "Zero Dark Thirty," Sony, $2,230,084, 1,197 locations, $1,863 average, $91,539,075, 10 weeks.
12. "Argo," Warner Bros., $1,827,165, 802 locations, $2,278 average, $129,653,502, 20 weeks.
13. "Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters," Paramount, $1,684,532, 1,425 locations, $1,182 average, $52,945,086, five weeks.
14. "Life of Pi," Fox, $1,605,366, 572 locations, $2,807 average, $113,525,126, 14 weeks.
15. "Lincoln," Disney, $1,481,081, 875 locations, $1,693 average, $178,603,571, 16 weeks.
16. "Mama," Universal, $1,173,900, 1,163 locations, $1,009 average, $70,230,570, six weeks.
17. "Quartet," Weinstein Co., $1,125,886, 356 locations, $3,163 average, $8,844,950, seven weeks.
18. "Django Unchained," Weinstein Co., $971,655, 659 locations, $1,474 average, $158,783,430, nine weeks.
19. "Amour," Sony Pictures Classics, $716,186, 328 locations, $2,183 average, $5,147,242, 10 weeks.
20. "Wreck-It Ralph," Disney, $645,870, 402 locations, $1,607 average, $186,676,411, 17 weeks.
___
Universal and Focus are owned by NBC Universal, a unit of Comcast Corp.; Sony, Columbia, Sony Screen Gems and Sony Pictures Classics are units of Sony Corp.; Paramount is owned by Viacom Inc.; Disney, Pixar and Marvel are owned by The Walt Disney Co.; Miramax is owned by Filmyard Holdings LLC; 20th Century Fox and Fox Searchlight are owned by News Corp.; Warner Bros. and New Line are units of Time Warner Inc.; MGM is owned by a group of former creditors including Highland Capital, Anchorage Advisors and Carl Icahn; Lionsgate is owned by Lions Gate Entertainment Corp.; IFC is owned by AMC Networks Inc.; Rogue is owned by Relativity Media LLC.
___
Online:
http://www.hollywood.com
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Oscar Ratings Up, Seth MacFarlane Says 'No Way' To Second Go-Round
'Lotta fun to have done it, though,' MacFarlane tweets about Oscars, whose rating were up 11 percent among 18-49 viewers.
By Gil Kaufman
Seth MacFarlane at the 2013 Oscars
Photo: Kevin Winter/ Getty Images
Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1702623/oscar-ratings-seth-macfarlane.jhtml
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Dear Prudence: The Happy Hooker
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Source: http://feeds.slate.com/click.phdo?i=120098b735e757027ee8e20b4d8310ef
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Amazon's latest employee patent won't pay you for unsatisfactory work
Jeff Bezos seems like a nice guy with big dreams (and a bigger wallet), but some Amazon patents make us worry that there's a sour cherry at the heart of all that whipped cream. The retailer has been awarded a patent entitled "Facilitating improvement in the results of human performance of tasks," but is actually concerned with not paying digital employees if their services are deemed to be unsatisfactory. Those whose efforts are judged and found wanting have the option of taking a reduced cut of the original fee, or getting computer-aided feedback on how to improve and snag the rest. While we hope this one remains locked inside a Seattle filing cabinet, we can just see how Judge Judy's going to react when people take Mechanical Turk disputes public.
Source: USPTO
Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/AWgXV6uRUoc/
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Mozilla to bring marketplace to Firefox OS later this year, allow payment through operators
Mozilla has just announced live at its MWC 2013 event that it'll launch its marketplace for Firefox OS "later this year," and that you'll be able to pay for apps directly through your mobile operator. That's obviously different from Google and Apple's approach, perhaps to entice carriers to jump on board with devices packing the new mobile OS. You'll be able to grab apps in categories like games, news and media from outfits like EA, Disney, Facebook and Twitter. Mozilla's also touting "one-time use and downloadable apps" to let users test out apps before they buy them. The organization said that developers will be able to use "web technologies at the core," to create HTML5-based apps, in order to populate the new ecosystem quickly. The marketplace won't arrive to Firefox OS until later this year, but you can get a preview on Firefox for Android Aurora. For more info, check the PR after the break.
Filed under: Cellphones, Software
Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/02/24/firefox-to-offer-multiple-marketplaces-payments-operator/
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Mathematically, How Many Different Tweets Could There Ever Be?
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Thursday, 21 February 2013
Can A New Electric Toothbrush Really Get Your Teeth Cleaner?
The Sonicare has been the gold standard of teeth cleaning for years. Now, the Oral B Deep Sweep says it ?removes up to 76% more plaque than the Sonicare FlexCare in hard to reach places.? But is one toothbrush really that much better than another?
The Test
First, please know that I am not a dentist, nor do I have the proper instruments required to do a truly scientific test. So lawyers, take note: my results are really my subjective opinions. That said, here?s what I do to make the test as fair as possible in the comfort of my own bathroom:
I chew up those dental dye tablets ? the kind your dentist uses to reveal areas where you haven?t brushed so well. Then I brush one side of my mouth with the Sonicare, for exactly 30 seconds each on top and bottom, then I brush the other side of my mouth for exactly the same time with the Oral B Deep Sweep.
Subjective Differences
The Oral B seems to facilitate more movement of the bristles, the Sonicare feels like higher frequency, smaller vibrations. The Sonicare was a little more tickly than the lower frequency Oral B. The Oral B was heavier and the brush head was bigger than the Sonicare. I like the feel of the Oral B a little better.
The Results
Which gets my teeth cleaner? When I look in the mirror, I don?t see any dye remaining. So I have my producer and editor make a careful inspection. And neither of them notice any difference between the cleaning efficacy of the devices either.
Test #2
This test, I definitely don?t recommend you do yourself: I rub fluorescent paste ? the kind that shows up under black light ? all over my teeth and into the crevices. The paste really shows up under the black light so maybe we?ll see some that the toothbrushes don?t clean. I brush each of the four quadrants of my mouth with one of the devices, for exactly 30 seconds each. And again, upon close inspection, the teeth all look similarly clean.
Finally, to gauge how much value these high end toothbrushes really offer, I repeat the test, comparing the $129 Sonicare and the $139 Deep Sweep to a $9 Arm & Hammer Spin Brush, and to a regular, manual toothbrush. They, too, did a good job removing the dye.
Conclusions
I really wish that my tests had indicated one brush was significantly different that the other. But my simple dye tests reveled no glaring contrasts. While that doesn?t prove in any way that the toothbrushes are the same, I can tell you that both left my teeth feeling clean. While it was cleaning, I liked the feel of the Oral B the best; it seemed to do a lot of the brushing work for me. The Oral B comes with a separate timer that encourages you to brush a full 30 seconds for each of the four quadrants of your mouth. The Sonicare does the same with beeps, but the little timer device from Oral B was a nice visual nudge to keep brushing. One thing I did like better about the Sonicare- it left my gums feeling a bit tinglier (is that a word?), but you get the idea; the gums got a bit more stimulated from my experience.
But paying $139 for any toothbrush is a lot, and I don?t believe that you really need to spend that much to get your teeth clean, as long as you brush properly and floss to get in the spaces that no brush can reach.
[Related: Can a Robot Clean Your Windows Better than You Can?]
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Wednesday, 20 February 2013
Nikon announces the D7100 DSLR: $1,200, 24MP DX sensor, improved speed and focusing (update: hands-on!)
Not eager to fork over two grand for Nikon's full-frame D600? You might take interest with the company's new D7100, a lightweight DSLR with a brand new DX-format (APS-C) sensor and a handful of other goodies to boot. The 24.1-megapixel cam's imaging technology follows a now-commonplace industry trend by dropping the optical low-pass filter in favor of enhanced resolution. Naturally, the D7000 successor includes a sensitivity range of ISO 100 to 25,600 (Hi 2), along with improved noise reduction for better results in low-light. There's a D4-like EXPEED 3 processor with support for 6 frames-per-second shooting in any mode, even when capturing 12- or 14-bit RAW images. A unique 1.3x DX crop function boost that rate to 7 fps, however, while capturing a maximum of 15.4-megapixel stills and 1080/60i or 50i video, compared to 1080 30/25/24p in the regular mode. There's a 3.2-inch 1.229M-dot LCD, an OLED display inside the viewfinder for crisper data readout, and plenty more if you read on!
Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/0xAFs20ozHY/
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Filing 2012 income taxes? Five changes to watch for.
That time again: Customers waited for help on their income taxes at an H&R Block office last year in Nashville, Tenn. (Mark Humphrey/AP/File)
These deductions aren't new. The surprise is that they're still around. In the fiscal-cliff deal, Congress reinstated several expired tax breaks, if only temporarily.
One of the most important among the reinstated tax breaks is the deduction for state and local sales taxes. Tax-payers who take itemized deductions can deduct the sales taxes they pay in lieu of state and local income taxes. That might not mean much in a high-tax state like Connecticut or New Jersey. But it's a highly popular provision for residents of Texas, Florida, and other states that don't have a state income tax.
Another reinstated tax break is the deduction for mortgage insurance, typically something homeowners pay if they have made only a small down payment on their house. Two other tax breaks still holding on by their fingernails: the deduction for qualified college tuition and out-of-pocket teacher expenses. All these deductions are scheduled to disappear after 2013.
Another important deduction ? because it directly reduces the tax owed, not just one's income ? is the credit for homeowners who have installed energy-saving materials, such as insulation and energy-efficient doors and windows. The deduction allows a deduction that is a portion of the cost of materials up to a lifetime credit of $500.
One provision Congress did make permanent ? an inflation-adjusted form of the alternative minimum tax ? means that taxpayers will no longer be subjected to the yearly uncertainty of whether Washington would enact a patch to ensure the AMT would not ensnare middle-income taxpayers. "If you look over the history of the last 12 years, the number of people caught by the AMT does creep up each year, just not drastically," says Mark Luscombe, principal analyst at CCH Tax & Accounting based in Riverwoods, Ill.
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