Dan R sez, "This corporate news piece from the opening of 'Spaceship Earth' has plenty to offer the casual to semi-rabid technology fan who is also partial to World's Fair-esque exhibits about the FUTURE! Great footage of 'Spaceship Earth's' exhibits abound, and the film also features other highlights of EPCOT, including Exxon's 'Universe of Energy,' replete with animatronic dinosaurs."

I got trapped on Spaceship Earth during opening month (it had been going down sporadically all day, resulting in heroic queues), just as we reached the top. After a long wait at the apex, we all got to walk down the stairs to get out. It was my first look backstage at a ride. It was seminal.

You’re a fashion role model and Internet style icon, what do you think others see in you that has inspired this?

I can only imagine it’s because I’m willing to ‘go there’ and take chances.  Getting dressed is really the only area in my life that I can say I am fearless; I’m terrified of so many things, yet am somehow not afraid to wear anything. For me, it’s always been rather innate– as a 5 year old I was specific about the way everything fit, even a t-shirt.

What do you find is the biggest challenge for guys who want to look good, but don’t know where to start?

Whenever it’s out of their comfort zone, guys need a blueprint; they have an event: what do I wear? They’re going to a black tie: what does that mean? They’re going to meet their in-laws: how do I impress? I think that overall guys are interested in acquiring a wardrobe based on problem solving; finding something cool that fits into their lives.

All the young bloggers geek out about double monk strap shoes and tailoring– very old school, traditional elements. Cool doesn’t necessarily mean avant-garde.

The thing that started it all was probably casual Friday; the thing that was supposed to be liberating fucked things up more than anything.

Are you now more aware of how you approach getting dressed every day?

I really don’t think about what I’m going to wear until I jump in the shower.  However, I feel that the stakes are higher each time I make a purchase or decision about what I’m going to wear, because there are several chances that it will be amplified.

I like to take risks and not everything I wear is going to be everyone’s cup of tea.  That also means I cart around gigantic overweight trunks, because I never know how I’m going to feel on a given morning.  Airport check-in desks are the bane of my existence, absolute hell.

Has the amplified attention affected your self-esteem? 

If anything, it’s made my self-esteem worse…  I am my own harshest critic.  As much as I love to wear something that’s a bit off, I’m terrified that I will be made fun of.  It’s a frightening conundrum.

I love clothes, but as the season approaches I always feel the need to add new things.  It’s natural because I have the opportunity to see more, which makes me want to buy more– a very expensive occupational hazard.

If I’m wearing something it’s nearly always because I bought it.  I’ve certainly accepted things a long the way, but I never feel obligated to wear them. I have to intrinsically love something in order to wear it. I’m grateful to be constantly surrounded by many of the things I love.

Interview with Co-Director Hooman Khalili, Executive Producer, Chris Kelly and Randi Zuckerberg who has a cameo performance in the film Olive taken with a Nokia N8 smartphone.

@FANDORific talked to Hooman about the Oscars & Gena Rowlands.

Olive is the very first full length feature film shot 100% on a cell phone. A 35 mm lens adapter was fabricated to fit the smart phone in order to achieve a shallow depth of field.

The financing of Olive was done independently of any corporation. The goal now is to be the first film to not only be shot on a cell phone, but to also be the first independently financed feature film on 2,000+ theaters across the United States without the backing of a major studio.

Last year, we put out a podcast called "Death By Fire? Probably Not." It was about the remarkable decline in fatal fires in the U.S. over the past century, and explored some of the contributing factors.

Joseph M. Fleming, a deputy fire chief with the Boston Fire Department, has now written in with a guest post that challenges what we think we know about smoke alarms. Fleming has more than 30 years of experience in the fire industry (in both firefighting and management), and suggests that people think a little harder about smoke alarms.

Last year, we put out a podcast called “Death By Fire? Probably Not.” It was about the remarkable decline in fatal fires in the U.S. over the past century, and explored some of the contributing factors.

Joseph M. Fleming, a deputy fire chief with the Boston Fire Department, has now written in with a guest post that challenges what we think we know about smoke alarms. Fleming has more than 30 years of experience in the fire industry (in both firefighting and management), and suggests that people think a little harder about smoke alarms.

Do Smoke Alarms Really Save Lives?

By Joseph M. Fleming

As a deputy chief on a major municipal fire department, I have preached for years about the life-saving benefits of working smoke alarms.  I also trust the lives of my family to the eight smoke alarms installed in my house.  However, some of the available data regarding smoke alarms raise disturbing questions about the actual effectiveness of smoke alarms at reducing fire deaths in the U.S.

In the illustrated edition of SuperFreakonomics, the following chart appears. It shows a continuous downward trend in fire deaths for the last 90 years and particularly for the last 50 years. 

Now I would like to provide information on how smoke alarm usage has increased over time.  Most of these smoke alarms were single-station, battery-powered ionization alarms.

Keeping this chart in mind, consider the following statement from the U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology:

According to estimates by the National Fire Protection Association and the U.S. Fire Administration, U.S. home usage of smoke alarms rose from less than 10% in 1975 to at least 95% in 2000, while the number of home fire deaths was cut nearly in half. Thus the home smoke alarm is credited as the greatest success story in fire safety in the last part of the 20^th  century, because it alone represented a highly effective fire safety technology with leverage on most of the fire death problem that went from only token usage to nearly universal usage in a remarkably short time.

If the ionization smoke alarm was responsible for most of the decrease in fire deaths in the last part of the 20^th century, shouldn’t the rate of decrease have been greatest over the time period that smoke alarm usage increased the fastest?   Yet over the time period of 1977–1987, when the use of smoke alarms skyrocketed, the trend line remained relatively constant.  The death rate was trending down before smoke alarms and continued to trend down after they saturated the market.  It does not appear that ionization smoke alarms affected the trend line. NIST inexplicably ignores the trends in better building codes, reduction in smoking, better firefighting equipment, and better emergency medical care as likely reasons for the reduction in fire deaths.

I would like to analyze another statistic often cited to support the effectiveness of smoke alarms: “The death rate in fires with working smoke alarms (0.52 per 100 fires) was less than half (56% lower) than the risk of death from fires that did not have working smoke alarms (1.18 deaths per 100 fires), either because no smoke alarm was present or an alarm was present but did not operate.”

However, these numbers are skewed by including “confined fires” — i.e., fires that are contained to the object of origin.  Over this time period (2005–2009), no one died in this type of fire if the fire was big enough to operate the alarm.  If, using the same report, we only analyze “non-confined” fires, we get the following death rate per 100 fires for homes.

• Smoke alarm present and operated – 1.15 (980 deaths / 85,100 fires)
• No smoke alarm or alarm did not operate – 1.64 (1,640 deaths / 99,800 fires)

This is only a 29 percent reduction in death rate (1.15 versus 1.64). Given that some of the reduction is probably due to socioeconomic factors that accompany smoke alarm ownership, the reduction in risk attributable to the alarm is less than this percentage.  The numbers for apartments are even more troubling.

• Smoke alarm present and operated – 1.17 (220 deaths / 18,800 fires)
• No smoke alarm or alarm did not operate – 1.43 (200 deaths / 14,000 fires)

In apartments, smoke alarms only reduce the risk of dying in a fire by 18 percent (1.17 versus 1.42). 

It is highly probable that the main reason for the lack of effectiveness of operating smoke alarms is that most smoke alarms utilize ionization technology (the less-expensive kind of alarm). This technology has been shown to operate only after dangerous conditions have developed during smoldering fires, and these types of fires are extremely common during the times when occupants are sleeping and relying on the alarm to alert them.  It is one of the reasons that some states — Massachusetts and Vermont, for example — as well as the International Association of Firefighters recommend the use of photoelectric smoke alarms. (The eight smoke alarms in my house are photoelectric alarms.)  Another reason is that photoelectric alarms are far less likely to sound nuisance alarms and, as a consequence, are less likely to be disabled.

More information on this topic can be obtained at the following links:

Smoke Detector Technology and the Investigation of Fatal Fires

Smoke Alarm Information from the International Association of Firefighters

According to the Sports Business Journal, the NBA is going to fully phase in a revenue-sharing plan in 2013-14 which:

All of this will -- according to Jeanie Buss (Executive VP of business operations for the Los Angeles Lakers) -- allow teams to become “economically viable so that every team has the opportunity to compete.”  And according to Buss, this will “make for a healthier league.” 

As the article notes, Buss served on the committee that created this plan.  And as the article also notes, Buss and the Lakers will contribute the most revenue.  Unfortunately, it seems unlikely that this plan will dramatically change the level of balance in the league.

(Photo: Keith Allison)

According to the Sports Business Journal, the NBA is going to fully phase in a revenue-sharing plan in 2013-14 which:

• “calls for all teams to contribute an annually fixed percentage, roughly 50 percent, of their total annual revenue, minus certain expenses such as arena operating costs, into a revenue sharing pool.”
• will shift $140 million around the league
• will allow a single team to receive up to $16 million (this year the most any team could receive was $5.8 million), a mark that is about 25 percent of this year’s payroll cap

All of this will — according to Jeanie Buss (Executive VP of business operations for the Los Angeles Lakers) — allow teams to become “economically viable so that every team has the opportunity to compete.”  And according to Buss, this will “make for a healthier league.” 

As the article notes, Buss served on the committee that created this plan.  And as the article also notes, Buss and the Lakers will contribute the most revenue.  Unfortunately, it seems unlikely that this plan will dramatically change the level of balance in the league.

To understand this point, let’s talk about LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers.

In April of 2010 — or less than two years ago — the Cleveland Cavaliers finished with the best record in the NBA.  Less than three months after this season ended, though, LeBron announced that he was departing Cleveland for the Miami Heat.

One might think this was a classic case of a larger market simply using its revenue advantages to take talent from a smaller market.  After all, the Miami metropolitan area has more than twice the population as Cleveland.  Such disparities suggest Miami has a much bigger source of revenue, and in a bidding war for talent with Cleveland, Miami is likely to win.  Given this reality, if the NBA truly wanted every market to be competitive, something would have to be done to reduce the revenue disparities we see across markets. 

Although such an analysis might seem to fit the facts, it ignores a crucial element of the NBA’s labor market.  Back in 1999, the NBA implemented the first salary cap in North American history.  Yes, the NFL and NBA had payroll caps — or limits on how much a team could pay all of its players — well before 1999.  But prior to 1999, no league had placed a limit on how much any team could pay any single player.

Starting in 1999, though, the NBA did limit the pay to their stars. As a consequence, it is still the case that the highest salary paid to an NBA player in a single season was the $33.14 million the Chicago Bulls paid Michael Jordan in the 1997-98 season. And with the pay of star players restricted, it appears that these players are now producing far more revenue for their teams than teams have to pay the stars in salaries.  

Here is a back-of-the-envelope calculation that illustrates this point.  Back in 2009-10, the NBA paid about $2.1 billion to its players in salary.  And these players produced 1,230 wins.  That means the NBA paid about $1.7 million per win.  In 2009-10, though, LeBron James produced 21.6 wins for the Cleveland Cavaliers. Had Cleveland paid the average price per win to James, they would have had to pay more than $36 million.  Mr. James, though, received less than $16 million in salary that season. So according to this fairly crude calculation, the Cavaliers were able to pocket more than $20 million from LeBron.

After the 2009-10 season — according to the NBA’s rules — Cleveland could have signed LeBron to a 6-year contract for $128 million.  In contrast, without a sign-and-trade (which ultimately did happen) Miami could only offer $99 million over five years. LeBron, though, decided to take less money to sign with the Heat.  In response, owner Dan Gilbert of the Cavaliers … well, he expressed some unhappiness.   

This unhappiness, though, wasn’t motivated by a system that allowed large market teams to pluck the best talent from the small market teams.  Again, the Cavaliers could pay more than anyone for LeBron.  And even at this higher wage, the Cavaliers were still going to collect millions in additional revenue.  One suspects that the true motivation behind Gilbert’s unhappiness was that when LeBron left Ohio, millions of dollars also left Gilbert’s pocket.

We can see this when we examine the recent history of revenue sharing in the NBA. Tom Reed of the Plain Dealer reported the following in a story announcing the NBA’s latest revenue-sharing plan:

During the final few seasons of the LeBron James era, the Cavaliers were winning playoff games and writing checks to the league’s revenue-sharing plan. They had robust attendance, excellent sponsorship and one of the league’s top-10 local cable deals — 10 years at $25 million per from Fox Sports Ohio, which began in 2006.

And now that LeBron has left, Reed expects Cleveland to be drawing money from the NBA’s newly enlarged revenue plan.  So what happened? Obviously Cleveland didn’t just become a small market team.  Two years ago — if we look at population — Cleveland was clearly one of the NBA’s smallest markets.  But because they had a star producing much more revenue than the Cavaliers were required to pay the star in salary, the Cavaliers earned so much revenue that they were treated like a large market team.

Despite this evidence, here’s what Len Komoroski – president of the Cavaliers — had to say about the new revenue-sharing plan:  “The new revenue-sharing model clearly helps create a better competitive balance across the league. We think the new model is not only good for the Cavaliers, but good for the entire league.”

One wonders why Mr. Komoroski reached this conclusion.  Will this new revenue-sharing plan cause LeBron to come home?  Will it cause future NBA stars to take the money Cleveland clearly has to pay its superstars?

Again, LeBron didn’t leave Cleveland because the Cavaliers couldn’t afford him.  Clearly – because of the NBA’s salary cap established in 1999 – LeBron was a huge bargain for the Cavaliers. So one wonders how anyone would conclude that transferring money from the LA Lakers to the Cleveland Cavaliers would stop a scenario like the LeBron story from happening again.

And in fact, it doesn’t.  We just saw the same story take place with respect to Chris Paul and the New Orleans Hornets.  Like James, Paul produces more revenue than he can be paid by NBA rules (Paul produced 18.4 wins for the New Orleans Hornets last season).  But the Hornets — who are owned by the NBA — felt compelled to trade Paul to the Los Angeles Clippers because Paul indicated he would not re-sign with the Hornets.  Once again, it wasn’t because the Hornets couldn’t afford Paul.  The trade appeared to simply reflect Paul’s desire to leave New Orleans.

Of course, the stories of LeBron James and Chris Paul are just anecdotes. Such stories, though, are supported by a paper Martin Schmidt and I presented last summer on the link between salary caps, payroll caps, luxury taxes, revenue sharing, etc. and competitive balance. Our research indicates there isn’t a link. 

In the end, what all these plans do is transfer the money the league generates.  In general, that transfer runs from players to teams.  It also — as we see with the NBA’s revenue-sharing plan — transfers money from large market teams to small market teams.  What it doesn’t do is change the competitive landscape of the league.   

So if you are concerned that your favorite small market team isn’t winning enough, don’t expect this revenue-sharing plan to change that reality.  That reality really won’t change until the people running your favorite team start making better decisions and, consequently, doing a better job of convincing the stars they land that they will ultimately win (like Tim Duncan in San Antonio) in a small market.

TV is bad for children.  Wait, no it's not.  Yes, it is!   And it's really bad for their hearts!

Here's the latest paper on the topic, from Michael Waldman, Sean Nicholson, and Nodir Adilov.  Using a natural experiment to rule out the possibility of reverse causation, the authors find "a strong negative correlation between average county-level cable subscription rates when a birth cohort is below three and subsequent mental retardation diagnosis rates, but a strong positive correlation between the same cable subscription rates and subsequent autism diagnosis rates."  

(Photo: Library of Congress)

TV is bad for children.  Wait, no it’s not.  Yes, it is!   And it’s really bad for their hearts!

Here’s the latest paper on the topic, from Michael Waldman, Sean Nicholson, and Nodir Adilov.  Using a natural experiment to rule out the possibility of reverse causation, the authors find “a strong negative correlation between average county-level cable subscription rates when a birth cohort is below three and subsequent mental retardation diagnosis rates, but a strong positive correlation between the same cable subscription rates and subsequent autism diagnosis rates.”  

In other words, TV watching decreases the rate of mental retardation but increases the rate of autism.  The authors hypothesize that, consistent with earlier research, “for the typical child television watching at age two improves cognitive development and decreases diagnoses of mental retardation.”

In contrast, TV might be particularly bad news for kids vulnerable to autism:

[W]e believe the most likely explanation is that there is a genetically vulnerable group for which early childhood television watching serves as a trigger for autism. It has long been known that autism has a strong genetic component (see e.g., Rimland (1964) and Folstein and Rutter (1977)). So one explanation for our autism results is that at least for some children diagnosed with autism it is not the genetics alone which triggers the condition, but rather the genes create a vulnerability to autism that is sometimes triggered by early childhood television watching.

Don’t you just hate it when rude and inefficient airline administrators ruin your vacation by stranding you on the ski leg of your vacation in Aspen causing you to almost miss your cruise leaving out of Florida? It’s so annoying to have to stay in a series of luxury hotels across the country because the…

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Tags: Airlines, David Shulick, Lawsuit of the Day, New Law Schools, Pro Se Litigants, Racism, TSA, United Airlines, USAIR

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Don’t you just hate it when rude and inefficient airline administrators ruin your vacation by stranding you on the ski leg of your vacation in Aspen causing you to almost miss your cruise leaving out of Florida? It’s so annoying to have to stay in a series of luxury hotels across the country because the airline industry can’t get its act together.

I’m doing a silly parody of rich people problems, but honestly, if I have to choose between well off Americans and the fools and crooks who run the airline industry, I’m going to throw my lot in with the rich people every time. Especially when some employees are hurling racial insults at them.

It was a wild holiday vacation for the Shulicks of Philadelphia. Luckily, patriarch David Shulick is a lawyer, so he knows that when the airlines push you around, you can sue….

David Shulick is suing United Airlines and USAir for canceling his flights, having crappy customer service, and generally doing all the things the airlines do their customers that most of us just have to accept.

Like so many travelers, the Shulicks had their plans destroyed by the great Christmas blizzard of 2010. From David Shulick’s pro se complaint:

The Shulicks purchased round-trip tickets from United for a flight leaving Philadelphia for Aspen, on December 21, 2010, with a return flight on December 26, 2010. They also purchased tickets from USAir for a flight from Philadelphia to Orlando on December 29, 2010, returning January 3, 2011. On December 25, 2010, while the Shulicks were in Aspen, United canceled the Shulicks’ return flight from Aspen for the next day due to extreme weather conditions in the eastern part of the country, including in and around Philadelphia. For several hours after receiving notice of the cancellation, the Shulicks allege they were unable to reach United’s customer service representatives by telephone or internet to re-book a flight to Philadelphia. They then elected a different course. Because their hotel in Aspen was fully booked after December 26th, the Shulicks decided to rent a car. They then drove from Aspen to the airport in Denver, Colorado. Their idea was to speak in person with airline ticketing agents, with a view toward trying to find a flight to Philadelphia that had not been canceled by the weather emergency.

The Shulicks allege that following their drive they were unable to get in-person help at the airport and were directed instead to contact the websites and toll-free telephone numbers of the defendant airlines, which they allege were not working or at least not responsive to their needs. Consequently, the Shulicks rented a hotel room at the Four Seasons Hotel in Denver on December 26th, and continued to try to book a return flight via the internet. Unfortunately, United’s website “crashed” due to the volume of customers attempting to access the airline’s rebooking services, and it remained non-functional for perhaps as long as 36 hours. Eventually, as the weather emergency in the eastern United States seemed to abate, the Shulicks booked a flight via the internet for December 28, 2010. However, because that December 28th flight would arrive in Philadelphia after midnight, i.e., in the early hours of December 29th, and their flight to Orlando would depart that same morning of December 29th, leaving the Shulicks little time to sleep or pack for their warm weather holiday cruise, they continued to try to book an earlier flight.

From there, the Shulicks endured a series of nights at Four Seasons and Ritz Carltons across the nation.

But it wasn’t until the Shulicks got to New Orleans that they were made to understand what real persecution feels like:

At the New Orleans airport, the Shulicks were at first unable to retrieve their checked baggage, in which they had packed their children’s medication. The Shulicks allege that in New Orleans, the United baggage agent, an African-American woman, from whom the Shulicks (who are Caucasian) sought baggage retrieval assistance, behaved in a discriminatory fashion toward Cherie Shulick, calling her a “honkey,” laughing at her and harassing the family, and refusing to help locate their baggage. During this contretemps, the United baggage agent called a New Orleans Police officer to support her in confronting Cherie Shulick. While this was occurring, David Shulick was videotaping his wife’s encounter with the baggage agent (Mr. Shulick later sent the videotape to United’s corporate headquarters, demanding that the New Orleans baggage employee be terminated or, at least, formally reprimanded).1 Ultimately, a porter at the New Orleans airport helped the Shulicks retrieve their checked baggage. The Shulicks then rented a car at the airport, drove into the city, and stayed overnight at a hotel.

FN1 The Shulicks further allege that they were told by a Transportation Security Administration employee and a USAir employee in the New Orleans airport that the United baggage agent in question had a history of discriminatory conduct towards Caucasian customers.

The Shulicks aren’t honkeys. They have black friends. Famous black friends.

Honestly, I don’t even think the airline industry sees “color,” all they see are powerless people who can be f***ed.

The Shulicks ended up flying from New Orleans to Orlando to make their cruise. But even on the way back, the airlines messed with them:

Smooth sailing was short lived. While the Shulicks were aboard the cruise, defendant USAir cancelled the January 3, 2011 return flight from Orlando to Philadelphia. The Shulicks again spent time on telephone “hold” with USAir agents while re-booking the flight. They were unable to sit with their children on the re-booked return flight to Philadelphia.

Well, I’m not surprised by USAir messing things up. I bet Lat isn’t either.

The bottom line is that nobody should really have to go through this. Airlines can talk all they want about “acts of God,” but if you’ve ever been through a canceled flight, it’s goddamn terrible. The airlines couldn’t be more unhelpful in those situations.

But I don’t know if the airlines are legally liable for acting like airlines.

Shulick v. United Airlines and USAir [U.S. District Court, E.D. Pennsylvania: PDF]

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Major anti-online piracy laws like PIPA/SOPA and ACTA are designed to protect the intellectual property of businesses like the US movie industry.

Hollywood cites yearly losses of billions of dollars to illegal internet downloads as justification for new legislation. (source, PDF)

But what do the numbers say?

See our data and calculations: http://www.bit.ly/movierevs.

(And, um, if you can supply worldwide DVD sales figures, please get in touch!)

Well, our Information is Beautiful Awards challenge on movie budgets is proving more popular than a DVD of Juno on a wet afternoon.

We’ve had loads of great entries already. And some amazingly creative ideas are popping up.

Like, Jermone Cukier‘s explorations of the dollar value of individual features of a plot. He cross-referenced keywords for each movie on IMDb with box office return. The result? A price tag for each plot element.

Having an explosion in your film could earn you $150m, he finds. A love triangle $37m. And a psychopath – just $32m. See the list.

All this is very exciting and creative so we’re extending the closing deadline by a week.

You now have until Monday 6 February to get your ideas to us.

» Check out the challenge at InformationIsBeautifulAwards.com
» Check out the data

You can create a design, an interactive piece or even a sketch on a napkin to tell your own movie stories. The winners share a showbiz-worthy $5,000 prize-pot, thanks to kind sponsors Kantar.com.

In the meantime, why not explore this revealing snippet of data. Top 10 films for each year not by Hollywood’s favourite, gross. But by profitability, percentage of against budget, not just cash-pull. Changes the top 10 movie charts considerably…

See the data sheet in Google Docs

Recently, when throwing ideas around with people, I’ve noticed something. There seems to be a hidden language we use when evaluating ideas.

Neat idea. Brilliant idea. Dumb idea. Bad idea. Strange idea. Cool idea.

There’s something going on here. Each one of these ideas is subtly different in character. Each adjective somehow conveys the quality of the concept in a way we instantly and unconsciously understand.

For instance, a ‘neat’ idea is not the same as a ‘brilliant’ idea. A ‘bad’ idea is not quite the same as a ‘dumb’ idea.

But why?

I started wondering: is there an invisible language of ideas? Could there be an unseen hierarchy hidden in that language? What qualities actually make a ‘good’ or ‘bad’ idea? Could you visualize and plot the most popular words used to describe ideas? Would that unveil the structure? And would doing that be a ‘nice’ idea? Or a ‘terrible’ one?

I’m not sure. So, I’d like to share my first draft and invite your feedback and thoughts.

There have been whispers in the past of augmented reality goggles or glasses, but generally we have been able to dismiss them as exaggerations or concepts. The technology, while it isn’t unrealistic, simply isn’t quite there yet.

Apparently that hasn’t stopped Google: a new report is appearing corroborating earlier ones that they are working on a pair of augmented reality glasses. They’d piggyback on your phone’s connection and overlay information like directions, news, and so on.

Whether you think it’s a good idea or not, this kind of thing is going to come eventually, so it’s natural that Google would want to start girding itself for the approaching augmented glasses wars of 20XX.

The 9 to 5 Google report says they look something like a pair of athletic glasses, with a forward-facing camera and flash. The augmented reality bit is actually not a transparent display over one or both eyes, but a single opaque display on the side of one eyepiece (which eyepiece, and which side, were not specified). You operate it with voice or by moving your head around to navigate or select menu options.

Yes, not exactly the future we were expecting. I guarantee these things don’t look cool, either. But like I said, the technology isn’t there yet: cameras and processors aren’t small or fast enough, batteries can’t provide enough power, displays aren’t built for them, and computer vision isn’t good enough. Some of these things Google can work on, some they can’t. But the best way to have a product ready when the tech is there is to try to build one when the tech isn’t.

The glasses are apparently nowhere near done, unsurprisingly, and Google isn’t sure how to make anything out of them. A pilot program could be in the works, or it could continue to be an underground project, metamorphosing again and again until the market is ready. As it is, these things would be weird, expensive, and not particularly useful. In a couple years, though, who knows?

Deep in the skunk works of its Research and Labs divisions, secreted around the Seattle area, Microsoft is working on totally reinventing the way people interact with their computers. Very little is out in the open or in more than a prototype form, but the work is unquestionably being done.

Last week it transpired that Microsoft is working on building Kinect into the bezels of laptops, and after that, presumably, tablets and eventually mobile phones. But it’s not just about building out the install base for Dance Central 3. It’s enabling the next generation of awareness in our electronics. The iPhone ushered in an era where our devices know when we touch them. Microsoft is working on the next one, in which our devices will simply know us.

How do you, as a person, experience the world around you? You mostly see and hear, and to a lesser extent you touch, taste, smell. Our devices, however, are largely restricted to an extremely limited sense of touch. Why shouldn’t they be more like us?

There’s a good reason, actually: computers don’t need to be like people because computers aren’t people. For years this has held true: the computer’s primary purpose for decades was to sit still and perform calculations humans couldn’t do. Interaction with a computer was strictly input, output. You didn’t interact so much as instruct, and wait for the result.

But mobile phones and touchscreens and laptops began changing the idea of a computer into something more personal, more interactive, more two-way. And technology exists to let our devices become more human. Why not let them?

Microsoft wants to. Despite their reputation among tech enthusiasts as a sort of stodgy blue-chip still coasting on the PC explosion of the late 90s and early 2000s, their R&D sections are world-class and put out actually innovative ideas and devices all the time. The trouble, briefly stated, is that implementing these ideas as products that fit into the Microsoft ecosystem isn’t easy, and even if it were, Microsoft has no talent for it.

But this work on “Natural User Interaction,” or NUI, is more promising. People have embraced the idea in gaming: the Wii led the way and the Kinect brought the future into your living room, though the future is a little laggy and the voice controls spotty. People are simply interested in new ways of interacting with their content and devices. For years the promise of a different kind of interaction has been dangling, in the form of sci-fi shows and movies usually, and people have always been intrigued by it.

So people want it — and Microsoft wants to make it — and they have the technology. Purchasing the IP behind the Kinect was an extremely smart move, maybe smarter than they know. What started out as a way to cash in on the market the Wii had created has snowballed into an entirely new form of interacting with computers, and a way for Microsoft to differentiate itself meaningfully for years to come.

It was reported to me that one of the things the new Kinect/depth/IR sensors will do is read lips. At first it sounds silly. Why? Maybe so it can better interpret your words from across the room, or in a loud environment. You won’t have to turn the music down to search and navigate the web on your TV or tablet.

And then it becomes clear that it’s just part of a larger suite of “senses” the device would have. The new devices are to have face recognition and voice recognition, so your password will be you saying your password in your own voice, not someone else, and not a print-out of you. They’ll be able to pick you out of a crowd, say a small party, and will be able to tell when you’re giving it a command — because you make eye contact and move your lips. Again, it sounds perfectly ridiculous until it starts sounding perfectly natural.

Another feature described was a sort of 3D desktop on which you could actually grab files and place them here and there. This has been tried before, of course, and Windows 8 is looking decided two-dimensional, so it’s probably more of a research project than anything. But it’s still interesting. Think of the basic gestures you might be able to make. One was described as pulling out a drawer. In the surprisingly resilient desktop metaphor of files and folders, what could be more natural? Or perhaps raising your hand palm up to show the task bar or dock? Trace your finger in a counter-clockwise circle to undo, clockwise to redo?

User experience reflects both the needs of the user and the capabilities of the device. For a few years now we’ve been satisfied with running our fingers along a slab of glass, producing an electrical signal interpreted as a point or blob — mainly because capacitive screens got good and cheap, and nobody wants to plug a mouse into their phone. But there are many other ways of interacting with our new mobile objects and information. Soon the glass touchscreen will seem as quaint as the command-line interface.

And yet, some are no doubt thinking, we still have some command-line interfaces in use. Sure. And mice and keyboards are still better for productivity, and a pen and paper is better for sketching out ideas, and headphones are better for listening to music in public. There are countless use cases and potential applications of technology, but it’s good to recognize when one should give way or simply isn’t applicable.

Microsoft is working hard at this, and you’d better believe that Apple is too, though they aren’t nearly as open about their research. And for once, they seem to actually be missing a piece of the technology pie: Microsoft has a head start on them in the world of NUI, having purchased and developed depth and personal sensors for at least two years now. Apple can always throw money at the problem, but it’s pretty clear that Microsoft has perceived this rare advantage and will be using it as a wedge wherever possible.

This shouldn’t be taken as an indication that Windows 8 is going to be anything other than advertised, but I think it will be a test bed for some major changes coming down the line. Microsoft wants to change the way people interact with computers because it sees, hopefully not too late, that the old way, the PC way, treating a computer like a box that computes things, is on its way out in a hurry. So if computers are going to be a part of the real world, they need to be able to live in that world. Eyes, ears, and who knows what else. It’s only creepy until you can’t live without it.

[images: Matthew Fisher/Stanford, Wolfgang Herfuntner]

Can you name 5 popular cliche phrases that rappers always use? We can, and now we can name many more thanks to Ozone Magazine’s Julia Beverly. She put together a video including the likes of Killer Mike, Slim Thug, Marcus Manchild, and Paul Wall, amongst others, who sit down and give us some of the more popular phrases rappers use A LOT. This is some classic, funny ass material here. Paul Wall says “I was shot 37 million times all over my body”, Slim Thug chimes in with “Rapping is just a stepping stone for my acting career”.

ATLien Killer Mike drops off the always classic “I started rapping in prison, I spend 60 days in on a DUI charge and came out rapping like a motherfucker” lol! This video definitely points out how ignorant some of these comments really sound. Anyways, I’m sure you will get a laugh out of it, as did I. Check out the video clip after the jump and let us know what you think.

Visit the next page to check out the video!

Kooley High, the North Carolina hip hop group, have decided to release their latest album David Thompson in a stream for the fans. The album is a well put together opus of 15 tracks that show off the diversity of Kooley High. The laid back vibe of Kooley High is often looked at as lackluster, but they pull it off very nicely.

David Thompson features the in house production of The Sinopsis and Foolery, as well as featuring fellow MC’s Skyzoo and The Kid Daytona to name a few. Kooley High’s David Thompson is not to slept on, so if you have no heard it, or heard of Kooley High, let this be your introduction; they are incredibly dope. Check out the stream after the jump and let us know what you think.

Visit the next page to check out the full album stream!

Sir Michael Rocks, or Mikey Rocks as some may know him, is back with a few new tracks for our listening pleasure. First up is the Cardo produced “Imagine”, which is a nice laid back jam that showcases Mikey’s writing style. The floaty, airy beat will let you “Imagine” exactly what Mr. Rocks is saying as his words sink into your mind. The second of the tracks is entitled “Out The Jam”.

It was produced by Monsta Beatz as he decides to get into a story telling mind frame about getting out of tough situations. The Cool Kid member has been on a roll since signing on with Curren$y’s Jet Life label. I’m sure we will see many more solid tracks from Mikey Rocks. Until we do, check out “Imagine” and “Out The Jam” after the jump and let us know what you think.

Visit the next page to check out the new song(s)!

It used to be that if you owned shares of a public company, you actually felt like you owned shares of that company.  The concept of actual ownership by individuals is long gone.  Shareholders as owners are nothing but a concept , and echo from days gone by.

That shouldn’t be a surprise. It’s just as rare for individuals with less than 10 figures in their networth to even consider actually buying shares as a path to ownership.

But what if this were not the case any longer  ? For those of you that own shares of stocks in companies,either directly or indirectly, would you be willing to take a lower earnings per share, or on the flip side, hold your stock at a higher P/E Ratio if in exchange the company moved their manufacturing to the USA  ?

Would Apple shareholders be wiling to accept Apple moving jobs back and not sell when the announcement was made ? Name a company that you as a shareholder would be willing to hold, knowing that earnings would be lower, but jobs would come back to the USA ?

I don’t directly own shares of any companies that do manufacturing overseas (at least that i know of), so I haven’t had to consider this. I know in my own personal businesses I try not to squeeze every penny out. I just want to be profitable and earn a decent return, but I recognize that a good or decent return is not the maximum return.

I feel the same way about tax free accounts overseas. I don’t have any personal bank accounts in Switzerland. I own a house in the Cayman Islands, but I don’t have a bank account there and I wont put a bank account there. I’m pretty sure that one of the hedge funds I invested in has accounts there, but I’m not involved in its operations. So i don’t have a say.

What do you think ? Would you cut a public company slack if they brought back jobs to the USA ?

Snoop Dogg has a line of toys, his own reality show and malt liquor. But can he be the next Jonathan Drew or Rocky Patel?

Probably not, but Snoop’s launched his own line of cigars, called Executive Branch. Its first product will be the Executive Branch Cigarillos, which will go for 99 cents a pouch, with two cigars per pouch.

According to the press release, the cigarillos will feature “premium tobacco from the Dominican Republic,” but at the price point, it remains to be seen. Flavored cigars are also on deck later this year. “Throughout 2012, we plan on releasing new styles and flavors, in which I will be working with their team to make sure all products are up to Snoop Dogg standards,” says “tha Doggfather.”

We’ll see what these standards are; it looks like Executive Branch is the first tobacco product from its parent company, RSL Productions, makers of Snoop Dogg cigarette paper booklets.

If we can get our hands on a pouch, we may follow this up with a review at some point. (For kicks, mostly.) Until then, enjoy some of Snoop’s better work.

- Daniel

Related Posts

• Cigars Trumps Politics and More
• Chairman and CEO of Swisher dies at 79
• Show Us Your Camacho!
• Show Us Your Camacho Winner is…
• Camacho Releases the Diploma in Two New Sizes

This article has been published at RLSLOG.net - visit our site for full content.

BiA released a new episode of E4’s : “Skins”. Enjoy.

Alex has his first day at college, but he’s not worried about fitting in or making any new mates. He ends up catching the eye of another student and they become frinds instantly. Alex sees something special in Liv and she becomes involved in his strange and wonderful world.

Links: HOMEPAGE – TV.com

Skins.S06E03.720p.HDTV.x264-BiA
x264 | AC3 CBR | 1.58GB
NTi – TURBOBiT – DEPOSiTFiLES

more at RLSLOG.net

Usenet is a not so popular method of obtaining new scene releases, but it’s actually one of the faster and more convenient. All you need is a NZB file, which is often linked with new posts here at Releaselog (or you can search the files directly as well). There are virtually hundreds of different Usenet providers, but if you want to try this service for the first time and enjoy some advanced functions, Binverse is a good place to start.

Binverse offers a completely FREE 14-day trial, to try their service. The service offers two methods of downloads – unlimited downloads capped at 1 Mbps or Full speed downloads with data cap of 30 GB a month. All you need to activate the free 14-day trial is to register and submit your credit card or PayPal details. You can cancel the service at anytime before the end of trial without being charged, or you can continue paying $14.99 a month for the service afterwards.

With Binverse, you can access over 5 new Terabytes per day of new files and messages. Binverse will also provide you with a special Usenet client with features as Usenet search, built in RAR / PAR support for dealing with large compressed files, intergrated chat, email alerts and many more. There’s really nothing to lose, if you won’t like it, you can just cancel it.

This article has been published at RLSLOG.net - visit our site for full content.

2HD released Super Bowl XLVI Madonna Halftime Show. Enjoy!

Link: HOMEPAGE

Super.Bowl.XLVI.Madonna.Halftime.Show.HDTV.XviD-2HD
XviD | MP3 VBR | 175MB
NTi – SiNGLE FiLE DOWNLOAD

Super.Bowl.XLVI.Madonna.Halftime.Show.720p.HDTV.x264-2HD
x264 | AC3 CBR | 840MB
NTi – DOWNLOAD

more at RLSLOG.net

Photo: Jim Merithew/Wired.com

A blogger might be on the hook for hundreds of thousands of dollars in economic damages after allegedly hijacking his former employer’s Twitter followers.

A lawsuit brought by South Carolina-based PhoneDog Media, a mobile-phone review site, raises a novel legal issue asking the simple question: Who owns an account’s Twitter followers, the employee or employer? For the moment, it looks like the employer does.

The PhoneDog website sued a former blogger, Noah Kravitz of Oakland, California, alleging that when Kravitz resigned in 2010 he took the company’s more than 17,000 followers with him to a new job at TechnoBuffalo, a PhoneDog competitor. The lawsuit accuses Kravitz of changing his username from @PhoneDog_Noah to @noahkravitz.

The suit claims Kravitz is on the hook for $340,000, computed by PhoneDog as $2.50 a follower per month over eight months. PhoneDog says it provided Kravitz with the original Twitter username. The company says its staff is given Twitter handles in the pattern of @PhoneDog_(name).

“As a direct and proximate result of defendant’s wrongful acts, PhoneDog has suffered damage to its business by way of lost advertising revenue,” according to PhoneDog’s suit (.pdf) against Kravitz in San Francisco federal court.

The suit adds that, because of Kravitz’s alleged misconduct, “there is decreased traffic to [the] website through the account, which in turn decreases the number of website pageviews and discourages advertisers from paying for ad inventory on PhoneDog’s website.”

San Francisco U.S. Magistrate Maria-Elena James ruled (.pdf) last week that PhoneDog’s lawsuit could go forward, deciding that the alleged harm “between PhoneDog and its current and prospective advertisers” is enough for the lawsuit to proceed.

Kravitz’s attorney did not immediately respond for comment, but told The Associated Press that “PhoneDog will be unable to prove its allegations against Mr. Kravitz.”

Tom Klein, PhoneDog’s president, isn’t convinced.

In a blog post, he wrote: “It takes both sides to compromise in order to settle their differences, and while I can’t speak for Noah, I can assure you that we are looking to find a fair and reasonable solution. Noah has the ability to stop the legal nonsense and move on; it’s his choice.”

No new hearing date has been set.

Photo: Screenshot, BTjunkie.com

Torrent search engine BTjunkie is the latest file-sharing service to fall on its sword in the wake of the Megaupload sting. BTjunkie, one of the largest BitTorrent indexes, decided to shut down voluntarily.

A statement on the website reads, “This is the end of the line my friends. The decision does not come easy, but we’ve decided to voluntarily shut down. We’ve been fighting for years for your right to communicate, but it’s time to move on. It’s been an experience of a lifetime, we wish you all the best!”

Despite avoiding legal attention so far, the site’s founder told TorrentFreak that the legal action against file-sharing sites Megaupload and The Pirate Bay played an important role in its
closure.

Online storage locker Megaupload was seized and shut down by the US Department of Justice in January for allegedly breaching copyright infringement law. Several of the site’s staff members were arrested and founder Kim Dotcom was
recently
denied bail.

Meanwhile, the founders of The Pirate Bay were arrested for copyright infringement in 2009. This month, the supreme court of Sweden made the ruling final, and announced that the founders will not be able to appeal their months-long prison sentences or combined fines of 46 million kronor (around £4.3 million).

In response to Megaupload’s shutdown, a raft of popular web lockers have neutered the ability to share files with others. FileSonic, FileServe and Uploaded.to all cut off file-sharing in the days
after Megaupload was seized.

The Pirate Bay, on the other hand, moved its domain name from .org to the Swedish .se. A Pirate Bay insider told TorrentFreak that this was to prevent US authorities from seizing the popular domain.

In this Jan. 27, 2012 photo, rapper J. Cole poses for a portrait in New York. Cole's debut album, "Cole World: Sideline Story," was released three days before the Grammy deadline.

Cee Lo Green is in talks to join Elton John and Celine Dion as a regular on the Las Vegas stage.

http://www.sendspace.com/folder/swksyy

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https://www.rapidshare.com/files/112153626/The_Question_001__2005___Bchry_DCP_.cbz

https://www.rapidshare.com/files/2329555157/The_Question_002__2005___Bchry_DCP_.cbz

https://www.rapidshare.com/files/151064852/The_Question_003__2005___Bchry_DCP_.cbz

https://www.rapidshare.com/files/739714792/The_Question_004__2005___Bchry_DCP_.cbz

https://www.rapidshare.com/files/3221946930/The_Question_005__2005___Bchry_DCP_.cbz

https://www.rapidshare.com/files/1922941044/The_Question_006__2005___Bchry_DCP_.cbz

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http://hotfile.com/dl/145551377/f6e9f14/

http://hotfile.com/dl/145551403/ff29f42/

http://hotfile.com/dl/145551439/c4341cd/

http://hotfile.com/dl/145551472/c3f06ee/

http://hotfile.com/dl/145551483/ea5953e/

http://hotfile.com/dl/145551512/f21c9a5/

http://www.mediafire.com/?pt4dcdmj5qkoqwm

http://www.sendspace.com/file/83fwpf

RS

http://hotfile.com/dl/145548412/f15f1b5/

http://ul.to/2xtpdd7a

http://file4sharing.com/v2ykjkymknc1/50.zip.html

Click Picture to Enlarge

http://www.filedino.com/7gr254w7faoh

http://freakshare.com/files/je7wtucm/Anna-20Mercury-20-04–202008.rar.html

Apple Stores are often busy and with the release of new iPhones and iPads, Apple’s retail locations become bombarded with waves of excited customers. According to Needham & Company analyst Charlie Wolf, the launch of the iPhone 4S sent Apple Store sales to record heights during the holiday quarter. In the fourth quarter of 2011, revenue per store reached $17.08 million, a 42.6% increase over the same quarter in 2010. The average number of visitors per store was up 15.3% annually and sales per square foot reached $2,033 for the quarter — by comparison, the company’s nearest retail rival Tiffany & Co. saw sales of $2,974 per square foot last quarter, Fortune noted. Apple currently has 361 retail locations with 40 more planned for 2012, 30 of which will open overseas. The company currently has five locations in China and is looking to increase that number to 25 within the next three years.

Read

The Samsung Galaxy Note smartphone is now available for pre-order from AT&T. Subscribers who place early orders for Samsung’s new supersized smartphone will take delivery by February 17th, and the device is set to become available in stores on February 19th for $299.99 with a new two-year agreement. The Galaxy Note will be available in two color options, carbon blue or ceramic white, and the handset features a massive 5.3-inch Super AMOLED Plus display with a 1.5GHz dual-core Qualcomm Snapdragon processor, Samsung’s S Pen stylus and 4G LTE connectivity. The Note will be released running Android 2.3 and is expected to receive an update to Ice Cream Sandwich within the next few months.

Read

This article has been published at RLSLOG.net - visit our site for full content.

2Days after the DVDRiP, here’s scene group iNFAMOUS with the HDRiP for this dancing movie… Nothing to say about this movie…

Plot:
Writer/Director Craig Brewer (Hustle & Flow) delivers a new take of the beloved 1984 classic film. Ren MacCormack (Kenny Wormald) is transplanted from Boston to the small southern town of Bomont where he experiences a heavy dose of culture shock. A few years prior, the community was rocked by a tragic accident that killed five teenagers after a night out and Bomont’s local councilmen and the beloved Reverend Shaw Moore (Dennis Quaid) responded by implementing ordinances that prohibit loud music and dancing. Not one to bow to the status quo, Ren challenges the ban, revitalizing the town and falling in love with the minister’s troubled daughter Ariel (Julianne Hough) in the process.

Genre: Comedy | Drama | Music
IMDB rating: 5.1/10 (5,523 votes)
Directed by: Craig Brewer
Starring: Kenny Wormald, Julianne Hough, Dennis Quaid

Release Name: Footloose.2011.720p.BluRay.x264-iNFAMOUS
Size: 4480MB in 94F
Audio: English – DTS – 1510kbps
Video: x264 – 1280×544 – 4019kbps
Runtime: 1 hr. 53 min.

Links: iMDB – Homepage – Trailer – TinySubs
Sample: Here
NFO: Here
Torrents Search: Here

Download: TURBOBiT – DEPOSiTFiLES

more at RLSLOG.net

Usenet is a not so popular method of obtaining new scene releases, but it’s actually one of the faster and more convenient. All you need is a NZB file, which is often linked with new posts here at Releaselog (or you can search the files directly as well). There are virtually hundreds of different Usenet providers, but if you want to try this service for the first time and enjoy some advanced functions, Binverse is a good place to start.

Binverse offers a completely FREE 14-day trial, to try their service. The service offers two methods of downloads – unlimited downloads capped at 1 Mbps or Full speed downloads with data cap of 30 GB a month. All you need to activate the free 14-day trial is to register and submit your credit card or PayPal details. You can cancel the service at anytime before the end of trial without being charged, or you can continue paying $14.99 a month for the service afterwards.

With Binverse, you can access over 5 new Terabytes per day of new files and messages. Binverse will also provide you with a special Usenet client with features as Usenet search, built in RAR / PAR support for dealing with large compressed files, intergrated chat, email alerts and many more. There’s really nothing to lose, if you won’t like it, you can just cancel it.

This article has been published at RLSLOG.net - visit our site for full content.

P2P goup UnKnOwN released the DVDRip of The Garfield Show Agent X, an animation family movie directed by Philippe Vidal. Enjoy!

Plot: A secret agent known as Agent X has shown up in the neighbourhood and is stealing Garfield’s limelight by telling anybody who wants to listen all about his adventures. Nermal, Arlene and Harry quickly succumb to his charms, but Garfield is suspicious. Is he really a spy? Garfield is determined to find out the truth, and with the help of his mouse friend Squeek, he soon realizes that Agent X isn’t all he appears to be…

Genre: Animation | Comedy | Kids & Family
Directed by: Philippe Vidal

Release Name: The.Garfield.Show.Agent.X.2012.DVDRIP.XviD-UnKnOwN
Size: 350MB
Video: XViD, 640×274, 1146 Kbps
Audio: English, MP3, 128 Kbps
Runtime: 34m 51s

Links: Amazon – Trailer – TinySubs
NFO: Here
Torrent: NewTorrents

Download: TURBOBiT –  Uploaded.to – Netload

more at RLSLOG.net

This article has been published at RLSLOG.net - visit our site for full content.

2012 album from the Boston-based Alt-Rock band. They play an authentic style of Emo, combining influences from the original Emo sound with the more chaotic sounds of the later Screamo” bands of the ’90s. Recent activity includes a split with Pianos Become The Teeth, and another with We Were Skeletons. They did a West Coast tour with calculator summer of `11 and a Euro Tour with We Were Skeletons.

Tracklist:
1. In Love With The Sound
2. This Heals Nothing
3. The Urge For Permanence
4. When Everything Seemed To Matter
5. The Comfort Of Small Defeats
6. Days Of Punched In
7. Desperate Vespers

Label: Topshelf
Genre: Hardcore
Quality: VBR MP3 @ 261kbps avg
Time: 24:04
Size: 47MB

Release name: The_Saddest_Landscape-After_The_Lights-2012-pLAN9
Links: Amazon – Homepage

Download: TURBOBiT – DEPOSiTFiLES

more at RLSLOG.net

Usenet is a not so popular method of obtaining new scene releases, but it’s actually one of the faster and more convenient. All you need is a NZB file, which is often linked with new posts here at Releaselog (or you can search the files directly as well). There are virtually hundreds of different Usenet providers, but if you want to try this service for the first time and enjoy some advanced functions, Binverse is a good place to start.

Binverse offers a completely FREE 14-day trial, to try their service. The service offers two methods of downloads – unlimited downloads capped at 1 Mbps or Full speed downloads with data cap of 30 GB a month. All you need to activate the free 14-day trial is to register and submit your credit card or PayPal details. You can cancel the service at anytime before the end of trial without being charged, or you can continue paying $14.99 a month for the service afterwards.

With Binverse, you can access over 5 new Terabytes per day of new files and messages. Binverse will also provide you with a special Usenet client with features as Usenet search, built in RAR / PAR support for dealing with large compressed files, intergrated chat, email alerts and many more. There’s really nothing to lose, if you won’t like it, you can just cancel it.