most popular stories // over the past 2 weeks
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The filmmakers behind “The Cove” have been open about their goal: not to win an Oscar – though they wouldn’t mind – but to stop the dolphin slaughter that the documentary depicts. They may have moved one step closer to that goal with the news that the Oscar-nominated film, which shows a secret dolphin-killing field in Taiji, Japan, will now be distributed in Japan. The Japanese company Medallion Media is planning a tentative release date of April 2010, according to a statement released late Monday by the filmmakers’ representatives. The director, Louie Psihoyos, considers the move a coup because the film had drawn the threat of legal action in Japan.
It was a last-minute addition to the 2009 Tokyo Film Festival, whose chairman, Tom Yoda, denied reports that the government-funded festival was under pressure not to screen it. But he admitted that there was opposition to the movie and potential for controversy. Most Japanese are unaware of the methods used to hunt dolphins, and those that saw the film were horrified, Hiroko Tabuchi wrote after the screening last fall. But, he added, outlawing the practice, seen as a part of Japanese heritage, also seemed like an uphill battle.
“In distributing ‘The Cove’ we are not taking sides,” Norio Okahara, the director of Medallion Media, said in the statement. “Rather, we are presenting the film for the Japanese people to decide for themselves about the issues it raises. There is a debate to be had here and this important film – and the Academy Award nomination only serves to reinforce its importance - offers the opportunity for such a debate.”The filmmakers behind “The Cove” have been open about their goal: not to win an Oscar – though they... more
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This video is about a compatible and cost-effective CAD software solution - ZWCAD, which is based on IntelliCAD technologies. Its DWG format assures you of unrivaled compatibility with AutoCAD ?. To download a trial version, go to www.zwcad.org.This video is about a compatible and cost-effective CAD software solution - ZWCAD, which is based on IntelliCAD technologies. Its... more
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Now that college is looming (or is already here), it’s time to change faces and move into social media networks that work for college and future employment success. Think of these changes as student ‘branding,’ or making yourself stand out with efficiency, networking and leadership.
Link: http://collegestats.org/articles/2010/02/15-essential-social-media-sites-for-college-students/Now that college is looming (or is already here), it’s time to change faces and move into social media networks that work... more
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News of Google's plan to announce the release of a new set of tools that will make Gmail more social permeated the blogosphere yesterday. The company held a press conference this morning to go over the new release of Google Buzz, and well before the name of the product was even announced Nicholas Carlson over at Silicon Alley Insider had already jumped on crowning it a "Twitter-Killer."
The result of the frenzy is the top seat on Techmeme, and prior to this morning's announcement of Google Buzz discussions ranged from the "Twitter-Killer" proclamation to Robert Scoble's take: "Why Google won't give Twitter or Facebook a buzz cut".
The details are out, but the question remains whether or not this will be a gamechanger for Google. The company has certainly had a rough go at the social space (Jaiku, Dodgeball, Orkut, and others come to mind). One thing struck me yesterday while I was reading the tech-fueled frenzy: the core of what makes social apps so interesting -- the humanity behind the application. Sure, sites like Twitter have become the butt of "I'm eating a sandwich" jokes, and justly so. But there is something to the steady stream of data from people's lives that, when arranged in the right ways, can really hook people in. Scoble has a point, in that the methods Facebook employs to make their app more sticky drive to the core of human interactions -- you want to stay on Facebook because your compelled to connect.
These apps have altered our way of communicating with one another, and whether you like it or not, the immediate nature of the lifestream is taking root across the country. This is no longer the stuff of the Silicon Valley social bubble, even niche products like Foursquare are expanding rapidly into the mainstream market. This stuff is here to stay, and it's going to impact us in ways we may not even yet realize.
Take for example this story posted by TravG73 yesterday about a family who learned about the death of their son via Facebook. It's a heartbreaking story, but not altogether surprising. Through the advent of social media and the changes it's made to our methods of communication, we now learn more about the people we know in a more immediate way -- layoffs, births, and even deaths. Not to trivialize the matter, but even health updates could be broadcast via sites like Twitter. In a hypothetical situation, you could receive automated status updates about a hospitalized loved one on the other side of the world via a private Twitter account while in transit to visit them. That doesn't necessarily sound like a bad thing to me.
Long before the death of MySpace, this trend had already become rooted in reality via a site called MyDeathSpace.com. At the height of MySpace's popularity, people scoured news articles for stories about tragic deaths, and then sleuthed their way to the deceased's MySpace profile. The site appears to be more tuned to celebrity analysis now, but the concept remains. Even Facebook has a plan for your profile after you've passed. Their idea memorializes your profile for loved ones to revisit and share stories about you even after you're not around.
As morbid as any of this may sound, it's rooted to the core of what makes these sites so popular -- the human connection. So as Google transforms Gmail to be more social, my questions remain:
How well will it handle the broadcasting of important life moments?
How connected will this new social app make me feel to the people in my circle?
What's your take? Have you experienced loss in the social media space? Has your online connection to people bolstered relationships, or is it a cheapened version of the real-life counterpart?
Let's discuss in the comments.
News of Google's plan to announce the release of a new set of tools that will make Gmail more social permeated the... more
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;_ylt=Aq6nbygmGaHNFsr0ZWxu7u6s0NUE;_ylu=X3oDMTNuamdjZTZ2BGFzc2V0A2FwLzIwMTAwMjA5L2V1X3ZhdGljYW5faW50cmlndWUEY2NvZGUDbW9zdHBvcHVsYXIEY3BvcwM0BHBvcwMxBHB0A2hvbWVfY29rZQRzZWMDeW5faGVhZGxpbmVfbGlzdARzbGsDaXRhbGlhbmNhdGhv
VATICAN CITY – A scandal in Italy's Catholic Church has morphed into a tale of Vatican intrigue complete with forged documents, reports of dueling cardinals and a papal admonishment Tuesday to put the matter to rest.
The scandal erupted in August, when the newspaper Il Giornale reported that it had court documents showing the editor of the newspaper of the Italian Bishops' Conference had paid to settle charges that he harassed the wife of a man he was romantically pursuing.
The revelations were initially seen as retribution by Il Giornale, which is owned by Premier Silvio Berlusconi's brother, against the bishops' newspaper, Avvenire. The Catholic paper had harshly criticized the premier and demanded he answer questions about his purported liaisons with younger women.
Il Giornale accused Avvenire editor Dino Boffo of hypocrisy, saying the journalist had been fined in a plea-bargain several years ago for making harassing calls to the man's wife.
Prosecutors say Boffo made the calls, but have denied the case involved a gay angle. Boffo acknowledged being fined in the case but said someone else had used his cell phone to make the calls. Amid the fallout, he resigned from Avvenire in September, saying he wanted to spare his family and the church further humiliation.
Three months later, Il Giornale's editor Vittorio Feltri — who had penned the initial articles — admitted the document implying Boffo is gay was falsified, and apologized in a front-page letter.
The scandal resurfaced last week when Feltri said the document in question had been given to him by an "institutional" church official whom he trusted.
Some Italian media suggested that the editor of the Vatican newspaper L'Osservatore Romano, essentially the pope's mouthpiece, was involved. Others suggested the Vatican No. 2, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, was behind it.
There have been long-running reports in the Italian media of battles between Bertone and the leadership of the Italian Bishops' Conference, particularly its previous head Cardinal Camillo Ruini. Italian news reports have said Bertone sought to wrest dealings with the Italian government away from the bishops' conference and had vetoed candidates for the conference leadership who he deemed were too powerful.
Italian newspapers routinely publish unsourced stories about machinations in the Vatican. Rarely, though, do such reports elicit thorough and high-ranking denials.
On Tuesday, however, Bertone issued a statement saying that reports of Vatican involvement were false and that Pope Benedict XVI himself "deplored these unjust and insulting attacks" that were "defaming the Holy See."
L'Osservatore Romano ran the statement on its front page with a note saying Benedict had approved the text and ordered it published.;_ylt=Aq6nbygmGaHNFsr0ZWxu7u6s0NUE;_ylu=X3oDMTNuamdjZTZ2BGFzc2V0A2FwLzIwMTAwMjA5L2V1X3ZhdGljYW5faW50cmlndWUEY2NvZGUDbW9zdHBvcHVsYXI... more
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(CNN) -- Google plunged into the world of social networking on Tueday, taking pieces of both the Facebook and Twitter blueprints with Google Buzz.
Buzz, which will work through the popular Gmail service, will allow users to post status updates, photos and links to members of their network -- as well as pull in their activity on other sites like Twitter, Flickr and Picasa.
Google spokesman Bradley Horowitz said the service, which was rolling out to some Gmail users Tuesday afternoon and should be available to all in the next couple of days, aims to weed out what he called the clutter of other networking sites.
With networking sites, "there's obviously value there," he said. "It's a phenomenon that's real, but it's increasingly becoming harder and harder to make sense and find the signal in the noise."
He said Google Buzz will automatically make "friends" out of the people a user e-mails or chats with the most on Gmail. Different settings will allow the user to make their posts public, like on Twitter, or private, as is usually the case on Facebook.
Comments on posts will appear in real time. And comments by other users will be weighted, similar to how Google's search engine weighs results, to "collapse bad buzz and recommend the good buzz," said Gmail product manager Todd Jackson.
The hands-down leader in the search engine world, Google has been branching out on projects that include its Nexus One smartphone -- the company's first foray into hardware marketing.
Late last month,Google announced that people could tweak their accounts to make results related to friends, co-workers and other members of their social networks appear above all other results.
The Social Search feature was introduced to a limited number of Google users last year and was made available to everyone in beta status on January 28.
The change came with a hint of more things to come.
"This is just a first step in our ongoing effort to ensure that Google Web search is always as social as the Web itself," the company said in an instructional video posted to its official blog.(CNN) -- Google plunged into the world of social networking on Tueday, taking pieces of both the Facebook and Twitter blueprints... more
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Vertu Mobile phones are among the top luxury cell phones in the market. Buy your Vertu replica cellphone online today. We deal with all vertu models like Vertu Signature, Vertu Constellation, Vertu Ascent and other luxury replica mobile phones.
http://www.vertuclone.eu/Vertu Mobile phones are among the top luxury cell phones in the market. Buy your Vertu replica cellphone online today. We deal... more
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P!nk was AMAZING tonight! Watch her performance NOW!
http://backseatcuddler.com/2010/01/31/pink-2010-grammy-performance-video/
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The global response to the Haiti earthquake has been extraordinary and generous. But in the midst of all the reporting, it’s difficult to keep track of the numbers.
In particular, who has given what, who has dug deepest, and how the Haiti relief fund currently compares to those of other tragedies.
This is an image I created for The Guardian Datablog to visualise the international contributions to the Haiti Earthquake recovery effort as of 24th January 2010.
http://www.informationisbeautiful.net/2010/haiti-earthquake-whos-given-what/The global response to the Haiti earthquake has been extraordinary and generous. But in the midst of all the reporting, it’s... more
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“Gossip Girl” Leighton Meester has a wild side. And we’re not just talking about on the popular series in scenes with her GG character, Blair Waldorf’s, on-again, off-again lover, Chuck Bass (Ed Westwick).
For the full Story and Photos from Leighton Meester's Hot Sex Tape...http://ctpatriot1970.wordpress.com/2010/02/10/gossip-girl-leighton-meesters-nude-sex-tape-is-allegedly-on-the-web-hot-photos/
Leighton-meester-sex-tape Celebhotline.com has screen shots of what looks like the buzzed-about sex video that reportedly has been shopped around on its site.“Gossip Girl” Leighton Meester has a wild side. And we’re not just talking about on the popular series in scenes... more
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Mad Men actress Christina Hendricks seems to have one breast that is significantly larger than the other.
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Sir Richard Branson and fellow leading businessmen will warn ministers this week that the world is running out of oil and faces an oil crunch within five years.
The founder of the Virgin group, whose rail, airline and travel companies are sensitive to energy prices, will say that the coming crisis could be even more serious than the credit crunch.
"The next five years will see us face another crunch – the oil crunch. This time, we do have the chance to prepare. The challenge is to use that time well," Branson will say.
"Our message to government and businesses is clear: act," he says in a foreword to a new report on the crisis. "Don't let the oil crunch catch us out in the way that the credit crunch did."
(much more at link)Sir Richard Branson and fellow leading businessmen will warn ministers this week that the world is running out of oil and faces an... more
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The guide to New South Wales part 1 will take you around the Sydney Opera House and more fun things to do in the city of Sydney.
um okay so I was not in Sydney but I was not any where in the UKThe guide to New South Wales part 1 will take you around the Sydney Opera House and more fun things to do in the city of Sydney.... more
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Police say a thief in Germany ordered a cup of coffee, and then used it as a weapon to commit a robbery at an arcade on Tuesday.
‘He wasn’t going to pour coffee over her, he was going to hit her with the cup,’ a spokesman for local police said.
According to reports, the man ordered the coffee from a 26-year-old attendant at the arcade. Upon receiving the piping hot cup, he held it in a manner that suggested he intended to use it to assault her, and demanded the victim to hand over cash from the register. The suspect then fled the scene.
Police are still investigating the incident.
And just cuz I really, really enjoyed this COMPLETELY UNRELATED video from YouTube, I thought I’d share this with you:
http://www.tabloidprodigy.com/?p=10350Police say a thief in Germany ordered a cup of coffee, and then used it as a weapon to commit a robbery at an arcade on Tuesday.... more
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Disney’s newly acquired Marvel Studios is now in production on the feature film “Thor”. Shooting will take place at Raleigh Manhattan Beach Studios, and then move to Santa Fe, New Mexico from March, 2010 through late April, 2010. Casting for principal actors and extras is now underway.
There will be an open casting call held for Santa Fe, NM extras in mid- February.
Open Casting Call Details
Ages 18 and over may attend. You are welcome to bring non-returnable photos of kids interested in being extras in the film. Please bring a pen. Photos will be taken at no charge.
Where:
224 E. Palace Ave.
Marion Hall 1st floor
Santa Fe, NM 87501
(Enter parking lot off Paseo de Peralta)
Click Here for directions.
When:
Friday, February 19, 2010
2:00pm - 7:00pm
Saturday, February 20, 2010
9:00am - 4:00pm
Click the link for more of the post..Disney’s newly acquired Marvel Studios is now in production on the feature film “Thor”. Shooting will take place... more
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Some of the world's most baffling social problems, says Peter Eigen, can be traced to systematic, pervasive government corruption, hand-in-glove with global companies. At TEDxBerlin, Eigen describes the thrilling counter-attack led by his organization Transparency International.
http://www.ted.com/talks/peter_eigen_how_to_expose_the_corrupt.html
Poster's note: Brilliant stuff this guy talks about... maybe equality isn't so far off, after all?
Also, this video lasts 16 minutes, so I recommend pulling up a seat for watching this.Some of the world's most baffling social problems, says Peter Eigen, can be traced to systematic, pervasive government... more
