ineptitude imbue: June 2012

Wednesday, June 27, 2012

Gucci's U.K. Dandy Cruises the Riviera

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Monday, June 25, 2012

Turkey says Syria opened fire on 2nd plane

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Effectively Treat Psoriasis & Eczema with Naturopathic Medicine ...

www.thenaturalguide.com ? Psoriasis and Eczema are skin conditions that can be effectively treated with Naturopathic Medicine (a type of alternative medicine or natural medicine). In this interview, Naturopathic Doctor Shannon Sinsheimer discusses Conventional drug-based medical treatments?

Eczema on the scalp is a condition in which the skin has a red, irritated and itchy rash that can cause dandruff. Learn about preventing and treating eczema of the scalp with help from a dermatologist in this free video on skin care and eczema. Expert: Dr. Raphael Darvish, MD, MBA Contact: www.skinpeccable.com Bio: Dr. Raphael Darvish is a graduate of the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, and completed his post-graduate residency training at Harbor/UCLA Medical Center. Filmmaker: Geffner Productions Series Description: Common dermatology and skin care problems involve stretch marks, eczema, rashes, acne, scars and excessive sweating. Find out how to treat these conditions and more with help from this free video series on skin health.

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TheMtn_Bill: @clarkem05 Let players transfer immed w/o penalty. PS allowed Sandusky to fester bc football is too big to fail. Stop & get priorities right

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Emerging tech harnessed to improve the world

11 hrs.

Ayesha Khanna and Parag Khanna , FastCompany.com

This is an excerpt from Hybrid Reality, a new e-book by Ayesha and Parag Khanna.

The word ?technology? combines the Greek tekhne and logos, symbolizing that technology, like language, is as intrinsic to the human condition as speech. Language, though, does not stand alone; it is part of a larger cultural system. Hence the German word Technik, which denotes not only technologies themselves, but also the skills and processes surrounding them. A century ago, leading Western philosophers appreciated the promise and peril of mass industrialization technologies. Oswald Spengler?s Der Mensch und die Technik: Beitrag zu einer Philosophie des Lebens (1931) proposed to integrate technology into a philosophy of life, arguing that Technik is a process that unites our economic, political, educational and cultural systems. The American sociologist Lewis Mumford, in his Technics and Civilization (1934), emphasized that technology must be more than just objects seen as ends in themselves (monotechnics); it must be a collection of ideas and methods that improve society (polytechnics). Technik unites the scientific and mechanical dimensions of technology (determinism) with a necessary concern for its effect on humans and society (constructivism). Technik, then, is the technological quotient of civilization.

Whereas geotechnology is about power, Technik is about adaptability. We live and die by our Technik, the capacity to harness emerging technologies to improve our circumstances. How does our culture deal with the distribution of technology? Can we devise strategies to maximize the upside of technology while minimizing the downside? Instead of West vs. East and democracies vs. dictatorships, actors ranging from cities to diasporas to corporations to cloud communities will compete and collaborate to attain Technik.

Science-fiction author William Gibson?s famous quip that the future is already here but unevenly distributed is the quintessential encapsulation of the fact that we differ in our stages of Technik. In a world of such diverse political forms??? ?democracies, monarchies, authoritarian states?? ?the ?war of ideas? will never be won. Instead, we will increasingly differentiate societies on the basis not of their regime type or income, but of their capacity to harness technology. Societies that continuously upgrade their Technik will thrive.

When standards of living are so perpetually threatened by technological shifts, shouldn?t Technik be a factor in evaluating societal stability? The contrast between the U.N.?s Human Development Index (HDI) and the reigning obsession with per capita GDP illustrates just how important it is to develop a more neutral, long-term-focused metric for progress. Many wealthy societies have low human-development scores (e.g., Arab petro-states), while China?s score is rising quickly even as its per capita income remains modest. We should layer on technology-focused criteria as well, such as the World Economic Forum?s Network Readiness Index (NRI), which assesses the quality of individual access, government regulation and business investment along more than 50 indicators. Not surprisingly, Sweden, Singapore and Finland are at the top, but interestingly, technocratic China scores higher than democratic India, and India higher than Italy. Good Technik requires a combination of the attributes that deliver high human development, economic growth, political inclusiveness and technology preparedness.

Which societies display the best Technik today? Given the high proportion of Asian leadership with science, engineering and math backgrounds, and their countries? export-led growth creating sizable surpluses, it is no surprise that first Japan, and then Korea and China, have invested so heavily in infrastructure to catch up with?? and potentially surpass????the West.

Japan?s technology obsession and idiosyncratic social traits make it a fascinating case study of the early Hybrid Age. Japan already has 38 of the top 50 cities ranked by speed of Internet connection. Its resilience as a society is demonstrated by its ability to rebound from the 2011 earthquake and tsunami, keeping supply chains intact and rebuilding coastal communities. More broadly, Japanese society has embraced robots to such an extent that it seems to prefer a man-machine hybrid civilization to an ethnically mixed one. Robots are increasingly employed in building homes, caring for the elderly and even entertaining the masses???witness Hatsune Miku?s sold-out holographic concerts.

But there are costs to such a rapid embrace of robots: Males unable to meet traditional expectations become alienated and retreat into Internet addiction and virtual companionship, accelerating a decline in the birthrate. If any country becomes the first to feature human and robot citizens fruitfully co-creating a new hybrid culture, it is likely to be Japan?? but it needs to make sure there are enough humans there to enjoy it.

Singapore, once a colonial swamp governed from India, is today a seamlessly efficient cosmopolitan world capital of finance and, increasingly, innovation. Indeed, the lack of natural resources has made it an innovator in the most (un)expected areas, from fuel refining to water desalination. Now its Biopolis and Fusionopolis complexes aim to capture the edge in life sciences and immersive media. Peter Schwartz likes to call Singapore ?the best-run company in the world,? and indeed it is the leading role model in city-state Technik for entities from Abu Dhabi to Moscow to Kuala Lumpur. It must, however, evolve its political and educational systems to ensure that its own people are innovating in addition to all the talent it imports.

Finland, the so-called ?open-source nation,? is a leading Western example of Technik. Finland?s sophisticated population has embraced the digital life and pioneered mobile technology (Nokia) and an open-source operating system (Linux). In Helsinki, mobile phones are as much for banking and street navigation as for communication. In no other country does one so strongly feel that a mobile phone is part of one?s identity. It cannot be the weather that has earned the country the second position worldwide in the United Nations World Happiness Report.

Israel presents another example of rising Technik. Not only has it made major investments in biotechnology and other strategic sectors, but for several years its chief scientist gave out nonrecourse loans to more than 4,000 startups. Rwanda, Mongolia and many other nations are seeking to copy Israel?s blueprint as the ?startup nation.? Technology will long outlast the United States as Israel?s key ally.

Even a country still as overwhelmingly poor as India can elevate its Technik. Its mobile-phone penetration rate is skyrocketing, a biometric national identity card scheme is gradually delivering rights and services to hundreds of millions of previously disenfranchised citizens, digital kiosks in dusty villages are spreading access to information and education, and a sophisticated Right to Information Act requires publishing all laws on the Internet. Parts of India such as its tech hub, Bangalore, represent the leap from an agricultural to a service economy in a single generation.

The United States is home to some of the key pioneers of Technik, whose innovations help society adapt to the future?? yet it struggles to keep first-mover advantage over their innovations. Semiautonomous government agencies such as the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) have invented technologies?? from the World Wide Web to robotic exoskeletons????that eventually gained widespread application. However, the U.S. share of global R&D, like global GDP, has fallen to around 20 percent, and since not enough of those funds are devoted to commercialization initiatives, the United States sometimes has to buy things it invented a decade ago from competitors abroad. Fortunately for America, it is still home to most of the world?s ?silicon superpowers?: IBM, Google, Cisco, Apple, Microsoft and more. Those companies? hardware and software platforms are the foundation for almost endless innovation by diverse users worldwide, a contribution no Europeans or Asians can match. Technik is big business: Led by American ingenuity, we are entering the age of the $1 trillion corporation?? ?and the first to cross the mark probably won?t be one of the usual suspects but a manufacturer of 3-D printers that allow anyone to turn virtual designs into physical objects.

IBM is perhaps the leading example of how firms themselves should perpetually seek to upgrade their Technik. Having spun off its hardware production divisions over the past decade, IBM now invests in artificial intelligence, nanotechnology, clean energy and devices for high-tech health care. As a globally integrated enterprise with almost 500,000 employees worldwide (including 100,000 in India alone), it is also a de facto leader in spreading Technik to other societies. For its part, Apple exhibits the clever trait of creativity with control, bringing large swaths of humanity into its exclusive orbit of products and interfaces. Its $100 billion in cash outstrips the GDP of more than 100 individual countries. Apple products are undeniably one of America?s most coveted exports.

Even companies in traditional sectors can demonstrate enormous staying power and Technik by diversifying businesses, exploring new markets and hedging risk. For example, super-major oil companies such as BP and Chevron are among the leading investors in clean energy, and Coca-Cola and McDonald?s own a growing share of the health food sector. Large players constantly ?spin in? dynamic newcomers, incorporating their innovations and modifying their business models to stay on top.

The struggle to attain Technik could become the new global class struggle: those whose wages and quality of life benefit from technology versus those perpetually lagging behind prevailing standards. In the new global class struggle, there would be no clear geographic boundaries such as North and South, since the disparities of Technik exist?? ?and could widen????both across and within nations and cities. Technik is therefore a quality we must all strive for: whether as individuals, companies, communities, cities or countries.

More from FastCompany:

What the most successful people do before breakfast
Untangling the web of poverty, obesity and food
Are you ready for your 'shark tank' moment?

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Sunday, June 24, 2012

Show # 15, Fitness Bands ?Chiseled? - Muscle Works Magazine

If you have Bodylastics Fitness bands ? you have a workout partner! Come and workout with us almost every day and get Chiseled! In todays episode of ?Chiseled? Blake and Ashanti hit the legs hard with all of the classic leg building exercises. Blake used too much resistance and strained his groin (rats!).

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In order to lead a healthy, normal life, and for our body to function efficiently, it requires a regular dose of all the food groups. One such important group is vitamins and minerals. There are certain minerals that are absolutely essential for our overall health and well-being and therefore large amounts of it are required [...]

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Tuesday, June 19, 2012

MyLOK Personal

The whole point of using a password manager tool is to protect your sensitive login credentials. For some, storing that information in the cloud, no matter how well encrypted, is a non-starter. Even if all the data stays on your computer, a thief could conceivably steal the whole PC and crack the encryption. With MyLOK Personal ($89.95 direct) you carry that data in your pocket, securely encrypted on a tiny smart card. As a bonus, the device also offers 4GB of standard USB flash storage.

Those who purchased the original MyLOK ($89.95 direct, 4 stars) got a bargain, as the initial product run included 8GB of storage. The EEPROM password storage remains at 36KB. That sounds small, but the company estimates it's enough to hold about 300 passwords. The current MyLOK Personal includes a number of user-experience enhancements.

Initialization
The first time you launch MyLOK, you must go through initialization and registration. At this time you'll define your four-digit PIN and two security questions. Yes, unfortunately the new model still allows only a four-digit PIN. After several wrong PIN guesses it locks out PIN authentication, meaning you must answer those security questions.

A thief could open the device by answering those same questions, so you need to choose extremely secure questions. Got a deep, dark, secret? Use it as one of your answers. Don't forget the answers, as too many wrong guesses will cause the device to wipe all data.

Encryption is handled by an on-board crypto-chip, which self-destructs if there's any attempt to tamper with it. IronKey Personal S200 ($79 direct, 4 stars) also offers USB storage combined with a dedicated crypto-chip; it self-destructs utterly after ten wrong password guesses.

MyLOK Manager
Once you've initialized the device you're ready to check out the MyLOK Manager. This component launches automatically when you insert the device, unless you've disabled USB autorun to avoid attack by threats like Stuxnet and Flamer. New in this version, you can install a tiny background program that causes the MyLOK Manager to launch on insertion even when autorun is disabled.

To open the main manager window you double-click its tray icon and enter your pin. If desired, you can use a virtual keyboard to enter the PIN. For security the manager console automatically closes any time you switch focus to another window. New in this edition, a Getting Started page helps new users understand how to use the program.

Any time the manager is running, you'll find a MyLOK button in Internet Explorer or Firefox. You don't need to enter your PIN to use these browser add-ins, and they don't log out automatically after inactivity the way LastPass 1.72 (free, 5 stars), RoboForm Everywhere 7, and others do. The assumption is that if you walk away from the computer, you'll take the MyLOK with you. Don't forget it!

Another user-requested enhancement in this edition is a simple option in the tray icon's menu that shuts down MyLOK. This ensures you won't lose data when you pull it out.

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Monday, June 18, 2012

Pro-bailout conservative party wins Greek election

Pascal Rossignol / Reuters

New Democracy supporters hold flares as they celebrate in front of the Parliament in central Athens on Sunday.

By NBC News, msnbc.com staff and news services

Updated at 4:49 p.m. ET: ATHENS -??The pro-bailout New Democracy party came in first Sunday in Greece's national election, and its leader proposed forming a pro-euro coalition government. The result eased?fears of an imminent Greek exit from Europe's joint currency.

"The Greek people voted today to stay on the European course and remain in the euro zone... there will be no more adventures, Greece's place in Europe will not be put in doubt," New Democracy leader Antonis Samaras said.

He said voters chose "policies that will bring jobs, growth, justice and security."

French socialists win absolute parliament majority

His party beat the anti-bailout Syriza party, which wanted to cancel Greece's international bailouts.

Yannis Behrakis / REUTERS

A Greek orthodox priest holds his ballot paper as he exits a voting booth at an Athens primary school used as a polling station on Sunday.

Syriza chief Alexis Tsipras conceded the election but vowed to continue its fight against the punishing terms of an EU/IMF bailout saving the country from bankruptcy.

"From Monday, we will continue the fight," Tsipras told supporters. "A new day for Greece has already dawned.

With 82.5 percent of the vote counted, official results showed the conservative New Democracy winning 30 percent and 130 of the 300 seats in Parliament. The radical anti-bailout Syriza party had 26.6 percent and 71 seats and the pro-bailout Socialist PASOK party came in third with 12.5 percent of the vote and 33 seats.

The anti-immigrant nationalist Golden Dawn party had 6.9 percent and 18 seats, while the Democratic left won 6.1 percent and 18 seats.

Because of a 50-seat bonus given to the party which comes first, that result would give New Democracy and PASOK 161 seats in the 300-seat parliament, in an alliance committed to a 130 billion euro ($164 billion) EU/IMF bailout keeping the country from bankruptcy.

Greek vote only buys some time in widening euro crisis

Sunday's vote was seen as crucial for Europe and the world, since it could determine whether Greece was forced to leave the joint euro currency, a move that could have potentially catastrophic consequences for other ailing European nations and the global economy. As central banks stood ready to intervene in case of financial turmoil, Greece held its second national election in six weeks after an inconclusive ballot on May 6.

The Eurozone's finance ministers said the outcome should allow for the formation of a government that will carry the support of the electorate to bring Greece back on a path of sustainable growth.

"The Eurogroup acknowledges the considerable efforts already made by the Greek citizens and is convinced that continued fiscal and structural reforms are Greece's best guarantee to overcome the current economic and social challenges and for a more prosperous future of Greece in the euro area," the group said in a statement.

"We congratulate the Greek people on conducting their election in this difficult time," the White House said in a statement.?"We hope this election will lead quickly to the formation of a new government that can make timely progress on the economic challenges facing the Greek people."

Greece has been dependent on rescue loans since May 2010, after sky-high borrowing rates left it locked out of the international markets following years of profligate spending and falsifying financial data. The spending cuts made in return have left the country mired in a fifth year of recession, with unemployment spiraling to above 22 percent and tens of thousands of businesses shutting down.

Europe may be able to muddle through but the risk is rising. "There could be a Lehman's moment if things are not properly handled," Robert Zoellick, the outgoing head of the World Bank, told Britain's Observer newspaper.

The bankruptcy of U.S. bank Lehman Brothers in September 2008 triggered a global financial slump that indebted western nations are still struggling to recover from.?

'Most important election in history'
The ongoing uncertainty was a prime concern for Greek psychologist Sofia Arvanici, who spoke to NBC News at a polling station in a northern suburb of Athens.?

"This is Greece's most important election in history," the 36-year-old said. "We don't know whether we will have a government tomorrow, but we can't have more instability."

Bartering takes hold in austerity-wracked Greece

The European Union and International Monetary Fund have insisted that the conditions of the 130 billion euro bailout accord agreed in March must be accepted fully by a new government or funds will be cut off, driving Greece into bankruptcy.

Opinion polls show Greeks, weary after five years of deep recession, overwhelmingly favor remaining in the euro. But there is bitter anger over the repeated rounds of tax hikes, slashed spending and sharp cuts in wages.

"I voted with a heavy heart for a pro-bailout party because I want the country to stay in the euro, with the help of our European partners. I don't think the failed recipes of the left would get us out of this mess," Stratos Economou, 49, who runs a bakery shop in Athens, told Reuters.?

Germans on edge as key Greek vote nears

Zoellick and other policy makers insist that the austerity Greece is living with is preferable to the alternative.?

The Observer said the Zoellick would tell?a G-20 summit that the euro crisis could hit developing nations?hard, although clearly the effects would be felt further afield. ?

"Uncertainty in markets is now starting to increase costs for developing countries," he told the newspaper. "The ripple effects are making everybody's life harder."?

Watch World News videos on msnbc.com

The?G-20, which brings together finance ministers and central bank governors?from 19 major economies and the European Union, will start a meeting in Mexico on Monday. ?The gathering?in the Pacific resort of Los Cabos promised to be overshadowed by the elections in Greece and mounting worries about Spain and Italy.

During Sunday's election, voters will choose a new prime minister, but the election is also considered a proxy for a much bigger question: will Greece still use the Euro or not? CNBC's Michelle Caruso-Cabrera reports.

The fate of the euro as well as the European Union itself was top of mind for finance director?Kostas Theoharis, 40, as he cast his vote near Athens.?

"The main scenario is whether the euro will exist. This is the question that needs?answered rather than whether Greece will be part of the euro,"?he told NBC News at an Athens polling station with his son Alex, 6. ?"I fail to see how Greece could leave the euro without breaking up Europe. I understand that this is a financial problem but it needs a political solution."?

NBC News' Yuka Tachibana, msnbc.com's F. Brinley Bruton and Reuters contributed to this report.?

More world news from msnbc.com and NBC News:

Follow us on Twitter: @msnbc_world

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Sunday, June 17, 2012

Liu Yang named as first Chinese astronaut in space

Liu Yang, a 33-year-old air force pilot, has been named by China as the astronaut set to become the Asian nation?s first woman in space when the Shenzhou-9 spacecraft blasts off on Saturday.

According to Chinese state news agency Xinhua, Liu will travel with two male astronauts, Jing Haipeng and Liu Wang, into orbit, where the Shenzhou-9 will dock with the Tiangong-1 space laboratory and the crew will carry out a number of experiments.

Launch time for China?s fourth manned space flight is set for 6.37pm local time (6.37am ET) on Saturday, from a space center in China?s northwestern Gansu province, CNN reported. If the manned docking is successful, China ? which aims to construct a permanent space base and send a manned mission to the moon ? will become the world?s third nation after the United States and Russia to complete such a procedure.

More from GlobalPost:?China names 2 women shortlisted for Shenzhou-9 space mission

A spokesman for China?s space program told Xinhua on Friday that Liu?s participation was expected to make the mission more efficient, as ?generally speaking female astronauts have better durability, psychological stability and ability to deal with loneliness.?

Liu was quoted by state broadcaster CCTV as saying that ?from day one I have been told I am no different from the male astronauts,? and that ?I believe in persevering. If you persevere, success lies ahead of you,? the BBC reported.?

More from GlobalPost: China to make manned space flight mid-June

http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/regions/asia-pacific/china/120615/liu-yang-named-first-chinese-astronaut-space

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Monday, June 11, 2012

Chinese Farm Produce Prices Down Last Week

Friday, June 08, 2012

Print This Page

Chinese Farm Produce Prices Down Last Week

CHINA - China's farm produce prices generally maintained a downward trend last week, as data from the Ministry of Commerce (MOC) showed that prices dropped during the week of 28 May - 3 June from the previous week, marking the fifth week of decline.

The MOC data released Wednesday showed that 18 kinds of major vegetables saw a 7.5-per cent drop in wholesale prices from the previous week as supplies increased.

According to the data, the price of pork also fell 0.9 per cent while prices of beef and mutton rose 0.5 per cent and 0.3 per cent, respectively. The price of chicken edged up 0.1 per cent.

Prices of staple foods, including rice and flour, remained unchanged, while the prices of different kinds of cooking oils saw moderate increases. Eight kinds of sea products saw an average price rise of 0.3 per cent, data showed.

Prices of eggs and garlic saw significant increases.

The report said egg prices ended the downshifting trend seen since the start of the year, rising 2.6 per cent last week. The cities of Beijing and Wuhan saw egg prices surge 11.4 per cent and 10.2 per cent, respectively.

The recent price surges on eggs and garlic have reignited concerns of inflation, even though analysts expect it to further moderate in May. Data show that the nation's consumer price index, the main gauge of inflation, eased to 3.4 per cent in April from 3.6 per cent in March.

An official with the National Development and Reform Commission also said Tuesday the price increases of eggs and garlic were "a reasonable recovery" from low bases.

TheMeatSite News Desk

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Thursday, June 7, 2012

Interview Series 2012 ? Typographer and Illustrator Sasha Prood

Recently we had the pleasure of interviewing designer and water color?connoisseur Sasha Prood. Sasha?grew up just outside of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and trained at Carnegie Mellon?s School of Design. She currently resides in a tiny studio apartment in Brooklyn, New York filled to the brim with plants. When it comes to her skill set, she creates typography, illustrations, patterns and graphics using pencil, pen and watercolor with the computer. This?wonderful?mix of both traditional and non?traditional?methods not only makes for an outstanding portfolio, it shows the diversity and dedication of this talented designer.

Website:?www.sashaprood.com

Shop:?www.sashaprood.com/theprintshop.html

Illustration Division portfolio website:?www.illustrationdivision.com/prood

Behance:?www.behance.net/SashaProod

What is the most important aspect of typography??

For me, the most difficult (and often most important) aspect of creating typography tends to be balancing readability and pushing the level of creativity. This is obviously a particularly tricky area when working with clients because getting the message across is their number one priority.

While you are in the process of creating your artwork, what are 3 rules you always follow to maximize results??

Do your research, create clear sketches (especially when working with a client) and have a flexible plan for executing the final art.

A majority of your work is completed with watercolor ? what influenced you to work with watercolor??

Throughout high school and college I tried every medium available to me. Several of the mediums felt natural to use and I have stuck with them?one of them is watercolor paint. I also use pencil, pen and the Adobe Creative Suite on a regular basis.

Are there any disadvantages in working with watercolor? What happens if a mistake is made while painting??

The only advantage to using watercolor is the beautiful result you can achieve if you ?do it right?. Watercolor is a tricky medium to work in because it is unforgiving. Oftentimes if you mess up, you will have to start over. However, sometimes you can dull the mistake a bit by carefully saturating the area with water and dabbing it with a paper towel. Since most of my work ends up as a digital file, Photoshop retouching is another useful trick. With time and practice, you make less and less mistakes.

You create some awesome patterns ? where do you get the inspiration for these patterns? Do they come natural? Do you do a lot of sketches before hand??

The sources of my inspirations vary greatly. I love the organization and sense of simplicity found in geometry. I find science to be inspirational, particularly biology?cells, molecules, etc. I have included animals, vegetables and minerals?anything natural and organic ? into much of my work. Things from childhood are also inspirational to me, particularly items with a sense of play and humor.? I?m attracted to vintage items, especially ones that are typographic in nature. I?m inspired by everyday ?mundane? things that are basic and utilitarian as well as anything that is hand-made. Examples include cultural items such as textiles, ceramics and basket weaving. I am also interested in aspects of black magic and ritual. And on and on!

Each piece of my art evolves naturally because it is often an extension of my past work. I don?t try to push myself into creating totally new things. For me, little experiments keep things interesting and tends to grow into fresh ideas organically.

I do a lot of research/sketching/planning before creating any of my work.

Some people struggle to work with typography ? what advice would you give them on layout, readability, emphasis and alignment??

I would suggest practicing, experimenting, taking classes and anything else that you can do to discover new ways of approaching typographic challenges.?

What are some good rules to follow when working with typography??

I?m not a fan of sticking to the rules?I say learn them only so that you can choose when to break them and know why you did so.

What advantages do you have working with custom typography over an already created typeface??

Beyond not having to pay to own all of the hottest new typefaces, I?m not sure about advantages?I personally find hand lettering to be more creatively fulfilling.?

How do you keep up with your creative side when you are working under pressure/strict deadlines??

Over time you get better at balancing everything?it just takes practice.

Do you have any final advice for our readers??

As an artist, I feel that it is important to find your own unique visual voice and apply it to everything that you do.

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Tuesday, June 5, 2012

Wii U, sequels take another swing at E3

FILE - In this June 8, 2011 photo, Nintendo's video game console:Wii U is demonstrated at the Nintendo booth at the 2011 Electronic Entertainment Expo in Los Angeles. At this year's Electronic Entertainment Expo, Nintendo is expected to show off exactly what kinds of games will be available for its new touchpad-powered Wii U console, while other gamemakers will hype the latest installments in their "Call of Duty," "Halo" and "God of War" franchises. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes, file)

In this video game image released by Microsoft/343 Industries, a scene if shown from "Halo 4." At this year's Electronic Entertainment Expo, Nintendo is expected to show off exactly what kinds of games will be available for its new touchpad-powered Wii U console, while other gamemakers will hype the latest installments in their "Call of Duty," "Halo" and "God of War" franchises. (AP Photo/Microsoft/343 Industries)

This video game image released by Activision shows a scene from "Call of Duty: Black Ops II." At this year's Electronic Entertainment Expo, Nintendo is expected to show off exactly what kinds of games will be available for its new touchpad-powered Wii U console, while other gamemakers will hype the latest installments in their "Call of Duty," "Halo" and "God of War" franchises. (AP Photo/Activision)

LOS ANGELES (AP) ? Is the Wii U right for you?

At last year's Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3), Nintendo captured most of the spotlight by unveiling the Wii's successor, a high-definition console called the Wii U that utilizes a tablet-like touchscreen controller. Attention alone wasn't enough to declare a victory. Folks weren't, well, feeling it. Critical reaction was mixed, and the Japanese gaming giant's stock dropped.

"Nintendo has an uphill battle this year," said Morgan Webb, co-host of the G4 gaming show "X-Play." ''It's really a branding problem. I think a lot of people are still confused about the Wii U. They're going to have a hard time convincing people that this could be a better gaming experience than the iPad."

At this year's E3 convention in Los Angeles next week, Nintendo Co. will attempt to assuage such concerns by introducing gamers to titles that will be available for Wii U when it's expected to launch later this year. Previously, the "Mario Bros." creator only teased what was capable through a series of technology demonstrations.

E3 comes at a time when the gaming industry could use a few good parties and pep talks. The NPD Group, a research firm that tracks the U.S. sales of game software, hardware and accessories, said that while consumers spent more than $1 billion on games and accompanying gizmos in April, retail sales fell 32 percent from a year ago, the fifth month of decline.

The continued interest in cheaper-to-produce mobile, social and downloadable games is expected to be showcased more than ever before at E3, a flashy extravaganza typically focused on building buzz for the loudest and sexiest games. Zynga, the developer of social games like "FarmVille" and "Words With Friends," will have a presence at E3 for the first time.

"Every time I go to E3, I'm usually surprised," said Jay Wilson, lead designer of the role-playing game "Diablo III." ''I expect to be surprised again. What I hope is that no matter what platform people are working on, no matter what new area that they're exploring, the most important thing is gameplay. If a game provides great gameplay, the platform doesn't really matter."

Indeed, a strong line-up of games will be integral to the future success of the Wii U, a lesson Nintendo learned the hard way after last year's lackluster launch of the 3DS, its glasses-free 3-D handheld device. "X-Play's" Webb thinks Nintendo could win over the E3 crowd if it introduces innovative, unexpected, must-own games that appeal equally to both hardcore and casual gamers.

Unless Nintendo's fellow first-party publishers Sony Corp. or Microsoft Corp. unveil new hardware or radical updates to their respective PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 consoles, the E3 spotlight ? for better or worse ? will undoubtedly be shining back in Nintendo's direction. (Microsoft and Sony have previously shot down rumors they'd unleash new consoles at this year's E3.)

"The Wii U was announced last year, and that stimulates all kinds of thoughts about what's possible," said Mark Lamia, the studio head at "Call of Duty: Black Ops II" developer Treyarch. "It'll be interesting to see what happens with the first parties. It's always an exciting time when rumors are in the air, and we see if E3 is the time when they become more than rumors."

Most other game makers will use the expo to hype new entries in their seemingly never-ending franchises. There's Activision's "Call of Duty: Black Ops II," Microsoft's "Halo 4" and "Forza Horizon," Sony's "God of War: Ascension" and "LittleBigPlanet Karting," Ubisoft's "Far Cry 3" and "Assassin's Creed III," as well as the revealing of several other new chapters.

Some sequels at E3 are emerging from deep within the vault. Franchises once considered extinct, such as invasion simulator "X-COM," stealthy shooter "Hitman" and town builder "SimCity," will return to a vastly different landscape. Will these once beloved series be re-embraced? It's a strategy that's worked for some ("Twisted Metal") but failed others ("Syndicate").

Electronic Arts Inc. will show off such games as the real-world military simulator "Medal of Honor: Warfighter," a new iteration of its "Need for Speed" racing series and the sci-fi horror sequel "Dead Space 3." EA, like many publishers, will also be talking technology, focusing on advancements with its Frostbite graphics engine, digital distribution and cloud computing

"Cloud competing isn't rocket science," said Patrick Soderlund, executive vice president at the EA Games label. "It is a great feature that we're embracing as a game company. It's just a natural evolution that I think will be used in most of our products, to some extent."

___

AP Entertainment Writer Ryan Pearson contributed to this report.

___

Online:

http://www.e3expo.com/

___

Follow AP Entertainment Writer Derrik J. Lang on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/derrikjlang.

Associated Press

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Ongage Wants to Help Marketing Emails Make It Into The Inbox

If a company needs to send marketing emails, it choose from a range of email service providers, such as iContact and Exact Target. But a startup called Ongage says that if you want your emails to make it into everyone's inbox there's a better approach ? instead of choosing one ESP, why not use different providers for different recipients?

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Follow Up Autoresponder

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Hanoi opens 3 MIA search areas, releases letters

U.S. Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta, left, participates in an arrival ceremony with Vietnam Minister of Defense Phung Quang Thanh at the Ministry of Defense in Hanoi, Vietman, Monday, June 4, 2012. (AP Photo/Jim Watson, Pool)

The personal letters of U.S. Army Sgt. Steve Flaherty, who was killed in action in 1969, rest on a table at Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command (JPAC) in Hanoi, Vietnam Monday, June 4, 2012. Vietnamese Defense Minister Phuong Quang Thanh presented the letters to U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta during a press conference at the defense ministry. (AP Photo/Jim Watson, Pool)

U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta, center right, participates in an arrival ceremony with Vietnamese Defense Minister Phung Quang Thanh at the defense ministry in Hanoi, Vietnam Monday, June 4, 2012. (AP Photo/Jim Watson, Pool)

U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta, second left, participates in an arrival ceremony with Vietnamese Defense Minister Phung Quang Thanh, left, at the Ministry of Defense in Hanoi, Vietnam Monday, June 4, 2012. (AP Photo/Jim Watson, Pool)

U.S. Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta, left, stands near USNS Richard E. Byrd Ship Master Captain John Sargent as he speaks to the crew aboard the cargo ship in Cam Ranh Bay, Vietnam, Sunday, June 3, 2012. Panetta visited the former U.S. air and naval base in the bay, becoming the most senior American official to go there since the war ended. (AP Photo/Jim Watson, Pool)

HANOI, Vietnam (AP) ? "If Dad calls, tell him I got too close to being dead but I'm O.K. I was real lucky. I'll write again soon."

That poignant message never reached the mother of Army Sgt. Steve Flaherty. He was killed in Vietnam in 1969 before he could mail the letters he was carrying, including one he might have been writing when he died. The letters were taken by the Vietnamese after his death, U.S. officials said in releasing excerpts on Monday.

The letters, chronicling the carnage and exhaustion of war, were given to Defense Secretary Leon Panetta in exchange for a Vietnamese soldier's diary that was taken from his body by an American GI. The letters will be returned to Flaherty's family in South Carolina.

Vietnamese Defense Minister Phung Quang Thanh and Panetta made the exchange in a ceremony in which the Vietnamese also agreed to open three new sites in the country for excavation by the United States to search for troop remains from the war. Acidic soil in Vietnam erodes bones quickly, leaving in many cases only teeth for military teams to use to try and identify service members.

.Ron Ward, U.S. casualty resolution specialist at the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command in Hanoi, said there are at least four U.S. troops believed to be lost in the three areas that are being opened. That leaves eight sites still restricted by the Vietnamese, he said.

Memories of the Vietnam War are fading for many Americans, and the war is the stuff of textbooks for others. But it is brought vividly alive in Sgt. Flaherty's letters. The mail from the Columbia, S.C., native to his mother, Lois, and two women identified only as Mrs. Wyatt and Betty, offer emotional accounts of his fear ? and also his determination.

"I felt bullets going past me," Flaherty writes to Betty. "I have never been so scared in my life."

"We took in lots of casualties and death," he writes. "We dragged more bodies of dead and wounded than I can ever want to forget."

"Thank you for your sweet card. It made my miserable day a much better one but I don't think I will ever forget the bloody fight we are having. ... RPG rockets and machine guns really tore my rucksack."

By 1969, the war was sharply dividing Americans back home, but Flaherty tells Mrs. Wyatt he still believes in the mission.

"This is a dirty and cruel war but I'm sure people will understand the purpose of this war even though many of us might not agree," he writes.

In another section of the letter to his mother, Flaherty reassures her that he will get some rest.

"I definitely will take R&R," he wrote. "I don't care where so long as I get a rest, which I need so badly, soon. I'll let you know exact date."

Flaherty, who was with the 101st Airborne, was killed in the northern section of South Vietnam in March 1969. It's clear he saw some heavy combat.

"Our platoon started off with 35 men but winded up with 19 men when it was over," he tells his mother. "We lost platoon leader and whole squad."

Officials said parts of Flaherty's letters were read in propaganda broadcasts by the Vietnamese during the war.

This is the first time such a joint exchange of war artifacts has occurred, they said.

Vietnamese Col. Nguyen Phu Dat had kept Sgt. Flaherty's letters, and last August he mentioned them in an online publication.

Early this year, Robert Destatte, a retired Defense Department employee who had worked for the POW/MIA office, noticed the publication, and the Pentagon began to work to get the letters back to Flaherty's family. Flaherty's sister-in-law, Martha Gibbons, 73, of Irmo, S.C., said she learned of the letters' existence about six weeks ago.

Gibbons said her husband met Flaherty when the boy was a 6-year-old living in a Japanese orphanage and her husband persuaded his mother, with whom they lived, to adopt the child. He grew up to be a well-liked, athletic boy, who dropped out of college to join the Army despite a baseball scholarship.

"He decided to enlist in the Army and go fight for his country in Vietnam and he didn't make it back, " said Kenneth L. Cannon, 80, of Prosperity, S.C., Flaherty's uncle. "It was very hard to take. It was hard."

Cannon said the family was told that he was in a field, taking a break to eat lunch or write letters.

"He never let us know how afraid and scared he was," Gibbons said. "He was in danger. We knew it was bad. We just didn't know how bad, I guess."

She's thrilled the information has been released.

"I had a very emotional morning all over again. But it was a wonderful emotion this time. It's good for both countries. It's good for all the soldiers who were killed for both countries." Gibbons said the family would store the letters with Flaherty's medals, scrapbook and flag.

Defense officials reviewing the packet of papers given to Panetta said it appears there are three sets of letters, including the four written by Flaherty. It was not clear how many other service members' letters were there, but officials were going through them Monday

The small diary belonged to Vu Dinh Doan, a Vietnamese soldier who was killed in a machine gun fight, according to defense officials. They said a Marine, Robert "Ira" Frazure of Walla Walla, Wash., saw the diary ? with a photo and some money inside ? on the chest of the dead soldier and took it back to the U.S.

The diary came to light earlier this year when the sister of a friend of Frazure's was doing research for a book and Frazure asked her help in returning the diary. The sister, Marge Scooter, brought the diary to the PBS television program "History Detectives."

The show then asked the Defense and State departments to help return the diary.

There are nearly 1,300 cases of troops still unaccounted for, and officers briefing Panetta said about 600 of those remains could be recoverable.

Ward said that opening the three new sites will enable the U.S. to try to find:

-- Two Air Force members who were lost when their plane was shot down in Quang Binh Province in central Vietnam in 1967.

-- An Army private first class who went missing when he was out with his unit on a search-and-destroy mission in 1968 in the tri-border area of Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam.

-- A Marine whose plane went down in Quang Tri Province. Another Marine on the plane ejected and was rescued.

___

Jones reported from Columbia, S.C. Associated Press writer Pauline Jelinek contributed from Washington.

Online:

To see excerpts, go to: http://bit.ly/Mbse3S

Associated Press

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Sunday, June 3, 2012

How "Lord of the Rings" inspired "Snow White"

NEW YORK (TheWrap.com) - What does Snow White, a fairly tale about the fairest woman in the land, have to do with "Lord of the Rings" and the battle for Middle-earth?

Quite a bit, according to Evan Daugherty, who wrote a spec script nearly a decade ago that blended the two tales.

Daughtery was enamored of the film version of "Lord of the Rings" trilogy while an undergraduate at New York University's Tisch School of the Arts.

Lucky for him, Joe Roth and Universal soon shared his affinity for this fairy-fantasy blend, turning Daugherty's script into director Rupert Sanders' "Snow White and the Huntsman."

TheWrap spoke with Daugherty about how Peter Jackson's epic inspired his rendition of the Brothers Grimm fairy tale, the surprising casting of the leads and what it was like getting kicked off his own project.

Q: By the time this is published, your first feature will have debuted, but this project dates to your time at NYU. You haven't been a student for years. What took so long?

A: I wrote it for fun. This was only the second or third script I wrote, but I tried to make some things happen with it, with friends or contacts in the industry, and no one quite got what I was trying to do - an action-adventure version of Snow White. No one saw where that would fit into the marketplace.

It existed on my hard drive for six or seven years and then Joe Roth's "Alice in Wonderland" came out and it did really well at the box office. That sparked a bit of a trend, and I sold the script a year and a half ago.

Q: Did you want to write about Snow White in particular or were you just interested in the idea of turning any fairy tale into an action adventure movie?

A: Snow White for some reason is the resident, evocative fairy tale. It's the first movie that Walt Disney made, and Disney for the 20th century has been the primary interpreter of the fairytale. It's the first fairy tale anyone would list.

I also chose it because it's so simple. Some of the Brothers Grimm fairy tales are really out there and don't make any sense. They're about talking animals and other things that don't feel like simple stories.

Q: As you say, revisionist versions of classic tales have become quite popular, but you wrote this almost a decade ago. Why take that approach?

A: I'd be lying if I said I wasn't inspired by "Lord of the Rings." I was in college and my sophomore year "Fellowship of the Ring" came out. My junior year was "Two Towers." My senior year was "Return of the King." College was four years of Lord of the Rings fever.

Q: So then what do you see as the audience for this movie? It seems like Universal has targeted women in particular, but it has a "Lord of the Rings" feel ? not exactly your "Twilight" audience.

A: The Brothers Grimm intended Snow White to be for boys and girls, but because of the Disney filter - it's one of the branded Disney princesses - it's seen as a girl's story.

I'm very proud of the script taking that more female, feminine character and making it appeal to guys as well, particularly with the huntsman character. Hopefully it will. That was one of big reasons I wrote the movie.

I'll do my small part to insist it was written by a dude in his 20s who was very into "Lord of the Rings" and into muscular action-adventure movies.

Q: How different is what you turned in from what's on screen?

A: The script I sold to Universal is fairly different from the movie that you see. At same time, it's the same structure and same plot: Snow White will be killed by the huntsman, and instead the huntsman decides to protect her, crafts her into a warrior who then takes on the queen. The very concept of an action-adventure Snow White is mine.

Q: So what's different?

A: When I sold the script I was also hired to stay on board and rewrite. Rupert Sanders and the studio had strong opinions about the direction it could go, and I worked on couple of drafts closely with Rupert. At about that point Rupert was executing his vision of the movie, seeing the visual.

Q: And how did you feel when they brought in other writers to finish the job?

A: It wasn't fun. I worked on the script for a number of months, and it was fairly close to a finished product. That said, had that movie been given a green light, they'd be green lighting a movie written by a first-time writer and directed by a first-time director. With a $150 million movie, that's just very unlikely.

Ultimately they brought in a number of very talented, very esteemed A-list writers.. The biggest change is my original script had a more humorous tone like "Princess Bride." As people will see in the movie, it doesn't really have that vibe anymore. It's very intense and gritty.

Q: That's especially true with the dwarves. They've evolved a little bit from Sleepy and Dopey.

A: "Lord of the Rings" struck me as a way to have tougher, more warrior dwarves. People will be surprised and intrigued by their grit and toughness.

One of the things that was really cool in the casting of it was that all the guys in the movie who play dwarves, with exception of Nick Frost, are really well known, well-respected British gangsters. It enables them to be these tough cockney kind of dwarves.

Q: You brought up the casting decisions. Of the stars, who did you see as being perfect for the role and who made you cringe?

A: The first person cast was Charlize as the queen.

It sounds like hyperbole, but there's maybe three actresses in Hollywood who could play that queen and Charlize ranks as the very best. Beauty is integral to that character given her obsession with beauty and youth. She is also like a crazy killer and Charlize Theron won an Academy Award for playing a very real life serial killer.

Q: And the cringe?

A: The casting of the other two leads was a little surprising. With Chris Hemsworth, I love "Thor" and am obsessed with Norse mythology but the Huntsman began as more of a mentor with hints of love in my original script. With Hemsworth, he's younger so they said, "Let's shift that paradigm a little. He's still a mentor, but play up the love story."

Kristen Stewart is the wild card. It's a tough role; you need someone with oomph and grit. The director flew to Louisiana where they were shooting "Twilight" and was instantly won over. I'm not the target audience for "Twilight." In "Twilight" it's mainly romance she's dealing with, so the question was, "Can she strap on armor and lead men into battle and do an English accent?"

When I saw the movie, she is probably my favorite and the most surprising part. Thankfully, as I'm reading some of these reviews, some people are realizing that. Some people still unfairly have some kind of hang-up with Kristen Stewart because of the "Twilight" movies or something.

Q: Having brought up reviews, are you nervous at all about the opening?

A: I am interested in how well the movie does mainly for the sake of the movie. The plight of the screenwriter in Hollywood is a difficult one. There are a lot of legendary horror stories about how the screenwriter is treated. This has been by all accounts a very good process. One of nice things about it is that I don't think the success or failure of movie at the box office impacts me as a writer too much.

I'd hope to make more "Snow White and the Huntsman" movies, but obviously I'm working on other projects.

Q: You've got "The Killing Season" with Robert De Niro and John Travolta coming out next year. What else?

A: An adaptation of the young adult novel "Divergent." I have to turn in a second draft to that movie, which Lionsgate/Summit is keen on making. Supposedly they really want to make it in tradition of "Hunger Games" and "Twilight." That's the big thing I'm most excited about at the moment.

I've also got a spec that I'm going to keep slightly under wraps. Suffice it to say it's sort of in the vein of Snow White in terms of a reinterpretation. It's not a fairy tale, but a revision of a story of story that people know and love.

I love to explore and build and create these exotic worlds. That's a huge part of the fun of writing for me. It's not the real hard work - the meat of screenwriting. It's the special sauce you lay on top. But it's the real fun part of writing.

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