Dollar dips, shares mixed ahead of Bernanke testimony

By Richard Hubbard

LONDON (Reuters) - The dollar dipped and benchmark Bund futures rose on Wednesday as expectations hardened that the head of the U.S. central bank will later in the day signal no tapering off of the bank's ultra-easy monetary policy.

Ben Bernanke, who speaks before the Joint Economic Committee of the U.S. Congress at 1400 GMT (10 a.m. EDT), is expected to follow the line set by two other Federal Reserve officials, who struck a dovish tone on the economy on Tuesday.

"I don't think Bernanke is going to signal any tapering off at this point which could put the dollar under some pressure," said Ian Stannard, head of European foreign-exchange strategy at Morgan Stanley.

Against a basket of major currencies, the dollar . lost 0.1 percent to 83.77 in early European trade, while the euro added 0.13 percent to $1.2920.

German Bund futures were 24 ticks higher at 144.57, but gains were seen limited before the issuance of a new 10-year Bund later this session.

The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 share index <.fteu3>, which has risen to 5-year highs this month, slipped 0.1 percent to 1,252.59 points although the euro zone's blue-chip Euro STOXX 50 index <.stoxx50e> edged up 0.1 percent to 2,825.59 points.

Earlier Japan's Nikkei reaching a 5-1/2 year high and clinging to its gains as the Bank of Japan stood pat after unleashing massive stimulus last month.

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Source: http://news.yahoo.com/asian-stocks-cheered-fed-reassurance-boj-stands-pat-051930022.html

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Chief Keef Fired Up After Disorderly Conduct Arrest And Release

Sosa was arrested in Georgia on Monday, a day after MTV News visited him on set for Gucci Mane's 'Darker' video.
By Rob Markman

Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1707727/chief-keef-arrested-gucci-mane-darker-video.jhtml

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Doncaster Bakery On Road To Growth Creating 6 New Jobs

A fleet of specialist delivery fans costing ?600,000 has been acquired by a south Yorkshire bakery after gaining backing from Yorkshire Bank.

The six new 'Bap Vans', which play the Batman theme, deliver hot and cold food to offices and businesses across south and west Yorkshire, north Lincolnshire and north Nottinghamshire, have been bought by Cooplands (Doncaster) Ltd.

Yorkshire Bank's Business and Private Banking Centre in Doncaster provided ?250,000 of asset finance.

The new vehicles take the total size of the fleet to 25, making it one of the largest of its kind in the country. A total of six new jobs are also being created.

Family business Cooplands (Doncaster) Ltd, which has 85 shops across the region, was founded in 1932 in Hallgate, Doncaster, by Mrs Alice Jenkinson. Alice's son, David Jenkinson remains honorary president of the business.

Chris Peck, chairman of Cooplands, said:
"Busy working people do not always have time to seek out quality food for their lunch break and so, in partnership with Yorkshire Bank, we are rapidly expanding our fleet of Bap Vans taking quality, competitively-priced food to their doorsteps.

"Sales through our Bap Van fleet are increasing by ?1.7m a year. This is an important channel through which we can grow at a time when the high street is proving extremely tough to retain or grow sales. Sales to our key wholesale clients, particularly for cakes, added ?250,000 growth over the same period last year.

"The retail bakery market is fast-consolidating and innovating its products. Food scares and adverse consumer reaction to mislabeling issues have made customers increasingly concerned. They are more careful whom they buy from and strong local brands like ours give them confidence in the quality of the food they are buying."

Cooplands, which also makes a wide range of savoury and sweet buns, pasties, rolls and cakes, currently has 650 staff and an ?18m turnover.

Richard Boor, senior partner at Yorkshire Bank's Business and Private Banking Centre in Doncaster, said:
"Cooplands is expanding through innovation both in the quality and types of foods it offers and its way of getting its products to customers. These customers know they have a brand they can rely on at a time when the quality of some products has been called into question.''

Yorkshire Bank has introduced a series of measures designed to help growing businesses - including a ?1billion "Business Expansion Fund" and switching package to assist businesses transferring their banking facilities.

The "Growing Business" package of measures will provide new and additional support for businesses looking to start up, expand or switch their banking arrangements. The range of initiatives underlines Yorkshire Banks' commitment to help UK businesses grow under the Funding for Lending scheme.

Source: http://www.yorkshiretimes.co.uk/article/Bakery-On-Road-To-Growth-Creating-6-New-Jobs

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New social discovery platform aims to help users reclaim leisure time

People looking to make the most of their leisure time can now take advantage of a new global platform that combines the best of listings, discovery and location-based social networking services.

With a robust iPhone and Android app as well as a responsive website, Fiz (www.fiz.com) helps users reclaim time that would otherwise spent trawling the web, local guides and newspapers for places to spend their free time, by crowdsourcing the best information about destinations.

The Fiz platform collates data from across the web, giving users access to maps, directions, telephone numbers, reviews, photos, weather, tweets, UK traffic updates and general information ? all in a single, slick interface. Places are categorised by type and, importantly, by area of leisure, so users can easily find locations they?ll be interested in.

Place data is drawn from Foursquare and Google as well as Fiz?s own database of locations and a range of other APIs and feeds. Each place offers custom local information, in many cases from other users who have actually visited the destination, while all photographs are user-generated so they paint an honest picture.

The information offered at launch will mean that users only have to open one app instead of several to discover information about a certain place. As more users contribute and share, the app will grow into a curated local platform, offering the best information about destinations, wherever they are.

Users can add places to the platform and rate existing places ? telling others what the locations are ?great for?, a unique way of helping them find destinations based on the things they like to do. They can also add their own reviews, ratings and photographs to places listed on Fiz.

Contributors earn karma points for every action they make in the app ? even just opening the app or rating a location will increase a user?s score as a way of saying ?thanks for sharing?. These points will ultimately be converted into real world rewards for top contributors.

With a responsive, mobile-enabled website and an app for iOS and Android Fiz is platform-agnostic, so can be accessed on whichever device is most convenient for the user.

?Technology has the power to transform the way we spend our leisure time. However, trying to draw the right information together to plan an enjoyable experience from several different sources is time-consuming and confusing and we want to make it easier,? said Fiz co-founder David Hughes.
?Fiz has been developed to help all types of user ? from enthusiasts to socialites, lone travellers to families, jet-setters to local experts. But at its heart Fiz is a community, developing a network of content that brings places to life and that will, in time, create an ecosystem where quality information is held for everyone to benefit from.

?Fiz is on a mission to help everyone reclaim their precious leisure time. But this is just the beginning, with much more planned for the future. We will continue to bring the best user content together to give a single, comprehensive view of what makes a place worth visiting,? he continued.

Source: http://www.breakingtravelnews.com/news/article/new-social-discovery-platform-aims-to-help-users-reclaim-leisure-time/

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Justin Bieber To "Take Some Time"

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Wireless Communications and Networks | Mobile Phone | Wireless

Project Description:
Here are some enquiries which need to be solved for my office:

Enquiry 1:
By experimentation, work out the lowest SNR, under which 4 users can simultaneously communicate, without error, via this system. For SNR, simply report the largest value for the noise power parameter, in the spreadsheet cell which changes the strength of the noise. Your answer should include a report on experiments in which the messages could be repeatedly communicated successfully, and also reports of experiments in which communication sometimes failed.

Enquiry 2:
It has become established practice to define network security by means of rules. These rules can take many different forms. Although security is often concerned with preventing access, good security requires consideration of other aspects than merely preventing access. Rules may state what types of service or activity are not allowed, and also what should be allowed. Rules may take precedence over other rules.
Complete set of rules for the following situations:
(i) A network of wireless access which is provided in a nationwide network of hotels;
(ii) A university campus network (with three types of user ? academics, admin, and students);
(iii) A home wireless network.
In each case, include both positive and negative rules, and also rules which are not simply about access, and attempt to ensure that the resulting set of rules is unambiguous, complete, and consistent.

Criteria
? In Enquiry 1, the SNR at which communication can be achieved for all four sources, by codes, has been found.
? Evidence is provided that reliable communication can be conducted, using the given codes, with this level of noise.
? Evidence is provided that reliable communication cannot be conducted, using the given codes, when the noise is higher than this level.
? In Enquiry 2, a satisfactory set of rules has been provided for all three situations, including rules which describe what users can do, rules which describe what they can't do,
? The issue of how the identity of users should be managed has been addressed in the security rules.
? The issue of security rules for administration users has been addressed.
? The completeness and consistency of the rules has been satisfactorily discussed.

Skills required:
Mobile Phone, Wireless Additional Files: Enquiry+1.docx

Source: http://www.freelancer.com/projects/Wireless-Mobile-Phone/Wireless-Communications-Networks.html

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Hofstra student killed by police during break-in

MINEOLA, N.Y. (AP) ? In what police are describing as a crime of opportunity, a wanted man with a criminal history dating nearly 15 years entered a front door that had been left open at a New York home near Hofstra University.

A short time later, the intruder, Dalton Smith, and a 21-year-old college junior, Andrea Rebello, were both dead. The two were killed early Friday by a Nassau County police officer who fired eight shots at the masked man, hitting him seven times but also accidentally hitting Rebello once in the head, Nassau County homicide squad Lt. John Azzata said Saturday.

Smith was holding Rebello in a headlock and pointing a gun at her head before he turned his gun at the officer, Azzata said, prompting the shooting.

"He kept saying, 'I'm going to kill her,' and then he pointed the gun at the police officer," Azzata said.

A loaded 9 mm handgun with a serial number scratched off was found at the scene, police said.

Nassau County Police Commissioner Thomas Dale said he had traveled to Rebello's Tarrytown, N.Y., home to explain to Rebello's parents what happened.

"I felt obligated as a police commissioner and as a parent to inform them as soon as all the forensic results were completed," Dale said.

The veteran police officer, who was not identified, has about 12 years of experience on the Nassau County police force and previously spent several years as a New York City police officer, Dale said.

The officer is currently out on sick leave. He will be the focus of an internal police investigation once the criminal investigation is completed, which is standard police procedure in any officer-involved shooting, the commissioner said.

The shooting came just days before the school's commencement ceremonies, which are scheduled for Sunday.

A university spokeswoman said students will be handed white ribbons to wear in memory of Rebello. The shooting, which took place just steps from campus, has cast a pall over the university community as it geared up for commencement.

Earlier Saturday, police announced that Smith, 30, had been wanted on a parole violation related to a first-degree robbery conviction. A warrant was issued for Smith on April 25 for absconding from parole, police said.

Smith had what police described as "an extensive criminal history," which included arrests for robbery in the first degree in 1999, promoting prison contraband in the second degree in 2000, robbery in the first degree in 2003, assault in the second degree in 2003 and robbery in the second degree in 2003.

Rebello was in the two-story home in Uniondale, N.Y., with her twin sister Jessica, a third woman and a man when Smith, wearing a ski mask, walked into the house through an open front door, Azzata said.

The door was left open after someone had moved a car that was blocking a driveway, Azzata said.

When Smith entered, he demanded valuables and was told they were upstairs, Azzata said.

Smith, apparently unsatisfied with the valuables upstairs, asked if any of the four had a bank account and could withdraw money, Azzata said. The intruder then allowed the unidentified woman to leave and collect money from an ATM, telling her she had only eight minutes to come back with cash before he killed one of her friends, Azzata said.

The woman left for the bank and called 911, according to Azzata.

Minutes later, two police officers arrived at the home and found Rebello's twin sister Jessica running out of the front door and the male guest hiding behind a couch on the first floor, Azzata said.

One of the officers entered the home and encountered Smith holding onto Rebello in a headlock, coming down the stairs, Azzata said. Smith pulled Rebello closer and started moving backward toward a rear door of the house, pointing the gun at her head before eventually threatening the officer, Azzata said.

The Rev. Osvaldo Franklin, who gave Rebello and her twin their first communions, on Saturday night told The Associated Press their mother, Nella, couldn't even speak to him earlier in the day.

"She was so devastated," said Franklin. "She's just crying. We have to pray for Andrea, to pray for Jessica because she needs help."

Franklin said a funeral is scheduled for Wednesday at Teresa of Avila Church in Sleepy Hollow, N.Y., and will be in Portuguese.

"The family's a very good family, they have very good values," he said. "They are a very good, very devoted family."

___

Associated Press writer Jake Pearson in New York contributed to this report.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/hofstra-student-killed-police-during-break-065118864.html

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Bionimbus protected data cloud to enable researchers to analyze cancer data

May 20, 2013 ? The University of Chicago has launched the first secure cloud-based computing system that enables researchers to access and analyze human genomic cancer information without the costly and cumbersome infrastructure normally needed to download and store massive amounts of data.

The Bionimbus Protected Data Cloud, as it is called, enables researchers who are authorized by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to access and analyze data in The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) without having to set up secure, compliant computing environments capable of managing and analyzing terabytes of data, download the data -- which can take weeks -- and then install the appropriate tools needed to perform the desired analyses.

Using technology that was developed in part by the Open Science Data Cloud, a National Science Foundation-supported project that is developing cloud infrastructure for large scientific datasets, the Bionimbus Protected Data Cloud provides researchers with a more cost- and time-effective mechanism to extract knowledge from massive amounts of data. Drawing insights from big data is imperative for addressing some of today's most vexing environmental, health and safety challenges.

"The open source technology underlying the Open Science Data Cloud enables researchers to manage and analyze the large data sets that are essential to tackling some of today's greatest challenges: from environmental monitoring to cancer genomics," said Robert L. Grossman, the director of the Open Science Data Cloud Project and a professor at the University of Chicago.

Today, as the only NIH-approved cloud-based system for TCGA data, the Bionimbus Protected Data Cloud allows researchers to focus on the analysis of large-scale cancer genome sequencing, which experts believe can unlock paths to early detection, appropriate treatment and prevention of cancer.

"We are excited that the Bionimbus Protected Data Cloud is now used for cancer genomics data so that researchers can more easily work with large datasets to understand genomic variations that seem to be one of the keys to the precise diagnosis and treatment of cancer," continued Grossman.

"With funding provided by NSF's Partnerships for International Research and Education [PIRE] program, NSF has sought to narrow the gap between the capability of modern scientific instruments to produce data and the ability of researchers to access, manage, analyze and share those data in a reliable and timely manner," said NSF Program Director Harold Stolberg.

"By embracing cloud computing as a global issue, this PIRE project brings together the expertise of many researchers, not only in the United States, but worldwide. Its success in helping researchers to access and analyze important human genomic cancer information is an exciting indicator of future developments with these technologies," he said.

Megan McNerney, an instructor of pathology at the University of Chicago, used Bionimbus to analyze data that led to her discovery that gene CUX1, which acts as a tumor suppressor, is frequently inactivated in acute myeloid leukemia.

"Bionimbus was critical for my work, as it was used for all aspects of the project, including secure storage of protected data, quality control of next-generation sequencing results, alignments, expression analysis, and algorithm development," she said. "The strength of Bionimbus, however, is the support that is provided for end users, which enabled both expert and non-expert team members to use the cloud."

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/most_popular/~3/Mt32UmF3kSc/130520083239.htm

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Denmark favorite to win Eurovision Song Contest

Emmelie de Forest of Denmark performs her song "Only Teardrops" during a rehearsal for the final of the Eurovision Song Contest at the Malmo Arena in Malmo, Sweden, Friday, May 17, 2013. The contest is run by European television broadcasters with the event being held in Sweden as they won the competition in 2012, the final will be held in Malmo on May 18. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant)

Emmelie de Forest of Denmark performs her song "Only Teardrops" during a rehearsal for the final of the Eurovision Song Contest at the Malmo Arena in Malmo, Sweden, Friday, May 17, 2013. The contest is run by European television broadcasters with the event being held in Sweden as they won the competition in 2012, the final will be held in Malmo on May 18. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant)

Bonnie Tyler of Britain performs her song "Believe in Me" during a rehearsal for the final of the Eurovision Song Contest at the Malmo Arena in Malmo, Sweden, Friday, May 17, 2013. The contest is run by European television broadcasters with the event being held in Sweden as they won the competition in 2012, the final will be held in Malmo on May 18. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant)

Cezar of Romania performs the song "It's My Life" during a rehearsal for the final of the Eurovision Song Contest at the Malmo Arena in Malmo, Sweden, Friday, May 17, 2013. The contest is run by European television broadcasters with the event being held in Sweden as they won the competition in 2012, the final will be held in Malmo on May 18. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant)

Cezar of Romania performs the song "It's My Life" during a rehearsal for the final of the Eurovision Song Contest at the Malmo Arena in Malmo, Sweden, Friday, May 17, 2013. The contest is run by European television broadcasters with the event being held in Sweden as they won the competition in 2012, the final will be held in Malmo on May 18. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant)

Anouk of the Netherlands performs her song "Birds" during a rehearsal for the final of the Eurovision Song Contest at the Malmo Arena in Malmo, Sweden, Friday, May 17, 2013. The contest is run by European television broadcasters with the event being held in Sweden as they won the competition in 2012, the final will be held in Malmo on May 18. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant)

MALMO, Sweden (AP) ? An ethno-inspired flute and drum tune from Denmark is the bookmakers' favorite to win this year's Eurovision Song Contest, which also features a bizarre opera pop number from Romania and an Armenian rock song written by the guitarist of Black Sabbath.

Yes, it's that time of the year again.

The televised pan-European extravaganza, known for its kitschy shows, bad taste and bizarre offerings, is still expected to be seen by about 125 million television viewers worldwide Saturday.

This year's contest is being hosted in Malmo, southern Sweden, following the victory of the Nordic country's contestant Loreen last year.

According to bookmakers, the hippie-chic Emmelie De Forest of Denmark is the favorite to win, driving the song "Only Teardrops" with her deep, Shakira-like voice. Her main challenge comes from the clean-cut techno pop tune "I Feed You My Love" by Norway's Margaret Berger, who rose to fame at home after becoming the runner-up in Norway's version of Pop Idol in 2004.

"I will be nervous before going on stage," De Forest said Friday. "I think we have a really good song that can take us far, but let's see, anything can happen."

Finland's Krista Siegfrid provided this year's controversy, ending her bouncy bubble-gum pop number "Marry Me" with a girl-on-girl kiss that some have interpreted as a stance promoting gay marriage. While the show will not raise eyebrows in most parts of Western Europe ? where Eurovision has long been a bastion of gay culture ? the act may jar sensitivies in parts of eastern and southern Europe.

"The fact is that Finland is the only country in the Nordic countries where gay marriage is not allowed, and I think that's wrong," Siegfrid told The Associated Press. "It's 2013 now and ... I can kiss anyone I want to. It shouldn't be a problem."

This year's competition also sees the return to the international stage of two seasoned European stars. "Total Eclipse of the Heart" singer Bonnie Tyler is representing Britain with "Believe In Me" while Anouk, whose song "Nobody's Wife" was a big hit in Europe in the 1990s, is singing the song "Birds" for The Netherlands.

Among the more notable performances is the Ukraine's Zlata Ognevich with her song "Gravity." Ognevich is carried onto the stage by the tallest man in the U.S. ? Ukrainian-born Igor Vovkovinskiy. Vovkovinskiy ? who stands 7 feet 8 inches (234 cms) ?wobbles onstage in a fur and feathers, placing the fairy-like Ognevich on a rock where she stands for the rest of the performance.

There is also Armenian rock group Dorians, whose gloomy song "Lonely Planet" has been written by Black Sabbath guitarist Tony Iommi and Romania's Cezar, who resembles a Dracula reborn as a castrato singer. Cezar is apparently a reputable opera singer, but is attempting a crossover opera pop number with techno beats and pyrotechnics. Three muscular male dancers in red body paint are delivered out of a large red cape.

Two semifinals this week have whittled down the contestants from 40 to 26. The winner is picked by juries and television viewers across the continent.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/4e67281c3f754d0696fbfdee0f3f1469/Article_2013-05-18-EU-Sweden-Eurovision/id-8be7f9303b864e8ea237a81c1108b6af

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Axio returns as Melon, an EEG headband that'll help you learn to focus

The quantified self movement's gaining steam, with companies creating all sorts of gadgets to track our activity levels, sleeping habits and even what's going on inside our heads. Melon's an EEG headband that taps into your brain's inner workings to show you how well you maintain mental focus. We actually saw Melon's prototype predecessor last year when it was called Axio, and while this new band packs largely the same components, the design's been refined to a much thinner profile. As before, its got a trio of electrodes for sensing brainwaves, a NeuroSky chip for filtering out extraneous electrical noise and Bluetooth 4.0 for offloading data wirelessly. It sends data to iPhones (Android's in development) running the Melon app, which translates that info into a focus graph -- generally speaking, the higher the neural activity in your pre-frontal cortex, the higher your level of focus. Users then input contextual data tags like time of day, type of activity and the surrounding environmental conditions to allow them to track variables that may affect their focus.

Filed under: Wearables

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Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/05/18/axio-melon-eeg-headband/?utm_medium=feed&utm_source=Feed_Classic&utm_campaign=Engadget

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Kristen Stewart: Heartbroken Over Robert Pattinson Split

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Google's wearable Glass gadget: cool or creepy?

By Alexei Oreskovic

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Google staged four discussions expounding on the finer points of its "Glass" wearable computer during this week's developer conference. Missing from the agenda, however, was a session on etiquette when using the recording-capable gadget, which some attendees faithfully wore everywhere - including to the crowded bathrooms.

Google Glass, a cross between a mobile computer and eyeglasses that can both record video and surf the Internet, is now available to a select few but is already among the year's most buzz-worthy new gadgets. The device has geeks all aflutter but is unnerving everyone from lawmakers to casino operators worried about the potential for hitherto unimagined privacy and policy violations.

"I had a friend and we're sitting at dinner and about 30 minutes into it she said, 'You know those things freak me out,'" said Allen Firstenberg, a technology consultant at the Google developers conference. He has been wearing Glass for about a week but offered to take them off for the comfort of his dinner companion.

On another occasion, Firstenberg admitted to walking into a bathroom wearing his Glass without realizing it.

"Most of the day I totally forget it's there," he said.

Many believe wearable computers represent the next big shift in technology, just as smartphones evolved from personal computers. Apple and Samsung are said to be working on other forms of wearable technology.

The test version of Glass looks like a clear pair of eyeglasses with a hefty slab along the right side. Since it began shipping to a couple thousand carefully selected early adopters who paid about $1,500 for the device, it has inspired a bit of ridicule - from a parody on "Saturday Night Live" to a popular blog poking fun at its users.

Other industry experts take a more serious tack, pointing out the potential for misuse because Glass can record video far less conspicuously than a handheld device.

Glass also has won many fans. Google and some early users maintain that privacy fears are overblown. As with traditional video cameras, a tiny light blinks on to let people know when it is recording.

Several Glass wearers at the developers conference said they whip the device off in inappropriate situations, such as in gym locker rooms or work meetings. Michael Evans, a Web developer from Washington, D.C., attending the Google conference, said he removed his Glass when he went to the movies, even though the device would be ill-suited for recording a feature-length film.

"I just figured I don't want to be the first guy kicked out of the movies," he said.

NO GLASS ALLOWED

A stamp-sized electronic screen mounted on the left side of a pair of eyeglass frames, Glass can record video, access email, provide turn-by-turn driving directions and retrieve info from the Web by connecting wirelessly to a user's cell phone.

Google Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt dismissed concerns about the brave new world of wearable computers during a talk at Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government in April.

"Criticisms are inevitably from people who are afraid of change or who have not figured out that there will be an adaptation of society to it," he said.

Schmidt acknowledged that there are certain places where Glass will not be appropriate but that he believed new rules of social etiquette will coalesce over time. Firstenberg said it will take time for all sides to get comfortable with the new technology.

"I don't think we should go into the conversation assuming that Glass is bad," he said.

Indeed, previous technology innovations such as mobile phones and wireless headsets that initially raised concerns are now subject to tacit rules of etiquette, such as not talking loudly on the bus and turning a ringer off in a meeting.

Still, some have decided to leave nothing to chance.

Casino operator Caesar's Entertainment recently announced that Glass is not permitted while gambling or when in showrooms, though guests can wear it in other areas. In March, Seattle's Five Point Cafe made headlines for becoming the first bar to ban Glass. "Respect our customers privacy as we'd expect them to respect yours," says a statement on the caf?'s website.

The California Highway Patrol says there is no law that explicitly forbids a driver from wearing Glass while driving in the state. But according to Officer Elon Steers, if a driver appears to be distracted as a result of the device, an officer can take enforcement action.

PRIVACY TRACK RECORD

Lawmakers are beginning to consider Glass.

On Thursday, eight members of the U.S. Congress sent a letter to Google Chief Executive Larry Page, asking for details about how Glass handles various privacy issues, including whether it is capable of facial recognition.

According to Google, there are no facial recognition technologies built into the device and it has no plans to do so "unless we have strong privacy protections in place."

During one of this week's conference sessions - an open discussion about Glass - members of the Glass team answered a question about privacy by noting that social implications and etiquette have been a big area of focus during the development of the product, which is still a test version.

Some of the Glass-phobia may stem from Google's own track record on privacy. In 2010, Google revealed that its fleet of Street View cars, which criss-cross the globe taking panoramic photos for the Google Maps product, also had captured personal information such as emails and web pages that were transmitted over unencrypted home wireless networks.

"The fact that it's Google offering the service, as opposed to say Brookstone, raises privacy issues," said Marc Rotenberg, the executive director of the Electronic Privacy Information Center, a non-profit privacy advocacy group, citing Google's history and its scale in Internet advertising.

Rotenberg says his main concern centers on the stream of data collected by the devices - everything from audio and video to a user's location data - going to Google's data centers.

Ryan Calo, a University of Washington law professor who specializes in privacy and technology, said Glass is not very different from other technologies available today, whether it is a smartphone or "spy" pens that secretly record audio. But Glass is on people's faces, so it feels different.

"The face is a really intimate place and to have a piece of technology on it is unsettling," Calo said. "Much as a drone is unsettling because we have some ideas of war."

For all the hand-wringing, some early adopters are sold.

Ryan Warner, who recently graduated from college and who has developed a recipe app for Glass with Evans, said he was surprised by the reaction he got when he went to a bar.

"I was like, ?I don't know if I should have it on or not.' I was kind of in that phase," he said, "and the bouncer was like, ?Oh, my god, is that Google Glass?' He was excited."

(Reporting By Alexei Oreskovic, with additional reporting by Susan Zeidler in Los Angeles and Aaron Pressman in Boston; Editing by Bill Trott)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/googles-wearable-glass-gadget-cool-creepy-140848988.html

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Ex-Valve Engineers' Crazy AR Glasses Put Tiny Projectors On Your Face

Want some more tech to put on your face? Neither full-on goggles like the Oculus Rift nor slender no-AR-yet specs like Google's Glass, CastAR takes a whole different approach to modified-reality tech by slapping tiny projectors on your face, and The Verge got to take a peek.

Ex-Valve employees Jeri Ellsworth and Rick Johnson had been hard at work on the project for over a year before Valve sliced off their bit of the company. Fortunately, Valve also let the project go with them, and the pair formed Technical Illusions to finish the sucker off. Now they're showing it off at Maker Faire where The Verge caught up with them.

Basically, once you don the glasses, the projectors shoot images out at a specialized, reflective projector screen. Then the screen spits them back at your face, and the glasses split them into left-eye and right-eye images for your 3D viewing pleasure.

While they are at it, the glasses also pick up on LEDs placed around the outside of the screen, and use that data to track your head's location in real-time, feeding you the correct perspectives of the non-existant 3D objects you're craning your head around to look at. It's pretty crazy.

So why not just goggles? Well, this approach lets you incorporate things like AR cards that sprout up game characters and whathaveyou, and then the glasses can track your line of sight to those physical objects to make sure they're rendering correctly in 3D.

The tech is obviously in its early stages, and part of the reason Technical Illusions has taken to Maker Faire is to try and figure out exactly how to apply this stuff. Beyond that, the setup?while impressive?is crazy sophisticated, with waaaaay more parts and requirements than any of the competing systems out there.

Still, it looks promising, and hopefully it'll make it out in some kind of simplified consumer form someday. But if nothing else, it's good to see other people shaking up the AR/VR scene with some wild new ideas. Who knows what other approaches there might be. Holodeck, you guys? You can hop over to The Verge to see these puppies in action. [The Verge]

Source: http://gizmodo.com/ex-valve-engineers-crazy-ar-glasses-put-tiny-projector-508540690

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70's-era physics prediction finally confirmed

Friday, May 17, 2013

City College of New York Assistant Professor of Physics Cory Dean, who recently arrived from Columbia University where he was a post-doctoral researcher, and research teams from Columbia and three other institutions have definitively proven the existence of an effect known as Hofstadter's Butterfly.

The phenomenon, a complex pattern of the energy states of electrons that resembles a butterfly, has appeared in physics textbooks as a theoretical concept of quantum mechanics for nearly 40 years. However, it had never been directly observed until now. Confirming its existence may open the door for researchers to uncover completely unknown electrical properties of materials.

"We are now standing at the edge of an entirely new frontier in terms of exploring properties of a system that have never before been realized," said Professor Dean, who developed the material that allowed the observation. "The ability to generate this effect could possibly be exploited to design new electronic and optoelectronic devices."

The international group, which also included the University of Central Florida, the National High Magnetic Field Laboratory, and Japan's Tohoku University and National Institute for Materials Science, published its findings in the journal Nature; they appeared in an advance online publication May 15. Separate groups at the University of Manchester (UK) and Massachusetts Institute of Technology simultaneously reported similar results.

Douglas Hofstadter, a physicist and Pulitzer Prize-winning author, first predicted the existence of the butterfly in 1976, when he imagined what would happen to electrons subjected to two forces simultaneously: a magnetic field and the periodic electric field.

The energy spectrum, or pattern of energy levels, that these dueling forces create is said to be "fractal," that is, infinitely smaller versions of the pattern appear within the main one. This effect is common in classical physics, but rare in the quantum world.

"When you plot the spectrum, it takes on the form of a butterfly. Zoom in on the spectrum and you see the butterfly again, zoom in and see butterfly again," said Professor Dean. The light and dark sections of the pattern, respectively, correspond to light "gaps" in energy level that electrons cannot cross and dark areas where they can move freely.

"The existence of gaps changes the way electrons move through a material. Copper for example, has no gaps, whereas an insulator, like glass, has very large gaps," explained Professor Dean. "The relationship between energy and how dense the electrons are in a material ? energy density ? determines all electrical properties. That's why copper conducts, glass or ceramic doesn't, and other materials weakly conduct, like semiconductors."

"What you see in a Hofstadter spectrum is a very complicated structure of gaps arranged in a fractal pattern," he continued, which suggests as yet unknown electrical properties.

The team produced the effect by sandwiching together flat sheets of graphene ? a single-atom-thickness of carbon ? and another material, called boron nitride, and twisting them against each other to create what is called a superlattice. "Graphene has hexagonal chicken wire structure and boron nitride does too," he said. "It is as if you take screen door material and put one sheet on top of other. As you rotate it you see a periodic pattern appear. You get an interference effect ? a 'moir?' pattern." In the case of the chicken-wire structure of graphene and boron nitride, the pattern forms a fractal butterfly of energy states.

"This is a very good example of fundamental discovery that opens doors that we don't even know about yet. Why go to a distant planet?" Professor Dean wondered, about the implications of the work. "We go there to discover what's out there. We don't yet know what this new world will result in and what will emerge out of this."

###

City College of New York: http://www2.ccny.cuny.edu

Thanks to City College of New York for this article.

This press release was posted to serve as a topic for discussion. Please comment below. We try our best to only post press releases that are associated with peer reviewed scientific literature. Critical discussions of the research are appreciated. If you need help finding a link to the original article, please contact us on twitter or via e-mail.

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Source: http://www.labspaces.net/128291/___s_era_physics_prediction_finally_confirmed

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PFT: Gronk will have 4th arm surgery next week

Though the NFL has not seen a player die from on-field injuries in decades (Korey Stringer died in 2001 from heat exhaustion), tragedy often strikes at the lower levels of this sport.

It happened recently in Farmerville, Louisiana, to 17-year-old Jaleel Gipson (pictured).? A fullback, Gipson died after fracturing a vertebrate during ?Oklahoma drills? at Farmerville High School?s spring practices.? He was on life support for several days.

According to KNOE-TV, Bengals offensive tackle Andrew Whitworth has donated to the family the cost of Gipson?s funeral.? It?s a great gesture, and news of Whitworth?s generosity brought the story to our attention.

Now that we?re here, and speaking primarily as the father of a soon-to-be-17-year-old football player, why in the hell are high school kids doing Oklahoma drills in May, or ever?

The NFL stubbornly believes its rules will trickle down to the lower levels of the sport.? If so, the removal of contact from offseason workouts is trickling from Park Avenue to the Bayou at the rate of partially-frozen molasses.

Jaleel?s coach calls the incident an ?unlucky event,? which Jaleel?s family surely? would consider to be the biggest understatement of human history.? The health of our children shouldn?t be left to chance, not when the risk is avoidable.? While we realize that many frustrated, over-the-hill athletes regard high-school sports as having the same significance as the pro game, youth sports are played with children, not adults.

While the excessive zeal of some can undermine the good intentions of the many, it seems like every community has more than a few coaches whose obsession with winning clouds their judgment.? Or, in many cases, supplants it.

Try to remember that your players are our children.? They?re not your tickets to the glory days that have long since passed you by.? They?re our children.

Jaleel Gipson should be alive, and now his family has to deal for the rest of their lives with the fact that he isn?t.? While it?s very good and kind that Andrew Whitworth will pay for Jaleel?s funeral, this situation needs to spark a broader discussion in every school district about putting the same limits on offseason practices that the NFL has instituted.

That won?t bring Jaleel back, but it could protect other kids from suffering a similar fate.

Source: http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2013/05/16/gronk-will-indeeed-have-surgery-next-week-dr-andrews-will-consult/related/

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New method proposed for detecting gravitational waves from ends of universe

May 16, 2013 ? A new window into the nature of the universe may be possible with a device proposed by scientists at the University of Nevada, Reno and Stanford University that would detect elusive gravity waves from the other end of the cosmos. Their paper describing the device and process was published in the physics journal Physical Review Letters.

"Gravitational waves represent one of the missing pieces of Einstein's theory of general relativity," Andrew Geraci, University of Nevada, Reno physics assistant professor, said. "While there is a global effort already out there to find gravitational waves, our proposed method is an alternate approach with greater sensitivity in a significantly smaller device.

"Our detector is complementary to existing gravitational wave detectors, in that it is more sensitive to sources in a higher frequency band, so we could see signals that other detectors might potentially miss."

Geraci and his colleague Asimina Arvanitaki, a post-doctoral fellow in the physics department at Stanford University, propose using a small, laser-cooled, tunable sensor that "floats" in an optical cavity so it is not affected by friction. Geraci is seeking funding to begin building a small prototype in the next year.

"Gravity waves propagate from the remote corners of our universe, they stretch and squeeze the fabric of space-time," Geraci said. "A passing gravity wave changes the physically measured distance between two test masses -- small discs or spheres. In our approach, such a mass experiences minimal friction and therefore is very sensitive to small forces."

While indirect evidence for gravity waves was obtained by studying the changing orbital period of a neutron star binary, resulting in the 1993 Nobel Prize in Physics, gravity waves have yet to be directly observed.

"Directly detecting gravitational waves from astrophysical sources enables a new type of astronomy, which can give us "pictures" of the sky analogous to what we have by using telescopes," Geraci said. "In this way the invention of a gravitational wave detector, which lets us "see" the universe through gravity waves, is analogous to the invention of the telescope, which let us see the universe using light. Having such detectors will allow us to learn more about astrophysical objects in our universe, such as black holes."

The approach the authors describe can exceed the sensitivity of next-generation gravitational wave observatories by up to an order of magnitude in the frequency range of 50 to 300 kilohertz.

Their paper, "Detecting high-frequency gravitational waves with optically levitated sensors," appeared in Physical Review Letters, a publication of the physics organization American Physical Society.

Geraci also presented his research at the annual American Physical Society Meeting in Denver in April. The meeting is attended by particle physicists, nuclear physicists and astrophysicists to share new research results and insights.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/matter_energy/physics/~3/J23TfC84uBU/130516161739.htm

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Why Obama should worry that current scandals might impact 2016 (cbsnews)

Share With Friends: | | Politics - Top Stories Stories, News Feeds and News via Feedzilla.

Source: http://news.feedzilla.com/en_us/stories/politics/top-stories/306427818?client_source=feed&format=rss

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Star Trek Into Darkness and NASA Have a Google Hangout

Source: http://www.thehollywoodgossip.com/2013/05/star-trek-into-darkness-and-nasa-have-a-google-hangout/

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Chris Brown Starts New 'Channel' To Share His Life... 'Really'

Despite calling out social media earlier in the year, Breezy launches all-access app.
By Emilee Lindner

Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1707435/chris-brown-channel-social-app.jhtml

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Developmental genetics of space and time

May 15, 2013 ? Albert Erives, associate professor in the University of Iowa Department of Biology, and his graduate student, Justin Crocker, currently a postdoctoral researcher at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) Janelia Farm Research Campus, have conducted a study that reveals important and useful insights into how and why developmental genes often take inputs from two independent "morphogen concentration gradients."

The study appears in the Genomes & Developmental Control section of the online June 1 issue of the journal Developmental Biology.

Understanding the concept of morphogen gradients -- the mechanism by which a signal from one part of a developing embryo can influence the location and other variables of surrounding cells -- is important to developmental biology, gene regulation, evolution, and human health.

Morphogen gradients subdivide a field of cells into territories characterized by distinct cell fate potentials and allow cells to "know" their position within a developing embryonic tissue and to differentiate appropriately. In order to function, such systems require a genetic mechanism to encode a spectrum of responses at different target genes.

This genetic mechanism takes the form of transcriptional enhancers, which are DNA sequences that display a cryptic code of transcription factor (TF) binding sites. During development and/or environmental perturbation, these enhancers serve as assembly scaffolds for TF protein complexes that orchestrate differential gene expression.

However, enhancers targeted by morphogen signaling may drive temporally inappropriate expression because morphogen gradients also provide temporal cues. That is, the morphogenic gradient builds up and decays over a specific window of developmental time.

Using the powerful Drosophila (fruit fly) genetic system, which includes diverse species with fully sequenced genomes, the Erives Lab identified a case of spatial and temporal conflict in the regulation of the ventral neurons defective (vnd) gene, which must be precisely regulated in order for the fly's nervous system to be properly specified. The vnd gene is induced by a concentration gradient of a key embryonic factor (dorsal/NFkB) that patterns the dorsal/ventral (D/V) axis of the embryo. In particular, the vnd gene plays a critical role in specifying distinct D/V neural columnar fates of the ectodermal compartments by encoding a repressor of additional regulators.

The role of vnd in this regulatory hierarchy requires early temporal expression, which is characteristic of low-threshold responses, but its specification of ventral neurogenic ectoderm demands a relatively high-threshold response to the morphogen.

The study shows that the vnd gene's Neurogenic Ectoderm Enhancer (NEE) takes additional input from a complementary gradient of the Dpp morphogen via a highly-conserved Schnurri/Mad/Medea silencer element (SSE), which is integral to its NEE module. In this regard, the NEE at vnd is unlike NEEs at other genetic loci, which are not involved in the neural specification circuit and have no resident SSE. They also show that an SSE could be added to a single-input NEE and cause spatial restriction of its activity. These results show how requirements for conflicting temporal and spatial responses to one morphogen gradient can be solved by additional inputs from complementary morphogen gradients.

The Erives Lab at the UI's Department of Biology studies the structure, function, and evolution of enhancers within the context of gene regulatory circuits underlying the evolution and development of animals by using molecular, genetic, and evolutionary genomic approaches. Within these areas, the Erives Lab has published several landmark papers notable for demonstrating how whole genome sequences can be used to accelerate biological research on outstanding questions in biology.

The study is supported by an NSF CAREER award to Albert Erives (NSF IOS1239673).

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/top_news/top_environment/~3/uKFxH6t5T5o/130515163937.htm

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GOP, Dems challenge Holder over subpoenas to AP

Attorney General Eric Holder gestures while testifying on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, May 15, 2013, before the House Judiciary Committee oversight hearing on the Justice Department. Holder told Congress Wednesday that a serious national security leak required the secret gathering of telephone records at The Associated Press as he stood by an investigation in which he insisted he had no involvement. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

Attorney General Eric Holder gestures while testifying on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, May 15, 2013, before the House Judiciary Committee oversight hearing on the Justice Department. Holder told Congress Wednesday that a serious national security leak required the secret gathering of telephone records at The Associated Press as he stood by an investigation in which he insisted he had no involvement. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

Attorney General Eric Holder reacts to aggressive questioning from Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif. as he testifies on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, May 15, 2013, as the House Judiciary Committee focused on oversight of the Justice Department. Lawmakers pressed for answers about the unwarranted targeting of Tea Party and other conservative groups by the Internal Revenue Service and the Justice Department's secret seizure of telephone records at The Associated Press. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

Attorney General Eric Holder pauses as he testifies on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, May 15, 2013, before the House Judiciary Committee oversight hearing on the Justice Department. Holder is expected to face aggressive questioning on topics ranging from the Justice Department's gathering of phone records at the Associated Press to the government's handling of intelligence before the Boston Marathon bombings. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

Attorney General Eric Holder, the nation's top law enforcement official, arrives on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, May 15, 2013, to testify before the House Judiciary Committee oversight hearing on the Justice Department. House Judiciary Committee Chairman Rep. Bob Goodlatte,R-Va., wants to know more about the unwarranted targeting of Tea Party and other conservative groups by the Internal Revenue Service and the Justice Department's secret seizure of telephone records at The Associated Press. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

Attorney General Eric Holder, the nation's top law enforcement official, prepares to testify on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, May 15, 2013, before the House Judiciary Committee oversight hearing on the Justice Department. House Judiciary Committee Chairman Rep. Bob Goodlatte,R-Va., wants to know more about the unwarranted targeting of Tea Party and other conservative groups by the Internal Revenue Service and the Justice Department's secret seizure of telephone records at The Associated Press. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

WASHINGTON (AP) ? Congressional Republicans and Democrats on Wednesday challenged Attorney General Eric Holder over the Justice Department's handling of the investigation of national security leaks and its failure to talk to The Associated Press before issuing subpoenas for the news service's telephone records.

In exchanges that often turned testy, Holder defended the inquiry while pointing out that he had removed himself from any decision on subpoenas. The attorney general explained that he had been interviewed about what he knew of national security developments that prompted the probe.

The investigation follows congressional demands into whether Obama administration officials leaked secret information to the media last year to enhance the president's national security credentials in an election year.

"It's an ongoing matter and an ongoing matter in which I know nothing," Holder told the House Judiciary Committee.

The Justice Department secretly obtained two months of telephone records of reporters and editors for the AP, seizing the records for more than 20 separate telephone lines assigned to the AP and its journalists in April and May 2012.

Holder defended the move to collect AP phone records in an effort to hunt down the sources of information for a May 7, 2012, AP story that disclosed details of a CIA operation in Yemen to stop an airliner bombing plot around the anniversary of the killing of terrorist leader Osama bin Laden.

The attorney general called the story the result of "a very serious leak, a very grave leak." Earlier this week in a statement, AP President and Chief Executive Officer Gary Pruitt called the gathering of phone records a "massive and unprecedented intrusion" into how news organizations gather the news.

Under questioning, Holder said he recused himself from the investigation though he couldn't provide the panel with the exact date nor did he do so formally in writing. He said he was unable to answer questions on the subpoenas and why the Justice Department failed to negotiate with the AP prior to the subpoenas, a standard practice.

"The telephone records would not disappear if the AP had been notified," said Rep. Zoe Lofgren, D-Calif. "How could it ever be the case?"

The frustration extended to Republicans and Democrats.

"There doesn't appear to be any acceptance of responsibility for things that have gone wrong," Rep. James Sensenbrenner, R-Wis., told Holder. He suggested that administration officials travel to the Harry S. Truman Presidential Library and take a photo of the famous sign, "The buck stops here."

It was the Justice Department's No. 2 official, Deputy Attorney General James Cole, who made the decision to seek news media phone records, Holder said.

Last year, Holder appointed two U.S. attorneys to lead a Justice inquiry into who leaked information about U.S. involvement in cyber-attacks on Iran and an al-Qaida plot to place an explosive device aboard a U.S.-bound flight. Holder had resisted calls for a special counsel, telling lawmakers that the two attorneys, Ron Machen and Rod Rosenstein, are experienced, independent and thorough.

Holder was grilled on several scandals rocking the administration, including the targeting of conservative groups by the Internal Revenue Service and any missteps in sharing intelligence information prior to the bombings in Boston.

Holder said the FBI's criminal investigation of the Internal Revenue Service could include potential civil rights violations, false statements and potential violations of the Hatch Act, which prohibits federal employees from engaging in some partisan political activities.

In one of the sharpest exchanges, Holder defended Thomas Perez's tenure as head of the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division and said he would make a great secretary of the Labor Department.

Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., was critical of Perez and repeatedly pressed Holder, who at one point refused to stop talking and accused Issa of repeatedly mischaracterizing the work of the Justice Department.

"That is inappropriate and is too consistent with the way in which you conduct yourself as a member of Congress. It's unacceptable and it's shameful," Holder told Issa.

The congressman ignored the comments and continued to question Holder.

Responding to news of the gathering of AP records, Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., planned to revive a 2009 media shield bill that protects journalists and their employers from having to reveal information, including the identity of sources who had been promised confidentiality.

The bill does contain some exceptions in instances of national security.

"This kind of law would balance national security needs against the public's right to the free flow of information," Schumer said in a statement. "At minimum, our bill would have ensured a fairer, more deliberate process in this case."

The White House threw its support behind the push Wednesday morning, with Ed Pagano, President Barack Obama's liaison to the Senate, placing a call to Schumer's office to ask him to revive the bill ? a step the senator had planned to take. White House spokesman Jay Carney said Obama "believes strongly we need to provide the protection to the media that this legislation would do."

Obama's support for the bill signaled an effort by the White House to show action in the face of heated criticism from lawmakers from both parties and news organizations about his commitment to protecting civil liberties and freedom of the press.

White House officials have said they are unable to comment publicly on the incident at the heart of the controversy because the Justice Department's leak probe essentially amounts to a criminal investigation of administration officials.

It's not clear whether such a law would have prevented the government from gathering the AP phone records as it would depend on the provisions in the bill and how they were written.

Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., chairwoman of the Senate Intelligence committee, said Wednesday that the leak was "within the most serious leaks because it definitely endangered some lives."

Feinstein said it was her understanding that the information gathering did not focus on the "content of phone calls," but rather "to see who reporters have spoken to, that somebody did provide this information with respect to this bomb."

On Wednesday, the leaders of the news organization whose members cover Congress told Cole that "your agency has not provided adequate reason for this disconcerting action."

"We are concerned the incursions by the Justice Department in this case jeopardize the relationship between reporters and anonymous sources, decreasing the likelihood that people will come forward with vital information of public importance," the representatives of the Congressional press galleries said in a letter.

"The press must be secure in its ability to conduct its business," the letter stated. "This critical work of reporters is protected by the First Amendment. Please explain how this unparalleled use of your investigative power is constitutionally consistent."

___

Associated Press writers Josh Lederman, Erica Werner and Sam Hananel contributed to this report.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/89ae8247abe8493fae24405546e9a1aa/Article_2013-05-15-AP%20Phone%20Records/id-c6a51b3393974a1a9ea3ba49a9828479

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Raspberry Pi Camera Module Now On Sale, $25 To Add An Eye To Pi Hardware Hack Projects

Calling all hardware hackers: the Raspberry Pi camera module has gone on sale online via Pi suppliers including RS Components and Premier Farnell/Element14, providing the eye required for all those computer vision projects you had in mind for Pi. The module actually went on sale yesterday and is currently temporarily out of stock on RS' website. The module costs between ?17 & ?19 or around $25.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/0L0AbyF6Lzk/

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Red 2 Poster: Arrived!

Source: http://www.thehollywoodgossip.com/2013/05/red-2-poster-arrived/

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The Muppet Movie: An All-Time Summer Classic

They?ve done just what they set out to do

Summer movies usually demand a great suspension of disbelief. They?re heavy on special effects and deal with outlandish situations, whether superheroes and sci-fi or wacky gross-out extreme comedy.

There is, perhaps, no greater suspension of disbelief than a green felt frog somehow convincing you of its dreams.

The Muppets have been around since 1955 and have survived through several TV series and films, web shorts, record albums, books, DVDs, comic books, action figures, plush toys, and a theme park attraction. In 1979?s The Muppet Movie, the Muppets realized their full potential. The Muppet Movie allowed Jim Henson?s unique blend of emotional punch, endearing characters, and ludicrous humor to find its greatest expression.

It?s nothing if not ambitious. We open with the Muppets in a movie theater, preparing to watch the flick they?ve just completed about their own origins. In other words, a classic film-within-a-film. Right off the bat, we know we?re not dealing with your typical kids movie.

Kermit T. Frog (Henson) is an amphibian with a simple dream: To entertain. He heads off to Hollywood in pursuit of that dream. Along the way, he meets all of the classic Muppet characters: Fozzie Bear (Frank Oz), the frustrated comedian whose loyalty to Kermit is unstoppable; Gonzo the Great (Dave Golez), a crazy daredevil always searching for his next thrill; and of course Miss Piggy (Oz again), an irrepressible diva with an unrequited love for Kermit.

As they make their way to California, the group is menaced by Doc Hopper (Charles Durning), the crazy owner of a restaurant chain specializing in frog?s legs. He wants Kermit for obvious reasons. As you might expect, Kermit and the gang defeat Doc Hopper, they make it to Hollywood, and Orson Welles (as Lew Lord, a powerful studio exec) orders his secretary to ?draw up the standard rich and famous contract for Kermit and his friends.? Then we get a musical finale in which the Muppets start to film a film about their lives, within a film about their lives that?s presented as a film they filmed about their lives. It?s a film within a film within a film. Good grief, a running gag.

The Muppet Movie gave these googly-eyed felt creations a soul. It?s there in the opening moments, that unforgettable long pan downward from the clouds to Kermit on a log, plucking out the opening notes to ?Rainbow Connection? on his banjo. Who can see that and not immediately identify with Kermit, holding an impossible dream close to his little froggie heart?

In that moment, we know we?re dealing with something special. We?ll get the Muppet zaniness we?ve come to expect, but there?s a (dare I say it?) reality that arises from moving the Muppet action outside a soundstage. That reality allows The Muppet Movie to get away with plenty of savvy moviemaking tricks. Kermit talks straight to the camera; stars waltz onto the screen in cameos where their true identities are just barely concealed. There?s a self-awareness, and enough of a self-awareness to realize that there?s self-awareness. That?s what gets the Muppets around the bend past irony and toward an astonishing warmth. That warmth makes it possible to slow the plot to a magical stillness with a song in the desert, where Gonzo explains, ?I?m going to go back there someday.?

That?s probably my favorite moment in the movie, although ?Rainbow Connection? is of course classic. I like the Gonzo sequence better because it?s such a perfect moment of revealing character; there?s a boldness to it, that they would cease all the action just to let this weird creature share his heart. Find me any movie, family flick or otherwise, that values its characters so much that it will slow itself down just to let you get to know one of them better.

It?s Henson and his Muppet crew at the peak of their powers. Gonzo the Great could have spent the entire run of the Muppets being a one-joke castoff, the puppet equivalent of Kramer from Seinfeld. Instead, we actually learn what this strange being is about. We get to know him, and we start to truly care about him.

I always get a warm fuzzy when Kermit sings about how his dream is something that he?s supposed to be. We should all be so lucky to experience that feeling, whether it comes when you find what you?re meant to spend your life doing, or when you meet the person you?re meant to spend your life with. It?s a certainty of purpose, an absolute belief in the power of dreams to make us all better people?or frogs, or pigs, or whatever Gonzo is. It?s a special feeling, and it?s special that The Muppet Movie can help us feel it.

Source: http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/1927465/news/1927465/

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