Category: News

A father and son from the New York Air National Guard were among 130 Airmen from 14
units, who graduated from the Satellite Noncommissioned Officer (NCO) Academy Class
10-2, in a ceremony held at The I.G. Brown Air National Guard Training and Education
Center here Dec. 15…

Laws have changed and servicemembers who want to vote need to be aware of these
changes, the director of the Federal Voting Assistance Program
said…

The Kosovo Force will transition from about 14,000 to 10,000 NATO forces by Jan. 31,
due to improvements in security, said the commander of Multi-National Task
Force-East…

-Hot Toys and Sideshow Collectibles has unveiled a 12-inch action figure that depicts the King of Pop in the 1982 video Thriller……

-Gilbert Arenas’s Top 10 Craziest Moments…..

–Pink, Lady Gaga, and Green Day have been added to the list of performers set to take the stage at the 2010 Grammy Awards Jan. 31……

-Preview pics of James Franco on 30 Rock……

–Cheech & Chong bring their campaign for ganja to Washington….

–Producers Guild of America announces movie nominations……

–The Simpsons 450th episodes!

–Fly Away, a new Broadway musical set to the vocals of Frank Sinatra, will open at Manhattan’s Marquis Theatre this spring…..

-The three oldest Jolie-Pitt kids will inherit a large sum from their late Grandma Marcheline….

-Lil Wayne’s Rebirth Album Delayed — Again!

-Preview Spring 2010 Paris Hilton Footwear Collection…..

-Sandra Bullock will present her The Proposal co-star Betty White with the Screen Actors Guild Life Achievement Award during the 16th Annual Screen Actor’s Guild Awards Jan. 23…..

-NBC has picked up a pilot starring comedian Adam Carolla….

-An Ohio woman punched through a McDonald’s drive-through window because she couldn’t get Chicken McNuggets…….

-PBS’ Antiques Roadshow sets a record……

By now a lot of people have seen James Cameron’s Avatar, and a much larger number have formed an opinion about it. Anticipation had been building for months, as people were excited by the prospect that ultra-realistic computer animation would combine with dazzling 3D technology to produce a different kind of movie than anyone had ever seen.

It’s generally not a good sign when the buzz is about the technology behind a movie rather than the story within it, and in the case of Avatar the worries are justified. There’s no question that the moviemaking is truly impressive; not only is it a great technological achievement, but Cameron is an accomplished storyteller. The film is long but never ponderous, the set pieces are thrilling, and one’s heartstrings are tugged at all the right places. As a bonus, the acting is fantastic — Sigourney Weaver’s gruff scientist in particular is a great character.

Alas, in a world that one would like to see fleshed out in shades of gray, Cameron’s contrast knob is stuck resolutely at eleven. (Spoilers henceforth.) Humans have destroyed their own planet, and are now descending on Pandora to set about destroying that. The bad guys are represented by a craven businessman and a scarred ex-Marine. War and capitalism are bad! We get it.

But cartoonish villains don’t necessarily spell doom for a movie, especially one meant to be an elaborate thrill ride. I didn’t leave Raiders of the Lost Ark wishing that the Nazis had been more fleshed-out, and nobody gives thanks that the Star Wars prequels let us in on Darth Vader’s backstory. The problem arises when such banal evil is trotted out in service of A MESSAGE. And if there’s one thing Avatar has, it’s a message — a particularly trite one, which is deeply misguided, but a message nonetheless.

The Na’vi, Pandora’s native race, are presented very bluntly as traditional noble savages. They may be nine feet tall and blue, and find themselves trapped in a series of Yes album covers, but that just provides a convenient excuse to mix and match features of Native Americans and African tribes as the director sees fit. The Na’vi are portrayed as saintly tree-huggers who feel bad when jungle beasts are killed unnecessarily; at any moment you expected to hear “This animal is called the bufa’lo. We use every part of it.”

To drive things home, most of the humans are portrayed by white actors, while most of the actors behind the motion-captured Na’vi are people of color. And to drive things home even more (things worth driving home can never be driven too much, right?), the Na’vi have a literal connection with the natural world around them. Which might be a cool idea worth exploring, if it weren’t deployed as a gimmick to emphasize the pastoral purity of the pre-technological natives. (I can’t wait for Oscar night: “We would like to express our gratitude for all these Academy Awards for technical achievement given to our movie about how true virtue is to be found in wearing loincloths and chanting around trees.”)

And even that wouldn’t be so bad, if the noble savages weren’t portrayed as good-hearted but ineffectual. Eventually they manage to fight off the invading Earthlings, who despite mastering interstellar travel and consciousness-transferal are still stuck using machine guns and tiny rockets when hostilities break out. But they’re only able to do so because the kind-hearted white warrior rides to their rescue. Sam Worthington’s character, the protagonist with whom we are supposed to identify, spends three months as a Na’vi and turns out to be better at it than any of the primitive sods who were actually born that way. Only he is able to tame the legendary beast, bring far-flung tribes together to work for a common cause, and have the wit to appeal to the ecosystem-network for a bit of help.

It’s an old trope, fueled by liberal guilt. “Sure,” the elaborate narrative rationalization goes, “people like me have screwed over people like you for generations. But I’m pretty sure that, had I been around at the time, I would have been one of the shining exceptions who bravely turned against my compatriots to side with the honorable native folk. Who, frankly, could have used my help.” It’s the victors who tell the stories and make the movies.

How one reacts to Avatar depends strongly on how bothered one is by this kind of stereotypically condescending storyline. As a thrilling popcorn movie, it absolutely works; the detailed world Cameron created is breathtaking; and the technological feat is singularly impressive. But when these achievements are in the service of a message that is so ham-handed and ultimately off-putting, I find it hard to enjoy. If the storytelling had been handled with a little more self-awareness and toleration for ambiguity — by the folks at Pixar, for example — it might really have been an historically good movie.

At any given time 15 to 35% of people are trying to loose weight and the statistics are not in their favor. The fact is that 90 to 95 % of those people will fail to loose weight and successfully keep it off. Most nutritionists agree that diets are not worth the paper they are written on. Yet millions of Americans will spend billions of dollars this year on the latest fad diet that they see advertised as the one that really works. Nutritionists realize that the key to loosing weight and keeping it off is to adopt and sound eating plan that can be sustained over a lifetime and not opting for some quick fix.

PROBLEM #1 DIETS ARE TEMPORARY FIXES THEY DON”T LAST

Diets have a short term time horizon. Perhaps you have gone on a diet to get into that dress you wanted to fit into for an upcoming event only to gain the weight back in a short period of time. This is because you had a short term mindset. You need to be thinking more long term. Use your diet to introduce yourself to new foods that you do not normally eat and that you can maintain in your everyday life. You need to be thinking lifestyle changes. A good rule of thumb here is that small changes last a long time while large changes do not. Saying that you are going to change everything that you are doing wrong at 8:00 AM Monday morning may sound impressive but it does not address the underlying problem. Changing behavior is a slow steady process that works for the long run. Read more…

Vizio’s flagship XVT Pro 3D HDTVs way undercut the top-o-the-line LED TVs from the other guys: 480Hz, wireless HDMI, Wi-Fi, local-dimming LED backlight and 3D. The 72 inch set goes for $3500, cheaper than the 46-inchers from Sony or Samsung.

The 55-incher set is $2500, and and the 47-inch TV is $2000. The main diff between them is that the 72-inch has more zones for local dimming—480 to 120 and 180 in the smaller sets—and the smaller sets have an anti-reflective coating. They’re all out in August.

LAS VEGAS, NV (CES) and IRVINE, CA – January 05, 2010 — VIZIO, America’s #1 LCD HDTV Company, has unveiled their new high-performance XVT Pro Series of 480Hz SPS™ 16×9 TruLED™ Full HD3D™HDTVs available in 72″, 55″ and 47″ sizes, as well as a 58″ Cinema Wide HDTV that displays content in 21 x 9 aspect ratio. The 480Hz SPS™ 16×9 TruLED™ Full HD3D™HDTVs incorporate the very latest in advanced HDTV technology with 480Hz SPS™, TruLED™ brilliant LEDs that pervade the entire screen, Smart Dimming™ circuitry controls hundreds of zones of LEDs per screen to the precise light level per picture frame. In addition, the set’s Full HD3D™delivers stunning 3D images in FULL HD 1080p resolution, with other advanced features like VIZIO INTERNET APPS™ (VIA) built-in high definition wireless (802.11n dual-band) and wired networking, a Bluetooth universal remote control with sliding QWERTY keyboard, and Wireless HDMI which allows the TV to receive HD video and audio from sources without an HDMI cable.

“Our 2010 XVT Pro series offers a refreshing combination of the latest technology like 480Hz SPS™ TruLED™ coupled with must-have features like immersive FULL HD3D™ experience and VIZIO INTERNET APPS (with built in wireless networking) and wireless HDMI and Bluetooth capabilities. We at VIZIO are setting new standards for picture quality and user experience,” said Laynie Newsome, VIZIO Co-Founder and VP Sales and Marketing Communications. “50% of consumers want a 3D home theater, according to Quixel Research, and our new XVT Pro Series brings the latest technology to consumers who want the absolute BEST in class.”

Defining state of the art performance, these VIZIO 72″, 55″ and 47″ Full HD3D™ TVs advance refresh rates to 480Hz SPS™ with VIZIO’s Smooth Motion™ technology. Their TruLED™ brilliant LEDs pervade the entire display (Under 3″ profile) and have Smart Dimming™ circuitry that controls hundreds of zones of LEDs per screen to the precise light level per picture frame in 480, 120 and 160 zones, respectively. The XVT Pro series offers an incredible 10 million to 1 Mega Dynamic Contrast Ratio™ for extraordinary picture quality that delivers incredible color, and even brighter whites and deeper blacks than ever before while displaying 1.7 Billion Colors using a 10-Bit data input panel.

For environments with bright ambient lighting, the 55″ and 47″ models feature a unique anti-reflective panel that produces better contrast with rich and deep blacks even in brightly lit rooms.

FULL HD3D™
Utilizing SENSIO® 3D technology to deliver 3D content over conventional 2D infrastructure, the new VIZIO XVT Pro Full HD3D TVs display stunning 3D content that the user can view with XpanD active-shutter glasses (sold separately). Unlike other 3D TVs that use passive stereoscopic imaging, VIZIO’s Full HD3D TVs can display full 1080p video to each eye by rapidly alternating between the left-eye and right-eye images within the same visual space. The special active-shutter glasses, which communicate with the television over Bluetooth, then transform each lens from opaque to transparent in perfect synchronization with the images displayed on the TV, which allows for delivery of the full frame rate capable by the television for the ultimate 3D HDTV viewing experience.

These sets can produce 3D images from SENSIO encoded material on conventional DVD and Blu-ray players, as well as from future distribution channels such as pay per view, video on demand, DTV and HDTV broadcasts.

“We are pleased to be working closely with VIZIO and be a part of the creation of a substantial install-base of consumers ready to watch 3D movies, live concerts, and sporting events from the comfort of their home,” states Nicholas Routhier, President and Chief Executive Officer of SENSIO Technologies.

“We are excited to partner with VIZIO as catalysts in the 3D revolution for the home,” said Maria Costeira, CEO of XpanD. “The combination of XpanD Cinema active-shutter glasses and Vizio displays will provide an immersive, dynamic and cost-effective solution for VIZIO XVT Pro owners.”

Wireless HDMI
Eliminating the need for an HDMI cable from source components to the display, the 72″, 55″ and 47″ XVT Pro Series have an integrated Wireless HDMI receiver built-in, using SiBEAM’s robust 60 GHz technology to receive HD content from high definition sources such as Blu-ray players or set-top boxes with full HD 1080p resolution when paired with a separately available VIZIO XVT Pro Wireless HDMI Adapter. The XVT Pro Adapter supports up to 4 HDMI sources and operates at 60GHz to avoid interference with other wireless devices in the home like cordless telephones and wireless networks that operate at 2.4 and 5 GHz.

SRS StudioSound HD
VIZIO XVT Pro TVs will feature SRS StudioSound HD – the ultimate all-in-one audio suite designed specifically for Flat Panel TVs. Years of excellence in audio, practical experience and patented technologies allow StudioSound HD to deliver the most immersive and natural surround sound ever using built-in TV speakers. The suite also delivers remarkably crisp and clear dialog, rich bass, an elevated sound stage and consistent, spike-free volume levels. StudioSound HD features optimized audio presets for movies, news, sports and music while also providing a built-in EQ toolset for peak audio performance.

VIZIO INTERNET APPS™ (VIA)
All of the XVT Pro sets feature the VIZIO INTERNET APPS™ (VIA) Connected HDTV platform, delivering unprecedented choice and control of web-based content directly to the television without the need of a PC or set-top box. Able to connect to the Internet using the built-in high definition wireless (802.11n dual-band) or a wired connection, accessing on demand movies, TV episodes, music and other online content is easy, using the included Bluetooth universal remote control with sliding QWERTY keyboard that makes thumb-typing easy.

[Vizio]

The Department of Justice says the best way to encourage broadband competition is to make many more licenses available for wireless use.

“Given the potential of wireless services to reach underserved areas and to provide an alternative to wireline broadband providers in other areas, the Commission’s primary tool for promoting broadband competition should be freeing up spectrum,” the DOJ wrote to the FCC on Monday. Spectrum scarcity is the “fundamental problem” that the agency must tackle in order to help companies like Clearwire, T-Mobile, and Sprint offer high speed Internet comparable to land line Internet. “Stated simply, without access to sufficient spectrum a firm cannot provide state-of-the-art wireless broadband services.”

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One of our new discoveries this citrus season is the tiny kishu mandarin, a sweet and seedless little treasure.

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[Voice=”Barry White”] When I first saw you, girl, I knew I had to make you mine. Now, I’m in the mood, baby. In the mood for…the Belly Love…Belly Love…oh yeah…I want to hold you…on that gloooowing light.

You know… the Belly Love… No, really, you know the one I mean, don’t you? Yeah, the sofa with the puffy glowing moving tentacles that release a fragrance while caressing your body which I heard is inspired by a soft coral found in the Indian Ocean that you probably saw when you were drooling one day after dinner watching old Costeau re-runs on your old sofa? Yes, your old sofa. This is… the new sofa, for, you know, doing it.

And now, let’s put the stereo in love mode, sweet woman of mine. I feel the love right here, glowing in my heart… and in my pants… while I get with you… in the Belly Love.

Google makes a lot of money from advertising and the revenue it tapped into when it introduced search ads helped it become one of the most powerful tech companies in the world. Now, it’s looking to do the same with mobile advertising, which it believes will be a huge market in the next few years. Mobile web use is definitely growing fast but if this translates into thriving on the mobile ad market remains to be seen. It is clearly trying all options though and will soon introduce click-to-call ads enabling users to call a company just as easy as they would follow a link.

Search Engine Land revealed that AdWords clients received an interesting notification announcing that sometime later this month “your location-specific business phone number will display alongside your destination url in ads that appear on high-end mobile devices. Users will be able to click-to-call your business just as easily as they click to visit your website. You’ll be charged for clicks to call, same as you are for clicks to visit your website.”

The value of getting a potential customers engaged in a phone call with the advertisers has been recognized for a while now. Google introduced an ad option, which enabled users to leave their phone numbers to be contacted by the company advertising. This didn’t turn out to … (read more)

Google’s “open” strategy began with its multi-billion-dollar bid for wireless spectrum in an FCC auction two years ago. The company bid enough to get open-access rules attached to some of the airwaves, but stopped short of actually purchasing any. Two years ago, the prevailing thought in the industry was that Google wasn’t interested in getting into the cellphone business.

Then it introduced its Android operating system. And now the Nexus One handset. It seems Google is looking to make a splash in the cellphone business after all.
The device, a Snapdragon-powered, HTC-built phone looks — on paper, at least — like the ultimate Android handset, combining a newly tweaked and tightened user interface with killer industrial design. A sleek, streamlined phone that can easily go toe-to-toe with the iPhone 3GSs, Pres, and Droids of the world, powered by the latest version of Android (2.1 “Flan,” if you’re counting), and hand-retooled by Google. But is it all it’s cracked up to be? Can the Nexus One possibly live up to the hype ascribed to it? And more importantly, is the appearance of the phone the death knell for the OHA and a sign of the coming Android autocracy? In our exclusive review of the Nexus One, we’ll answer all those pressing questions and more… so read on for the full scoop!
Google Nexus One unboxing and hands-on

Note: The unit we have in hand is — by all appearances — a production model, save for the QR code imprint on the back, which is likely an employee-only Easter egg. However, Google is making its official announcement tomorrow, and there could always be differences. If anything changes with the device, or there are revelations about the marketing or sale of the phone, we’ll be sure to update the review with new info.
This normally would be the place where I’d embed the relevant YouTube video. But this is one video Google doesn’t want on its video site, and the company is pulling the footage down as quickly as it can. (This is where I imagine the Viacom guys chortling and rubbing their hands).
If Google’s strategy is successful at getting other carriers to “unlock” popular handsets, it would move the U.S. closer to aligning with European and Asian markets, where consumers typically buy cellphones directly from manufacturers and then connect to any network they choose. This could put pressure on carriers to increasingly improve their network speeds and capacities, since they will no longer be able to lure customers only with the hottest handsets.

Related posts:

1. Nexus One Review, Nexus One Review 2010 Nexus Phone Google’s “open” strategy began with its multi-billion-dollar bid for wireless…
2. Google New Phone, Google New Phone Nexus One Review 2010 The device, a Snapdragon-powered, HTC-built phone looks — on paper,…
3. Google Nexus One, Google Nexus One Review 2010 The device, a Snapdragon-powered, HTC-built phone looks — on paper,…

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Divestiture Enables Company to Focus on Brands and Categories that Leverage Its Global Scale More Effectively

Kraft Foods (NYSE: KFT) today announced that, after several months of discussions, it has agreed to sell the assets of its North American pizza business to Nestle for a total consideration of $3.7 billion.

The company estimates that its pizza business generated 2009 net revenues of $1.6 billion under U.S. Generally Accepted Accounting Principles.

The sale, which is subject to customary conditions including regulatory clearances, includes the DiGiorno, Tombstone and Jack’s brands in the United States, the Delissio brand in Canada and the California Pizza Kitchen trademark license.

It also includes two Wisconsin manufacturing facilities (Medford and Little Chute) and the right to take on the leases for the pizza depots and delivery trucks. Kraft Foods anticipates that approximately 3,400 employees will transfer with the business to Nestle. The transaction is expected to close in 2010.

“Selling this business now not only delivers an attractive return for our shareholders, but enables us to better focus our resources on priority global brands and categories,” said Irene Rosenfeld, Chairman and CEO.

“Nestle is well-positioned to continue building these powerhouse pizza brands, given its strength in frozen foods.”

Rosenfeld continued, “We are grateful for the hard work and dedication of our talented employees who delivered exceptionally strong results in 2009 and have helped us build this into the number one frozen pizza business in North America. We’re confident the business will continue to thrive under Nestle’s ownership. We wish them much continued success.”

About Kraft Foods

Kraft Foods (kraftfoodscompany.com) makes today delicious in 150 countries around the globe. Our 100,000 employees work tirelessly to make delicious foods consumers can feel good about.

From American brand icons like Kraft cheeses, dinners and dressings, Maxwell House coffees and Oscar Mayer meats, to global powerhouse brands like Oreo and LU biscuits, Philadelphia cream cheeses, Jacobs and Carte Noire coffees, Tang powdered beverages and Milka, Cote d’Or, Lacta and Toblerone chocolates, our brands deliver millions of smiles every day.

Kraft Foods (NYSE: KFT) is the world’s second largest food company with 2008 revenues of $42 billion.

The company is a member of the Dow Jones Industrial Average, Standard & Poor’s 500, the Dow Jones Sustainability Index and the Ethibel Sustainability Index.

Filed under: Minivan/Van, Geneva Motor Show, Europe, Opel

When Opel showed off a concept version of the next-generation Meriva at the 2008 Geneva Motor Show, everyone expected the production version to look much the same. After all, the concept exhibited all the styling cues we’ve seen on other recent concepts from Rüsselsheim. What we didn’t expect was for the B-segment people carrier to retain its door configuration. It is standard practice for designers to use rear hinged suicide doors on concepts because it gives better visibility to the interior as the car spins on the auto show turntable, and it also adds a bit of theater.

For various engineering and safety reasons, these are typically discarded in the transition to production. Not this time, however. The basic design of the concept has been brought to production including the rear-hinged FlexDoors, as Opel dubs them. Such doors can actually make sense with the smaller portals on a car of this size, making entry and exit easier for back seat occupants.

In Europe, the Meriva will launch later this year with a lineup of six available gas and diesel engines ranging from 75 to 140 horsepower. Thus far, we have not received any indication from General Motors that the Meriva will come to the Buick lineup to join the Opel-based Regal and Astra/Excelle. The latter is probably as small as GM wants to take Buick at this time.

The new Meriva will debut in Geneva on March 4, but in the meantime, you can check out the high-res gallery below and the official press release after the jump.

[Source: Opel]

Continue reading Geneva Preview: Opel releases next-gen Meriva MPV with rear-hinged doors

Geneva Preview: Opel releases next-gen Meriva MPV with rear-hinged doors originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 05 Jan 2010 11:29:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Cape Wind, the Boston-based developer that for years has been working to launch the development of a 420-megawatt offshore wind farm off Cape Cod, was handed over another challenge with the recent decision by the National Register of Historic Places that the Nantucket Sound is eligible for listing in the National Register of Historic Places. The decision could lead to more delays as it ensures that significant archeological research are undertaken as part of this already long permitting process.

Or will it…?

Cape Wind, and offshore wind developers in general, have “their man in Washington” in Interior Secretary Ken Salazar, which has made the development of the country’s offshore potential a priority. In a prepared statement, (that was actually sent to us by Cape Wind’s PR department), Salazar says he’s confident Cape Wind and the National Register would come to find agreement by March 1.

What if they don’t?  Salazar said:

I will be prepared to take the steps necessary to bring the permit process to conclusion. The public, the parties, and the permit applicants deserve certainty and resolution.

Since launching the project Cape Wind has faced intense opposition from local regulators and Cape Cod residents, which have passionately opposed the developers plan to build  what actually would be the U.S.’s largest offshore wind farm, in a 24 square mile (62 sq km) area in the Nantucket Sound.

Final contenders for the Cape Wind turbine supply contract are Siemens and Vestas, as GER reported earlier. The impending turbine selection comes as Cape Wind is set to begin negotiations with National Grid to ink a long-term power purchase agreement for the output of the $1 billion power project.