Bruce E. Whitacre: 6 Artists on their Road to Broadway and Engaging Audiences: Here, Now and Then

When you gather the most interesting people in the theatre business at this moment in time to talk to leaders in the arts and corporate sector, it is remarkable to witness the common threads that tend to emerge, especially the importance of community engagement.

Last week's tenth edition of the National Corporate Theatre Fund's Broadway Roundtable provided an unmatched glimpse into on the mind of today's leading players in theatre both on-stage and off.

This distinctive event, organized with great support from UBS, draws interest as a result of the panel of interdisciplinary artists and experts, and this year's was very intriguing: Olympia Dukakis, fresh from Elektra at ACT in San Francisco; Heather Hitchens, Executive Director of the American Theatre Wing; Santino Fontana, who opened a couple of days later as Prince Charming in the new Rogers & Hammerstein's Cinderella; Molly Smith, Artistic Director of Arena Stage in Washington, D.C.; Daryl Roth, producer of many Pulitzer and Tony Award winning shows, whose Kinky Boots started performances that weekend; and Paul Downs Colaizzo, the writer of Really Really, one of the Off Broadway sensations of the current season.

While we never know who will finally wind up on the panel, inevitably a common thread tends to emerge. Last year, as we launched our Impact Creativity campaign for arts education, that topic really came to the fore. This year, it was easy to see that creativity and community would be the common threads. As the creator and co-organizer of the Tony Awards, the American Theatre Wing gives back to the national theatre community on and off Broadway, in and out of New York, through grants and programs like their "Working in Theatre" video series. Heather explained that this is all about the theatre industry being one big ecosphere and very interdependent.

Daryl Roth told us about how seeing the film of Kinky Boots at Sundance several years started her on the journey of producing this musical version, which at its core is a story about people finding their true identity. For all of her shows, especially The Normal Heart a couple of years ago, community outreach has been critical to not only building the audience, but also making sure the play or musical has a maximum impact.

This issue of identity and finding a place in the world takes many nasty turns in Paul Downs Colaizzo's Really Really. He described how grateful he was that a regional theatre, Signature in Arlington, Va., took a chance on the play last season and enabled it to make a move to New York with the benefit of a prior production. Written six years ago when he was 21, the play chronicles a group of college students grappling with the consequences of an alleged date rape. Class, gender, harrowing stakes in today's new economy all combine to propel the characters in surprising directions. Really Really marks the arrival of a new generation's voice on the theatre scene.

Santino Fontana, Paul Colaizzo, Heather Hitchens and Bruce Whitacre at the NCTF Broadway Roundtable Molly Smith just announced an amazing season next year at Arena. I asked her what most drove her decisions, and she said it was all about history this time. This is especially true when it comes to The National Civil War Project they announced, along with three other theatres last week. With plays about Paul Robeson, Camp David and more, the season illustrates Arena's sense of place and time in Washington.

For individual artists like Olympia Dukakis, an embracing view of engagement also comes through. As a past theatre manager, acting teacher and nationally prominent film and television star, she said one of her real concerns right now is how American actors are performing the classic Greek plays. "They imitate the British," she says. She also wants actors to have more technique and grounding so that they are not just vehicles for a given director's vision, but bring something fundamental to their characters in their own rights. When I asked why she keeps coming to the theatre in these classic roles, she said, "I want to be shaken. I don't do it for fun."

Santino Fontana recounted how the mentoring and training at The Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis grounded him and launched his career. The diversity of plays produced--Greek, Shakespeare, contemporary -- offered great preparation. He did his undergraduate degree at the Guthrie's program, and then stayed on for two years to act at the theatre before moving to New York, where he has since won acclaim in Sons of the Prophet, Billy Elliott, and The Importance of Being Earnest.

Since last week, Paul's next play has been announced at Signature Theatre in Arlington; Santino opened to positive reviews in Cinderella; Kinky Boots has had a bravura first few performances, and the theatre world keeps turning. We think about the economics, the management, and the education, all about the theatre so much. It's a privilege to spend some time reveling in the art itself. Thanks to UBS, and thanks to our panelists.

?

Follow Bruce E. Whitacre on Twitter: www.twitter.com/BEWhitacre

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Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/bruce-whitacre/six-artists-on-their-road_b_2833388.html

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Ambify, A Music App For The Philips Hue Lighting System, Shows The Potential Of The Connected Home

The Philips Hue lighting system is pretty neat on its own ? it lets you control lighting in your house from your iPhone or iPad, adjusting bulb color and brightness remotely via your Wi-Fi network. Amblify is a new app from Stuttgart, Germany-based developer Kai Aras that makes the connected lighting system even cooler, by plugging it into a media player app on the iPhone to automatically generate real-life light shows from your own iTunes library.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/jI7f4IjV8wc/

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What's that weird new symbol on the AT&T HTC One X?

A few folks have written in, asking about that weird symbol that's in the status bar of their AT&T HTC One X following the recent update to Android 4.1 Jelly Bean.

The answer is a simple as it is useless: It's the NFC logo. And it doesn't do a damned thing.

read more

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/androidcentral/~3/Bru6zJmhUM4/story01.htm

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Bang With Friends Launches Site To Help You Have Sex With Strangers At SXSW

It seems like hooking up at SXSW was never very hard, but it just got easier. If you?re in Austin this week and looking for that special someone to have anonymous sex with, look no further: Bang With Friends has extended its hookup app to make it available for the unwashed hordes of social media experts looking for a little love over the weekend.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/70SW3Z2zZPQ/

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Crazy days in Rome with papal and political void

FILE - This March 1, 2013 file photo shows nuns walking behind a billboard with a torn poster of Pope Benedict XVI in Rome. These are crazy days in Rome - where limbo reigns in parliament and papacy. Italy is usually a pretty anarchic place, with people bucking rules on everything from crossing the street to paying taxes. But the anarchy?s going a bit far: Who's running the country? Who's running the church? Nobody really knows. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia, files)

FILE - This March 1, 2013 file photo shows nuns walking behind a billboard with a torn poster of Pope Benedict XVI in Rome. These are crazy days in Rome - where limbo reigns in parliament and papacy. Italy is usually a pretty anarchic place, with people bucking rules on everything from crossing the street to paying taxes. But the anarchy?s going a bit far: Who's running the country? Who's running the church? Nobody really knows. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia, files)

FILE - This March 1, 2013 file photo shows a poster with a picture of Nigerian Cardinal Peter Kodwo Appiah Turkson with writing reading: "For the next conclave vote for Turkson", in front of the St. Mary Major Basilica in Rome. These are crazy days in Rome - where limbo reigns in parliament and papacy. Italy is usually a pretty anarchic place, with people bucking rules on everything from crossing the street to paying taxes. But the anarchy?s going a bit far: Who's running the country? Who's running the church? Nobody really knows. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia, files)

This March 1, 2013 photo shows a billboard with a torn poster of Pope Benedict XVI, with writing reading in Italian "You'll always be with us, Thank you", in Rome. These are crazy days in Rome - where limbo reigns in parliament and papacy. Italy is usually a pretty anarchic place, with people bucking rules on everything from crossing the street to paying taxes. But the anarchy?s going a bit far: Who's running the country? Who's running the church? Nobody really knows. (AP Photo/Joji Sakurai)

FILE - This Feb. 28, 2013 file photo shows a nun walking past posters of Pope Benedict XVI reading in Italian, " You will stay always with us. Thank you" along a street in Rome. These are crazy days in Rome - where limbo reigns in parliament and papacy. Italy is usually a pretty anarchic place, with people bucking rules on everything from crossing the street to paying taxes. But the anarchy?s going a bit far: Who's running the country? Who's running the church? Nobody really knows. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia, files)

ROME (AP) ? These are crazy days in Rome, where limbo reigns in parliament and papacy.

Italy is usually a pretty anarchic place, with people bucking rules on everything from crossing the street to paying taxes. But the anarchy's going a bit far: Who's running the country? Who's running the church?

For now, at least, nobody really knows.

We Romans are living truly surreal times when a bearded comedian is now one of the nation's most powerful leaders, and aging cardinals from around the world are mobbed by paparazzi as if they were Hollywood starlets.

Then there are the eerie silences in a normally raucous city.

With no ruling pope, St. Peter's Square was strangely quiet as the Vatican saw its first Sunday without a papal window blessing, a weekly appointment that will normally draw thousands of pilgrims and tourists. With no government after inconclusive elections, downtown streets are blessedly free of the crush of lawmakers in dark blue official cars that speed through congested Rome with legislative impunity ? and are one of the notorious perks of being a parliamentarian.

Since Italians recently voted in national elections, it's no surprise to see the walls of Rome still plastered with campaign posters.

But ? Mamma Mia ? a poster urging votes for a cardinal in the upcoming papal conclave?

That's precisely the sight that Romans are seeing near several Rome basilicas ? with the campaign-style image of Africa's strongest papal contender looking up to the heavens against a slogan reading: "AT THE CONCLAVE VOTE PETER KODWO APPIAH TURKSON."

Nobody knows who's behind it, but it's widely regarded as a spoof campaign ahead of the solemn meetings in the Sistine chapel to elect the next pope

Other papal posters point to Italians' cantankerous mood.

The day Benedict XVI went into retirement, the city of Rome plastered walls with posters of the pontiff thanking him for his service. "YOU WILL ALWAYS BE WITH US. THANK YOU!," the posters read.

Romans woke up then next morning to the sight of many of them torn, defaced or simply gone.

And in a time when Rome is busy filling important vacancies, it's perhaps only natural that there are gatecrashers.

Despite all the security at the Vatican as cardinals meet to organize the conclave, a prankster in bishop's garb, an impressive cross across his chest and decidedly un-clerical black sneakers, managed to sneak into the congregation of cardinals this week and mingle. Photographers snapped him shaking hands with Cardinal Velasio De Paolis, the Italian prelate named to clean up the disgraced Legion of Christ order.

Yet perhaps the biggest gatecrasher of all is Beppe Grillo, who has upset the established order by riding a self-styled "tsunami" of disgust with the powers-that-be and grabbing a quarter of the parliamentary vote. Grillo has no qualms about seeming a little bit off-the-wall: He was recently photographed jogging on a beach wearing what looked like a space alien outfit.

And while Grillo gleefully insults mainstream politicians, a German governor this week referred to the comedian and scandal-plagued former Premier Silvio Berlusconi as "two clowns" ? forcing visiting Italian President Giorgio Napolitano to skip lunch with him to preserve Italian pride.

For now, the cardinals are commanding the spotlight.

Each morning and afternoon, as they set out for their meetings, they are mobbed by a frightening wave of journalists staked out for hours waiting for them to appear in the narrow streets surrounding the Vatican. Even as affable a type as German Cardinal Walter Kasper took refuge behind policemen as he walked the gauntlet on Monday.

One relief from the chaos appears to be lunch.

The cardinals are lining up in the Borgo, a picturesque knot of alleyways near the Vatican. Corriere delle Sera reported that Cardinal Francesco Coccopalmerio, a Vatican heavyweight, showed up for lunch at "Il Passetto di Borgo" where his favorites include spaghetti with raw tomatoes, filet of sole and fried calamari.

Even a cardinal tied to vows of poverty, it seems, has to eat.

"In a few days, when the conclave begins, it will be good bye to turbot and rigatoni alla Norcia," Corriere lamented ? referring to a dish of short pasta with sausages and creamy tomato sauce.

It noted that the poor cardinals will soon have to settle for institutional cooking while they are sequestered during the conclave at the Santa Marta residence, the Vatican's hotel.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2013-03-07-Italy-Crazy%20Days/id-2df165f12cf94162837692922f109a70

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Syrian refugees top 1 million, rebels take city

BEIRUT (AP) ? Syria's accelerating humanitarian crisis hit a grim milestone Wednesday: The number of U.N.-registered refugees topped 1 million ? half of them children ? described by an aid worker as a "human river" of thousands spilling out of the war-ravaged country every day.

Nearly 4 million of Syria's 22 million people have been driven from their homes by the civil war. Of the displaced, 2 million have sought cover in camps and makeshift shelters across Syria, 1 million have registered as refugees in neighboring Turkey, Jordan, Lebanon, Iraq and Egypt, and several hundred thousand more fled the country but haven't signed up with the U.N. refugee agency.

The West has refrained from military intervention in the two-year-old battle to oust Syrian President Bashar Assad, a conflict that has claimed more than 70,000 lives, and many Syrians hold the international community responsible for their misery.

"The refugee numbers swelled because the world community is sitting idly, watching the tyrant Assad killing innocent people," said Mohammed Ammari, a 32-year-old refugee in the Zaatari camp straddling Jordan's border with Syria. "Shame, shame, shame. The world should be ashamed."

Despite an overall deadlock on the battlefield, the rebels have made recent gains, especially in northern Syria. On Wednesday, they completed their capture of Raqqa, the first major city to fall completely into rebel hands, activists said.

But with no quick end to the conflict in sight, the refugee problem is bound to worsen, said Panos Moumtzis of the U.N. refugee agency, UNHCR. The number of uprooted Syrians is still lower than those displaced in other conflicts, including Afghanistan, Iraq and the Balkans, but the Syria crisis will likely be protracted, and widespread devastation will make quick repatriation unlikely.

"We fear that the worst may not have come yet," Moumtzis said.

The exodus from Syria picked up significantly in recent months, turning into a "human river flowing in, day and night," he added. The number of registered refugees doubled since December, he said, with some 7,000 fleeing Syria every day.

Many refugees moved from shelter to shelter in Syria first before deciding to leave the country, while others were driven out by the increasing lack of basic resources, such as bread and fuel, in their hometowns. In the hardest-hit areas, entire villages have emptied out and families spanning several generations cross the border together.

On Wednesday, a 19-year-old mother of two became the one-millionth Syrian refugee to register with UNHCR. She would only give her first name, Bushra, because she feared reprisals.

Bushra waited with several others at a U.N. office in Lebanon's northern city of Tripoli to sign up. Along with her 4-year-old daughter, Batoul, and 2-year-old son, Omar, she fled fighting in the central city of Homs more than two weeks ago.

"Our life conditions are very bad. It is very expensive here (in Lebanon) and we cannot find any work," Bushra said.

Only about 30 percent of the 1 million registered refugees live in 22 camps ? 17 in Turkey, three in Jordan and two in Iraq ? and the rest live in communities in host countries, Moumtzis said.

Zaatari, one of the largest, is home to some 120,000 people. Refugees have been struggling with harsh desert conditions, including cold and floods in the winter, and scorching heat, along with snakes and scorpions, in the summer.

Moumtzis said he recently met a woman in Zaatari with an ID that shows her to be 101 years old. The woman, from the southern Syrian town of Daraa, was carried by her relatives, he said.

The U.N. refugee agency needs money to help overstretched host countries cope. Of the $1 billion in refugee aid pledged at a donor conference in Kuwait in January, only $200 million has come through, officials said.

"We are doing everything we can to help, but the international humanitarian response capacity is dangerously stretched," said the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees, Antonio Guterres, adding that "Syria is spiraling toward full-scale disaster."

The uprising against Assad began in March 2011 with peaceful protests, but soon became a civil war. The rebel takeover of Raqqa, a city of 500,000, would consolidate opposition gains in the northern towns along the Euphrates River, which runs from Turkey to Iraq.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, an activist group, said rebels seized control of the military intelligence headquarters and another security building after three days of fighting with regime holdouts.

In southern Syria, rebel fighters detained about 20 U.N. peacekeepers Wednesday, said U.N. deputy spokesman Eduardo del Buey. The peacekeepers are part of a force that monitors a cease-fire between Israel and Syrian troops on the Golan Heights.

In video circulated by the Observatory, a rebel identifying himself as a fighter from the "Yarmouk Brigade" walks along an armored U.N. vehicle. He accuses the peacekeepers of helping regime soldiers redeploy in an area near the Golan that the fighters had seized a few days earlier.

Del Buey said the U.N. observers were on a regular supply mission when they were stopped by the rebels. He said a team was dispatched to try to resolve the issue.

The Observatory quoted rebels as saying the peacekeepers, all Filipinos, would not be released until regime forces withdraw from a village called Jamla.

The U.N. Security Council demanded their immediate and unconditional release.

Peter Bouckaert, a researcher for the international group Human Rights Watch, said he is investigating suspicions, based on amateur video, that the same group of rebels was involved in the execution of captured regime soldiers in the area several days ago.

In Belgium, the top rebel commander renewed an appeal to the international community to send weapons to the opposition.

Gen. Salim Idris, head of the rebels' Supreme Military Council, asked for anti-tank and anti-aircraft missiles to protect Syrian civilians from Assad's warplanes.

He said Russia and Iran are aiding the regime, while the West, while calling for Assad's ouster, is not doing enough to help the rebels.

"The people don't understand why the international community just looks at the news on their TVs," he said. "They just speak in the media and say, 'that is not good and the regime must stop and must go, Bashar must go.' And they don't act."

Britain seemed to be stepping up its support. British Foreign Secretary William Hague said his country would provide armored vehicles, body armor and search-and-rescue equipment to the opposition. But he said Britain is sticking to the European Union's sanctions against Syria, which include an arms embargo.

In Cairo, the 22-member Arab League gave a diplomatic boost to the opposition. The League's chief, Nabil ElAraby, offered Syria's seat to the opposition, provided it forms a representative executive council. The League had suspended Syria's membership in 2011, after Assad's government did not abide by an Arab peace plan.

___

Associated Press writers Barbara Surk, Bassem Mroue and Zeina Karam in Beirut; Jamal Halaby in Amman; David Rising in Berlin; Don Melvin in Brussels; Jill Lawless in London; and Edith M. Lederer at the United Nations contributed.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/syrian-refugees-top-1-million-rebels-city-200055198.html

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Gun-control drive to get first votes in Congress

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Less than three months after the Connecticut school shooting, a campaign to tighten gun laws that is backed by President Barack Obama will go to its first votes in Congress on Thursday when a Senate panel meets.

The Democrat-controlled Senate Judiciary Committee is expected to approve the four bills that make up the gun-control package in voting over the next day or so.

That will sets up fights in the full Senate over a proposed ban on assault weapons and a plan to expand background checks on prospective gun buyers.

Wider background checks had been seen as one of the measures with most chance of success in Congress, but the push for this it has stumbled in recent days over a dispute about whether to keep records of private gun sales. Republicans fear such records would be a first step to a government register of gun owners.

Republican Senator Tom Coburn of Oklahoma said it was possible to reach an agreement with Democrats on background checks but there was a chance "we won't, and that will be a shame."

The drive for gun-control laws has taken on a new urgency since the December shooting in which a gunman killed 20 children and six adults at a school in Newtown, Connecticut.

It has become one of Obama's top domestic priorities, along with immigration reform and fixing a series of budget messes.

But reviving an assault-weapons ban that ran out in 2004 has almost no chance in Congress due to opposition from Republicans and even some Democrats.

The two parties are closer to agreement on the two lesser elements of the gun-control drive: cracking down on the illegal trafficking of firearms and bolstering school security.

The chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Vermont Democrat Patrick Leahy, increased the chances of his bill to combat unlawful gun trafficking when he attracted four co-sponsors on Monday - two fellow Democrats and two Republicans.

The panel's top Republican, Senator Charles Grassley, said he might also join them in backing the bill, which would toughen statutes against "straw purchasers" - people who profit from buying guns then selling them to those prohibited from owning firearms.

"The practice of straw purchasing is used for one thing ? to put firearms into the hands of those that are prohibited by law from having them. Many are then used to further violent crimes," Leahy said on Tuesday.

Democratic Senator Barbara Boxer has received bipartisan support for her bill to provide $40 million a year for 10 years in matching federal grants to schools to strengthen security.

The measure would authorize the U.S. Justice Department to create a National Center for Campus Public Safety to serve as a clearing house for best practices and information.

"Congress spends hundreds of millions a year to protect its members. It can certainly spend $40 million a year to protect our children," the California senator said on Monday.

Democrats control the Judiciary Committee 10-8 but they might need 60 votes to clear gun control legislation in the 100-member Senate where they have only a 55-45 majority.

(Editing by Alistair Bell; Editing by David Brunnstrom)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/gun-control-drive-first-votes-congress-060829763.html

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Argentina begins prosecution of military-era human rights abuses

A group of government officials charged with orchestrating the abduction and murder of more than 100 dissidents across the region in the 1970s and '80s are now on trial for the first time.

By Jonathan Gilbert,?Correspondent / March 5, 2013

Former dictator Reynaldo Bignone attends the first day of the trial for his alleged involvement in the so called operation, 'Plan Condor,' in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Tuesday. Argentina began today its first human rights trial focused on the joint operation by the southern cone's 1970s dictatorships to track down leftists in each other's countries. Bignone has already been sentenced to life imprisonment for crimes against humanity.

Natacha Pisarenko/AP

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In 1980, a young, left-wing Argentine militant named Horacio Campiglia was abducted in Rio de Janeiro and then taken to a military base in Buenos Aires, never to be heard from again.

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In the southern cone, Mr. Campiglia's story is a familiar one ? he is one of tens of thousands of dissidents who were "disappeared" ? abducted and murdered ? by military dictatorships in the region in the 1970s and 1980s.?

Now, the former government officials responsible for those disappearances are being put on the stand for the first time.

A?Buenos Aires courthouse heard charges today against 25 defendants accused of human rights abuses during Operation Condor, a?secret, decade-long campaign?by six allied military governments to do away with left-wing subversion. Crucially, they conspired in order to track down activists who were in exile in neighboring countries.

"The trial is historic as it's the first to deal with the repression coordinated between Latin American dictatorships," says Carolina Varsky, the lawyer representing Campiglia.?

The regimes of Augusto Pinochet, military leader of Chile from 1974 to 1990, and Alfredo Stroessner, Paraguay's former strongman president, colluded with leaders in Uruguay and Argentina, documents?known as the "Archive of Terror" show. Bolivia and Brazil later joined the operation as well.

The trial is expected to last two years and will call on around 500 witnesses.?Judges will rule on the cases of 106 victims of Operation Condor and 56 more in a related operation, none of whom survived. The majority are Uruguayans disappeared in Argentina, but there are also Paraguayan, Chilean, Bolivian, Argentine, and Peruvian victims.

The defendants include Jorge Videla and Reynaldo Bignone, former de facto presidents during Argentina?s 1976-83 military rule, who are already serving life sentences for their role in the dictatorship?s "Dirty War."

They sat motionless in court as they were accused of "illicit association" and "deprivation of personal liberty."?They cannot be accused of homicide since the victims' bodies were never found.

The only non-Argentine among the defendants was Uruguayan Manuel Cordero, a former colonel charged with human rights violations at the Orletti torture center in Buenos Aires.?

?This is a huge step to achieve the truth internationally,? says Atilio Bor?n, an Argentine political scientist who studies social movements and democracy. Human rights have become a cornerstone of Argentine politics since N?stor Kirchner, the predecessor and late husband of current President Cristina Kirchner, overturned impunity laws.

?Argentina has been able to push for justice because civil society is today stronger than the military, but other countries have not managed to swing the balance,? Mr. Bor?n says, referencing the difficulties President Dilma Rousseff has experienced in putting leaders from Brazil?s 1964-85 military rule in the dock. Mr. Pinochet also died in impunity, and Uruguay?s supreme court ruled last week that a law overturning amnesty on dictatorship crimes was unconstitutional.

Operation Condor was also backed by the United States, as American author John Dinges revealed in his 2004 book, "The Condor Years." Indeed, last year, an Argentine federal judge requested that former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger be interrogated as part of the investigation but, according to local media reports, he did not receive a reply.

The investigation into Operation Condor began in the late 1990s, when the impunity laws were still effective.

"We're delighted that after years of struggle this has finally come to trial," says Alcira R?os, the lawyer of a Paraguayan victim.

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/8KSFQUSYYzs/Argentina-begins-prosecution-of-military-era-human-rights-abuses

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Daily Report: TV Pilots Turn to Internet, Not Networks - NYTimes.com

Internet-delivered TV, which until recently was unready for prime time, is the new front in the war for Americans? attention spans, Brian Stelter reports in Tuesday?s New York Times.

Netflix is following up on the $100 million drama ?House of Cards? with four more series this year. Microsoft is producing programming for the Xbox video game console with the help of a former CBS president. Other companies, from AOL to Sony to Twitter, are likely to follow.

The companies are, in effect, creating new networks for television through broadband pipes and also giving rise to new rivalries ? among one another, as between Amazon.com and Netflix, and with the big but vulnerable broadcast networks as well.

The competition has only just begun. Amazon is making pilot episodes for six comedies and five children?s shows. Sometime this spring it will put the episodes on its Amazon Prime Instant Video service and ask its customers which ones they like and dislike, then order full seasons of some of them.

Netflix has been ordering entire seasons of its shows without seeing pilots first. Reed Hastings, Netflix?s chief executive, said last week that ?House of Cards,? the political thriller starring Kevin Spacey and Robin Wright, had been a ?great success? for the company. Its next program, a horror series called ?Hemlock Grove? from the film director Eli Roth, premieres in April.

The two companies are commissioning TV shows because they have millions of subscribers on monthly or yearly subscription plans. Though the shows may be loss leaders, executives like Mr. Hastings say that having exclusive content ? something that cannot be seen anywhere else ? increases the likelihood that existing subscribers will keep paying and that new subscribers will sign up.

The proliferation of shows is generally seen as a good thing for viewers, who have more choices about what to watch and when, and for producers and actors, who have more places to be seen and heard. But the trend may inflame cable companies? concerns about cord-cutting by subscribers who decide there?s enough to watch online. At the same time, the rise of Internet-only shows may make viewers more dependent on the broadband cord. (In many cases, both connections are supplied by the same company.)

Source: http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/03/05/daily-report-tv-pilots-turn-to-internet-not-networks/

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Facebook kisses DRAM goodbye, builds memcached for flash

Q:?What do you get when you mix Facebook?s extensive memcached usage with its strategy of ?cold storage? for infrequently accessed data?

A: McDipper, a Facebook-built implementation of the popular memcached key-value store designed to run on flash memory rather than pricier DRAM.

Memcached, for the unfamiliar, is an open-source key-value store that caches frequently accessed data in memory so applications can access and serve it faster than if it were stored on hard disks. It?s a very popular component of many web applications stacks, including at Facebook where the company runs thousands of memcached servers to power its various applications.

But DRAM is expensive, especially when you get to Facebook?s scale, and not all applications deserve that kind of performance. So, according to a Facebook Engineering post on Tuesday, the company designed McDipper to handle ?working sets that had very large footprints but moderate to low request rates. ? Compared with memory, flash provides up to 20 times the capacity per server and still supports tens of thousands of operations per second.?

Facebook has deployed McDipper for a handful of these workloads, the blog states, and?has ?reduced the total number of deployed servers in some pools by as much as 90% while still delivering more than 90% of get responses with sub-millisecond latencies.? It has been part of Facebook?s photo infrastructure for about a year and serves 150 gigabits of data per second ? or ?about one library of congress (10 TB) every 10 minutes? ? over Facebook?s content-delivery network.

How McDipper stores data

This is the same logic that drove Facebook to undertake its cold storage engineering effort for even more infrequently accessed data, which aims to find a middle ground between the inefficiency and latency of hard disks and the high cost of flash storage. To meet that goal, the company is getting creative by considering everything from lower-performance flash to Blu-ray ? pretty much anything but tape ? VP of Engineering Jay Parikh told me in January.

Building a tool like McDipper is the just the tip of the iceberg, though, when it comes to managing the cost and efficiency of infrastructure at large web companies such as Facebook. On Tuesday, eBay released its Digital Service Efficiency report that lays out a methodology for assessing the effect that infrastructure (more than 52,000 servers in eBay?s case; Facebook has even more) has on larger corporate goals such as clean energy and the bottom line.

And later this month at our Structure: Data conference, data center executives from Facebook, Microsoft and Goldman Sachs will take the stage to discuss how smart analytics help them plan to meet capacity needs while keeping costs in check.

Feature image is Facebook?s new all-flash Dragonstone server design.

Source: http://gigaom.com/2013/03/05/facebook-kisses-dram-goodbye-builds-memcached-for-flash/

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Venezuela: Chavez hit by new, severe infection

FILE - In this file photo released on Feb. 15, 2013 by Miraflores Presidential Press Office, Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez, center, poses for a photo with his daughters, Maria Gabriela, left, and Rosa Virginia at an unknown location in Havana, Cuba, Thursday, Feb. 14, 2013. Venezuela's government says that President Hugo Chavez's respiratory problems have gotten worse and that the ailing leader is in "very delicate" condition. Venezuela's Communications Minister Ernesto Villegas said late Monday, March 4, 2013, in a statement read on national television that the cancer-stricken socialist leader has a "severe infection." (AP Photo/Miraflores Presidential Press Office, File)

FILE - In this file photo released on Feb. 15, 2013 by Miraflores Presidential Press Office, Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez, center, poses for a photo with his daughters, Maria Gabriela, left, and Rosa Virginia at an unknown location in Havana, Cuba, Thursday, Feb. 14, 2013. Venezuela's government says that President Hugo Chavez's respiratory problems have gotten worse and that the ailing leader is in "very delicate" condition. Venezuela's Communications Minister Ernesto Villegas said late Monday, March 4, 2013, in a statement read on national television that the cancer-stricken socialist leader has a "severe infection." (AP Photo/Miraflores Presidential Press Office, File)

FILE - In this Oct. 11, 2011, file photo, Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez points at his head to show that his hair has started to grow back after his last round of chemotherapy at Miraflores presidential palace in Caracas, Venezuela. Venezuela's Communication and Information Minister Ernesto Villegas on Monday, March 4, 2013, reported that President Hugo Chavez's health has deteriorated and remains delicate. Villegas also announced in the national TV broadcaster VTV that the president is undergoing chemotherapy with high impact. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos, file)

FILE - In this Feb. 15, 2013 file photo, a woman holds a newly purchased copy of a photo released by the government, showing Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez with two of his daughters, in Caracas,Venezuela. After more than eight years covering Venezuela, AP reporter Ian James finishes his assignment believing Venezuela's many long-term challenges, such as crime, corruption, a troubled economy and bitter political divisions, can seem as vast as the sea of crude oil that Venezuela sits atop. And with Chavez battling cancer, the country could be headed for big political shifts and possible turmoil. But James takes the view that the country's problems can be solved. (AP Photo/Fernando Llano, File)

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) ? A severe new respiratory infection has hit cancer-stricken President Hugo Chavez and his condition is "very delicate," Venezuela's government says.

A brief statement read on national television by Communications Minister Ernesto Villegas late Monday carried the sobering news about the charismatic 58-year-old socialist leader's deteriorating health.

Villegas said Chavez is suffering from "a new, severe infection." The state news agency identified it as respiratory.

Chavez has been undergoing "chemotherapy of strong impact," Villegas added without providing further details.

Chavez has neither been seen nor heard from, except for photos released in mid-February, since submitting to a fourth round of surgery in Cuba on Dec. 11 for an unspecified cancer in the pelvic area. It was first diagnosed in June 2011.

The government says he returned home on Feb. 18 and has been confined to Caracas' military hospital since.

Villegas said Chavez was "standing by Christ and life, conscious of the difficulties he faces."

He also took the opportunity to lash out at "the corrupt Venezuelan right" for what he called a psychological war seeking "scenarios of violence as a pretext for foreign intervention."

The communications minister called on Chavez's supporters, who include thousands of well-armed militiamen, to be "on a war footing."

Upon Chavez's death, the opposition would contest the government's candidate in a snap election that it argues should have been called after Chavez was unable to be sworn in on Jan. 10 as the constitution stipulates.

Indeed, the campaigning has already begun, although undeclared. Vice President Nicolas Maduro, who Chavez has said should succeed him, has frequently commandeered all broadcast channels, Chavez-style, to tout the "revolution" and vilify the opposition.

Chavez has run Venezuela for more than 14 years as a virtual one-man show, gradually placing all state institutions under his personal control. But the former army paratroop commander who rose to fame by launching a failed 1992 coup, never groomed a successor with his force of personality.

Chavez was last re-elected on Oct. 7, and his challenger, youthful Miranda state Gov. Henrique Capriles, is expected to again be the opposition's candidate.

One of Chavez's three daughters, Maria Gabriela, expressed thanks to well-wishers via her Twitter account. "We will prevail!" she wrote, echoing a favorite phrase of her father. "With God always."

Maduro said last week that the president had begun receiving chemotherapy around the end of January.

Doctors have said that such therapy was not necessarily to try to beat Chavez's cancer into remission, but could have been palliative, to extend Chavez's life and ease his suffering.

Dr. Carlos Castro, scientific director of the Colombian League Against Cancer in Bogota, Colombia, said "it's difficult to predict" when Chavez might die, but he believes "it's a matter of days."

Castro said that Chavez could face further respiratory complications if he receives more intense chemotherapy treatment.

If the president's medical team "gives him strong chemotherapy again, then it would not be surprising if some infections reappear," Castro said in a telephone interview.

While in Cuba, Chavez suffered a severe respiratory infection in late December that nearly killed him, Maduro said last week. A tracheal tube was inserted then and government officials have said his breathing remained labored.

Libardo Rodriguez, a 60-year-old man who sells orange juice on the street in Caracas, said he was very worried after Monday evening's announcement regarding Chavez's condition. The government, he added, should provide more information.

"We are worried because he does not appear. The truth is that I don't know what's happening," said Rodriguez, a Chavez supporter.

Rodriguez complained about what he described as the government's vague updates regarding Chavez's health.

"There are many rumors and nobody knows who to believe," he said. "We hope he's alive."

In Cuba, Chavez has undergone a series of radiation treatments and chemotherapy after his operations. But the entire treatment regimen was kept far from public scrutiny.

___

Associated Press writer Vivian Sequera in Bogota, Colombia, contributed to this report.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/cae69a7523db45408eeb2b3a98c0c9c5/Article_2013-03-05-LT-Venezuela-Chavez/id-275fdbbbba4943cb8902bc43a446fa04

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Liam Payne Is Going 'No Werrr' From One Direction

1D singer shoots down a report he's leaving the group for his girlfriend.
By Jocelyn Vena

One Direction's Liam Payne
Photo: WireImage

Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1702935/liam-payne-one-direction-leaving.jhtml

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Penguins Malkin to return against Lightning

Pittsburgh Penguins center Evgeni Malkin (71) is shoved to the ice by Philadelphia Flyers defenseman Luke Schenn (22) as he puts the puck behind Philadelphia Flyers goalie Ilya Bryzgalov (30) for a first-period goal during an NHL hockey game in Pittsburgh, Wednesday, Feb. 20, 2013. The Flyers won 6-5. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)

Pittsburgh Penguins center Evgeni Malkin (71) is shoved to the ice by Philadelphia Flyers defenseman Luke Schenn (22) as he puts the puck behind Philadelphia Flyers goalie Ilya Bryzgalov (30) for a first-period goal during an NHL hockey game in Pittsburgh, Wednesday, Feb. 20, 2013. The Flyers won 6-5. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)

Pittsburgh Penguins center Evgeni Malkin skates to the locker room during the third period of an NHL hockey game against the Florida Panthers in Pittsburgh on Friday, Feb. 22, 2013. The Penguins won 3-1. Malkin did not return to the game. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)

Pittsburgh Penguins center Evgeni Malkin (71) celebrates with left wing James Neal (18) and center Sidney Crosby (87) after scoring in the first period of an NHL hockey game against the Philadelphia Flyers in Pittsburgh, Wednesday, Feb. 20, 2013. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)

Pittsburgh Penguins center Evgeni Malkin (71) looks for the puck against Philadelphia Flyers goalie Ilya Bryzgalov (30) and defenseman Nicklas Grossmann (8) in the second period of an NHL hockey game in Pittsburgh, Wednesday, Feb. 20, 2013. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)

PITTSBURGH (AP) ? Pittsburgh Penguins center Evgeni Malkin will return to the lineup Monday night against the Tampa Bay Lightning.

The league's reigning MVP hasn't played since his concussion after slamming into the end boards in a win over Florida on Feb. 22.

Coach Dan Bylsma says Malkin has passed all the mandatory NHL protocols following a head injury. Malkin says he has not experienced headaches, neck soreness or other symptoms. Malkin adds he did have short-term memory loss the day he was hurt.

Malkin has four goals and 17 assists this season. The Penguins went 2-2 in Malkin's absence. The 26-year-old is to play on the second line with Beau Bennett and James Neal against the Lightning.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/347875155d53465d95cec892aeb06419/Article_2013-03-04-HKN-Penguins-Malkin/id-6934c92941fe499f9d496fbd2bdb3e17

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Obama presses Congress for deal to end spending cuts

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Just hours after across-the-board spending cuts officially took effect, President Barack Obama pressed Congress on Saturday to work with him on a compromise to halt a fiscal crisis he said was starting to "inflict pain" on communities across the United States.

Obama and a bipartisan group of congressional leaders failed on Friday to avoid the deep spending reductions known as the "sequester," which automatically kicked in overnight in the latest sign of dysfunction in a divided Washington.

If left in place without legislative remedy, government agencies will have to hack a total of $85 billion from their budgets between Saturday and October 1, cuts that over time could cause economic harm, slash jobs and curb military readiness.

"These cuts are not smart," Obama said in his weekly radio and Internet address. "They will hurt our economy and cost us jobs. And Congress can turn them off at any time - as soon as both sides are willing to compromise."

Obama signed an order on Friday night that started putting the cuts into effect.

At the heart of Washington's persistent fiscal showdowns is disagreement over how to slash the budget deficit and the $16 trillion national debt, bloated over the years by wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and government stimulus for the ailing economy.

The Democratic president wants to close the fiscal gap with spending cuts and tax hikes - what he calls a "balanced approach." But Republicans do not want to concede again on taxes after doing so in negotiations over the "fiscal cliff" at the New Year.

"The discussion about revenue, in my view, is over. It's about taking on the spending problem," John Boehner, the Republican House of Representatives speaker, said on leaving the talks between Obama and congressional leaders on Friday.

As Obama and his aides have done for weeks, the president in his radio address offered a litany of hardships he said would flow from the sequester, saying, "Severe budget cuts ... have already started to inflict pain on communities across the country."

"Beginning this week, businesses that work with the military will have to lay folks off. Communities near military bases will take a serious blow. Hundreds of thousands of Americans who serve their country - Border Patrol agents, FBI agents, civilians who work for the Defense Department - will see their wages cut and their hours reduced," he said.

"The longer these cuts remain in place, the greater the damage," he said. "Economists estimate they could eventually cost us more than 750,000 jobs and slow our economy by over one-half of one percent." Despite that, financial markets shrugged off the stalemate on Friday.

NO SIGNS OF NEGOTIATIONS

While Obama has put the blame for the cuts on Republicans' intransigence and their determination to protect tax breaks for the wealthy, Republicans insist he is responsible for the fiscal predicament. They also accuse him of exaggerating the expected impact.

Obama appealed for Republicans to work with Democrats on a deal, saying Americans were weary of seeing Washington "careen from one manufactured crisis to another." But he offered no new ideas to resolve the situation, and there was no immediate sign of any negotiations planned over the weekend.

"There's a caucus of common sense (in Congress)," Obama said. "And I'm going to keep reaching out to them to fix this for good."

One reason for the inaction in Washington is that both parties still hope the other will either be blamed by voters for the cuts or cave in before the worst effects predicted by Democrats come into effect.

A Reuters/Ipsos poll released on Friday showed 28 percent of Americans blamed congressional Republicans for the sequestration mess, 18 percent thought Obama was responsible and 4 percent blamed congressional Democrats. Thirty-seven percent blamed them all, according the online poll.

(Editing by Peter Cooney)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/u-lurches-budget-crisis-spending-cuts-imminent-005547865--business.html

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AdvSecret.com Business Tips: The Best 3 Methods To Acquire More ...

By Lisa Jane Foreman

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Create your business?s web presence. In case you don?t have an online presence right now, you?re likely to be missing out on worthwhile opportunities since everyone is on the Web, from businesses to buyers. The majority of companies today have websites. The clever and Internet-savvy ones have penetrated social media in incredibly popular sites like Pinterest, Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Google+, and other smaller, niche-oriented internet sites.

A lot of commercial projects are on social websites because the foundation has evolved from simply being a ?place? to connect with long lost friends and family to an efficient source for stimulating and getting customers. Of course, keeping your business?s profile isn?t about posting improvements of your services. To attain effective engagement with your followers and new clients, you need to provide appealing material. For example, you might want to share lawn mowing business tips and conduct assessments of power mowers. Delivering intriguing as well as reliable material will work in creating your online ability as a well-established and first-rate services outfit.

Take into account pay-per-click (PPC) marketing on leading sites as opposed to placing advertisements on expensive print media. You will need to look into the perfect website, where you will pay a publisher to have your advertisement displayed, to focus on your suitable industry. When the publisher?s site guest finds your advertisement appealing and then clicks it, that customer gets directed to your internet site. When done properly, your PPC ads may help you enhance consumers and also satisfy target income.

Find professional help to implement as well as conceptualize your marketing plan. You?ll want to hire expert web marketers that have the knowledge and experience to generate profit-earning methods such as website development, search engine optimization (SEO), PPC ads, reputation management, social media marketing, and plenty of other website marketing methods that deliver success.

The business could be backbreaking-that is, if you?re not too sure of what you need to accomplish to make it develop. Don?t make your plan overwork you today. Relax and make use of these 3 useful strategies.

LawnCareMarketingExperts can help you businesses to increase their performance and elevate their reputation in the internet. With this businesses can gain more clients and attain their goals.

---

Source: http://www.advsecret.com/business-tips-the-best-3-methods-to-acquire-more-clients/

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Alibaba to roll out credit payment service for e-commerce platforms: report

SHANGHAI (Reuters) - Alifinance, a unit of Alibaba Group, will soon roll out a credit-line service for businesses and consumers on its e-commerce platforms, the Sina Technology news website said on Friday.

The credit will be provided via Alipay, the affiliated e-commerce payment unit of Alibaba Group.

A pilot version of the program, which will be first available for users of Taobao Marketplace and Taobao Mall on mobile devices, will be rolled out in certain parts of China.

An Alipay spokeswoman declined to comment.

The report said that Taobao Marketplace and Taobao Mall businesses that use the service will be charged an initial discounted fee of one percent.

According to technology research firm Analysys, Taobao Marketplace and Taobao Mall had a majority of market share in China's consumer-to-consumer market and business-to-consumer platform.

(This story was corrected to fix the headline and lead, and to adds the second paragraph to make it clear that the credit will be provided by Alifinance, via Alipay)

(Reporting by Melanie Lee; Editing by Matt Driskill)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/alipay-roll-credit-payment-e-commerce-platforms-report-095305181--sector.html

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Lindsay Lohan Lawyer Destroyed By Judge: You're INCOMPETENT!

Source: http://www.thehollywoodgossip.com/2013/03/lindsay-lohan-lawyer-destroyed-by-judge-youre-incompetent/

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Modding guru Ben Heck hacks his way through the Engadget Questionnaire

Every week, a new and interesting human being tackles our decidedly geeky take on the Proustian Q&A. This is the Engadget Questionnaire.

In this edition of our weekly question and answer session, Ben Heck -- the master of mods and host of The Ben Heck Show -- discusses the paradigm shift of personal assistants and how E.T. was saved by a Speak & Spell. Head on past the break for the full lot of responses.

Filed under: Misc

Comments

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/03/01/ben-heck-engadget-questionnaire/

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In death, Facebook photos could fade away forever

This Feb. 16, 2013 photo shows a printout of the Facebook page for Loren Williams, now deceased, at his mother's home in Beaverton, Ore. Karen Williams, who battled Facebook over the right to view Loren?s Facebook page, has been urging lawmakers for years to do something to prevent others from losing photos, messages and other memories that otherwise could be accessed at the click of a mouse. This year the Oregon Legislature took up the cause, only to be turned back by pressure from the tech industry, which says they must abide by a 1986 federal law that prevents them from sharing such information. (AP Photo/Lauren Gambino)

This Feb. 16, 2013 photo shows a printout of the Facebook page for Loren Williams, now deceased, at his mother's home in Beaverton, Ore. Karen Williams, who battled Facebook over the right to view Loren?s Facebook page, has been urging lawmakers for years to do something to prevent others from losing photos, messages and other memories that otherwise could be accessed at the click of a mouse. This year the Oregon Legislature took up the cause, only to be turned back by pressure from the tech industry, which says they must abide by a 1986 federal law that prevents them from sharing such information. (AP Photo/Lauren Gambino)

In this Feb. 16, 2013 photo, Karen Williams poses with a photo of her deceased son, Loren, in Beaverton, Ore.. Williams, who battled Facebook over the right to view Loren?s Facebook page, has been urging lawmakers for years to do something to prevent others from losing photos, messages and other memories that otherwise could be accessed at the click of a mouse. This year the Oregon Legislature took up the cause, only to be turned back by pressure from the tech industry, which says they must abide by a 1986 federal law that prevents them from sharing such information. (AP Photo/Lauren Gambino)

In this Feb. 16, 2013 photo, Karen Williams poses with a photo of her deceased son, Loren, in Beaverton, Ore. Williams, who battled Facebook over the right to view Loren?s Facebook page, has been urging lawmakers for years to do something to prevent others from losing photos, messages and other memories that otherwise could be accessed at the click of a mouse. This year the Oregon Legislature took up the cause, only to be turned back by pressure from the tech industry, which says they must abide by a 1986 federal law that prevents them from sharing such information. (AP Photo/Lauren Gambino)

BEAVERTON, Ore. (AP) ? A grieving Oregon mother who battled Facebook for full access to her deceased son's account has been pushing for years for something that would prevent others from losing photos, messages and other memories ? as she did.

"Everybody's going to face this kind of a situation at some point in their lives," says Karen Williams, whose 22-year-old son died in a 2005 motorcycle accident.

The Oregon Legislature responded and took up the cause recently with a proposal that would have made it easier for loved ones to access the "digital assets" of the deceased, only to be turned back by pressure from the tech industry, which argued that both a 1986 federal law and voluntary terms of service agreements prohibit companies from sharing a person's information ? even if such a request were included in a last will and testament.

Lobbyists agree the Stored Communications Act is woefully out of date but say that until it's changed, laws passed at the state level could be unconstitutional.

"Everybody wants to do the right thing, but the hard legal reality is the federal communications act," said Jim Hawley, a vice president at TechNet, an industry group that represents companies such as Google and Microsoft.

Oregon lawmakers moved ahead anyway with a proposal that would have given "digital assets" ? everything from photos and messages stored online to intellectual property and banking information ? the same treatment as material property for estate purposes.

"I think it's time for us to really look at what we can do now," said Democratic Sen. Floyd Prozanski after hearing Williams testify about her loss last month.

Two weeks later, however, language in the bill that would have covered social media accounts, from Facebook to Flikr, was stripped as tech lobbyists said the federal law and company privacy policies trumped anything that the bill would have included.

"I recognize the emotional toll these types of decisions can have on a family who's lost a loved one," Prozanski said Thursday. "But some of these issues may have to be addressed when we have more information than we currently have."

Still, the problem persists and discussions on the issue are gaining momentum. As unlikely as such a case might be, even if a person willingly gives over login and password information to someone whom they authorize to access a given digital account, it would violate most terms of service agreements and both people could be charged with cybercrimes and face civil action from Internet companies under current law.

Currently, five states have digital assets laws, which vary widely. This group includes Oklahoma, which passed a law two years ago allowing estate lawyers to access digital assets, even social media accounts. That measure did not face the opposition that has emerged in Oregon.

"There is some question if laws like the one we passed in Oklahoma, would stand up to a challenge by Facebook and Gmail saying their terms of service agreements supersede laws like this one and the one being discussed in Oregon," said Ryan Kiesel, a former Oklahoma legislator who wrote the law.

"That's a question that remains to be answered," he added.

Several other states, including Nebraska ? guided in part by the story of Williams' 22-year-old son, Loren ? are also considering proposals. And the Uniform Law Commission, a non-profit, non-partisan group that writes model legislation for states to help standardize laws around the nation, is examining the issue.

"This law is a real need as we have moved into a digital world," said Lane Shetterly, an Oregon attorney and a representative on the commission's drafting committee. The group is responsible for standardizing a range of legislation, including commercial transaction regulations and child custody laws.

Proponents say the need is clear. Without clarity or direction, the digital information left behind by a deceased person can spark emotional legal battles, pitting big business against devastated families. And as more and more memories are being stored online, new tools are necessary to make sure loved ones can easily access personal details that could be lost forever.

"If this were a box of letters under his bed, no one would have thought twice," Williams said.

Months after the death of her first-born son, who was away at college in Arizona, Williams found comfort in his Facebook page. There, she was able to click through photos and letters that helped ease the pain of her loss ? for two hours.

She learned of the page from his friends and wanted access to his memories to keep them from being deleted, which was Facebook's policy at the time. Unaware of Internet privacy regulations, she reached out to Facebook for help. As she waited for a response, one of his friends provided a tip that helped her discover his password. "It was like a gift," she said.

Shortly after, however, the site's administrators changed the password, citing company policy in denying her. Williams sued and won, but she never received the full access she sought. Eventually, the account was taken down. In the end, she gained little more than a symbolic victory and a role as champion of a cause that didn't exist before the digital age.

Kiesel, the former Oklahoma lawmaker, says the various attempts at legislation have sparked a long overdue conversation about estate planning for digital assets.

"I think that, because of the wide prevalence of online accounts and digital property, the federal government will ultimately need to pass some legislation that provides greater uniformity," he said.

Congress, however, has no current plans to take up the matter. U.S. Sen. Mark Pryor, an Arkansas Democrat who heads the Senate Commerce Subcommittee on Communications and Technology, is not planning to introduce any digital assets proposals and has not heard any come up, his press secretary said. Also, a bill aimed at modernizing the Stored Communications Act failed in the House Judiciary Committee last year.

"This is not going to happen overnight," said Greg Nojeim, of The Center for Democracy and Technology, a Washington, D.C.-based non-profit, public policy group. He said changes to the Stored Communications Act were being discussed by industry groups, "but none that would help these families."

Under current law, Internet companies that provide storage for digital assets are prohibited from disclosing account information, even to families, without a court order, which can be costly and difficult to obtain.

Even then, there are no guarantees. Facebook, for example, citing its terms of service agreement won't provide access, even if a judge orders them to do so. Facebook will not comment on pending legislation or specific cases other than to defer to their service agreement, which states, in part, "We may access, preserve and share your information in response to a legal request (like a search warrant, court order or subpoena) if we have a good faith belief that the law requires us to do so."

Along these lines, TechNet, one of several groups in opposition to the Oregon measure, provided written testimony arguing that legislation requiring online companies to provide access could subject them to federal criminal penalties.

"We just want to make sure that whatever comes out doesn't put a company in a position where they have to choose between state and federal law," said Hawley.

The pending Oregon legislation now covers only digital assets of commercial or financial value such as online banking information.

"It's absolutely devastating," Williams said.

Since she began her quiet crusade after her 2007 court victory yielded limited, temporary access to her son's account, the social media landscape has changed considerably, but there is still no industry standard. Where Facebook once deleted the accounts of deceased users, for example, pages can now be memorialized for public view.

Many predict the problem will grow as long as there are no estate laws in place to determine what happens to virtual property left behind by the deceased.

Without a clear law, estate managers can be charged with cybercrimes for attempting to access clients' digital accounts, said Victoria Blachly, a Portland attorney who helped draft the initial Oregon proposal.

Estate planning attorney James Lamm writes about the issue on his blog "Digital Passing." He advises clients to include explicit instructions in their wills stating exactly how digital assets should be handled ? even if there is no guarantee those wishes will be carried out.

"It's good to come up with a thoughtful plan for what happens to all of your property," he said. "Your physical properties, and your digital properties."

___

Follow Gambino on Twitter at: https://twitter.com/LGamGam

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/495d344a0d10421e9baa8ee77029cfbd/Article_2013-03-01-US-XGR-Facebook-Ghosts/id-8b5f73f565084185aec2da87c93e54ec

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500-million-year-old sea creature unearthed

Yie Jang (Yunnan University)

Scientists have unearthed a stunningly preserved arthropod, called a fuxhianhuiid, in a flipped position that reveals its feeding limbs and nervous system.

By Tia Ghose
LiveScience

Scientists have unearthed extraordinarily preserved fossils of a 520-million-year-old sea creature, one of the earliest animal fossils ever found, according to a new study.

The fossilized animal, an arthropod?called a fuxhianhuiid, has primitive limbs under its head, as well as the earliest example of a nervous system that extended past the head. The primitive creature may have used the limbs to push food into its mouth as it crept across the seafloor. The limbs may shed light on the evolutionary history of arthropods, which include crustaceans and insects.

"Since biologists rely heavily on organization of head appendages to classify arthropod groups, such as insects and spiders, our study provides a crucial reference point for reconstructing the evolutionary history and relationships of the most diverse and abundant animals on Earth," said study co-author Javier Ortega-Hern?ndez, an earth scientist at the University of Cambridge, in a statement. "This is as early as we can currently see into arthropod limb development."

The findings were published Wednesday?in the journal Nature.

Primordial animal
The fuxhianhuiid lived nearly 50 million years before animals first emerged from the sea onto land, during the early part of the Cambrian explosion, when simple multicellular organisms rapidly evolved into complex sea life. [See Images of the Wacky Cambrian Creatures?]

While paleontologists have unearthed previous examples of a fuxhianhuiid before, the fossils were all found in the head-down position, with their delicate internal organs obscured by a large carapace or shell.

However, when Ortega-Hern?ndez and his colleagues began excavating in a fossil-rich region of southwest China around Kunming called Xiaoshiba, they unearthed several specimens of fuxhianhuiid where the bodies had been flipped before fossilization. All told, the team unearthed an amazingly preserved arthropod, as well as eight additional specimens.

These primeval creatures probably spent most of their days crawling across the seabed trawling for food and may have also been able to swim short distances. The sea creatures, some of the earliest arthropods or jointed animals, probably evolved from worms with legs.

The discovery sheds light on how some of the earliest ancestors of today's animals may have evolved.

"These fossils are our best window to see the most primitive state of animals as we know them ? including us," Ortega-Hern?ndez said in a statement. "Before that there is no clear indication in the fossil record of whether something was an animal or a plant ? but we are still filling in the details, of which this is an important one."

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Source: http://science.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/02/27/17119273-500-million-year-old-sea-creature-unearthed?lite

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