Built mp4-12c on Car Throttle.
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Monday, March 31, 2014
Only ford people are this stupid.
Only ford people are this stupid. on Car Throttle.
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2014 Toyota HiAce boosts comfort, safety specification
The Toyota HiAce van and light bus range has been upgraded for 2014 with subtle styling tweaks and an expanded list of comfort, convenience and safety features. Reshaped headlights with daytime running lights, a new trapezoidal radiator grille with larger openings and a revised bumper with sharper edges freshen the look of the 2014 HiAce [...]
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Reverse-view cameras mandatory in the US from 2018
US safety regulators have announced a mandate for reverse-view cameras in all vehicles weighing less than 4500 kilograms from May 2018. The US Department of Transportation’s safety watchdog, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), claims the mandatory fitment of reverse-view or “back-up” cameras aims to prevent motorists from hitting pedestrians while reversing. The agency [...]
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Industrial Toys Raises $5M From Accel To Build Tablet Games For Serious Players
Industrial Toys, the tablet and mobile gaming studio led by Alex Seropian (founder of Bungie Studios, creators of the enormously successful Halo franchise), is announcing that it has raised a $5 million Series A from Accel Partners. Accel's Vasant Nata...
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Stephen Colbert Devotes Entire ‘The Colbert Report’ Edition To Discussion Of Last Week’s Controversial Tweet
Stephen Colbert spent his entire Comedy Central program tonight dealing with the Twitter campaign to cancel his show, which erupted last week when the network tweeted a line from one of his comedy bits out of context. At the end of the program, Colbert and Twitter co-founder Biz Stone blew up @ColbertReport — the network’s official Twitter account, with which it promoted the popular late-night show and from which had come the offending tweet. (The page no longer exists on Twitter.)
Related: Press Runs Interference For ‘The Colbert Report’ As #CancelColbert Grows Louder
Tonight’s episode opened with crew members carrying boxes out of the studio, The Colbert Report set shutting down its lights, a pink rose wilting and dying, the Statue of Liberty in shambles and frozen over, the Native American guy who did those famous early-’70s anti-litter ads shedding a tear. Cut to Colbert, dressed in Washington Redskins sweats and cap, waking on a couch next to BD Wong. Wong told him he’d had a nightmare. Colbert wondered why he’s still dreaming he’s on a couch next to BD Wong.
“You fell asleep watching Law & Order: Special Victims Unit,” Wong explained. “Wednesdays at 9, 8 Central, on NBC,” Colbert responded.
On Thursday night, The Colbert ... Read More »
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Review: Updated: iPhone 5S
IntroductionThe iPhone 5S: a phone that looks like the iPhone 5, but goes so much further under the hood. Is that going to be enough to impress the baying hoardes?We've been here before: the iPhone 'S' conundrum. The new phone comes along, taking the shell of the previous model, adds some new bits and pieces, and then claims to be an entirely new phone. Which it is, of course. But also it isn't. Well, mostly is. To be sure, it's the kind of move that only Apple can pull off with any kind of conviction: the notion that it can take the same chassis, have a little tinker, throw in a new CPU, slightly better battery and camera, and call it an all-conquering device.But then again, such is the clamour to know all about it, is that such a bad move? There are literally millions of people the world over who can't wait to see what the next handset from Apple will be, and there was no surprise with the iPhone 5S.There are a few who question whether it's 'fair' to launch a phone and then append an 'S' to the same thing a year later - Apple's response would likely be that nobody is forcing you to buy the new hardware. And that's a fair point. Yes, this is a phone that bears far too many hallmarks of its predecessor. And yes, this is the third time Apple has done this.It also managed to pop it onto the market as one of the most expensive smartphones out there, even on 3G plans - although thankfully the price has started to fall slightly on contract. You'll still be looking at post £40 a month to get one without an upfront fee in the UK, and £549 is inexplicably still the price if you want the low end model, pushing all the way up to over £700 for the 64GB variant.But if it was such a bad business move, if the market wasn't willing to accept such a thing, then Apple would have folded as a smartphone brand years ago... or at least been lagging behind the competition.That said, times are changing in the smartphone landscape. Where before Apple was able to just create the phone it wanted, and forget the competition in the knowledge that it wasn't going to have to worry about losing consumers to a competitor, now it's been forced to realise that there are at least four decent options for a consumer to think about if they want to get a rather good handset.Apple is obviously aware of this change, be it the aluminium unibody of the HTC One, (and now the even more impressive HTC One M8) the new fight into low-light cameras or the need for a strong processor as a headline to shout about. And to be fair, it's addressed these needs to some degree or other on the iPhone 5S.Be it the all-new Touch ID home button (which is excellent, more on that later), the huge jump in CPU power or the fact the camera has, once again, been improved no end, the new iPhone is clearly Apple's attempt at bringing as much as it can to the party without having to re-design the whole concept all over again.There are many that think releasing the same design twice is cheeky, and there are others who realise that sometimes there's no need for change. It's easy to fall into the former camp, and while Apple will happily point out it's not forcing anyone to buy its phones, its acutely aware the competition is now scarily strong and it needed to bring its best to stay relevant.DesignWhat can you say about the design of the iPhone 5S that already hasn't been said with the iPhone 5? Let's face it: there's nothing really new here that's going to help you work out if the person sitting opposite you on the train is rocking an all-new phone. Perhaps that's less of an issue now that the iPhone is becoming something of a commodity, a device that is so oft-used by the middle-aged generation that it no longer carries the lustre that the exclusivity of the earlier models emanated.That's not necessarily a bad thing either; just because it's not an 'exclusive' design, it doesn't make the iPhone 5S any less premium. FutTv : NL65c1foCFEFpIt's still a stunning phone to hold in the hand, coming with the all-aluminium-and-glass chassis. There's no doubt Apple has had a look at the way the iPhone 5 range (well, black and white) chipped so badly around the edges.But that same issue is apparent already in our iPhone sample within a week, so it looks like you're going to quickly need to stuff your new iPhone 5S in a case the second you release it from its box, lest you leave it in a pocket or bag with change and keys and it comes out looking like it's gone a few rounds with a randy cheese grater.The new colours, which include champagne and space grey, are a little odd, but at least promise to show up the scuffs a little less prominently.The way the iPhone 5S feels in the hand is something impressive though, coming with the low, low weight of 112g and dimensions of 123.8 x 58.6 x 7.6mm. It's still got that almost too-light feeling, that the premium metal finish is somehow diminished through the lack of heft, but it's a long, long way from feeling cheap.Compared to something like the Galaxy S5 or LG G2, the iPhone 5S is miles ahead when it comes to design, although less so than the HTC One M8 or One Mini which have repeated the aluminium-clad trick. It's got a slightly sharper edge than other models on the market, which can make it a little uncomfortable when being pressed to the ear. But we're not going to quibble too much there lest it makes us seem a little wimpy.There are only a couple of real differences compared to the iPhone 5, and one of them really is miniscule: the camera module is now flanked by a dual-LED flash, which we'll talk more about later (it's a really rather nifty piece of technology, trust us). The other is a lot more substantial and impressive: the home button has been redesigned.Yes, it doesn't sound like much, but consider how iconic the Apple home button has been over the past half-decade, and you'll see why we're holding the change in such high esteem. The visual effect is impressive, taking the square off the button and putting a fancy silver ring around the key.The effect isn't only aesthetic, as this area now also serves as the fingerprint scanner, home to Apple's new Touch ID technology. Having bought two separate biometric security firms, Apple was likely to do something like this, but the implementation and visual effect is really something that Apple does well, and has done so here too.Beyond that, the iPhone 5S is identical to the 5, even down to the rattle in the home button. We're still a little confused as to why a device with such a high build quality has a slightly loose part with it, but shake the iPhone 5S gently and you'll feel the key moving around.It's not a big deal, but every so often you'll note the motion, and it does detract somewhat.Thankfully the rest of the phone is built impeccably. The round volume keys are easy to hit. the switch to enable volume on or off has the same sturdy feel that we've come to enjoy, and the headphone port is still welded to the bottom of the phone.The Lightning connection port is here as well, along with the stereo speakers on the bottom of the phone. We wish these were placed somewhere else, as when cupping the phone in landscape mode it's far too easy to cover these with palms or digits, and there's not really any way to shift around them.You can always use headphones, but that kind of negates the point of the speakers for gaming at all.Now the right hand side hasn't been left completely alone on the 5S, with Apple choosing this surface as the location for the SIM card tray - but unlike most smartphones that take microSIMs these days, iPhones now rock the tiny nanoSIM technology.There's also the new leather cases, which are something of an oddity for a brand that's just overhauled its whole outlook with an all-new operating system. They're slightly cumbersome, making it hard to hit the buttons, and they get scuffed so easily - all for £25.But beyond that we're still impressed with the design of the iPhone 5S. It's hard not to be, as if there's one thing that Apple gets totally right it's the way it assembles its devices. The metal and glass combination does feel a little fragile, and we'd recommend a case (perhaps a third party option) to protect the aluminium, but the design is something that at least helps mitigate the higher price.Display Apple has used the same Retina display as found in the iPhone 5, and now the iPhone 5C too, in the new flagship model. It's a four-inch screen, and comes with a resolution of 1136 x 640, making it still razor sharp at 326DPI.This is a difficult one to call in terms of recommending the display compared to the rest of the smartphone world, as there are definitely better screens out there. The four-inch size of the screen is impressive still though, as while we might be fans of the larger screen for movies and internet browsing on the Samsung Galaxy S4 or HTC One, the iPhone 5S is a great phone for people that hate the idea of being forced to live with a bigger screen they don't want.It's not perfect though, as despite what Apple would have you believe, the screen is just a tad too large to operate easily with one hand. With a small amount of shifting you can get the thumb all the way across, but given you have to jiggle the phone in the palm a little bit to do so, it kind of feels redundant.In terms of the clarity of the iPhone 5S' display, we'd say it's excellent in terms of colour reproduction and general effect, but there are better displays out there. Many people will be upgrading to the iPhone 5S from the 4S, and this is one of the few areas where, extended size aside, they won't see a large amount of difference.The sharpness is great, the colour reproduction still industry leading, but the brightness can be a little erratic for some low-contrast movies and isn't big enough for speedy typing. HD movies still look acceptable on the device, but we've seen a much more jaw-dropping effect on rival devices, such as the LG G2.We like that Apple is leading the charge to stop screen sizes going too far in the wrong direction, but there could be something more that's done here. Even a display with a thinner bezel would have impressed (although scaling apps might have been a problem, with is something Apple is so proud of) but we still think in the face of fierce opposition there's a lot more the iPhone 6 can offer.iOS 7One big change on the iPhone 5S that will come to a number of other devices is iOS 7. However, this is clearly the flagship device for the new operating system, and it shows off the UI redesign superbly. The Retina display is clearly calibrated to make best use of the explosion of colour on offer, and the flatter icons look painted onto the screen.For those that missed the iOS update, you'd best gird your loins if you're not a fan of colour all over the place. iOS 7 is a lot brighter, cleaner and sleeker than its bloated predecessor, but it does look like Jony Ive has dipped into his crayon pot a few times.But don't think this is a negative: we're fans. The colours on offer are fun, fresh and most importantly distinctive, giving a real unique feel to iOS 7 that other platforms might not have. Photos, Safari and Music are all changed, as well as a host of other apps too, and while some have labelled them 'childish', they're clearly indicative of the new style Apple is looking to create.And now that iOS 7.1 has landed, things are tidied up a bit and may help appease some Apple fans looking to not feel like they've fallen into a big bag of rainbows.What we do find frustrating in iOS 7 and its previous iterations is the dependence it has on the settings menu, with various app controls all housed here instead of within the apps themselves.It's annoying if you're in the Facebook app for example and want to adjust the notification settings. You have to exit the app and navigate to the setting menu instead.Look beyond the UI though and you'll see that the iPhone 5S is much easier to use, which is impressive for a phone that was already market-leading in its simplicity.Dragging upwards from pretty much anywhere on the phone will open the Control Center, giving access to the music player, brightness, quick apps such as a timer, torch and calculator, as well as allowing you to switch on and off elements like the Wi-Fi and Bluetooth.Yes, it's a notion that's been part of Android for a number of years, but it's been done in a way that feels a lot more solid and intuitive, never changing with notifications so you can easily trust that when you need a torch you can get to it easily.That said, the torch was an odd area of the Control Center. Whenever lifting up the tab to access said function, you'd always need to wait a second or two before being able to hit any of the app quick icons. It's not a huge problem, but one that quickly got tiring. It's like the whole drawer needs a second to boot up.We also found an odd glitch here too: the music controls don't work over Bluetooth headphones, nor on the lock screen. This was fixed with a reboot, but we've been on to Apple about this and will update the review as soon as we hear back.There's also a new notification area that can be accessed by dragging downwards. Thankfully unlike the Control Center, this can be customised: you don't need to have to look at stocks or your upcoming meetings or lack of social engagements if you don't want to, but there's always information on the weather there, which is nice when you realise you'll need a coat.This is also the place where you'll get any missed notifications, be it a call, message or that jacket on eBay you were looking to buy when someone's outbid you on it.Both of these areas are nicely designed too, with translucency that allows you to see very vaguely through to the rest of the phone. This gives the whole handset an air of completeness. It feels like a phone that's able to connect within itself and not fall apart when a new app rolls into town.With iOS 7.1 the phone and messaging buttons have been toned down in colour somewhat, meaning less neon green and a more pleasing look to the eye.Multi-tasking has been given an overhaul with iOS 7. Gone is the bar that appeared at the bottom of the display when you double tap the home button.The double tap action now sees the screen you're viewing minimised to a thumbnail in the centre of the screen, and a horizontal list to the right of it made up of small panels of all the other apps running in the background.The layout reminds us of the multitasking menu on HTC's Sense UI, and you can scroll through the various applications, swiping up over thumbnails to close certain applications.We're not overly keen on this new design as the interface does break things up when flicking between apps. (On the iPad you've got the great four finger swipe to move between open apps – could this have not been repeated on the iPhone?)There's obviously some other new features, as well as some old favourites. For instance, a long press on any app will engage the editing mode for the home screen, meaning you can uninstall anything you fancy (as long as it's not hard-coded by Apple) and drag and drop it onto another icon to make a folder.The folder system was a great idea from Apple, and it's been improved with iOS 7, allowing users to dump more in one folder and just swipe through it to see more apps.It's not a big thing, but show it to any iPhone user now and they'll smile at such an important fix. Who wants 'Games 4' anyway?The rest of the phone is mostly a cosmetic upgrade - there are some important performance tweaks, such as on the internet browser and camera UI. But iOS is really a lick of exceptionally powerful and much-needed paint, keeping the raw power and integration that Apple prides itself on while taking some of the clever ideas from other smartphones on the market and making them its own.iOS 7.1 updateThere are a few extra features that we need to mention here to show that Apple has been through and had a think about how things work with the new iteration of iOS 7.1First, the parallax effect has been given a little bit more respect within the OS, with the ability to turn it off when your first turn on the wallpaper making things a lot more fluid and understandable to people.It's not locked down in the Accessibility menu any more either, rather when you set the wallpaper instead.The menus themselves have been given something of an overhaul too, thanks to the ability to mark out where the buttons are.This is a weird one, as it's not a problem we'd come across really. Apparently swathes of you were worried about not being able to tell what's text and what's a button thanks to the large white expanses being thrown around the screen where usually things used to look like buttons.Well, now you can do just that once more, as a setting in the Accessibility menu will let you swoop in and make every button look a little bit more uglier thanks to a tab sitting around it, or words in a list will be underlined if you can tap them.The extra navigation in iOS 7.1 also includes a nifty feature that lets you choose to be able to select menu items and move around the screen using a tilt of the head.Some have likened this to the Smart Scroll feature in Samsung's Galaxy S4, but in reality it's designed for those unable to interact with an iPhone using their hands, allowing them to control the interface using head gestures and pre-determined times to wait to select menu items.And finally: a hurrah for the fact that the calendar has been re-enabled with a split screen view thanks to a toggle at the top. Apple dropped this for the iOS 7 update to its devices, but now you can be in the month view and still see what appointments exist on any given day you tap.You know, like every other smartphone ever.Touch IDNow we're getting onto something that's really rather special: the Touch ID sensor on the iPhone 5S. While obviously unconfirmed, this is likely to be used to the new range of iPad devices and give them a whole new level of functionality – it's much harder to enter a passcode on these two-handed devices.But enough about the future – what about the now? Touch ID is a system that we didn't expect to see in phones now, with fingerprint scanning relatively written off as being something that was just too cumbersome to implement. Just look at the Motorola Atrix with its back-mounted sensor… that didn't really work.Well, that's not true with the Touch ID sensor on the iPhone 5S. It's phenomenal in the way it works, making it possible to have a phone that is as secure as having a passcode, but without the irritation of having to enter it a million times a day.Press the home button and let your finger rest there, and the phone just opens itself up. It's hard to explain just how cool the motion feels.Yes, it's not 'properly' secure – there's still a passcode right there for those that don't want to use the fingerprint scanner, and if someone reads that over your shoulder they'll still be able to steal your phone and get in.This negates the insanity that some are peddling, such as how robbers will be cutting off fingers or forcing users to unlock the phone. Firstly, the sensor is capacitive and therefore needs an actual, alive, finger to use it. Secondly: this isn't a way of securing national secrets. If someone is that desperate to get into your phone, there are myriad ways. But if you want to avoid pecking out a passcode time and time again, this is a brilliant method of doing it.Moreover, you can use Touch ID to replace your iTunes password. This is an excellent way of not having to pop in your special word over and over again when you're buying items or downloading certain apps. It might only save a few seconds, but more importantly than that, it's just so goshdarn cool that we can't help but love to do it.And on the point of security, Apple may have pushed that element further than it needed to – but that should give consumers decent peace of mind.The Touch ID sensor communicates directly with the stored fingerprint on the A7 chip, and not even the rest of the phone can see it. This means your fingerprint won't get backed up to iCloud and accidentally shared with the world. But you'll never be able to use different digits to open other apps, which would have been awesome from the lock screen.Imagine being able to press a single digit to the phone to unlock it… OK, that's here now. But then press a different finger and open the music player, and a third will take you straight to your Pocket reader.It would be an amazing way to do things and show that the iPhone is more built around the user – however, we suspect that Apple is erring on the side of security here, and that's not a bad thing at all.In terms of setting up your finger recognition, there's nothing to it: press your digit up and down on the sensor and the phone will buzz every time it learns your fingerprint. And not only that, but you're then asked to show the edges of your finger to get a larger image of the print, giving more accuracy.We never really found a problem with the accuracy of the iPhone 5S' Touch ID sensor, but it appears that some people did. Apple reckons its managed to improve that somewhat with the new iOS 7.1, meaning it won't 'forget' your fingerprint as easily as before.In practice you can turn your finger or thumb any way you like on the button and it will still register just the same – there are some mis-scans, but on the whole it's really rather excellent and accurate. We like, and this is the shape of things to come on phones, with Apple stealing a rather large march.A7 and M7 chipsApple has imbued the new iPhone 5S with not one, but two, chips that will help it become one of the most powerful phones on the market.It's almost insane to think of the power running under the hood here, and there's no doubt that it's given things a real performance boost – with a lot, lot more potential to come down the road.A7 ChipThe new A7 chip from Apple is an interesting concept: not only does it bring a huge boost in power, but it's now been turbo-charged to a 64-bit CPU.To most people that label will mean nothing more than wondering whether this means their phone is as powerful as a Nintendo 64 – in reality, it's actually a pretty important move for the company.Simply put, a 64-bit chip allows for more powerful processing and a greater amount of power to be plugged through the phone for most tasks. It will tolerate a greater amount of RAM in the future too.The thing is, it doesn't really mean much to the consumer right now. There are some noticeable elements that take advantage, with the camera being much faster and able to handle so much smoothly. And we're willing to bet the Touch ID sensor is going to need a hefty whack of power to enable such tight security on the phone.Beyond that though, you're not going to notice much in the way of an improved experience, and that's not because this phone is slow, it's because the iPhone is already a slick and fast beast. Almost since the iPhone 4 we haven't seen much in the way of slowdown from Apple's handsets, and this is no different. In fact, in side by side comparisons, the iPhone 5S is actually a touch slower than the iPhone 5 for general use, thanks to iOS 7 relying more on animations to move between apps.This doesn't mean it feels slower, it just has a really different feel to the way you navigate through the phone.So there are two things to note when thinking about the A7 chip: one, Apple is able to talk about a chip that's one of the most powerful around, which is something its rivals have been doing for a while now with no need. But like the quad-core phones of today, there's not a lot of point in a 64-bit chip right now.That doesn't mean it's a pointless move from Apple, and this leads us to our second point: Apple is getting its iPhone range ready for the next generation of devices. These will allow developers to create apps across all Apple devices, thanks to iPhones now packing 'desktop class architecture'.But what does it all mean for you, the consumer? Well, put simply, it's Apple taking its CPU seriously, giving the customer more power than they could ever possibly need at the moment without compromising too much on battery life.It's pretty hard to see how that could be a negative, despite some claiming that this is nothing but a marketing exercise. It's not, it's Apple future proofing itself, allowing its phones to add in new layers of security and providing developers with the tools to make even better apps.However, those apps will be larger and could create a greater drain on battery life should they get more intensive – however, that's for Apple and the developers to thrash out, and there's no reason to think that there won't be greater efficiencies clawed back through the improved OS integration.In short: bigger, faster and better to give the most slick iPhone experience yet. This is Apple sticking it to the quad-core brigade.M7There's another cheeky little chip under the hood that sits alongside the A7 main unit: the M7 chip, which is there to make the iPhone 5S a rival to the likes of the Nike Fuelband and the Jawbone Up.It allows the main CPU to snooze while it tracks the motion of the phone, through the accelerometer, gyrometer and compass.This means that it will know when you're jogging or when you're in the car, and can take that information and store it without needing to drain the battery by having the main CPU chugging away.It can even retrofit the data to apps that you download at a later date, meaning any M7-enabled app that uses the new CoreMotion API will be able to give you information on recent training.It will also seamlessly slip from walking to driving navigation on Apple Maps, which is a nifty extra, taking another hassle out of life, and especially useful for keeping drivers safe behind the wheel.We're yet to see the benefit of what's on offer with the M7 chip, but Apple is going to get more and more involved in the fitness part of the smartphone world, and this is a major play towards that.4G, contacts and callingThe iPhone 5S is nothing more than the 5 when it comes to calling, but with iOS 7 on board as well as a few more LTE bands, it means that it can function on pretty much any next-gen network around the world.If you're in the UK, this means that you'll be able to connect to 4G on the likes of Vodafone, O2 and Three when their services are all up and running without a worry – something that will have been a hindrance to those wanting to connect to the super speeds with an iPhone 5.We tested the iPhone 5S on EE's network in the UK, and we were mightily impressed with the results. When there's a full signal, the phone is blisteringly quick over 4G, although when a couple of bars (or spots, now we're in iOS 7 territory) drop off, the speeds can slacken quite measurably too.However, unlike its predecessor, there's a real feel that the iPhone 5S is a handset designed for 4G – although running at the faster connection does seem to cook the battery somewhat.CallingThe call quality on the iPhone is nothing to shout about, with the slightly sharper edges of the phone making it even harder to hear people due to reticence to push it closer to your ear hole.The sound quality emanating from the earpiece is decent without being stonkingly clear and there's not much in the way of audio enhancement to play with. It's worth noting that on rival handsets there's always a lot more that you can do to improve things in this respect.In terms of the other person being able to hear you, things are more impressive, thanks to three microphones that enable excellent noise cancellation and can pick up a wide level of what you're trying to say.But therein lies the rub - is that too simplistic? To one person, being able to calibrate the sound levels of the Samsung Galaxy S4 is a great thing to be able to do, and they'll do so willingly. With the iPhone, many prefer simplicity, so the ability to be able to just press a button, make a call with a nice interface and move on will impress many.There's no smart dialling here though - that really irks as it's an excellent method of getting to your contacts through the dial pad. Android 4.3 now has it baked into the OS, and it feels high time Apple did the same thing.The Phone app has been updated slightly too with iOS 7.1, with the buttons now turned from large coloured rectangles to circular buttons to match the dialling pad - it's a subtle change that we didn't really care about, but does look more aesthetically pleasing. Maybe Sir Ive was bored in a meeting and re-tooled them.Facetime has been given a cheeky boost too thanks to the improved front camera, which displays really fast and clear images provided you've got a strong enough connection.Is it ever going to take over the world in the way voice calling did? Nope, not even with an HD front facing camera. It's better though, and really helps with those lonely hotel trips.ContactsThe contacts on the iPhone are still rather dismal, and still something that Apple needs to address. We want far more than the list of contacts on offer, despite the list of letters at the side of your address book being very easy to slide down.It's a lot better than it was, allowing you to enable Facebook and Twitter to update your contacts book with pictures of friends when all the data matches.But compare that to pretty much any Android phone now and you'll see the disparity: here you have to hope that things match in terms of email or other information and the iPhone will deign to connect them together.If this fails, it's far from simple to have everyone matched up, so no high-resolution profile pics, no updates on what your friends are doing from within the app, and generally not a lot going on at all.Apple could do so much more with the matching here, but it's a sticky mess if you want to link anyone together.It's not a bad contacts system, it just could (and probably will) be so much better in the future.MessagingMessaging on the iPhone has always been a tricky area to call, and this device is no exception. On the one hand, the range and stability of the options to talk to other people with your fingers have been superb, and iOS 7 takes this even further than before.The way things look is just so much more complete, and when you're doing something simple like swiping away an email, the new blockier interface gives you so many options in such a small space.However, the same screen is getting very cramped for typing these days, and the lack of keyboard customisation is annoying. We understand how Apple likes to lock down its devices, making sure that the experience isn't diluted by third party options, but the keyboard on the iPhone 5S simply isn't accurate enough to be considered a real winner.If only something like Swiftkey could be enabled on the iPhone 5S, things would be so much more impressive, but we're left frustrated at having to pick out the letters on too many occasions.The predictive text isn't too bad though, and seems to have improved over previous iterations of the iPhone. But not being able to simply add in a full stop without having to measure a tap and slide just gets too aggravating at times, and the fact your finger will often cover the area that lets you know when caps lock is on led to a few expletives.With iOS 7.1 the keyboard has been mildly enhanced to make it easier to see when the shift key is pressed - in reality, it's just a bit different and many people might not even notice.Email, SMS and iMessageAs we mentioned, email on the iPhone 5S is excellent thanks to a combination of fast speeds and a strong UI that makes it a breeze to whip through missives from your boss.The folder organisation is fresh and easy to use, and you can simply choose the options you want in the mailbox instead of just a list of the accounts you've got on offer.A swipe to the left or right on the message will give you the option to delete said email or quick reply without having to open the message itself. It's clean and crisp and, the smaller screen aside, it's very easy to manage your mail.Mail does seem to be one of the harder apps on the operating system, with a couple of pauses noted when jumping from one app to another. It also caused a crash on a couple of passes through different apps - we're not used to this kind of thing from Apple, so will be keeping an eye on this when the first software update lands.However, it wasn't enough to warrant a worry, more that we were surprised it happened at all.The impressive messaging experience continued when using the SMS and iMessage apps – the only real difference between the two (and thus when you know when it's a free messaging service or a paid for one) is there will be green or blue accents rolling around, including the bar that fills the screen as the message sends.The ease with which you can send a photo is great, as a quick tap on the icon will enable it... however, it's annoying you can't send other files over iMessage as it feels like a missed opportunity when the system is so slick.Rival apps such as WhatsApp and Skype also offer similar services while also being available on multiple platforms, so they will be better options if you want to contact your Android, Windows Phone and BlackBerry buddies.But for firing off a few messages to one another and letting people see the glory of your dinner or sightseeing extravaganza, it's very easy to manage.Social networkingWith iOS 7 on board the iPhone 5S it means Twitter and Facebook come baked into the handset - head over to the settings menu and tap the relevant social network to sign in to your account.Signing into these social networks in the settings menu of the iPhone 5S allows you to quickly share content to both without having to jump into the dedicated applications - which aren't installed by default.Say you want to post a photo to Facebook, just head on over to the Photos app, select the image you want, tap the share button and choose the FB icon.Instead of taking you out of the application and into Facebook's own offering, you instead get a little pop up box allowing you to tap in your message, select an album to post the photo to, attach the location it was snapped (which are both optional) and the audience you wish to view it.A similar pop up box appears if you select Twitter, but obviously with less options and a counter for 140 characters.Pull down the notification bar though and the "Tap to Tweet" and "Tap to Post" buttons are no longer sitting proudly at the top of the screen - so you'll have to fire up the dedicated apps (once you've downloaded and installed them) to update the world on what you had for breakfast.We bemoaned the iPhone 5 and iOS 6 for Apple's poor implementation of the baked in social features and sadly with the new range of iPhones and iOS 7 things haven't got much better. We're sure there's some cool stuff Apple could do with this functionality, but it's obviously yet to realise its potential.InternetThe internet browser on the iPhone 5S is one of the most improved elements when it comes to looking at the way iOS 7 has been integrated into the device. The overall UI is more sleek than ever, and there are some dynamic touches that make trotting around the world wide web much easier.One of the biggest changes, and simultaneously the smallest, is how fast the URL bar will shrink and grow as needed. Go to the top of the page where the URL bar used to be and it will expand to offer full functionality. Start scrolling and you'll see it move away, but still give you the information you need to check on where you actually are on the net.The Retina display is still sharp enough for general browsing, but you'll need to double tap more than you might on other phones to zoom in as text isn't as legible on some of the Full HD phones out there when viewing a web page from afar.However, the A7 processor is adept at not only rendering web pages with panache, but also making sure that web elements are loaded properly and don't detract from the overall zooming experience. It's fluid without being fast, which is a trait of iOS 7 overall.We like that Apple has also included the search bar in with the URL entry area, as it means that more screen real estate can be used for browsing, rather than all being crushed at the top. There's no need for it to be any other way, and it makes things more integrated too.You get icons on the home landing page which you can set as your most-used apps, and this is a nifty feature that solves the fact that Apple's bookmarking system can be a little convoluted, The icons at the bottom of the screen can be a little harder to work out on the first viewing, but do work nicely nonetheless, with the tabs page allowing you to simply swipe away the open web pages you don't want.Airdrop is integrated here too, if you want to share web pages with people around you easily, as well as the ability to share it to Twitter, Facebook or other installed apps. Of course you can always lock it in an app like Pocket, but with the ability to add these things to the reading list for easy access later on, that's not really as much of a necessary option.The reading mode has also been given a tweak that means that it no longer takes up as much of the URL bar, with a simple 'lines' icon signifying when you can enter the cleaner, more stripped down version of the page. This is most useful when using the Twitter functionality, which we really like.If you're signed into Twitter on your iPhone, then it can parse through your feeds and present you with a list of Tweets with embedded links, which you can scroll through at your leisure, with the bottom of each web page passing on to the next one Tweeted. It's a nice way to browse through what your friends are sharing, and will perhaps encourage reading on a wider range of subjects.Apple was in danger of making Safari too complicated with recent iterations, and on the iPhone 5S the cleaner, more simple look is held up nicely by the processing power. We're fans of this method of browsing as it allows users to get to the stuff they really want with the minimum of fuss, and share it easily too.CameraRight - this is where the iPhone 5S is expected to shine, and it really rather does. Apple has decided to push harder with the camera sensor in the new handset, trying to create something the lies squarely between the HTC One and Samsung Galaxy S4, and beat both.In honesty, it mostly manages this, although the other two are also really decent snappers and in many ways are also class leading.Let's dial it back a little and explain: Samsung is all about staying true to the 'megapixel wars' and wants to cram as many as it can in there, which is why it has such a complex sensor. It can't function as well in low light, but get the shot composition right and you're going to get some really nice snaps.The HTC is almost the opposite, as with that you can get some really great low light shots thanks to the improved Ultrapixel camera. This is only a 4MP sensor, but with much larger pixels which let in more light. This means better night time performance and a faster shutter, and with this camera you get a wider gamut of shots to take away with you, although you probably won't want to blow them up for the wall.The iPhone 5S, as we said, falls in between these camps, coming with an 8MP sensor and pixels 75% the size of the HTC One's offering. The result is a strong blend between sharpness and low light ability, where the iPhone straddles the categories without being market leading in either.It's got an f/2.2 aperture for better low light, but that's still the same as the Samsung Galaxy S4 and not as good as the f/2.0 on the HTC One.That said, the new camera interface, combined with the A7's ability to easily combine together three snaps to make the best picture it can, mean this is a truly awesome cameraphone. The new UI will let you simply slide between modes, be it panorama, a new 'square' mode for social networks, the standard photo, video at 1080p or the all new Slow-mo mode, which can capture 120 frames per second at 720p resolution and gives you the option to choose when the slow down and speed up happens.The new CPU is at its best here, with the shutter speed really great, the all new burst mode working well (simply activated by pressing the shutter button for any length of time) and giving seemingly unlimited shots. The iPhone can also intelligently work out the best shot and the suggestions usually get it pretty bang on, where other handsets with the same functionality can't every time.We know that Apple is pretty late to the burst mode game, but it's implemented it in a way that really works rather well. At least the ability to lock focus is on board, as well as locking exposure - these are closer to pro-photographer moves, and allow for some interesting shot composition.The UI is a something of a bugbear though, despite looking so flashy. The options to enable HDR mode, turn the flash on and off or change to the front facing camera don't always want to come on when you tap, which makes it hard to use the camera when you're trying to take an arty shot in lower light that doesn't need the flash.With iOS 7.1 there is a cool new feature: Auto HDR mode. This will fire up automatically when light levels are going a bit all over the place and will give you a much richer (if slower to snap) picture without you needing to mess about with the settings.Clever work from Apple - it's up there with the real time HDR on the Samsung Galaxy S5.This leads us nicely onto the other big change, with the flash getting something of an update thanks to an increase to dual LED. This is nothing new in smartphones, but Apple's been smart here as well, thanks to bringing a white and amber option into play.What this allows the iPhone 5S to do is analyse the scene with a primary flash and then mix the amber and white colours together to reproduce colours more accurately and stop everything looking so washed out. It's actually a more impressive feature than we thought it might be when it comes to colour rendition, but we can't say it made us want to use the flash any more than normal. As per usual, it got turned off pretty soon and didn't come back on again, which is partly due to the impressive low light performance.To summarise: this is the best iPhone camera yet by some distance, and its simplicity of use and the great modes on offer (there's even an area that allows you to choose a filter before you start snapping, with real time previews so you can check each one out.)That's actually something that we found a little odd: when you pull a filtered photo from your iPhone 5S, the filter has been removed. However, share it through Airdrop or in the Mail app and it will display with Chrome or Mono or whatever filter you went for.However, that's a terribly minor niggle compared to the hugely impressive camera, which we urge you to try with a little more depth should you get the chance. We would like to see Apple enable 16:9 photos at some point soon, as the UI doesn't lend itself to the 4:3 options that come out. We understand Apple is trying to stay close to more professional photography, but most phones make full use of the screen, and it would be great if Apple followed suit.Click here for the full-res imageClick here for the full-res imageClick here for the full-res imageClick here for the full-res imageClick here for the full-res imageClick here for the full-res imageClick here for the full-res imageClick here for the full-res imageClick here for the full-res imageClick here for the full-res imageClick here for the full-res imageVideo and Slo-moVideo on the iPhone 5S isn't anything overly special beyond offering decent footage without having to try very hard. Like the camera there's no optical image stabilisation on board, which means that anything that comes with a shaky hand will have the same judder in the footage.This is especially apparent when zooming in on the footage when you're filming, which can now be done at the same time.However, the general clarity and smoothness of the video is impressive and will help you capture the precious moments in high clarity. The only other real option is to turn the LED light on to get some real illumination, but be warned: it's bright.Slo-moAnother trick enabled by the A7 chip, slow motion has been added to the iPhone 5S. It enables 120fps capture at 720p resolution, but more importantly you can choose when in the footage to speed up and slow down the action, so if you've got a squirrel falling from the tree you can make it so that only the really hilarious bit is at the slower speed.It's a really neat system for editing your footage, with little tabs to trim the movie to get rid of any waiting around at the start or the end.While the effect is cool, it's not something we're particularly bothered about in terms of a killer feature on a smartphone. The results are fun and pleasing, but they don't really make us want to pull out Slow-mo mode all the time.On top of that it's very hard to share the slow motion video, as you can't just pull it off the phone, with the resulting .MOV file jumping and skipping somewhat when viewed back on a PC.So while we like the idea, Slo-Mo left us feeling rather cold.GalleryThe gallery app on the iPhone 5S is something that stays very true to Apple's ethos, one of displaying all your photos in one place but organising them in easy to find places.For instance, when you open up the redesigned Photos app, you're taken through a few options. You can view your album, your Photostream through iCloud or the myriad videos you'll have nabbed during your time with the device. However, once into your camera roll, you can organise by moments in time, location or just general collections, with only a couple of taps being needed to make it easier to share the content with a social network.Obviously from this app you're able to do more, such as create a shared photostream for the family to enjoy, or you can open Apple maps to see properly where the photos were taken. And if you want to zoom out a bit then all you need to do is tap the top left-hand icon, taking you from 'Collections' to 'Years' which means that if you've got millions of snaps then you can see them grouped properly together.If you're not happy with the photos you have you can always tap the "edit" button when viewing a particular picture to take you into a basic editor.From there you have various options including crop, rotate, red eye removal, eight filters and auto-enhance.It's certainly not as detailed as Apple's iPhoto app - which can be downloaded for free from the App Store - but for the occasional photography this simple editor will sufficeAirdropIf you're interested in sharing these photos with others, the Airdrop is your friend here. Apple's new proprietary connection is one that's pretty darn good and beats the pants of the likes of S Beam on a Galaxy phone or the general need to pull ones hair out when setting up Wi-Fi direct.In this option you simply tap the photo you want to share, make sure the person you're looking to share it with has a compatible Apple device (and is visible) then tap on the icon of the person that comes up at the bottom in the Control Centre - this works really well and the photo sharing times between the iPhone 5S and iPhone 5C were very impressive indeed, using Apple's implementation of the Wi-Fi ad-hoc technology.It's startling how fast photos beam across, and it's more simple than competitor methods, providing you've made yourself available or accepted other users.Bluetooth - your days as a data transmission option are starting to draw to a close, unless a newer version of the technology pushes the envelope again.MediaThe iPhone range, and now including the iPhone 5S and little brother, is born from strong media foundations and thus can deliver in pretty much every department, from music to movies to imaging.With the backing of the iTunes store the iPhone 5S puts millions of songs and thousands of films and TV shows at your finger tips, available for purchase and download.The heritage goes further than that of course, with excellent sound reproduction on offer and an improved interface making all manner of music and video a really great experience.MusicWith its heritage in the iPod sector the iPhone has top-notch audio capabilities will a fully functional music player and great sound quality allowing it to mix with the big boys in the mobile world.It's not in the same league as the LG G2, with its insane 24-bit sound, but that's something that mostly the audiophiles will enjoy as they'll have the sound to pump through the phone.With the iPhone 5S, it's a lot more simple. It's clear sound, as long as you upgrade the bundled ear buds and go for something half decent instead.Apple's bundled buds aren't bad, but they still leak sound compared to some decent over the ear cans or the plethora of in ear and noise reducing buds on the market.Back to the handset: you'll want to head over to the music player to get started. Here you can viewing all the songs saved on the 5S, as well as any you may have hanging around in iCloud - with a choice of sorting them by artist, song title or album.Hit the "more" tab at the bottom of the screen and you'll see you also have the options to browse by genre, compilation or composer - if that's your sort of thing.You can create and edit playlists from the Music app on the iPhone 5S, and it's an easy system to master with a simple tap of the cross next to the track name all that's needed to get going.As this is an Apple device album art is thrust into the mix, adding a bit of colour to the otherwise optician-white interface.Flip the iPhone 5S from portrait to landscape and you'll see album art becomes even more important as the images fill the screen in a tile effect allowing you to flick through albums in a visually impressive manner.Tap a song to play and you'll be transported to the Now Playing screen which itself is pretty self explanatory. There you have normal play/pause, skip and scrub controls, with repeat and shuffle options below them.If you tap on where the song details are on the now playing screen they will disappear to reveal a five star rating system, so you can let the iPhone 5S know which songs you favour. Tap again and the song details will return.There's a button in the top right corner above the album art which will bring up all the tracks on the album you're currently playing.More options for the music player can be found in the main settings menu - which forces an annoying departure from the Music app - giving you access to an EQ, the option to Shake to Shuffle and to set a volume limit to protect your ears - or those of a loved one.VideoVideos are, unsurprisingly, handled in the aptly named Video app, where you'll be able to view all your movies, TV shows and music videos you have stored on the iPhone 5S as well as iCloud.If you're connected to Wi-Fi or trust your mobile signal not to cut out you can stream any iCloud content directly to the iPhone 5S, but if you're going on a plan or don't have a network connection you can always download the media to the handset to ensure fluid playback.With the iPhone 5, Apple stretched the screen to provide a 16:9 aspect ratio and that 4-inch display is also present on the iPhone 5S making the video player a more pleasant experience.We've already mentioned that the new iPhone's screen isn't HD at 1136 x 640 and held up next to video playback on the HTC One or Samsung Galaxy S4 you can see the disparity.Some will argue that the 326ppi pixel density means the human eye won't really be able to discern the difference, but the fact is that on comparison there is a noticeable difference.Watch video on the iPhone 5S in isolation however and you're unlikely to have any real complainants with a bright screen and smooth playback - we do wish that display was bigger though.The iPhone 5S supports MP4 video files, and that's pretty much it. There are workarounds with third party video players available in the App Store which support different formats, but loading those videos onto the phone isn't overly straightforward so we'd recommend sticking with Apple's rules this time.It's a shame these restrictions are in place, as many phone these days support a wide range of video formats and Apple's limiting approach may well put off some prospective punters - although iTunes is rather adept at conversion if you're that bothered.Video player controls are very simple. You get play/pause, skip, scrub (at varying speeds depending on how far you drag your finger up and down the screen) and volume, and that's it.If your video supports subtitles then an icon will appear in the bottom right of the video player where you can select your language and toggle them on and off.We found the iPhone 5S was averagely comfortable to hold, with the thin frame and sharper edges not making it conducive to lengthy watching, although if you invest in the leather case you'll be able to prop it up against a mug or seat back without it sliding all over the place.One issue we had was with the placement of the headphones port which is right on one side of the handset, meaning the rigid plastic connector sticking out of the bottom of the phone does get in the way of your hands somewhat..We should also mention that when it comes to video it still absolutely pays to have an iDevice, as things like BBC iPlayer, 4OD and Sky Go all have downloads available on the iPhone 5S. We're aware this happens on Android phones too these days, but it always feels like an afterthought.BenchmarksIn terms of benchmarking, the iPhone 5S is head and shoulders above all the other iDevices, with it smashing all other units through each of our tests.It offers almost double the performance of the iPhone 5 and 5S, showing that the 64 bit chip is not only strong for the future (although that's debatable given the 1GB of RAM on offer) but also helps with heavy lifting for editing video and photo processing.Check out the results for yourself below. However, the results haven't changed much at all with the new iOS 7.1 update - we were expecting something of a power boost, but nothing has happened on that front.
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Cormier vs. Henderson May Be In the Works for UFC 175
The rumor mill has been turning recently about changes to the card for UFC 175....
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Bravo Says No Word From Metamoris Boss, Doesn’t Think He’s Welcome Back
Last weekend in Los Angeles, Eddie Bravo, headlined Metamoris 3 opposite Royler Gracie and performed...
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Matt Brown: ‘I perform better than all those UFC 171 welterweights’
Matt Brown is a certified killer inside the cage. Riding high on a six-fight win...
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Royce Gracie : ‘Royler dominated Bravo so much’
Royce Gracie believes Royler Gracie dominated Eddie Bravo in the Metamoris 3 main event last...
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The Dixie Chicks Covered "Wrecking Ball" And It Was Perfect
The outspoken country mainstays have hitched themselves to Miley’s sin wagon , and it sounds so good.
Here's the Dixie Chicks version of Miley's ultra-popular ballad.
The chicks debuted their violin-laced, sultry cover at the March Country 2 Country concert on March 15 in London.
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Their rendition has gorgeous harmonies and string solos.
The group, who hasn't performed together in seven years, recently started touring again.
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This month marks the 10 year anniversary of Dixie Chicks singer Natalie Maines' controversial statement about George W. Bush, which sparked a war with radio hosts and fans.
By singing Miley's "I never meant to start a war" line, perhaps Maines and the Chicks are making a statement about their resilience and strength?
Matthew Peyton / Getty Images
Miley is no stranger to country music, either.
Her father is, of course, country star Billy Ray Cyrus, but Miley has proven to be quite the country singer as well. She does a killer cover of Dolly Parton's "Jolene."
Christopher Polk / Getty Images
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iOS App Store Prices To Increase In Australia, India, Indonesia, Turkey and South Africa
Apple has sent out an email notifying customers of App Store price changes in certain countries within the next 24 hours. The company said that it will raise retail rates for the following currencies because of foreign exchange rate changes: Australian...
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Jawbone Snaps Up Playground.fm
Looks like instead of being acquired, wrist and speaker hardware company Jawbone is doing some acquiring, scooping up social and personalized music playlist app Playground.fm, according to a well-placed source. Last time we heard something about Jawbon...
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Harvard-Backed Experfy Wants To Create A McKinsey In The Cloud For Big Data Talent
There is a scramble to find the right big data talent. especially for short-term data projects currently being outsourced to big consulting companies such as Accenture, Deloitte apart from several niche suppliers. According to this McKinsey analysis, the U.S. alone faces a shortage of 140,000 to 190,000 people with analytical expertise and 1.5 million managers and analysts with the skills to… Read More
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Best News Ever: Marinating Meat With Beer Can Possibly Cure Cancer
With the advent of Spring come cookouts, and just in case you needed a reason to incorporate more beer into your life, here’s your excuse. A group of scientists in Portugal just released the best study to ever grace the pages of the American Chemical Society’s “Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry.” The study proves that marinating [...]Best News Ever: Marinating Meat With Beer Can Possibly Cure Cancer
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Develop Creative Ideas During a Free Stay on a Private Island
Did you ever wish that you owned your very own island? Well here's your chance to at least pretend that you actually have that much money to spend! Singapore-based Swedish author Fredrik Härén developed Ideas Island, a concept in which he offers people a free place to stay on one of his private islands so that they…
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Did Google sell Moto too soon? Probably not, but the Moto G sure is popular
The success of the high-spec-low-pice Moto G handset has given Lenovo-owner Motorola a significant platform to build upon, according to the latest research figures.Kantar Worldpanel says Moto came from absolutely nowhere to snap up a 6 per cent share o...
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The Quiet Groundbreaker: How ‘How I Met Your Mother’ Pushed The Sitcom Form & Was Saved By Britney Spears
On How I Met Your Mother‘s last day of production a month ago, Dana Walden — chairman of 20th Century Fox TV, which produces the long-running series — was meeting with the big boss, 21st Century Fox chairman and CEO Rupert Murdoch, in his office. She mentioned HIMYM was wrapping that day and, in the middle of their meeting Murdoch said, “I want to go over and say hallo.” He walked to the set and thanked creators Carter Bays and Craig Thomas, the cast and the crew “for all of the great work they have done.” “For a show to provoke that kind of response from Rupert, it speaks to how important that show has been to the company,” Walden said.
If such a gesture from the head of a global conglom might come as a surprise, it is probably because HIMYM, which wraps its nine-season run tonight on CBS, has flown largely under the radar. HIMYM hasn’t been a blockbuster ratings hit like The Big Bang Theory, hasn’t made headlines with a record-breaking syndication deal like 2 Broke Girls, and hasn’t been an awards darling like Modern Family, never landing an Emmy in the major categories. But it broke ground, pushing the limits of the traditional multi-camera ... Read More »
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2016 BMW X7 confirmed
The BMW X7 will become the largest SUV ever offered by the luxury German manufacturer when it enters production in 2016. Following strong rumours last week, BMW Group chairman Dr Norbert Reithofer confirmed the company would invest US$1 billion ($1.08 billion) into its Spartanburg plant in South Carolina, USA, to build the new flagship SUV. [...]
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Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X production to end this year, report claims
Production of the Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X will cease at the end of this year, according to a Japanese newspaper. Nikkan Jidosha Shimbun (Automotive News Daily) reports Mitsubishi will discontinue Evo production in the second half of this year due to weakening demand for its ageing sports car. The end of production of the 10th-generation [...]
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Ford Australia strengthens design future with Virtual Reality Centre upgrades
Upgrades to Ford Australia’s Virtual Reality Centre in Melbourne will allow its engineers and designers to develop future vehicles in greater detail than ever before. Teased earlier this month and due to be unveiled in the third quarter of the year, the upgrades to the Broadmeadows-based global design centre will be the first since the [...]
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Four-fifths of businesses wary of the cloud in post-Snowden world
In the wake of Edward Snowden's NSA leaks, almost fourt-fifths of IT decision makers are changing how they approach cloud computing.A survey by NTT Communications found that 88 per cent of respondents have changed how they procure cloud services in the wake of the scandal, with one in three taking a closer look at strategy. More than a third also said that they are in the process of moving their business' data to locations known to be safe.The study, which sampled over 1,000 IT decision makers from Europe, Asia and the USA, was undertaken to gain insight on the the after-effects of Snowden's revelations regarding NSA snooping.Trust issuesOf those not currently using the cloud to store company data, 62 per cent felt that the NSA revelations had prevented them from moving their operations towards it. More than nine out of 10 said that they would only purchase cloud services located in their own region.16 per cent of respondents said that as a result of the leaks they are deliberately delaying or cancelling potential cloud contracts, while 52 per cent are taking extra precautions when looking into which cloud provider to use. 82 per cent of all respondents asked agreed with Angela Merkel's proposal to separate data networks by continent.Our findings show that the NSA allegations have hardened ICT decision-makers' attitudes towards cloud computing, whether it is modifying procurement policies, scrutinising potential suppliers or taking a heightened interest in where their data is stored," said Len Padilla, vice president of NTT Communications Europe. ""Despite the scandal and global security threat, business executives need to remember that cloud platforms do help firms become more agile, and do help foster technology innovation."NSA reportedly posed as Facebook to mine data
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Updated: Best browser 2014: which should you be using?
Competition among browsers is more fierce than ever. Chrome and Firefox seem like they release 72 new versions every week, Microsoft has redesigned Internet Explorer to make it finger-friendly, and as we all race to tablets and smartphones we're being ...
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Interview: How Evernote became the elephant in 90 million rooms
Going globalThere's been a few famous elephants over the years - from Dumbo's big-eared protagonist to the star of that 90s Rolo commercial.California-based Evernote's logo, a grey elephant, is perhaps the most recognised trunk-toting mammal among fans of cloud-based productivity software in 2014.More than 90 million people now use the company's digital writing and archiving service, which lets you store, organise and sync text-based 'notes' and other media across desktop and mobile devices.Not bad for an elephant that's lousy at circus tricks.According to Linda Kozlowski, head of International Marketing at Evernote, the company's growth is showing no signs of slowing down and is mostly driven by "accelerated word of mouth"."We still don't do a ton of traditional advertising," she says. "It's more about how we expand on word-of-mouth by spotting patterns and letting users tell us what they're interested in so we can serve those needs." Going globalKozlowski believes that it was necessary for the company to develop a global mindset from day one as 73% of its users reside outside of the US.Doing so allowed it to focus on geographical markets, she adds, with one of the first big wins coming after the company added handwriting recognition for 31 languages, as well as Asian character support.This led to a surge in adoption in Japan and China when combined with the integration of Evernote into LiveScribe's Wifi smartpens in 2010, marking a successful foray into the hardware business."The combination of handwriting recognition, new input devices and the ability to capture information on the go using mobile devices proved the perfect formula for us," says Kozlowski. "That merging of physical and digital is where we're going next, and it's where we'll see the innovation."Inner beautyAs the mnemonic goes, big elephants are supposedly ugly, but Kozlowski maintains that tying Evernote to hardware is all about bringing out the beauty in devices, a practice that has gone missing in recent times."Somehow over the last 20 years there became this artificial separation of software and hardware, which we feel is coming back together," she says. "Those experiences are very important to each other. If you have something that's beautifully designed but doesn't run well, what good is it?"The company now has a growing list of hardware partners that includes Moleskin and Fujitsu, which have released Evernote-compatible 'Smart Notebooks' and printers respectively.Evernote is also keeping a keen eye on developments in wearable technology as it treads the hardware path, outing apps for Google Glass and smartwatches, including the Samsung Galaxy Gear.The app for the latter serves up tailored features such as displaying scheduled reminders with associated notes, and the device's camera lets you upload snapped pictures and recorded audio straight into Evernote.For Kozlowski, added convenience will be the main benefit offered by wearables (as opposed to, say, taking photographs). Achieving this in a way that "makes sense" has been taken on by the company's Augmented Intelligence unit, she says, which was setup to make the process of using Evernote with products "more natural"."It's early days, and the only way you can figure it out, the same as everything else, is to jump in at the beginning and learn how people are using them," she says. "Wearables are really interesting in that information can be served up that's relevant to you at that moment, but it has to be done in a way that's elegant and not creepy."Evernote takes a process-driven view to Augmented Intelligence, Kozlowski adds, comparing the company's strategy around products to how sports companies tap into their customers' long-term ambitions."It's like what our Phil [Libin - Evernote's CEO] said about Evernote wanting to be 'Nike for your brain'," she says. "Nike is an example of where you buy a pair of something because you want to be fit. We want you to buy something from Evernote because you want to be smart. That's our ultimate goal."Business brainAn area the standard version of Evernote hasn't gone into is collaboration - the experience is ultimately a personal, (or "inherently anti-social, according to Kozlowski) one. To introduce collaboration, the company launched a separate product, Evernote for Business, in 2011.While the interface only features subtle differences, Evernote for Business separates personal and business Notebooks while taking advantage of Evernote's global search capabilities to not only locate searchable data, but also suggest potentially useful related information."As you're working on projects and typing notes, you can see which colleagues have similar search knowledge, which can save a huge amount of time," says Kozlowski. "It brings the people aspect into focus as you can start to see expertise trends in the company."Use casesAs with the regular version of Evernote, the business-flavoured option presents equal scope for innovation when it comes to putting the service to use.Kozlowski points to an Evernote for Business use case in Korea, where staff at a hospital for the elderly are using iPads to share notes on anything from patients' family backgrounds to their taste in music, lighting and colour preferences - all of which she says are used to provide better care both medically and emotionally.Other use cases are perhaps less obvious. Buddhist monks in San Francisco use it to manage concepts and thoughts, and it's apparently popular among mining companies which advantage of its offline capabilities by penning notes below the surface and synching them when hoisted back up.Additionally, a car garage in Australia gives its mechanics iPads to record videos of repairs being carried out, which are uploaded to Notebooks that are shared with owners of the vehicles in a bid to increase trust.Aside from its collaborative features, Evernote for Business also includes ones not found in the standard version, including a Powerpoint-like presentation mode that displays notes full-screen. The company also partnered with Salesforce.com in 2013 to make Evernote-stored notes and information directly accessible in sales records for faster retrieval.Consumer-ledKozlowski says that the company consciously kept a simplistic, consumer-style design for the business product to let workers "do everything in an interface that's as beautifully designed as something that you would invest in for your personal life".In Kozlowski's eyes, simplicity in design, along with the flexibility afforded by the cloud, mirrors the "office of the future" where employees don't have desk phones (instead using mobiles) and aren't tied to stationary PC terminals."I think that design will become more important in offices in the same way that it's becoming more important in software," she says. "People want a beautiful environment at work - it's inspiring and makes you think better."The idea of elegant design and cross-platform support has gained traction recently following the launch of Microsoft's well-received, albeit long-delayed Office for iPad. It also let loose a free version of OneNote for Mac, a software suite often touted as Evernote's closest competitor.It could be said that serious competition to rival Evernote is long overdue, but Kozlowski is confident that the emergence of new rivals won't keep the company's employees up at night."We have a philosophy of not thinking about our competitors, because if we did that we'd forget about what we want to do," she says. "We kinda like the idea of not having to get up in the morning worrying about who we need to compete against."That may be the case, but keeping its trunk ahead of the competition will always be a top priority for the company. Though challenging, when you're an elephant the size of Evernote, it's far from an impossible tusk.
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PHOTO | Vinny Magalhaes’ Nasty Staph Infection, Not For The Weak *Graphic*
Last night, 30-minutes prior to his scheduled match at Metamoris 3, UFC veteran, Vinny Magalhaes,...
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PHOTO | Machida’s Run For Cover During Cali Earthquake
There was an earthquake in Southern California, last Friday. It was a 5.3 centered in...
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FREE FIGHT VIDEO | Clay Guida vs. Takanori Gomi
Featherweight Clay Guida gets his third consecutive win, all by submission, in this UFC 125...
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QUICK TWITT | Condit’s Miraculous Post-Surgery View
During his fight against Tyron Woodley, former UFC interim-welterweight champion, Carlos Condit, tore his ACL....
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Cyborg: ‘Weight Cut For Friday’s Fight Easiest Of My Career’
Last Friday, Jorina Baars handed Cris Cyborg the first loss of her young Muay Thai...
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Moto G Has Turned Motorola’s U.K. Fortunes Around, Study Finds
Turns out the 'G' in Moto G stands for 'Go!'. Motorola's well-reviewed sub-$200 Android handset has given Motorola an unexpected boost in the U.K. -- a market where the brand had gone into near-total stasis. Read More
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The Whooshing And Wailing McLaren P1 Sounds Ridiculously Special
Thanks to this POV video you can get as close to be being behind the wheel of a P1 as you're ever likely to get The Whooshing And Wailing McLaren P1 Sounds Ridiculously Special on Car Throttle.
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Honda Odyssey: For People Who Gave Up Their Social Life Years Ago
Regular Car Reviews takes a look at the Honda Odyssey, a minivan for those who treat procreation as a sport Honda Odyssey: For People Who Gave Up Their Social Life Years Ago on Car Throttle.
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Hot Or Not: March Roundup
Here are all the results for March's Hot Or Not polls! Do any of them come as a surprise? Hot Or Not: March Roundup on Car Throttle.
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Brace Yourselves: An Audi TT Saloon Could Be On The Way
Audi is looking to expand the TT range, possibly to include a four-door version Brace Yourselves: An Audi TT Saloon Could Be On The Way on Car Throttle.
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John C. Reilly, Ashley Jensen Join Colin Farrell, Rachel Weisz & More In ‘The Lobster’
As principal photography gets underway in Ireland, Yorgos Lanthimos’ The Lobster has netted further cast to join the previously announced Colin Farrell, Rachel Weisz, Ben Whishaw, Léa Seydoux and Olivia Colman. John C. Reilly, Ashley Jensen, Michael Smiley (The World’s End) and Jessica Barden (Far From The Madding Crowd) are boarding Element Pictures, Limp and Scarlet Films’ unconventional love story. The dystopian tale follows a desperate man who breaks with the rules of The City where single people are arrested and obliged to find a matching mate in 45 days at The Hotel. If they fail, they are transformed into an animal of their choosing and released into The Woods. Ariane Labed (Before Midnight) and Angeliki Papoulia round out the cast. Lanthimos, whose Dogtooth won the Un Certain Regard prize in Cannes in 2009, is making his English-language debut with The Lobster which he also co-scripted with longtime collaborator Efthimis Filippou. Producers are Lanthimos, Lee Magiday, Ed Guiney and Ceci Dempsey, with Element’s Andrew Lowe and Film4’s Tessa Ross and Sam Lavender as exec producers. Also partnering on the project are Christos V. Konstantakopoulos of Greece’s Faliro House, Haut et Court’s Carole Scotta and Derk-Jan Warrink, Joost de Vries and Leontine Petit of Lemming Films in Holland. Protagonist Pictures has ... Read More »
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Microsoft's augmented reality glasses look a good fit for Xbox One
It looks like Microsoft won't be letting Sony and Oculus Rift venture into the realm of wearable gaming alone, as further plans for its own augmented reality glasses have been revealed.The company is currently applying for over eighty patents related to AR glasses, fuelling rumours that it's looking to create some sort of wearable Xbox One peripheral.According to TechCrunch's report, Microsoft has coughed up as much as $150 million to buy the needed assets from wearable firm Osterhout Design Group - although it decided against snapping up the company entirely.Kinect the dotsBack in 2012, an Xbox product roadmap leaked revealing some glasses described as "Kinect Shades." Incidentally, the leaked files stated that the glasses SDK would be issued to developers by 2014. And would you look at the time!Whispers of a Microsoft virtual reality device began again just after Sony revealed its own VR headset, Project Morpheus, at GDC 2014. We're not saying Microsoft started the rumours itself - but if we were Redmond, we probably would have.Before we all get too excited about the future of virtual reality, how good is Project Morpheus anyway?
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Samsung Galaxy Tab 4 10.1 leaks out in black and white
Hot on the heels of leaked images claiming to be the Galaxy Tab 4 7.0, shots apparently showing the larger Samsung Galaxy Tab 4 10.1 have now popped up online.The source is the same, with @evleaks supposedly revealing the tablet in its black and white ...
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Windows Phone 8.1 may launch on April 23 with new hardware in tow
Microsoft's next phone OS, Windows Phone 8.1, is reportedly set to launch on April 23 alongside a handful of new phones. The news comes from WPCentral which has the inside track with "various sources" who say that this is the case and that the software is already with the phone makers. Unfortunately these shady tipsters didn't mention exactly which phones we can expect to see announced in April, but it seems likely that at least one will be a Nokia - the Lumia 630 seems a safe bet. Building up to itWe're hoping that Microsoft will at least give us a Windows Phone 8.1 rundown at this week's Build conference. Since the company is keen on aligning its mobile and desktop software, this doesn't seem outside the realms of possibility. And since Nokia was all "hashtag more Lumia" in its Build 2014 teaser, we'd say it seems pretty likely that Windows Phone 8.1 has something to do with it. We got a nice glimpse at the Windows Phone 8.1 software supposedly running on the Lumia 630 just last week in a video that showed off the updated interface, new Action Centre notifications and new camera software. What else should you expect from Microsoft's Build 2014?
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Review: Mini Review: PNY Dual USB Car Charger
This might sound like a bit of a first world problem. But keeping more than one device juiced up with charge in your car over long journeys can be tricky. Many cars have but a single 12-volt power socket, after all.Enter the PNY Dual USB Car Charger. It's the answer to the question, for instance, of how you keep both your after-market satnav and your phone charged on long journeys.If that doesn't sound hugely important, it's worth remembering that the batteries in many after-market navs, like TomToms, are only designed for occasional use and rated at just a few hours. You essentially need to keep them plugged in.What's more, different devices have different power requirements. An iPad, for instance, needs more power than an iPhone. Hold that thought, we'll come back to it.Features and specsFeatures and specs? It's a dual-socket USB adapter that plugs into a standard car 12-volt power socket, what else is there to know?Well, not all USB charging sources are the same. The standard voltage for USB socket is 5v, but current can vary. Do the maths and the result is quite a wide range of actual power output from just a few Watts to well into double figures.A quick glance at the front of the PNY Dual USB Car Charger reveals that you've got the bases covered. It offers both a standard one amp socket and a high power 2.1 amp socket.The latter is aimed at larger device including tablet computers. For reference the standa Apple iPhone charger is one amp and five Watts, the iPad charger is 2.1 amps and 12 Watts. So now you know.That aside, the PNY Dual USB Car Charger's other stand out feature is a bright blue LED power indicator. On paper that's hand because with these kinds of devices it's not always obvious when they properly plugged in. With the PNY Dual USB Car Charger, that's not an issue.PerformanceFrom a simple charging perspective, we've no complaints. Hook up two devices including one larger mobile device and the PNY Dual USB Car Charger does what it says on the tin. It charges.Ergonomically, however, it's not quite a total success. For starters, like many car USB adapters, it's sticks out of the socket an awfully long way.That looks ungainly, which is merely a pity. But it also means that any force applied to the USB cables attached generates a bit of leverage.That's unwelcome given that the design of car 12v sockets means adapters don't really click home with any security. That's not PNY's fault. But a shorter form factor that sits less proud of the socket would help.As for the blue LED power ring, it's a useful feature but perhaps too bright at night. An ambient light detector is probably a bit OTT for this kind of gadget, so maybe a simple two-level switch is in order.VerdictIn terms of doing its main advertised job, we've no quibble with the PNY Dual USB Car Charger's core functionality. It'll charge two mobile devices and thanks to 2.1 amp output, that includes more demanding tablet computers.For under £10, that alone is probably good enough, especially when similar products like the Belkin dual charger are over twice as expensive. But if we were being really picky, a shorter body and some modulation for the power light would be nice tweaks for future iterations.
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Only The Aussies Would Dump A Nascar Engine In An Old Chrysler
This 358ci Dodge Nascar V8-powered Chrysler Valiant burns rubber at competitions throughout Australia Only The Aussies Would Dump A Nascar Engine In An Old Chrysler on Car Throttle.
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Bizzby Raises $10M From Hedge Fund To Take On TaskRabbit In UK
On-demand services marketplace Bizzby has raised $10 million, and claims to have reached 40,000 users its first three months of operation this year with a smartphone app resembling TaskRabbit-style services. The investors was undisclosed but sources sa...
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Crowdfunding Site Medifund Relaunches As Non-Profit To Help Med Students In Developing Countries
Medifund, a crowdfunding platform for medical students, has relaunched as a non-profit. The site, which is based in the Philippines but open to students around the world, was first covered by TechCrunch last year.
Its mission is to increase the number...
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Russian Square Clone 2can Raises $5M To Scale Up
Russian mobile payments startups 2can similar in operation to Square and iZettle (accepts payments from Visa and MasterCard cards through a mobile card reader connected to a smartphone) has raised a $5 million Series B round of funding led by InVenture...
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Netagio, A ‘Cold Storage’ Bitcoin Vault, Adds The Ability To Trade BTC For Gold Bars (Or Vice Versa)
Keeping Bitcoin safe isn't easy. If the wild currency fluctuations don't get you, then it'll be the exchanges going pop in the night and taking a chunk of BTC with them, or the myriad digital wallets whose security systems failed to fend off the hacker...
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In pictures: Compaq Alpha XP1000 workstation specs and pictures
When I researched this workstation, I kept referring to it as the "DEC Alpha XP1000", reason being that product line started with Digital Equipment Corporation (AKA DEC) and survived the acquisition by Compaq and subsequently by HP.That model was part of the AlphaStation portfolio and more specifically part of the Tsunami family according to Wikipedia, which also points out that it carried the codename Brisbane.The XP1000 is a tower machine that comes with an Alpha 21264A (EV67) processor clocked at 667MHz with 64KB data cache, 64KB instruction cache and 4MB L2 cache. Alpha was a 64-bit RISC ISA designed to replace the 32-bit VAX ISA and was the foundation of the 21x64 processor family.The enclosure housed a 400W PSU, a CDROM drive while the massive motherboard had connectors for UW SCSI HDDs up to 36GB in capacity.Expansion capabilitiesExpansion capabilities included eight DIMM slots, five slots (2 64-bit PCI, 2 32-bit PCI and one ISA/PCI), six storage bays and a diskette drive.Compatible OSes back in those days included Tru64 UNIX or OpenVMS. It could also run Windows NT 4.0 back in the days when Microsoft supported some non-x86 architectures.Compaq bought DEC in 1998 and the Alpha Architecture as part of the bounty. The company terminated it in favour of Intel's Itanium and interestingly enough sold Alpha IP to Intel in 2001, just months before it was acquired by HP. Some might say that this move effectively cleared the way for Itanium to survive.A lot of technologies pioneered by the engineers at DEC survived in Intel's products. QPI for example, a point-to-point interconnect, was originally developed by members of the Alpha Development Group. Click here to open the Compaq Alpha XP1000 workstation slideshow in a new windowPhoto set courtesy of ICC4IT
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Honor: The Secret Ingredient of the Successful Man
If diversity is an old wooden ship according to Ron Burgundy, what is honor? Honor is not a definition to be understood. Honor is a code of living defined by experience. Honor cannot be a thought, it has to be expressed and practiced. It’s not remotely like the book The Secret where somehow your thoughts […]
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Sunday, March 30, 2014
What Games Are: Virtual Reality, We Hardly Knew You
It might be white hot news that Facebook dropped two-bils on buying in, or that Valve's Michael Abrash has joined Oculus as chief scientist, but I suspect that this generation of virtual reality is already dead. Read More
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Nielsen And Integral Ad Science Expand Their Ad Viewability Partnership Beyond The US
Nielsen and Integral Ad Science are announcing that they're taking their partnership international. Nielsen is best-known for its TV ratings system, but it has been expanding its measurement on the web, on social media, and on mobile. Back in 2012, it ...
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Alibaba Will Pay $692M For 35% Stake In Retail Operator Intime
Alibaba has agreed to pay $692 million for a 35% stake in Intime Retail, which operates department stores throughout China. The two companies will form a joint initiative to focus on offline-to-online retail opportunities. Read More
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Motivational Video – Life Is Too Short
Motivational Speaker “Les Brown” shares his powerful message in this motivational video that will wake you up and will open your mind to the idea of acting on your dream RIGHT NOW! That life is too short, and that there is no use waiting around for things to happen. We all get a little too comfortable […]
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How Long It Really Takes for Vtec To Kick In
How Long It Really Takes for Vtec To Kick In on Car Throttle.
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Why No Roll Cage? Because Jeep
Why No Roll Cage? Because Jeep on Car Throttle.
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Deadline’s Best Film Stories Of The Week
Biblical and Faith-Based Movies: In Hollywood to Stay?
By Anita Busch
After this weekend’s successful opening for Noah, is there any doubt anymore that if Hollywood builds it, they will come?
Writers Rail As Talks Resume: A Deadline Survey
By Mike Fleming, Jr.
As talks are about to resume Monday on the final elements that many hope will lead to a new deal for the Writers Guild Of America, we wanted to lend some perspective and give voice to the TV and feature writers whose fortunes will be tied directly to the deal their union makes. Deadline spoke with 10 film and TV scribes and asked them the following questions:
First Question in Deadline’s Writers Survey: How has your ability to make a living improved or deteriorated since the WGA strike and why?
Second Question in Deadline Writers Survey: As a working writer, what is the greatest hardship right now facing you?
Third Question in Deadline Writers Survey: How do you feel about the deal that the WGA is considering?
Fourth Question in Deadline Writers Survey: Would you vote for former WGA president Patric Verrone in his bid for the California State Legislature?
Fifth Question in Deadline Writers Survey: What tangible gains or losses did you realize through the 2008 strike, financial or other?
Q&A: Richard Linklater Firms Summer Release, Talks 12 Years Making ‘Boyhood’
By Mike Fleming Jr.
Boyhood, a time-lapse narrative feature film that Richard ... Read More »
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Couple Lives In Fear After Myanmar's First Public Same-Sex Wedding
As Myanmar opens up, LGBT activism is coming back to the country. But a colonial-era sodomy law, and slow social change, keep tensions high.
Ko Ko Tin (L) and Myo Min Hyet ®
Kathleen McLaughlin for
YANGON, Myanmar — In the month since they donned traditional wedding suits and pledged a lifelong commitment before family and friends, Tin Ko Ko and Myo Min Hyet have been afraid to sleep in their own home.
The two men, whose celebration was trumpeted around the world as Myanmar's first gay wedding, say they fear arrest after police told a local newspaper they would be investigated. Same-sex marriage is not legal in Myanmar and several laws criminalize same-sex relationships.
The men themselves initially described their event as a wedding and both wear gold wedding bands. But in the wake of negative reaction to their news — mainly in police quotes to newspapers and disparaging comments on news sites and social media — they have changed their language.
"We are not married. It was a celebration of our 10th anniversary as a couple," said Tin Ko Ko. "Marriage is not legal for gay people."
Tin Ko Ko, 37, and Myo Min Hyey, 28, are not the first gay couple in Myanmar to have had a commitment ceremony. But they are unique for having had theirs in a relatively public setting, discussing their plans in advance and allowing a newspaper to attend and photograph the ceremony.
The debate over their ceremony has amplified discussion of LGBT rights in a country that until very recently was cut off from most of the rest of the world, under control of a repressive military regime for five decades. In 2011, the military junta dissolved and opened the door to free elections. Myanmar since has exploded with new ideas, new liberties and new calls for protection of human rights and freedom of expression.
Before the reforms, the military government quashed LGBT rights. Activists worked in exile or under the umbrella of groups concerned with HIV and AIDS. Now, with the government and societal transition, LGBT groups have emerged and gained a voice. But resistance remains strong in most of this heavily religious, largely conservative country.
"The issue of LGBT has become something people have started talking about, but many people still think it's a taboo, that it's a threat to the culture, to the religion," said Aung Myo Min, an openly gay activist who worked for many years in exile and finally returned to his native Myanmar in 2013. "LGBT people are becoming more visible and there's a bit more tolerance than before."
Myanmar, a former British colony, has the same sodomy law on its books as India, Singapore and many other parts of the former British empire, known as Section 377. But its law is one of the most extreme, allowing for life in prison.
In their only interview since the ceremony, Tin Ko Ko and Myo Min Hyey discussed their life together, the public celebration of their love and the state of Myanmar's newly energized LGBT rights movement.
"Before the ceremony, we lived our lives in peace and didn't have any problems," said Tin Ko Ko, seated next to his partner, both cross-legged and dressed in traditional longyi, the long skirts worn by Burmese.
"We dress conservatively and behave conservatively," he continued. "After the publicity, people began to recognize us and there have been problems."
Myo Min Htet (L) and Tin Ko Ko ® at their March 2 ceremony in Yangon.
AP Photo/Khin Maung Win
That recognition came with the media frenzy that followed their wedding on March 2 at an upscale hotel in Yangon. Though they kept the location secret to most media outlets, word leaked.
The next day, their story and wedding pictures, and some accompanying anti-gay rhetoric, flooded the frontpages of local media. With Myanmar's great opening has come a fiercely competitive and often unrestrained new media industry, eager for readers and sales. The first same-sex wedding was perfect fodder for their pages.Eleven Myanmar, which described the celebration as "a marriage ceremony held between two gay lovers," quoted police saying they would investigate the couple and could bring charges.
Their day of celebration was full of joy but fear followed. The men work for LGBT rights organizations in Yangon, and lead a low-key, quiet life on friendly terms with their neighbors. Ko Ko Tin was open with his own family about being gay from a very young age, while Myo Min Hyet, who grew up in a rural area, faced more of a family struggle.
Since meeting and falling in love a decade ago, both men have remained committed to their relationship and to improving the state of gay rights in their country. They knew their ceremony would send a strong signal.
"My friends were really surprised to see me in the newspaper, but some got in touch and said they also had gay friends living in rural areas," said Myo Min Hyet.
The police have not contacted the men directly, yet the couple remains fearful about Section 377. Though largely unenforced, the colonial-era is a critical barrier to LGBT rights in the country, Aung Myo Min said.
"Having 337 makes LGBT people live in fear of constant intimidation," he said. "We really want to take that law away. I'd like to say all repressive laws should be reviewed and repealed."
Nobel Peace Laureate and Burmese pro-democracy politician Aung San Suu Kyi has called for abolition of the anti-sodomy law, while the UN says it hinders progress against HIV and AIDS.
While Myanmar is in a major transition period, particularly in the realm of human rights, gay rights are often not taken seriously even by human rights workers, Aung Myo Min said.
"I think people still think that people still believe LGBT people are second class, so many people give priority to national issues like the constitution and law," he said. "It's a struggle within a struggle. We have to educate people that these are not a special rights, they are human rights as well."
For Tin Ko Ko and Myo Min Hyet, though legal marriage is not now within the law, they hope Myanmar follows the lead of other countries in enshrining that right.
"We are humans and we all want the same rights. Of course we would want to be married," said Tin Ko Ko.
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Bitcoin Slips In The Wake Of The IRS’s Tax Decision
Earlier this week, the IRS decided that Bitcoin is property, not currency, setting in place a regulatory structure that could see users of the cryptocurrency forced to keep price score in a rapidly shifting market. Bitcoin had a rough time of it last w...
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