In a recent publicity venture for their new movie "Chronicle", 20th Century Fox enlisted the help of viral marketing agency Thinkmodo to design and execute a rather unique campaign element that surely caused several doubletakes over the New York City skyline. If you thought you saw some flying humans in the sky over parts of New York City and New Jersey in the last couple of weeks you are, in fact, not crazy. You were merely exposed to a new kind of avant garde marketing technique brought to you by the same folks that unleashed the iPad Head Girl a few months back.
What I can?t get over is the utter lack of concern shown for me by the other members of the group, three of whom I was friends with before Theresa and Ken ever entered our circle. No one came outside when I screamed for help, or called me later that night to see if I made it home safely. One of my old friends, ?Cathy,? did call the following day. But when I asked her why no one responded to my screams, she said they didn?t want to get involved in case they made things worse. She also seemed oddly lacking in any sense of outrage toward Ken. Three days later, another member contacted me through Gchat to see how I was doing since I?d ?seemed pretty upset on Friday.? At that point I was still discussing the attack with the prosecutor's office, so I told her that the bureaucratic wheels of the case were turning. There was a long pause. Then she typed, ?I don't understand. What case? We thought that since no one was hurt and no one was arrested that it was no big deal.? After I explained otherwise, she started discussing how much she hated lima beans.
That was the last I heard from any of them. I assume the Friday sessions have been continuing without me. I have no desire to return to my attacker?s home. But none of the members of the group have invited me to any social outings, either. I made tentative inquiries at one point to see if Cathy and her husband would like to come to my place, but they replied that they were too busy with school and work and it was too far. Do I write off these people as bad friends? Do I assume they never really liked me and are glad to see the back of me now? Maybe it was unrealistic of me to have expected that they?d ostracize Ken, but I would have liked to hear someone say, ?We think Ken's a total bastard for doing that to you,? or, ?We understand why you aren't coming to Friday nights anymore, but we're sorry about what happened and we miss you.? Instead, the message I've gotten is, ?Ken clearly lost his mind that night and we don't know why, but let's all just try to put this unpleasantness behind us?it just wasn't that big a deal." But it was to me! Even so, I could possibly?possibly?even accept an apology from Ken if it was offered. But nothing of that sort has happened, either.
The new goal is to have a deal by next Monday, January 30th, when the EU leaders meet in Brussls.
From Reuters: Euro Zone Finance Ministers to Rule on Glacial Greek Debt Talks
Euro zone finance ministers will decide on Monday what terms of a Greek debt restructuring they are ready to accept as part of a second bailout package for Athens after negotiators for private creditors said they could not improve their offer. ... "We will listen to the report on the negotiations, see how far they have gotten and have the ministers say what is acceptable and what is not in terms of outcome of the negotiations," one Eurogroup official said.
Once the guidance from the finance ministers, known as the Eurogroup, is clear, talks on the restructuring could be finalized later in the week.
Here are a few key dates in Europe: Jan 30th: European Union leaders meet in Brussels on debt crisis.
Feb 9th: ECB holds rate meeting. Feb 20th: Euro-area finance ministers meet in Brussels. Feb 29th to March 1st: Italy redeems 46.5 billion euros of bonds.
March 1st and 2nd: EU leaders meet in Brussels. March 8th: ECB holds rate meeting March 12th: Euro-area finance ministers meet in Brussels March 20th: Greece redeems 14.4 billion euros of bonds. March 30th: Euro-area finance ministers meet in Copenhagen.
Late April: Proposed date for Greek general election. April 22nd: France holds a presidential election.
Weekend: ? Summary for Week ending January 20th ? Schedule for Week of Jan 22nd ? FOMC Meeting Preview
Antonio Montejano was born and raised in Los Angeles. He lives in an apartment building in a middle-class area sandwiched between Beverly Hills, the L.A. Country Club and UCLA. He is a law-abiding citizen who labors as a construction worker and comes home to a wife and four kids. But last month he was detained for four days under suspicion of being an illegal immigrant. He says local police officers and jail officials didn't listen when he pleaded repeatedly that he was a U.S. citizen. They eventually realized he was right, but not before he was transferred to L.A. County Jail, where he was kept in a cell without a bed or mattress. "I told them, If you give me the opportunity to call, I can tell my wife to get my passport and my birth certificate," says Montejano, 40. "But they never paid attention to what I was telling them."
Montejano's case is one of several recent incidents in Southern California in which incorrect government information has led authorities to detain U.S. citizens for investigation and possible deportation. The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) has reported three similar cases in the area and says four others have occurred even more recently. "A lot of calls are coming in," says Jennie Pasquarella, a lawyer for the group.
The incidents are worrisome for immigration lawyers and rights groups, who underscore that it is illegal for immigration agents to hold Americans for investigation for deportation proceedings. The ACLU, which helped Montejano and others get out of jail, says the problem lies in the Department of Homeland Security's Secure Communities program, or S-Comm, which checks FBI fingerprint records against immigration databases to see if people are lawfully present in the country. It says officials at Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, rely too heavily on the S-Comm program, which is electronic, instead of doing investigative spadework like checking local records and documents.
(MORE: A Phony War on Deportation?)
Pasquarella says another reason this is happening is that there isn't an adequate way for people to protest their detention. Those detained locally find themselves in a sort of catch-22 in which local authorities say they can't help because they're acting under orders from federal officials and the feds say they can't do anything because the individuals aren't yet under their custody, Pasquarella explains. The problem is compounded by officials' failure to correct their records after erroneous detentions, she says. "It's a basic Fourth Amendment problem," she says, referring to the right against unreasonable search and seizure. "They're essentially detaining someone and investigating later."
Montejano's troubles began when he went Christmas shopping with his family. After a couple of hours at Sears, the family left the store and forgot to pay for a $10 bottle of cologne that Montejano had put in their shopping cart for his son. He offered to pay for it when he realized his error, he says, but the store called the police, and he was taken to the station. Even though officers told him he would be there for four hours, he was put in a cell on an immigration hold. Montejano remained detained even after an immigration judge ordered the police to let him go, he says. He later found out that he triggered the government's database because immigration officials had mistakenly deported him to Mexico in 1996 ? and didn't fix their records to show that he is indeed a citizen.
Federal immigration officials say they don't have statistics readily available on how many U.S. citizens are detained at any time. Northwestern University professor Jacqueline Stevens estimates that "a low but persistent" number of people placed on immigration holds are citizens. One study she conducted found that 82 of around 8,000 people detained on immigration holds in Arizona from 2006 to 2008 ended up being citizens. Many of them aren't detained under the S-Comm program but are identified by jail officials while serving time for misdemeanors, Stevens says. "One percent may seem low, but if we think of the total number of people being snagged by the ICE dragnet, it's actually quite alarming," she says.
(MORE: California Dreaming: Will the State Give Scholarships to Its Undocumented Youths?)
ICE officials say they haven't seen Stevens' study but find it "hard to believe." "The cases that are cited represent highly unusual fact patterns," says an ICE official who spoke on background. "We're constantly worried about this issue. We don't believe it's a widespread issue." In a bid to prevent U.S. citizens from being erroneously detained, ICE recently announced a new 24-hour toll-free hotline that people can call if they are or believe they are U.S. citizens. "This is a very important safeguard," the official said. ICE also established that authorities may not detain a person for longer than 48 hours on an immigration hold. Officials say they are working to clean up records so that previous mistaken detentions like Montejano's are noted in their databases. As for that case, they said they caught the problem "very quickly." "Secure Communities is not designed and should not be used to detain U.S. citizens and we work hand-in-hand with our state and local partners to ensure that it is used appropriately," ICE said in a statement.
It didn't feel very quick to Montejano and his family. Most troubling to him was his perception that he was detained because he looked Mexican. He says his 8-year-old son is now worried he might be detained because he looks Mexican too. "He told me, 'Daddy, can they detain me too because I look like you?' " he says. ICE officials deny that racial profiling is involved in their detention processes, stressing that the S-Comm program is electronic. Still, that's not so comforting for the construction worker. "They didn't believe me because of the color of my skin," he says. "But what can you do when things happen like that? You feel powerless when you're inside the jail. You're nothing in there when nobody believes you."
MORE: Census Update: What the World Will Look like in 2050
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LOS ANGELES (Reuters) ? "The Artist" continued its love affair with American cinema after winning best-produced film on Saturday at the Producers Guild Awards (PGA), boosting its chances for an Oscar nod ahead of the Academy Award nominations next week.
The silent black-and-white French comedy, starring Jean Dujardin and Berenice Bejo, is a homage to the pre-talkie era of Hollywood in the 1920s and 1930s and tells the story of a fading silent movie star as sound began entering the world of cinema.
"When Michel Hazanavicius and I dreamed of making "The Artist," we knew we were dreaming of writing a love letter to American cinema. We never knew in return we would get a taste of the American dream," Thomas Langmann, the film's producer, said in his acceptance speech in Beverly Hills.
The film has been sweeping awards ceremonies in the run up to the Oscars, winning best picture at the Critics Choice and Golden Globes earlier this month.
It was up against nine other films in contention for best-produced film on Saturday, including female-led comedy "Bridesmaids," civil rights drama "The Help," and Steven Spielberg's epic tale "War Horse."
"The Adventures of Tintin," produced by Spielberg, picked up best-produced animated film.
The Producers Guild awards are significant in the race to the Academy Awards on February 26, as many of the 5,000-plus members of the PGA, are members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, who vote for the Oscars.
For the last four years, the producers' best-produced film picks have gone on to win the best picture Oscar, with "No Country For Old Men" in 2008, "Slumdog Millionaire" in 2009, "The Hurt Locker" in 2010 and "The King's Speech" in 2011.
Other PGA award winners on Saturday included "Beats, Rhymes & Life: The Travels of a Tribe Called Quest" for best-produced documentary, which explores the journey of influential hip-hop group A Tribe Called Quest.
Angelina Jolie received the Stanley Kramer award for "In the Land of Blood and Honey," which she wrote, directed and produced, an accolade reserved for contributions that highlight provocative social issues.
The Oscar-winning actress delivered a sober acceptance speech, noting that when war-film "Schindler's List" won a PGA in 1994 during the Bosnian war, "the world turned a blind eye" to the atrocities happening in Eastern Europe at the time.
Spielberg was awarded the coveted David O'Selznick achievement award and comic-book legend Stan Lee received the Vanguard award, presented by "Spiderman" actor Tobey Maguire. Both received standing ovations as they took the stage.
ABC's "Modern Family" was named best-produced television comedy for the second year running, while HBO's "Boardwalk Empire" was named best-produced TV drama. PBS' British period drama "Downtown Abbey" was named best-produced long-form television series.
(Reporting by Piya Sinha-Roy; Editing by Paul Simao)
Contact: Jason Maderer maderer@gatech.edu 404-385-2966 Georgia Institute of Technology
New robot is designed to use less energy
Designing an all-terrain robot for search-and-rescue missions is an arduous task for scientists. The machine must be flexible enough to move over uneven surfaces, yet not so big that it's restricted from tight spaces. It might also be required to climb slopes of varying inclines. Existing robots can do many of these things, but the majority require large amounts of energy and are prone to overheating. Georgia Tech researchers have designed a new machine by studying the locomotion of a certain type of flexible, efficient animal.
"By using their scales to control frictional properties, snakes are able to move large distances while exerting very little energy," said Hamid Marvi, a Mechanical Engineering Ph.D. candidate at Georgia Tech.
While studying and videotaping the movements of 20 different species at Zoo Atlanta, Marvi developed Scalybot 2, a robot that replicates rectilinear locomotion of snakes. He unveiled the robot this month at the Society for Integrative & Comparative Biology (SICB) annual meeting in Charleston, S.C.
"During rectilinear locomotion, a snake doesn't have to bend its body laterally to move," explained Marvi. "Snakes lift their ventral scales and pull themselves forward by sending a muscular traveling wave from head to tail. Rectilinear locomotion is very efficient and is especially useful for crawling within crevices, an invaluable benefit for search-and-rescue robots."
Scalybot 2 can automatically change the angle of its scales when it encounters different terrains and slopes. This adjustment allows the robot to either fight or generate friction. The two-link robot is controlled by a remote-controlled joystick and can move forward and backward using four motors.
"Snakes are highly maligned creatures," said Joe Mendelson, curator of herpetology at Zoo Atlanta. "I really like that Hamid's research is showing the public that snakes can help people."
Marvi's advisor is David Hu, an assistant professor in the Schools of Mechanical Engineering and Biology. Hu and his research team are primarily focused on animal locomotion. They've studied how dogs and other animals shake water off their bodies and how mosquitos fly through rainstorms.
This isn't the first time Hu's lab has looked at snake locomotion. Last summer the team developed Scalybot 1, a two-link climbing robot that replicates concertina locomotion. The push-and-pull, accordion-style movement features alternating scale activity.
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This project is supported by the National Science Foundation (NSF) (Award No. PHY-0848894). The content is solely the responsibility of the principal investigators and does not necessarily represent the official views of the NSF.
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AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
Contact: Jason Maderer maderer@gatech.edu 404-385-2966 Georgia Institute of Technology
New robot is designed to use less energy
Designing an all-terrain robot for search-and-rescue missions is an arduous task for scientists. The machine must be flexible enough to move over uneven surfaces, yet not so big that it's restricted from tight spaces. It might also be required to climb slopes of varying inclines. Existing robots can do many of these things, but the majority require large amounts of energy and are prone to overheating. Georgia Tech researchers have designed a new machine by studying the locomotion of a certain type of flexible, efficient animal.
"By using their scales to control frictional properties, snakes are able to move large distances while exerting very little energy," said Hamid Marvi, a Mechanical Engineering Ph.D. candidate at Georgia Tech.
While studying and videotaping the movements of 20 different species at Zoo Atlanta, Marvi developed Scalybot 2, a robot that replicates rectilinear locomotion of snakes. He unveiled the robot this month at the Society for Integrative & Comparative Biology (SICB) annual meeting in Charleston, S.C.
"During rectilinear locomotion, a snake doesn't have to bend its body laterally to move," explained Marvi. "Snakes lift their ventral scales and pull themselves forward by sending a muscular traveling wave from head to tail. Rectilinear locomotion is very efficient and is especially useful for crawling within crevices, an invaluable benefit for search-and-rescue robots."
Scalybot 2 can automatically change the angle of its scales when it encounters different terrains and slopes. This adjustment allows the robot to either fight or generate friction. The two-link robot is controlled by a remote-controlled joystick and can move forward and backward using four motors.
"Snakes are highly maligned creatures," said Joe Mendelson, curator of herpetology at Zoo Atlanta. "I really like that Hamid's research is showing the public that snakes can help people."
Marvi's advisor is David Hu, an assistant professor in the Schools of Mechanical Engineering and Biology. Hu and his research team are primarily focused on animal locomotion. They've studied how dogs and other animals shake water off their bodies and how mosquitos fly through rainstorms.
This isn't the first time Hu's lab has looked at snake locomotion. Last summer the team developed Scalybot 1, a two-link climbing robot that replicates concertina locomotion. The push-and-pull, accordion-style movement features alternating scale activity.
###
This project is supported by the National Science Foundation (NSF) (Award No. PHY-0848894). The content is solely the responsibility of the principal investigators and does not necessarily represent the official views of the NSF.
[ | E-mail | Share ]
?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
SAN FRANCISCO ? IBM Corp.'s fourth-quarter earnings handily beat Wall Street's expectations on Thursday, helped by higher revenue and profit margins in the technology icon's lucrative software and services segments.
The results and IBM's stronger-than-expected outlook for this year sent IBM's stock up more than 2 percent after hours. The company offered a welcome sign of stability amid the global economic turmoil that's prompting worries about a slowdown in technology spending by businesses and governments, who are IBM's customers.
One sore spot was revenue, which fell short of analyst expectations; the rise in software and services revenue wasn't enough to offset a decline in hardware. Also, the stronger dollar is squeezing overseas revenue.
IBM earned $5.49 billion, or $4.62 per share, in the three months that ended Dec. 31. That's up 4 percent from $5.26 billion, or $4.25 per share, a year earlier. Adjusted earnings were $4.71 per share, easily surpassing analysts' expectations of $4.61 per share.
Revenue grew 2 percent to $29.49 billion from $29.02 billion. Analysts polled by FactSet had expected slightly higher revenue of $29.7 billion.
IBM said currency shifts since its last quarterly report in October lowered fourth-quarter revenue by about $300 million. The deepening economic crisis in Europe, along with the continuing weakness in the U.S. economy and signs of a slowdown in emerging markets are prompting worries about global companies like IBM.
But IBM has long said its long-term contracts insulate it from economic swings, and its full-year forecast is bright. IBM expects adjusted earnings of at least $14.85 per share, above the $14.77 per share that analysts are predicting.
New CEO Ginni Rometty said IBM is "well on track" toward its long-term goal of hitting at least $20 per share in adjusted earnings in 2015 ? a rare example of a long-term earnings target disclosed publicly by a such a large company.
Revenue rose at two of IBM's three largest divisions ? software by 9 percent and services by 3 percent. Hardware revenue fell 8 percent. In the third quarter, IBM's services revenue grew 8 percent, its software revenue climbed 13 percent and its hardware revenue rose 4 percent.
By geography, IBM said revenue from the Americas grew 3 percent in the fourth quarter. Revenue from Europe, the Middle East and Africa combined was up 1 percent and revenue from Asia increased 2 percent.
IBM said its new contract signings were $20.4 billion in the fourth quarter, slightly above analysts' expectations. The company's services backlog at the end of the year was $141 billion, up by $4 billion from the end of the third quarter. Services backlog refers measures the value of work under contract that the company expects to book as revenue in future quarters.
For all of 2011, IBM earned $15.86 billion, or $13.06 per share, up 7 percent from $14.83 billion, or 11.52 per share, a year earlier. Adjusted earnings were $13.44 per share, above analysts' expectations of $13.36 per share.
Revenue was $106.92 billion, up 7 percent from $99.87 billion in 2010. Wall Street was expecting $107.08 billion.
The Armonk, N.Y.-based company's stock rose $4.53, or 2.5 percent, to $185.05 after hours. The stock had closed down 55 cents at $180.52.
In a recent publicity venture for their new movie "Chronicle", 20th Century Fox enlisted the help of viral marketing agency Thinkmodo to design and execute a rather unique campaign element that surely caused several doubletakes over the New York City skyline. If you thought you saw some flying humans in the sky over parts of New York City and New Jersey in the last couple of weeks you are, in fact, not crazy. You were merely exposed to a new kind of avant garde marketing technique brought to you by the same folks that unleashed the iPad Head Girl a few months back.
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Public release date: 19-Jan-2012
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