When I first got my BP6 I put it in a case, but then I realized cases were gay so I took it out of the case. I have some modular shelf/racks I got from Lowe's and it sits on there. The power supply is strapped underneath with a bungee cord. No need for case fans. You will be a better person and more of a man or woman if you take it out of the case. I threw mine in the dumpster…. Cases are for fags.
The words above belong to an unregistered user at the Ars Technica open forum posted on April 15, 2000, at 19:05. The (re)actions of this (homophobic?) computer user and builder actually illustrate well the significance and complexities of human-computer interaction at the object level. When the same user continues his criticism, it becomes clear that he despises the design and looks of some of the computers in Apple's iMac line, just introduced at that time, and associates them with his homophobic definitions of "gay" identity and iconography: "Of course if you don't have a case you forgo the opportunity to select a gay blue imac ripoff case or more likely paint your case pink and stencil, 'I'm so Gay' on it."
Indeed, this user was not alone in his reaction to the iMac's design and colors, and similar reactions arose to the many "iMac-wanna-be" PC imitations. Numerous PC users and "I Hate Macs" sites constituted a virtual Internet campaign against Apple's revolutionary designs and the "sexualization process" of computer cases.
Starting in 1998, the colorful and "juicy" iMac computers became best-sellers in their class. The iMac colors and transparent designs took over the entire all-in-one sector of the computer market, and thousands of everyday consumer products such as coffee makers, toasters, pens, toys, and irons began hitting the market with similar colors and designs. The iMac look became an object design cult in popular culture.
Outraged by such an invasion, a user in France came up with a now-defunct "I Hate Macs" web site, where he or she posted numerous anti-Mac images mocking the design fetishisms of Steve Jobs, the cofounder and CEO of Apple Computer, and the sexualization and genderization of computer cases and other plastic objects.
In fact, the company itself sought to impose a "She" identity upon its early iMacs. Apple's famous TV commercial "She Comes in Colors" successfully established this gender association with the personal computer. With the five different iMacs positioned in a circle, monitors facing out, the Rolling Stones's 1967 psychedelic rock ballad "She's a Rainbow" accompanies the twirling rainbow of feminized machines, this time in a postmodern setting:
She comes in colors everywhere
She combs her hair
She's like a rainbow
Coming, colors in the air
Oh, everywhere
She comes in colors
In February 2001 Jobs introduced the new and improved iMac SE, and, according to the web site apple-history.com, two new patterns "were molded into the case using a technique which took Apple 18 months to perfect." One wonders if Apple's CEO and his designers wanted to capitalize more on the already established public conception of the previous iMacs' gender conno-tations. On March 3, 2001, Jack Maher, writing on the MacFixIt web site, related the following about his family's flower design iMac SE:
Our family just received a Flower Power iMac SE from the Apple Store. The site said to expect a seven day wait, we got it in three. My wife and daughter think the Flower Power design is beautiful. The coloration is subtle and not as garish as it may appear from the photos on the Apple site. The colors are pastels and translucent. The machine sits on my wife's desk, alongside a window. When the sun passes through the case, it creates a very pleasant appearance. Definitely NOT your standard Beige Box.
The user's comments about the plastic enclosure of the computer are fascinating. Indeed, his and his family's interaction with their new object is not a classical human-computer interaction. He does not talk about how fast their new computer is, what it is capable of doing, and so on. He focuses solely on the flowery plastic, thus equating the plastic clothing with the machine's body itself. Perhaps more than any other hardware company, Apple invests heavily in researching human psychology and consumer interactions with objects. For potential "male" users, the iMac SE's see-through graphite design is quite revealing and seems to be based on the voyeuristic tendencies of the male gaze.
Computer magazines dedicated to the Mac platform seemed to be delighted that the minority status of the MAC OS (operating system) could be changed with the success and popularity of the iMac line. The Macintosh "geek" culture was happy that the iMac runs only Mac OS and not Windows. A cartoon published in the May 2000 issue of Mac Addict magazine not only expressed Apple's "victory" over Microsoft but also provided further testimony of the accepted gender status of the iMac: "Sorry…. I don't do windows!"
Following the gender success of the iMac, many small companies saw the business potential in producing iMac peripherals (quite similar to the multitude of later products that claimed to add more functionality to the iPod line). Many of these peripheral companies focused on the sex and gender associations of their iMac products in hopes of rapid sales boosts. One of the most successful such companies was Contour Design, which, among many other peripherals, developed and produced "nice legs" for the already beautiful female iMac.
The portable partner of the fruit-colored iMacs (Jobs being a vegetarian) were the iBooks. On July 29, 1999, on his TechTV show "Silicon Spin," John Dvorak described Jobs's new laptop computer:
The only thing missing from the Apple iBook is the Barbie logo. The system, which looks like a makeup case, promises to be a disaster once people come to their senses…. [T]his system is an embarrassment…. I can only describe it as a 'girly' machine. You expect to see lipstick, rouge, and a tray of eye shadow inside when you open it. You don't expect to see a 12-inch LCD; you expect to see a 12-inch mirror. No man in his right mind will be seen in public with this notebook.
Dvorak's angry, and somehow sexist, reaction to the new Apple laptop was not the only one. In an interview with Business Week published online on January 18, 2002, Jeff Raskin, who joined Apple's Cupertino headquarters in 1978 and shortly after that became the manager of the "Macintosh Project," sounded as straightforward as possible in his criticism of Jobs's attachment to the form fetish:
What Steve Jobs did was decree that the Apple II was to have an aesthetic enclosure. He said we have to put this in a pretty box. We can't sell a naked board. He was absolutely right. But what he has been doing ever since is repeat that formula. They keep the hardware up to or slightly above the standard set by PCs, but they can't think outside the pretty box.
No matter how much the new revolutionary designs of Apple's enclosures were criticized by some leading analysts and computer experts, millions of consumers embraced the unusual form fetish found in these machines, from iBooks to Power Macs. It came as no surprise that the October 2000 issue of Playboy magazine featured a playmate on its front cover, posing with an Apple iBook. The color of the playmate's shorts and the curves of her body were photographed in unison with an iBook in an effort to make her look like the computer and the computer look like her. Just like the reified model, an object of the male gaze, the computer itself is transformed into an aesthetically pleasing plastic object by focusing only on its colorful shell. Neither of the two models, the human or the machine, manifests any other sign of their being beyond their enclosures.
At the MacWorld Expo in January 2001, Jobs introduced his high-end notebook computer for "professionals," the PowerBook G4 Titanium, which featured a 15.2-inch "megawide" LCD display, a slot-loading DVD drive, and a 400 MHz PowerPC CPU, all housed in an enclosure made of titanium. Quite a luxury at the time, the titanium look and power was a departure from the flashy plastic color designs. As argued above, the lower-end iMacs and iBooks had "sex appeal." Jobs made it clear at the expo that the new PowerBook G4 was not only powerful but also sexy: "We think it has the power and the sex."
The Wired News web site used the headline "Titanium titillation" for its article on the new computer:
[It] is very small and sleek and has just about everything you'd need to replace a desktop machine. And when you look at it up close, you realize just how amazing the attention to detail is…. At the Apple booth, a bunch of guys (they're always guys) [were] admiring one of the new PowerBooks on a revolving pedestal…. They started dancing and clapping with glee.
Apple certainly is not alone in assigning sex and gender identity to computer products. Regardless of their operating systems, many companies have tried to sell their products (from small peripherals to computers) through a clever manipulation and, in many cases, exploitation, of sex and gender values and perceptions. Research on this subject suggests that the weaker the quality of the product is (including of course the entire iMac line), the greater the need for the usage of sex and gender in marketing it. The buyers of high-end machines (from workstations to highly expensive servers and other specialized computers) do not need to be manipulated through sex- and gender-obsessed advertisements. Indeed such a business strategy would backfire. Generally speaking, these buyers are highly educated and possess a great deal of technological knowledge, and their attraction to the product is based on the technology itself, not the color and "sex appeal" of the enclosure. Compaq, known for its run-of-the-mill budget PCs, had once placed great emphasis on the "gender qualities" of its Presario desktops and notebooks in its advertisements and attempted to provide its potential male and female buyers with an "iMac taste" based on the buyers' sexual "chemistry" and their presumed gender/color associations (see PC World, September 2000, p. 61, and Maximum PC, September 2000, p. 1).
Personal computer companies' feminization of their budget machines is neither country nor culture specific. This is more or less an international marketing phenomenon. An ad published in the Turkish version of Chip magazine targets the potential male buyer with a sex-centered interpretation of an all-in-one PC ("The Best Model of the World," Chip, August 2000, p. 41). The woman in the ad is "en ince" (the slimmest), "en șιk" (the most stylish), "en modern" (the most modern), and "en kullanιșlι" (the most utilitarian). The camera's focus is on the model. The machine itself is just a pretty background prop hoping to be sold in the chaos of a cognitive confusion.
The models featured in the ads for VAIO FJ computers continue Sony Corporation's determination to establish the "female" identity of its FJ series notebooks. VAIO FJs are known to be middle-of-the-road computers designed for middle-of-the-road computing tasks. In general, Sony's VAIO desktops and notebooks have a reputation for their high-end parts and impeccable attention to detail. Only for the FJs, however, is this much emphasis placed on sex and gender. The FJ's advertisers (like those of the early iMacs) have been paying special attention to the feminization of the machine by showing the "special" and "sweet" color enclosures being carried by professional models with black, blond, and red hair. Especially through the FJ, VAIO engineers, designers, and advertisers seem to be attempting to create a new level of human-computer interaction, an interaction that goes above and beyond the user's traditional computing needs and habits. The FJ and its ads seem to center around the establishment of new postmodern lifestyles that are colorful, polished, flirtatious, and daring.
"Can Jobs 'Think Outside the Pretty Box'?" 2002. Business Week, January 18. Available from http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/jan2002/tc20020118_5216.htm.
"iMac (Early 2001)." Apple-history.com. Available from http://www.apple-history.com.
Kahney, Leander. 2001. "Jobs Tells It Like It Is." Wired News, January 13. Available from http://www.wired.com/news/technology/0,1282,41160,00.html.
"Nice Legs." 2000. Mac Addict, May, 103.
Kemal Silay
HOLLYWOOD, Calif., Oct. 17 /PRNewswire/ --
In conjunction with its Third Quarter earnings release, j2 Global Communications, Inc. (Nasdaq: JCOM) invites you to listen to its conference call that will be broadcast live over the Internet on October 22, 2001 at 4:30 p.m. Eastern. Scott Jarus, j2's president, and Scott Turicchi, j2's executive vice president, corporate development, will lead the call. During the call, Messrs. Jarus and Turicchi will review the Company's presentation for investors, which will be posted on the Company's Website at www.j2.com and filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission pursuant to Regulation FD.
What: j2 Global Communications, Inc. Third Quarter Earnings Release
When: October 22, 2001, 4:30 p.m. Eastern
Where: http://www.videonewswire.com/event.asp?id=1551
How: Live over the Internet -- Simply log on to the Web at the
address above
Contact: Scott Turicchi at investorinfo@j2.com
Questions for the call will be taken via email at investorinfo@j2.com, and can be sent at anytime prior to or during the Webcast.
If you are unable to participate during the live Webcast, the call and the presentation will be archived at http://www.videonewswire.com/event.asp?id=1551 .
(Minimum Requirements to listen to broadcast: The Windows Media Player software, downloadable free from www.microsoft.com/windows/windowsmedia/EN/default.asp, and at least a 28.8Kbps connection to the Internet. If you experience problems listening to the broadcast, send an email to isproducers@prnewswire.com.)
About j2 Global Communications
Founded in 1995, j2 Global Communications, Inc. is a leading provider of enhanced value-added messaging and communications services with over 4.6 million customers around the world. j2's access network spans 550 cities in 14 countries on 4 continents. The Company sells its patented services through three distinct sales channels: Web, Corporate and Licensed Services; and markets those services under the eFax(R) and jConnect(TM) brands. j2's industry accolades include the Deloitte & Touche Fast 50 Award, Forbes Best of the Web Award, PC Magazine's Top 100 Websites Award, British Telecom's Tech Award and many others.
For more information about j2, please visit www.j2.com.
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FreeAmp will Make it Easy for Consumers to Transfer Songs
and Playlists to the Rio
LAS VEGAS, Jan. 7 /PRNewswire/ -- GoodNoise Corporation (OTC Bulletin Board: GDNO), a leader in the growing market for downloadable music, today announced plans to provide seamless integration between the FreeAmp MP3 player and Diamond Multimedia Systems, Inc.'s (Nasdaq: DIMD) Rio PMP300. FreeAmp is an open source developed software application that allows consumers to play music in the MP3 format on their computers. GoodNoise, which supports and facilitates the development of FreeAmp, will incorporate direct support for the Rio within FreeAmp making it easy for consumers to transfer songs or playlists to the Rio. GoodNoise expects to release a version of FreeAmp with support for the Rio this year.
"The objective of the FreeAmp development project is to radically improve the consumer experience with downloadable music," said Gene Hoffman, president and CEO of GoodNoise. "The best way to combat the illegal duplication and distribution of music on the Internet is to provide consumers with open, flexible solutions that make purchasing, downloading and playing music extremely easy. By incorporating direct support for the Rio, we're taking a layer of complexity out of the process and allowing users to focus on what they care about -- playing their music."
FreeAmp is a MP3 (MPEG1, Layer3) player created through an open source development effort. FreeAmp, which is available for free download at www.freeamp.org, is being licensed, at no charge, to the MP3 community under the terms of the GNU General Public License (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/gpl.html), which guarantees the freedom of users to share and change the software and to make sure it is available free for all users. To date, thousands of developers have downloaded the FreeAmp source code and the product represents the collective effort of the MP3 development community.
"Diamond Multimedia has released its Rio development tools to key partners, like GoodNoise, and is working cooperatively towards ensuring easy access of music and audio content for Rio customers," said Ken Comstock, general manager for the audio business unit at Diamond Multimedia.
GoodNoise: The Source for Downloadable Music
Since it was founded in January 1998, GoodNoise Corporation has established itself as a clear leader in the rapidly expanding market for downloadable music. Through relationships with artists and license agreements with leading independent record labels, GoodNoise has emerged as the premier website for sampling and purchasing music in the MP3 (MPEG1, Layer 3) format, which has become as the de facto standard in the digital distribution of music with millions of users around the world. GoodNoise.com features a constantly expanding catalog of music and offers music fans complete albums for $8.99 or the ability to purchase individual tracks for 99 cents. GoodNoise is based in Palo Alto, Calif.
GOODNOISE is a trademark of GoodNoise Corporation.
NOTE: Any forward-looking statements contained in this release involve a number of uncertainties, risks and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward- looking statements to materially differ. Factors that could cause actual events or results to differ materially include, among others, those set forth in the Company's S.E.C. report on Form 10-SB, which may be accessed via the Internet from a link on the following page: http://www.goodnoise.com/about/investor/index.html.
Provided by 7DAYS.ae
South Africa yesterday rejected any notion it would call on President Robert Mugabe to quit after Zimbabwe's opposition called on regional powers to do so. "We are not a government who can ask other presidents to step down," deputy foreign minister Aziz Pahad said. "Nobody will tell us when our president will step down and we will never ever allow a situation where we ask other presidents to step down. On what basis would we do that? Zimbabwe is not a province of South Africa."
Opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai has claimed outright victory in Zimbabwe's March 29 presidential election, but Mugabe and his ruling ZANU-PF have said a run-off is needed. As the official announcement seems to be interminably delayed amid legal wrangling and demands for a recount, Tsvangirai is touring the region urging southern African leaders to put greater pressure on Mugabe.
His Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) has called on leaders meeting in Zambia tomorrow to demand that Mugabe - who has ruled Zimbabwe solidly since independence from Britain in 1980 - stand down. South African President Thabo Mbeki has come under fire for his muted response to the crisis, but Pahad said there were unrealistic expectations of the country's role.
"I think people are over-estimating what South Africa can do. We are not a hegemonistic power in the region that we can on a whim impose our will," he said. Tsvangirai made South Africa his first port of call after claiming victory in the poll and met on Monday with ruling party chief Jacob Zuma while Mbeki was away in Europe.
A week after the polls, Mbeki urged "patience" and described the situation in Zimbabwe as "manageable," angering the opposition. Zuma, frontrunner to succeed Mbeki next year, has condemned the delay in releasing the results and on the eve of the poll said Zimbabwe was ready for change. Mbeki's office said yesterday he would be willing to meet Tsvangirai as soon as possible.
"As soon as we have a formal request we will meet with him at his earliest convenience, as the president would any other Zimbabwean leader," a Mbeki spokesman said.
[c] 2007 Al Sidra Media LLC
Provided by Syndigate.info an Albawaba.com company
It takes just two-and-a-half-minutes for the average person to lose patience when kept waiting.
Almost half of us have had to leave a queue after five minutes to avoid losing our cool and 25% have missed out on money by refusing to stand in line for refunds or query bills with call centre staff.
the top three annoyances are slow internet connections, dawdling drivers and being put on hold, a poll by delivery firm myHermes found.
Austin, TX (PRWEB) June 22, 2011
Idea Incubator, a distributor of information products, wants to help business moms make more money and have time for themselves and their families. This is why they have created a webinar that teaches, step-by-step, how. The webinar includes a new digital publishing platform that will allow them to work from home. This platform, titled Inbox Empire, is more profitable than blogging and easy to put in place.
The Inbox Empire webinar is presented by MaryEllen Tribby, CEO of Idea Incubator and a business mom herself, and hosted by Ryan Deiss, Internet marketer and author of the DrivingTraffic Blog. The webinar is free and takes place on Thursdays at 1:00 p.m. and 9:00 p.m. eastern time. It is presented by the Working Moms blog.
In this webinar, Tribby will show:
* How to design the perfect "inbox magazine" that goes from subscribers to money in your pocket.
* How to recruit a panel of experts to write all of your content for you, even if you are completely unknown.
* Three proven monetization strategies you can employ on Day 1 and NONE OF THEM require you to have a product of your own.
* Five strategies (some cheap, some free) for getting your first 5000 subscribers.
* And much more
Tribby knows that today's moms are pulled in many directions. "Their kids, husbands and jobs all need their attention," Tribby said. "Yet, their jobs are often the most inflexible, since they involve lengthy commutes and long hours at the officeaall of which mean working moms have to sacrifice family time in order to support their family." That's why she is a doing this webinar, to help moms gain more time with their families, more time for themselves, and more money to live the life they really desire. Those are three things that everyone, especially business moms, want in life.
"It is time that moms are able to stop feeling stretched thin with very little to show for it," said Tribby. "My free digital publishing webinar will provide tips that will help you make money and gain more time with your family." However, these moms must sign up quickly. Space is limited and the webinar is in high demand. Click here to sign up for the making money online webinar.
###
Read the full story at http://www.prweb.com/releases/2011/6/prweb8587331.htm
SAN FRANCISCO -- Business Wire, a Berkshire Hathaway company, was founded in 1961 by Lorry I. Lokey, veteran journalist and public relations executive. The Company celebrates its 50th Anniversary this year. Cathy Baron Tamraz is chairman and CEO.
Cathy Baron Tamraz, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Business Wire (Photo: Business Wire)
Thousands of member companies and organizations depend on Business Wire to transmit their full-text news releases, regulatory filings, photos and other multimedia content to journalists, news media, trade publications, institutional and individual investors, financial information services, regulatory authorities, Internet portals, information websites, business-to-business decision-makers and consumers worldwide. In fact, Business Wire is the most comprehensive news and disclosure network in the world.
Business Wire originates hundreds of thousands of news announcements each year, with a dramatic impact on capital and commercial markets around the globe and in virtually every industry sector. With a news distribution network spanning 150 countries and 45 languages, Business Wire's multi-channel delivery network has access to dozens of international and national news agency networks throughout the Americas, Europe, Asia, the Middle East and Africa.
While distribution of news releases is the Company's core business, Business Wire includes online news and investor centers, Edgar and XBRL filings, monitoring and measurement services, multimedia distribution and tradeshow services among its product offerings.
Business Wire, a Berkshire Hathaway company, celebrates its 50th anniversary in 2011 as the global leader in press release distribution and regulatory disclosure. Public relations and investor relations professionals rely on Business Wire for both broad-based and targeted market reach. A recognized disclosure service in the United States, Canada and a dozen European countries, Business Wire handles XBRL tagging, document formatting and regulatory filing into EDGAR, SEDAR and other systems. Business Wire provides online newsroom hosting and integration services as well as search engine optimization, mobile distribution and detailed measurement on every press release. Its patented NX delivery platform provides simultaneous full-text posting of Business Wire content to news systems and websites in virtually any country or language. With 31 bureaus worldwide, Business Wire offers local service and global reach.
Learn more at BusinessWire.com and the BusinessWired blog; follow updates on Twitter: @businesswire or on Facebook.
| Company: | Business Wire | |
| Headquarters Address: | 44 Montgomery Street | |
| San Francisco, CA 94104 | ||
| Main Phone: | +1 415-986-4422 | |
| Website: | www.BusinessWire.com | |
| Organization Type: | Subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway | |
| Industry: | Communications: Public Relations/Investor | |
| Relations | ||
| Key Executives: | Chairman and CEO: Cathy Baron Tamraz | |
| President: Gregg Castano | ||
| Executive Vice President & CEO: Phyllis Dantuono | ||
| Chief Information Officer: Steve Messick | ||
| Chief Financial Officer: Geff Scott | ||
| Public Relations | ||
| Contacts: | Thomas Becktold | |
| Phone: | +1 310-820-9473 | |
| Email: | Thomas.Becktold@BusinessWire.com | |
| Neil Hershberg | ||
| +1 212-752-9600 | ||
| Neil.Hershberg@BusinessWire.com |
Byline: Ebert is the film critic for The Chicago Sun-Times.
This summer, Hollywood is betting bigger on franchises than ever before. Roger Ebert on why it may forever change what you see in theaters.
No movie executive has ever been fired for greenlighting a sequel. Once a brand has been established in the marketplace, it makes sound business sense to repeat the formula. When Procter & Gamble discovered that Ivory soap would float, do you think they came out two years later with a soap named Buoyant?
Movie critics despair of sequels as betraying a lack of imagination and originality. There is truth in that. But they address a hunger among fans of popular movies, who currently are waging an Internet war against Paramount for deciding not to make a sequel to 2004's Anchorman. Will Ferrell, who starred in the original, has helpfully called the executives who made that decision "idiots," and told the movie's fans, "You really have to assert some sort of email hate campaign to Paramount Pictures. They told us, 'We've run the numbers and it's not a good fit.' "
They've run the numbers? This is more evidence, not really needed, that a majority of modern big-studio releases are marketing decisions yoked however reluctantly to creative ideas somewhere farther down the food chain. The majors in general make good films either (1) for Oscar season or (2) purely by accident. Weekend releases between May and September might better be covered by marketing specialists than film critics.
According to Brandon Gray of Box Office Mojo, who ran his own numbers, 2011 will see a record 27 sequels. I'm just going to go ahead and list them: Cars 2; Diary of a Wimpy Kid 2; The Hangover Part II; Happy Feet 2; Hoodwinked Too! Hood vs. Evil; Johnny English Reborn; Kung Fu Panda 2; Piranha 3DD; Sherlock Holmes 2; Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked; Big Mommas: Like Father, Like Son; Madea's Big Happy Family; Paranormal Activity 3; Transformers: Dark of the Moon.
Those are the second and third sequels. Gray's accounting is precise; he finds there will be the highest number of fourth sequels ever: Mission: Impossible--Ghost Protocol; Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides; Scream 4; Spy Kids 4: All the Time in the World; and The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn (Part One), with its own sequel set for 2012.
This year includes five fifth sequels (Fast Five; Final Destination 5; Puss in Boots; X-Men: First Class; Winnie the Pooh), two seventh sequels (The Muppets; Rise of the Apes), and the eighth Harry Potter movie (Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part Two), itself a sequel.
The idea of a sequel is harmless. One Thin Man movie is not enough, nor one Tarzan, James Bond, Star Trek, or Star Wars. There may have been an excess of zeal with Francis, the Talking Mule. Some sequels improve on their predecessors, such as Spider-Man II and The Dark Knight. Others were possibly doomed, such as Sex and the City 2, because of its inexplicable decision to send the girls on holiday to Abu Dhabi. Those are Manhattan women.
The beat goes on. As the leadership of many studios is taken from creators and assigned to marketers, nothing is harder to get financed than an original idea, or easier than a retread. The urge to repeat success can be found even in the content of modern trailers, which often seem to be about the same upbeat film. Even The Beaver, with Mel Gibson battling mental illness, is made to look like a hopeful comedy with a cute stuffed animal.
Trailers also do their best to spoil secrets and sight gags for you. One executive told me: "We want them to feel like they're seeing the whole movie, except that it's longer." This model can also be found in the aisles of supermarkets, where you're offered a bite of cheese on a toothpick. After you eat it, you know everything there is to know about that cheese except what it would be like to eat a pound of it.
At Oscar time, the backstory of the nominees often seems to be the same: every studio in town turned them down. Some studio divisions have been forthright about their decision to stop making grown-up movies at all, focusing on superhero comic-book franchises, 3-D animation, and raunch romps. It doesn't really take a movie person to approve such films.
Complicating the situation is the increasing reliance by Hollywood on foreign markets, which are thought to be impatient with dialogue and hungry for action. That results in an irony: while European nations, for example, produce excellent films that play here in art theaters, we are represented over there by American films suggesting we are a nation of violent or moronic fanboys. I see nearly as many films about grown-ups from France alone as from mainline Hollywood studios. Our tradition of quality cinema is being abandoned.
Now the studios are in a lather to show new movies via video-on-demand within 60 days from their first theatrical release. Exhibitors have fired back by threatening to ban such films from their theaters. (This could improve the quality of the films at the average multiplex by depriving it of studio product.) If the suggested $30 price tag for a 60-day VOD is accepted, families may wait to see a new animated film at home in bright, cheerful 2-D rather than being charged a premium to see it in dim and annoying 3-D. They can make their own popcorn, which the theaters dread, because the studios take up to 90 percent of the opening-week box-office gross, and movie theaters literally make their money at the snack counter. The communal experience of moviegoing will be threatened. The erosion of community continues. Robert D. Putnam's seminal 2000 book, Bowling Alone, suggested Americans were losing their love of lodges, church groups, sewing circles, book clubs, film societies, veterans' halls, and so on. Who foresaw we might also someday be seeing new movies alone?
A doomy pall is settling over many of the best American filmmakers. Steven Soderbergh ominously announced his withdrawal from direction, then changed his mind. I heard earlier this month from Paul Schrader, whose films (Mishima, Affliction, American Gigolo, Blue Collar) and screenplays (Taxi Driver, Raging Bull) show a distinctive vision. He informed me that grown-up films and creative projects were "over" in the new Hollywood, and that many of his friends are turning to long-form television.
He emailed: "The quality of theatrically released films has been dropping so precipitously in recent years that the Academy Awards are no longer a fair gauge of audiovisual entertainment. Several decades ago audiences could expect a film such as The Social Network every week; now we are lucky to have one or two a year. Add to this the fact serious dramas have more or less migrated to television, and it's clear that the Oscars have become progressively less relevant. Last year arguably the best male performance of the year (Al Pacino in You Don't Know Jack) was not eligible for the Oscars."
That film, in which Pacino played Dr. Jack Kevorkian, was made for HBO and directed by A-list filmmaker Barry Levinson (Wag the Dog, Rain Man). It was apparently not possible for Pacino, Levinson, and a touchy subject to interest a major studio. This is a symptom of a desperate situation. It wasn't even a problem with budget (about $12 million) or running time (134 minutes). It won an Emmy, but I confess I hadn't heard of it until Paul mentioned it. Rotten Tomatoes doesn't list a single review of it. Was it eligible for the Oscars? No. "Made for TV." Kate Winslet's work in Mildred Pierce is also not eligible.
Schrader had some pointed advice for me: "A veteran film critic--by this I mean you, Roger--should take it on himself by unilaterally abandoning the distinction between theatrical and nontheatrical films in year-end best-of lists. All long-form audiovisual entertainment, released on any distribution platform, would be eligible for consideration. The Academy, of course, would regard this as a nightmare. It would downgrade the 'specialness' of theatrical films. But this is all happening anyway. Why not get ahead of the curve?"
Why not? It's tempting, Paul. I could relax before my big eight-foot home-theater screen, and the work would come to me. The problem is, that goes against my grain. A movie is shown in a movie theater, and I like to sit there and see it. That's how it's supposed to be. I'm not ready to bowl alone.
Ebert is the film critic for The Chicago Sun-Times.
A Way to Keep in Touch with Aging Parents without Breaking the Bank
WARREN, N.J. -- Next Sunday moms across the country will be getting a lot of attention from their children, from gifts to out of town visits and phone calls. Mother's and Father's Day are wonderful times of year to get in touch with parents, but what about the other 363 days a year?
Aging parents and their grown children often live in different cities, making staying connected a challenge for sons and daughters who have busy schedules and families of their own. Additionally, moms and dads in retirement may have limited financial resources or tools like cell phones that could help them keep in touch.
For those going through tough financial times, there is a smart, free way to help grown children and their aging parents stay in touch. Assurance Wireless is a program that offers a free wireless phone plus 250 minutes of national local and long-distance monthly service to eligible customers.
In addition to keeping families connected, Assurance Wireless can help eligible customers stay connected to their children's schools, relatives, daycare centers, care-givers and neighbors.
Assurance Wireless customers get 250 free voice minutes per month with call waiting, a voice mail account, caller ID and access to 911 in case of emergency. Customers may also choose to prepay for additional services as needed.
Who's Eligible?
Eligibility for Assurance Wireless varies by state and may include those who participate in Medicaid, Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP or food stamps), Supplemental Security Income (SSI), Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), Federal Public Housing Assistance (FPHA or Section 8), Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) or the National School Lunch Program's Free Lunch Program. Customers may also qualify based on low household income on a state by state basis as well.
Assurance Wireless is currently available in Alabama, Arkansas, Connecticut, Delaware, Washington D.C., Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Iowa, Louisiana, Maryland, Michigan, Mississippi, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, Washington and West Virginia. This list of states continues to expand and can be found on the Assurance website.
To learn more about Assurance Wireless, including eligibility requirements, please call 800-395-2171 or visit www.assurancewireless.com. Information is available in English and Spanish. Prospective low income customers who find they are not eligible for Assurance Wireless may learn more about Virgin Mobile's no contract payLo Plan options by visiting http://www.virginmobileusa.com/cell-phone-plans/paylo-plans.jsp#
About Sprint Nextel
Sprint Nextel offers a comprehensive range of wireless and wireline communications services bringing the freedom of mobility to consumers, businesses and government users. Sprint Nextel served more than 51 million customers at the end of 1Q 2011 and is widely recognized for developing, engineering and deploying innovative technologies, including the first wireless 4G service from a national carrier in the United States; offering industry-leading mobile data services, leading prepaid brands including Virgin Mobile USA, Boost Mobile, and Assurance Wireless; instant national and international push-to-talk capabilities; and a global Tier 1 Internet backbone. Newsweek ranked Sprint No. 6 in its 2010 Green Rankings, listing it as one of the nation's greenest companies, the highest of any telecommunications company. You can learn more and visit Sprint at www.sprint.com or www.facebook.com/sprint and www.twitter.com/sprint.
About Assurance Wireless
Assurance Wireless, one of Sprint's prepaid brands, is supported by the Lifeline Assistance program, part of the Low Income Program of the federal Universal Service Fund (USF), which is administered by the Universal Service Administrative Company (USAC), and designed to ensure that quality telecommunications services are available to low-income customers at reasonable and affordable rates. Assurance Wireless uses the Nationwide Sprint Network which reaches more than 275 million people.
Follow Assurance news on Facebook www.facebook.com/assurancecell, Twitter www.twitter.com/assurancecell and YouTube, http://www.youtube.com/assurancewireless.
"The mobility of our criminals is an increasing concern," says Jason Moen, deputy chief of the Auburn (Maine) Police Department. "We have had criminals go on multi-county crime sprees, which can be difficult for an officer to track."
A CAD and RMS service company took this issue under its wing when it decided to look into whether small- and medium-sized agencies could link these applications across agencies at a low cost.
That's how Information Management Corp. came up with its answer: Cross Agency Data Sharing.
Information Management Corp. (IMC) had successfully delivered CAD, RMS and related solutions to law enforcement for years. Now it's new application, Cross Agency Data Sharing. Cross Agency connects IMC customers, their case reports and master names lists using each member department's existing IMC databases. This way, rather than rely on a centralized data repository, agencies can implement the solution with low overhead.
"A cross-agency search can track a suspect to different parts of the state if that suspect has had police contact," Moen says.
Cross Agency Data Sharing also allows real-time access to information on whether subjects had contact with other agencies. Officers can see immediately when a name check shows previous offenses, warrants or arrests involving violence or weapons. This is crucial to officer safety, which Mark Pacheco, chief of police in Dartmouth, Mass., says drove the initial decision to try to get agencies integrated. "In one jurisdiction, an officer made a traffic stop on a speeding vehicle," he says. "The officer queried the Cross Agency system and found out the offender was wanted in a neighboring jurisdiction on a domestic violence charge, which had been brought less than an hour previously. He never would've known that otherwise, and he was able to call for backup and make the arrest."
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How it works
Cross Agency operates on a "hub and spoke" system. One department, usually the one with the best connection, hosts the server or the "hub." The others connect as spokes and do not connect directly to each other.
The "best connection" is a matter of what Leo Hisoire, IMC director of engineering and interim general manager, calls "a solid network infrastructure with quality hardware and good bandwidth." This includes a variety of network types: The state criminal justice information services (CJIS) network, or virtual private networks (VPN) built upon secure broadband cable TV or DSL, or frame relay of at least 56K in speed. (Smaller agencies' VPNs on wireless modem connections can also be used.)
Cross Agency is one module in IMCs product family, but it does not require the other modules to work. In fact, Cross Agency can be implemented in just a few steps:
* Develop policies on what data to share, how to use it, and any restrictions. Memorandums of understanding (MOUs) make these shared policies.
* Choose the hub agency.
* Set up a secure Internet protocol (IP) connection between each spoke agency and the hub. If agencies use the state CJIS, this security is already built in.
* Install IMC Mobile software on each agency's computers so individual officers may run their own queries. (Though this is not strictly necessary, as dispatch can still facilitate queries.)
IMC Cross Agency Is installed in 150 agencies in the United States. Although the hubs are not currently linked, Pacheco says this is planned for the future in Massachusetts. "IMC data-sharing technology utilizes IP communications, so state-to-state data sharing is theoretically possible," says Hisoire. More than 760 IMC customers exist, primarily in New England, though the company also has customers in Montana, New Jersey and Florida.
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Cross Agency at work
For the South Eastern Massachusetts Law Enforcement Council (SEMLEC), the Dartmouth Police Department acts as the regional hub server for 25 IMC-connected law enforcement agencies. The SEMLEC Cross Agency network uses the Massachusetts Criminal History Systems Board's (MCHSB) computer networking infrastructure and hardware, which includes the CJ1S network platform. "We think of it as a joint partnership among the [MCHSB] system, IMC software and our neighboring jurisdictions," says Pacheco. In Maine, 34 agencies run IMC with the Cross Agency Module, Moen says. As in Massachusetts, the system runs on the state CJIS hardware platform.
As one of the first Cross Agency pilot programs in its state, SEMLEC's solution was developed to pull together agencies already using IMC software. "The network is just for IMC 'family' right now because it was easier that way and did not entail additional development costs," Pacheco explains. There have been discussions on linking non-IMC agencies in the future.
Data security is built into the system on both global and individual agency levels. Agencies remain the proprietors of their own data; officers from other departments have read-only access so they cannot "touch" or change information in any way. A log also exists to check who is accessing the data through the network.
Hisoire says sometimes the need may arise to query only certain agencies. "Most queries default to all connected agencies," he explains. "But when you do NTETS queries, you can specify a certain region."
Additionally, security settings can be established for different classes of data. "The Cross Agency name search could take you right into a specific police report or at least a contact name and number for the agency who could then query the report for you," Moen says.
Cases where the latter approach might be preferable, says Pacheco, include sex offenses or offenses committed by juveniles. It's up to the agency to decide what is appropriate to share, though Pacheco stresses that to reap the system's full benefits, as much data as possible should be open and shared.
Real-time information
One of IMC Cross Agency's strongest and unique features is its real-time access to data from all other agencies on the network.
Pacheco explains that an officer queries the system, and the query goes through the department's IMC Mobile Data switch. This in turn connects to the regional hub switch, and is then broadcast to all the other linked departments. Then the responses return through the host regional hub switch and back to the originator.
IMCs CAD and RMS modules have what are known as "master name" and "case report" files. Master names include gang memberships, known associates, aliases and other relevant information. Advanced master name search is possible, as well, based on NCIC pedigree data. Case files related to master names include incidents, arrests, citations, accidents, field interviews, restraining orders and warrants--and their images.
This capability came into play for a recent arrest in Auburn. "One of my officers responded to a violation of bail complaint where the suspect was reported to be in the apartment of the domestic abuse victim," Moen says. The officer ran the suspect's name and pulled a recent mugshot photo before arriving at the scene. The officer then spotted the suspect through the apartment window prior to making contact and was quickly able to discredit the victim's claims that the suspect was not inside; a foot pursuit ensued and the suspect was apprehended, Moen explains.
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Cost savings
In Massachusetts, the Cross Agency solution was funded via Department of Homeland Security interoperability grant money. Even so, Pacheco says implementing it was simply a matter of obtaining IMC software licenses, the mobile data switch and the server. Hisoire adds: "The majority of Cross Agency customers have been equipped by grants for regions banding together, but we have had a share of new departments that have purchased the software when they became IMC clients."
Felicia Donovan, an IMC client services representative, helped implement the Seacoast (N.H.) Cross Agency initiative when she worked for the Portsmouth Police Department. "We attempted to do it as a state-wide initiative several years ago, with more than 40 agencies agreeing to share costs if they were off-set by federal [grants].
"Unfortunately, the funding never came through," recalls Donovan. "The project languished for a bit, then came back to life on a much smaller scale when Congresswoman Carol Shea-Porter spearheaded the funding effort under the COPS grant. While initial project costs are covered by the grant, the MOU between agencies stipulates that future costs will be borne by each individual agency."
Moen says while a multi-agency DHS grant got the ball rolling in Androscoggin County (where Auburn is located), "annual maintenance fees are minimal compared to the rate of return we are getting on the efficiency behind it." Pacheco agrees: "What price [would] you put on a product that gives you access to real-time, vital information ... during your tour of duty? This could potentially save your life or others' lives. Like the commercial says, 'priceless.'"
For more information on these companies, use the Reader Service Cardand circle the corresponding numberCOMPANY READER SERVICE NO.Information Management Corp. (IMC) 83
Christa Miller is a freelance writer who specializes in public safety issues. She is based in Greenville, S. C, and can be reached at christammiller@gmail.com.
Provides One-Stop-Shopping Solution By Combining
Dedicated T1, ANS InterLock(SM) Security Service at Significant Discounts
ELMSFORD, N.Y., Feb. 11 /PRNewswire/ -- Addressing the critical business need for cost-effective, dedicated, fully managed and secure Internet access in a turnkey solution, ANS Communications today announced ANS SecureConnection(TM), a new offering that combines an ANS dedicated T1 connection with the NCSA-certified ANS InterLock Security Service at discounts reaching 40 percent. ANS is one of the world's largest Internet Service Providers and delivers a range of managed network services to large- and mid- sized enterprises.
"We've seen a substantial increase in demand from customers and prospects who require dependable, high-speed access to the Internet that's tightly coupled with a bulletproof security capability -- all delivered in an easy-to-manage, price competitive manner," said Steve Meadows, ANS vice president of sales and marketing. "We're responding with what we believe represents the industry's most affordable, robust solution."
A SecureConnection introductory promotion is available through May 1, 1997 and allows customers to choose between two options. Program details are available on ANS' home page at www.ans.net.
One option delivers a dedicated T1 connection with turnkey ANS InterLock Service (hardware and software) for a monthly fee of $2,395. The solution also includes a Cisco 2501 router, DSU, 7x24 support, new releases and maintenance. The cost of circuits and a one-time charge of $5,000 for ANS InterLock hardware installation are additional. Customers selecting this option are required to sign a minimum two-year contract.
The second option provides a dedicated T1 connection with ANS InterLock software for a monthly fee of $2,395. This solution also includes a Cisco 2501 router, DSU, 7x24 support, new releases and maintenance. The cost of circuits is additional and organizations must provide the hardware on which to run the ANS InterLock software. Customers selecting this option are required to sign a minimum one-year contract.
About ANS InterLock Service
Protecting Global 1000 enterprises since 1991, ANS InterLock Service provides fully managed network access control, intrusion detection/response and cost accounting functionality that enable organizations to protect and manage valuable intranet and Internet resources. One of the first application-layer firewalls, ANS InterLock combines a high granularity of control with a full line of application proxies for all the major TCP/IP services. ANS InterLock also provides address remapping, an integrity watcher daemon and a full-featured audit log thresholder for superior firewall functionality. Detailed auditing information, cost of use/abuse controls and accounting reports are provided to customers for advanced management of network resources.
About ANS Connection Services
ANS Connection Services are available in bandwidths ranging from 56K to T3 and deliver enterprise-quality reliability and comprehensive, end-to-end support for Internet connections or Wide Area Networks (WANs). Saving customers time and resources, ANS engineers ensure that systems are up and running quickly and reliably by assuming responsibility for designing, installing, monitoring and managing the network connection on a 7x24 basis. Through dedicated leased circuits ANS procures from local carriers, customer sites are connected to ANSnet, one of the world's fastest, largest, most reliable high-capacity network backbones.
ANS Connection Services include all hardware, installation, coordination, local circuit provision, around-the-clock monitoring, end-to-end management and support. A dedicated router and modem are installed at customer locations, enabling ANS network operations staff to ensure a reliable connection by proactively isolating and resolving any issues through end-to-end and out-of-band monitoring services. Weekly usage reports enable organizations to easily evaluate performance and plan for growth. An Internet news feed is included as part of the dedicated connection service. ANS handles all matters related to Domain Name Services and InterNIC registration, sparing customers the administrative burden of service start-up.
About ANSnet
As a pioneer in the Internet, ANS designed, deployed and managed the world's first nationwide public production 45 Mbps TCP/IP network. When it became operational in January 1991, ANSnet was the backbone of the Internet and it remains one of the Internet's primary backbones. Building on this industry-leading expertise, ANSnet today is a powerful, highly diverse network connected by 14,000 miles of fiber optic circuits and fueled by state-of-the- art equipment to provide robust, reliable and redundant services. ANSnet has hundreds of access nodes, delivering nationwide one-hop access to ANS' T3 Points of Presence (POPs).
About ANS Communications
ANS Communications, one of the world's largest Internet Service Providers, delivers a suite of managed network services to large- and mid-sized businesses. The company provides a broad range of WAN solutions that includes: intranets, Virtual Private Data Networks (VPDN), remote dial access, security, web hosting and Internet access. Data Communications recently awarded ANS the magazine's prestigious Hot Product of the Year Award for its VPDN and web hosting services. As a wholly owned subsidiary of America Online, the company is the leading provider to AOLnet. AOLnet supports more than eight million subscribers worldwide. Headquartered in Elmsford, NY, ANS has offices in North America and Europe. Information about ANS is available on the World Wide Web at www.ans.net.
NOTE: ANS InterLock and ANS SecureConnection are service marks of ANS Communications. All other company names and products are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective companies.
SOURCE ANS Communications
-0- 2/11/97
/CONTACT: Kevin Kosh of Carleton, Heffner, Ewen, Nashawaty, Inc., 617-235-2422 or kkosh@tiac.net/
CO: ANS Communications ST: New York IN: CPR SU: PDT
LZ -- NETU016 -- 2023 02/11/97 08:12 EST http://www.prnewswire.com
