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Thursday, October 24, 2013

'12 Years A Slave' Leads Gotham Awards Nominees

Steve McQueen’s 12 Years a Slave led the field as nominations for the 23rd annual Gotham Independent Film Awards were announced today. The Fox Searchlight release, which offers a searing look at slavery in the American South, claimed three nominations -- best feature, best actor for Chiwetel Ejiofor and breakthrough actor for Lupita Nyong’o.

With the Independent Filmmaker Project, which presents the awards, spreading nominations among 23 films, five other features received two nominations each. That group was made up of Blue Caprice, Concussion, Fruitvale Station, Inside Llewyn Davis and Upstream Color.

PHOTOS: '12 Years a Slave': Exclusive Portraits of Star-Producer Brad Pitt and His Cast

Nominees in the best actor and best actress categories, introduced for the fist time this year, included such established performers like Robert Redford (All Is Lost), Matthew McConaughey (Dallas Buyers Club), Cate Blanchett (Blue Jasmine) and Scarlett Johansson (Don Jon), alongside less familiar names.

In addition to Slave, the nominees for best feature included David Lowery’s tale of love on the run Ain’t Them Bodies Saints, Richard Linklater’s relationship study Before Midnight, Joel Coen and Ethan Coen’s foray into the ‘60s folk scene Inside Llewyn Davis and Shane Carruth’s allegorical romance Upstream Color.

PHOTOS: Cannes: Carey Mulligan, Justin Timberlake Hit 'Inside Llewyn Davis' Premiere

Linklater is also set to receive a tribute at the Gotham Awards ceremony, which will be held Dec. 2 at Cipriani Wall Street in New York City. Tributes are also planned for actor Forest Whitaker and Katherine Oliver, who heads the NYC Mayor’s Office of Media and Entertainment.

Gotham Awards will be handed out in seven competitive categories. Nominees were selected by panels of film critics, journalists, festival programmers and film curators. Separate juries of filmmakers will determine the winners in six categories, while moviegoers will choose the winner of the audience award online. The Gotham Awards focus on independent American movies from U.S.-based or U.S.-born directors that are made “with a point of view and with an economy of means.”

A complete list of nominees follows:

Best Feature

12 Years a Slave

Steve McQueen, director; Brad Pitt, Dede Gardner, Jeremy Kleiner, Bill Pohlad, Steve McQueen, Arnon Milchan, Anthony Katagas, producers. (Fox Searchlight Pictures)

Ain’t Them Bodies Saints

David Lowery, director; Tony Halbrooks, James M. Johnston, Jay Van Hoy, Lars Knudsen, Amy Kaufman, Cassian Elwes, producers (IFC Films)

Before Midnight

Richard Linklater, director; Richard Linklater, Christos V. Konstantakopoulos, Sara Woodhatch, producers (Sony Pictures Classics)

Inside Llewyn Davis

Joel Coen and Ethan Coen, directors; Scott Rudin, Joel Coen, Ethan Coen, producers (CBS Films)

Upstream Color

Shane Carruth, director; Shane Carruth, Casey Gooden, Ben LeClair, producers. (erbp)

Best Documentary

The Act of Killing

Joshua Oppenheimer, director; Signe Byrge, Joshua Oppenheimer, producers (Drafthouse Films)

The Crash Reel

Lucy Walker, director; Julian Cautherly, Lucy Walker, producers (HBO Documentary Films)

First Cousin Once Removed

Alan Berliner, director and producer (HBO Documentary Films)

Let the Fire Burn

Jason Osder, director and producer (Zeitgeist Films)

Our Nixon

Penny Lane, director; Brian L. Frye, Penny Lane, producers (Cinedigm and CNN Films)

Bingham Ray Breakthrough Director Award

Ryan Coogler for Fruitvale Station (The Weinstein Company)

Adam Leon for Gimme the Loot (Sundance Selects)

Alexandre Moors for Blue Caprice (Sundance Selects)

Stacie Passon for Concussion (RADiUS-TWC)

Amy Seimetz for Sun Don’t Shine (Factory 25)

Best Actor

Chiwetel Ejiofor in 12 Years a Slave (Fox Searchlight Pictures)

Oscar Isaac in Inside Llewyn Davis (CBS Films)

Matthew McConaughey in Dallas Buyers Club (Focus Features)

Robert Redford in All Is Lost (Lionsgate and Roadside Attractions)

Isaiah Washington in Blue Caprice (Sundance Selects)

Best Actress

Cate Blanchett in Blue Jasmine (Sony Pictures Classics)

Scarlett Johansson in Don Jon (Relativity Media)

Brie Larson in Short Term 12 (Cinedigm)

Amy Seimetz in Upstream Color (erbp)

Shailene Woodley in The Spectacular Now (A24)

Breakthrough Actor

Dane DeHaan in Kill Your Darlings (Sony Pictures Classics)

Kathryn Hahn in Afternoon Delight (The Film Arcade and Cinedigm)

Michael B. Jordan in Fruitvale Station (The Weinstein Company)

Lupita Nyong’o in 12 Years a Slave (Fox Searchlight Pictures)

Robin Weigert in Concussion (RADiUS-TWC)

The nominating committees consisted of:

Nominating Committee for Best Feature and Breakthrough Director:

Scott Foundas, Lead Film Critic, Variety

Eric Kohn, Lead Film Critic, Indiewire

Christy Lemire, Film Critic, ChristyLemire.com and co-host, What the Flick?!

Andrew O’Hehir, Film Critic, Salon.com

Dana Stevens, Movie Critic, Slate

Nominating Committee for Best Actor, Best Actress, and Breakthrough Actor:

Justin Chang, Senior Film Critic, Variety

Noah Cowan, Artistic Director, TIFF Bell Lightbox

Lisa Kennedy, Denver Post Film and Theater Film Critic

David Rooney, Film & Theater Critic, The Hollywood Reporter

Leah Rozen, freelance entertainment writer

Nominating Committee for Best Documentary:

Charlotte Cook, Director of Programming, Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festiva

lBen Fowlie, Founder & Executive Director, Camden International Film Festival

Cynthia Fuchs, Film-TV Editor, PopMatters

Mike Maggiore, Programmer and Publicist, Film Forum

Sky Sitney, Festival Director, AFI Docs

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/thr/news/~3/rVBtikPRG-M/12-years-a-slave-leads-650576
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Apple gears up for holidays with new Macs, iPads

Phil Schiller, Apple's senior vice president of worldwide product marketing, introduces the new iPad Air on Tuesday, Oct. 22, 2013, in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)

Apple CEO Tim Cook speaks on stage before a new product introduction on Tuesday, Oct. 22, 2013, in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)

Craig Federighi, senior vice president of Software Engineering at Apple, speaks on stage before a new product announcement on Tuesday, Oct. 22, 2013, in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)

Apple CEO Tim Cook speaks on stage before a new product introduction on Tuesday, Oct. 22, 2013, in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)

Craig Federighi, senior vice president of Software Engineering at Apple, speaks on stage before a new product announcement on Tuesday, Oct. 22, 2013, in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Apple Inc. is refreshing its iPad lineup in hopes of reclaiming lost ground in the tablet market and slashing the prices of its Mac computers to intensify the pressure on the beleaguered makers of PCs running Microsoft's Windows.

Tuesday's unveiling of Apple's latest products primes the company for a holiday shopping season onslaught aimed at a list of rivals that includes Google Inc., Samsung Electronics, Amazon.com Inc. and Microsoft Corp.

A thinner, lighter and faster-running tablet computer called the iPad Air highlighted the event in San Francisco. Apple Inc. also showed off a souped-up iPad Mini that boasts a faster microprocessor, a high-definition display screen and a higher price than its predecessor.

The iPad upgrades, coming a year after the release of the tablet's previous generation, fell largely in line with analyst expectations.

In a surprise, Apple is introducing slightly revamped MacBook Pros at prices 9 percent to 13 percent below the previous versions. What's more, Apple is giving away its latest Mac operating system — Mavericks — for free, as well as several pieces of software, including programs called iWorks and iLife that provide many of the same tools as Microsoft's Office.

"We are turning the industry on its ear," Apple CEO Tim Cook said of the company's strategy.

Technology analyst Patrick Moorhead predicted the discounted MacBook Pros will force personal computer makers to cut the prices of their machines by at least $100 for the holidays.

And Ovum analyst Jan Dawson thinks Apple's giveaway of the operating system and software programs "is now teaching people to expect both of those things to be free. While this won't disrupt Microsoft's business overnight, it will create further pressure on Microsoft to bring down prices."

If that happens, it would be another blow for Microsoft, which has seen its Windows revenue suffer in recent years as personal computer sales sink amid a shift to smartphones and tablets.

Apple triggered the upheaval with the 2007 release of the first iPhone followed up with the 2010 introduction of the iPad.

While both products have a fierce following, Apple has been losing market share to rivals who primarily make mobile devices running on Google's Android software. As Apple is now doing with its Mavericks software for Macs, Google gives away Android to device makers who can afford to undercut the prices for iPhones and iPads.

Despite the competitive pressure, Apple has steadfastly refused to cut prices on its top-of-the-line products. Instead, it has sold older versions of its Phones and iPads at slight discounts to consumers who are willing to settle for something less than state-of-the-art technology.

The Cupertino, Calif. company is hewing to that philosophy with its latest tablets. The iPad Air will start at $499, just like its predecessors, while the new iPad Mini will sell for $399 — a 21 percent increase from the price of the first Mini. The price of the original Mini, which runs at slower speeds and lacks a high-definition display screen, is falling from $329 to $299.

As it has done for more than year, Apple will continue selling the iPad 2 — a tablet that came out two-and-half years ago — for $399.

"Apple doesn't want to play in the mud with declining prices" on iPads, Moorhead said.

The strategy hasn't been a hit with investors who are unhappy with the Cupertino, Calif. company's slowing growth as it loses sales to lower-priced alternatives. Wall Street also is disillusioned with Apple's lack of another breakthrough product since the death of co-founder and chief visionary Steve Jobs two years ago.

Apple's stock dipped $1.49 to close at $519.87 Tuesday. The shares remain about 25 percent below their peak reached 13 months ago.

The iPad Air's main appeal is a more svelte design and a faster microprocessor, the same kind of chip in the iPhone 5S that Apple released a month ago. The new tablet weighs just 1 pound, compared with 1.4 pounds for the previous version. Apple marketing chief Phil Schiller hailed it as a "screaming fast iPad," noting that it is eight times faster than the original model that came out in 2010.

The iPad Air will go on sale Nov. 1. The new iPad Mini will be available at a still-to-be-determined date later in November.

They are coming out at a time when Apple needs to reassert itself in a tablet market. Google, Amazon.com and Samsung have been winning over consumers with flashy tablets that sell for $200 to $400. None of the rivals boast the 475,000 apps that Apple says are made for the iPad, but that vast selection hasn't mattered to many cost-conscious consumers.

The research firm Gartner Inc. estimates that Android tablets will end 2013 with a 50 percent share of the worldwide market versus 49 percent for the iPad. Just two years ago, the iPad commanded a 65 percent market share compared to 30 percent for Android tablets.

Apple sold 14.6 million iPads during the three months ending in June, down 14 percent from the same time last year. It marked the first time Apple has posted a year-over-year decline in iPad sales.

It might have happened again in the latest quarter ending in September. Although Apple isn't scheduled to report its results for the latest quarter until next Monday, a statistic released at Tuesday's event gave a hint of how the iPad fared in the period.

Cook said Apple's total iPad sales since the device's inception surpassed 170 million units earlier this month. Given that Apple sold 155 million iPads through June, that means fewer than 15 million were sold in the quarter ending in September. Apple sold 14 million iPads in last year's quarter ending in September.

Ortutay reported from New York.

Associated PressSource: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/495d344a0d10421e9baa8ee77029cfbd/Article_2013-10-22-US-TEC-Apple-Event/id-aacb1e53d77d46bda1e6493421b1a5d1
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Move over, silver: See the new favorite car color

TROY, Mich. (AP) — Move over, silver.

After more than a decade as the world's favorite car color, silver is falling in popularity to white. PPG Industries, the leading supplier of automotive paints, says 25 percent of the vehicles it supplied in the 2013 model year were white. Silver and black tied for second, with 18 percent each.

Apple Inc., with its white stores and slim white gadgets, made white a high-tech color. The variety of whites — from flat shades to creamy pearls — is also contributing, says Jane Harrington, PPG's manager of automotive color styling.

Harrington says automakers are currently scouting colors for the 2016 and 2017 model years. She predicts jewel-like colors such as rich greens and deep purples will be popular. Grays and browns are also gaining.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/white-replaces-silver-favorite-car-color-173207706--finance.html
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You Can Now Buy Guns on Instagram Without a Background Check

Not just for letting people know what you're eating! Illegal arms dealers, forced out of Craigslist, have turned to the social photography app to market their wares. And according to a new report from The Daily Beast, it's largely legal.

Windows 8.1: The key security improvements

It's no secret that Windows XP is nearly six months away from its formal end-of-life support from Microsoft. Although many IT organizations have begun the migration to Windows 7 and some are testing Windows 8, a very large percentage of companies have made little effort to move from XP.

I believe users will prefer Window 7 because it's more familiar and has fewer big changes to stress about compared to Windows 8 or its newly released update, Windows 8.1. Plus, few PCs have touch capability, which is important because using Windows 8 on nontouch PCs is awkward. But there's an important reason to consider moving to Windows 8.1 despite the greater comfort of using Windows 7: Windows 8.1's better security.

[ Woody Leonhard says Windows 8.1 is a new version but the same mess. | Galen Gruman compares Windows 8.1 to OS X Mavericks. | Roger Grimes explains how Windows 8.1 stops pass-the-hash attacks. | Stay abreast of key Microsoft technologies in our Technology: Microsoft newsletter. ]

According to Dustin Ingalls, group program manager at Microsoft for Windows security and identity, one of the major problems enterprises face today is the hit-or-miss security functionality seen in users' PCs. For example, many PCs don't have a Trusted Platform Module (TPM) chip, which is required to encrypt a Windows 8 PC's contents via Microsoft's BitLocker encryption technology. A TPM is also required to support InstantGo (previously called Connected Standby), which keeps Metro data, apps, and tiles updated with current information through a network connection that allows automatic syncing. Microsoft is pushing for TPM 2.0 to be required on all devices by January 2015, but there's no such requirement for today's devices.

All editions of Windows 8.1 (including the RT version) now support BitLocker encryption using both TPMs and the hardware-level UEFI protection approach. The trick is to make sure your PCs are InstantGo-certified so that you can take advantage of the encryption. Microsoft is also working on biometrics for both touch and swipe readers. "The goal is to move toward biometrics for everything from the Windows Store app to logging into secure sites, as well as your OS itself," Ingalls says.

Multifactor authentication is also enhanced in Windows 8.1 with virtual smart cards (VSCs), which uses the TPM to provides two-factor authentication, just like a physical smart card does. One is factor is the password or PIN, the other is VSC, with the private key stored on the system's hard drive.

Windows Defender has been enhanced with network behavior monitoring to help stop the execution of malware. Sometimes malware is known, other times it isn't, so Defender now looks at "bad behaviors in memory, the registry, or the file system, even before signatures have been created," Ingalls says. In addition, Internet Explorer 11 scans binary extensions (ActiveX, for example) in use before potentially harmful code runs. In contrast, pre-Windows 8.1 systems may allow malicious sites to exploit vulnerabilities in binary extensions like ActiveX controls. Additionally, IE's Enhanced Protection Mode is now enabled by default in the Windows Desktop version of IE. (It was autoenabled in the Metro edition in Windows 8.0, as it still is in Windows 8.1.)

Windows 8.1 introduces Remote Data Removal, which allows organizations to remove company data (email, attachments, and orporate data that came from Work Folders) without completely wiping the personal user's data in the process. Note that this capability requires Windows Server 2012 R2 to support Work Place Join and Work Folders.

Security is always going to be a concern for both the home and corporate user, even more so when you consider many users work from home PCs and other personal devices. As an IT admin looking to ensure the greatest level of security, you should give serious consideration to adopting Windows 8.1 instead of Windows 7.

This story, "Windows 8.1: The key security improvements," was originally published at InfoWorld.com. Read more of J. Peter Bruzzese's Enterprise Windows blog and follow the latest developments in Windows at InfoWorld.com. For the latest business technology news, follow InfoWorld.com on Twitter.

Source: http://images.infoworld.com/d/microsoft-windows/windows-81-the-key-security-improvements-229263?source=rss_infoworld_top_stories_
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Smartphone competition weighs on LG earnings

A man uses his mobile phone near a banner advertising LG Electronics' G2 smartphone at downtown Seoul, South Korea, Thursday, Oct. 24, 2013. LG Electronics Inc. said third quarter profit slid 34 percent as it cut prices and spent more on marketing to carve out a share of the high-end smartphone market. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — LG Electronics Inc. said its handset business sank into the red for the first time in a year as it cut prices and spent more on marketing to carve out a share of the high-end smartphone market.

The South Korean company reported Thursday that its mobile communications business lost 79.7 billion won ($75.5 million) in the July-September period, even after selling 12 million smartphones. It was the first red ink since the third quarter last year.

The result shows the challenges faced by handset makers trying to break into the premium smartphone market dominated by Samsung and Apple.

Samsung Electronics Co. and Apple Inc. captured 98 percent of profit generated from smartphone sales worldwide in the April-June quarter, according to Counterpoint Research, leaving just 2 percent for other makers to scrap over.

LG blamed its weak result on higher marketing costs to promote the G2 smartphone, its flagship model released last month, and intense competition that forced it to lower prices.

LG was a distant third in the smartphone market after Samsung and Apple in the April-June period, according to Strategy Analytics.

The company has tried to elevate its brand to convince consumers to pay a premium for its smartphones and also separate it from Chinese handset makers that are doing well in sales of lower priced handsets. But that has not proven easy as LG doesn't have as much cash as Samsung to spend on lavish marketing campaigns.

LG reported overall third-quarter earnings far below forecast. Its July-September net income was 108.5 billion won ($103 million) compared with 164.5 billion won a year earlier.

Analysts forecast 197.6 billion won, according to financial data provider FactSet.

Quarterly sales rose 5 percent to 13.9 trillion won ($12.5 billion). Operating profit was up 27 percent to 217.8 billion won.

___

Follow Youkyung Lee on Twitter: www.twitter.com/YKLeeAP

Associated PressSource: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/495d344a0d10421e9baa8ee77029cfbd/Article_2013-10-24-SKorea-Earns-LG%20Electronics/id-fb392a9dda704c92875835ff5659c31a
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Wednesday, October 23, 2013

Netflix On The Moon? Broadband Makes It To Deep Space

NASA's Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer (LADEE) probe, seen in this artist's rendering, is orbiting the moon to gather detailed information about the lunar surface.

Dana Berry/NASA

Here's a funny quirk of the modern age: It takes just seconds to pull up a bad sci-fi movie about invaders from the moon and watch it in HD. But actual communications between the Earth and moon are just as static-filled as they were back in the 1960s.

Until now. NASA says it's just got a lunar broadband connection up and running. The new connection is just a test, but it could allow scientists to collect more data from spacecraft and rovers. It could also allow astronauts to maintain good communications as they travel further from Earth.

Communications in deep space haven't changed a lot since NASA launched its earliest probes in the late 1950s. Everyone still uses giant radio dishes to talk to rovers on Mars or spacecraft orbiting Mercury. Radio is dependable, but here on Earth, we've moved on. Aside from NPR on your car radio, you probably get most of your news via broadband. And broadband sends data in pulses of laser light.

"Our Internet is completely powered by pulsed lasers that run through optical fibers in big cities," says Don Cornwell, project manager for the new communications system at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland.

Lasers are fast and can send huge amounts of data a long way. But doing it from space presents a problem: Ever tried to steady a laser pointer during a presentation?

"Try doing it over 400,000 kilometers," Cornwell says

That's just what Cornwell and his colleagues from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Lincoln Laboratory have done. They put a laser transmitter built at MIT aboard a probe called the Lunar and Atmospheric Dust Environment Explorer, which is currently orbiting the moon. Using some very precisely aimed telescopes on Earth, they've been able to send and receive data at broadband speeds.

"We're currently demonstrating 622 megabits per second of data transmission, from the moon down to the Earth," Cromwell says. That's already six times faster than the fastest radio communications, and the laser system could eventually be much faster still.

It's not perfect. For example, it won't work if it's cloudy on Earth. For that reason, Cromwell's team have built multiple ground stations in California, New Mexico and on the island of Tenerife in Spain. And the laser would have to be boosted in power in order to work over longer distances, like between the Earth and Mars.

But if it can be built, it will be a huge help to astronauts on deep-space missions. For example, a laser system could transmit HD video of equipment in need of fixing to engineers back on Earth, Cornwell says. Astronauts could also get their fill of really bad sci-fi.

Those missions are father off, but the unmanned probes of today would also benefit, says John Grotzinger, project scientist for the Curiosity Rover now exploring Mars. Like everyone else, Curiosity uses standard radio communications, and Grotzinger says it's holding the team back: "With this additional [laser] capability we would be less limited in terms of how much data we could both acquire and downlink to Earth," he told NPR in an e-mail. "That would be a really nice improvement."

Source: http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2013/10/23/240250006/netflix-on-the-moon-broadband-makes-it-to-deep-space?ft=1&f=1019
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