Wednesday, January 23, 2013

Movie Review: The Last Stand & Rust and Bone | Gay Richmond ...

Daddies and pretty boys of a different kind

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The Last Stand

Director: Jee-woon Kim

Writers: Andrew Knauer (screenplay), Jeffrey Nachmanoff (rewrite), and 2 more credits ?

Stars: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Forest Whitaker and Johnny Knoxville

Runtime: 107 min

A Mexican crime lord escapes from the FBI and it?s up to a small town sheriff (Arnold Schwarzenegger) and to stop him. There are some cool driving stunts, but most of the action is nothing special. The pacing keeps it moving, but the screenplay is simply painful: predictable, for sure, but lacking in so many ways. There were lots of opportunities for character comedy and smart retorts, but none of it was realized. This might have been a fun vehicle (featuring several fast Chevys), but the writing condemned it to an awful accident: avert your eyes!

GAY ANGLE: Although Arnold is way past sexy (unless you?re into daddies), the supporting cast has several hotties.

?

Rust and Bone

Director: Jacques Audiard

Writers: Jacques Audiard (screenplay), Thomas Bidegain (screenplay)

Stars: Marion Cotillard, Matthias Schoenaerts and Armand Verdure

Runtime: 120 min

Marion Cotillard stars as a whale trainer who loses her legs (thanx to some impressive CGI) and Matthias Schoenaerts plays a street fighter (and father of a young boy) who can?t seem to get his act together. This French import develops thru their relationship, which unfolds in typical European episodic style (less narrative, fewer words). The performances are solid, but it?s never particularly moving or forceful. A well-told character study.

GAY ANGLE: Schoenaerts isn?t a typical Hollywood pretty boy, but he has a rough sexiness (and you see it all).

?

Jerry Williams reviewed movies for WTVR-TV for 14 years and for Style Weekly for 10 years. When he launched his own website in 1998 at TVJerry.com, he took his reviews to the Internet. Through those hundreds of reviews, Jerry kept his sexual orientation muted. So, he's excited to be adding "gay angles" to his postings for GayRVA.com.

Source: http://www.gayrva.com/arts-culture/nightlife/movie-review-the-last-stand-rust-and-bone/

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Google's Q4 Earnings - Business Insider

? Revenue: $14.42 billion vs. $12.36 billion

? Non-GAAP EPS: $10.65 vs. $10.52.

? CPC was down 6% year over year, but up 2% q/q, arresting what had been a quarterly decline for the past several quarters.

That's a decent beat, and the stock is up 3%.

?We ended 2012 with a strong quarter,? CEO Larry Page said in a canned quote.

?Revenues were up 36% year-on-year, and 8% quarter-on-quarter. And we hit $50 billion in revenues for the first time last year ? not a bad achievement in just a decade and a half. In today?s multi-screen world we face tremendous opportunities as a technology company focused on user benefit. It?s an incredibly exciting time to be at Google.?

Google will have an earnings call to discuss the earnings starting around 4:30pm.

Google

Knowledge graph is bringing perfect search closer. Search for Nikola Tesla, you get this beautiful page of results. No need to look further.

Last quarter knowledge graph in seven new languages.

Most accurate and comprehensive maps in the world. A few years ago driving around the world to map it out might seem crazy. Today, makes sense.

Google Maps for iOS reinvigorated the product. It was downloaded over 10 million times in 48 hours. In fact, Google Maps are [loved by iOS users].

We feel naked w. out our smartphones. Many users have a latop, phone, tablet, we are in "uncharted" territory. Faster adoption than ever before. That's why we put so much focus on devices. One of our biggest bets. As well as software. Best of Google in one easy to use package.

I love mine. Takes care of itself.

Could do better managing supply. Considering holiday excitement, there is a tremendous opportunity.

Deals with Time and Warner Music Group, deals with movies, music and publishers, not even Play's 1 year anniversary.

Smartphones should have better batteries. Phones shouldn't go splat.

Every day I come to work excited about what we're doing. Build world changing products. Ambitious plans we have are only just getting started.

Motorola home operations is presented as discontinued operations, it makes y/y and q/q comps harder.

I can't live blog these, I will miss stuff. So I will grab important numbers/ideas.

At the very beginning. No one should be surprised if results are variable. We're working thru a 12-18 month product pipeline.

Would have been down 4% y/y if not for that.

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Top 25 advertisers spend $150 million per year on average.

Video baked into core of all our products.

YouTube well positioned for changing viewing habits. Increase in engagement from redesign. Available across mobile devices and connected devices.

Outside estimates of Gangnam generated $8 million in revenue.

Channel partners on YT doing six figures.

Strong signal of the power of YT to reach viewers.

NA growth was robust. Asia was steady.

Southern Europe softer.

Enterprise gaining traction.

Patrick: On Google sites, quite a bit of noise because of FX. Overall, pleased with growth around 20%, last quarter more headwinds. We are pleased with YouTube business. Despite FX noise, which carriers over to sites, we're pleased with overall growth.

On TAC, as we said, we think of TAC, it's distribution and it's worth paying for. Our apps across, and it's true for mobile. All of the mobile is thriving to the extent that it is. Nothing new here, but excited by the trends.

Larry: Rolled out knowledge graph recently, some of the internationalization is hard work. Something like 1% of where we should be. Economics point, I think, way we look at it is we provide better answers, so we can grow the business. Increase the modality, voice, mobile, I'm super excited. Generally we monetize these things.

Knowledge runs on right side where ads run, so could be short term impact, but getting people better answers is good in the long run.

Just rolled out Google shopping. Tremendous uptake from consumers, but no details on how it will change.

Larry: I think we've always done a good job sending people to the right places. I don't think that being able to answer complex question wouldn't mean sending to other site. I think I used the hotel. Still might use other sites. But we are looking at those things. Google aspiration do that for any area, not just travel. Working with as many companies as we can. Trying to be practical about it. Assets in travel.

Patrick: Answer, [CPC] on a y/y basis, down 4%, on q/q up 1%, fix FX adjusted

Larry: I think that people are always focused on monetization of maps. Important to look at history. Thought it was critical to search experience. If we look at part that is geographically related, we need to understand where things are in the real world. We make quite a bit of money on web search, so we already make quite a bit of money in that way, which let us make those investments. Early stages of monetization on maps themselves. Still in early stages.

Asking about graph search ... when we think about search, organize the world's information. Been at that for quite a while. Investments in all sorts of areas like maps. There's knowledge search, mixing data, we continue to do that. Our business changed a lot. 10 years ago what you thought Google should do almost unrecognizable what it can do now.

Look at voice, and all the investment we've done there. Very focused on that.

Now is another example, answers question before you ask it.

So I feel confident of our core business. I couldn't be more excited.

Larry: I think we are excited ... in early days of Motorola in terms of Google's acquisition of it.

On driverless cars, early days. Excited about it and what it can mean for ordinary people.

Android, diff than automated cars.

Patrick: On Motorola, we do want it to be profitable. Don't forget we're working through a product pipeline.

Larry: Mobile business, doing well, tremendous growth. Serving users well, amazing progress. Rate of improvement is high. Assume usage will follow good products. Consider mobile extension of our desktop. People use maps on desktop, transferred very well. Chrome on Android is an amazing experience. Those phones are like using a desktop last year. Experiences improving a lot and quickly. Very optimistic about it. CPCs will improve. I mentioned we are working to simplify advertising process. Excited about that.

Larry: We run a number of businesses. We have a lot of people, growing at edge of what's reasonable. It has moderated.

Patrick: If you go back, it has been really lumpy. Gone from billions to hundreds of millions. Testament. You'll see a data center, we spend for data center, then an extension, just the nature of the business. Quite lumpy. A billion of CapEx, aligned with excitement around our products. Fueled by positive momentum in many areas, now is time to invest.

Larry: We find our business works better if our hiring is reasonably smooth.

Larry: Not making predictions about CPCs. I don't think this is a long term problem. I think as I've said before, advantages to mobile. Notified instantly, camera, lots of opportunities, expect that OT revolutionize marketing. Generate a lot more money than we do now.

Nikesh: On China ... we do operate there. We have ad sales. Many Android users.

Patrick: In case of Motorola no impairment related to patents from FTC decision.

Larry: Early, but excited.

Patrick: Excited about Kansas City, focused on KC, growing in terms of installs, people love the product. It's been a great success overall. It's not a hobby, we think we should be making good business, look at business expanding. We got to nail, good place to debug the product and the experience.

Larry: Over next few years, best way to predict future is to make it, so that's what we're trying to do. Google Now, if you have your question before you have it. Wouldn't it be great for you if we had answers to your questions. Would save you some time.?

Patrick: On display, we'll give numbers occasionally, but not on Q/Q.

Nikesh on iOS YouTube app: Tremendous success, we think we're excited and we think partners excited too.

Source: http://www.businessinsider.com/live-googles-q4-earnings-2013-1

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Bulgarian defends decision to attack politician

Image grab from video shows a man identified as Oktai Enimehmedov, 25, as he points a weapon at Ahmed Dogan, left, leader of the Movement for Rights and Freedoms, during his speech at his party's congress in Sofia, on Saturday Jan. 19, 2013. Dogan struck the man before other delegates wrestled the assailant to the ground, and no shots were fired. Police took the man away.(AP Photo/ BTVnews)

Image grab from video shows a man identified as Oktai Enimehmedov, 25, as he points a weapon at Ahmed Dogan, left, leader of the Movement for Rights and Freedoms, during his speech at his party's congress in Sofia, on Saturday Jan. 19, 2013. Dogan struck the man before other delegates wrestled the assailant to the ground, and no shots were fired. Police took the man away.(AP Photo/ BTVnews)

SOFIA, Bulgaria (AP) ? A Bulgarian who tried to shoot a gas pistol at the leader of his country's ethnic Turkish political party testified Tuesday that his only regret is that his weapon didn't work.

"I did not intend to kill Ahmed Dogan. I just intended to scare him," Oktay Enimehmedov told a court hearing.

Enimehmedov, 25, has been charged with making a murder threat and hooliganism for aiming the gas pistol at Dogan's head on Jan. 19 as the leader of Bulgaria's Movement for Rights and Freedom was on a stage giving a speech at his party's annual conference in Sofia, the capital of Bulgaria.

The gun didn't fire and Dogan, 58, was not harmed, but Dogan pushed the gunman's hand, then dove to the floor as other people at the conference wrestled Enimehmedov to the ground and repeatedly punched and kicked him.

"I regret only that my gun misfired," Enimehmedov told the court hearing, which denied him bail for two reasons: he could flee and his own safety could be at risk.

Experts say a gas pistol is a nonlethal weapon used for self-defense, but that when fired from close range it can cause life-threatening injuries.

A TV video of the attack, which went viral on Internet, has prompted hundreds of Bulgarians to demand that delegates who beat Enimehmedov be brought to justice. On Tuesday, Deputy Prosecutor General Borislav Sarafov told reporters an investigation of the beating of Enimehmedov is under way and that those responsible could face charges.

Dogan's Movement for Rights and Freedom party mainly represents ethnic Turks and other Muslims in Bulgaria, who make up 12 percent of the nation's 7.3-million people. Dogan has been the party's leader since he founded it in 1990, and the Jan. 19 conference chose Lyutvi Mestan, Dogan's deputy, as his successor.

On Tuesday, an alliance of European political parties issued a statement asking the European Union to hold a plenary hearing about the rule of law and personal freedoms in Bulgaria in the wake of the assault on Dogan.

Guy Verhofstadt, the leader of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe, said: "It was a miracle that the incident did not end up tragically and should not be dismissed lightly." He said that such an attack on a party leader "raises broader questions on the state of democracy in Bulgaria."

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/cae69a7523db45408eeb2b3a98c0c9c5/Article_2013-01-22-Bulgaria-Threat/id-e34211e9a462406cb63b6dc62a4d4baf

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Our Taxing Times: Voluntary Licensing?

With the current IRS licensing on hold, Robert Flach, the Wandering Tax Pro, proposed a voluntary licensing program on his blog and asked for comments and thoughts. Here are mine.

This is all conjecture since we don?t know yet know how the IRS will respond to the defeat. But assuming the decision doesn?t get overturned and Congress doesn?t pass a proper law here is what I think about a voluntary tax preparer certification/licensing program.

The PTIN program is continuing. Loving vs. IRS didn?t change that. I also don?t think the fees will change because the IRS needs to cover the cost of the registration program and PTIN database. Renewal should be annually or at the most every two years. Over 2 years and the lists become stale.

As for the voluntary licensing, which one? It would be nice to think that one of the existing tax preparer organizations will create a definitive program but I can see testing and certification programs popping up all over the place. That could be the downfall of a voluntary program; too many options and criteria. Each program would have their own designation and qualifications. Tax preparers could chose the program they like the best (easiest test, least continuing education, lowest cost). Taxpayers would be confused trying to keep the designations separate.

If I was creating the program, I would have a mandatory test and annual continuing education of at least 15 hours for anyone preparing over 10-15 returns a year. I wouldn?t have grandfathering (sorry Robert) because I?ve seen too many ?experienced? preparers make mistakes. If you?re going to have a standard, everyone should have to meet the same standard no matter how long they?ve been in business or how many returns they do a year. Keep it simple.

About the test. It wouldn?t be open book. It should go a bit beyond the minimum knowledge of the RTRP test. If you?re going to competency test someone, you should really test their knowledge especially if you are going to market that person as an expert.

I also don?t care what they call the new program as long as it won?t be confused with ?Enrolled Agent?.

The key to any licensing program is education of taxpayers. They have to know how it?s to their advantage to use a certified/licensed tax preparer as opposed to one who isn?t.

So that?s my idea for voluntary certification/licensing; a proper test and continuing education with the same standards for everyone. Then spend some money marketing your graduates to the taxpayers.

McIntire Tax Center - on Facebook - on Google+ - or Twitter @ mactax.

Source: http://www.ourtaxingtimes.com/2013/01/voluntary-licensing.html

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Tuesday, January 22, 2013

Leaked HTC Sense 5 screenshots suggest a leaner, cleaner skin

Leaked HTC Sense 5 screenshots suggest a leaner, cleaner skin

Did yesterday's uncertain glimpse at a new HTC phone leave you wanting? Then grab a tray and find a seat, because the right-hand image above comes from XDA developer mdeejay, who claims to have a working port of the forthcoming Sense 5 skin. On the left, we've stuck up a Sense 4+ lockscreen to highlight how the new UI feels much leaner, cleaner and flatter -- following much the same trend as Android itself. The 3D ring pull is gone, for starters, and the time and weather widgets also have a calmer and less skeuomorphic feel, with what looks like a thinner font (Roboto condensed?). These same widgets carry over to the apps screen, shown after the break (Sense 5 on the right), which in turn shows off fresh icons that persist with the minimalist flavor. Head over to the XDA link below for the full screenshot buffet.

Leaked HTC Sense 5 screenshots suggest a prettier, leaner skin

Myriam Joire contributed to this report.

Filed under: , , ,

Comments

Via: AndroidCentral

Source: XDA

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/01/22/leaked-htc-sense-5-screenshots/

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Exxon Mobil boss meets Iraqi leader in Baghdad

BAGHDAD (AP) ? Iraq's government says the head of Exxon Mobil has met with the prime minister to discuss the company's Iraq plans, which have angered Baghdad.

The meeting Monday in Baghdad comes as tensions rise between Iraq's Kurdish region and the central government over oil rights.

Exxon infuriated Baghdad by agreeing with the Kurds to hunt for oil in their largely autonomous region in late 2011. That pact includes exploration of land claimed by both the Kurds and Arabs.

The Irving, Texas-based firm has been planning to pull out of its stake in Iraq's 8.6-billion-barrel West Qurna-1 oil field and focus instead on the Kurdish contract.

The statement says Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and Exxon Chairman and CEO Rex Tillerson discussed the company's activities and working conditions in Iraq.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/exxon-mobil-boss-meets-iraqi-leader-baghdad-141805081--finance.html

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Monday, January 21, 2013

White veins of Mars: Curiosity hits 'a jackpot' in quest for wetter past

Curiosity rover has found mineral-filled fissures in the rocks of Gale Crater on Mars. Together with other evidence, the minerals suggest that the rocks were once 'saturated with water.'

By Pete Spotts,?Staff writer / January 15, 2013

An outcrop shows well-defined veins filled with whitish minerals, interpreted as calcium sulfate, in this photo taken by NASA's Curiosity rover on Mars.

MSSS/JPL-Caltech/NASA/REUTERS

Enlarge

White veins of minerals coursing through rocks on the floor of Mars's Gale Crater are providing some of the strongest evidence yet that the rover Curiosity's landing site once was a wetter, warmer place.

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The details are still fuzzy. But the composition of the minerals indicate that they precipitated out of water flowing through fissures in the rock, while large grains within the rocks themselves are rounded, suggesting that water might have dulled their sharp edges.

Yellowknife Bay, the rocky expanse Curiosity currently inhabits, "is literally shot through with these fractures," says John Grotzinger, a geologist at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena., Calif., and the mission's chief scientist.

It also features abundant, berry-shaped spherules that scientists say are sedimentary concretions formed in and worked over by water.?

All together, "basically these rocks were saturated with water," Dr. Grotzinger explained during a briefing Tuesday outlining the rover's latest exploits.

Yellowknife Bay represents "a jackpot unit," he added. Initially, researchers thought they might have to drive Curiosity up on the shoulders of Mt. Sharp, a towering summit in the middle of the crater, to find such a trove.

If Curiosity made these finds on Mt. Sharp, "we would have been absolutely thrilled," Grotzinger says.

Curiosity, a one-ton geochemistry lab on wheels, landed on Mars in August. Its goal is to see if the crater at one time could have been hospitable for simple forms of organic life. Curiosity has spent the past six months exercising its suite of 10 instruments and its seven-foot robotic arm in a series of tests aimed at ensuring all the hardware is working well before the rover heads for Mt. Sharp, its ultimate destination.

The rover probably won't begin to explore Mt. Sharp for another year.

Curiosity has traveled slightly more than a quarter of a mile, as the crow flies, since landing. Along the way, however, scientists have chosen targets for instrument tests that have already provided insights into the crater's geologic past ? including evidence for an ancient stream bed.

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/science/~3/FD0hETBeykI/White-veins-of-Mars-Curiosity-hits-a-jackpot-in-quest-for-wetter-past

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