Samsung’s Optical Smart Hub SE-208BW is a soon-to-be-available device that is in a category of it’s own. the Optical Smart Hub appears to be an external CD/DVD burner, but it’s so much more. It’s a “media hub” that will wirelessly stream and transfer any sort of data between your Android, an optical disk, and a USB Storage Drive. Hook an external hard drive to the Smart Hub and you have instant wireless access to all of its files. You can back up your phone wirelessly, use it as a wireless DVD or CD player, or use DLNA to wirelessly stream media to your TV.
What’s in the Box:
-SE-208BW Smart Hub-USB Y-Cable-Power Supply-Installation CD
The Samsung Optical Smart Hub looks just like an external CD/DVD drive, and a pretty slim one at that. It has smooth curves and it’s only about an inch thick. the Hub has a sturdy disk tray that pops out when you press the front button. There’s a disk activity LED on the front and four LEDs on the back: Power, USB, WLAN, and WAN. WLAN indicates Wi-Fi is broadcasting and WAN indicates wired internet is connected. It weighs about 15 ounces, or just under one pound.
The Hub is a CD/DVD reader/writer with read and write speeds of 8X for DVD/DVD-R/RWs and 24X for CD/CD-R/RWs. It uses USB 2.0 to interface with computers and external hard drives. It broadcasts 802.11b/g/n WiFi with speeds up to 150 Mbps (802.11n). there is a WPA2 encryption by default, which can be found on the bottom of the device. It supports DLNA (Samsung AllShare), FTP, iSCSI, and SAMBA.
For iOS and Android devices, the Smart Hub gives you complete, wireless, access to the CD/DVD drive and whatever USB drive you connect. From your mobile device you have full access to data on the optical drive and USB drive, and can transfer data freely. You can play media from either and you can also backup your Android/iOS device to either. the Smart Hub app is split into file manager, “smart backup”, and media players for Audio CDs, DVDs, Music(MP3s), and Videos. To burn CDs or DVDs with content from your Android/iOS device, an external drive needs to cache all the data first.
When you plug the Smart Hub into your computer using the USB Y-Cable (one mini-USB to two full sized USB plugs) it is detected as a regular CD/DVD reader/writer. This is the case with Windows and Mac, no special software is required. using the CD that came with Smart Hub you can install some of the more advanced features. You can change the SmartLink SSID and Password, configure the internet settings, and configure the iSCSI initiator. with a proper setup, you can use the Smart Hub as a wireless router.
The trickiest aspect of using/installing Smart Hub is understanding its capabilities. We reviewed a pre-release model with limited documentation. Once you understand what the Smart Hub is and how it works, you get a better sense of how to set it up. For instance, Smart Hub only needs a wired internet connection if you want it to broadcast internet on its Wi-Fi connection or access its data from computers on the home network. Advanced features like iSCSI, FTP, and SAMBA are not required, and if you don’t know what they are then you probably won’t be needing them.
Using the Smart Hub as an external CD/DVD burner couldn’t have been easier. Just plug it into the wall and into two USB slots on your computer and it’s almost immediately recognized and ready to burn. To access the optical disk or an external USB drive from your smart phone, you just need to first install the app from the Android Market or App Store (neither yet publicly available) and connect to the Smart Hub WiFi network. the SID and password is on the bottom of the device. From the app, everything is pretty intuitive. the pre-release version of the Android app works almost perfectly.
The wireless transfer speeds are pretty fast between the Android/iOS Device and the Smart Hub. Transfer speeds are the same whether it’s coming from, or going to, the Smart Hub. a 5MB song only takes about five seconds to transfer. a 350MB video took about 4 minutes. Content streams from disks and the external drive almost immediately, and smoothly. Burning optical disks obviously takes a lot longer (*cough* outdated technology *cough*). Data can be burned from any device, if it’s coming from the mobile device then it first has to be copied (or “cached”) to the external drive. Once the disk is finished recording, the tray ejects. It took about 10 minutes to burn 2GB of media files to a DVD-R from the external drive, which was pretty fast.
All-in-all, the Samsung Smart Hub is a very capable device with a lot of uses. Right off the bat it’s a great external CD/DVD burner or a wireless media hub and storage device for multiple iOS and Android devices. with a proper set up it can be much more, like a media server for the whole house or even a wireless router. While we had some slight issues with our pre-release model, we’re sure Samsung will have all the kinks worked out by the time it’s released. the Samsung SE-208BW Wireless Media Hub will be available early this year for $129.99. It’s a very nice complement for your MacBook Air, Netbook, or Ultrabook with missing CD/DVD drives.
The Good: Sleek, Light, Easy to use as External CD/DVD Burner, Ready-to-Use as Wireless Media Hub, Easiest way to Watch DVDs (and Listen to CDs) on Mobile Device, DLNA, FTP, Can use as Home Media Server
The bad: Pre-Release Software makes Advanced Setup Tricky, Couldn’t Test on iOS Devices (Not yet Available), Recording to Optical Disk Requires External USB Drive (Not Included), no way to directly Output to TV (No Video-Out Capabilities)
Here’s what your favourite movie stars are tweeting.Bollywood stars, who attended the special screening of Karan Johar’s remake of 1990 cult film Agneepath, loved it and tweeted their appreciation for the film.
Dino Morea tweeted: ‘Just saw Agneepath, brilliant. Full on entertainer. Performances awesome. WoW. Fab job karan malhotra, for a 1st time director, top class. @iHrithik , @priyankachopra , kancha, karan Malhotra @kjohar25 , and everyone else involved. take a bow. Brilliant. Ohhh and watching the lovely “Chikni” on a big screen, ufffff, those moves, stunning.’
Hrithik Roshan’s sister-in-law Farah Khan Ali wrote: ‘Moved beyond words. Cannot even begin to describe the feeling u leave the movie with. Agneepath Agneepath Agneepath. @iHrithik @kjohar25 Lastly but not in the least Katrina in the Chikni Chameli song is faaab. my new year resolution is to get her abs. Ha ha.’
Arjun Rampal loved the film too. ‘Just saw Agneepath superbly entertaining, @iHrithik is fab as usual, Sanju is bloody scary, Rishi Kapoor is unreal, priyanka fab, dir is a star. The whole cast and crew can start chilling the bubbly its another feather in the cap of @kjohar25 and Dharma, well done guys.chikni chamali,’ he updated.
Director Tarun Mansukhani tweeted: ‘Agneepath simply put is the finest film to come from Dharma! @ihrithik @priyankachopra, Rishi kapoor sir and Sanju Sir are all outstanding!! Karan Malhotra is one of the finest directors ever. such a learning experience watching his film!!’
As for Priyanka Chopra, she had a fun time. ‘Amazing screening for #agneepath last night with the cast n crew.. karan malhotra take a bow! Kaali Aali re aali!!!’ she wrote.
All change … children in a village in Shan state where Australian aid built a water tank. Photo: Lindsay Murdoch
Six months have made a world of difference to this isolated country that is now starting to welcome overtures from the West.
Lu Maw emerges from a dark lane-way leading to his home in Burma’s northern city of Mandalay, ignoring three chain-smoking government spies lurking in shadows.
”No time. Come with me. The show starts soon,” he says, referring to a live performance that Burmese are banned from seeing.
Lu Maw, the frontman for the Moustache Brothers comedy troupe, leads a small group of foreign journalists 200metres along the street to a tent where dozens of people are pushing to buy posters, calendars, coffee mugs, key rings and other souvenirs of pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi.
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Comedian Par Par Lay. Photo: Lindsay Murdoch
Only four months ago anyone in Burma displaying a photograph of Suu Kyi, known affectionately across the country as ”the lady,” would have been arrested and possibly jailed.
But momentous change appears to be underway in south-east Asia’s second-largest country, with a population of 59 million mostly impoverished people that borders China, Laos, Thailand, Bangladesh and India.
In front of a fund-raising tent for Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy, supporters chant ”Suu Kyi, Suu Kyi”, and surge forward to enthusiastically shake hands with the foreign journalists.
Souvenirs show Aung San Suu Kyi. Photo: Lindsay Murdoch
Thirty minutes later Lu Maw is warming up an audience of tourists sitting on plastic chairs in his family’s garage.
”Why don’t the people of Burma go to the dentist when they have a toothache?” Lu Maw asks.
”Because they can’t open their mouths!”
Every night Lu Maw, 62, his brother Par Par Lay, 64 and cousin Lu Zaw, 59, perform slapstick comedy and satire that is sharply critical of Burma’s former military rulers who jailed them in 1996 for telling a joke during a function at Suu Kyi’s home.
When most of the audience has gone, Lu Maw sits cross-legged on the concrete floor and predicts that Suu Kyi will one day be Burma’s president.
But he remains wary of the civilian government made up of former generals that has overseen a raft of changes that appears to signal a willingness to end their brutal rule. ”New bottle, old wine,” Lu Maw says.
Like hundreds of other released political prisoners the Moustache Brothers have become celebrities in the country where dissent had been brutally suppressed since a military coup in 1962.
Among 651 prisoners released last week were democracy activists, senior monks, ethnic leaders and even a former prime minister.
Crowds lined the roads to greet Min Ko Naing, the leader of a failed 1988 pro-democracy uprising, as he made the 550-kilometre journey from the jail in Thayet, in Burma’s north, to the former capital Rangoon.
People shouted ”good health” and ”long live Min Ko Naing” and showered him with flowers as he was escorted by dozens of motor cyclists, their horns blaring.
Min Ko Naing, 49, does not have the star status of Suu Kyi, the 66-year-old daughter of Burma’s independence hero Aung San, who spent 15 years under house arrest. But Min Ko Naing and dozens of others activists freed in recent amnesties will, like Suu Kyi, be key players in the country’s future.
Some are likely to challenge Burma’s ageing and superstitious leaders whose disastrous socialist dictatorship took the resource-rich country from being the ”rice bowl” of Asia and the shining jewel of the British empire into one of the poorest nations on earth.
Min Ko Naing told supporters outside the prison that he would continue their struggle and asked for their support.
”We were involved since 1988 because we wanted to help wipe away your tears but we ourselves had to cry when we saw the atrocities,” he said.
Even before many of the prisoners had arrived home the United States had announced it was normalising relations with Burma and would soon appoint an ambassador to the country after an absence of two decades.
Australia also has announced it will begin relaxing some financial and travel restrictions on serving and former government officials.
While the momentum for change will be difficult to reverse, reports have emerged of friction between moderates, such as the President, Thein Sein, implementing the reforms and military hardliners opposed to them.
But Shwe Mann, a former general who is considered one of the most powerful men in the government, insists there is ”no other way” but to embrace democracy.
”It’s very difficult to say how long it will take to become a democratic system,” Shwe Mann said this week. ”We cannot say the timetable exactly but we will quickly try our best to achieve our goals.”
Suu Kyi, who will contest an April byelection to enter parliament, acknowledges the military still wields enormous power and warns reforms are not unstoppable. But locals say Burma is a different place to six months ago as new freedoms take root, including new labour laws and the easing of media censorship.
Newspapers feature once-taboo news of the democracy movement and Suu Kyi. Websites such as CNN and the BBC, once denounced as ”sowing hatred among the people” and ”killer broadcasts designed to cause trouble” have been unblocked.
Young Burmese sit hunched over flickering screens in tiny internet shops watching YouTube and foreign news for the first time. Politics, once whispered for fear of imprisonment, is now discussed openly.
Generals living in luxurious mansions still drive around Rangoon in Land Cruisers with tinted windows but the city’s rubbish is now collected regularly. But it is early days. Many parts of Burma seem suspended in time. its stock exchange has no computers and even chairs appear to be in short supply as traders sit cross-legged on the pavement outside, juggling mobile phones.
In over-booked hotels, executives from around the world huddle in meetings with Burmese contacts planning for investment opportunities they hope will arise – possibly this year – when the US and European Union lift economic sanctions imposed in 1988. But potential investors will have to overcome many difficulties.
The red tape is stifling and laws weak or non-existent. Roads, ports and other infrastructure are collapsing after years of neglect, requiring multibillion-dollar upgrades.
Already the price of dilapidated colonial-era buildings in Rangoon has soared.
In Mandalay, the second-biggest city, motorcyclists queue around the block for petrol while people cram into ageing and overcrowded buses.
The city portrayed as an Eastern paradise in Rudyard Kipling’s poem on the Road to Mandalay has been reshaped into a bustling satellite of China where Chinese immigrants, mostly from Yunnan province, dominate upper Burma’s economy.
Residents say anti-Chinese sentiment is growing as China invests more in dams, roads and pipelines. A six-lane Chinese-built highway between Rangoon and Mandalay is the called the ”Great China Road”.
Deep divisions exist among Burma’s myriad ethnic groups and the powerful armed forces who for decades have been given extra privileges. While an average worker earns the equivalent of $70 a month, the starting salary for a school leaver entering the army is $300 with board and lodging included.
The military has built new hospitals for its soldiers across the country while medical care for millions of other people is poor or non-existent.
Near the former British hill station of Kalaw in central Burma teenage girls earn the equivalent of $3 a day filling road potholes by hand while soldiers roar past in new vehicles.
An estimated one-quarter of Burma’s national budget, or about $US2 billion, ($1.9 billion) is allocated to maintain more than 400,000 troops and another undisclosed fund is designated for ”defence against enemies” although the country has no external threats and has not fought a foreign war since the 19th century.
But there is no doubt big changes are underway in the corridors of power.
In the sprawling, surreal new capital Naypyidaw, built from scratch in the middle of nowhere in 2005, bureaucrats in previously secretive government departments have begun regularly meetings foreign diplomats and representatives of United Nations agencies and international aid groups.
For the first time high-level government officials are acknowledging huge problems across the country. for example, Burma has one of the world’s smallest budgets for health and education spending. A new constitution has given regional administrations increased powers, allowing them to improve access to long-neglected communities.
Australian Brian Agland, 63, who has lived in Burma since 2007, says there is an unprecedented buzz of excitement in the country. ”You can feel it with the Burmese staff you work with,” Agland, the country director for Care International, says. ”Everyone here is amazed at the pace this is happening at all levels of government,” he says.
Agland says government officials are now reaching out to international agencies to help better deliver services.
Burmese are standing up for their rights for the first time in 50 years. The government was forced to back down on a proposed steep rise in electricity charges after an angry public response. And last September the government suspended construction of a $US3.6 billion Chinese-backed hydroelectric dam in a rare concession to environmental activists.
But Agland says areas outside the cities, where 70 per cent of people live, remain deprived of access to adequate government services including health and education. Vast areas in so-called ”black” conflict areas remain closed to outsiders despite tentative ceasefire agreements reached between the government and armed ethnic groups that have been waging guerilla wars for decades.
Agland says villagers in these areas are among the world’s most disadvantaged people.
One of the consequences of the reforms and high-profile visits by world leaders including the US Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, is an anticipated invasion of foreign tourists eager to see a country where until recently they were unwelcome.
Indeed Burma has been nominated by The New York Times as one of the top three hottest tourist destinations of this year after Suu Kyi reversed her boycott of private tourism.
Up to 1 million tourists are expected to visit this year, a three-fold increase from last year, placing enormous strain on infrastructure and facilities.
Domestic flights across the country are fully booked weeks in advance to foreigners, leaving locals to travel long journeys on antiquated buses and trains.
In rural areas bullock carts and tourist buses vie for space on narrow potholed roads.
Intrepid Travel in Melbourne last week took its first organised trip to Burma since it suspended operations there in 2006. The company vetted hotels, transport and other services it uses to ensure money flows into local economies and poor ethnic communities in remote areas.
In Hingagone village in the mountains of central Shan State, which Intrepid is supporting, village chief Aung serves green tea in tiny cups as he complains that for years government officials have promised to provide services for his people but never have.
Villagers live hand to mouth, growing mostly oranges and tea in a corner of the notorious ”Golden Triangle” where opium buyers offer 12 times more money for the sap of opium plants than other crops.
But Aung says village chiefs have banned opium growing and use. ”People who use opium are sent out of the village … it makes people lazy,” he says. People’s lives are improving mainly because foreign tourists are buying fruit and food in the village.
Respected Shan State political leader Tommy Aung Ezdani, 67, a former political prisoner, says it will not be easy for the government, which he calls ”big brother”, to give up its iron-fist rule and vested interests.
”We can’t forget what has happened but we can forgive,” says Ezdani, who heads a non-government organisation called Rural Development Society that provides services in remote villages.
He says it will be also difficult for some ethnic groups to reach compromise with the government, especially those who have seen their women raped, youths dragged into forced labour and villages looted and burned over many years.
But he says unless all sides are flexible the country will not unite in peace.
Ezdani’s father, a well-known doctor, was friendly with Suu Kyi’s mother, who was a nurse.
Ezdani and Suu Kyi played together as children and he remembers her as a ”real little tom boy”.
”I admire her a lot but, for the sake of the union, she must win the military to her side,” says Ezdani, who was a pro-democracy candidate in 1990 elections which Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy won in a landslide victory the military refused to accept.
Suu Kyi is expected to easily win a seat in Burma’s 440-seat parliament at the April byelection, which her supporters believe will prove to be a springboard for her to eventually lead the country. ”She will have to speak diplomatically and keep a low profile … big brother will fight back ruthlessly if cornered,” Ezdani says.
Lindsay Murdoch travelled within Burma courtesy of Intrepid Travel.
On October 6, 2009, Sesame Workshop, the nonprofit organization behind Sesame Street, used the WheresMyMedia digital asset management system to release four new PSA’s about children’s health safety to multiple Broadcasters. the new spots, featuring Sesame Street’s “Elmo”, are designed to sustain public awareness from its initial WheresMyMedia –powered campaign launch on September 1st, following President Obama’s press conference on Swine Flu prevention.
The children’s health safety public awareness effort started when the federal government tapped Sesame Workshop to aid it its health education initiatives. to launch this campaign, Sesame Workshop created an electronic press kit containing the four original PSAs, and strategically distributed it on September 1st as an immediate press conference follow-up.
First on September 1st, and then again on October 6th, the electronic press kits were sent as an embedded link within an email. the link contained the PSA’s in Flash format for preview, and two edit system compatible formats for download and program integration. Almost immediately after the first four PSA’s were sent, footage of Elmo was visible across several news entities, including CNN properties.
Based on how heavily Sesame Workshop’s Health Safety footage has been repeatedly downloaded, this distribution effort illustrates how timely distribution can be critical to campaign success. Had tapes been delivered in lieu of electronic delivery, reaching multiple Broadcasters at the same key moment would have been nearly impossible to achieve. Furthermore, shipping physical assets would have cost exponentially more than using the WheresMyMedia D.A.M. system.
“We are so pleased with the results, and the vast depth of coverage we achieved. WheresMyMedia’s strategy of providing formats compatible with edit systems was a great way to maximize downloads,” said Pam Hacker, Publicist of Sesame Workshop. Neil DeRosa, SVP Sales of WheresMyMedia sister company Syncro Services, also attests to WheresMyMedia’s strategic approach. “When you don’t know how the video will be integrated, and you’re faced with sensitive timing, WheresMyMedia can turn around several viable solutions in what used to take people days,” said DeRosa.
This children’s health safety effort has been one of many instances in which Sesame Workshop had used the WheresMyMedia system. Sesame Workshop has digitally delivered press kits the same way for Sesame Street’s U.S.O. Tour and the Families Stand together feature program on managing economic hardship. as was the case with Sesame Workshop’s health safety PSAs, footage from the Families Stand together press kit, featuring Al Roker and Deborah Roberts, was integrated into television programming including the Today Show, good Morning America, CNBC’s Squawkbox, and various CNN newscasts.
Aside from public awareness campaigns, Sesame Workshop has also used WheresMyMedia to deliver footage of Sesame Street guests to Broadcasters looking to integrate the footage into other programming. One of the most popular Sesame Street clips to date, that was delivered by WheresMyMedia, featured first Lady Mrs. Obama discussing exercise and healthy eating habits.
While primarily known for its flagship digital asset management system, WheresMyMedia offers and employs many other tools for maximizing workflow efficiency. One of its latest innovations is the Telestream Pipeline, which was used to save time preparing Sesame Workshop’s electronic press kit. unlike the traditional method of ingesting footage prior to transcoding, the pipeline integrates with Flip Factory to simultaneously capture and transcode footage to other formats.
“As workflow management experts, we are constantly incorporating new tools to achieve breakthrough levels of efficiency,” said William Steele, Partner and Co-Founder of WheresMyMedia. “Whether it’s the Pipeline, or our D.A.M. that supports uploads of terabyte plus size files, we always strive for improvement and embrace technological change,” said Steele.
Certainly in the field of technology, embracing change is critical to grow and flourish. however, there is one constant that is unlikely to change, which is WheresMyMedia’s mission to delight its clients.
Luck races out its series premiere on HBO tonight, from Deadwood creator David Milch and acclaimed director /executive producer Michael Mann, starring Dustin Hoffman as the newly-released from prison Chester “Aces” Bernstein. With its incredible acclaim, Luck has all the potential to be HBO’s next great drama so long as audiences can get through its difficult pilot.
I’ve been through a lot of other reviews of HBO’s new horse-racing drama Luck, trying to organize my thoughts and put together something coherent to say. Most of the critical consensus seems to be that Luck presents an incredibly rich, and dense character drama for creator David Milch and executive producer/ director Michael Mann, albeit one that might be difficult to grasp. HBO had the foresight of sending out at least nine episodes, perhaps the entire season, though I’ve only yet watched the first. Most reviews are quick to point out that the series picks up spectacularly around its fourth hour, but I’m a firm believer that any series has exactly one episode to get its point across.
During its second season I also handled the reviews for HBO’s Boardwalk Empire, though I confess to feeling somewhat underqualified for the task. before 2011 I never watched much HBO, and wasn’t used to the incredible artistic acclaim they’ve racked up over the years with series like The Sopranos and Deadwood (Milch’s previous effort). Then along came Boardwalk Empire, which I only caught up with before the start of the second season. When a series carries with it such incredible prestige and royalty, the kind of TV award shows endlessly hurl statues at, I’m almost at a loss to think what I could have to say about a show that carries the names Dustin Hoffman, Michael Mann, or David Milch. I’ve never seen Deadwood, nor would I consider myself intimately familiar with the works of Michael Mann.
Luck is also something of a unique show for HBO in that it lacks the more fantastic conceptual identity we’ve come to associate with the network, which makes millions of showing people gangsters, vampires, cowboys, or even ironclad games of a throne-like variety. I couldn’t look at Luck’s striking posters all around my city, and cultivate any impression beyond “so it has Dustin Hoffman, and horses.” and now, having seen the pilot…that’s more or less still the case.
As I mentioned, most reports indicate that Luck takes a few episodes in establishing its sandbox before delving into any real play, and its pilot basically throws the audience into this world of competitive horse-racing with very little to grasp. and don’t be deceived, you’ll barely even see Dustin Hoffman over the course of the hour, whose Chester “Ace” Bernstein gets out of prison, shares a few meetings driven around by his driver Gus (Dennis Farina) and retires to his hotel. at this point, I should also mention that HBO sent out a glossary of horse-racing terms along with the DVDs, so the casual viewer might have some difficulty in keeping up with the lingo.
There’s certainly a lot happening within the pilot as well, drifting from Nick Nolte’s horse-whispering type Walter Smith, trainer Turo Escalante (John Ortiz) and his manic agent Joey Rathburn (Richard Kind), to quartet of gamblers Marcus (Kevin Dunn), Lonnie (Ian Hart), Jerry (Jason Gedrick), and Renzo (Ritchie Coster working on a big score from the race. beyond that, I couldn’t really tell you what works, or doesn’t work about the pilot. There are no big character moments, or truly dramatic action outside the actual races, instead feeling like a well-stylized mish-mash of plotlines.
Luck is beautifully shot and directed by Michael Mann however, who effortlessly captures the intensity of races before during and after, so even if you’re left feeling rather lost by the pilot, it’ll still look pretty. I have no doubt that the next few episodes of Luck will offer a lot more to sink my teeth into, but for now I’m mostly indifferent to the series.
And Another Thing…
Luck is actually the first HBO series I’ve been with from the beginning, so I can’t help wondering if I might have felt this way about other major series as well.
…did they really kill that horse right there on the track for breaking its leg? Is that a real thing?
Time-strapped teachers will find engaging and unique lesson plans, worksheets and crafts for the New Year with today’s launch of the 2012 Educators’ Calendar on TeacherVision.com. Designed to meet the needs of all educators, the teacher calendar is available online, as a printable PDF, or as a free widget for featuring on a blog or Facebook page. the 2012 Educators’ Calendar features a noteworthy daily event that teachers can use to spark student research, engage interest or stimulate creativity. Each event links to different activities that are relevant to the particular day, week or month.
“Over the past seven years, teachers of all grades and subjects have come to rely on TeacherVision’s Educators’ Calendar as a great reference and organizational tool,” said Jess M. Brallier, publisher, TeacherVision. “We developed this online resource – jam-packed with instructional materials – to support the thousands of dedicated K-12 teachers in classrooms around the country.”
The calendar’s teacher resources can be used to develop an in-depth unit for studying events such as Black History Month (February) or National Poetry Month (April). the calendar also features celebrations such as Children’s Book Week (May 7-13) and Constitution Week (September 17-23).
The 2012 Educators’ Calendar includes activities highlighting the birthdays of famous current and historical figures, including political leaders such as George Washington (February 22), our country’s first president, and retired Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor (March 26). Creative individuals, such as children’s book author and illustrator Eric Carle (June 25) and acclaimed artist Pablo Picasso (October 25) are also featured.
The 2012 monthly calendar for teachers is one example of the many quality resources and classroom tools that are regularly added to TeacherVision. to receive updates on the site, special offers and new resources, educators can sign up for TeacherVision’s free teacher newsletters, “Great Stuff for Teachers” and “Special Offers for Teachers.”
Teachers can also visit TeacherVision on Facebook (facebook.com/TeacherVision), Twitter (twitter.com/TeacherVision) and Google+ to find more great ideas for integrating current and historical events into teaching and learning throughout the year.
About TeacherVision TeacherVision is the Internet’s most popular teacher site for trusted online tools, lesson plans, printables, classroom management resources and skill-building exercises that help teachers save time and make learning fun. TeacherVision.com is dedicated to supporting children’s learning in school and in life.
TeacherVision is part of Pearson, the education, services and technology company. Pearson’s other primary operations include the Financial Times Group and the Penguin Group.
This column is like the title says – its intention is to fill the gap for those of us who were satiated musically in the ’60s and then searched desperately as we aged for music we could relate to and get the same buzz from nowadaze. iTunes was the answer for me in 2003 and I have been following the new releases every Tuesday ever since I realized there was an endless stream of music I could enjoy there.
I also include older items that I felt were obscure originally and might not have been heard back then. The reason I am writing this column is to make sure others don’t miss this wonderful music. These are not top ten items; but they SHOULD’VE been!
Below is a jukebox containing all the songs I picked this week. After you read about them below, go back and listen to whatever you like by just clicking on that title in the jukebox, or stream the whole playlist by clicking on the “play” icon at the top. It’s free and it’s the entire song. We’re not selling anything. We’re just in the business of hopefully making your days better by listening to great music.
TMR01132012 by Lisa on Grooveshark
Songs named after places are common, but great ones are standards, i.e. “I Left My Heart in San Francisco,” “Moonlight in Vermont,” etc. As usual we have a little bit of everything here in the first edition of this concept. I think each track is a contender regardless of title but the common thread is like listening to an atlas. A hip atlas. So take your January vacation while sitting in a chair at work or home and ALL bags are free, natch, and all music is first class. part 2 will be here in a few months so we don’t wear this concept out.
1. “I Left My Heart in San Francisco” — Bobby Womack (2:02)
Tony Bennett would LOVE this because it doesn’t impinge on his personal territory. this is Womack’s turf and he kinows every nook and cranny. His rhythm guitar playing is as good as it gets (ask Keith Richard) and his vocal is unexpected yet amazing. A rarely heard masterpiece.
2. “Moonlight in Vermont” (1957 version) — Billie Holiday (3:45)
The original Joplin/Winehouse shows you where everybody studied. with Barney Kessell on guitar, Jimmy Rowles on piano, and the great Ben Webster taking a benny good solo, Lady Day is in great company. I can never get enough of that voice, however…
3. “Chicago, City of Shoulders” — Andy Davis (3:24)
I know I used this in one of my earliest columns, but it just fits so well here and it is one of my all time faves for its originality. this guy has got the goods, but his presence in the marketplace has been very limitted. this is the real deal. The squeaky acoustic guitar is off-putting, but all the other accomplishments make up for it. I promise to never use it again, so file it somewhere if you like it as much as I do.
4. “Tennessee Blues” — Tracy Nelson (3:18)
Originally from Wisconsin, Tracy was one of the pioneers of the San Francisco sound with her band Mother Earth and was one of the first non-Southerners to make Nashville her home in the ‘70s. She’s still living there. for me, she is the Sarah Vaughn of the blues. She has an amazing expressive voice and makes note choices that no other singer would dare. I want her to outlive me so she can sing “Down So Low” at my funeral. Whatta woman!
5. “Gonna Send you Back to Georgia” — Timmie Shaw (2:22)
This was a single in the early ‘60s that came out in the US on the Scepter label, home to Chuck Jackson, Maxine Brown, The Kingsmen, and Dionne Warwick. I don’t believe there was ever a Timmie Shaw album on Scepter, but many musicians fed on this single. The Animals changed Georgia to Walker and cut it in 1964. I always liked the original version myself. it sounds like great studio guitarist Jimmy Spruill havin’ a go here as well. A classic obscure single with great lyrics.
6. “Vienna” — Ultravox feat. Midge Ure (4:23)
If “like A Rolling Stone” is one of the foundations of folk/rock music, then this track is one of the first evidences of electronica back in the ’80s. with an amazing vocal by Midge Ure (who wrote it), I still have no idea what this song is about, but I never get tired of listening to it. I am including a YouTube video of a live version so you can see how far ahead this band was in its day. Also far more artistic than the “fun-fun-fun of the auto-bahn,” doncha think?
7. “Hackensack” — Fountains of Wayne (2:41)
Without FOW, this new Jersey city would have had no chance of being the title of a song. for that reason, I include it as well as my love for lyrics like “I saw you talkin’ to Christopher Walken…” These guys write, play, and sing great with an always intellectual comedic edge.
8. “Lost in Germany” — KingsX (3:53)
These heavy rockers always go an extremely melodic way, probably inspired by The Moptops of yesteryear. Here they chronicle a particularly annoying touring incident without REALLY letting us know exactly wot happened in Germany. I don’t think it was pleasant being their bus driver during this tour. But they do have a driving thang goin’ on with great guitar and bass figures. very influential band in its time.
9. “Lake Charles” — Lucinda Williams (3:29)
When I lived in Nashville, prior to Lucinda’s gravelly breakout from there, I would marvel watching her sit in bars and successfully out-drink every male musician who dared to sit at her table. I quit drinking years ago because of ulcers at 19, so I quite enjoyed watching her win every single imbibing contest and was dutifully impressed. when her ‘overnight’ success began, I quite enjoyed listening to her as well and watched her quit the bar escapades and take her career seriously. this is one of my favorites from her now-voluminous catalogue — a tribute to a probably departed player who loved Lake Charles, LA.
10. “Postcard from Holland” — Adrian Belew (1:21)
Clever fellow he is. there is one other ‘postcard’ song and that is ‘from the Moon’; I’ll stick with Holland and I am sure this was probably a real postcard he sent his wife from the road. It’s quite short, but so are postcards. My postcard says: See ya next week!
Japanese Foreign Minister Koichiro Gemba’s recent visit to Beijing included a stop at the Japan Animation Festival, part of the government’s ongoing series of public events designed to showcase Japan’s popular culture. since 2007, the Foreign Ministry has established an International Manga Award and named an Anime Ambassador, among other initiatives designed to capitalize on foreign interest in Japan’s vibrant cultural scene. There is certainly nothing wrong with Doraemon, Super Mario, and other “Made in Japan” pop icons.
The use of cultural exchange to improve Sino-Japanese relations, in particular, should be welcomed by everyone in the region. and increasing the exposure of Japanese products is definitely good for their corporate parents’ bottom line. A heavy official emphasis on “Cool Japan”, however, risks diluting the potency of the “Japan Brand” hip factor — while at the same time distracting attention from the real source of Japan’s attraction.
You can’t capture “cool” in a bottle. When governments try to identify themselves with trends prevalent among youth, they may inadvertently undermine the counter-culture ethos that so often sparks creativity.
In addition, “Japanese” cultural products sometimes have only a tenuous link to Japan. After World War II, many cultural exports were purged of explicit reference to their Japanese origins, a tendency still apparent today. more fundamentally, a taste for manga or anime does not necessarily translate into an affinity for Japan or its policies.
At the height of the Iraq war, “Pirates of the Caribbean” and “Spider Man 2″ garnered an enthusiastic reception in countries where most people strongly opposed U.S. policy. Similarly, encouraging a taste for “Naruto” or other anime series is unlikely to help mitigate a thorny bilateral territorial dispute.
So why bother with promoting pop culture at all? Whatever its inherent entertainment value, Japan’s cultural products can play a role in helping to stimulate interest in the place where they were created. The heart of Japanese “soft power” cannot be found in tangible fads or fashion, but rather in the society that acts as a catalyst for such remarkable creative ferment. from the 1950s through the 1980s, Japan’s global image was dominated by the extraordinary success of its development model. A cooling of the once-superheated economy, however, has prompted a search to showcase other Japanese strengths. Especially in a region with sometimes painful memories of Japan’s historic role, pop culture may be a helpful bridge for highlighting Japan’s democratic transformation.
Nevertheless, Japan’s signature postwar achievement is not an entertaining youth culture. and it’s not even economic development, as impressive as Japan’s record remains despite two decades of relatively slow growth.
Instead, Japan’s signature accomplishment is the forging of an enduring democracy complemented by an increasingly vibrant civil society. Japan’s democratic stability has become such a part of the global landscape that it’s tempting to take it for granted.
Japan was one of East Asia’s democratic pioneers. First, Japan’s experience proved that democracy was compatible with rapid economic growth. Now, after enabling the country to achieve developed status, Japan’s democracy is adapting to help address the demands of a fragile environment, a rapidly aging society, and evolving gender and family roles — all challenges also faced by many of Japan’s neighbors.
This vast reservoir of democratic “soft power” is best tapped by direct contact with Japan and the Japanese themselves. recently, there has been much hand-wringing about the declining number of Japanese going to study abroad amid accusations that Japanese youth are growing insular. less attention has been paid, however, to an arguably more pressing problem: giving the rest of the world more firsthand exposure to Japan.
In many instances, Japan is an outlier among OECD countries in embracing the openness that embodies globalization — and that magnifies the resonance of a country’s achievements. Japan ranks only 29th globally in inbound tourism, for example, far behind smaller countries with less-developed infrastructure.
Japan hosted about 130,000 foreign students in 2009, lower than the comparable figures for Australia, Canada, France, Germany, the United Kingdom, and the U.S. while English’s status as the de facto global language helps account for the popularity of study in Anglophone countries, it also points out another handicap for Japan: The country continues to lag in English ability, with Japanese speakers earning among the lowest scores in East Asia on the 2010 Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) Internet-based test. At 1.7 percent in 2007, Japan’s level of foreign-born population places it among the lowest in the OECD. and Japan is at the bottom of the OECD table for foreign direct investment as a share of GDP, at 3.9 percent, far below the OECD average.
These disparate indicators all point in the same direction: Japan can do more to build its international “constituency.” by giving more foreigners a stake in Japan, whether through travel, study, work or investment, Japan can also enhance the impact of its society and culture. An export-based model only gets you so far, whether for products or in the global marketplace of ideas and influence. “Indirect” communication can often be the most credible. Who is more believable touting the merits of Japan — an official government spokesperson, or a friend from your own country who just enjoyed a week in Osaka?
Fortunately, Japan is already taking some important steps in the right direction. Government efforts to increase tourism and the number of foreign students have borne fruit over the past decade, although efforts to attract FDI have lagged. since the 1980s, over 50,000 young people from dozens of countries have lived in Japan through the Japan Exchange and Teaching (JET) program. Smaller programs, such as the Ship for Southeast Asian Youth (SSEAYP) and the Japan-East Asia Network of Exchange for Students and Youths (JENESYS), are also useful.
Some Japanese universities are expanding English-language course offerings. English instruction is a perennial target for reform. such initiatives are aspects of a long-term, evolving process. Japan may not be interested in opening its doors to significant foreign immigration. But by including more foreigners in the ongoing narrative of Japanese success, Japan can enhance the global impact of its model.
AKB48 may be cool this month. Democracy and development, however, never fall out of fashion. Japan has an extraordinary amount of allure — and it’s not just comics and hello Kitty.
Hanscom Smith is a Foreign Service Officer at the U.S. Department of State, and wrote this op-ed during a Council on Foreign Relations International Affairs Fellowship in Japan, sponsored by Hitachi ltd. at the Japan Institute of International Affairs. The views expressed here are his own and do not necessarily reflect the views of the U.S. Department of State or the U.S. government.
Micro-voxels, the Pictorvision Eclipse electronically stabilized aerial camera platform, Stab-C Classic stabilizing heads and the ARRILASER Film Recorder.
once again the Academy has announced the winners of its Scientific and Technical Awards, and once again the list of achievements being recognized by the Academy will sail right over the heads of those who aren't attuned to the Sciences part of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
but for those in the know, the eight achievements chosen by the Academy have, in the words of the AMPAS press release, "a proven record of contributing significant value to the process of making motion pictures."
The Sci-Tech Awards, as they're dubbed, some in three versions. One awards the recipient with a certificate, one awards a plaque, and one, which isn't given out every year, awards an Oscar statuette.
This year's 27 honorees include three men who will receive Oscar statuettes for the design and development of the ARRILASER Film Recorder (photo at left).
The Sci-Tech Awards will be presented at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel on Saturday, February 11 – and, if history is any indication, will be hosted by an actress who has appeared in at least one special-effects-heavy movie.
From the AMPAS press release, here are this year's honorees:
Technical Achievement Award (Academy Certificate)
To Andrew Clinton and mark Elendt for the invention and integration of micro-voxels in the Mantra software.
This work allowed, for the first time, unified and efficient rendering of volumetric effects such as smoke and clouds, together with other computer graphics objects, in a micro-polygon imaging pipeline.
Scientific and Engineering Award (Academy Plaque)
To Radu Corlan, Andy Jantzen, Petru Pop and Richard Toftness for the design and engineering of the Phantom family of high-speed cameras for motion picture production.
The Phantom family of high-speed digital cameras, including the Phantom Flex and HD Gold, provide imagery at speeds and efficacy surpassing photochemical technology, while seamlessly intercutting with conventional film production.
To Dr. Jürgen Noffke for the optical design and Uwe Weber for the mechanical design of the ARRI Zeiss Master Prime Lenses for motion picture photography.
The Master Primes have achieved a full stop advance in speed over existing lenses, while maintaining state-of-the-art optical quality. This lens family was also the first to eliminate the magnification change that accompanied extreme focus shifts.
To Michael Lewis, Greg Marsden, Raigo Alas and Michael Vellekoop for the concept, design and implementation of the Pictorvision Eclipse, an electronically stabilized aerial camera platform.
The Pictorvision Eclipse system allows cinematographers to capture aerial footage at faster flying speeds with aggressive platform maneuvering.
To E.F. “Bob” Nettmann for the concept and system architecture, Michael Sayovitz for the electronic packaging and integration, Brad Fritzel for the electronic engineering, and Fred Miller for the mechanical engineering of the Stab-C Classic, Super-G and Stab-C Compact stabilizing heads.
This versatile family of 5-axis camera and lens stabilizers allows any standard motion picture camera to be fitted into the open architecture of the structure. The system can be quickly balanced and made ready for shooting platforms such as helicopters, boats, camera cars or cranes.
To John D. Lowry, Ian Cavén, Ian Godin, Kimball Thurston and Tim Connolly for the development of a unique and efficient system for the reduction of noise and other artifacts, thereby providing high-quality images required by the filmmaking process.
The “Lowry Process” uses advanced GPU-accelerated, motion estimation-based image processing tools to enhance image quality.
To FUJIFILM Corporation, Hideyuki Shirai, Dr. Katsuhisa Oozeki and Hiroshi Hirano for the design and development of the FUJIFILM black and white recording film ETERNA-RDS 4791 for use in the archival preservation of film and digital images.
Specifically designed for laser film recording and widely used in the industry today, the high-resolution FUJIFILM ETERNA-RDS 4791 film stock is an important step in protecting the heritage of the motion picture industry.
Academy Award of Merit® (Oscar® Statuette)
To Franz Kraus, Johannes Steurer and Wolfgang Riedel for the design and development of the ARRILASER Film Recorder.
The ARRILASER film recorder demonstrates a high level of engineering resulting in a compact, user-friendly, low-maintenance device, while at the same time maintaining outstanding speed, exposure ratings and image quality.
Related Articles: Academy Picks 9 Achievements for Possible Sci-Tech Oscars Tech Talk, Nerd Jokes at the Sci-Tech Awards
Staff at Watertstones in Falkirk are enjoying a vintage time for Scottish crime fiction.
This month at Waterstones, we are celebrating some of our favourites.
You may already know the name Stuart MacBride, the author of seven novels featuring Aberdeen-based DS Logan MacRae. The latest in this series is out now in paperback.
Shatter the Bones concerns the kidnapping of Alison and Jenny McGregor, mother and daughter singing sensations who have made it to the semi-finals of ‘Britain’s Next Big Star’.
MacBride is on top form, using dark humour and satire as the police are left baffled by the kidnappers who have left no forensic evidence. he has only two weeks to find the hostages – and why, in the video of the ransom demand, are the kidnappers wearing name badges on their overalls?
MacBride’s new hardback, Birthdays for the Dead does not feature MacRae as the central character but DC Ash Henderson.
Everyone thinks his daughter went missing five years ago but Rebecca was taken by a serial kidnapper who the media have dubbed ‘The Birthday Boy’ because his victims were all approaching their 13th birthdays.
If his superiors found out the truth about Rebecca, then he would be removed from the case and lose his chance to avenge his daughter’s death.
One of the biggest names, if not THE biggest, is Ian Rankin. although he has put his most famous creation, Rebus, into retirement he has introduced a new character who isn’t so much a lone wolf as a lone Fox. namely, Malcolm Fox who heads a team known as ‘The Complaints’.
These officers investigate other policemen and DI Fox and his team have features in two novels so far, The Complaints and The Impossible Dead.
Peter May is a name that may be familiar to you, especially if you followed ‘High Road’, for which he wrote over 200 episodes and was story/script editor for over 700.
He also co-created a Gaelic soap, ‘Machair’, filmed entirely on the Isle of Lewis, which is where his new trilogy is set. Unusually, the first of the series, The Black House was originally published in French, May’s adopted homeland, to great acclaim.
