Twitter launches index for tracking Oscar buzz

Twitter has launched a new Twitter Index that will track the Oscars buzz on the microblogging site ahead of the 85th Academy Awards next month.

The new index will measure and rank conversation about the Oscar-nominated films and actors over the next six weeks up to the ceremony on February 24, 2013, in Los Angeles.

During what is generally dubbed "awards season" in the film and TV industry, Twitter is often the conduit for movie fans to discuss who won what, and whether it was justified.

In a blog post, Twitter's head of TV Fred Graver revealed that over 4 million tweets were posted on Sunday about the Golden Globes awards ceremony.

Backed by the Academy, the Twitter Oscars Index will reflect the "ebb and flow" of movie-related conversations throughout the awards season, showing how positively Twitter users are commentating about the major nominees relative to each other.

The index reflects the sentiment of tweets about nominees in the six biggest Oscar categories - 'Best Picture', 'Best Actress', 'Best Actor', 'Best Supporting Actress', 'Best Supporting Actor' and 'Best Director'.

Jacki Weaver

? PA Images / Chris Pizzello/AP

Jean-Louis Trintignant and Emmanuelle Riva n 'Amour'

? Artificial Eye/Denis Manin


[Left: Jacki Weaver / Right: Amour]

Graver said that people can use the index to see how news events shape Twitter conversation around a certain nominee.

For example, conversation about Jacki Weaver increased significantly on January 10 after she was nominated for the 'Best Supporting Actress' Oscar for her role in Silver Linings Playbook.

Michael Haneke's Amour also saw positive buzz after it won 'Best Foreign Language Film' at the Golden Globes on Sunday.

The index will also compare nominees against each other to see who is gaining the most positive sentiment.

Argo's Golden Globe-winning director Ben Affleck

? Rex Features / Startraks Photo

Ang Lee arriving for the premiere of Life of Pi at the Empire Leicester Square, London.

? PA Images / Ian West/PA Wire


[Left: Ben Affleck / Right: Ang Lee]

Ben Affleck won the Golden Globe for 'Best Director' (for Argo) but he did not receive a directing nomination at the Oscars. So based on the Oscar Index, Steven Spielberg (for Lincoln) and Ang Lee (for Life of Pi) are currently gaining the most positive buzz for the directing Oscar.

Each nominee gets a score based on how conversation around their term compares to all other conversation on Twitter.

For example, Silver Linings Playbook currently has a score of 87, meaning on average tweets about the film are on average more positive than 87% of all tweets.

The system uses the same underlying methodology as the Twitter Political Index, which mapped conversation around US presidential nominees Barack Obama and Mitt Romney last year.


[Left: Silver Linings Playbook / Right: Lincoln]

"Awards season also brings out the armchair film critic in many of us, as we rattle off our personal picks and pans, and predict who will take home that coveted award at the end of February," Graver said.

"The Twitter Oscars Index offers a way to measure those discussions that happen on Twitter, and provide insight for all those closely following the exciting Oscar races.

"While the next six weeks are sure to be filled with crystal ball predictions of how the illustrious Academy members will vote, the Twitter Oscars Index provides another dimension to the story: the voice of the fans."

The Index also maps out key dates up to the Oscars, such as the Directors Guild Awards on January 26, when nominees could see a spike in conversation on Twitter.

Source: http://rss.feedsportal.com/c/32545/f/492401/p/1/s/4bc383b4/l/0L0Sdigitalspy0O0Ctech0Cnews0Ca4513470Ctwitter0Elaunches0Eindex0Efor0Etracking0Eoscar0Ebuzz0Bhtml0Drss/story01.htm

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REAL DINOSAUR FOOT FOUND! | Weekly World News

Across the world, a discovery could change everything paleontologists know about the past.

DORMOD, MONGOLIA ? They say even under perfect conditions, it couldn?t be possible.

Yet somehow, paleontologists have unearthed a preserved dinosaur foot deep in the heart of the Gobi Desert in Southern Mongolia.

?I wouldn?t believe any reports if I hadn?t been there,? said?paleontologist?Dr. Greg Hudkins, who was one of several experts sent on the dig. ?But I saw it, and I felt it. I?ve analyzed it. That thing is the foot of a real dinosaur.?

dinofoot3

Scientists have released one photo of what they?re calling the ?find that will define this century.? After an already successful day of digging, the group reportedly came across a small, warm pocket beneath the rocks. They believe the beast had its leg stuck in the wet pocket around 70 million years ago. However, how it stayed preserved for that long is a question no one is capable of answering just yet.

?We?re not sure how that could be,? Hudkins said. ?But I know what this is. It?s the foot of some theropod ? a raptor-like creature, perhaps. But much bigger.?

dinofoot2

Hudkins maintains that there are thousands of dinosaur genera that have not been discovered, so no immediate label is not alarming and a mystery that may take time. The larger question will still be how the object ? with skin, bones and tissue ? could have made it this far. The group will reportedly take on these questions in separate groups. They will publish their findings, including verification that the foot is absolutely real, in an upcoming issue of the journal Science.

Scientists are also beginning to extrapolate clues about other dinosaurs from the photographic evidence provided.

Either way, it?s an exciting time to be a paleontologist. Weekly World News will continue to cover this story.

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Source: http://weeklyworldnews.com/headlines/53990/real-dinosaur-foot-found/

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Spin & Bias In Late-Stage Breast Cancer Drug Trials // Pharmalot

File this under ?sweep it under the rug.? It may be human nature to downplay unwanted or negative developments, but it is not considered to be good science. Nonetheless, some investigators have masked disappointing clinical trial results, such as missing primary endpoints and reporting toxicity, with selective and biased reporting for breast cancer treatments, according to a study in the Annals of Oncology.

Specifically, in one-third of all trials that failed to show a statistically significant benefit for a breast cancer medications being tested, the published studies emphasized less important outcomes in hopes of giving the results a positive spin. However, there was no association between industry or for-profit trial sponsorship and biased reporting of either efficacy or toxicity.

The researchers examined the results of 164 randomized, controlled Phase III trials of breast cancer treatments that were published between 1995 and 2011. They found 92 that were negative trials in which data did not demonstrate the medication had an effect on the primary endpoint. But in 59 percent of the negative trials, the authors used positive findings from secondary endpoints to cast the treatment in a positive light.

The researchers also found bias in the way adverse effects were discussed. Serious side effects, such as omitting mention in the abstract or conclusion, were found in 67 percent of the publications with both positive and negative findings. Moreover, trials with positive findings were twice as likely to underplay serious adverse effects compared with publications of negative studies.

However, some of the studies that were analyzed began before registration of clinical trials in such registries as ClinicalTrials.gov or clinicaltrialsregister.eu became mandatory. For those that were registered, the researchers found that some trials had primary endpoints changed between registration and when the findings were published.

?Among these trials, there was a trend towards change of the primary endpoint being associated with positive results, suggesting that it may be a strategy to make a negative trial appear positive,? the study authors write. ?Trial registration does not necessarily remove bias in reporting outcomes, although it does make it easier to detect? (HERE IS THE STUDY)

They evaluated associations of bias with the Journal Impact Factor, which measures the frequency with which the average article in a journal has been cited in a given period of time; changes in the primary endpoint compared with information in ClinicalTrials.gov and funding sources. For recent trials, they determined whether the primary endpoints listed in ClinicalTrials.gov were the same as reported in abstracts or papers.

Why focus on trials that are testing breast cancer treatments? Because breast cancer is ?the most common malignancy in women, has substantial mortality and is a cancer site with a large number of trials,? they authors write. They noted that neither disease-free survival nor progression-free survival have been shown as adequate surrogates for overall survival for women with breast cancer, but 83.5 percent of the trials used these endpoints.

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Source: http://www.pharmalot.com/2013/01/spin-bias-in-late-stage-breast-cancer-drug-trials/

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Most time still spent on a computer: report | tonight Newspaper

LuAnn LaSalle, The Canadian Press | Last Updated:Tue, 15 Jan 2013 18:47:26 GMT

Most time still spent on a computer: report

Alysha Griffin works on a laptop computer at ElancOnline inside Garden Spot High School in New Holland, Pa., Nov. 7, 2012. People will still spend more time on personal computers in 2013 than they will on tablets and smartphones, despite the popularity of these smaller devices, says a new tech trends report. THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP Photo/Intelligencer Journal/Lancaster New Era, Blaine Shahan

MONTREAL - People will still spend more time on personal computers in 2013 than they will on tablets and smartphones, despite the popularity of these smaller devices, says a new tech trends report.

More than 80 per cent of the data going across the Internet this year will continue to come from laptop and desktop personal computers, the Deloitte Canada 2013 trends report said.

Why?

"People like big screens," said Duncan Stewart, director of research for technology, media and telecom at Deloitte in Toronto.

"They watch a two-hour movie, they play a half-hour game. They check Facebook for a while. The session length tends to be much longer."

The PC's accompanying keyboard and mouse, or trackpad, are also needed for people to perform most of their computing, Stewart said.

More than 70 per cent of the hours people spend on computing devices ? PCs, smartphones and tablets ? will be on a personal computer in 2013 and work will account for much of that, Stewart's report, released Tuesday, said.

In people's non-work lives, they're likely to use personal computers more than 50 per cent of the time, the report found.

Smartphones can have screens that are only about three inches, or about 76 millimetres, and tablets can have screens that are seven to 10 inches (178 mm to 254 mm).

Stewart said there's no shortage of online articles heralding the replacement of personal computers with touch screen tablets. Not so fast, he said.

"The PC is not dead: it's about usage, not units," said Stewart's report.

While not matching the growth of tablets and smartphones in the last few years, PC sales have remained strong, the report said.

There's expected to be almost 1.6 billion personal computers in use globally in 2013, up from 1.4 billion in 2010. By contrast, there will be about a quarter of a billion tablets in use globally and the smartphone base will be more than 1.5 billion worldwide in 2013, the report said.

Stewart said companies with more than 100 employees worldwide are not replacing computers with tablets.

Tablets are being used in addition to PCs to replace paper, such as agendas and lists. Doctors are using tablets to replace clipboards and restaurants can use them to replace such things as wine lists, he added.

Also in 2013, Deloitte Canada notes that ultra-high resolution televisions, also known as ultra high definition TVs, have made their debut and cost $25,000 to $35,000.

Few are expected to be sold in Canada this year, Stewart said.

Called 4K TVs, the next general of high-definition television, they were rolled out by manufacturers such as Sony and Samsung at the recent Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.

"Virtually nobody in Canada will buy a 4K set in 2013 and those who won't be able to watch very much on it," Stewart said.

"These things take years to roll out."

Stewart said the ultra-high resolution is ideal for Hollywood movies and live sports.

"It could lead to less blurring on stuff like a baseball being struck or a hockey shot," he said, and "seeing every blade of grass at the Masters (golf tournament)."

Also on the TV front, televisions worldwide are starting to come out with gesture and voice control. But Stewart said this doesn't mean the remote control device will become obsolete.

"What if I forget and wave my arm and 'Oh my god the Habs are about to score' and I've just changed the channel," he said.

As a result, TV viewers could get frustrated and go back to the "trusty old remote control."

Stewart noted that gesture and voice control have an 80 per cent to 90 per cent accuracy level, but he said they are "not yet ready for prime time."

Other predictions for 2013:

Live TV ? sports, news and reality shows ? will keep the vast majority of Canadian viewers from "cutting the cord'' on traditional TV services in 2013. Deloitte Canada is predicting that less than one per cent of Canadians will abandon TV services they're paying for from cable, satellite or telecom providers, despite hype around it.

Deloitte is also predicting that crowd funding websites will raise $3.3 billion in 2013, a 100 per cent increase on the $1.5 billion raised in 2011. These websites allow large numbers of individuals to give money to a project, company, an artist or a cause. Consumer lending is also available online through crowd funding.

Source: http://www.tonightnewspaper.com/2013/01/15/most-time-still-spent-on-a-computer-report/

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German govt cuts 2013 growth forecast to 0.4 pct

BERLIN (AP) ? The German government has lowered its growth forecast for the country's economy, Europe's biggest, and now says it will expand by only 0.4 percent in 2013.

In October, the government had predicted growth of 1 percent for this year. But the economy hit a weak patch in the fourth quarter amid trouble elsewhere in the euro area.

Economy Minister Philipp Roesler said Wednesday that the economy will pick up after a slow winter and forecast growth of 1.6 percent for 2014.

The government's revised forecast comes a day after official data showed that the economy grew by 0.7 percent in 2012 ? below the previous year's figure of 3 percent.

The new 2013 forecast puts the government in line with last month's projection by Germany's central bank, the Bundesbank.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/german-govt-cuts-2013-growth-forecast-0-4-111400231--finance.html

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Mayor Rob Ford votes against his own budget [Video]

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TORONTO?-?

Mayor Rob Ford broke ranks with his council allies and voted against a part of his own budget Tuesday.

Ford shocked many ? including some supporters on council ? by voting for a surprise move by Councillor Giorgio Mammoliti to freeze taxes in the 2013 budget rather than approve the 2% hike proposed by his own budget chief and endorsed by his executive committee.

The vote to freeze taxes lost 40-4. Ford then went on to vote in favour of the budget?s proposed 2% increase.

Ford?s vote came after he urged councillors to support the budget in its entirety and prompted sharp criticism from councillors on his executive committee.

?I don?t understand why he did it,? Councillor Denzil Minnan-Wong said after the vote. ?It seems to me that some of us are more supportive of his budget than he is.

?I don?t think any mayor in the history of the City of Toronto has proposed a budget and then voted against his own tax rate increase.?

Minnan-Wong questioned if Ford truly understood what he did when he voted for the tax freeze.

George Christopoulos, Ford?s press secretary, said Ford was being open-minded.

[View the story "Reaction to the 2013 Toronto budget debate" on Storify]

?If Council supported it, he?d happily find the money,? Christopoulos said. ?But they didn?t. He is fine with that. He is pleased with the budget that?s been assembled.?

Ford himself shrugged off the vote.

?If anyone can show me the savings, I?m going to support it,? he said.

In pushing for a tax freeze, Mammoliti argued the city could make up the revenue with a casino boat on the city?s shore and avoid cuts to emergency services like Toronto Fire.

?You could effectively and immediately set up a temporary casino on a boat on the waterfront,? he told council.

Councillor Doug Ford accused Minnan-Wong of ?politicking."

?You guys know Rob, he?s not going to vote for an increase if he doesn?t have to,? Ford said. ?That?s just Rob saying we don?t really need it. We have a 0% but 2% is what he can get through council.

?He?s been very flexible on this budget. It?s a great budget. It?s an infrastructure budget. It is the best budget in North America,? he added.

Deputy Mayor Doug Holyday said the 2% tax hike was needed to balance the budget.

?I don?t know how they intended to do it without having that 2%,? he said.

But Holyday said he didn?t feel ?abandoned? by the mayor and dismissed the suggestion he voted against the budget.?

Should city council approve the budget as it is?

Source: http://www.torontosun.com/2013/01/15/budget-showdown-expected-at-toronto-council

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Amazon Instant Video App Launches on Nintendo Wii - The Next Web

Amazon on Monday announced its Instant Video app has arrived on the original Nintendo Wii. You can download the app now from the Wii Shop Channel.

The news means if you use Amazon for your video needs, and you have Nintendo?s Wii console, you now have access to more than 145,000 movies and TV episodes available to purchase or rent from Amazon?s Instant Video library. Furthermore, if you?re an Amazon Prime customer, the app lets you stream more than 33,000 movies and TV episodes for free.

aiv wii browse rent wsync. V398320753  730x164 Amazon Instant Video app brings 145k movies and TV episodes to Nintendo Wii after Wii U debut

Just like on the Wii U, Amazon has made sure the console?s controllers can do more than just hit play. The Wii Remote Plus controller lets users browse and search for titles. Other features include:

  • Smart lists such as Recently Watched, Watchlist, Genre Recommendations, and Your TV Shows that allow youto easily manage their viewing choices.
  • Your Video Library gives you access to purchases from Amazon Instant Video on the Wii or any of the hundreds of other devices enabled for Amazon Instant Video.
  • Parental Controls and Kid Zone features that allow parents to manage access to age appropriate content and also easily navigate specific categories to find family-friendly programming by age.
  • Whispersync lets customers seamlessly switch from one device to another. Start streaming a movie on Kindle Fire, then pick up right where you left off on your Wii console.

?Since it arrived in November of 2006, Wii has been a cultural phenomenon,? Duncan Orrell-Jones, Senior Vice President of Network Business at Nintendo of America, said in a statement. ?With more than 40 million units purchased in the U.S. alone, the addition of Amazon Instant Video means more choice across a significant portion of the American entertainment landscape.?

Back in November, Amazon launched the app for Nintendo?s Wii U console. Since sales haven?t particularly taken off for the Wii?s successor, Amazon probably figured it should support the original Wii as that one sold like hotcakes.

Image credit: Vangelis Thomaidis

Source: http://thenextweb.com/apps/2013/01/14/amazon-instant-video-app-brings-145k-movies-and-tv-episodes-to-nintendo-wii-after-wii-u-debut/

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France in 'direct combat' in Mali within hours

Young men play football in Bamako, Mali, Tuesday Jan. 15 2013. French forces led an all-night aerial bombing campaign Tuesday to wrest control of a small Malian town from armed Islamist extremists who seized the area, including its strategic military camp. A a convoy of 40 to 50 trucks carrying French troops crossed into Mali from Ivory Coast as France prepares for a possible land assault. Several thousand soldiers from the nations neighboring Mali are also expected to begin arriving in coming days. (AP Photo/Jerome Delay)

Young men play football in Bamako, Mali, Tuesday Jan. 15 2013. French forces led an all-night aerial bombing campaign Tuesday to wrest control of a small Malian town from armed Islamist extremists who seized the area, including its strategic military camp. A a convoy of 40 to 50 trucks carrying French troops crossed into Mali from Ivory Coast as France prepares for a possible land assault. Several thousand soldiers from the nations neighboring Mali are also expected to begin arriving in coming days. (AP Photo/Jerome Delay)

French troops in two armored personnel carriers drive through Mali's capital Bamako on the road to Mopti Tuesday Jan. 15, 2013. French forces led an all-night aerial bombing campaign Tuesday to wrest control of a small Malian town from armed Islamist extremists who seized the area, including its strategic military camp. A a convoy of 40 to 50 trucks carrying French troops crossed into Mali from Ivory Coast as France prepares for a possible land assault. Several thousand soldiers from the nations neighboring Mali are also expected to begin arriving in coming days. (AP Photo/Jerome Delay)

In this picture dated Sunday, Jan. 13, 2013 and released by the French Army Communications Audiovisual office (ECPAD) shows French legionnaires of the 1st Foreign Cavalry Regiment based in Orange, southern France, exiting a military plane at Bamako airport, Mali. An official at France's Defense Ministry says the country will "gradually deploy" a total of 2,500 troops to Mali, and the French president says the military operation will last until security has been restored and African forces are ready to take charge. (AP Photo/Jeremy Lempin, ECPAD)

In this picture dated Sunday, Jan. 13, 2013 and released by the French Army Communications Audiovisual office (ECPAD) s French soldiers of the 2nd Marine Infantry Regiment based in Le Mans, western France, listen to their officer during a briefing at Bamako airport, Mali. An official at France's Defense Ministry says the country will "gradually deploy" a total of 2,500 troops to Mali, and the French president says the military operation will last until security has been restored and African forces are ready to take charge. (AP Photo/Arnaud Roine, ECPAD)

In this picture dated Sunday, Jan. 13, 2013 and released by the French Army Communications Audiovisual office (ECPAD) a French soldier of the 2nd Marine Infantry Regiment based in Le Mans, western France, distributes smoke grenades at Bamako airport, Mali. An official at France's Defense Ministry says the country will "gradually deploy" a total of 2,500 troops to Mali, and the French president says the military operation will last until security has been restored and African forces are ready to take charge. (AP Photo/Arnaud Roine, ECPAD)

BAMAKO, Mali (AP) ? French troops pressed northward in Mali toward territory occupied by radical Islamists on Wednesday, military officials said, announcing the start of a land assault that will put soldiers in direct combat "within hours."

French ground operations began overnight in Mali, Adm. Edouard Guillaud, the French military chief of staff, said on Europe 1 television. France's Defense Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said soldiers were headed away from the relative safety of the capital toward the rebel strongholds in the north.

Residents of Niono, a city in the center of Mali which is just south of a town that was overrun by the jihadists earlier this week, said they saw trucks of French soldiers arrive overnight. The natural target for the French infantry is Diabaly, located 400 kilometers (250 miles) northeast of the capital and roughly 70 kilometers (45 miles) north of Niono. French warplanes have carried out airstrikes on Diabaly since the weekend, when a column of dozens of rebel vehicles cut off the road out of Diabaly and seized the town as well as its military camp.

Ibrahim Komnotogo, a resident of Diabaly who heads a USAID-financed rice agriculture project, happened to be outside the town when the jihadists encircled it. He has 20 employees and contractors who he says are stuck inside the town, population 35,000. He told The Associated Press that al-Qaida-linked rebels have sealed off the roads and are preventing people from leaving.

Komnotogo says he fears the Islamists are planning to hide within the mud-walled neighborhoods and use the population as a human shield.

"The jihadists have split up. They don't move around in big groups ... they are out in the streets, in fours, and fives and sixes, and they are living inside the most habituated neighborhoods," he said, explaining that they had taken over the homes of people who managed to flee before the road was cut off.

French warplanes bombarded the military camp, but there have been no airstrikes inside the actual town, which begins at the eastern wall of the garrison. Residents have evacuated the neighborhood called which is only 500 meters (yards) from the camp, he said. They have moved mostly into a quartier called Berlin, about 1 kilometer (0.6 miles) from the military installation.

"They are preventing the population from leaving. We have been trying to get our employees out, but they can't leave," said Komnotogo. "They have parked their pickup trucks inside the courtyards of empty homes. They have beards. And they wear boubous (a flowing robe). No one approaches them. Everyone is afraid," he said.

French President Francois Hollande authorized the airstrikes last Friday after the Islamists began a push southward toward the capital from the northern half of Mali that they control. They seized the Afghanistan-sized north last April in the chaos following a coup in Mali's normally-stable capital.

Five days of airstrikes have done little to erode the Islamist gains in Mali, which some in the West fear could turn the region into a launching pad for terrorist attacks. The bombardments began in the town of Konna, which the rebels occupied last Thursday. After initially saying they had stopped the rebel advance, Le Drian on Tuesday acknowledged that Konna was still in the hands of the rebels.

The seizure of Diabaly brings the Islamists to only 400 kilometers (250 miles) from the capital. Konna, the closest point where they were known to be before, is 680 kilometers (425 miles)away.

The ground assault reverses France's earlier insistence that it would provide only air and logistical support for a military intervention, which would be led by African troops. "Now we're on the ground," Guillaud said. "We will be in direct combat within hours."

On Tuesday, France announced it tripling the number of troops deployed to Mali from 800 to 2,500. The offensive was to have been led by thousands of African troops pledged by Mali's neighbors, but they have yet to arrive, leaving France alone to lead the operation.

Guillaud said the militant groups have a history of taking human shields and France would do its utmost to make sure civilians are not wrongly targeted. "When in doubt, we will not fire," he said.

A resident of Niono said that some residents of the besieged town had managed to slip through the rebel noose. They were arriving on foot, said Mamadou Haidara,

___

Hinnant reported from Paris. Associated Press writer Baba Ahmed contributed to this report from Bamako, Mali.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/cae69a7523db45408eeb2b3a98c0c9c5/Article_2013-01-16-AF-Mali-Fighting/id-b0b41a19f2574f3680fea35c1b079941

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Violent video games pulled from rest stops, targeted in toy return

5 hrs.

In the wake of the school shootings?in Newtown, Connecticut,?Massachusetts officials?have pulled violent, gun-based?arcade games from?state-owned rest stops and are?organizing?a violent video game turn-in program.

Since the Dec. 14 shooting?that claimed the lives of 20 children and six adults in Newtown, some politicians and pundits have suggested that?video games contributed to the violence.? Though some reports suggest that the?shooter,?Adam?Lanza, played video games?ranging from the family-friendly "Mario Party" to the violent "Call of Duty," investigators have yet to make any connection between games and the shootings.

Still,?the state Department of Transportation?decided to remove nine video games from various?rest area plazas?after receiving a letter?from?Andrew and Tracey Hyams.?On Christmas Eve, the couple?was driving with their children from New York to Boston, during which they?passed the Newtown/Sandy Hook exit on I-84. According to their letter, which the transportation department forwarded to NBC News, they stopped at the Massachusetts Turnpike?s Charlton Plaza rest area.

?Just outside the rest rooms was a young man pointing a life-sized machine gun at one of the plaza?s video game machines, firing rapidly and with a loud rat-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat sound. The image of the tragic shootings at Sandy Hook Elementary School immediately came to mind, and we were struck by the possibility that someone from the Newtown community, driving east for the Christmas holiday, might stumble across this scene. We don?t believe that violent video games are the singular cause of mass shootings; there are multiple and complex contributing factors. But games with realistic-looking and sounding plastic assault weapons, which likely desensitize players to the realities of mass destruction, have no place in state-sponsored highway rest stops.

The Hyams asked the Department of Transportation to remove?that game and similar games in all other public spaces.?Sara Lavoie, press?secretary?for the Department of Transportation, told NBC News that her department then?decided to pull nine games???all of which had shooting components.

"We looked at this request as sort of common sense ... in?light of the proximity?to Newtown???proximity in terms of both time and distance," Lavoie said.?

"Time Crisis" and "Beach Head" were among the games that were pulled, she said. In the "Time Crisis" games, which rose to popularity in the late 1990s,?players use plastic guns that they aim at the screen and shoot down enemies. Other arcade?games such as "Ms. Pac-Man" and "Galaga" were allowed to remain at the rest stops.

Meanwhile,?the town of?Melrose, Mass., is getting ready to launch a violent video game turn-in program.?Mayor Robert Dolan told the Boston Globe that?the city will offer a coupon sheet to?kids who turn in violent games, movies and toys. The sheet?will offer deals at local businesses and perhaps even?a "get out of homework free" coupon.

The Melrose program is similar to the Violent Video Games Return Program that?community organizers?in Southington, Connecticut, had planned for last weekend. The SouthingtonSOS group???made up of government officials, business leaders and?clergy???had planned to collect the games and destroy them,?reportedly?even burning them,?in response to the Newtown shootings. But the group?later cancelled its?plans, with a spokesperson stating that?program had achieved its goal of spreading awareness violent video games.

Many had criticized the return?program, comparing?it to the book burnings of the past.?Christopher J. Ferguson, chair of the Texas A&M International University's department of psychology and communication and a well-known video game researcher, sent a letter to the Southington group.?

"Don't get me wrong, I am fully aware you are trying to do what you think is best," Ferguson wrote in the letter he shared with Polygon. "But there is real risk in focusing people's attention on the wrong thing, as well as contributing to historical patterns of 'moral panic' that tend to surround new media (often despite evidence media is not harmful, even if it may be offensive."

Dr.?Tyler Black,?Clinical Director of the Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Emergency Unit at BC Children's Hospital in Vancouver,?recently told NBC News that, indeed, video games have "achieved the status of 'moral panic.'"

"This is very similar to how television used to be viewed, how jazz music was viewed before that, how novels were viewed before that, and how Shakespeare was viewed before even that," he explained. "There has always been a moral panic that has us 'worried for the future generation.' I think video games are so prevalent, and yet so foreign to parents and the older generations, that it's easy to see them as 'scary.'"

On Friday,?Vice President Joe Biden, who is leading?a White House task force?aimed at coming up with ways to stop gun violence, met with?representatives from the video game industry. (He had met with representatives from Hollywood, mental health services and the gun industry earlier in the week.)

The game makers urged Biden not to scapegoat?"one of the most popular new forms of art and entertainment." And the VP, during the two-hour session, did assure?representatives from companies such as Activision-Blizzard, Take-Two Interactive and Electronic Arts that, "I come to this meeting?with no judgment.?"We know this is a complex problem.?We know there's no single answer."

After the meeting was over, representatives from?the Entertainment Software?Association told NBC News in a statement that,?"The video game industry had a productive and candid conversation?with Vice President Biden?...?We expressed in the meeting that the United States Supreme Court recently affirmed that the independent, scientific research conducted to date has found no causal connection between video games and real-life violence."

Biden is expected to suggest ways to address violence in video games, movies and on television when he sends President Barack Obama a package of recommendations for curbing gun violence Tuesday. The proposals are expected to include calls for universal background checks and bans on assault weapons and high-capacity ammunition magazines.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Winda Benedetti?writes about video?games for NBC?News. You can follow her tweets about games and other things?on Twitter?here?@WindaBenedetti?and you can?follow her?on?Google+.?Meanwhile, be sure to check?out the?IN-GAME?FACEBOOK PAGE?to discuss the day's?gaming news and reviews.

Source: http://www.nbcnews.com/technology/ingame/violent-video-games-pulled-rest-stops-targeted-toy-return-1B7951303

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Stephen Harper, state venture capitalist - Business, Econowatch ...

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To be blunt, Canadians have not spent years reducing the ownership of sectors of the economy by our own governments, only to see them bought and controlled by foreign governments instead.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper, December 7, 2012

We will provide the resources needed to put?Canada?s venture capital industry on the path to sustainability and ensure?Canada?s high-potential firms have the resources they need to succeed.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper, January 14, 2013

Today?s announcement of the Venture Capital Action Plan?(VCAP) is a great example of a policy solution in search of a problem. In point of fact, the Prime Minister?s announcement didn?t actually explain what the problem was that the new program was to solve; that was left to the press release issued by?Canada?s Venture Capital and Private Equity Association (CVCA):

[T]he domestic pool of capital allocated and available for venture capital has decreased and significantly lags the demand for venture capital, and as a result, far-reaching measures, such as those announced today, are called for

Now, I was expecting a description of some sort of market failure ? an?externality, or some sort of institutional quirk ? that government intervention could correct, and some sort of explanation of why the VCAP could be expected to do the job. But that?s not the case. An excess demand for venture capital (VC) is not in itself a market failure.

Especially since there?s a very plausible explanation for why venture capital is in such short supply. According to this recent report from the Kauffman Foundation:

[i]ndustry returns data show that VC returns haven?t beaten the public market for most of the past decade, and the industry hasn?t?returned the cash invested since 1997

So there?s a perfectly sensible market-based reason for the shortage of venture capital: VC returns are too low. In a market economy, the excess demand for venture capital would be closed by a price adjustment: entrepreneurs would be obliged to accept smaller injections of capital, would have to offer more control of their firms, or some combination of the two. But in Canada, the gap between supply and demand is closed by the government.

This is my favourite part of the press release:

The Government is currently asking potential investors to signal their interest in co-investing in new or existing funds of funds

Uh, yeah. Let?s think about this for a minute. As I noted above, an important dimension of a VC agreement is the degree of control. Let?s also assume that a government that is so averse to governments ? Canadian or foreign ? having an ownership stake in Canadian firms will be uncomfortable demanding a controlling interest in the new firm. What sort of investor would give their money to a VC entity that chooses to negotiate with one hand tied behind its back?

There is no obvious problem with the VC market that a price adjustment can?t solve. Throwing $400 million at the market will provide a windfall for some lucky entrepreneurs ? not to mention the consultants and lobbyists hired to steer the proposals through the bureaucracy ? but that?s about it.

Source: http://www2.macleans.ca/2013/01/14/stephen-harper-state-venture-capitalist/

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