Gus Van Sant Working on Superhero Movie

Gus Van Sant has been fairly quiet in the past few years, with his only directorial feature being Restless,?which was pretty big flop. Recently though, with the hype building for?Promised Land,?it seems that Van Sant may again be as relevant as he once was. To follow up?Promised Land,?he has an interesting project in the works: a martial arts superhero film.

Movie Line?reports the director is currently working on the script of a Stephen Chow (Kung Fu Hustle)?inspired film. From what we know, the story focuses on a group of normal citizens who develop the skills to take on crime.

The story has an extremely specific location, Hollywood Boulevard and Gower, near the Pep Boys sign, which is where?Van Sant says he got the inspiration for the film. He was standing next to a frail old woman holding an armful of bags, when he had the following thoughts.

?I thought, Oh my God, she?s going to get hit, and then I thought that maybe she has more going on than I think. Maybe I should give her more credit. Maybe she could kick my ass.?

So is this a film about the elderly martial arts experts of Los Angeles? Not quite, but it will be normal people who set out to clean up a small area of the city, meaning there probably won?t be a sinister?super-villain?setting out to destroy the world. But then again, it sounds like the story still could undergo drastic development.

Van Sant says the script is nowhere near ready for shooting, but he?s been creating some watercolor paintings of the characters on Hollywood Boulevard, that he hopes will inspire the eventual shoot. Writing, directing, and painting? Quite the?renaissance?man.

What do you think of Gus Van Sant taking on this genre? Are you interested in his martial arts superhero film? Share your thoughts in the comments section below.

Did you enjoy this article? If so, we?d love to hear your thoughts in the comments below. It would be great if you subscribed to our RSS feed, followed us on Twitter or liked us on Facebook. There?s lots more where this came from! If you're interested in writing for us, feel free to submit an application.Hot Stories From Around The Web

Source: http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/1926349/news/1926349/

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South Africa's Motlanthe "agonizing" over ANC leadership bid

PRETORIA (Reuters) - The ANC in South Africa's richest province backed Deputy President Kgalema Mothlanthe on Friday as its choice for leader of the ruling party, keeping him in the hunt for a position that would tee him up to be president of Africa's biggest economy.

However, Motlanthe refused to immediately seize on the support of African National Congress (ANC) members in Gauteng, the province that includes Johannesburg and Pretoria, as the chance to launch a formal challenge to President Jacob Zuma.

Zuma is firm favorite to win re-election to the helm of the ANC at a party leadership conference next month, despite a slew of scandals and sluggish economic growth in the three years since he won the national presidency in elections.

He has also been criticized for his handling this year of three months of violent labor unrest in the mining sector that included the police killing of 34 striking platinum miners on August 16. The labor strife dented South Africa's image with investors and led to downgrades by credit ratings agencies.

Speaking to the foreign media in Pretoria, Motlanthe said he felt "neutral" about the Gauteng backing, adding that he was yet to make up his mind whether or not to run against Zuma.

"I'm still agonizing over it," he said.

Besides Gauteng, KwaZulu Natal - the province with the biggest voting clout in the December ANC election - has come out in support of Zuma, as has the smaller Free State.

South Africa's remaining six provinces are due to reveal their decisions later on Friday and - barring any last minute surprises - all the signs point to Zuma securing enough backing at the Dec 16-20 conference to win re-election.

Zuma himself became leader of Nelson Mandela's 100-year-old liberation movement in 2007 after spearheading a grassroots internal campaign to unseat then president Thabo Mbeki, who was seen by many ANC members as aloof and too pro-business.

(Reporting by Ed Cropley; Editing by Pascal Fletcher)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/south-africas-motlanthe-agonizing-over-anc-leadership-bid-131844073--business.html

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Bankruptcy Lawyers Service For Financial Troubled Business | www ...

It is sad when to say not every business can reach its success and create profit for themselves. Because of numerous reasons the business cannot generate good amount of sales to finance themselves and having troubles in paying their loans installment requirement or bills to their creditors such as banks and suppliers. When a business is facing this type of trouble, they may want to consider hiring a professional bankruptcy lawyer?s service to solve their financial troubles.

Some of the common financial problems that are faced by a business to file bankruptcy are; tax problems, assets repossessions, debts and creditors payments, and lawsuits.

Bankruptcy lawyers? function?

The purpose of bankruptcy lawyers are to guide their clients to file bankruptcy according to the procedures that are set by the law and represent their clients in court. There are many experience bankruptcy lawyers service that is available. The most important is to find reputable and reliable service such as phoenix bankruptcy lawyers.

The bankruptcy lawyers? service will help and support the business financial problem with their advice and legal procedures, paperwork and formalities. Therefore a business will have the chance to discharge from debts obligation, renegotiate their debts payment terms to their creditors and settle their debts. Therefore the business with the financial troubles can have a fresh start.

Tags: assets repossessions, bank, bankruptcty lawyers, bankruptcy, Business, client, court, creditor, debt, debts payment terms, finance, financial problem, law, lawsuits, Loan, professional, profit, renegotiate, service, supplier, tax problems

Source: http://www.auralfusion.net/bankruptcy-lawyers-service-for-financial-troubled-business.html

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Senate panel OKs Obama choice for US commander

WASHINGTON (AP) ? The Senate Armed Services Committee has approved President Barack Obama's choice to be the top commander in Afghanistan.

By voice vote Thursday, the panel cleared the way for the full Senate to vote on Gen. Joseph Dunford, the assistant commandant of the Marine Corps who had directed combat forces in Iraq.

Dunford would replace Gen. John Allen, the current commander in Afghanistan who has been nominated to take charge in Europe.

Allen's nomination is suddenly on hold as he's ensnared in the sex scandal that had led to the resignation of CIA director David Petraeus.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/cae69a7523db45408eeb2b3a98c0c9c5/Article_2012-11-29-US-Afghanistan%20Commander/id-0cd25beb44304eb2baf95e60a4c70ab1

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The WITCH Is Back: 61-Year-Old Computer Alive & Well

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In today?s world of mobile computing with devices that fit in your pocket, the notion that the first computers ever made occupied entire rooms and weighed several tonnes is hard to remember. It seems almost ridiculous too. Weren?t they just in the imagination of Hollywood producers of B-grade science fiction movies? Nope, they were real, and the WITCH is back.

The WITCH computer became the ?world?s oldest original working digital computer? recently when a museum in the UK refurbished the machine and fired it up. The scene must have been akin to a cheesy sci-fi film since unlike today?s computers, the WITCH was beeping, flashing and clunking like nobody?s business. And it read software off paper tape with holes punched into it. The only thing it was missing was those magnetic tape reels, but alas, they appeared in later, more ?advanced? models.

The WITCH isn?t particularly useful anymore outside of its attraction as a museum piece. It can store 90 numbers, so it?s effectively a room-sized calculator. It used flashing valves instead of binary code to store numbers, and it could take five to ten seconds to multiply two numbers together. It was used in atomic research up until 1957 and then as a teaching device until 1973 when it was renamed the Wolverhampton Instrument for Teaching Computation from Harwell (ie WITCH!). In its time, the WITCH was only one of about a dozen state of the art computers in the world.

Given the WITCH was used for several decades without an upgrade, the mammoth computer marks a stark contrast with today?s computing devices which can be swapped out for an upgrade every 12 months (and in some cases even sooner). It would also be hard to see today?s devices working 60 years after their original build date. It can be easy to take our access to cheap computing technology for granted these days. It?s a great thing that a computer like the WITCH is still functioning since it?s a fascinating window into the beginnings of the computer age.

Via: [CNN] Image Credits: [The Verge] [CNN]

Author: Ben Warner

Ben is an independent filmmaker, writer, and online content developer. He currently co-hosts and produces the weekly vodcast ?FiST Chat,? dedicated to bringing insightful and entertaining discussions on all things film, science and technology. You can also see Ben as the co-host of the web series ?Food Discoveries,? exploring various culinary experiences from around the world. Ben is the founder of production companies Digicosm and Small Wave Films, and has produced and directed numerous short films, feature films and documentaries since the late 1990s. When he?s not working, Ben indulges his love of traveling, food, technology, cinema, and music.

Source: http://www.bitrebels.com/technology/witch-is-back-61-year-old-computer/

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Ask The Expert: The Cross-Channel Impact of Online Banner Ads ...

Ask The Expert: The Cross-Channel Impact of Online Banner Ads

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By: John Faris, Director of Cross-Channel Marketing at Red Door Interactive
Featured in Transworld Business
November 22, 2012

When allocating digital marketing budgets across channels, it is certainly important to dedicate an appropriate amount of budget to ?closer? channels such as affiliate, search, and email. These channels are often the last ones that a consumer touches, prior to converting.

However, maintaining a significant spend in display advertising (also known as online banner advertising) is just as important. Banner ads introduce consumers to the brand, and influence people?s brand preference along the path to purchase, both online and offline. Furthermore, display advertising provides volume and scalability that other digital channels don?t have.

It is well known that banner ad click-through rates are obismal. Even the most compelling banner ads on the Internet aren?t clicked on by 99% of people who see them. This often scares marketers away from display advertising, because the immediate value isn?t obvious. However, it is important to understand that even when consumers are exposed to display ads, but don?t click, these ads can still have a significant impact on website traffic and retail foot traffic.

This makes sense, when you think of the context of banner ads, and how consumers behave. A person who is just browsing their favorite information, news, or entertainment website (i.e., business.transworld.net) usually doesn?t have an active intent to purchase something at the moment. But once they see a display ad several times, they consciously (or sub-consciously) associate the advertiser?s brand with a product category, or at least reinforce an existing association they?ve made. That can happen whether they click the ad or not. When the consumer eventually does have a need that the advertiser?s product can solve, they remember that association, and go directly to that website by typing in the url, or by searching for the brand name on a search engine like Google. In fact, a 2010 study from comScore and Valueclick Media showed that highly targeted ad buys, such as retargeting or audience targeting, can result in 500%-1,000% increase in the number of brand name searches that consumers conduct on search engines for the advertised brand.

The same study showed overall website visitation is lifted significantly through display advertising too ? by at least 250%. Because brand search and direct traffic are typically the top conversion sources for a brand website, driving incremental clicks from these sources can be a highly effective way to increase digital ROI.

Display ads can influence offline behavior too, in a similar way to how print ads, circulars, TV, and radio all drive people to retail. A recent study by Google and a leading US retailer compared retail sales in test markets saturated with online media, versus those in control markets that had no online advertising. The results showed that, when combined with search ads, display advertising created a 1.6% increase in offline sales and a 1000% return on investment. In this case, online ads performed at least as good as circulars did for the same brand.

Another great advantage to display is that the inventory is virtually limitless in comparison to other digital channels. Email campaigns are limited by the number of subscribers you have in your database. Search campaigns are limited by the number of people actively searching for your brand or other relevant keywords. And social campaigns are limited by the number of followers/fans that you have. But display campaigns are only limited to one thing ? the size of your target audience online. Given that ad networks like Google Display Network, AOL, and Value Click are able to reach upwards of 97% of the global Internet population, chances are that you can serve billions of impressions to consumers in your target market, and still have room to spend more.

As more marketing dollars shift to digital, action sports brands that want to scale their spend will need to move beyond solely investing in direct response channels. Ad clicks and ecommerce conversions are highly valued, and rightly so. But it?s a mistake to focus all of your effort on closer channels, while ignoring the opportunity that display advertising presents.

Source: http://www.reddoor.biz/ask-the-expert-the-cross-channel-impact-of-online-banner-ads

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Video: O?Neal fights university for Fawcett?s Warhol portrait

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Source: http://video.today.msnbc.msn.com/today/49977250/

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