Fortitude, TV series, New Episode 6 Feb, 4:00am Sky Atlantic HD

Next new episode (S1/E2): Sky Atlantic HD Fri 6 Feb, 4:00am

A host of stars are braving the Arctic chill of Sky Atlantic HD's huge new tv series Fortitude, premiering Thursday 29th January 2015 at 9pm.

Academy Award nominee Stanley Tucci, Michael Gambon, Christopher Eccleston, Sofie Grabol, Richard Dormer, Jessica Raine, Luke Treadaway, Nicholas Pinnock and Johnny Harris will star in the 12 hour thriller, which is centered on a mysterious death in the Arctic Circle and will be filmed in Iceland and the UK.

Fortitude is a place like nowhere else. Although surrounded by the savage beauty of the Arctic landscape, Fortitude is one of the safest towns on earth. There has never been a violent crime here. Until now. In such a close-knit community a murder touches everyone and the unsettling, mysterious horror of this crime threatens the future of the town itself.

The local Chief of Police, Sheriff Dan Anderssen (Dormer), has to investigate alongside DCI Morton (Tucci), the detective who has flown into Fortitude so fast that questions are being asked about how much he knew, and when. As these two cops try to make sense of the killing, each finds compelling reasons to mistrust and suspect the other.

The murder is a catastrophe for Hildur Odegard (Grabol), the town's Governor. It threatens her ambitious plans to transform Fortitude from a mining town into a site for high-end tourism. And for Henry Tyson (Gambon), a wildlife photographer who only has weeks left to live, the murder is the catalyst to unearthing Fortitude's darkest secret.

Also key to the story are Charlie Stoddart (Eccleston), an English scientist who heads up the Arctic Biology department at the Fortitude Arctic Research Centre, talented young scientist Vincent Rattrey (Treadaway), the newest member of Stoddart's team, and Jules Sutter (Raine), who is married to Frank Sutter (Pinnock), Fortitude's chief search and rescue pilot.
As the cold Arctic darkness gives way to endless summer nights, this apparently idyllic community struggles to make sense of the murderous horror that has been let loose in its heart.

Created and written by Simon Donald, Fortitude will air exclusively on Sky Atlantic HD in January 2015.

Cr  :  Sky Atlantic

Gene Hackman Is 'Alive and Well,' Says Rep

Gene Hackman at the Wyndham Hotel in New Orleans.

Vera Anderson/WireImage/Getty Images

 

 

After a Grantland article ran Tuesday with the headline "The Greatest Living American Actor at 85: Gene Hackman Is Gone But Still in Charge," there was concern that the 84-year-old had died. 

If you are confused about the age in the title and his real age, Hackman turns 85 on Friday.

The title has since changed from "Gone" to "Retired," but not before several tweets went out with "RIP" and "condolences" for the acting legend's family. 

If that wasn't enough, a Facebook page with "RIP Gene Hackman" also went up that claimed he died on Monday. 

It read, "He will be missed but not forgotten. Please show your sympathy and condolences by commenting on and liking this page," according to ET Canada. 

People were confused, but have since been relieved to find out the actor's fine. Today, Hackman's rep told ABC News that the "Hoosiers" star is "alive and well." 

Other actors like Dylan McDermott were not all that happy that people took the headline and ran with it. He had originally tweeted "Rest in Peace" about the icon, then took it down when he found out it was all just a hoax. 

 Cr  :  MICHAEL ROTHMAN and DAVID BLAUSTEIN via Good Morning America / ABC News

Michael Rothman More from Michael »

Entertainment Reporter

David Blaustein More from David »

 

Google Fiber coming to southeastern USA

 
(Photo: Stephen Sugg)

SAN FRANCISCO — Google is bringing speedy Internet to 18 cities in four metro areas in the southeastern United States, the latest expansion of its Fiber project.

The Internet giant is promising speeds up to one gigabit per second, about 100 times the average U.S. Internet connection, in Atlanta, Charlotte, Nashville and Raleigh-Durham, N.C.
Having fast broadband speeds "is just a necessity, not a luxury anymore," Kevin Lo, general manager of Google Fiber, said in an interview. "The next chapter of the Internet will be written at gigabit speeds."

The move comes nearly five years after Google offered to build a state-of-the-art fiber-optic Internet service in one U.S. metro area as an experiment.

It launched in 2012 in the Kansas City area, charging $80 a month for the gigabit service and $120 a month for Internet plus cable TV. A slower version of the service is free but requires a one-time fee.

Google Fiber is now up and running in Provo, Utah, and Austin and is exploring the possibility of expanding into Phoenix, Portland, Ore., Salt Lake City, San Antonio and San Jose. Google announced nearly a year ago that it was considering building Fiber in the nine new metro areas.

Lo would not say when Google would announce additional cities. "We are really focused on doing a great job in these cities," he said.

Brokerage firm Sanford C. Bernstein analyst Carlos Kirjner said in November that he expects Google to announce it will extend Fiber to "all or nearly all" of the 34 cities with which it's in discussions. Kirjner estimates the cost for those cities alone could reach $3 billion.

"We believe the expansion is a consequence of Google Fiber's success in Kansas City and Provo, and in the early days in Austin, and reflects Google's view that it may be able to scale Fiber to build a profitable business," Kirjner wrote in a research report Tuesday.

Many consumers and businesses are eager for faster Internet speeds. The average connection speed is about 10 megabits per second, ranking the U.S. 14th in the world.
But investors are becoming increasingly concerned about Google's growing capital expenditures. Wall Street views Google Fiber as an enormously expensive experiment aimed at getting broadband providers to goose their speeds and lower prices.

"We think building an at scale, profitable broadband business is very hard, but Google's phase approach minimizes risk. We think the expansion is a positive for Google but believe the Street will disagree," Kirjner said.

Lo says Google Fiber is a real business for the Internet giant.
The spread of faster Internet helps Google by making it easier for consumers to use its services and view its ads, whether they are searching the Web or watching YouTube videos.

Google Fiber map (Photo: Google)

"These are long-term businesses for Google and for Google Fiber," Lo said.
Google Fiber has been working with city leaders to get their communities ready. Now begins the hard work, Lo said, creating a map of where to put thousands of miles of fiber and then beginning construction.

It takes about a year for Google to build out a fiber-optic network that reaches homes and businesses.

​UBS analyst Eric Sheridan called the latest expansion "a continuation of a measured approach."

"We believe Google Fiber serves dual aims: a) to push current infrastructure providers to upgrade their networks; and b) to raise consumer standards for Internet speeds broadly," Sheridan wrote in a research report Tuesday.

One criticism of Google Fiber: It may be widening, not closing, the digital divide.
Google says it reaches out to lower-income communities to encourage residents to sign up for Google Fiber, sending employees door to door and creating partnerships with community groups.

But a survey of six low-income Kansas City, Mo., neighborhoods conducted for The Wall Street Journal found just 10% of residents subscribe to Google's Fiber service. Another 5% use a slower version that is free for seven years after a $300 installation fee.

Another survey conducted by Sanford C. Bernstein found that 42% of the residents surveyed in five more affluent nearby neighborhoods signed up for Google Fiber and another 11% signed up for the slower version.

Cr  :  USA Today

Auschwitz 70th anniversary: Survivors warn of new crimes

Auschwitz survivors have urged the world not to allow a repeat of the crimes of the Holocaust as they mark 70 years since the camp's liberation.

"We survivors do not want our past to be our children's future," Roman Kent, born in 1929, told a memorial gathering at the death camp's site in Poland.

Some 300 Auschwitz survivors returned for the ceremony under a giant tent.

Some 1.1 million people, mostly Jews, were killed there between 1940 and 1945, when Soviet troops liberated it.

It is expected to be the last major anniversary event survivors are able to attend in considerable numbers.

Ronald S Lauder, president of the World Jewish Congress, told the commemoration: "Jews are targeted in Europe once again because they are Jews...

"Once again young Jewish boys are afraid to wear yarmulkes [skullcaps] on the streets of Paris, Budapest, London and even Berlin.

 At the scene: Kevin Connolly, BBC News
 
Those who survived Auschwitz lived through one of the 20th Century's worst acts of hatred and inhumanity. Many of those still alive today were children in 1945 but they are elderly now and this may be the last significant anniversary where so many will gather.

A huge, white temporary building has been erected over the brick railway buildings where many of the Jews of Europe were sorted into those who were fit enough for slave labour and those who would be taken straight to the gas chambers.

Candles have been lit at the Death Wall where prisoners were executed - small points of light in this wintry landscape of snow and ice, where Europe is remembering a time of darkness.

Bearing witness through drawing

Delegations made their way through the snow to lay candles at the Birkenau Memorial

 

 

Child survivors at Auschwitz - still taken from footage recorded by Soviet forces 

 

Survivors are unlikely to gather in one place again in such numbers 

 

Yuda Widawski, 96, is among the oldest survivors of the Auschwitz attending the ceremonies

 

A giant tent was erected at the Birkenau site for the commemoration

 

Hollywood director Steven Spielberg, who made the Holocaust film Schindler's List, was at the ceremony at Auschwitz

 

Dutch King Willem Alexander came for the ceremony in Poland

 

'My mother's dream'
Polish President Bronislaw Komorowski told the ceremony the Germans had made Poland a "cemetery for Jews".

Auschwitz survivor Halina Birenbaum, born in 1929, said her greatest duty was to "tell others how much people [in the camps] had wanted to live".

"I lived my mother's dream to see the oppressor defeated," she told the ceremony.

Former inmates described how the Nazi guards had forced families apart, sorting new arrivals into those fit enough for hard labour, and those who would go straight to the gas chamber.

After the speeches, Jewish and Christian prayers for the dead were said before candles were lit at the Birkenau monument to the victims.

Auschwitz was liberated on 27 January 1945. It opened as a museum in 1947.

Anniversary ceremonies took place in other parts of Europe and at Israel's Holocaust museum, Yad Vashem.

Auschwitz-Birkenau death camp

• Construction began in 1940 on site that grew to 40 sq km (15 sq miles)
• About one million Jews were killed at the camp
• Other victims included Roma (Gypsies), disabled people, homosexuals, dissidents, non-Jewish Poles and Soviet prisoners

Life in the city of Auschwitz

Renee Salt, 85, from north London, visited the camp for the first time 10 years ago and "buried the ghosts", she told the BBC, and has been going back ever since.

"I'll do it for as long as I can. Why? There are still a lot of Holocaust-deniers the world over and if we don't speak out, the world won't know what happened."

Paula Lebovics, an 81-year-old survivor from Encino, California, told the AP News agency that she remembered how as a small, hungry girl of 11 she was lifted up by a Russian soldier who rocked her tenderly in his arms, tears coming to his eyes.

She did not know who that soldier was but she still felt enormous gratitude to him and the other Soviet soldiers, Ms Lebovics said, adding: "They were our liberators."

On Tuesday the Russian defence ministry published what it said were archive documents (in Russian) about the liberation of Auschwitz.

The first soldiers and reporters to enter the camp described crowds of exhausted, emaciated prisoners, and found piles of dead bodies.

Russian President Vladimir Putin was among world leaders not attending the ceremony amid a row with Poland over the commemoration and linked to Russia's recent intervention in Ukraine.

Instead, the Russian leader attended a commemoration at Moscow's Jewish Museum along with Russia's Chief Rabbi, Berel Lazar.

Russian President Vladimir Putin (left) lit a candle at a ceremony in Moscow alongside Russia's Chief Rabbi, Berel Lazar 

 

Germans commemorated the transport of Jews to their deaths by laying flowers on railway platforms in Berlin

 

Children brought candles to the site of the Theresienstadt Nazi concentration camp in the Czech Republic

 

The Kremlin accused Poland of engaging in anti-Russian "hysteria" after Polish Foreign Minister Grzegorz Schetyna credited Ukrainian soldiers, rather than the Soviet army, with liberating Auschwitz.

"The Russian people carried the lion's share of the fight with fascism on their shoulders - 70% of all the Red Army fighters and officers were Russians," Mr Putin said at the museum.
He also paid tribute to more than half a million Jews who had fought in the Red Army and made a "huge contribution to the victory against the enemy".

In his speech at Auschwitz, Poland's President Komorowski drew a parallel between Nazi Germany and the USSR, recalling the massacre of Polish elites by Soviet forces.

Before leaving Paris for Poland, French President Francois Hollande condemned the "unbearable" problem of contemporary anti-Semitism, telling Jews at a Holocaust memorial, "France is your homeland."

Earlier, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said it was a "disgrace" that Jews faced insults, threats and violence.

Cr  :  BBC News

 

Demis Roussos Biography

The Roussos had been in Egypt for two generations and on 15 June 1946 Artemios Venturis Roussos was born in Alexandria. His mother, Olga, and his father, George, both of Greek extraction, had also been born in the country their parents had come to in the 1920s. Following the Greek custom, the baby was named after his paternal grandfather, Demis being a pet name for Artemios. In the heart of an orthodox community, he lived in the middle of a Muslim city. From his early childhood he was immersed in folk music, exposed to Byzantine and Arabic influences. Attracted to singing, he joined the choir of the Greek Byzantine Church with which he sang for five years as a soloist. At the same time he studied musical theory and learnt how to play the guitar and the trumpet. Everything was going well when the Suez crisis blew up in 1961. Residents in Egypt had to leave the country and the Roussos – Mr Roussos was an engineer with a property construction company – returned to their native land, Greece. At the age of 17, with only music in his head and to the great disappointment of his mother who was hoping to send him to the best school in Athens, Demis formed his first band, ‘The Idols’, in which he played guitar and bass. At that time the band members were his cousin Jo, Natis Lalaitis, Nikos Tsiloyan and Anthony. A chance happening meant that one day Demis had to replace the group’s singer for a short time and he sang an Afro-American spiritual, ‘The house of the rising sun’, and another popular success of the time, ‘When a man loves a woman’. The public was immediately won over by his voice. Overcome by a great desire for independence, he began to feel the need to take control of his own life. Henceforth, bands and clubs became part of his daily life. Meeting Lucas Sideras and Argyris Koulouris lead him to play the international successes of the moment in clubs and night- clubs. The great turning point of his musical career was his meeting with Vangelis Papathanassiou in the summer of 1966. One particular song introduced Vangelis to demis’ unique voice. Within his group he began to sing more and more often, frequently as a soloist. However, a few meetings with Vangelis did take place. These young musicians, cut off from the international music scene, soon realised that an interesting career could only be accomplished outside their country.

APHRODITE’S CHILD

Demis left his group and began to practice new songs with Vangelis. At the end of March 1968, Lucas and Demis took the train to London. Vangelis was supposed to join them a few days later. Fate decided otherwise. When they arrived in Dover, at the English border, with no work permits, customs officers discovered photos and tapes in their luggage and quickly realised what their true intentions were. The young musicians cut short their journey. Back in Paris, trapped by the circumstances, their savings melted away day by day. Unable to leave Paris where unrest was brewing, only a recording could get them out of a tight spot. They learnt that Phonogram was holding an international conference and, plucking up all the courage they could find, they went to meet with the executives and explained their situation. A draconian contract, which promised exclusivity for six years, was drawn up. Confronted by the necessity to get by, they signed the contract and were able to begin recording. Their dream was at last coming true. It was in the 4m² cellar near the Porte d’Italie where they practised that ‘Rain and tears’, composed by Vangelis, was born. The lyrics were written by Boris Bergman, a young song-write introduced to them by the record company. The recording of the single took place in extremis in rather unusual circumstances. The following day the studio closed due to the general strike. A few weeks later ‘Rain and Tears’ was number one in the charts. They had made a hit! They themselves saw very little difference in what they were doing but they began to receive proposals for concerts and they were swept up in success. In June a week of performing at Olympia as Sylvie Vartan’s opening act was a real success. They spent the summer in the clubs of the South of France. Their success continued to grow. Hundreds of thousands of copies of their first album were sold and demis’ fantastic voice brought them a great many more successes with ‘It’s five o’clock’, ‘I want to live’, ‘End of the world’ and ‘Spring, summer, winter and fall’. These five hit singles were accompanied by two albums, one of which became number one. The group climbed to number one in Germany, Holland, Belgium, France and Italy… ‘Aphrodite’s Child’ lasted for two years. They made 239 television appearances over this period. Demis married Monique with whom he had a daughter, Emilie. Vangelis however was dissatisfied. He wanted a more serious music, more like the music he composed alone. He wished to confront the English and American markets, to stop touring and devote his time to studio work. The recording of the double album ‘666’, based on the texts of Saint John’s Apocalypse, was the materialisation of this desire for change. It was a critical moment for the group: after three months of costly recording, the record company panicked. The break-up of the group became inevitable after a heated argument between Vangelis and Lucas. In the end it was Vangelis alone who, one year later, finished the album which was seen at the time as a classical masterpiece. Supported by the record company Phonogram, Demis began a solo career.

Demis Roussos GOES SOLO

Inspired by the numerous folk themes in his head and using the sounds and instruments of pop music Demis fulfilled his dream. Two months in the studio were required to complete this first LP. He composed some of the melodies and conceived some of the arrangements. Named ‘Fire and Ice’, love, life and death are its major components. This twelve track album was released in 1971. Demis was already no longer totally unknown, his first single, ‘We shall dance’, having been one of the biggest hits of summer 1971 not only in France, but all over Europe. His international career took off straightaway. 1972 was a year of travelling. Spain, Italy, the Netherlands, Greece and Germany welcomed him. In June ‘My Reason’ was released and for several weeks Demis was once again at the top of the singles’ charts in France. In September he achieved national consecration with a performance at Olympia that revealed his talent. His vocal potential was fantastic and his stage presence extraordinary. In front of 30 000 people he performed ‘Velvet Morning’, a song composed specially for the occasion by Lakis Vlavianos, a Greek born in Athens on 7 July 1947. He composed most of demis’ songs, ‘My friend the wind’, ‘Someday, somewhere’… Accompanist and conductor, he played the organ, Melotron and Moog Synthesizer. A trip to South America lead to a big tour in 1973, the year which saw the release of his second album, ‘Forever and ever’ comprising songs that would nearly all become great hits just like ‘Forever and ever’, ‘My friend the wind’, ‘Lovely sunny days’, ‘My reason’, ‘When I was a kid’, ‘Goodbye my love, goodbye’… Two million records had already been sold in one year of solo career and the Demis Roussos phenomenon was only just beginning. That year I heard a lot about him on the radio and I often listened to old Aphrodite’s Child records and to my great surprise I learnt that he was going to give a recital in my home town as the opening act for Joe Dassin. That was my first meeting with Demis. Until then I had never seen him on stage but he was in my imagination, omnipresent, all-powerful. His entrance was announced by an instrumental from his orchestra, a mixture of Wagnerian and Byzantine music added to by an impressive sound system. Demis appeared on stage. His stature was impressive, his long tousled beard flowing like a prophet’s, lightning in his eyes, his smile confident and satisfied. Demis, the Pope of pop, with the physique, the majestic gestures, the lofty allure, appeared shrouded in a cloud of smoke. That night he mixed a harmonious cocktail of both Greek and Byzantine music with sublime nuances. Steeped in this music, the public was captivated by his technical perfection. Demis Roussos had a musical style without improvisation, full of finesse and beauty. On stage the colours were perfectly matched to the music: tender, gentle, nothing aggressive. One of the songs, the unknown ‘Thousand years of wondering’, lasted six minutes. Composed by Lakis Vlavianos, it fluctuated between Bach, Led Zeppelin and the Yardbirds. This fantastic recital ended with a journey through Greece with ‘My reason’. His music moved the public, stirring in peoples’ hearts the strange charm procured by religious chants and the aggressive rhythm of Arabic chants. People let themselves be overcome by his extraordinary voice. It was at that moment that I personally became a ...

Fan of Demis

Acquiring here and there all the records already released, from this point in time I collected all the documentation I could about Demis and in this way I learnt a great deal despite being puzzled by certain articles! In 1973 I attempted to visit him in Neuilly-sur-Seine where he had an apartment. Unfortunately he was away and I later learnt that, in fact, he only spent a few nights there each year. During the same year, I had the chance to meet him at a gala, to be present at the sound rehearsal and to get an autograph. It was my first real meeting with Demis Roussos. 1974 saw Demis triumph in Germany, release his new album, ‘My only fascination’, and start up his own newspaper, Demis Roussos News, intended for his friends all around the world. This first review was a chance for Demis to take stock of the last three years of his career spent as a solo artist. We learn that in 1000 days he gave 380 concerts in 18 countries, flew 400 000 km by plane, travelled 100 000 km by car, took part in 120 television programmes, in 180 radio programmes, in three singing festivals, in M.I.D.E.M. ’73, recorded 40 songs, including 3 albums requiring 600 hours of studio time, received 15 gold discs and sold nearly 9 million records…In their private life, the Roussos wanted to create a real home. They bought a house in Maisons-Laffitte, just outside Paris. Wishing to add his personal touch, Demis ended up having everything renovated. The specialised press got hold of the story. After two years redecoration, the house was at last ready. It was a superb dwelling, all white in 1930’s style inspired by American colonial houses. On the programme for 1975 were five 45 day tours on five continents. The rest of his time was devoted to preparing a double album which he had been thinking about for over a year. It was a two hour show, the first part with famous songs such as ‘My Reason’, ‘Forever and ever’ and ‘Goodbye my love, goodbye’ and the second part inspired by Homer. Certain musical passages were composed by Manos Hadjidakis and the lyrics were written all in English by several different authors, including Constandinos and Boris Bergman. Unfortunately, this work, which should have been released on LP, never saw the light of day. 1975 was also a year marked by a happy event. On Monday 15 September 1975 the little boy so long awaited by Demis and his wife Dominique was born at 3:35 in the morning. The proud father saw in Cyril the continuation of the Roussos’ name. The album ‘Souvenirs’ was released in France followed in 1976 by ‘Happy to be’. 1976 was also the year that Demis toured England and released the LP ‘The Roussos Phenomenon’ followed in 1977 by his first album in French, ‘Ainsi soit-il’. In 1977 the album ‘demis Roussos Magic’ was also released in France. More than 30 million records had already been sold worldwide. However, keeping up a palace from which he rarely benefited, Demis decided to go to Monaco and his family moved there that same year. On 5 December he began several days of recitals at the Olympia Stadium in Paris. 1978 saw the release of the album entitled ‘demis Roussos’ which was recorded in America. In June 1979 the Roussos settled near Malibu where they rented a magnificent villa by the sea. The album ‘Universum’, recorded in French, German, Italian, Spanish, was released and became extremely successful in Latin America.

A new album, ‘Man of the world’, was released on 19 May 1980 and took Demis to the top of the charts. It included his new single, ‘Lost in love’, which had been released in England and the Netherlands, and also ‘I need you’, released as a single in France, Italy and Spain. This new album included songs from Barry Mann, Harry Nilsson, Francis Rossi and several other artists from the world of pop. The songs were a success. ‘Lost in love’ was successful in England, the Netherlands and Belgium. ‘Sorry’ was also a hit in England, as was ‘I need you’ in France, Italy and Spain. ‘San Pedro’s Children’, with ‘Sorry’ on the B-side, was released in Germany after ‘Lost in love’. The album ‘Man of the world’ came out in four different versions. Side 1 of the French version comprising ‘Man of the world’, ‘Slacham dance’, ‘Lost in love’, ‘Miss you nights’, ‘Little girl’, ‘I need you’, ‘I’d give my life’. Side 2 comprising ‘Sorry’, ‘Had to run’, ‘San Pedros children’, ‘The wedding song’, ‘Love is away’, ‘We’re over’. In England, idem except that on side 2 ‘How glad I arn yoy oem’ replaces ‘Had to run’. In Spain ‘Sonora’, the Spanish version of ‘I need you’, is to be found on side 1 and ‘Cançion de boda’ instead of ‘Wedding song’ on side 2. In Italy ‘Credo’ replaces ‘I need you’ on side 1 and ‘Nascera’ (‘Highway home’) replaces ‘Had to run’ on side 2. Released in almost every country in the world, the album was produced by David McKay.

A NEW LOOK

In June 1980 Demis weighed in at 147kg. Stop! He had already tried a diet in 1979 in an attempt to lose weight. At last he found the one that suited him best. In June 1980 he began his diet in earnest. The result surprised more than a few. In ten months he lost 50kg. Meanwhile, in September he gave a few galas in England in the clubs around London followed by a tour in Argentina in October. In Italy he was awarded a gold disc after selling 150 000 copies of his album ‘Universum’. At the end of February 1981, Demis was in France. He took part in the ‘Marché International du Disque et de l’Edition Musicale’ in Cannes and appeared in a special televised show, ‘Le Palmarès des chansons’, during which he sang ‘Forever and ever’, ‘My reason’ and numerous other older titles. He concluded with his latest single, ‘Si j’étais roi de la Terre’, produced by Alec Constandinos. In Rouen he participated in an RTL radio show with Michel Drucker. A new single, ‘Race to the end’, was released. It was composed, arranged and produced by Vangelis Papathanassiou using texts by Jon Anderson. It is a vocal adaptation of the film ‘Chariots of fire’. It was released in England on 16 March 1981 but the rest of the world had to wait until the end of March or April. The new album, ‘Race to the end’, was recorded in May and June 1981 and produced in August. With Vangelis, Demis recorded the French version of ‘Race to the end’ and another song which he would produce in France. After a tour of Australia, from 17 June to 16 July 1981, he began a new grand tour of Europe from 16 November to 15 December 1981 with 27 concerts, six in England, the others in Holland, Belgium, France and Switzerland. In France, the French version of the single ‘Race to the end’, entitled ‘La course infinie’, was released as was a Spanish version, ‘Es tu libertad’. Véronique Skawinska, a friend of Demis, wrote a book about the diet he had undertaken. It was published in autumn 1981. In August 1981, Demis took advantage of his holidays to prepare for working on a new album in September and October 1981. In November 1981, Vicky Leandros recorded a duet album with singers such as Johnny Halliday, David Soul and Demis. This duet with his his fellow countrywoman came out as a single in December in Holland and Switzerland. Produced in March 1982, ‘demis’, a new album in a new musical style reflecting demis’ altered image, appeared in England, Holland, Germany and numerous other countries around the world. It was comprised of the following titles: ‘Lament’, ‘We’re shining’, ‘Take me sailing’, ‘Song without end’, ‘For the free’, ‘Gypsy lady’, ‘Need to forget’, ‘Race to the end’ and ‘Where are they now’. It came out in France, Italy, and Spain with tracks sung in the language of each country. For France, ‘Lament’ became ‘Au nom de l’amitié’, ‘Song without end’ became ‘Ma chanson qui n’en finit pas’, ‘For the free’ became ‘Les enfants du futur’, ‘Race to the end’ became ‘La course infinie’ and ‘Where are they now?’ became ‘Où est ce temps?’ For Italy, ‘For the free’ became ‘Ese tu’ and ‘Need to forget’ became ‘Impossible dimenticarti’. For Spain, ‘Take me sailing’ became ‘Una isla an el cielo’, ‘For the free’ became ‘En el nombre de I’amistad’, ‘Need to forget’ became ‘Nessecito Olvidar’ and ‘Race to the end’ became ‘Es tu libertad’. A single was released under the title ‘Lament’. As he had to do numerous television and radio shows to promote his record, Demis decided to move to England where he rented an apartment for six months. In the autumn of 1982 a single, ‘Follow me’, and an album, ‘Attitudes’, were released in France. The European version, released at the end of October or the beginning of November, comprised the following tracks: ‘Follow me’ (long version composed to the second movement of Rodrigo's Concerto de Aranjuez), ‘Pretender’, ‘Planet Earth is blue’, ‘Deepest of all’, ‘Take my hand’, ‘Flaming star’, ‘House of the rising son’. For the English version, ‘Take my hand’ was replaced by a newly remixed version of ‘Lament’. ‘Flaming star’ was also replaced by ‘Race to the end’. An international single, ‘Follow me’ and ‘Song without an end’, was also produced. In 1983 the single ‘Jay’ was released, followed in 1984 by ‘Reflections’, an album produced by his friend Vangelis. It was a collection of well-known songs from numerous different artists. 1985 saw the release of another single, ‘Amis pour la vie’. This was the year in which an exceptional event was to leave a deep and lasting mark on Demis. On June 14 he was the victim of a plane hijacking when he was travelling with his wife Pamela. Shocked by this traumatising experience and having brushed with death, Demis realised just how precious and beautiful life is. He decided to work towards making the world a better place through what he knew best, his music. He planned to start recording again and to appear on stage. In 1986 he released a single, ‘Island of love’, followed in 1987 by another, ‘Quand je t’aime’. The album entitled ‘Le Grec’ and dedicated to his mother was released in 1988. Demis composed two of the tracks, ‘The beauty of your eyes’ and ‘Futureless forever’. ‘Voice and vision’, an album from which the track ‘On écrit sur les murs’ was also released as a single, came out in December 1989.

TOWARDS THE NEW MILLENIUM

Two singles came out in 1990, ‘Poésie’ and ‘Même si’. The album ‘Christmas’, recorded at the beginning of the nineties is still considered as the best selling collection of classical Christmas songs. Tours were organised in a number of French churches, home of these timeless songs. ‘Insight’, album on which, amongst other things, we find the poem ‘Spleen’ from Charles Baudelaire’s work ‘Les fleurs du mal’, was released in 1993. Demis is accompanied on this track by Ronnie. The symphonic album ‘In Holland’ and the album ‘Immortel’ were released in 1995. The latter is a collection of quintessential popular French songs such as ‘Les Moulins de mon coeur’ by Michel Legrand, ‘La mer’ and «Que reste-t-il de nos amours?’ by Charles Trénet, ‘Les feuilles mortes’ by Prévert, ‘La vie en rose’ and ‘L’hymne à l’amour’ by Edith Piaf. ‘Serenade’ came out in 1996. It is a collection of classical western opera pieces. A new CD, ‘Mon île’, composed of different ethnic music, was released in 1997. The most famous track remains ‘Dinata’. ‘The phenomenon’, a four CD collection, was released in 1998 and covers the thirty years of Demis Roussos’ career. It includes a song from his early days, ‘Thousand years of wondering’, and also a short rock opera inspired by Homer already planned in 1975. A DVD was also produced. It includes photos and enables us to discover the ‘Aphrodite’s Child’ era, to hear a moving interpretation of ‘Race to the end’ and to enjoy ‘On écrit sur les murs’ where Demis plays the bass. A new CD, recorded in German, ‘Auf Meinen Wegen’, English and Italian, was produced and released in 2000.

JUNE 2001

Universal has released a 20 track compilation. This luxurious object includes a biography derived from this site and illustrated with numerous photos.

 

Cr  :   demislegrec.com

Euro 'doomed to be a weak currency'

The euro is doomed to be a weak currency indefinitely, according to a crushing assessment by Europe's most authoritative economists.

The single currency will not prosper without sweeping economic reforms across the EU, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development says today.

The bombshell verdict punctures the euro-euphoria that greeted the launch of notes and coins in the new currency in 12 EU member states on January 1.

Politicians across the Eurozone hailed the launch as a massive success that has given the EU its biggest boost since it was founded more than 40 years ago.
British Ministers implied our entry was 'inevitable'.

Yesterday they were brought down to earth with a bump by the independent OECD's analysis of the fatal flaws that threaten to cripple the euro.

The report will be seen as vindication by Eurosceptics who argue that Britain is better off outside the currency.

It coincides with another slump in the value of the euro, which is back in the doldrums after the artificial boost it enjoyed two weeks ago.
The report, from the OECD's respected economics department, says the euro cannot function properly without a genuine single market across the EU - something that is years away.

It warns that there is not enough labour flexibility across the EU to make the currency work efficiently.
It also reveals that far from converging, EU economies have been diverging since monetary union began three years ago.

The OECD also says the introduction of the single currency has pushed up prices.
As for its chances of ever rivalling the U.S. dollar as a reserve currency - as its founders proclaimed - the OECD is dismissive.

It points out that its performance on the international markets has been ' disappointing', losing 25 per cent of its value against the dollar since its launch.
It is a devastating analysis that will be read with horror in chancelleries across the Eurozone. The OECD questions how a single currency can operate in a zone where sudden changes 'can lead to asymmetric shocks which affect some countries and regions more than others'.

A 'much boasted' benefit of the euro was supposed to be price transparency, allowing consumers to compare likefor-like prices across the EU. 'In fact, the shortcomings of the single market have so far limited price convergence,' the OECD observes.

One survey found that the price of a litre of milk ranges from 0.67 euro in Portugal to 1.22 euro in Italy, a near 100 per cent difference.

The report concludes: 'Most of the Eurozone remains stifled by cumbersome administrative regulations, rigid labour markets and high operating costs.'

For the euro to flourish, 'Europe will have to overcome these national prerogatives and speak with one voice.'

Cr  :   DAVID HUGHES, Daily Mail

WhatsApp now offers messaging on the web — for some

Image: Mashable composite. Whatsapp

Maybe we should call it WhatsWeb.
WhatsApp announced Wednesday that it has finally introduced the option to use its messaging service on your web browser, though it is somewhat limited. It only works with Google Chrome and it doesn't work yet with iOS devices due to "Apple platform limitations."

See also: Facebook in 2015: Drones, messaging and virtual reality, oh my!

To take advantage of the option, WhatsApp users must open up this Google Chrome extension and then scan the QR code (yeah, we know, groan) to pair your device with the web client. As a further limitation, WhatsApp's web chat only works as long as your phone remains connected to the Internet. However, as with other texting workarounds, having WhatsApp on desktop might turn out to be useful after you've jumped through these various hoops.

Facebook completed its acquisition of WhatsApp last year for what ended up being about $22 billion. WhatsApp recently topped 700 million monthly users, up from around 450 million users when Facebook first announced plans to acquire the company last February.

Cr  :   mashable.com

Windows 10's new features: Cortana, a 'Spartan' browser, Xbox streaming, and more

It’s official, folks: Windows 10 is coming to the people. After kicking off Windows 10 with a bevy of business-friendly features, Microsoft drew back the curtain on the operating system’s new consumer-focused features at an event on Wednesday, while simultaneously driving home a vision of an operating system designed to deliver a singular, cohesive experience across a myriad of device types.

And it'll be a free upgrade for Windows 7 and 8 users, who can snag the operating system for nada in the first year after Windows 10 hits the streets.
After Microsoft operating system chief Terry Myerson announced that crucial tidbit, Microsoft’s Joe Belfiore took the stage to run through some features coming to Windows 10 Preview that are designed to make using the operating system a smoother experience.

First, Belfiore showed off some helpful tweaks to Windows 10 features that have already been announced: The Start menu will be able to expand to fill the full screen if you desire, for one thing. The Action Center (read: Windows 10’s notification center) is receiving improved functionality, such as Windows Phone 8.1-esque quick action buttons that let you activate features (such as Bluetooth and Wi-Fi) with a single click. Notifications in the Action Center will be able to be expanded.

More helpfully for everyday workflow, Windows 10 will condense the Control Panel and the modern UI PC Settings into a single interface, eliminating Windows 8’s maddening insistence on dumping crucial system tools into two separate locations.
Microsoft also announced that its Continuum feature, which dynamically shifts the Windows 10 interface from the Modern UI to the desktop depending on whether you’re using a traditional PC or a touchscreen device, will soon appear in Windows 10 Preview builds.

Cortana comes to PCs

Cortana on a Windows 10 PC.

As anticipated, Microsoft’s Cortana digital assistant will make the jump from Windows Phone to Windows 10, assuming control of many of the operating system’s search features. Cortana, which will get her own place next to the Start button in the desktop taskbar, can perform many of the same basic tricks she does in Windows Phone. Cortana can be interacted with via text or natural voice queries, just like on mobile devices.

Still based off Microsoft’s cloud-based Bing brains, Cortana can answer basic queries like “Will I need a coat tomorrow?” or how much it costs to attend the University of Washington, as Belfiore showed in live demonstrations. But Cortana’s also been tweaked for more useful PC-like interactions. She can scour your local machine, OneDrive account, and even your business network to find files based on natural language queries. Belfiore showed off the capabilities by asking Cortana to “Find PowerPoint slides about the charity auction” and “Show me photos from December.” The digital assistant surfaced the desired information nearly instantly.

That sounds pretty darn handy, and there are more playful commands, too: Telling Cortana to “Play my music” launches the music app, while asking her to “Please be quiet” silences the music. Nice!

Windows 10 for phones and universal apps

Belfiore then veered off to show Windows 10 on phones and tablets, including a brief demo of mobile, touch-friendly Office apps. Windows 10 for phones will basically act like an extension of your PC, featuring universal Windows apps that share the same central heart and design as their PC counterparts, as well as newly universal notifications that synchronize across Windows 10 devices.
 
After the mobile talk, Belfiore showcased a rebuilt version of Outlook designed for PCs, tablets, and phones alike as a universal Windows app. Strongly resembling the Mail app in Windows 8—at least aesthetically—the universal Outlook map will sport a unified look across device types, packing touch-friendly commands such as swiping left on a message to remove it, or swiping right to flag it for later follow up.
Since many of Microsoft’s apps—including Outlook—have their heads in the cloud, changes you make to a universal app on one device will be immediately reflected on other devices, as Belfiore demoed by actively editing Calendar app entries simultaneously on a PC and a phone.

Microsoft’s bringing the same cloud-centric, universal app experiences to its core Windows apps as well, all powered by OneDrive on the backend. The Photos app will create albums from all your devices, intelligently removing duplicates and burst photos. A revamped universal People app will collate your contacts, while the Music app is also receiving a universal overhaul. As rumored, Microsoft will add support for you to put your music collection in OneDrive within the next month or two, so you can listen to your tunes anywhere. Maps will also be receiving Cortana integration, and she'll be able to remember where you parked your car.

This is Spartan

Also new to Windows 10 is Spartan: A new, clean-looking, lightweight browser built around a new rendering engine. It won’t be available in the first Windows Insider builds, and it will only come to phones eventually, Belfiore said.

The Spartan browser's annotation capabilities.

The Spartan browser includes a note-taking mode that lets you annotate a webpage, then share your marked-up, commented-on version with others using Windows 10’s native Share feature. There’s also a clipping tool so you can save portions of websites directly to OneNote.

Spartan also doubles down on the mere act of reading on the Internet. The browser integrates an updated version of the stellar Reading Mode found in Windows 8’s Metro Internet Explorer app. Reading Mode strips all the ads and sidebar crud out of webpages, formatting articles so that they appear similar to a book. It’s a wonderful thing. Spartan also taps into the Windows Reading List app, so you can save articles to read later, synchronizing the list across multiple devices. Unlike the Reading List app in Windows 8, the one in Windows 10 will let you save content to read offline.

Cortana surfacing restaurant info in the Spartan browser.

Cortana is also being integrated directly into Spartan. "Because she knows you, she can help in more nuanced ways,” Belfiore said, showing an example where searching for “Delta” in his address bar popped up information for the Delta flight Belfiore was scheduled to take later. Cortana will also pop up when you visit a restaurant’s website, surfacing directions as well as information about the restaurant’s menu, hours of operating, and Yelp reviews.

Improving PC games with Xbox

The Windows 10 Xbox app.

Microsoft’s also bolstering Windows 10’s gaming chops by deeply integrating Xbox capabilities into the operating system. A new Xbox app essentially looks like a more fully fleshed-out version of SmartGlass, letting you chat with your Xbox Live pals, view your achievement information, or access game DVR clips. The app also lets you like, share, and comment on game clips.

But Windows 10’s new gaming chops is about more than merely expanding Xbox’s footprint. While you’re playing traditional PC games, be it in Steam or otherwise, a new Windows key + G keyboard shortcut brings up an interface for saving snapshots and 30 second video clips of your adventures, which then brings you into the Xbox app to share it. Games don’t directly have to support the functionality as it’s being overlaid directly by Microsoft in Windows 10.

Windows 10's new screenshot- and video-capturing tools will work with any PC game, including Steam games.

As previously announced, the performance-enhancing DirectX 12 gaming API is also coming to Windows 10. Xbox head Phil Spencer claims that the API can deliver up to a 50 percent performance improvement in games.

Microsoft also wants to enable more gaming experiences regardless of the device you’re using. Fable Legends players on Windows 10 and Xbox One will be able to play with each other, and you’ll be able to stream your Xbox One games directly to any Windows 10 device, though it sounds like it will be limited to local networks only, similarly to Steam in-home streaming.

Surface hub and Windows Holographic

The Surface Hub.

This has nothing to do with Windows, but it's a major—and unexpected—hardware announcement from Microsoft: The company's rolling out the Surface Hub, an 84-inch, 4K, touch-enabled display for office collaboration. You can read the full details here.

Image: Microsoft

Windows Holographic will build 3D imaging into Windows 10, which can be experienced using the HoloLens headset.

And the Surface Hub isn't even the craziest hardware announced by Microsoft today. That honor goes to Windows Holographic, a set of technologies—a headset, new Windows 10 technology, and a HoloStudio dev app—that brings some insanely intense augmented reality capabilities to Windows. You'll definitely want to check this out.

When can you get it?

Myerson also revealed some stats from the Windows 10 Technical Preview. Thus far, more than 1.7 million people have registered for the Windows Insider program, and they’ve installed Windows 10 on more than 3 million different PCs.
A fresh Windows 10 Preview build containing the newly announced features will hit PCs next week, with a Windows 10 build for phones becoming available after the Super Bowl. Here's how to get started with the Windows 10 Preview.

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Cr  :   pcworld

Sam Smith - I'm Not The Only One lyrics

Sam Smith I'm Not The Only One produced by James Napier.
"I'm Not The Only One" by Sam Smith is listed #5 in the Hot 100 Billboard charts.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

You and me we made a vow
For better or for worse
I can't believe you let me down
But the proof is in the way it hurts
For months on end I've had my doubts
Denying every tear
I wish this would be over now
But I know that I still need you here

You say I'm crazy
Cause you don't think I know what you've done
But when you call me baby
I know I'm not the only one

You've been so unavailable
Now sadly I know why
Your heart is unobtainable
Even though God knows you have mine

I have loved you for many years
Maybe I am just not enough
You've made me realise my deepest fear
By lying and tearing us up

Cr  :   directlyrics.com

Super Bowl XLIX

Super Bowl Ticket

The Super Bowl has become a national treasure since its debut in 1967. Since that time football fans from across the globe eagerly await Super Bowl Sunday each year to see the season's best NFL teams go head-to-head for the victory! No one wants to miss out on the most anticipated game of the season. See every touchdown and tackle LIVE when you buy your Super Bowl tickets now!

Note: Resale prices often exceed face value.

Event

When

Where

Super Bowl Tickets

Sun, Feb. 1st, 2015 04:30 PM

University of Phoenix Stadium (Glendale, AZ)

Sell Tickets »

Buy Tickets »

Seattle Seahawks vs New England Patriots

Super Bowl XLIX Tickets
The Super Bowl has long been one of football's most cherished traditions, and today has become the chief sporting event of the year. Viewed the world over by billions of people, the Super Bowl pits the best teams from the NFC and AFC against one another for the most coveted of football titles. The first Super Bowl was played on January 15, 1967, and was initially a game between the best team in the NFL and the AFL. When the two leagues merged in 1970, the Super Bowl was born and became a single game played each year for the NFL Championship. The Green Bay Packers won the first two titles, beating out the Kansas City Chiefs and Oakland Raiders, respectively. Super Bowl Sunday has rapidly become one of the biggest days of the year in America. Currently it's the most viewed televised event each season and is runner up only to Thanksgiving for food consumption on a single day. The Super Bowl's halftime show is as popular as the game itself showcasing the biggest talents in popular music. Truly a spectacle to behold, the Super Bowl is an opportunity to see the gladiators of modern day sports go head-to-head. Super Bowl XLVII saw the Baltimore Ravens beat out the San Francisco 49ers in a battle of the best that kept football fans on the edge of their seats. Who will reign supreme as champion of Super Bowl XLIX? You don't want to be stuck in front of the television or reading the reviews of the game in tomorrow's newspaper. Become part of the action; get your Super Bowl XLIX tickets now!

Cr  :    ticketexchangebyticketmaster.com

Amber Rose Biography

Overview

Date of Birth	21 October 1983, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
Birth Name	Amber Levonchuck
Height	5' 8" (1.73 m)

Mini Bio

In September 2009, Rose announced plans to launch her own line of eye wear. She walked the runway at New York Fashion Week for "Celestino". She has said that being with Wiz Khalifa was the best decision she made after going through a rough relationship with ex-boyfriend Kanye West because he was cheating with Kim Kardashian.

Levonchuck has also made cameos in music videos such as Ludacris' "What Them Girls Like", Young Jeezy's "Vacation", Mary Mary's "God in Me", Nicki Minaj's "Massive Attack", and Fabolous "You Be Killin' Em."

In 2010 she appeared in Russell Simmons' reality show about his two assistants, "Running Russell Simmons". She also starred in a PSA by NOH8 Campaign. In 2011, Amber Rose was a guest judge on Season 3 of RuPaul's Drag Race. She was also a judge on Season 2 of Master of the Mix.

In November 2011 she became the spokesperson for Smirnoff and appeared in a TV ad and billboards for the company's new flavors Whipped and Fluffed.

Levonchuck released her debut single, "Fame", which features Wiz Khalifa, in January 10, 2012, followed by a second single, titled "Loaded", was released on February 6, 2012.

- IMDb Mini Biography By: Fad Joe

Spouse

Wiz Khalifa

(8 July 2013 - present) (filed for divorce) (1 child)

Trade Mark

Shaved Head

Stiletto Nails

Trivia

In 2012, she miscarried her future 1st child with her then fiancé Wiz Khalifa.

Gave birth to her 1st child at age 29, a son Sebastian Taylor Thomaz on February 21, 2013. Child's father is her fiancé (now estranged husband), Wiz Khalifa.

(September 22, 2014) Filed for divorce from her husband of 14 months Wiz Khalifa citing irreconcilable differences and plans to take full custody of son Sebastian.

Her mother is of Cape Verdean descent and her father is of Italian and Irish descent.

Cr  :  imdb.com

Birdman: 'spectacular'

Is it a bird? Michael Keaton soars in Birdman  

Photo: Fox Searchlight

 

Michael Keaton has a Dark Knight of the soul in this career-defining, genre-defying superhero film

Almost the first thing we see in Birdman, the new film from Alejandro González Iñárritu, is a faded Hollywood star named Riggan Thomson (Michael Keaton) meditating in his dressing room. What’s unusual about the shot, apart from the fact that Riggan is hovering a clear three feet above the floorboards, is that from that moment until 10-or-so minutes from the end of the movie, the camera doesn’t so much as blink.

 

The vast majority of Iñárritu’s hilarious, beautiful, film-defying film plays out in an apparently continuous, cut-free sequence that prowls through the St James Theatre in New York City, where Riggan hopes to resuscitate his flagging career.
We’ve seen the long-take trick before, perhaps most notably in Hitchcock’s 1948 chamber thriller Rope, which masked five of its 10 cuts by slinking in close to its cast. But in Birdman, the effect’s entirely different. Working with the great cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki, Iñárritu turns the film into a high-wire act – live, unpredictable, light as air, yet also fatalistically locked on course. While it’s going on, you’re glued to the impossibility of what you’re seeing. Once it’s over, you can’t believe what you saw.
Yet Birdman isn’t a piece of empty showmanship. It’s a piece about empty showmanship, and its unhinged premise – a fairground-mirror image of the career of its leading man, who starred in Tim Burton’s two mega-grossing Batman films then quit the franchise on principle – couldn’t have been told in a smarter way.

Birdman is a film about the seductions of fame and prestige

Riggan is a casualty of film: two decades ago, he bailed from the smash-hit Birdman superhero franchise between its third and fourth instalments, but his enormous fan-base didn’t follow. Now, the only thing that can save his ego is acclaim, which is why he’s on Broadway, starring in and directing a play he’s adapted from a Raymond Carver short story.
But as the show crunches through its disastrous previews and towards opening night, reality springs a leak. In floods the psychological turmoil of the Carver story and also blockbuster carnage: giant, robotic crows peck at skyscrapers, while military aircraft strafe the Broadway crowds.
And hovering over it all is the spectre of Birdman himself – normally invisible, but sometimes glimpsed in his beaked mask and feathered cape – dripping poison in Riggan’s ear, like a malevolent Jiminy Cricket.
Riggan’s mania is fuelled by the seductions of fame and prestige, and how the two are, ultimately, nothing alike: “You’re not an actor, you’re a celebrity,” sneers Lindsay Duncan’s toxic theatre critic when Riggan buttonholes her after a disastrous preview night. But it’s also a film about faces, and the way in which all of us start to crumble the moment our masks drop.
There’s a scene in which Riggan’s fresh-from-rehab daughter (a superb Emma Stone) punctures her father’s pretensions with a monologue that’s delivered like a knitting needle to the gut. But while the words are furious, it’s the involuntary wince of sadness that flashes across her features in the silence that follows that makes us feel their point.
Keaton gives, in at least two senses, the performance of his career. He summons up all the manic comic energy of his early work in films like Night Shift and Beetlejuice, but Riggan seems half-fried by it, and as the heat increases on all sides, you can almost smell the sizzle. And he could hardly be better supported: Edward Norton is uproarious as his preening, co-star; Naomi Watts and Andrea Riseborough perfect as actresses jangled by insecurities; Zach Galifianakis tamped-down and terse as Riggan’s bumptious producer; Stone tremendous as the lone voice of reason, faltering and defiant.
This is grand, spectacular, star-powered cinema – a cosmological blockbuster – that makes us ask again what cinema can do and be. Call it a Dark Knight of the soul.

Birdman is released in the UK on January 1 2015

• Film: Birdman (trailer)
• Michael Keaton returns
• Emma Stone - Global Stardom
• Birdman Picture Gallery
• Movie Comebacks

© Copyright of Telegraph Media Group Limited 2014

Cr  :   Robbie Collin from The Telegraph

Project Ara

Project Ara
 is the codename for an initiative by Google that aims to develop an open hardware^{[citation needed]} platform for creating highly modular smartphones. The platform will include a structural frame (endoskeleton that holds smartphone modules of the owner's choice), such as a display, camera or an extra battery. It would allow users to swap out malfunctioning modules or upgrade individual modules as innovations emerge, providing longer lifetime cycles for the handset, and potentially reducing electronic waste. A market pilot for Project Ara is scheduled for early 2015 with a target bill of materials cost of $50 for a basic grey phone. The project was originally headed by the Advanced Technologies and Projects team within Motorola Mobility while it was a subsidiary of Google. Although Google had sold Motorola to Lenovo, it is retaining the project team who will work under the direction of the Android division.

Project goals
Google says the phone is designed to be used by "six billion people", including the one billion smartphone users and the five billion feature phone users. Google intends to sell a starter kit where the bill of materials is US$50 and includes a frame, display, battery, low-end CPU and WiFi.
Google wants Project Ara to lower the entry barrier for phone hardware manufacturers so there could be "hundreds of thousands of developers" instead of the current handful of big manufacturers.This would be similar to how the Google Play Store is structured. Lowering the barrier for entry allows many more people to develop modules. Anyone will be able to build a module without requiring a license or paying a fee.

Structure and features

Ara frames

Frame	Size	Rear module slots
Mini	45 × 118 × 9.7 mm	2 × 5
Medium	68 × 141 × 9.7 mm	3 × 6
Large	91 × 164 × 9.7 mm	4 × 7

Ara Smartphones are built using modules inserted into metal endoskeletal frames known as "endos". The frame will be the only component in an Ara Smartphone made by Google. It acts as the switch to the on-device network linking all the modules together. Two frame sizes will available at first: "mini", a frame about the size of a Nokia 3310 and "medium", about the size of a LG Nexus 5.In the future, a "large" frame about the size of a Samsung Galaxy Note 3 will be available. Frames have slots on the front for the display and other modules. On the back are additional slots for modules. Each frame is expected to cost around US$15^. The data from the modules can be transferred at up to 10gigabits/sec per connection. The 2×2 modules have two connections and will allow up to 20gigabits/sec. This is to defer its obsolescence as long as possible.
Modules can provide common smartphone features, such as cameras and speakers, but can also provide more specialized features, such as medical devices, receipt printers, laser pointers, pico projectors, night vision sensors, or game controller buttons. Each slot on the frame will accept any module of the correct size. The front slots are of various heights and take up the whole width of the frame.The rear slots come in standard sizes of 1×1, 1×2 and 2×2.Modules can be hot-swapped without turning the phone off. The frame also includes a small backup battery so the main battery can be hot-swapped. Modules are secured with electropermanent magnets. The enclosures of the modules are 3D-printed, so customers can design their own individual enclosures and replace them as they wish.
Modules will be available both at an official Google store and at third-party stores. Ara Smartphones will only accept official modules by default, but users can change a software setting to enable unofficial modules. This is similar to how Android handles app installations.

Project team

Project Ara was developed and is led by Paul Eremenko.The project falls under Regina Dugan, who runs Google's Advanced Technology and Projects (ATAP) organization. Both Eremenko and Dugan worked previously at DARPA, where Eremenko originated the fractionated spacecraft concept and ran the Adaptive Vehicle Make program before heading the Tactical Technology office. The core Project Ara team at Google consists of three people with most of the work being done by outside contractors. One of the main contractors is NK Labs, a Massachusetts-based engineering firm, whose co-founder is Ara Knaian after whom the project was named. Another contractor is 3D Systems.

History

Development

Prior to its acquisition of Motorola Mobility in 2011, Google had previously acquired some patents related to modular mobile phones from Modu. Initial exploration of this concept began in 2012 and work started on April 1, 2013. Dutch designer Dave Hakkens announced the Phonebloks modular phone concept independently in September 2013. Motorola publicly announced Project Ara on October 29, 2013 and said they will be working collaboratively with Phonebloks.Motorola went on a 5-month road trip throughout the United States in 2013 called "MAKEwithMOTO" to gauge consumer interest in customized phones.Interested developers, testers, or users can sign up to be Ara Scouts.
The first version of the developers' kit relies on a prototype implementation of the Ara on-device network using the MIPI UniPro protocol implemented on FPGA and running over an LVDS physical layer with modules connecting via retractable pins.Subsequent versions will soon be built around a much more efficient and higher performance ASIC implementation of UniPro, running over a capacitive M-PHY physical layer.
A near-working prototype of an Ara smartphone was presented at Google I/O 2014; however, the device froze on the boot screen and failed to boot completely.Globant also announced that they will make a Google Play like dedicated hardware store for project ara.

Planned events

Google organized a series of three Developers' Conferences throughout 2014. More than 3300 developers signed up to the first conference that took place on April 15–16, where Google released the developers' kit.Commercial release is planned for Q1 2015.

Reception

Initial reception to the earlier modular Phonebloks concept was mixed, citing possible infeasibility, lack of a working prototype, as well as other production and development concerns. Some production and development issues were addressed after the Project Ara announcement from Motorola as the concept now had OEM backing, but other issues were raised about the modular concept.
Potential issues with the modular concept include a tradeoff between volumetric efficiency and modularity, as the framework interface holding the device would increase overall size and weight. Eremenko says modularity would create a difference of less than 25% in size, power, and weight to components, and he believes that is an acceptable trade-off for the added flexibility.The current prototype is 9.7mm thick, slightly thicker than conventional smartphones.Additional issues include regulatory approval; the FCC tests single configurations for approval, not modular configurations.Google said the FCC "has been encouraging so far".

Project Ara

Project Ara smartphones are composed of modules assembled into metal frames
Developer	Google, Motorola, Linaro
Manufacturer	User
Product family	yes
Type	Modular smartphone
Release date	2015 Q1
Retail availability	up to 7 years
Introductory price	minimal cost ~US$50
Operating system	Android
Power	modular battery
System-on-chip used	Toshiba-supplied for the first year
Website	Project Ara Project Ara Forum

Cr  :  wikipedia