Posted by admin on July 14th, 2008 — Posted in World Of Movies
In a television network the end devices are stupid, while the network itself is sophisticated. Control is exercised within the TV network itself. On the Internet, the opposite is actually true: an end-to-end deliberately dumb network with all of the intelligence concentrated at the periphery.
“To be a real-time video journalist, all you need is a blog, a camcorder, and a laptop with WiFi. How long will it be before our news reports come direct from local sources with their own video production facilities, in real time, over the Net? … Classical TV and video news production equipment, requiring tens of thousands of dollars and a specialized infrastructure, is becoming a thing of the past.
It is now possible to use a laptop-Internet system for on-the-fly transmissions from remote locations for distribution over a television network. … But what is most encouraging about this technology is how it can lead to new forms of distribution that bypass centralized broadcasting entirely, allowing for the creation and distribution of video programming from within a Peer-to-Peer (P2P) network. …Web logs are another example of how people are shifting from passive media spectators to active media producers.
Now that a rich media layer is being added to blogs — with the appearance of video blogs — it seems that a viable alternative to centralized TV networks is emerging. For example, consider what might happen through the joining together of video blogs, Real Simple Syndication (RSS), and BitTorrent. This is a very powerful combination. …Who needs a cable network’s team of celebrity reporters, with their jingoistic coverage of “Operation Iraqi Freedom,” when I have unfiltered access to images and testimony from the war zone?
The tools suites are appearing. But more than anything else, we need education. People have to learn that they can produce video comparable to professional broadcast quality using these inexpensive, open source tools. What can be more important to the future of democracy than giving citizens the ability to better communicate with each other?”
Find more articles at http://www.media43.com
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Posted by admin on May 16th, 2008 — Posted in World Of Movies
Nominated for six Golden Globes and seven Emmys, including Outstanding Series - Comedy, Sanford & Son became one of the first shows in television history to be almost entirely centered around African-American characters. Modeled after the British TV show Steptoe & Son, the series showcased the underappreciated talents of comic genius Redd Foxx (whose skin color and bad language prevented him from becoming a superstar decades earlier). The brainchild of All In The Family creator Norman Lear, Sanford & Son signaled the beginning of a decade of sitcom classics for the prolific 1970’s TV writer - Maude (1972), Good Times (1974), and The Jeffersons (1975) being the others. Wrought with memorable one-liners and well-timed humor, Sanford & Son was a Top 10 Nielsen rated show every year in which it aired except for its final season (ranking a respectable #27)…
Sanford & Son, set in the Watts district of Los Angeles, follows the life of Fred Sanford (Redd Foxx), a 65-year-old African-American junk dealer who shares his business with his 34-year-old son Lamont (Demond Wilson). With Fred’s wife Elizabeth having passed away twenty years earlier, he often evokes Lamont’s sympathy by clutching his heart and proclaiming, “Oh, I’m coming to join you Elizabeth!” But Fred always survives those near fatal heart attacks, continuing to disperse sarcastic putdowns (often directed at his sister-in-law Esther) and racist stereotypical remarks aimed against whites and Hispanics (especially Lamont’s friend Julio). Using guilt to manipulate his ambitious son into staying and helping run the salvage shop instead of pursuing other endeavors, Fred Sanford spends most of his days lounging around the house (his junk store and home are one and the same) and hanging out with his friends - Grady, Melvin, and Bubba… Well-written and hilarious, Sanford & Son is comedian Redd Foxx at his absolute best…
The Sanford & Son (Season 5) DVD features a number of hilarious episodes including the season premiere “Earthquake II” in which Fred wakes up believing the house was robbed only to find out that a small earthquake hit in the middle of the night. When Grady tells him that a “big one” is coming soon, Fred gets fed up and vows to sell the house. He travels to Las Vegas to avoid the earthquake, where he runs into Merv Griffin… Other notable episodes from Season 5 include “Donna Pops the Question” in which Donna receives a marriage proposal from another man, but wants to know first if Fred will marry her, and “Can You Chop This?” in which Fred invests all of his and Lamont’s money in a get rich quick scheme involving the sale of choppers…
Below is a list of episodes included on the Sanford & Son (Season 5) DVD:
Episode 88 (Earthquake II) Air Date: 09-12-1975
Episode 89 (Divorce, Sanford Style) Air Date: 09-19-1975
Episode 90 (Bank on This) Air Date: 09-26-1975
Episode 91 (The Sanford Arms) Air Date: 10-03-1975
Episode 92 (Steinberg and Son) Air Date: 10-10-1975
Episode 93 (Brother, Can You Spare an Act?) Air Date: 10-17-1975
Episode 94 (Della, Della, Della) Air Date: 10-31-1975
Episode 95 (Donna Pops the Question) Air Date: 11-07-1975
Episode 96 (My Fair Esther) Air Date: 11-14-1975
Episode 97 (Sanford and Rising Son) Air Date: 11-21-1975
Episode 98 (The Olympics) Air Date: 12-05-1975
Episode 99 (Ebenezer Sanford) Air Date: 12-12-1975
Episode 100 (The Oddfather) Air Date: 01-02-1976
Episode 101 (Can You Chop This?) Air Date: 01-09-1976
Episode 102 (Greatest Show in Watts) Air Date: 01-16-1976
Episode 103 (Fred Sanford Has a Baby) Air Date: 01-23-1976
Episode 104 (The TV Addict) Air Date: 01-30-1976
Episode 105 (Lamont in Love) Air Date: 02-06-1976
Episode 106 (The Escorts) Air Date: 02-13-1976
Episode 107 (The Engagement Man Always Rings Twice) Air Date: 02-20-1976
Episode 108 (The Director) Air Date: 02-27-1976
Episode 109 (A Pain in the Neck) Air Date: 03-05-1976
Episode 100 (Sergeant Gork) Air Date: 03-12-1976
Episode 111 (Camping Trip) Air Date: 03-19-1976
About the Author
Britt Gillette is author of The DVD Report, a blog where you can find more reviews like this one of the Sanford And Son (Season 5) DVD.
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Posted by admin on April 4th, 2008 — Posted in World Of Movies
Models at the Movies
Indigo® Instruments isn’t only about supplying scientific kit to schools technicians, homeschoolers and students doing their science fair project. No! A fair few molecular models and countless other items have made their way to Hollywood, got themselves on the small screen and featured in some offbeat web experiments.
VP Stephan Logan explains how Rob Cohen’s 2005 movie “Stealth” is described on the Internet Movie Database as “Surprisingly enjoyable”. Why? Because a plot line based on three pilots deeply ensconced in a top-secret military program struggling to bring an artificial intelligence program under control before it initiates WWIII sounds just so unsurprising. The movie features intense action, violence and innuendo. But, far more excitingly it also features a 17-layer DNA model from Indigo. So, for what was it those pilots needed a model of DNA? You’ll have to watch the movie to find out.
One of Indigo’s “anatomically correct” 12-layer DNA models also features in the current hit movie “Fantastic Four.” In this marvelous piece of cinema, a group of astronauts gain superpowers after being exposed to cosmic radiation (yeah, right!) and are destined to use them in fighting the world-dominating plans of the evil Doctor Victor Von Doom. They couldn’t have thought of a more corny name for the villain, but at least the DNA molecular model used in the movie is scientifically accurate, having been built to the highest specifications by Indigo’s Logan himself.
Once again, superheroes are the subject of another movie to feature molecular model kits supplied to Hollywood by Indigo Instruments. In “Return of Zoom”, a movie based on the graphic novel “Zoom’s Academy for the Super Gifted” by Jason Lethcoe, an unpopular high school girl sent to superhero school by her “mysterious” father and discovers her hidden talents (a la Harry Potter, methinks). The makers of this movie, also utilized a DNA model from Indigo to reveal the inner workings of human genetics at the molecular level. Unfortunately, for Indigo’s image, the director asked for the model to be specially made so that it would fall apart easily. Don’t ask why, you’ll have to go see the movie. Needless to say, any models you buy from Indigo Instruments will be made to far more exacting standards and are guaranteed not to fall apart!
Stepping back from the superheroes, Indigo® Instruments was proud also to provide a whole series of chemical models for the making of Eddie Murphy blockbuster, “The Nutty Professor”. Mineral models including a huge zeolite model and a model of the structure of diamond were used to great effect in the movie as Professor Sherman Klump, desperately trying to lose weight, takes a chemical cocktail that morphs him into the slimly obnoxious Buddy Love. The mineral models feature prominently as classic examples of Klump’s laboratory equipment.
Molecular models from Indigo Instruments have not only caught Hollywood’s eye, but arthouse directors have turned to Indigo Instruments to supply them with molecular models too. So, Indigo can now lay claim to having appeared at the Toronto Film Festival.
DNA and other molecular models from Indigo, have also hit the small screen in TV crime show “Law & Order”, in sci-fi classic “Stargate Atlantis”, and on CBS News during the celebrations of the 50th anniversary of the discovery of the structure of DNA.
It’s not just the entertainment industry that is fascinated by Indigo’s DNA models. “We’ve also sold a 17-layer DNA model to such organizations as Bell Labs, IBM, and even shipped one to Erasmus University Hospital in Rotterdam, The Netherlands, where the SARS virus was first identified,” says Indigo SD Stephan Logan. In addition NASA lesson plans such as their magnets and life lesson cites Indigo Instruments as a useful source of powerful rare earth magnets. Images from Indigo® Instruments have been used on countless lecture tours and in science demonstrations including those by staff at Wisha University. A chemical flask from Indigo has even been adapted to make a heliograph, or sun tracker.
“We have sold DNA models to lawyers for court cases involving patent issues,” adds Logan, “major museums and institutions, such as the Bill Clinton Museum, Howard Hughes Medical Center, Walter Reed Army Hospital, US Naval Academy, Harvard University, New York University and elsewhere, also have our DNA models and others on display.” Intriguingly, even the infamous Martha Stewart has bought glassware from Indigo, in the form of test tubes and Erlenmeyer flasks for use in floral arrangements.
www.indigo.com/models/molecular-models.html“>Molecular Models
Article by David Bradley Science Writer. More science articles here.
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