Free Kareem
ALERT!! A serious injustice was committed. Please take action now! Kareem Amer, an Egyptian blogger who was imprisoned for exercising his right to freedom of speech, is still in prison and needs YOUR help!
Find out more information by visiting FreeKareem.org or by networking with us.
Latest News from freekareem.org- Free Kareem campaign in Berlin, Germany – PICTURES February 27th, 2010
- Video: Free Kareem rally in Washington, DC
- Kareem forbidden visits by his lawyer
- Meklit Hadero sings a song for Kareem
- Kareem’s final appeal rejected
Kareem has been in prison for: 1226 days.
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Kentucky Derby
Kentucky Derby
| Grade 1 Race | ||
|---|---|---|
| Kentucky Derby | ||
 “The Most Exciting Two Minutes in Sports” |
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| Location | Churchill Downs Louisville, Kentucky, USA |
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| Inaugurated: | 1875 | |
| Race type | Thoroughbred | |
| Website: | 2007 Kentucky Derby | |
| Race information | ||
| Distance | 1¼ miles | |
| Track | Dirt, Left-handed | |
| Qualification | 3-year-old | |
| Weight | Colt/Gelding: 126 lbs (57.2 kg) Filly: 121 lbs. (54.9 kg) |
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| Purse | US$2 million | |
| Bonuses: | US$ 200 | |
The Kentucky Derby is a Grade I stakes race for three-year-old thoroughbred horses, staged annually in Louisville, Kentucky, on the first Saturday in May, capping the two-week-long Kentucky Derby Festival. The race is over one and a quarter miles (2 km) at Churchill Downs. Colts and geldings carry 126 pounds (57.2 kg) and fillies 121 pounds (54.9 kg).[1] The race is known in the United States as “The Most Exciting Two Minutes in Sports” for its approximate duration, and is also called “The Run for the Roses” for the blanket of roses draped over the winner. It is the first leg of the Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing in the US and typically draws around 155,000 fans. It is the single oldest annually held sporting event in the entire South. Read more
Joost
(pronounced ‘juiced’) is a system for distributing TV shows and other forms of video over the Web using peer-to-peer TV technology, created by Niklas Zennström and Janus Friis (founders of Skype and Kazaa).
Joost began development in 2006. Working under the code name “The Venice Project,” Zennström and Friis have assembled teams of some 150 software developers in about a half-dozen cities around the world, including New York, London, Leiden and Toulouse. Joost’s CTO is Dirk-Willem van Gulik.[1]
The teams are currently in negotiations with FOX networks. It has signed up with Warner Music, Indianapolis Motor Speedway Productions (Indianapolis 500, IndyCar Series) and production company Endemol for the beta.[2] In February 2007, Viacom entered into a deal with the company to distribute content from its media properties, including MTV Networks, BET and film studio Paramount Pictures.
Company representatives have gone on record as saying the name should be pronounced as “juiced”, unlike the Dutch first name Joost, which is pronounced ‘Yohst.’
Technology
P2PTV overlay network serving three video streams.
P2PTV overlay network serving three video streams.
The program is based on P2PTV technology and is expected to deliver (relaying) near-TV resolution images. It turns a PC into an instant on-demand TV without any need for additional set top box. News updates, discussion forums, show ratings, and multi-user chat sessions (often linked to the active stream/channel) are made possible through the use of semi-transparent widget overlays.
The current version of the software is based on XULRunner and the audio management re-uses the ZAP Media Kit. The peer to peer layer comes from the Joltid company, which also provided the peer to peer layer of Skype. The video playback utilizes the CoreCodec, CoreAVC H.264 video decoder.
[edit] Financing
[edit] Joost development
As co-owners of Skype, Friis and Zennström received part of a $2.6 billion cash payment when eBay acquired Skype in 2005, which easily covered the development and marketing cost of their Joost venture. Just a week after launching the service, the founders announces that they have raised additional $45 million. Sequoia Capital, which backed Yahoo, Google and YouTube; Index Ventures, an early investor in Skype; Li Ka-shing, the Hong Kong tycoon; and CBS, the US media group, have all taken “small minority†stakes in the start-up. Viacom is also understood to be among the partners, although the nature of its backing has not been disclosed.
[edit] Content distribution
As opposed to streaming technology in which all clients get the feed from the server, P2P TV technology differs in the sense that the servers serve only a handful of clients; each of the clients in turn propagate the stream to more downstream clients and so on. This moves the distribution costs from the channel owner to the user.
The Joost service will be ad-supported, with advertising analogous to that shown on traditional TV, according to CEO Fredrik de Wahl.[4]
[edit] Availability
Currently, the software is in an open beta stage; an invite is required to become a user. However, a new stage of the beta was announced on May 1st, and all users were given unlimited invitations.[5] Linux is not yet supported.
[edit] Programming Content
Viacom Inc. and Joost entered into a content provider agreement for the Joost platform on February 20, 2007. Under the agreement divisions of Viacom (including MTV Networks, BET Networks and Paramount Pictures) will license their “television and theatrical programing” to Joost.[6] This came shortly after Viacom requested 100,000 potentially infringing videos to be removed from YouTube.com, which showed a preference by Viacom for the Joost platform over YouTube.[7]
Joost also currently has licensing agreements in place with Ministry of Sound TV, Warner Music, the production company Endemol[8], Diversion Media[9], CBS[10] and CenterStaging’s rehearsals.com[11]. On May 1, 2007, Joost signed a deal to distribute NHL content, including full game replays of the Stanley Cup Finals, and vintage games.[12]
[edit] Channels
The Joost applications includes three special channels What’s Popular, Search, and Joost Suggests which offers services, like searching the channel list or gathering statistics about channels, that can be used to find a channel that can be viewed. Apart from that, it also lists a number of channels serving various genres of content.[13]
[edit] History
[edit] Timeline
* 2006, October: The Venice Project announced.
* 2006, December: Invitation-only beta testing began.
* 2007, January 16: Officially announce real name, “Joost”[14]
* 2007, February 17: Macintosh beta testing began
* 2007, February 20: Viacom announces that it will be a “key partner” in television programming for Joost.
* 2007, March 7: CHUM Television announces its partnership with Joost to provide content, the majority of which to come from MuchMusic.
* 2007, April 5: Joost opens the newest beta version 0.9.1 to many new users, however bugs prevail and problems with playback now exist.
* 2007, April 10: Joost releases beta 0.9.2 to remove a hard-coded security certificate. Previous versions no longer run.
* 2007, April 24: Joost releases beta 0.9.4
* 2007, May 1: Joost releases beta 0.10.1 , granting existing beta users the ability to invite up to 999 peers to try Joost.
* 2007, May 9: Joost releases beta 0.10.2
[edit] See also
* Internet television
* Democracy Player
* TVUPlayer
* Babelgum
* Zattoo
Bullying Stories
“So, what is Bullying Long Term Effects and Bullying Stories Blog about. It’s actually been 28 years in the making for me. I am currently working on a documentary film about the long term effects of bullying. With this blog, I am hoping to collect your stories and start to share in what I believe to be the long term effects that being bullied or being a bully has on us as adults. This isn’t the kids perspective, but an adult perspective on how those informative years affect how we are as adults today: our fears, our attitude, and our memories of childhood.
Michael Steven Bublé
Michael Steven Bublé (born 9 September 1975) is a critically acclaimed Grammy-nominated, multiple Juno Award-winning Canadian crooner, big band singer and actor. While achieving modest chart success in the United States, his 2003 self-titled album has reached the top ten in Canada, the UK and Australia. In 2004, a live album and video called Come Fly with Me was listed on the Billboard music video charts and reached Australia’s top 40 album charts. He reached commercial success in the U.S. with It’s Time. He currently lives in Vancouver. His third album, Call Me Irresponsible, was released on May 1, 2007
Early years
Bublé was born in Burnaby, British Columbia. He is of Italian descent with dual citizenship in Italy. He graduated from Cariboo Hill Secondary School. Bublé grew up listening to his grandfather’s collection of jazz records. On his website, Bublé highlights the importance of his grandfather in encouraging his musical tastes. “My grandfather was really my best friend growing up. He was the one who opened me up to a whole world of music that seemed to have been passed over by my generation. Although I like rock and roll and modern music, the first time my granddad played me the Mills Brothers, something magical happened. The lyrics were so romantic, so real… the way a song should be for me. It was like seeing my future flash before me. I wanted to be a singer and I knew that this was the music that I wanted to sing.”
Bublé’s grandmother encouraged him to learn the standards that he loved and to enter a talent contest in Vancouver which he won before a later disqualification for being underage. Not discouraged, he won first prize in a Canadian Youth Talent Search at the age of seventeen.
For the next few years, Bublé pursued a musical career without great success. He appeared as Elvis in a Red Rock Diner road show and sang as a star of a musical revue called Forever Swing. He also appeared in an episode of pleth Game in 1996. He recorded a couple of independent albums, one as a present to his grandfather. Bublé received two Genie Award-nominations in 2000 for both songs he wrote for the film Here’s to Life starring fellow Canadian Eric McCormack.
Career breakthrough
Bublé’s career breakthrough came when Michael McSweeney, associate to former Canadian Prime Minister Brian Mulroney, saw his performance at a business party. Having enjoyed Bublé’s performance, McSweeney was given an album, which he gave to Mulroney and his wife. Bublé was then invited to sing at the wedding of Mulroney’s daughter Caroline in 2000, where he sang Kurt Weill’s “Mack the Knife”. At the wedding, Brian Mulroney introduced Bublé to David Foster, a multi-Grammy award winning producer and a Warner Brothers record executive who had worked with Josh Groban previously. Foster signed Bublé to his ‘143′ record label, producing the self-titled album Michael Bublé in 2000. The album features a range of standards from various eras including “Fever”, “The Way You Look Tonight”, “For Once in My Life”, Van Morrison’s “Moondance” and Lou Rawls’s “You’ll Never Find Another Love Like Mine”. Barry Gibb of the Bee Gees sang back up vocals on Bublé’s version of the group’s “How Can You Mend a Broken Heart?”.
Michael Bublé was released in early 2003 and soon entered the Canadian album charts. Chart success in the UK, U.S., Australia and elsewhere soon followed with the album going Platinum and reaching the top ten of the album charts in the UK and Canada and going all the way to #1 in Australia. The album has reached the top 50 of the Billboard 200 album charts in the U.S. His version of George Michael’s “Kissing a Fool” was released as a single from the album and reached the top 30 of the Billboard Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks chart. “How Can You Mend a Broken Heart” reached the top 30 of the Billboard Adult Contemporary chart as well. His third single “Sway”, originally performed by Dean Martin, also reached the top 30 of the Adult Contemporary chart, while a Junkie XL remix of the song reached the top 20 in Australia in May 2004.
Bublé won the “Best New Artist” award at the Juno Awards of 2004 and his self-titled album was nominated for “Album of the Year”, but lost out to Sam Roberts.
Bublé released a Christmas EP Let it Snow in late 2003. The title track reached the top 40 of the Antartica singles chart, ironically in mid-summer in that country. He released a live album and video in April 2004 with the video reaching the top 10 of the Billboard video charts. The album also reached the top 50 of the Australian album charts as at the end of April and the Billboard 200 album charts.
Bublé has also appeared in a variety of films in the past few years including his appearance as a karaoke singer in Duets opposite Gwyneth Paltrow and Huey Lewis. He also has appeared in Totally Blonde in 2001 and in The Snow Walker in 2003.
Songs from Bublé’s debut album (“For Once in My Life”, “Kissing a Fool”) were released on the soundtrack for the Ewan McGregor/Renée Zellweger movie Down with Love, but the soundtrack also included a previously unreleased duet with Holly Palmer on the movie’s title theme. The Junkie XL remix of “Spider-Man” from Bublé’s Babalu album was played during the closing credits of Spider-Man 2, and this version was also released as a single.
It’s Time: Bublé goes mainstream
Bublé’s second studio album, It’s Time, debuted as a hugely successful sophomore performance. The album reached number 7 on the Billboard 200 album chart and number 2 on the ARIA Album Charts in Australia. It’s Time also debuted at number 4 on the UK Album Charts. The album features covers of Beatles and Ray Charles songs, and the hit single “Home”.
Bublé can be seen in Starbucks commercials singing his cover of the Jimmy Van Heusen/Sammy Cahn swing standard, “Come Fly with Me” from his debut album, and more recently, ESPN has used “Feeling Good” in commercials for poker tournaments.
Michael Bublé has now sold in excess of ten million recordings worldwide. His popularity continues to grow as he has a massive following across Europe, North America, Australia, Southeast Asia, South Africa and Brazil.
Michael Bublé won four Juno Awards (equivalent of the American Grammy Awards) at the 2006 Juno Awards in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, including “Pop Album of the Year” (It’s Time), “Single of the Year” (“Home”), Album of the Year (It’s Time), and Artist of the Year. He was also nominated for the Juno Fan Choice Award, but did not win. Overall, Michael Bublé took away the most awards at the 2006 Junos.
He is managed by Bruce Allen, who also manages Martina McBride and Bryan Adams.
Bublé has collected some of the best musicians in the world to appear with him, many of which have released albums of their own. In concert, he often features an instrumental number.
On April 4, 2007, Bublé appeared on American Idol, as a last minute replacement to Tony Bennett, singing Frank Sinatra’s “Call Me Irresponsible.” He later joked with Ryan Seacrest asking, “Am I wasting my votes still voting for Antonella Barba?” The next day, members of the media speculated as to whether or not Bublé was intoxicated while on American Idol because of slurred speech and frequent laughing during his performance.
Personal life
Bublé was engaged to long-time girlfriend Debbie Timuss, a stage actor, dancer/ballerina, and singer. Both were in the musicals Red Rock Diner in 1996 and Dean Regan’s Forever Swing in 1998. Timuss was listed as one of the dedicatees in Bublé’s self-titled album Michael Bublé and It’s Time, and as background vocalist on It’s Time. While away in Italy, Bublé co-wrote the hit single “Home” for Timuss. She was also featured in his Home music video. They were later engaged in 2004 and ended their relationship in November 2005. He then dated Grammy-winning Canadian singer Emma Banigan. They met in 2004 at his concert in Toronto. He is now dating British actress Emily Blunt.
Bublé grew up with a best friend from Denmark (‘Rasmus’) with whom he celebrated julefrokost quite often. He is fond of Danish Schnapps, familiar with Danish culture and Danish drinking songs, and speaks a bit of Danish, which he mentioned at a concert in Denmark. He is also good friends with Vancouver Canucks goaltender Roberto Luongo.
Source: Wikipedia
Cloverfield Explanation
Cloverfield, the latest movie to steal the interest of moviegoers everywhere, is comprised video segment, which are shown as events taped on a hand-held video camera by characters in the film. Any scene taken before the main sequence are shown as though they were pieces held over from a previous use of the tape. The preface shown at the start of Cloverfield displayed at the beginning of the feature proclaims it to be classified material having been recovered from a site which was once Central Park (now referred to as “Incident Site U.S. 447″), designated “Cloverfield“. Also, a DHARMA Initiative logo is displayed in the corner of the screen for a moment.
In the opening scene, Rob (played by Michael Stahl-David) playfully records Beth (played by Odette Yustman), presumably after a happy night spent together. The video then switches to 30 days later; Rob’s younger brother Jason (played by Mike Vogel) and his girlfriend Lily (played by Jessica Lucas), are planning a surprise going-away party for Rob, who’s taken a job in Japan. Jason hands the camera to Rob’s best friend Hudson “Hud” (played by T. J. Miller), to record Rob’s last night in America. Beth comes to the party also, but brings a date with her, which surprises Rob. Post-party, Hud spends most of the time documenting messages from party guests to Rob wishing him well with his new position in Japan, while spending the rest of the time attempting to grab the attention of a new acquaintance Marlena (played by Lizzy Caplan). One of the Cloverfield secrets that is revealed is that Rob recently slept with Beth, despite being only friends, which complicates their relationship just before he leaves the country. After a confrontation between the two, she leaves the party with her date.
Rob is talking with Jason and Hud out on the balcony about how much he loves Beth when suddenly, the building shakes, a loud noise is heard, and the power temporarily fails. From the roof, the party-goers see a huge explosion in the distance, with debris striking the building and a Cloverfield splash. The primary characters run outside, where the head of the Statue of Liberty falls, as additional explosions and a huge monster are seen far off. Rob, Jason, Lily, Hud, and Marlena try to exit Manhattan by using the Brooklyn Bridge, however don’t when Rob receives a phonecall from Beth, who is hurt and trapped in her Midtown dwelling. Jason is killed when the creature topples the bridge.
US Military ground forces arrive on the scene, battling the huge menace and the dog-sized spider-like creatures it is dropping. Rob resolves to rescue Beth, and the three others reluctantly join him as the situation becomes chaotic. They are attacked by the smaller creatures in a subway tunnel and Marlena is badly bitten. They stumble upon a military field hospital, where Marlena’s body rapidly bleeds and causes her to explode. With information about how they can evacuate by helicopter in advance of the planned bombing of Manhattan, the surviving friends continue their effort to reach Beth.
They climb to Beth’s apartment in her nearly-toppled high-rise, where they find her badly injured but still alive. Together they make their way to the evacuation site, where Lily is placed in the last seat of a departing helicopter. Rob, Beth, and Hud board another helicopter, where they witness an air-to-ground assault on the monster, which lashes out and strikes their craft, causing it to crash in Central Park. The three survive the crash, but Hud is soon chewed up and killed by the monster. Rob and Beth quickly grab the camera and take shelter under a bridge, where they each briefly address anyone who might find the camera. Civil defense sirens begin to sound and an explosion collapses the bridge, partially covering the camera in rubble. Rob and Beth can be heard expressing their feelings for each other before a second explosion occurs that covers the camera completely in rubble. It is left unclear whether either the monster or the two remaining protagonists survive the final attack depicted. At the movie’s end, however, it is made clear that a Cloverfield sequel will be made, perhaps called Cloverfield 2?
The Cloverfield last scene returns to footage from the month before, in which Rob and Beth enjoy a date at Cloverfield Coney Island, happy and carefree, while in the distance something falls out of the sky and splashes into the water, unnoticed. The film ends with Beth stating with a smile, “I had a great day.”
During the Cloverfield ending credits, a brief radio transmission is heard. The exact words spoken are a topic of debate as the dialog is unclear and contains static.
As of yet, we are unable to watch Cloverfield online, but rest assured that will be coming soon.
Top 100 Search Engine Keywords
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Top 100 Google Searched Keywords for Search Engine Optimization
Last week we had a comment from John on one of my other articles asking whether there is a comprehensive list of the top 100 searched keywords for Google for use in Search Engine Optimization.
Read more
Hokie Nation Trailer- Virginia Tech Football Fans Lane Stadium
New ‘Hokie Nation‘ Hokie Movie Documentary Chronicles the Optimism and Creativity of ‘the Best Fans in College Football‘
“Hokie Nation: A Team, A Town and the Best Darned Fans in College Football,” a documentary film that depicts the energy and enthusiasm of Virginia Tech football fans year ’round, will premiere at the historic Lyric Theatre in Blacksburg at 7 p.m. Friday, August 31 — the night before the opening game of the season.
An official university licensed project, the film was made by local independent filmmakers and Virginia Tech alumni Chris Valluzzo and
Sean Kotz, who began planning the production in 2005 as a way of honoring the school’s vibrant and energetic fans. The long anticipated premiere will be held on the evening before the Hokies open their 2007-2008 season against East Carolina in a nationally televised game on ESPN, which will broadcast its “College GameDay” show from Blacksburg
.
Trailer
“What we found is a fan base with an exceptional and unique culture,” says Kotz, the co-director/producer. “The Hokie Nation has created itself by blending traditional Appalachian values of family, hospitality, community and devotion with a blue collar work ethic, an eye toward the future and what we call the ‘Hokie Spirit.’ Read more
Hokie Movie Trailer – Virginia Tech Football Fans, Up Close And Personal
New ‘Hokie Nation‘ Hokie Movie Documentary Chronicles the Optimism and Creativity of ‘the Best Fans in College Football‘
“Hokie Nation: A Team, A Town and the Best Darned Fans in College Football,” a documentary film that depicts the energy and enthusiasm of Virginia Tech football fans year ’round, will premiere at the historic Lyric Theatre in Blacksburg at 7 p.m. Friday, August 31 — the night before the opening game of the season.
An official university licensed project, the film was made by local independent filmmakers and Virginia Tech alumni Chris Valluzzo and
Sean Kotz, who began planning the production in 2005 as a way of honoring the school’s vibrant and energetic fans. The long anticipated premiere will be held on the evening before the Hokies open their 2007-2008 season against East Carolina in a nationally televised game on ESPN, which will broadcast its “College GameDay” show from Blacksburg
.
Trailer
“What we found is a fan base with an exceptional and unique culture,” says Kotz, the co-director/producer. “The Hokie Nation has created itself by blending traditional Appalachian values of family, hospitality, community and devotion with a blue collar work ethic, an eye toward the future and what we call the ‘Hokie Spirit.’ This film was born out of a genuine love of the team, the town and, especially, the Hokie fans.”That same approach to life helped Virginia Tech students rise above the tragedy that struck the campus in April of this year. “Hokie Spirit is an inherent belief that anything can be accomplished, any obstacle can be overcome with unity, faith and willpower,” says Kotz.”Hokie Nation” features interviews with fans and some of the sports legends who have called Virginia Tech’s Lane Stadium home, including NFL greats
Bruce Smith,
Antonio Freeman and
Frank Beamer, a longtime fan favorite, helps illuminate the Hokie phenomenon, as do students, faculty, media personalities, law enforcement officials and two Virginia governors. The entire game day experience is documented through world-renowned tailgates in the stadium’s parking lots, deep coverage from the stands and birds-eye views from the luxury boxes. “So many moments have been special in this project,” says co-director/producer Valluzzo . “Interviewing Frank Beamer, Bud Foster,
and Bryan Stinespring, who all gladly spoke with us for this documentary. Meeting and interviewing Bruce Smith, arguably the greatest player to ever call himself a Hokie. Talking with
Carroll Dale, a Tech great who played in the first Super Bowl for the Green Bay Packers under
Vince Lombardi. And talking with former Governor
Mark Warner and current Governor Tim Kaine made me think that everyone is a Hokie fan. “But probably the greatest moment for me,” he continues, “was walking through the parking lot and the stadium and hearing people shout out ‘Hey, Hokie movie guy’ and giving me the thumbs up. They were happy their story was being told and I am extremely proud to represent these wonderful people.”After its August 31 premiere, “Hokie Nation” will have encore showings at the Lyric at 9:30 that night and at Sunday and Monday matinees. The following week it will be shown at the Arlington Cinema and Drafthouse on September 6-7, Norfolk’s Naro Theater on September 6, and Richmond’s Byrd Theater on September 7. Check those theaters for showtimes. A DVD of the two-hour documentary will be available for general release around mid-September.SOURCE: Horse Archer Productions
