Gesture Follower : Transforming Any Flat Surface Into a Control Panel With Sound

Project:
http://imtr.ircam.fr/imtr/Gesture_Follower

http://brunozamborlin.com/mogees

New group paves way for alternative 2012 choice

 http://www.americanselect.org

http://www.cnn.com/2011/12/29/politics/americans-elect/index.html

By Alan Silverleib, CNN

Washington (CNN) -- Are you feeling uninspired this election season? Are you sick of all the attention being slathered on a small group of die-hard partisans in Iowa and New Hampshire? Do you think the political system's broken and your voice is ignored?
If you're looking for a change from the usual left-right, liberal-conservative, Democrat-Republican dynamic, you may get your wish. There's a new group in the 2012 election, and it's aiming to redefine presidential politics by going around the major party machines and putting an alternative choice on the ballot in all 50 states and the District of Columbia.
Americans Elect, which has raised $22 million so far, is harnessing the power of the Internet to conduct an unprecedented national online primary next spring. If all goes according to plan, the result will be a credible, nonpartisan ticket that pushes alternative centrist solutions to the growing problems America's current political leadership seems unwilling or unable to tackle.
The theory: If you break the stranglehold that more ideologically extreme primary voters and established interests currently have over presidential nominations, you will push Washington to seriously address tough economic and other issues. Even if the group's ticket doesn't win, its impact will force Democrats and Republicans in the nation's capital to start bridging their cavernous ideological divide.
"We're not a third party. We're a second nominating process trying to create a ticket that is solutions-based, that will force the conversation to the center rather than keeping it at the extremes of either party," says Ileana Wachtel, a spokeswoman for the group.
If you think Americans Elect is nothing more than a bunch of naïve dreamers, think again. Its leadership includes former New Jersey GOP Gov. Christine Todd Whitman; former Clinton administration strategist Doug Schoen; former National Intelligence Director Adm. Dennis Blair; former FBI and CIA Director William Webster; and former U.S. Trade Representative Carla Hills, among others.
The group's CEO is Kahlil Byrd, former communications director for Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick, a Democrat. Dan Winslow, a Massachusetts Republican state representative and a former chief counsel to GOP presidential contender Mitt Romney, is also on board.

Funding for the effort was kicked off with over $5 million from investment banker Peter Ackerman. Financially, the ultimate goal is to limit each contributor's donation to no more than $10,000.
Americans Elect strategists believe they'll need around $35 million in total, half of which will likely be necessary to meet cumbersome ballot access requirements.
"The people who provided the seed money to get us started come from across the political spectrum," the group claims on its website. "Giving to Americans Elect buys you no special influence whatsoever, and all donors acknowledge that fact when they contribute."
One point of contention is that the group does not disclose the names of its donors, citing its nonprofit status and fears that contributors could find themselves losing potential business or social contacts. Critics contend the secrecy undermines the organization's claims of openness and transparency, and they argue that any group with such a clear electoral goal should not be exempt from disclosure rules governing the Democratic and Republican national committees.
Any registered voter -- Democrat, Republican, or otherwise -- can become an Americans Elect online delegate. Over 300,000 people have signed up so far. While anyone can seek the group's nomination, possible candidates will have to answer multiple online questionnaires.
Six prospective nominees will eventually be chosen by the delegates in an online winnowing process culminating in the selection of a ticket in June. According to the rules, two members of the same party will not be allowed to run together.
"When candidates pick running mates from outside their parties, it's a clear sign that they're working to build the consensus necessary to get things done," the group argues. "They'll govern without regard to the partisan interests of either major party."
Could New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg team up with former Secretary of State Colin Powell? How about Joe Lieberman and Condoleezza Rice? What about tapping a media celebrity like Tom Brokaw or a deficit hawk like former Clinton chief of staff Erskine Bowles?
The list of possibilities is virtually endless, but the list of criticisms is long. Among other things, critics question the ability to stop a fringe group from hijacking the process and using Americans Elect to advance their own narrow cause. Possible nominees will have to be cleared by an independent committee and undergo a background check, but the committee's decision can be overruled by a majority of the delegates.
Will the online voting be secure from hackers? "We take that issue very seriously," Wachtel told CNN, noting that each delegate will be able to produce a paper record of his or her vote.
Josh Levine, the former chief technology and operations of E*Trade Financial, is tasked with the website's security.
A number of political observers question whether an Americans Elect ticket could ever have a serious shot at winning. For all the talk of voter alienation and disgust with Washington, broad segments of the electorate maintain strong party loyalties, and the country's winner-take-all electoral system remains a huge hurdle for anyone trying to break the two-party stranglehold. Ross Perot won nearly 20% of the vote in 1992 and didn't have a single electoral vote to show for his efforts; 270 electoral votes are needed to win the White House.
The last non-major party candidate to make any headway in the Electoral College was George Wallace, who ran in 1968 on a specific issue -- opposition to civil rights -- and with a very clear regional base of support. At the moment, Americans Elect appears to have neither.
Having a charismatic nominee might help, but would hardly guarantee electoral viability. When one of the most beloved politicians in U.S. history -- Theodore Roosevelt -- bucked the two-party system in 1912, he only succeeded in splitting the Republican vote and ensuring a victory for Woodrow Wilson, a Democrat.
Veteran political analysts Norm Ornstein and Thomas Mann have speculated that an Americans Elect ticket may end up splitting the electorate next year in such a way that an otherwise unacceptable major party nominee ends up capturing the presidency.
"The nightmare scenario for us would be angry or demoralized independents and discouraged centrist Republicans gravitating toward the third candidate, enabling a far-right Republican nominee to prevail with a narrow electoral majority or with a plurality followed by a win in a deeply divided House," they recently wrote in The Washington Post.
The U.S. Constitution requires the House of Representatives to pick the president if no candidate wins a majority of electoral votes.
Ornstein and Mann also question the ability of an independent president to govern effectively, and fear the eventual winner's legitimacy could be undermined by a severe three-way split in the popular vote.
"In this tough environment, any diminishment of legitimacy for the winner is undesirable," they said.
Asked to respond, Wachtel told CNN the need for change is paramount.
"At this point, the system's already spoiled," she said. "We need to open the process up to more competition and more choices for the American people."

Argentine government wins control of newsprint

 http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/L/LT_ARGENTINA_MEDIA_CONTROL?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2011-12-22-18-19-05

By MICHAEL WARREN
Associated Press

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) -- The paper used to produce newspapers came under government control in Argentina on Thursday, in a long-sought victory for President Cristina Fernandez in her dispute with the country's 

 opposition media.

Argentina's senate, which is controlled by Fernandez's allies, voted 41-26 to control newsprint's manufacture, sale and distribution to media friends and foes alike.

Newsprint has been a key issue in the never-ending battles between the government and opposition newspapers. Since the early days of the 1976-1983 dictatorship, Argentina's only newsprint provider is Papel Prensa, a joint venture majority-owned by its dominant newspapers, Clarin and La Nacion. The government has been a minority shareholder.

Vice President Amadou Boudou said the law "will improve the quality of information and the plurality of opinions in Argentina."

Ruling party Sen. Anibal Fernandez said Clarin and la Nacion use 71 percent of the newsprint for their media groups and ensure a competitive advantage by distributing the other 29 percent to 168 other media organizations, who must either pay a 15 percent markup or import what they need.

"We are defending the proposal of defending the freedom of expression of all the Argentines," Sen. Fernandez said.

But opponents - including media groups from all over Latin America - call it a death blow for freedom of expression.

"We're convinced that state invervention in this area will cause more trouble than what it pretends to correct," said ADEPA, Argentina's main newspaper trade group.

The Inter-American Press Association put it more bluntly: "This attitude of the government is strange and senseless, because in Argentina there aren't any shortages. The newspapers can freely import paper," its statement said. "That's why we assume that we're facing a government effort to control the media."

It's only the latest move that has put Argentina's dominant media groups on the defensive.

This week, federal police raided Grupo Clarin's Cablevision headquarters at the behest of one judge who demanded that the company be dismantled, while another froze the assets of La Nacion at the request of the federal tax agency. Meanwhile, in criminal court, investigative judges are considering charging the papers' publishers with crimes against humanity, accusing them of conspiring with the military junta to wrest Papel Prensa from a leftist banker's family in 1976.

Kim Jong-il death: 'Nature mourns' N Korea leader

Godzilla sadly slumped in the East China Sea with his rubber suit at half-zip as Mothra hovered nearby to fan and provide comfort with the great winds from his huge paper mache wings.

The greenscreened footage will be superimposed into the background of the videos of sobbing North Koreans broadcast by the state, shown in the article below.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-16297811

Key blurbs from the article:

Scenes of mourning for Kim Jong-il have been broadcast on state television.

Strange natural phenomena have been witnessed in North Korea since the death of the country's leader Kim Jong-il, the state news agency KCNA reports.

Ice cracked on a famous lake "so loud, it seemed to shake the Heavens and the Earth", and a mysterious glow was seen on a revered mountain top, KCNA said.
The personality cult surrounding North Korea's founding father and son bestows near-divine status on them.

...In North Korea, state media continue to report mass grieving following Mr Kim's death, reportedly from a heart attack.

'Message in rock'
 
The 69-year-old had led North Korea since the death of his father in 1994 and an elaborate personality cult, involving multiple stories of alleged miracles or astonishing deeds, has been built up around him.
Even nature is mourning, the state-run Korean Central News Agency reported on Thursday.

A snowstorm hit as Mr Kim died and ice on the volcanic Chon lake near his reported birthplace at Mount Paektu cracked, it said.

Following the storm's sudden end at dawn on Tuesday, a message carved in rock - "Mount Paektu, holy mountain of revolution. Kim Jong-il" - glowed brightly, it said. It remained there until sunset.
On the same say, a Manchurian crane also apparently adopted a posture of grief at a statue of the late leader's father in the northern city of Hamhung.
"Even the crane seemed to mourn the demise of Kim Jong-il, born of Heaven, after flying down there at dead of cold night, unable to forget him," KCNA reported officials as saying.
On Wednesday state media said more than five million people had already turned out to pay their respects to Kim Jong-il.
State media have called on North Koreans to unite behind his designated heir, youngest son Kim Jong-un, who is being called the "Great Successor".

New Particle at the Large Hadron Collider Discovered by ATLAS Experiment

 http://www.noodls.com/viewNoodl/12572957/university-of-birmingham/new-particle-at-the-large-hadron-collider-discovered-by-atla

 

University of Birmingham

12/22/2011 | Press release

 

Posted on Thursday 22nd December 2011 

 

Researchers from the University of Birmingham and Lancaster University, analysing data taken by the ATLAS experiment, have been at the centre of what is believed to be the first clear observation of a new particle at the Large Hadron Collider. The research is published today (22 December 11) on the online repository arXiv.

The particle, the Chi-b(3P)is a new way of combining a beauty quark and its antiquark so that they bind together. Like the more famous Higgs particle, the Chi-b(3P) is a boson. However, whereas the Higgs is not made up of smaller particles, the Chi-b(3P) combines two very heavy objects via the same 'strong force which holds the atomic nucleus together.

Andy Chisholm, the PhD student from the University of Birmingham who worked on the analysis said: 'Analysing the billions of particle collisions at the LHC is fascinating. There are potentially all kinds of interesting things buried in the data, and we were lucky to look in the right place at the right time.

'The Chi-b(3P) is a particle that was predicted by many theorists, but was not observed at previous experiments, such as in my previous work on the D-Zero experiment in Chicago, continued Dr James Walder, the Lancaster research associate who worked on the analysis.

Dr Miriam Watson, a research fellow working in the Birmingham group observed: 'The lighter partners of the Chi-b(3P) were observed around 25 years ago. Our new measurements are a great way to test theoretical calculations of the forces that act on fundamental particles, and will move us a step closer to understanding how the universe is held together.

Professor Roger Jones, Head of the Lancaster ATLAS group said: 'While people are rightly interested in the Higgs boson, which we believe gives particles their mass and may have started to reveal itself, a lot of the mass of everyday objects comes from the strong interaction we are investigating using the Chi-b.

Ends

Notes to Editors
|
2. Chi-b(3P) is pronounced kye-bee three P
3. The beauty quark is also known as the bottom quark.

For further information
Kate Chapple, Press Officer, University of Birmingham, tel 0121 414 2772 or 07789 92116

IBM's Five Predictions for the Next Five Years

http://www.businessweek.com/technology/ibms-five-predictions-for-the-next-five-years-12192011.html

Biometric passwords? Mind-reading headsets? Junk mail you'll look forward to? As with all predictions, the answer is "maybe"

By Om Malik

In each of the past five years, IBM has come up with a list of five innovations it believes will become popular within five years. In this, the sixth year, IBM has come up with the following technologies it thinks will gain traction. Hold on to your sci-fi novels, because some of these are pretty far out there. And some of them, well, I wish we had them today.
• People power will come to life. Advances in technology will allow us to trap the kinetic energy generated (and wasted) from walking, jogging, bicycling, and even from water flowing through pipes. A bicycle charging your iPhone? There’s nothing wrong with that, though I think it might be a while before we see this actually become a mainstream practice.
• You will never need a password again. Biometrics will finally replace the password and thus redefine the word “hack.” Jokes aside, IBM believes multifactor biometrics will become pervasive. “Biometric data—facial definitions, retinal scans, and voice files—will be composited through software to build your DNA-unique online password.” Based on the increasing hours we spend online, I would say we need such solutions to come to market ASAP.
• Mind reading is no longer science fiction. Scientists are working on headsets with sensors that can read brain activity and recognize facial expressions, excitement, and more without needing any physical inputs from the wearer. “Within [five] years, we will begin to see early applications of this technology in the gaming and entertainment industry,” IBM notes. It will also be good for folks who have suffered from strokes and have brain disorders. Personally, I’m not sure this is commercially viable within the stated five years.
• The digital divide will cease to exist. Mobile phones will make it easy for even the poorest of poor to get connected. In the U.S. and other parts of the world, this is already happening.
• Junk mail will become priority mail. “In five years, unsolicited advertisements may feel so personalized and relevant it may seem that spam is dead. At the same time, spam filters will be so precise you’ll never be bothered by unwanted sales pitches again,” notes IBM. I have just one thing to say about this prediction: OMG.

HOW GOOD ARE IBM PREDICTIONS?

New predictions aside, IBM’s track record of predictions over the past five years has been somewhat mixed. Let’s take a step back to 2006 and look at its predictions:
• We will be able to access health care remotely, from just about anywhere in the world.
• Real-time speech translation—once a vision only in science fiction—will become the norm.
• There will be a 3D Internet.
• Technologies the size of a few atoms will address areas of environmental importance.
• Our mobile phones will start to read our minds.
Remote health care is a reality, but real-time speech translation is, well, not quite as real. The 3D Internet: We’re still waiting for that, but those mobile phones are becoming awfully smart. As I said, it’s mixed in its predictions. In 2007, IBM correctly predicted driving would be assisted by software and your phones would become “your wallet, ticket broker, concierge, bank, shopping buddy, and more.” But that was right after the iPhone was launched.
As another example, IBM in 2009 predicted city buildings would “sense and respond” like living organisms. That sensor-based future is finally unfolding two years later. That same year, it predicted cars and buses would run on hydrogen and biofuels. Well, that’s half-true. We have some places where some buses and some cars are running on biofuels. Its prediction that cities will develop a healthier immune system due to connectedness, however, is quite far from reality—although we still have a little more than two years to go before we can say IBM got those wrong.
Bottom line: IBM’s Five in Five makes a nice cheat sheet to keep an eye on the future and also focus on key trends that might go big. I can’t wait for the 2012 edition.

 

Congressman on hunger strike to show solidarity with Occupy

http://washingtonexaminer.com/blogs/capital-land/2011/12/congressman-embarks-hunger-strike-solidarity-occupy-vote-dc/2008241

By Aubrey Whelan

Rep. Keith Ellison, D-Minn., embarked on a 24-hour hunger strike in solidarity with four Occupy DC protesters who have gone without food since Dec. 8 to advocate for D.C. voting rights.

Ellison, the first Muslim to serve in the House, met with the hunger strikers Thursday and pledged to read their declaration – which calls for full voting rights for District residents as well as legislative and budget autonomy – on the floor of the House of Representatives to enter it into the congressional record.

The hunger strikers have been meeting with various lawmakers and their staffers on Capitol Hill this week. Success has been mixed. On Wednesday, strikers staged a sit-in outside House Speaker John Boehner's office for hours, but didn't get a meeting with the Ohio Republican.