If you weren't excited from the explosions-filled Man of Steel movie trailer before, after seeing this final trailer that teases General Zod threatening Earth, you will be. It shows more of the conflict of the film and reveals even more insane action sequences.
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A factory in Sderot provides mentally-disabled people in Israel with work and a social environment where they can feel accepted.
Adults with various intellectual disabilities come to work in small factories such as this one in Sderot, where several workers were stuffing envelopes with advertising magnets on a recent day.
Christa Case Bryant/TCSM
EnlargeSince moving to Israel, I have periodically found mysterious green envelopes in my mailbox. They include nothing but a flimsy magnet, advertising some business that I had never heard of.
Skip to next paragraph Christa Case BryantJerusalem bureau chief
Christa Case Bryant is The Christian Science Monitor's Jerusalem bureau chief, providing coverage on Israel and the Palestinian territories as well as regional issues.
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Now I have solved the mystery, and gained a new appreciation for the folks behind this marketing front.
While reporting on Sderot?s resilience in the face of persistent rocket fire from nearby Gaza, I discovered a very different example of resilience: a factory full of adults diagnosed with various intellectual disabilities, working steadily away on various projects.?One of them was stuffing those now-familiar green envelopes with flimsy magnets.
Even this, the simplest of jobs, appeared to require some serious concentration from a petite woman working that day. I gained a new appreciation for the periodic presents in my mailbox.
These individuals are paid only a nominal amount for showing up here, since they already receive considerable government stipends ??even though they are doing work for corporations, not the government. In that light, the companies that contract with this factory could perhaps be seen as taking advantage of cheap labor from a disadvantaged population.
But on the other hand, it?s a haven from a society that, according to advocates for individuals labeled?mentally-disabled, is uncomfortable with these individuals.?
?I used to think it was just a sweatshop,? says Miriam Fouks, a young social worker who had heard about such factories before coming to work here. ?But they love being here, it gives them a social life.?
For some, the social life is the only reason they come. One man in particular can never be bothered to repackage Made-in-China menorah candles into Israeli boxes, or help with any of the other projects the 60 or so folks here are involved in.
So Ms. Fouks has just come up with a new job for him: current affairs guy. He loves reading the news, so she assigned him the task of getting up to speed every day and then sharing the highlights with his fellow workers.
Maybe he will enjoy reading about himself and his colleagues in an American newspaper.
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Seattle: Microsoft Corp is set to make a splash this week with the eagerly awaited unveiling of its new Xbox game console, eight years after the last version, as it seeks a larger share of the $65 billion a year global computer gaming industry.
But the small device faces some big competition from the PlayStation 4 by Sony Corp and the Wii U by Nintendo Co Ltd in a shifting market.
Gamers are gravitating to online play - suggesting the hey-day of console games are over - while Microsoft wants its sleek new toy to finally cross the bridge to the mainstream and become the family's entertainment center.
According to Microsoft console gaming still takes the lion\'s share of a growing gaming market - about 42 per cent of the $65 billion world market.
"Core gamers are very hungry for a new machine but the difference between 2005 and now is that the stakes are so much higher," said Ryan McCaffrey, executive editor at entertainment website IGN.com, harking back to Microsoft's last Xbox release. "The entire Xbox experiment from Microsoft was for it to be the center piece of your living room."
To that end, industry-watchers are expecting a raft of improvements from the new Xbox, when Microsoft unveils it at its Redmond, Washington, headquarters on Tuesday, from closer integration with the TV and link-ups with mobile devices to access to new and even exclusive content.
Console gaming still takes the lion's share of a growing gaming market - about 42 per cent of the $65 billion world market, according to Microsoft. But playing games on smartphones and tablets, or as an offshoot to online social networks, is gaining ground fast.
Console sales have been in decline for the last four years, chiefly because of aging devices, but the first of the new generation of machines has not reignited the sector.
Nintendo's Wii U, launched in November, had sold only 3.45 million units through the end of March, well below the company's initial forecast of 5.5 million. Hopes for Sony's PS4, teased in March, are low key.
"The next wave crest isn't as high as the previous one," said Lewis Ward, research manager at International Data Corp, who calculates that about 250 million Xbox 360, Sony PlayStation 3 and Nintendo Wii units were sold between 2005 and 2012.
"I do think that consoles as a product category have peaked and the next gen devices won't match those totals," he said.
The Xbox itself is not a key financial factor for the world's largest software maker. Its Entertainment & Devices unit is set to break $10 billion in sales for the first time in 2013, but that's half the sales of its Windows unit, and a lot less profitable, averaging less than 15 per cent margin compared to 60 per cent or higher for Windows or Office.
The company has more than 46 million members who subscribe to its online gaming and digital entertainment service Xbox Live, but that's still a fraction of the people who pay for its software.
However, the Xbox is still a key weapon in Microsoft's strategic battle with Google Inc, Apple Inc, Amazon.com Inc and others for a central place in consumers' lives.
"This (the new Xbox) is of massive importance to Microsoft. It is a piece of a larger war for the consumer that it is battling. They want to be fully integrated with the consumer whether it's in the living room or mobile," said PJ McNealy, CEO and founder of Digital World Research. "Arguably the battle against both Apple and Google for dominating a consumer's time share more so than taking on Sony and Nintendo directly."
That means Microsoft will be aiming for many markets at the same time, from the core and casual gamer to the TV watcher and music fan.
To do that, industry watchers expect Microsoft to integrate the new Xbox much more closely to the TV and cable or satellite box, perhaps allowing users to change channel or buy movies with a wave of the hand through its motion-control Kinect sensor. They also expect to hear more about SmartGlass, Microsoft's app that lets you link an Xbox to a tablet or smartphone.
Users can already get Netflix through the Xbox, and Microsoft recently started its own studio to produce exclusive content, meaning the new device is a gateway to much more than games.
"I think they're going to try to have their cake and eat it too - they will try to get casual people for entertainment while keeping the hardcore gamers interested," said McCaffrey at IGN.com. "They want their console on all the time, whether it's a mom watching Amazon video, the son playing a game and the dad watching (Major League Baseball) TV on another app - that's their goal."
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Source: http://ibnlive.in.com/news/new-xbox-more-than-a-game-console-for-microsoft/392545-11.html
After a week filled with controversy and criticism, President Barack Obama left town Friday for Baltimore, the second stop on his "Middle Class Jobs & Opportunity Tour." The trip, which was previously scheduled, took him to a dredging manufacturer and an elementary school, with the next stop on the itinerary a community center.
At Ellicott Dredges in Baltimore, Obama announced an effort to reduce infrastructure red tape as a way to boost the economy.
"Sometimes it takes too long to get projects off the ground," Obama said during a speech, citing permits, red tape and planning delays related to infrastructure projects. "Today, I'm directing agencies across the government to do what it takes to cut timelines for breaking ground on major infrastructure projects in half. And what that means is that construction workers get back on the jobs faster, it means more money going back into local economies, and it means more demand for outstanding dredging equipment that is made right here in Baltimore."
The stop at the manufacturer adds the potential of controversy to his trip. The owner of Ellicott Dredges, Peter Bowe, shares the view of many congressional Republicans in support of the Keystone XL oil pipeline. Bowe testified before Congress on the issue Thursday. Obama has yet to announce a position on the pipeline?which would carry oil from Canada and the northern United States to the Gulf Coast?but faces pressure from environmentalists and others to reject the proposal.
Controversy over the pipeline has dogged the president on other unrelated trips. During a fundraising swing in California last month, the fact that the event was being hosted by pipeline opponent Tom Steyer, a hedge fund billionaire and environmentalist, drew pipeline protesters who sought to draw attention to the issue.
Obama made no references to the pipeline in his public remarks at Ellicott Dredges, but thanked Bowe?who gave the president a tour of the facility?for his work at the company.
Much of the president's speech echoed remarks he made last week in Texas, his first stop on the "Middle Class Jobs & Opportunity Tour." While there he announced manufacturing competitions to create "manufacturing innovation institutes" in the United States.
As he did last week, Obama conceded that Washington may not appear to the public to be a place generating much positive news, but that there are things to celebrate about the economy, including rebounds in the housing market and gains in certain industry sectors.
His standard criticism of members of Congress (whom he has been publicly chastising for stalemates in Washington) appeared to be tempered by the attendance Friday of several Democratic leaders: Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley, Sen. Barbara Mikulski, and Reps. Steny Hoyer, Paul Sarbanes and Elijah Cummings.
"All of your members of Congress every single day are working, fighting on your behalf in terms of making sure we're growing an economy that creates outstanding middle-class jobs," Obama said.
Prior to Ellicott, Obama stopped at Moravia Park Elementary School, where he sat in on a classroom lesson for 4- and 5-year-olds. Later, during his speech at Ellicott, he noted this visit and the goals behind his State of the Union proposal to create universal pre-kindergarten.
He was scheduled next to visit the Center for Urban Families, a nonprofit that aides fathers and families, for a roundtable discussion. That visit will be tied to his Promise Zone budget proposal to identify and assist hard-hit communities, according to the White House.
As the president left Washington earlier on Friday, the House Ways and Means Committee on Capitol Hill grilled the ousted acting commissioner of the Internal Revenue Service, Steven Miller, over recent revelations that the IRS targeted conservatives applying for tax-exempt status. After the allegations were confirmed Wednesday by the Treasury Department inspector general's report, Obama announced that Miller had been forced to resign.
That action came amid continued pressure on the administration to explain revisions made to talking points related to the 2012 attack in Benghazi, Libya?to which the White House responded Wednesday by releasing those emails to the media?and controversy surrounding the Department of Justice's secret seizure of Associated Press reporters' and editors' phone records in the investigation of a national security leak.
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Indiana Pacers forward Paul George, left, and New York Knicks forward Iman Shumpert get tied up during the second half of Game 3 of the Eastern Conference semifinal NBA basketball playoff series in Indianapolis, Saturday, May 11, 2013. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy)
Indiana Pacers forward Paul George, left, and New York Knicks forward Iman Shumpert get tied up during the second half of Game 3 of the Eastern Conference semifinal NBA basketball playoff series in Indianapolis, Saturday, May 11, 2013. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy)
New York Knicks' Iman Shumpert, third from right, celebrates a 3-pointer from the bench in the second half of Game 2 of their NBA basketball playoff series in the Eastern Conference semifinals against the Indiana Pacers at Madison Square Garden in New York, Tuesday, May 7, 2013. Knicks' Steve Novak, Kenyon Martin and Chris Copeland also celebrate the shot. The Knicks won 105-79. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer)
New York Knicks' Iman Shumpert drives past Indiana Pacers' Paul George in the first half of Game 2 of their NBA basketball playoff series in the Eastern Conference semifinals at Madison Square Garden in New York, Tuesday, May 7, 2013. The Knicks won 105-79. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer)
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) ? The left knee of Knicks guard Iman Shumpert doesn't appear to be getting any better and it could keep him out of Tuesday night's game at Indiana.
Coach Mike Woodson told reporters that the team was bringing in a doctor to examine Shumpert's sore knee, the same one that required surgery last May after he tore a ligament during the playoffs. Shumpert appeared to get hurt on an awkward, twisting fall during an 82-71 Game 3 loss that left the Knicks in a 2-1 deficit in the best-of-seven Eastern Conference semifinals.
Since then, Woodson said, the knee has been swollen.
"He took a hard spill, so sure there's concern," Woodson said before the team's morning shootaround. "I'm not a doctor. I just saw the leg went out from underneath him."
Asked if Shumpert would be seen by a doctor when the team returned to New York following Game 4, presumably as early as Wednesday morning, Woodson said an orthopedic doctors was en route to Indy.
Shumpert did not practice Monday or Tuesday and did not participate in the team's morning shootaround. Woodson said he had not decided who would replace Shumpert, one of the team's best defenders, in the lineup.
It's not all bad news for the Knicks.
Forward Kenyon Martin and guard J.R. Smith, who both missed practices Monday and Tuesday because of illnesses, were at the shootaround and are likely to play Tuesday night. Martin even told reporters he would "definitely" play.
"I feel better than I did yesterday, but if the game were yesterday, I would have played," Martin said. "It's the playoffs now, no excuses because it's a must-win just like every game is a must-win."
When asked if he gotten the bug from Smith, Martin told reporters that he doesn't sleep in the bed as Smith.
Smith did not speak with reporters.
Health isn't the only big question looming over the Knicks as they head into a game that could swing the series.
On Sunday, center Tyson Chandler told reporters the Knicks needed to take a more selfless approach on offense. In New York, that was perceived to be a direct shot at Carmelo Anthony, the NBA scoring champ. Anthony responded Monday by saying the two would have a discussion outside the public eye.
Neither Chandler nor Anthony spoke Tuesday morning as other teammates tried to explain there was no division in the locker room.
"We're all a unified group and that goes for any situation ? a company, military strategies, basketball strategies," Amare Stoudemire said. "We've got to be a tight group."
Stoudemire said his surgically-repaired knee felt good after making his first appearance in a game since March 7 and that he wouldn't play more than 15 minutes Tuesday night.
But Woodson wanted no part of the brewing controversy over team unity.
"I'm not going to entertain that guys," he said. "We've got Game 4 to play."
Associated PressGhost town under water: After 25 years under water, this Argentine town is now above the surface. Tourists flock to the ghost town, a bizarre, post-apocalyptic landscape that captures a traumatic moment in time.
A strange ghost town that spent a quarter century under water is coming up for air again in the Argentine farmlands southwest of Buenos Aires.
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Epecuen was once a bustling little lakeside resort, where 1,500 people served 20,000 tourists a season. During Argentina's golden age, the same trains that carried grain to the outside world brought visitors from the capital to relax in Epecuen's saltwater baths and spas.
The saltwater lake was particularly attractive because it has 10 times more salt than the ocean, making the water buoyant. Tourists, especially people from Buenos Aires' large Jewish community, enjoyed floating in water that reminded them of the Dead Sea in the Middle East.
Then a particularly heavy rainstorm followed a series of wet winters, and the lake overflowed its banks on Nov. 10, 1985. Water burst through a retaining wall and spilled into the lakeside streets. People fled with what they could, and within days their homes were submerged under nearly 10 meters (33 feet) of corrosive saltwater.
Now the water has mostly receded, exposing what looks like a scene from a movie about the end of the world. The town hasn't been rebuilt, but it has become a tourist destination again, for people willing to drive at least six hours from Buenos Aires to get here, along 340 miles (550 kilometers) of narrow country roads.
People come to see the rusted hulks of automobiles and furniture, crumbled homes and broken appliances. They climb staircases that lead nowhere, and wander through a graveyard where the water toppled headstones and exposed tombs to the elements.
It's a bizarre, post-apocalyptic landscape that captures a traumatic moment in time.
One man refused to leave. Pablo Novak, now 82, still lives on the edge of the town, welcoming people who wander into the wrecked streets.
"Whoever passes nearby cannot go without coming to visit here," Novak said while showing The Associated Press around. "It's getting more people to the area, as they come to see the ruins."
Many residents of Epecuen fled to nearby Carhue, another lakeside town, and built new hotels and spas, promising relaxing getaways featuring saltwater and mud facials.
"Not only do we have Epecuen with the ruins and its natural wealth, but we also can increasingly offer other alternatives," said Javier Andres, the local tourism director.
Copyright 2013 The Associated Press.
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Mother?s Day is Sunday and the least you should do is call your mother - said Twitter. The social media site issued a witty public service announcement boasting about Twitter?s sharing platform quickly after Google?s Mother?s Day tribute this week.
Hopefully moms everywhere will enjoy breakfast in bed, a steady stream of thank-you?s and family fun. While moms are enjoying these and many other Mother?s Day traditions, it?s a safe bet they?ll also sneak a peek at Twitter. After all, moms (and moms-to-be) are doing everything from securing Twitter accounts for their babies to live-tweeting their C-sections to sharing funny motherhood experiences.
But even as much as moms love Twitter, we know that mom loves you the most.
While Google opted for a sweet, syrupy promotion for Google Plus, Twitter opted to tell users that social media doesn?t replace everything. That said, if you don?t have time to visit your Mom this Sunday, video hangouts with her on Google Plus is pretty great every day. Click here to compare the two ads.
Source: http://www.mediabistro.com/appnewser/twitter-mothersday-psa-dont-tweet-call-your-mom_b35552
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