Source: http://news.feedzilla.com/en_us/stories/politics/top-stories/150396729?client_source=feed&format=rss
spongebob bot northern lights foot locker cats funny pics funny pics
Friday, October 21, 2011
Revived echoes opera augments research results
Chelsea Wald, contributor
Dancers in futuristic catsuits are avatars for an ancient tribe (Image: Kurt Hoerbst)
Archaeologists combine state-of-the-art opera with research into acoustics to recreate an ancient sound stage
A "MEDIA opera" that features state-of-the-art audio-visual technologies, Pitoti: Echoes of the Echoes hovers somewhere between being a research report on rock art and an artwork in itself.
The research focuses on findings that use acoustics to explain the positioning of 4000-year-old rock paintings around their valley home of Valcamonica in northern Italy.
A musical performance, then, is an apt choice for augmenting more traditional forms of publishing. Film-maker and archaeologist Frederick Baker, co-director of the multidisciplinary Prehistoric Picture Project (PPP) that is behind the venture, says he thinks this is an absolute necessity. "A paper is such an impoverished experience compared with the experience of research. How do you present the results of archaeoacoustics? Well, you present it as sound."
Background information on the project is provided at the opening of the half-hour spectacular at Austria's St P?lten University of Applied Sciences by Christopher Chippindale, archaeologist at the University of Cambridge and PPP co-director. In front of projected images of the research site, he describes the scientists' discovery of the immense complex of Copper Age rock engravings - called pitoti in the local dialect - in the early 1900s.
As the researchers grapple with the rock art's meaning, mysterious dancers arrive on stage, dressed head to toe in futuristic catsuits from Dutch fashion designer Anouk Wipprecht. A Viennese dance troupe, Pitoti Tribe, has been created especially for the production by Brazilian choreographer Lua Virtual. They strike awkward poses similar to those of the animated rock-art figures projected behind them, inviting us to wonder whether the prehistoric artists were chipping out pictures of the prima ballerinas of their time.
This inference is essential to understanding the researchers' thoughts about the valley. Working with musicians at the research site, they found that areas of concentrated rock art had special acoustic qualities - in particular, powerful echoes - that may mean those areas were used as sound stages. The prehistoric music could have been created by banging rocks together, as the troupe in the opera does. One catsuited figure even tap dances.
Of course, Baker and his collaborators aren't suggesting that ancient people tapped. Instead, "we try to... give the audience as it is today similar impressions and feelings that people had in former years when they carved these figures", says composer Hannes Raffaseder of St P?lten University. "It's about experience and emotion."
Raffaseder's pervasive score brings together surround-sound recordings from the research site, stone-on-stone percussion, a live choir, and a cow horn made and played by "archaeomusicologist" Albin Paulus. "People in [the Valcamonica] region still use this cow horn," Raffaseder explains.
September's performance was a proof of concept, Baker says. Elements of the opera will be incorporated into an experiential exhibit; the plan is to take it to both Cambridge, UK, and Milan, Italy, in 2012. Ultimately, the team hopes to take the show back to its birthplace - the valley of Valcamonica.
yvette vickers yvette vickers ronald reagan sidney crosby nhl mph abraham lincoln
Thursday, October 20, 2011
MTV sets dates for Video Music and Movie Awards
NEW YORK (AP) ? MTV has set the dates for next year's MTV Movie and Video Music Awards.
The MTV Movie Awards will air live from Los Angeles on June 3.
After an August date in Los Angeles this year, the VMAs will move to Sept. 9. A host city hasn't been announced. The show will also air live on the network.
The announcement was made Thursday.
This year's VMAs drew an audience of 12.44 million people, which gave MTV its biggest audience since 1993.
___
Online:
http://www.mtv.com
Associated Pressst louis weather ron paul 2012 craigslist nc mitt romney newt gingrich
Should it Be Illegal to Own Exotic Animals? (ContributorNetwork)
COMMENTARY | Scenes on the national news showing SWAT teams with night vision goggles hunting 51 freed wild animals in Zanesville, Ohio, depict the dark side of exotic animal ownership. A troubled ex-convict exotic animal collector released his lions, wolves, tigers and bears, then shot himself Tuesday night.
Inhumane treatment of the animals and the danger they posed to the community illustrates the need for laws which protect the innocent creatures and humans. Exotic animals on the Zanesville farm were often heard moaning and whimpering by neighbors with several escaping their enclosures on multiple occasions.
Are all exotic animal owners mean and careless? Are all exotic animals too dangerous to own? The answer to both questions is a resounding no. Ohio is unfortunately known as a one-stop-shop for exotic animals purchases and until Gov. John Kasich receives the plan he tasked the Ohio Department of Natural Resources to create, that is unlikely to change.
In Ohio today I could go to an auction and buy a Bengal tiger without any type of identification or proof of a humane enclosure. But if I wanted to purchase a turtle, I would have to complete a lengthy form and show proof I have a suitable aquarium. Until the turtle reaches 2 inches in diameter it carries a large concentration of salmonella.
A logical person would realize if you don't lick the turtle and wash your hands you are free from danger. It makes no sense that grizzly bear ownership after an exotic animal farm death last year in Cleveland did not result in at least as much paperwork necessary to buy a turtle with just a soft little egg tooth and germs which are easily avoided.
The Responsible Exotic Animal Ownership is a group of animal lovers who properly house and feed the creatures they care for in a residential or sanctuary setting. The group seeks to educate potential owners about animal needs before making a commitment to a living creature.
My husband once owned a Caiman, which is essentially a smaller version of an alligator. "Boot" lived a very happy life complete with a heating lamp, proper diet, daily walks, and a pond all of his own. If you cannot make the necessary time and financial commitment to care for an exotic animal properly, then visit the local shelter and give a fresh start to a homeless dog or cat.
rule 34 steve jobs bill gates frances bean cobain bill gates michael lewis palin occupy wall street
UK-U.S. extradition review deals blow to hacker (Reuters)
LONDON (Reuters) ? An extradition treaty with the United States is not biased against British criminal suspects, a judge-led review said on Tuesday, dealing a blow to campaigners fighting to stop a computer hacker being sent to stand trial in America.
Britain launched the review in September following complaints the 2003 treaty made it easier to extradite people from Britain to the United States than vice versa.
Gary McKinnon has been battling for six years to avoid extradition to the U.S. over what American officials called the "biggest military computer hack of all time."
McKinnon, 45, suffers from Asperger's syndrome, a form of autism, and his supporters say he is too ill to be sent for trial in the United States. He faces charges that could lead to a 70-year jail sentence.
Britain's Home Secretary (interior minister) Theresa May has been waiting for medical reports on McKinnon before making a final decision on his extradition.
The review, led by retired judge Scott Baker, said criticism of the treaty was based on a misunderstanding of how the legislation operated in practice.
"The UK-U.S. extradition arrangements were examined in great detail and the panel concluded that the widespread perception that they operate in an imbalanced manner is not justified," it said.
"There is no 'practical difference' between the information required of both countries when requesting extradition."
The panel also rejected calls for the government to implement legislation that would allow a suspect wanted for extradition to be tried in Britain when the alleged crime was committed in the UK -- as was the case with McKinnon's computer hacking from his home in London.
McKinnon was arrested in 2002 after U.S. prosecutors charged him with illegally accessing computers, including systems at the Pentagon and NASA, and causing $900,000 worth of damage.
He says he became obsessed with looking through military data networks for evidence of aliens and secret technology.
The extradition review's finding is politically difficult for British Prime Minister David Cameron and his coalition deputy Nick Clegg, who raised McKinnon's case with President Barack Obama during his state visit this year.
The British leaders have backed criticism of the treaty, drawn up after the September 11, 2001 attacks to allow the quick transfer of suspects. Whilst in opposition, Clegg had called the treaty "lopsided."
(Editing by Robert Woodward)
growing pains growing pains cupertino bay area news htc flyer review westboro stevejobs
Wednesday, October 19, 2011
Google Wallet adds coupons, rewards points, Jamba Juice
Could Google Wallet really help you find Blackberry Bliss? Indeed it can, now that Big G has beefed up its mobile payment platform with a host of offers from retailers like Jamba Juice, American Eagle, OfficeMax and Foot Locker, among other partners. Yesterday, Google rolled out a new program whereby consumers can redeem coupons and accumulate rewards points at select locations, using only their handsets. The app's Offers tab, meanwhile, has expanded to include so-called "Featured Offers," where users can take advantage of discounts exclusive to the Google Wallet platform. Unfortunately, these features are only available at select locations, so check out the source link below to find the one closest to you.
Google Wallet adds coupons, rewards points, Jamba Juice originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 18 Oct 2011 09:01:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Permalink |
Google | Email this | CommentsSource: http://www.engadget.com/2011/10/18/google-wallet-adds-coupons-rewards-points-jamba-juice/
nancy grace st louis rams charlie sheen roast dancing with the stars 2011 cast paz de la huerta julianna margulies dr oz
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)