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Tuesday, November 30, 2010
The newly discovered Picasso works of art, heirs have questions
A retired French electrician and his wife have shared with the press they had in their possession 271 undocumented, unseen works of art by PabloPicasso, with an estimated worth of near $79.35 million, according to Reuters.
Picasso gifted many of his sketches and paintings and was prolific in creating them, yet his electrician seems to have hit the lottery for amount of items owned by the late Spanish artist.
The collection is currently under lock and key after a judicial appeal by Picasso's heirs.
The items are from the artist's Blue and Cubist periods according to Reuters, and are worth many tens of millions.
"We have questions, legitimate questions about where the paintings came from," Claudia Andrieu, legal counsel for the Picasso Foundation, told Reuters Television. "We are discovering new pieces, completely unknown pieces that had never been printed in any book."
The chain of events began when Picasso's son Claude Picasso received a letter from the electrician who said he owned original Picasso pieces and wanted to have them verified for authenticity.
The electrician, Pierre Le Guennec, drove to Paris with the paintings in a suitcase and laid them out on a table.
"I felt a great surprise, naturally, lots of emotion at the discovery of pieces with which we were not familiar. But also a deep disturbance," he told French daily Liberation. "Many of these pieces were not dated, which means they never should have left the studio."
Pierre Le Guennec told Reuters Television that Picasso's wife gave him the artworks.
"It's Madame (Picasso) who gave them. But if Madame gave them, Monsieur was aware of it. She wasn't going to do it just like that, was she?" he said, speaking through a gate in front of his property. "What did you want me to do with them? ... They stayed in a box with other boxes that I have, from my job."
Claude Picasso believes this story to be false. "It doesn't hold up, frankly," Picasso said.
Le Guennec denied stealing the paintings.
So far, Picasso's heirs appealed to a judge to have the works held by the courts until the mystery is solved.
The haul includes nine extremely rare Cubist collages, a watercolor from Picasso's Blue period, several painted hand studies, some 30 lithographs and over 200 drawings, as well as portraits of the artist's first wife, Olga Khokhlova.
"Mr. Picasso is only interested in the history of art," Andrieu told Reuters. "We got the pieces secured, and now it is for the judge to determine how the pieces were obtained.
Sunday, November 28, 2010
The Pirate Bay founders sentenced to jail, $6.5 million fine in Sweden
Fredrik Neij, Peter Sunde, and Carl Lundström — the founders of the wildly popular torrent site The Pirate Bay — have had their previous convictions upheld by a Swedish court of appeals. While the three defendants did see their prison sentences reduced, the court did increase the fine levied on the the trio from 30 million kronor to 46 million kronor (USD $6.5 million). In April of 2009, a 1 year jail sentence was handed down to all three defendants, the new sentencing has the Swedish residents spending between 10 and 4 months behind bars: Neij, 10 months in prison; Sunde, 8 months in prison; Lundström, 4 months in prison.
“In two years, this type of piracy will be over,” said Ludvig Werner, chairman for the Swedish arm of the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry. ”After a ruling like this and all the pioneers start to get older and have children and families, piracy won’t occur to this extent.”
Christian Engström, a Pirate Party member of the European Parliament, refutes that claim, “The judgement has no meaning for file sharing. It has continued to increase from year to year and the technical capabilities continue to develop.”
No word on what impact, if any, this ruling will have on The Pirate Bay website.
Saturday, November 27, 2010
Apple bars Danish Android magazine from App Store
Apple has rejected a "magazine" app from Danish publisher Mediaprovider because the content was exclusively about Android, the rival mobile OS to Apple's own iOS -- reinforcing charges that Apple's censorship is heavy-handed, arbitrary and in some cases hypocritical -- in fact, a magazine app from the Netherlands called Androidworld Reader is already available on the App Store. While the App Store features dozens of magazines that have some discussion of other mobile operating systems in them -- Wired's popular iPad app being a prime example -- the fact that Android Magasinet is devoted exclusively to Google's smartphone OS was cited as the deciding factor, says publisher Brian Dixen.
Where Apple can -- or should -- draw the line has been a hotly-debated question since the App Store first opened. For example, the App Store bars all forms of nudity, even when the intent is clearly not sexual. European attitudes on the human form, generally very relaxed compared to those of the US, result in advertising and other uses of nudity having to be edited out of anything offered on the App Store. However, "educational" sexual apps are not only allowed, but are frequently at the top of the best-selling polls and thus inadvertently "featured" by the App Store. The company "purged" some 5,000 sexually suggestive apps from the App Store last February, but many remain. While such apps come with an age rating, apart from the use of Parental Controls there is nothing actually done by the App Store to block the purchase and use of age-inappropriate apps.
Dixen cries foul, noting that another of his publications -- iPhone Magasinet -- had no problem getting approved. Dixen also ran afoul of Apple guidelines when another of his magazines, Gear -- dealing with gadgets generally -- featured partially-clothed models on the cover. Danish tabloid Ekstra Bladet had similar rejections due to their use of a "page nine girl," a popular feature in European publications that features a nude or topless woman inside the magazine in an effort to keep readers turning the page. German publisher Bild encountered this restriction back in March of this year.
The company has also garnered criticism of capricious censorship of language -- that temporarily saw it barring literary classics like James Joyce's Ulysses and Oscar Wilde's The Importance of Being Earnest -- while at the same time offering movies and podcasts loaded with profanity with only the MPAA rating to guide purchasers. The company also voluntarily blocked apps featuring the Dalai Llama from the Chinese version of the app store, and barred violent comic books while not censoring similarly-violent movies or TV shows.
Dixen complains that Apple's censorship -- and the time it takes to get "controversial" issues approved or rejected -- hurts the value of the publications. "We have to get not only our apps but every single copy of our magazines approved," he says. "I wonder what will happen if we choose to make the next issue of our magazine about mobile phones in general a theme issue about Android." He says that approvals can take up to two weeks, meaning information in the publication may be out-of-date by the time it appears.
Apple itself has struggled with where and how far to control controversial app content, often drawing ire from frustrated developers. Apple Vice President of Worldwide Product Marketing Phil Schiller says the company has attempted to respond to complaints from women and parents, but when asked by the New York Times about the Sports Illustrated "Swimsuit Issue" app -- which seems to define the very meaning of the term "salacious" -- defended the difference between it and similar apps as being from "a well-known company with previously published material available broadly in a well-accepted format.
electronista
Obama gets a sharp elbow on hoops court - and 12 stitches
In the basketball presidency, it was bound to happen.
In a Friday morning pickup game, President Obama was accidentally elbowed by one of his fellow players, forcing him to get 12 stitches in his lip, the White House said. Obama received the stitches under local anesthesia in the doctor's office on the ground floor of the White House after he returned home from the game at Fort McNair, a military base where he often plays.
The White House at first did not identify the person who went up for a shot and elbowed Obama, who was playing defense. But later Friday, administration officials released a statement from Rey Decerega, the director of programs for the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute, who injured Obama in the last of five five-on-five games.
"I learned today the president is both a tough competitor and a good sport. I enjoyed playing basketball with him this morning," Decerega said. "I'm sure he'll be back out on the court again soon."
Administration aides did not provide a full list of the president's fellow players, but they said they included Decerega; Reggie Love, Obama's personal assistant and a former forward at Duke University; Education Secretary and former Harvard University player Arne Duncan; and Avery Robinson, Obama's nephew.
It was the first time that it is publicly known that Obama has injured himself in his almost two years in the White House, on or off the court. But the injury was the latest sign of how Obama has brought round ball into the center of presidential recreation, in a break from his two most recent predecessors.
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, November 24, 2010
Hasbro to Bring 3D to iPhone, iPod
Toy maker Hasbro is developing a device that will enable 3D gaming on theiPhone and iPod Touch, to launch in early 2011 for $30.
"The My3D platform combines proprietary 3D technology with unique 360 degree content and leverages the popularity of the iPhone and iPod Touch to deliver premium entertainment in immersive, 'larger than life' 3D anytime, anywhere," the company said in a statement.
Content for My3D will be sold exclusively through the Apple App Store, and the toy company said it is already working on content partnerships with DreamWorks Animation, as well as an upcoming 3D joint venture between Discovery, Sony, and IMAX.
Hasbro is also working with the Los Angeles Convention and Vistors Bureau to create virtual travel experiences that include visits to the Wax Museum and the Santa Monica Pier.
Other apps and games are being developed as well, including a virtual deep sea experience where users can explore coral reefs or play a shark while learning about sea life. Content is being designed for all ages, the company said.
"The idea of being able to be somewhere in Los Angeles, in this 360-degree environment, to be in the shark tank, to be able to swim with the fish and chase after the fish," said Brian Goldner, president and CEO of Hasbro. "These are really breakthrough immersive experiences."
Hasbro said it received guidance from Apple during the development process.
Analysts see great potential for the device, with more than 125 million iPhone and iPod Touch units shipping since their release, but see conent as a major hurdle in its success. By bringing the 3D experience to iPhones and iPods, Hasbro opens up a whole new level of entertainment and learning for smartphones and other mobile devices.
Michael Jordan's son Marcus dunking like his dad as a sophomore guard at Central Florida
Facebook Plans to Trademark the Word 'Face'
Hoping to finally launch thefaceslap.com? Sorry, Charlie, you're too late: Facebook may have just won the rights to the word "face."
The social-networking giant was just given a green light in its efforts to trademark the word "face." The company's efforts have moved Facebook's pursuit of face past the opposition period, according to the U.S Patent and Trademark Office, and a "Notice of Allowance" has been issued. And it looks like the application will be approved, Neil Friedman, a partner at law firm Baker and Reynolds who regularly practices trademark law, told FoxNews.com.
"At the end of the day, will they have protection in this space? Yes," Friedman said.
A trademark may help Facebook throw the book at the competition -- and Facebook faces a wealth of it. GoDaddy.com, the world's largest domain name registrar, told FoxNews.com that it has 53,000 domain names containing the word "face" in its databases. The company estimated that the Internet has 89,000 domain names containing the word "face" just in the .com world.
So put on a happy face, Facebook, that trademark may need to be put to use.
A trademark can cover a variety of things, from the audible jingle in T-Mobile commercials to words or phrases, letters or numbers -- even something pictoral like the Nike swoosh, Friedman explained. Even a color. In Facebook's case, the trademark would cover "telecommunication services, namely providing online chat rooms and electronic bulletin boards for transmission of messages among computer users in the field of general interest and concerning social and entertainment subject matter, none primarily featuring or relating to motoring or to cars."
Cars? What could that mean? A spokesman for Facebook declined to comment on the trademark pursuit, but Friedman has a theory: "My guess is that they've been rejected by somebody that has face already for something related to cars," he said.
The unusual patent may be probably partly explained by its history: The social network picked up a trademark application originally filed in 2005 by U.K. company Faceparty.com, run by British company called CIS. Tech news site Engadget explains that the original application covered everything from festival planning to dating services to text message systems -- though that doesn't explain the car thing.
Around October of 2008 CIS filed to split the various categories into separate applications -- one of which was for online chat rooms. That application was taken over by Facebook on November 7, and on November 17 Facebook officially swapped in its attorney.
This doesn't mean that Facebook has won the battle for the word just yet, however. The company must first pay an issue fee, and submit a statement explaining how it uses the word face. Besides, Friedman noted, there are several other trademarks already filed that use the world face.
"In this category, there are already 34 other trademark applications that have a face component," he told FoxNews.com. "There's one for streaming video on the Internet -- mymusicface. And there's facefirst for monitoring security of others," for example.
"If someone else were using face by itself, yes, they'd be able to block that. But in the real world, that will have to be taken on a case by case basis," Friedman told FoxNews.com.
So Facebook won't be able to block all other faces -- because Mark Zuckerberg doesn't have the very first face.
Other prominent faces: Apple's newly launched video conferencing service Facetime may be the most high profile service to feel the brunt of Facebook's patent, though it may not be covered by the trademark. (Apple has filed its own trademark application for Facetime, though its efforts have been rejected.) And Facebook has already filed suit against a pornography company with the similar name FacePorn.
The company's efforts are also interesting in light of the current litigation surrounding the other half of the its name -- the "book" part, that is.
Facebook has been embroiled in a spate of trademark-fueled litigation in recent months, most recently a back and forth with parody site Lamebook. The company has also sued Teachbook and Placebook in an effort to protect its identity following the social network's astronomical rise in popularity in recent years.
Of course, the trademark for Face is nothing new. Facebook has already trademarked "Like" and "Wall." So watch what you say the next time you visit corporate headquarters -- a slip of the tongue could lead to a lawsuit
FOX
Google fans egg-bomb blurred German homes
The launch of Google Street View in Germany seems to be causing civil unrest. Which has now reportedly mutated into uncivil unrest.
Should your mind still be blurred by the conundrum of the apparently naked man on Street View in Mannheim, Germany, you might not be aware that almost 3 percent of Germans requested that their buildings be made fuzzy beyond recognition on Google's photographic street record.
Now, Search Engine Land has brought my attention to an apparent protest about the blurrings.
Google's Munich office in less than all its glory.
(Credit: Screenshot: Chris Matyszczyk/CNET)It seems that a group of passionate, if stunningly misguided, individuals has gone around the Bergerhausen district of Essen and pelted some of the blurred-out houses with eggs. In addition to this organic disregard for animal byproducts, the protesters apparently taped a message to the mailboxes of these houses.
The message read "Google is cool."
While one can only mutter misgivings at such half-witted behavior (and Google itself has expressed its disapproval), one can also wonder what would have happened had these enthusiasts for freedom ventured to Munich and adorned Dienerstrasse 12 with chicken-sourced projectiles.
This, you see, is the home of Google's Munich office. Thanks to the protestations of another tenant, this building is one of those that has been blurred out. So wouldn't it have been almost Banksyish artistry for Google's own office to have been splattered with eggs and garlanded with the sign "Google is cool"?
Oh, come on. You have weird thoughts too sometimes, don't you?
CNET
Tuesday, November 23, 2010
Dalai Lama to Retire as Head of Tibetan Government.
Tibet's spiritual leader plans to step down as head of the Tibetan government-in-exile, his spokesman said.
The Dalai Lama, 75, has scaled back his duties leading Tibet since 2001, when the Tibetan movement first directly elected a political leader. Since then, his government role has been mainly ceremonial as he travels around the world giving speeches. His spokesman said he would discuss retiring with the next session of parliament in March. Though it might not be too easy to get away; the speaker of Tibet's parliament said that a retirement requires consideration, since it would mean a sweeping political change.
"Retirement" would mainly mean stepping away from ceremonial duties as head of government, like signing resolutions. The Dalai Lama would still remain an advocate for the Tibetan movement and a Buddhist spiritual leader.
The Dalai Lama, who was born Tenzin Gyatso, is the highest-ranking Buddhist priest and seen as an incarnation of the original Dalai Lama from the 1300s. Finding a replacement requires a formal search party, though many expect the 26-year-old monk Karmapa to one day take his place.
Still, many worry the current Dalai Lama's retirement would mean a weakening of the Tibetan struggle against Chinese rule. Many hope he will still be the main negotiator for independence from China
TIME
