Thursday, March 7, 2013

Miss. rep. asks FBI to review candidate's death

FILE - This Jan. 20, 2007 file photo shows Marco McMillian, 34, a candidate for mayor of Clarksdale, Miss., who was found dead on the Mississippi River levee Wednesday, Feb. 27, 2013 between Sherard and Rena Lara, Miss. The body of Marco McMillian was beaten and burned, a family member said Monday, March 4, 2013. McMillian's godfather, Carter Womack, said McMillian's family received the information from the Coahoma County coroner. Coroner Scotty Meredith declined to comment Monday. (AP Photo/The Clarksdale Press Register, Troy Catchings, File)

FILE - This Jan. 20, 2007 file photo shows Marco McMillian, 34, a candidate for mayor of Clarksdale, Miss., who was found dead on the Mississippi River levee Wednesday, Feb. 27, 2013 between Sherard and Rena Lara, Miss. The body of Marco McMillian was beaten and burned, a family member said Monday, March 4, 2013. McMillian's godfather, Carter Womack, said McMillian's family received the information from the Coahoma County coroner. Coroner Scotty Meredith declined to comment Monday. (AP Photo/The Clarksdale Press Register, Troy Catchings, File)

(AP) ? A Mississippi congressman on Tuesday asked the FBI to review the slaying of an openly gay mayoral candidate to determine if any federal laws might have been violated.

U.S. Rep. Bennie Thompson's district includes Clarksdale, where Marco McMillian was running. McMillian, 34, was found slain last week in a rural area nearby.

Thompson, a Democrat, said Tuesday that he has confidence in the sheriff investigating the death but that he wants the FBI to get involved because that's what McMillian's family wants.

"If another set of eyes looking at it would provide additional information, I think it would be helpful to the McMillian family," Thompson told The Associated Press in a phone interview.

An FBI spokeswoman didn't immediately respond to an emailed request for comment after hours.

McMillian's campaign had said he was one of the first openly gay, viable candidates for public office in Mississippi.

Coahoma County sheriff's spokesman Will Rooker said the investigation continues and authorities are looking at all possibilities, including whether hate crime laws would apply.

Mississippi's hate crimes law covers acts motivated by bias against a victim's race but not sexual orientation. However, a federal hate crimes law covers bias against sexual orientation. Thompson, the top Democrat on the House Homeland Security Committee, said the FBI could determine if a hate crimes charge should be considered.

McMillian was black, as is the man charged last week with murder in the case, Lawrence Reed, 22.

The cause of death has not been released. An autopsy was performed, but toxicology tests are pending, and authorities say it could take two weeks to get those results.

In a news release, Thompson said: "The level of violence shown in this incident is unconscionable and the perpetrator of this atrocious act should be held accountable to the full extent of the law."

McMillian's godfather, Carter Womack, said the Coahoma County coroner told family members that someone dragged McMillian's body under a fence and left it near a Mississippi River levee.

The victim's family had said in a statement that the body was "beaten, dragged and burned," leading some to assume it was dragged by a car.

Coahoma County Coroner Scotty Meredith said he doesn't want anyone to make inaccurate assumptions about the death.

He told AP on Tuesday night that McMillian was not dragged by a car, he was dragged out of a vehicle by someone and his body left near the levee. He said the burns were postmortem and in a couple of small places on the body.

"My concern is to determine the manner and cause of death and let law enforcement do their jobs," McMillian said, adding that he wants to help the family in any way he can. "It's all about getting closure for them, and the truth."

Another person with direct knowledge of the investigation confirmed to AP that McMillian's body was bruised and there were burns on at least one area. The person wasn't authorized to publicly comment and spoke on condition of anonymity.

An investigation began Feb. 26 after McMillian's SUV slammed head-on into another vehicle on U.S. Highway 49 near the Coahoma and Tallahatchie county lines.

Reed was driving the car, but McMillian was not in it, authorities say. McMillian's body was found the next day.

Thompson said he has known McMillian for years. Thompson said his daughter and McMillian attended Jackson State University at the same time, and one of his congressional staffers was McMillian's fraternity sponsor.

Thompson told AP: "He was a very talented young man who had a bright future."

___

Mohr reported from Brandon, Miss.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/386c25518f464186bf7a2ac026580ce7/Article_2013-03-05-Mississippi%20Candidate%20Killed/id-c0e435e9df0d42f1bd813358ab114168

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Ravenous Games? Gravity Duck quacks back to old school gaming

Ravenous Games is a developer of which I?ve become a big fan over the last two years.

The latest title from the team is the iOS Universal Gravity.Duck, a fairly simple 2-D platformer with an interesting gimmick. Tapping a button in the game allows players to reverse gravity, sending the duck they control from the bottom of the screen to the top. Instead of having a jump button, the duck can only walk and reverse gravity, so players have to carefully utilize the reversal in order to make it through the game?s many levels.

Gravity.Duck?s central mechanic isn?t exactly new. This particular gravity flip idea has been seen before in lots of platformers ? Terry Cavanagh?s VVVVVV being one of the more recent and elegant examples (it?s also a game on its way to the iTunes App Store.) You can feel the Ravenous Games? stamp on the title, though, both in its presentation and in one very important element: Gravity.Duck is a challenging game and you?ll die a lot playing it.


Also on Appolicious

Enjoy reading The Atlantic on mobile devices? Learn how the iconic publication embraced digital from our friends at Zinio. This Guest Post is a real page-turner.


Ravenous Games titles often get pretty difficult, but not necessarily in a frustrating way. It?s an homage to the old school of gaming, with many of the developer?s titles requiring deft skill and quick reflexes. In Gravity.Duck, for example, players are often tasked with reacting quickly to obstacles they?ll only have seconds or less to see, understand, and dodge. But the challenge is part of the fun, because these are smartly designed levels that push players to become better at the game.

Not every game in Ravenous? lineup is necessarily amazing, but the lineup does have some impressive entries. And Ravenous is responsible for the League of Evil franchise, which represent two of the very best iOS games on the market.

Taking down evil, one scientist at a time

League of Evil and League of Evil 2 really are in a league of their own. The two titles represent what might be the strongest, most responsive touchscreen controls in the App Store. That?s a very good thing, because both games are notoriously difficult, requiring players to execute each level with a light touch and a ton of skill.The League of Evil games have players running through trap-laden levels as quickly as possible, exploding enemy soldiers with a single punch and ultimately assassinating a scientist at the end of each stage. The thing that makes the games great is the level of challenge ? each level is hard on its own, but when you throw in collecting hidden briefcases, and its speedy clear times, grabbing three stars on each level becomes a worthy pastime itself.

Like Gravity.Duck, League of Evil and League of Evil 2 are games in which players will die a whole lot. It doesn?t take much to get blown into bloody, pixelated bits, and the slightest misstep results in a restart. But it?s worth the many failures to perfectly execute one of the games? levels, snag everything, and finish under the gun.

Brain slug for hire

Though it might not be as challenging as Gravity.Duck or the League of Evil games, another recent Ravenous game, Infestor, is still worth some attention. That?s mainly because its chief gameplay mechanic is a rather interesting one: players have to take control of the bodies of various characters.In Infestor, the player character is a strange parasite that can take over the minds of its victims. It?s a tiny, fragile pile of green goo, but get close to any of the various humans in the game and you can possess them and use them to get around obstacles and through puzzles. Different brands of humans are needed for different tasks, like opening certain doors or traversing certain heights, but they?re single-use only ? meaning they die after you leave their bodies (again, in a pixely explosion). That means you not only need to assess the problem and possess the right people, but also in the right order.

As time goes on in Infestor, more humans appear, as well as more threats. The possession mechanic has some serious potential throughout, especially when the game requires you to use everything in creative ways: for example, sacrificing your host as you leap over a gap in order to give the Infestor a little extra boost to make the jump. It?s an iteration on the usual platforming mechanics that?s enough to make the game fresh and interesting.

Not every game from every developer is spectacular, but Ravenous has a pretty solid track record in the App Store. If there are any platformers you play on your iPhone or iPad, the League games should be among them, but Ravenous? retro style and fun gameplay mechanics mean that each of its games has its own merit and is worthy of attention.

Source: http://www.appolicious.com/games/articles/13276-ravenous-games-gravity-duck-quacks-back-to-old-school-gaming

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Wednesday, March 6, 2013

Venezuela's military vows loyalty to VP Maduro: Voice of Russia

Chavez had named Maduro as his preferred successor.

Venezuela deployed its army and police in the wake of today's announcement of President Hugo Chavez's death, as the nation entered a period of political uncertainty and national mourning.

Vice President Nicolas Maduro said in a nationwide television broadcast that a special deployment was "at this very moment" being rolled out "to accompany and protect our people and guarantee the peace."

Meanwhile Venezuela's military chiefs appeared live on state TV on Tuesday to pledge their loyalty to Maduro following the death of Chavez.

Voice of Russia, Reuters, Hurriyet Daily News

Source: http://english.ruvr.ru/2013_03_06/Venezuelas-military-vows-loyalty-to-VP-Maduro/

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The Bachelor Recap: Women Tell All, Call Out Tierra (and Sean)

Source: http://www.thehollywoodgossip.com/2013/03/the-bachelor-recap-women-tell-all-call-out-tierra-and-sean/

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Sunday, March 3, 2013

37-pound tubby tabby Biscuit in need of home

In this Wednesday, Feb. 27, 2013 image made from video provided by the St. Charles Animal Control shelter, Biscuit, a 37-pound cat, looks at his cage in the shelter in St. Charles, Mo. At more than two-and-a-half times the size of a normal cat, the shelter says the the morbidly obese feline has been put on a diet, but he needs an owner who will closely monitor what he eats. (AP Photo/St. Charles Animal Control via St. Louis Post Dispatch)

In this Wednesday, Feb. 27, 2013 image made from video provided by the St. Charles Animal Control shelter, Biscuit, a 37-pound cat, looks at his cage in the shelter in St. Charles, Mo. At more than two-and-a-half times the size of a normal cat, the shelter says the the morbidly obese feline has been put on a diet, but he needs an owner who will closely monitor what he eats. (AP Photo/St. Charles Animal Control via St. Louis Post Dispatch)

(AP) ? At 37 pounds, Biscuit is about the right weight for a 4-year-old ? human, that is.

A St. Louis-area animal shelter is trying to find a new home for the sweet tabby with a sweet tooth.

Biscuit's salad days were spent pigging out, and now at roughly three times the weight of a healthy adult cat, he's restricted to about a cup of diet food per day.

His first owner, a disabled woman who fed him lots of treats, brought him to the St. Charles Animal Control shelter about a year ago because she could no longer care for him, Teresa Gilley, the shelter's lead animal control officer, told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch (http://bit.ly/15VQRvf ).

"She didn't mean the cat any harm," Gilley said. "I just think she didn't know any better."

Another woman took him in but had to return him about a week ago because her new apartment doesn't allow pets, she said.

Gilley said the tubby tabby isn't crazy about his new low-calorie diet, but he has begun adjusting to it. When he arrived, Biscuit could only take a few steps before lying down and panting, but now he's showing increased energy.

"The other day I went into the office, and he was up in the chair," Gilley said. "So he was able to jump pretty high."

Biscuit is neutered and is believed to be about 4. Gilley said he's easygoing and loves being petted.

"He's sweet and loving, and if you talk to him, he'll talk back," Gilley said.

Any prospective owner would need to keep Biscuit away from the gravy and on a strict diet.

___

Information from: St. Louis Post-Dispatch, http://www.stltoday.com

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/aa9398e6757a46fa93ed5dea7bd3729e/Article_2013-03-01-Fat%20Cat/id-3b4a759b4e5d4cf3b39a5262da7600e8

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Saturday, March 2, 2013

Apple's Lightning to HDMI adapter opened up, discovered to contain a tiny AirPlay computer

Apple's Lightning to HDMI adapter opened up, discovered to contain a tiny AirPlay computer

The fine folks at Panic were experimenting with video out from iOS -- never we mind why -- and came across an interesting discovery: Apple's Lightning Digital AV adapter, aka HDMI adapter, doesn't seem to pass along a 1080p signal in the traditional manner. Instead, it looks like it's passing along upscaled AirPlay-like video. Intrigued as to how, Cabel Sasser gutted the adapter like a Tauntaun on a cold night to find out, and shared what he discovered on the Panic Blog:

Your eyes don?t deceive you ? that tiny chip says ARM. And the H9TKNNN2GD part number on there points towards RAM ? 2Gb worth.

So it's a tiny computer. More specifically, a tiny, single purpose, hard-lined Apple TV-esque device. That explains the less-than-stellar quality of the output (ugh!), but not why Apple chose to go this way.

For some theories on that, and more on Panic's adapter adventure, including the torn-open guts of the gear, check out the link below.

Source: Panic Blog



Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheIphoneBlog/~3/_icdn_iAC88/story01.htm

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Friday, March 1, 2013

Susan Boyle, 'Les Mis' star team up for film

Getty Images file

Susan Boyle and Samantha Barks.

By Eric Kelsey, Reuters

Scottish singer Susan Boyle will get her first turn on the big screen in the British holiday period film "The Christmas Candle," the movie's producers said on Thursday.

Boyle, 51, will back up Samantha Barks, Hans Matheson and Lesley Manville in the Christmas film that began production this week on location in the United Kingdom and the Isle of Man.

The film, based on the novella by Max Lucado, tells the tale of an enchanted Christmas candle in Gladbury, a dull village that must confront the dawning of the 20th century and a new, skeptical minister.

There was no information on what role the singer will play.

"Everyone on set is a delight to work with and it's a fantastic experience to be part of the team," Boyle said in a statement.

Andrew Milligan / AP

"I'm really enjoying getting dressed in the period costumes and stepping back in time and although it's very cold filming on location, I'm wearing long johns under my bustle," she added.

The singer became an overnight international sensation in 2009 after appearing on variety show "Britain's Got Talent" and performing a flawless rendition of "I Dreamed a Dream" from the musical "Les Miserables."

Her rendition has been viewed hundreds of millions of times on YouTube, and her life story from unknown Scot to multi-million-selling recording artist has itself been made into a musical.

Barks was most recently in the 2012 film production of "Les Miserables." Matheson's credits include 2010's "Clash of the Titans" while Manville is best known for 2010's "Another Year."

"The Christmas Candle," directed by John Stephenson, is produced by Impact and Big Book Media and will be distributed in the United Kingdom by Pinewood Productions.

More in NBC News Entertainment:

Source: http://entertainment.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/03/01/17145398-susan-boyle-les-miserables-star-samantha-barks-team-up-for-feature-film?lite

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Survivor Caramoan Episode 3 Recap

We begin our Survivor Caramoan Episode 3 recap on Night 5 as the Gota Tribe returns from Tribal Council. Allie of the Lover?s Alliance was voted off while they casted their four votes against Shamar, the lazy ex-Marine. Shamar explodes back at camp, even yelling at his own alliance members. Things get very ugly, very fast as some wonder if they voted off the wrong person? Day 6 at Gota Beach and Shamar is still fuming. Sherri tries to calm him down but it is pointless. Shamar is now considering quitting The Game because his precious feelings have somehow been hurt. Over at the Bikal Tribe, Phillip exercises while Corrine tries to connect with Malcolm. Together they find a hidden immunity idol. Andrea and Cochran take notice of how chummy Corrine and Malcolm are becoming. They start spreading paranoia around, talking with others like Phillip and Brandon about booting off Corrine. But Brandon is suspicious of anything coming from Andrea. Back at Gota, Shamar publicly announces his desire to quit playing. He says he is unhappy and a million dollars is not worth all of the grief he is dealing with. Shamar admits that he has had anger issues before [...]

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/RightCelebrity/~3/s89fi-oacB8/

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