Hasta La Gadget!

As noted here, the RIAA has issued 10 million takedown requests to Google in an attempt to close off paths to sites that facilitate music downloading. At the same time, a related phenomenon is fueling the fire of rightsholder outrage: Brand advertising that appears on download sites and generates revenue for those businesses.

These two aspects of the internet’s ecosystem — finding free music downloads through search engines, and ad-supported sites expediting illicit music acquisition — represent deeply rooted challenges to media owners. At the same time, as with most challenges, there is a flip side of opportunity. The difference between capitalizing on an opportunity and being defeated by its challenge is the difference between getting in front of reality and falling behind it. The RIAA is regarded by many as the poster organization for denial of reality. A reversal of strategy and tactics might get big media owners in front of 21st century realities.

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President Obama speaks to reporters off the record, a day after White House press corps expressed “frustration” with their lack of access.
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Back to the Future fans have a new reason to head over to Universal Studios in Hollywood, which is now home to the DeLorean time machine from all three movies. Known as the Hero A car, the DeLorean underwent a year-long restoration back to museum quality, and is available for all to enjoy. You can check out a promo video of the car after the jump.

The restoration took place by none other than The Time Machine Restoration Team. The DeLorean was carefully refined to the condition it was in during the filming of the first movie. And yes, in case you were wondering, it does contain the flux capacitor powered by plutonium. This is one of three different cars that were created for the movies.

As you can probably guess, the other cars were designated “B” and “C.” The Hero A car is called such because it was the vehicle filmed with the actors, according to BTTF. The “B” car, meanwhile, was used for stunts and effects, while the “C” car had the tamest purpose of them all, being used for interior shots. The “A” car, however, saw the most action, starring in all three films, as well as other productions related to the movies.

Like many actors beyond their movie-making heyday, the car was eventually relegated to an ordinary day job as a theme park attraction, where it spent two decades slowly breaking down, having only gone through one small change during this time. It was a short film promotion by Nike, however, that brought the “A” car back from retirement, prompting its eventual restoration.

[via BTTF]

Universal Studios displaying Back to the Future DeLorean after year-long restoration is written by Brittany Hillen & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

(Adds direct statement from Connecticut police, paragraphs 10-11)

Feb 18 (Reuters) – The man who shot dead 20 children and six adults at a Connecticut elementary school wanted to kill more people than the 77 slain by a Norwegian man in a 2011 rampage, CBS News reported on Monday, citing unnamed law enforcement sources.

A Connecticut state police spokesman dismissed the report as inaccurate speculation.

Adam Lanza, 20, who killed himself as police closed in on him at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, on Dec. 14, saw himself in direct competition with Anders Behring Breivik, who killed 77 people in a bombing and shooting attack in Norway on July 22, 2011, CBS said. Breivik surrendered to police.

Citing two officials briefed on the Newtown investigation, CBS said Lanza targeted the elementary school because he saw it as the “easiest target” with the “largest cluster of people.”

The report did not say how the investigators learned of Lanza’s desire to compete with Breivik.

Lanza was also motivated by violent videogames and had spent numerous hours playing games and working on his computer shooting skills in a private gaming room in his basement with blacked out windows, CBS said. Investigators recovered a large number of games from the basement, the report said.

Evidence shows that in his mind, Lanza was likely acting out the fantasies of a videogame during his shooting spree with each death amounting to some kind of “score,” CBS said.

Lanza killed 20 schoolchildren aged 6 and 7 plus six adults who worked at the school, shocking the United States and leading President Barack Obama to propose new gun-control legislation.

Authorities have not publicly spoken of his motive.

“This is not official Connecticut State Police information and is someone’s speculation regarding the case,” Connecticut State Police Lieutenant Paul Vance told Reuters in an email statement.

When asked if the CBS report was in any way accurate, Vance responded, “No.”

Breivik, a self-styled warrior against Muslim immigration, killed eight people by bombing the Oslo government headquarters and then shot dead 69 people at the ruling party’s summer youth camp.

A Norwegian judge last year sentenced Breivik to the maximum 21 years in prison, though his release can be put off indefinitely should he be deemed a threat to society. (Reporting by Daniel Trotta in New York; Editing by Mohammad Zargham and Eric Beech)

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Our feelings contain knowledge necessary to achieve our best. Thoughts alone don’t tell you everything you need to know to lead effectively. Subtracting feelings from career development efforts is tying one hand behind your back.
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