tv-linked

Lenovo Sets Web-Linked TV

2011-11-29T21:30:00.000-08:00

Chinese personal-computer maker Lenovo Group Ltd. on Tuesday said it would soon unveil a "smart TV" product called LeTV as well as a new cloud-computing strategy, as it competes with others to diversify and address growing demand for Internet-connected devices.

The company, which surpassed Dell Inc. in the third quarter to become the world's second-largest PC vendor by unit shipments after Hewlett-Packard Co., is the latest to enter the competition to offer Internet content on television. Lenovo didn't provide details on the capabilities of LeTV, but it comes as others have released smart TVs, which are expected to have computer-style

Read more: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204262304577068012720978888.html

Study Says Daily Aspirin Intake Linked to Higher Risk of Blindness for Elderly

2011-10-03T23:55:00.000-07:00

Taking aspirin daily may lower the risk of suffering heart disease and strokes, even certain types of cancer, but a side effect of this is late stage age-related macular degeneration (AMD), which is a condition related to blindness or weakening of eye sight, according to a Dutch research.

Researchers from the Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience and Academic Medical Centre found out after studying 4,700 above-65 Europeans who take aspirin daily that they are twice likely to suffer from late stage AMD. The samples included Norwegian, Estonian, British, French, Italian, Greek and Spanish.

From a sample of 839 seniors studied by researchers in Holland, 36 or 4 percent had an advanced wet AMD. From another group who took aspirin less frequently, 2 percent had similar eye/visual condition.

The institute's lead researcher, Paulus de Jong, said cardiovascular diseases among the people surveyed did not influence the AMD, according to Foxnews.com.

The study published in the journal Ophthalmology, however, did not find any evidence how aspirin causes AMD.

AMD affects the central vision and sufferers have difficulty in reading, watching TV and driving. In one type of AMD called "wet AMD," abnormal blood vessel growth that bleeds or leaks damage photoreceptors and lead to loss of vision if left untreated.
In another type called "dry AMD," part of the retina atrophies damaging photoreceptors also leading to blindness.

AMD is the leading cause of blindness among people over the age of 60.In this condition, the macula and retina are damaged.

The exact cause of AMD is not yet fully understood.

Source http://au.ibtimes.com/articles/224340/20111004/amd-age-related-macular-degeneration-blindness-vision-loss-aspirin-netherlands-institute-for-neurosc.htm

Government stops sh193b digital TV migration deal

2011-07-22T00:09:00.000-07:00

The Government has stopped the acquisition of a $74m (about sh192b) loan from the Export & Import (EXIM) Bank of China over alleged procurement flaws and over-pricing. The loan was intended to fund the migration from analogue television to digital.

Keith Muhakanizi, the deputy secretary to the treasury, pointed out this week that a memorandum of understanding had been signed, but the loan process had been halted.
“We don’t have any other instructions other than stopping it,” said Muhakanizi. He said the decision to restart the process would come from the Prime Minister’s Office where the project falls.

It was not clear whether the stopping of the loan was linked to concerns about the procurement process and the alleged cost inflation for the supply and installation of TV studio equipment.

But Nandala Mafabi, the Leader of Opposition, faulted the procurement process and the cost of the project. He also questioned the cost for the different aspects of the project.
“The list of equipment in tender is totally different from that on the contract.

“Also, according to the expert in this industry, the real value in this contract is between $20m and $28m, maximum $30m, even if the best US and EU equipment is to be used,” said Mafabi.

He also cited a technical process of establishing the main system to handle TV programmes for Kampala service area and to upcountry regions, which UBC TV quoted at $5.8m.

“But in the market, to realise such function will need a maximum of 10 transmitters, which will cost $1.2m,” said Mafabi.

He also questioned the cost of acquiring an outside broadcasting equipment, which UBC TV quoted at $1m.

However, industry experts put the cost at $300,000 for a full set of in-built digital TV equipment.
Mafabi noted: “By private negotiation, Huawei signed an agreement worth $74m with UBC, meaning the tender was awarded without advertising.”

UBC last year invited bids for the installation of 28 digital television stations across the country. The migration to digital broadcasting is a mandatory requirement for countries to upgrade from analogue to digital by June 2015. Uganda’s target is December 2012.

Simon Mayende, the director of information and national guidance, explained that under the Public Procurement and Disposal of Public Assets Authority rules, one is not obliged to commit to procuring firms to do the works until they get the money.

“We have it as unfunded priority. It was one of the proposals (loan) put forward for raising funds for this project,” said Mayende.

Jane Kasumba, the UBC publicist, said two broadcasting channels for the Kampala area were being tested at Kololo Hill as part of the migration process even if there is no legislation to guide the entire process now and when the digital becomes operational.

Kasumba said: “Established procurement procedures are being followed to select a competent company to implement the digital migration project.”

“The Huawei deal is dependent on the source of funding. If the Chinese grant materialises, it has a conditionality to engage Huawei as the implementer,” she pointed out.
“But UBC will engage an independent consultant to check the supplies and oversee the installations by Huawei.” There are reports that countries that have established similar stations have spent less than sh1b to adopt digital technology stations from the US, which are superior.

Huawei is the firm that carried out the National Fibre Optic backbone project, which ran into scandals.

Source http://www.newvision.co.ug/D/8/220/760671

Watching TV before bed linked to disrupted sleep

2011-07-04T20:46:00.000-07:00

If you want to boost your preschooler's chances of a good night's sleep and downplay risks of behavioural problems, injury and obesity, it's best to avoid screen time - whether TVs, computers or video games - in the hour before bedtime.

That's the advice of a prominent scientist at the Seattle Children's Research Institute who led a major new study believed to be the first to examine screen time and kids with a view to violent and non-violent content, afternoon versus evening viewing, and solitary viewing or with parents.

Many parents would agree that preschoolers who watch programming containing violence would be more likely to experience sleep disturbances from nightmares to frequent waking and daytime fatigue. But the study of more than 600 Seattle children aged three to five found that even child-oriented programming seen after 7 p.m. was linked to increased sleep problems.

"I think most parents are aware that some media programming is or isn't appropriate for young children, but it can be a shock to realize that even highquality children's programming like Sesame Street just isn't a good idea near bedtime," epidemiologist Michelle Garrison said in an email to the Times Colonist. "Since we as adults often turn to TV for relaxation, it's easy to assume that it's also a calming experience for young children - but those 'zoned-out,' glazed-over faces that young children often get while watching TV are often a sign of a brain that's over-stimulated and overwhelmed, not relaxed."

As for TV violence, it didn't matter whether the children saw isolated violence or no violence, fantasy violence, sports violence, mild or slapstick violence or realistic violence - before bedtime it was associated with sleep disturbance. That's because children aged three to five do not distinguish between animated and live-action violence, sports, slapstick or fantasy violence, says the study, published in the journal Pediatrics.

"A show that's really funny for an eight-year-old can be frightening and overwhelming for a fouryear-old," says Garrison, who works at the Center for Child Health, Behavior and Development at the institute.

Sleep deprivation has a huge impact on children's health, Garrison attests.

"In the short term, inadequate sleep in young children has been associated with increased behaviour problems and injury risks. In the longer term, poor sleep during early childhood is linked to later increased depression and anxiety, overweight and obesity, and poor grades and test scores in school."

Garrison says even watching age-appropriate shows with parents can be too stimulating for young children at the time their brains should be unwinding.

"It's like their minds are speeding up so they can keep up with the fast pace of the show without missing anything. As adults, most of us have learned how to help our minds slow down and relax, but young children haven't learned that skill yet. As a result, they really need their parents to take control and provide a calm, quiet environment before bedtime."

Although many parents put a TV in their tots' bedrooms to facilitate sleep, it's linked to the opposite. Previous studies have linked bedroom TVs to consumption of more media and increased sleep problems, she says.

That could be due to frightening content, displacement of "more soothing bedtime rituals" and brightly lit screens that disrupt the production of melatonin, a hormone linked to sleep rhythms, the study says.

Ten per cent of the 612 children whose parents kept screentime records had bedroom TVs, 55 per cent of them boys and 18 per cent were from low-income homes.

Nearly one in five of the families reported a sleep disturbance from five to seven nights a week from delayed onset of sleep, waking more than once a night, waking from nightmares, daytime fatigue and prolonged lack of alertness in the morning.

Parents who filled out the sleep data reported an average daily screen time of 73 minutes, nearly 59 before 7 p.m. and 14 after 7 p.m. But the authors suggest that parents under-reported total viewing time and violent content, and over-reported watching with adults. kdedyna@timescolonist.com

Source http://www.timescolonist.com/health/Watching+before+linked+disrupted+sleep/5040212/story.html

TV Star Appearances at Chrysler Nationals

2011-04-19T21:08:00.000-07:00

The Christine Car Club is proud to announce the scheduled appearances of some of Hollywood's top "Car Movie/TV Show" stars in conjunction with the Carlisle Chrysler Nationals, July 8-10 at the Carlisle PA Fairgrounds.

The Christine Car Club is proud to announce the scheduled appearances of some of Hollywood's top "Car Movie/TV Show" stars in conjunction with the Carlisle Chrysler Nationals, July 8-10 at the Carlisle PA Fairgrounds.

Slated to be together in one place, for the first time in Carlisle are John Schneider (Dukes of Hazzard), Cindy Williams (Laverne and Shirley), Paul Le Mat (American Graffiti) and William Ostrander (Christine).

John Schneider is best known for his role as Bo Duke on The Dukes of Hazzard, a program that aired between 1979 and 1985 on CBS and currently airs on Country Music Television (CMT) nightly in syndication.

Schneider has also seen success as a country music artist, charting multiple #1 hits in the mid-1980’s

Cindy Williams will forever be linked to Laverne and Shirley, but she also co-starred as Ron Howard’s love interest in American Graffiti. Williams has recently been involved in the theatre and has appeared in national tours of Grease and Moon Over Buffalo.

Fellow Graffiti cast member Paul Le Mat will join Williams in Carlisle. Le Mat portrayed John Milner and won the Golden Globe Award for New Star of the Year for his efforts.

Keeping with the car/movie theme, William Ostrander is also scheduled to appear. Ostrander starred as Buddy Repperton in the 1983 horror flick Christine. Along with his work in Christine, Ostrander has appeared in Knots Landing, Touched by an Angel and the 1985 mini-series North and South.

In addition to the actors, their iconic autos will be on display, including an original General Lee Charger, an original T-Bucket from Happy Days and the original '32 Deuce Coupe that Le Mat drove in the climactic race scene in American Graffiti. A replica of the Christine car will also be on hand.

“We’re a car based club with a Christine focus,” noted Christine Car Club Co-Administrators Joe Caldwell, Wayne Degeorge, Chaney Ponton and Charles Sayre. “We’re huge fans of Christine but we’re also fans of TV star cars and actors. We’re having a multi-celebrity gathering at the Carlisle Chrysler Nationals because we feel people really enjoy seeing the stars and their cars together in one place. We couldn’t think of a better venue than the Carlisle PA Fairgrounds for this one-of-a-kind get together.

By attending the Carlisle Chrysler Nationals, you’re walking into a true Mopar-lover’s paradise. With over 2,200 vehicles from all eras of the Chrysler brand - classics, muscle cars, high-performance new models and more - you won’t want to miss the enormous showfield organized by year, make and model as well as fantastic indoor displays. In addition, there are a slew of kids’ activities, industry guests, car and engine giveaways as well as NHRA drag racing, not to mention the huge swap meet and car corral. Whether you prefer the A, B or E body style – this show has it all!

Don't miss a once in a lifetime chance to meet the stars and their cars and be part of 21st edition of the Carlisle Chrysler Nationals. All appearances are subject to change without notice. Additional fees will apply.

Source http://blogs.moparmusclemagazine.com/6755508/mopar-news/tv-star-appearances-at-chrysler-nationals/index.html

Music or books? Teen's choice linked to depression: study

2011-04-05T20:13:00.000-07:00

Teenagers who whittle away their time listening to music are far more likely to suffer from depression than those who spend more time consuming other media, including books, say the authors of a new study from the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine.

The researchers called 106 adolescents – 46 of whom had been diagnosed with major depressive disorder – approximately 60 times over two months, asking them to report what kind of media they were consuming: Internet, video games, TV, movies, music, magazines, newspapers or books.

Teens who listened to the most music were 8.3 times more likely to be depressed than those who listened least.

Does that mean playing, say, Interpol on repeat could spark depressive episodes, or does it suggest depressed teens find solace in Interpol? Researchers say the cause and effect is not yet known.

"It is not clear whether depressed people begin to listen to more music to escape, or whether listening to large amounts of music can lead to depression, or both," Brian Primack, lead author and assistant professor of medicine and pediatrics, said in a release.

Still, Dr. Primack said, "These findings may help clinicians and parents recognize links between media and depression."

The link was far less pronounced with other forms of media, such as reading: Those who read most were one-tenth as likely to get down as those who read least. (No word on whether the young respondents were reading the Twilight series.)

Still, Dr. Primack said the reading versus music results were crucial, particularly since "overall in the U.S., reading books is decreasing, while nearly all other forms of media use are increasing."

The findings are published in the current edition of the journal Archives of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine.

Source http://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/the-hot-button/music-or-books-teens-choice-linked-to-depression-study/article1971185/

Elizabeth Taylor: Her life on TV

2011-03-23T20:51:00.000-07:00

Dame Elizabeth Taylor is quite rightly best remembered for her groundbreaking charity work and glittering Hollywood career. With two Oscars and eight marriages under her belt, the Hampstead-native's TV work is easily forgotten amongst the showbiz glitz and glamour that her big-screen career generated. While she may not have had a stand-out role on the box to match the likes of Cleopatra or Who's Afraid Of Virginia Woolf?, her TV outings demonstrated Taylor's tireless passion for her art, her sense of humour and her ability to illuminate the small screen in the same manner she did with her illustrious and celebrated cinematic career.

Not surprisingly, during the height of Taylor and Richard Burton's headline-generating tumultuous marriage, TV bosses wanted a piece of the pair's fame and the final result was the TV movie Divorce His - Divorce Hers in 1973. The two-parter mirrored all too closely the couple's real-life relationship as it centred on a crumbling breakdown of an 18-year marriage. Further made-for-TV roles followed with parts such as Edra Vilnofsky in the star-studded Victory Entebbe, the gloriously OTT gossip monger Louella Parsons in Malice In Wonderland and gambling expert Alice Moffit in the humourous Western Poker Alice. Her most recent TV movie was the fabulously camp These Old Broads, where Taylor headed up a blockbuster cast of Shirley MacLaine, Debbie Reynolds and Joan Collins.

One of Taylor's most memorable TV turns was a brief but brilliant cameo in The Simpsons episode 'Lisa's First Word'. The episode famously featured the first vocal outing for the youngest of the Simpsons clan, Maggie, and Taylor was responsible for the famous "Daddy" scene at the climax of the episode. Her turn was much loved by fans of the series and she was voted the 13th best ever guest star in a poll by IGN. You may not have immediately recognised Taylor's dulcet vocals as she was forced to re-record the part numerous times to downplay her natural sexy tones. She would go on to appear in the comedy institution once more a year later when she cameoed as herself in the classic 'Krusty Gets Cancelled Episode'. Another less well known cartoon outing came in 1992 when she cropped up in an episode of Captain Planet. Taylor's role linked in with her HIV charity campaigning and the episode focussed on a character named Todd, played by Neil Patrick Harris, who was persecuted by the villainous Verminous Skumm after becoming infected with the illness

However, Taylor's TV roles weren't solely TV movies and cartoon cameos. She had a starring role in the hit '80s mini-series North and South. Featuring Patrick Swayze, Kirstie Alley, Johnny Cash and Robert Mitchum, it's well worth hunting down on DVD if you can get hold of a copy. She also famously made what she described herself as a "camp" cameo in the ABC daytime soap opera General Hospital, appearing in five episodes as Helena Cassadine. She donated her fee for the appearance to charity and brought record-breaking ratings to the show, while her co-stars spoke openly about Taylor's generosity in starring in the programme, which boosted the image of daytime television. Taylor went on to shoot similar cameos in the likes of All My Children, Hotel, sitcoms The Nanny and Can't Hurry Love, and the US version of British sitcom Absolutely Fabulous, High Society.

Source http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/ustv/news/a310653/elizabeth-taylor-her-life-on-tv.html

Charlie Sheen finding ways to win off television

2011-03-08T19:40:00.000-08:00

Charlie Sheen isn't taking unemployment quietly.

Fired Monday from the TV show "Two and a Half Men," the actor has now become an Internet sensation, and the jokes and job opportunities have started to pour in, CBS News correspondent Seth Doane reports.

Sheen is now starring in his own show on the web, called "Sheen's Korner," part tragedy, part science-fiction, definitely a mystery.

"I'm going to write my sermons," said Sheen. "I'm going to deliver them like truth torpedoes."

"You're either in my corner or you're with the trolls," Sheen said.

It's all setting new highs -- or, rather, lows -- in the social-media sphere, with nearly a million Twitter followers in just one day and well more than 2 million now.

"A lot of people are thinking that Charlie Sheen has a huge opportunity to monetize his whole crazy train wreck life online," said Digital Living's Shelly Palmer. "He's got the tools at his disposal. He's already proven that he's a gigantic Twitter and Facebook monster."

Charlie Sheen waves machete on rooftop
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What do Charlie Sheen and Live Nation have planned?
Tiger's blood and Adonis DNA, served up

Companies hoping to cash-in are boarding that train wreck too:

Sheen's tweet Monday about needing an intern linked directly to an ad from internships.com, which paid Sheen an undisclosed amount for the placement and got more than 300,000 clicks in return.

That deal was brokered by Adly Inc., whose CEO, Arnie Gullov-Singh, was at an advertising conference in Austin, Texas, Tuesday. Adly is known to pay up to $10,000 per tweet to celebrities who hawk products.

"These are celebrities who have huge scale and huge influence with consumers and social media," said Gullov-Singh. "That's why brands are lining up to be part of it."

Even wholesome companies are borrowing his catchphrases "winning" and "tiger blood." McDonald's tweeted about "McWinning." Target's tweeted "TigerBlood" is not yet for sale at their stores. Even the venerable American Red Cross tweeted, "We may not collect #tigerblood, but we know our donors & volunteers have fierce passion."

But Edmund Lee, a digital media reporter for Advertising Age, said there might be a risk for companies to get attached to Sheen.

"If Charlie Sheen continues to be thought of in this crazy way, that's the association stuck to your brand," Lee said.

Now even the Sheen marketing machine is being mocked, such as by late night host Jimmy Fallon.

Even if viewers don't know what to make of all this, Sheen hopes it'll keep making him a little money.

Source http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2011/03/08/eveningnews/main20040821.shtml

JVC Launch New TV-TOOLS Version 9.0

2011-02-22T20:29:00.000-08:00

TV-TOOLS version 9.0 is a dynamic digital signage solution that can form the heart of all communication projects - from corporate TV, room booking and digital signage, through to RSS feeds, streaming and template management.

The TV-TOOLS designer module is a powerful tool for the creation and design of users' graphical content. It supports all image formats, animations or video files, and also enables the use of all resources linked to databases or the Internet.

For simple broadcast management, TV-TOOLS enables the creation and use of dynamic predefined templates. Content can be instantly modified using the dedicated, intuitive Web Interface.

The new scheduler software allows the generation of playlists or schedule grids, either in local mode (on the creation machine) or in terminal mode. With a new ergonomic and simple user interface, the operation of all features, including the more advanced functionalities, is made easier.

The EveryWhere Manager, installed locally or in terminal mode, allows the supervision of the communications with the Everywhere server. Entirely based on HTTPS protocol, it is designed to monitor and handle the data transfers for large player installations, in real-time.

The Full HD 1080p Player comes with Windows 7 Pro as standard; it allows the management of multiple independent areas on the screen and ensures a perfect fluidity of all rolling and scrolling text, making it ideal for even the most challenging projects. VGA, DVI and HDMI connections ensure a perfect interoperability with all types of displays, while its built-in WIFI adapter means it can be used anywhere.

The TV-TOOLS player solution is based on a Windows PC platform. The major advantages of this include:

Fully independent playback: the data is transferred to the player's hard drive, including RSS feeds/web page caches and sql data, freeing the network and preserving bandwidth
Local data and graphics processing: the performance of the dual-core processor and dedicated graphics card provide high quality images and fluid transitions that would not be possible on terminals or set-top boxes
True Windows OS: compatible with all recent hardware, native IE advanced browser including all useful plug-ins and Microsoft PowerPoint viewer
TV-TOOLS' working principle is to exploit non-complied media resources. Unlike PowerPoint or Flash, it uses the image files (backgrounds and boxes), sounds, and animations in their native format and rendering is done in real time on the player machine
Data transfer is only required for new or modified elements, in their native file format (JPEG, TGA, AVI, etc)

TV-TOOLS dynamically aggregates data from multiple sources. The data can be stored locally in a network share or a URL for HTTP or HTTPS. data can be displayed as text or text calendar, delimited text, RTF, Excel RSS feed, XML, Access or SQL database, Exchange Calendar, Google calendar, Lotus Notes, iCalendar as well as sub directory structures.

Source http://www.4rfv.co.uk/industrynews.asp?id=123209

Govt to report on film and TV struggles

2011-02-15T00:38:00.000-08:00

Australian television and film producers are concerned the sector could go under without more incentives to encourage investment.

The federal government is preparing to release the findings of its review of the screen sector, which has been hit by the global financial crisis and a rising Australian dollar.

The review, set up by then arts minister Peter Garrett, is looking at the effectiveness of funding and policies, including three tax offsets introduced in 2007.

There is a tax rebate of up to 40 per cent for producers who make Australian feature films, television and other projects, and a 15 per cent location and post-production tax rebate for foreign films made in Australia.

Industry insiders says they are no longer internationally competitive, mainly due to the rising Australian dollar, which has been on parity with the Us dollar for months.

There are also concerns that because the incentives are linked to the tax system they are not timely and lead to interest costs on financing.

The location rebate, while similar to the levels offered in New Zealand and United Kingdom, falls well below the rates in Canada, the United States and eastern Europe.

Ausfilm, representing private and government screen sector groups, says the location rebate needs to be increased to 30 per cent.

It also wants a requirement that foreign productions spend 70 per cent of their budgets in Australia to qualify, to be removed.

While this has been promised, it hasn't been legislated yet.

Ausfilm, in its submission to the screen review, noted that foreign features dropped to less than one per cent of film production expenditure in 2008/09.

Narnia was the only big-budget US film shot in Australia during the past few years.

"Australia is now facing a sustained period without international film production activity," the submission warned.

It cited a PricewaterhouseCoopers analysis that showed a boost to location incentives would pump more than $1.8 billion into the economy over 10 years.

The group representing screen producers in Victoria voiced similar concerns, saying foreign investment had historically helped to offset "compromised domestic budgets".

"When this market becomes insignificant, the industry becomes unsustainable," Screen Services Association of Victoria wrote in its submission to government.

Arts Minister Simon Crean refused to pre-empt the review but acknowledged the concerns.

"There is an ongoing commitment because we want to develop and showcase our internationally renowned creative talent," a spokesperson for the minister told AAP.

Mr Crean is expected to release the review's findings later this week.

Source http://news.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=8211415

Keith Olbermann to announce plans Tuesday; Current TV could be next

2011-02-08T02:35:00.000-08:00

If the New York Times report is correct, we could be seeing Keith Olbermann soon on Current TV, the cable channel co-founded by Al Gore. Olbermann will confirm his plans at 11 a.m. Tuesday in a conference call.

While the small TV network might not be the most visible place for him, Olbermann has been making use of Twitter and the internet since his abrupt departure from MSNBC. Mediaite reports that he has registered two domains -- theolbermannshow.com and thekeitholbermannshow.com. He also set up a Twitter account @FOKNewsChannel (as in Friends of Keith ...).

And Current isn't hiding the speculation about Olbermann, either. It has a story linked off its front page.

The internet answer, though, appears to be the odds-on favorite, at least for now. We'll all find out more at the announcement Tuesday.

Source http://www.examiner.com/tv-on-dvd-in-national/keith-olbermann-announcing-new-plans-tuesday-could-be-off-to-current-tv