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Source: http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/21134540/vp/51354436#51354436
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Shamil Zhumatov / Reuters
A police helicopter flies next to the Soyuz TMA-08M spacecraft as it is transported to its launch pad at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on March 26. The Soyuz will carry NASA astronaut Chris Cassidy along with Russian cosmonauts Pavel Vinogradov and Alexander Misurkin to the International Space Station.
By James Oberg, NBC News Space Analyst
For more than 30 years, Russian spaceships have taken two days to dock with their target ??but on Thursday, the travel time for a Soyuz capsule carrying three spacefliers to the International Space Station is being trimmed to six hours.
Has the Soyuz suddenly become speedier? Not really.
The Soyuz itself won't fly any faster when it's sent into space at 4:43 p.m. ET from Russia's Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. It won't have any fundamentally new or improved guidance and navigation system. "All the systems of the vehicle are the same, but the work is more intense," Russian cosmonaut Pavel Vinogradov, the Soyuz's commander, said last week during a news briefing. "There are no new systems or modes in the vehicle, but the coordination work of the crew should be better."
This faster flight plan is possible only because someone else is doing the real work. The space station itself has shifted its position to be nearer to the Soyuz when that spacecraft goes into orbit. It is quite literally moving itself right in front of the speeding Soyuz.
The rapid rendezvous procedure has already been tested twice with robotic supply flights, but this is the first time it's been used with a crewed spacecraft. If it works, the crew should be docking with the station at 10:31 p.m. ET Thursday, taking the fastest ride to an orbital destination since NASA's Skylab missions, 40 years ago.
Hunter and hunted
Chasing down a target in the trackless void of space is not as simple as merely catching sight of it and thrusting towards it. The inflexible rules of orbital mechanics ??motion along orbital paths ? demand precise timing of critical course changes on the part of the vehicle that's doing the chasing.
For any space rendezvous, the first critical time is the moment when the chaser?s launch pad passes below the target?s circular orbit. If the chaser is launched during this moment and heads in a direction parallel to the target's orbital course, it winds up more or less in the same orbital plane as the target. That's the "planar window" for a launch.
But there's another critical timing requirement, having to do with how far ahead the target is when the chaser enters orbit. The target could be at any point in the circular path it follows around Earth, but it's important to choose the right point for launching the chaser.
Shamil Zhumatov / Reuters
The Soyuz TMA-08M spacecraft is transported from its assembly hangar to the launch pad at the Baikonur Cosmodrome on March 26.
The numbers give you an idea of the scale of the problem: The space station travels in a circular orbit that ranges from about 205 to 255 miles (330 to 410 kilometers) in altitude, and the chaser spacecraft are usually launched into initial orbits averaging around 143 miles (230 kilometers). That lower orbit is faster, both because gravity is slightly stronger there, and because the radius is smaller, which makes each circuit shorter.
For that difference in average altitude, a typical chaser spacecraft will catch up with the station at a rate of 560 mph (900 kilometers per hour). So if the chaser starts out 5,600 miles (9,000 kilometers) behind the station in its orbit, it will take about 10 hours to overtake the station. If it?s 16,800 miles (27,000 kilometers) behind, it would take 30 hours. And it might be even farther.
Flexibility is key
If you have a long period of time available for making your rendezvous ? say, one or two days???you have more flexibility for launch opportunities, even if your chaser spacecraft starts out lagging far behind the station. Mission designers prefer to pick launch days on which the lag falls within a certain range. If it?s relatively far away, the chaser stays lower and faster for a longer period, to make up the lag. If the target is not so far away, the crew flies their ship higher sooner, to slow down the approach rate and arrive at the target at the same desired time.
The fast-rendezvous scenario, in contrast, has very little flexibility. The Soyuz has only a few hours to vary its altitude in order to accommodate a range of possible target distances. The range of acceptable distances between the chaser spacecraft and the space station is known as the "phase window." For a fast rendezvous, the phase window shrinks from what's typically about half of each orbit to as little as 5 percent of each orbit.
There are only a few launch opportunities when the precise time of the planar window also falls within the narrow slot of the phase window. That makes it harder to select an appropriate launch date for a fast rendezvous.
The job was easier back in the '60s, for the early rendezvous missions conducted by NASA and the Soviets. That's because those missions involved launching the target satellite first, and then launching the chaser no more than a few hours later. In such cases, the lag distance for the chaser's launch could be customized to fit the short range for a quick docking.
These days, the only way to approximate that required narrow slot in the sky is to have the International Space Station do an engine burn. This can push the station ahead or behind in its orbit, so that it happens to be at the proper distance at precisely the time when the Soyuz is launched.
That critical orbital maneuver took place a week ago: On March 21, a Progress cargo craft attached to the station fired its thrusters for 11 minutes and 13 seconds, pushing its orbital altitude from 253.5 to 255 miles (408 to 410.5 kilometers). It's just a mile and a half, but it's enough to ensure that the station will be in the right place, assuming that the Soyuz launches at the right time.
For all the virtuosity of the cosmonauts in their steering, the factor that makes the briefer trip at all possible is the target generously maneuvering itself right into the chaser?s sights. And for every quick rendezvous in the future, by Russian or American or other orbital vehicles, the same elaborate target line-up will be required.
More about orbital hookups:
NBC News space analyst James Oberg spent 22 years at NASA Mission Control, where he carried the title of Rendezvous Guidance and Procedures Officer?? RGPO, pronounced "Arr-Jeep-O." In that capacity he sat in the center of Mission Control's front row, down in the legendary "trench" of space maneuvering specialists.
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NEW YORK (AP) ? Stock indexes recouped most of the ground they lost and are closing mostly lower on Wall Street.
Traders are watching closely to see whether Cyprus successfully reopens its banks after a two-week shutdown. They're also unsettled by Italy's failure to form a government and get moving with economic reforms.
The Dow Jones industrial average closed down 33 points, or 0.2 percent, at 14,526 Wednesday. It was down as much as 120 earlier.
The Standard & Poor's 500 fell just under a point to 1,562. It's a little more than two points away from the all-time high it reached in October 2007.
The Nasdaq composite rose four points, or 0.1 percent, to 3,256.
Rising stocks outnumbered falling ones on the New York Stock Exchange. Volume was light at 2.8 billion shares.
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/stock-market-recovers-most-early-loss-200903129--finance.html
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ROUND ROCK, Texas (AP) ? Dell plans to negotiate with Blackstone Group and investor Carl Icahn over new acquisition bids for the computer maker that rival an offer of more than $24 billion from investors led by founder Michael Dell.
Dell Inc. says a special committee of board members has determined the bids from buyout specialist Blackstone and Icahn could be superior to a proposal from Dell and Silver Lake Partners to buy the Round Rock, Texas, company for $13.65 per share.
The company says Michael Dell is willing to work with third parties on alternate acquisition proposals.
Blackstone is proposing to buy the company for $14.25 per share. Icahn wants to buy up to 58 percent of Dell's shares for $15 each.
Icahn and other investors have criticized Michael Dell's bid as too low.
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FILE - In this Oct. 14, 2009 file photo, Sen. Tim Johnson, D-S.D., is seen on Capitol Hill in Washington. Democratic officials say Johnson intends to announce his retirement on Tuesday, March 26, 2013, a decision that gives Republicans a prime opportunity to pick up a seat in 2014. (AP Photo/Haraz N. Ghanbari, File)
FILE - In this Oct. 14, 2009 file photo, Sen. Tim Johnson, D-S.D., is seen on Capitol Hill in Washington. Democratic officials say Johnson intends to announce his retirement on Tuesday, March 26, 2013, a decision that gives Republicans a prime opportunity to pick up a seat in 2014. (AP Photo/Haraz N. Ghanbari, File)
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) ? The anticipated retirement announcement from South Dakota Sen. Tim Johnson gives Republicans one of their best chances of picking up a seat in their quest to regain control, as the veteran moderate Democrat steps aside.
Johnson, the chairman of the Senate Banking Committee, is expected to say Tuesday afternoon that he will not seek a fourth term in the Senate next year.
The fifth Senate Democrat to call it quits, Johnson was facing a potentially difficult challenge from popular Republican Gov. Mike Rounds and still coping with the constraints of a 2006 brain hemorrhage that left his speech impaired and limited his mobility. The absence of the well-funded former congressman who has never lost an election in this GOP-trending state pushed the race to the top of the priority list, Republican strategists said.
"I believe South Dakota moves into the top slot as the most likely Republican pickup," said Greg Strimple, a Republican pollster and past consultant to the National Republican Senatorial Committee.
Johnson was scheduled to speak Tuesday at the University of South Dakota in Vermillion.
For weeks, Johnson's longtime aides and allies have suggested the 66-year-old would step down in 2014, despite his return to the Senate after the life-threatening hemorrhage. His recovery has been significant, though his speech remains impaired and he sometimes uses a motorized scooter.
Johnson's re-election in 2008 after the brain injury sealed his reputation for resilience. But long before, he had established a profile as a loyal Democrat but with an independent streak that made him a formidable candidate. He won re-election to the Senate against the popular Republican U.S. Rep. John Thune, now South Dakota's senior senator, after voting against the resolution to authorize the use of military force in Iraq and despite campaigning for Thune by Republican President George W. Bush.
Johnson has sided with Democrats on key issues such as the 2010 Affordable Care Act. He also has been an environmental advocate. But he has supported the Keystone XL oil pipeline, which is mapped to cross South Dakota and fiercely opposed by environmentalists.
He also has $1.2 million in his re-election campaign account, a healthy nest egg for a state where television advertising is relatively inexpensive. He retains a robust fundraising network, thanks to his deep-pocketed committee connections.
Despite those advantages, Johnson joins Democratic Sens. Carl Levin of Michigan, Tom Harkin of Iowa, Jay Rockefeller of West Virginia, and Frank Lautenberg of New Jersey as seasoned and influential Democrats departing the chamber, where Republicans need to gain six seats to take control. Among those states, West Virginia was carried by Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney last year.
Two Republican senators have announced their retirements, both in Republican-performing states Georgia and Nebraska.
South Dakota, a reliably independent state just a decade ago, has trended sharply Republican in the past decade. Where Democrats once boasted two influential Democratic senators, Republicans now control the Legislature, governorship, the lone U.S. House seat and the other Senate seat.
But Democrats dismissed the notion that Johnson's retirement opens the door for a GOP senator. In last November's election, some Republican Senate candidates who appeared to be the heavy favorites ended up losing to Democratic rivals ? including Rick Berg, who lost to Heidi Heitkamp in neighboring North Dakota.
"I reject the idea that somehow the Republicans have a lock on this state," South Dakota Democratic Party Chairman Ben Nesselhuf said. "By no means is this an impossible task, or even improbable."
Devotees say Johnson's personality ? reserved and contemplative ? has been the key to the respect and influence he has amassed.
Bernie Hunhoff, minority leader in the South Dakota House, described Johnson as a pioneering advocate for women's and children's issues during his early days in the state Legislature. Johnson set the standard for Democrats, by staying true to progressive principles, while also reaching out across the electorate in a politically diverse state, said Hunhoff.
"He's more progressive than the average voter, but they obviously set that aside because they liked what they saw," Hunhoff said. "I think you'd describe Tim as a typical South Dakotan ? quiet, stoic, practical ? a good neighbor."
Despite contentious congressional and campaign battles, Johnson has remained "a gentleman," known more for thinking than talking, former South Dakota Democratic Party Chairwoman Judy Olson Duhamel said. "He's earned the respect of everybody he's ever worked with or for," she said.
Attempts by The Associated Press to reach Johnson through his top Senate staff were unsuccessful. Johnson aides would not confirm the retirement but said the senator would announce his political plans Tuesday in Vermillion.
Aware that Johnson might decide to retire, Democrats in South Dakota and nationally have discussed possible successors on the ticket, including Johnson's son Brendan, South Dakota's U.S. attorney. The younger Johnson said Monday in an interview that he was unaware of his father's decision and declined to discuss whether he would seek the office.
Former U.S. Rep. Stephanie Herseth Sandlin, a contemporary of Brendan Johnson and another heir to a South Dakota Democratic legacy, also is looking at running. A granddaughter of former South Dakota Gov. Ralph Herseth, Herseth Sandlin served six years in the U.S. House before being defeated for re-election in 2010.
Brendan Johnson, appointed U.S. attorney in 2009, has never held elected office and faced questions about his father's involvement in the confirmation process. Assets for the younger Johnson include his father's advisers and donor base.
Herseth Sandlin also has an in-tact network and following in South Dakota, but she could face some problems in a potential primary with Johnson. She opposed the 2010 Affordable Care Act, a position that is out of step with a majority of party loyalists.
___
Brokaw reported from Pierre, S.D.; David Espo contributed from Washington.
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l to r, Patty Landers Caperton, Kathy and Clint Howard kick off the Heritage Society's Treasures and Oddities Sale set for Sept. 14 (Deborah Fleck/Staff)
The Irving Heritage Society wants to have its best ever Treasures and Oddities Sale. Set for Sept. 14 during Irving?s Main Street Event, the sale hopes to have more items to raise funds for Mary?s Playhouse, a children?s playhouse that will be built behind the Heritage House.
To kick off the sale, society member Kathy Howard opened her house for a potluck dinner and a preview of what items were already collected. Heritage Society vice president Patty Landers Caperton gave an update on the dollhouse, saying the old one has been torn down and removed. Howard also said a few words to guests.
The sale will be from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sept. 14 at Glory House, 109 S. Main St.?right in the middle of downtown.
In other society news, there will be a program at 7 p.m. Wednesday at the Central Library on Irving?s connection to the JFK assassination. Speakers include Buell Frazier and Hugh Aynesworth. Free. And on April 6, the society will hold an ?Honoring Women of Irving?s History? program on Jackie Mae Townsell at 7 p.m. at MacArthur High School, 3700 N. MacArthur Blvd. Call 972-252-3838.
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After running, fielding grounders and playing catch yesterday, David Wright took some swings off a tee in the cage this morning for the first time since a strained left intercostal muscle caused him to withdraw from the World Baseball Classic last week.
Wright said that he felt no pain during his workout and still hopes to be ready for Opening Day. Mets general manager Sandy Alderson indicated to Marc Carig of New York Newsday that he is cautiously optimistic about his progress.
?I?m glad it?s a goal,? Alderson aid. ?Is it realistic? Yeah, I think it?s realistic. I don?t think there?s any certainty, but it?s realistic.?
If Wright needs more time, the Mets could go with either Justin Turner or Zach Lutz at third base. Further complicating matters is that Daniel Murphy is also working his way back from an intercostal strain. If both Wright and Murphy are sidelined at the start of the season, it?s possible that Jordany Valdespin could play second base.
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WASHINGTON (AP) ? Nobody's going to win an Emmy for a parody of the TV show "Star Trek" filmed by Internal Revenue Service employees at an agency studio in Maryland.
Instead, the IRS got a rebuke from Congress for wasting taxpayer dollars.
The agency says the video, along with a training video that parodied the TV show "Gilligan's Island," cost about $60,000. The "Star Trek" video accounted for most of the money, the agency said.
The IRS said Friday it was a mistake for employees to make the six-minute video. It was shown at the opening of a 2010 training and leadership conference but does not appear to have any training value.
The video features an elaborate set depicting the control room, or bridge, of the spaceship featured in the hit TV show. IRS workers portray the characters, including one who plays Mr. Spock, complete with fake hair and pointed ears.
The production value is high even though the acting is what one might expect from a bunch of tax collectors. In the video, the spaceship is approaching the planet "Notax," where alien identity theft appears to be a problem.
"The IRS recognizes and takes seriously our obligation to be good stewards of government resources and taxpayer dollars," the agency said in a statement. "There is no mistaking that this video did not reflect the best stewardship of resources."
The agency said it has tightened controls over the use of its production equipment to "ensure that all IRS videos are handled in a judicious manner that makes wise use of taxpayer funds while ensuring a tone and theme appropriate for the nation's tax system."
The agency also said, "A video of this type would not be made today."
The video was released late in the day Friday after investigators from the House Ways and Means Committee requested it.
"There is nothing more infuriating to a taxpayer than to find out the government is using their hard-earned dollars in a way that is frivolous," said Rep. Charles Boustany, R-La., chairman of the Ways and Means oversight subcommittee. "The IRS admitted as much when it disclosed that it no longer produces such videos."
The film was made at an IRS studio in New Carrollton, Md., a suburb of Washington. The agency said it uses the studio to make training films and informational videos for taxpayers.
"The use of video training and video outreach through the in-house studio has become increasingly important to the IRS to reach both taxpayers and employees," the agency said. "In the current budget environment, using video for training purposes helps us save millions of dollars and is an important part of successful IRS cost-efficiency efforts."
IRS YouTube videos have been viewed more than 5 million times, the agency said. A video on the IRS website called "When Will I Get My Refund?" has been seen 950,000 times this filing season.
The disclosure of the "Star Trek" video comes as agencies throughout the federal government face automatic spending cuts, including employee furloughs at many of them.
Acting IRS Commissioner Steven Miller has told employees they could be furloughed five to seven days this summer. The furloughs, however, will be delayed until after tax filing season so refunds should not be affected.
The agency said the "Star Trek" video "was a well-intentioned, light-hearted introduction to an important conference during a difficult period for the IRS."
Congressional investigators initially sought both the "Star Trek" video and the "Gilligan's Island" video but after viewing them determined that the "Gilligan's Island" video was a legitimate training video. The IRS did not release the "Gilligan's Island" video.
"The video series with an island theme provided filing season training for 1,900 employees in our Taxpayer Assistance Centers in 400 locations," the IRS said. "This example of video training alone saved the IRS about $1.5 million each year compared to the costs of training the employees in person."
___
Online:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dHe-zXm17Pc
___
Follow Stephen Ohlemacher on Twitter: http://twitter.com/stephenatap
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In this Tuesday, March 12, 2013 photo, dancers practice at the state-run Iraq Fashion House for an operetta that will display Iraq?s art, culture and history in Baghdad, Iraq. Ten years after the bombs began falling on Iraq, the capital Baghdad is gearing up to host a yearlong cultural extravaganza that organizers hope will quicken the pulse of the city?s ailing cultural life. The city?s designation as this year?s Arab Capital of Culture is also seen as an opportunity to paint a picture of a city of history and hope, and rub out images of death and hatred. (AP Photo/Hadi Mizban)
In this Tuesday, March 12, 2013 photo, dancers practice at the state-run Iraq Fashion House for an operetta that will display Iraq?s art, culture and history in Baghdad, Iraq. Ten years after the bombs began falling on Iraq, the capital Baghdad is gearing up to host a yearlong cultural extravaganza that organizers hope will quicken the pulse of the city?s ailing cultural life. The city?s designation as this year?s Arab Capital of Culture is also seen as an opportunity to paint a picture of a city of history and hope, and rub out images of death and hatred. (AP Photo/Hadi Mizban)
In this Monday, March 18, 2013 photo, a worker looks through paintings at the Hewar Gallery in Baghdad, Iraq. Ten years after the bombs began falling on Iraq, the capital Baghdad is gearing up to host a yearlong cultural extravaganza that organizers hope will quicken the pulse of the city?s ailing cultural life. The city?s designation as this year?s Arab Capital of Culture is also seen as an opportunity to paint a picture of a city of history and hope, and rub out images of death and hatred. (AP Photo/Hadi Mizban)
In this Tuesday, March 12, 2013 photo, a group of youths practices at the state-run Iraq Fashion House for an operetta that will display Iraq?s art, culture and history in Baghdad, Iraq. Ten years after the bombs began falling on Iraq, the capital Baghdad is gearing up to host a yearlong cultural extravaganza that organizers hope will quicken the pulse of the city?s ailing cultural life. The city?s designation as this year?s Arab Capital of Culture is also seen as an opportunity to paint a picture of a city of history and hope, and rub out images of death and hatred. (AP Photo/Hadi Mizban)
In this Tuesday, March 12, 2013 photo, embroiderers and tailors sew costumes for an operetta about Iraq's culture and history, at the state-run Iraq Fashion House in Baghdad. Ten years after the bombs began falling on Iraq, the capital Baghdad is gearing up to host a yearlong cultural extravaganza that organizers hope will quicken the pulse of the city?s ailing cultural life. The city?s designation as this year?s Arab Capital of Culture is also seen as an opportunity to paint a picture of a city of history and hope, and rub out images of death and hatred. (AP Photo/Hadi Mizban)
In this Monday, March 18, 2013 photo, a worker dusts paintings in a classroom at the Hewar Gallery in Baghdad, Iraq. Ten years after the bombs began falling on Iraq, the capital Baghdad is gearing up to host a yearlong cultural extravaganza that organizers hope will quicken the pulse of the city?s ailing cultural life. The city?s designation as this year?s Arab Capital of Culture is also seen as an opportunity to paint a picture of a city of history and hope, and rub out images of death and hatred. (AP Photo/Hadi Mizban)
BAGHDAD (AP) ? Sewing machines buzz inside the Iraq Fashion House as dressmakers work late into the night behind concrete blast walls readying intricately embroidered costumes. Models rehearse for an upcoming show upstairs.
The energetic atmosphere is in stark contrast to the nearby Iraqi National Museum, which remains closed to the public a decade after it was looted along with other government buildings following the U.S.-led invasion.
On Saturday, the Iraqi capital becomes this year's Arab Capital of Culture, and organizers are hoping to use the title to quicken the pulse of Baghdad's ailing cultural life. Manama, Bahrain, was the last capital to hold the honor bestowed by the Arab League under a program set up in 1995 with the help of the U.N. Education, Science and Culture Organization program.
But there are signs the battle-scarred city is not yet ready to reclaim its place among the Arab world's cultural jewels.
Despite a staggering $500 million budget for the yearlong initiative, security remains a worry and authorities have failed to renovate several cultural buildings that were damaged or neglected following the March 2003 U.S.-led invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein.
In the coming months, organizers are planning literary and art exhibitions, round tables on heritage and archaeology, poetry and literature symposiums, fashion shows, concerts, films and theater performances.
"This festival will be a clear message to the world that the situation in Baghdad has changed," Culture Ministry spokesman Abdul-Qadir al-Jumaili said. "Baghdad is a city rich in history and culture and is no longer a city of bombings, death and conflict."
Baghdad was once an active cultural hub in the Arab world, but this nearly 1,250-year-old city has faded remarkably since 2003. Deteriorating security, political tension and a more religiously conservative push on both sides of Iraq's sectarian divide have all taken their toll.
The Department of Cinema and Theater building in central Baghdad has not been repaired since it was looted and burned in the chaotic aftermath of the invasion. Baghdad now has only four theaters and three cinemas available for the event, down from 82 before the war. The number of art galleries has dropped from 20 to four.
The National Museum was also looted. Collections that were stolen or destroyed at the museum chronicled some 7,000 years of civilization in Mesopotamia, including the ancient Babylonians, Sumerians and Assyrians.
Louise Haxthausen, the Jordan-based director of the UNESCO office for Iraq, said the country's archaeological sites and cultural facilities have paid a heavy price during Iraq's years of conflict. But she said this year's celebration is an opportunity to restore some of Baghdad's cultural prominence.
"The events scheduled during this year of celebration will also promote the many efforts of Iraqi artists to keep the city's culture alive ... and contribute to help erasing the negative image of a 'war zone,'" she said.
Organizers still have much to do to change the mentality of Baghdad residents, including the owners of theaters dating back decades. Several have rejected government offers to rent or buy the properties, which have been turned unceremoniously into more profitable warehouses and coffee shops.
At Cinema Atlas in central Baghdad, metal bars and wooded boxes are strewn in the corridor. A board meant to display movie posters is dusty, its glass broken. Newly built stalls sell medical equipment and other items. At the entrance, a huddle of plastic tables provides seating for a sidewalk tea shop.
"Cinema and theater died after the fall of Baghdad," said Saad Hashim Abdullah, who began renting out portions of the cinema building to small-time merchants in 2003. Encouraged by improved security, he reopened the cinema in 2009, only to close it again a month later.
"This business is no longer attracting fans. It's ruined," he said.
Not far away, the 1930s-era Cinema al-Zawraa, one of Baghdad's oldest, didn't look much better. A metal plate blocks the entrance. The ornate white facade is falling apart.
Owner Mohammed al-Saadi has no plans to reopen it as a movie hall.
"It is religiously and traditionally unacceptable to run a cinema or theater," he said. "Isn't it better to demolish it and build a beautiful building rather than keep it in ruins for rats?"
Shafiq Mahdi, the director-general of the department of Cinema and Theatre, blamed post-invasion "backwardness" for the loss of Iraq's cultural treasures. He thinks the upcoming year of culture is a "golden opportunity" for Baghdad to rediscover its glamour.
With a government-allocated budget of around $15 million, he bought new equipment, financed production of 24 films and hired experts from France, Germany, Tunisia, Egypt and Iran.
Baghdad-based painter Qassim Sabti echoes Mahdi's optimism.
"We need a new lung to breathe the Iraqi creativity as we have been deprived from such activities long time ago," he said.
Not everyone is convinced.
"Does Iraq really need an event like this now?" asked Baghdad taxi driver Sajad Amjad. He thinks funding for the project could be better spent on improving roads and fixing the city's creaking services.
After a decade of war and sectarian violence, Baghdad is still far from normal.
On Tuesday, al-Qaida affiliated group in Iraq launched a well-coordinated assault of nearly 20 bombings in Baghdad and other cities, killing 65 people and wounding more than 200.
"The timing is not ideal for hosting an event like this," said Hamid al-Shimmari, a Baghdad-based poet. He said Baghdad needs more than upgrades to its cultural infrastructure for an event like this. It also needs a sense of normalcy and stable security.
"Culture is a beautiful world that means tolerance and fantasy, not horror and fear," he added. "The tension is high in every corner and I'm afraid that the upcoming event will not convey a beautiful picture for Baghdad."
But back at the state-run Iraq Fashion House, there is a sense of hope. Artist Ara Yessayan has brought together around 75 youths from different religious and ethnic backgrounds for a performance that will use drama, dance and a fashion show to convey Iraq's nearly 7,000 years of history.
"That's the fact of Iraq. ... Despite the wounds Iraq and Baghdad have suffered, both will survive," he said.
___
Follow Sinan Salaheddin on Twitter at: http://twitter.com/sinansm
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Sherpa, a personal assistant app that launched initially in the Spanish-speaking world, just announced that it has raised $1.7 million in funding from undisclosed angel investors.
Sherpa users can speak or type their requests, and the app answers them by collecting information from around the web. The company has also partnered with PayPal and other services, so that users accomplish tasks like making travel reservations and transferring money.
The technology was developed by founder and CEO Xabier Uribe-Etxebarria. He actually stopped by the TechCrunch office last fall to show off the app and to compare the results to what you would find in Siri and in Wolfram Alpha. There were, in fact, a number of cases where he?d asked some factual questions and get more complete and relevant answers from Sherpa than the competition. (To be clear, that was a pretty limited test. Since I don?t speak Spanish fluently or own an Android phone, I haven?t tested the live app.)
The big differentiator, he said, is the level at which Sherpa can understand your question ? for one thing, he said the app understands more than 250,000 concepts and 5,000 syntactic and semantic rules.
Sherpa, which is currently Android-only (the goal is to turn it into a broader cross-device platform), launched in October, and the company says it has been downloaded 400,000 times. Next it plans to launch in North America, the United Kingdom, Australia, and South Africa in the second quarter of the year.
If you?re a Spanish speaker, you can download the app from Google Play here.
Source: http://techcrunch.com/2013/03/21/sherpa-funding/
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Malcolm and Regina have called it quits! See more celeb pairs who are back to going solo.
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By Shadia Nasralla
CANTERBURY, England (Reuters) - The new spiritual leader of the world's Anglicans was enthroned by a female cleric on Thursday, taking the helm at a time when the troubled church risks tearing itself apart over gay marriage and women bishops.
In a colourful ceremony featuring African drummers and dancers, Punjabi music and Anglican hymns, Justin Welby, 57, officially became the 105th Archbishop of Canterbury under the gothic arches of Britain's 900-year-old Canterbury Cathedral.
For the first time in the Christian church's history, the priest who placed him on the diocesan throne in Canterbury - the mother church of the Church of England and of the Anglican Communion - was a woman, Archdeacon of Canterbury Sheila Watson.
Another, male, priest then installed him in the chair of St. Augustine, marking his inauguration as Primate of All England and spiritual leader of the worldwide Anglican Communion.
Welby, who is against gay marriage but favors the ordination of women as bishops, now faces a tough balancing act to keep the 80 million-strong Anglican Communion together.
His voice echoing inside the vast cathedral, Welby told a congregation of 2,000 people including heir-to-the-throne Prince Charles and Prime Minister David Cameron that the church should focus more on combating poverty and protecting nature.
"The utterly absurd is completely reasonable when Jesus is the one who is calling," he said in his sermon.
"Slaves were freed, factory acts passed, and the NHS (public health service) and social care established through Christ-liberated courage. The present challenges of environment and economy, of human development and global poverty, can only be faced with Christ-liberated extraordinary courage."
The Archbishop finds himself in the crossfire between liberal clerics in the United States and Britain who are at odds with conservatives in Africa and elsewhere over those issues, and his handling of the dispute is set to dominate his tenure.
Homosexuality is the most divisive issue, and senior African Anglican leaders have already lined up to denounce a decision to allow celibate gay bishops, saying it would only widen the rift.
"It's true that not all the African bishops, but quite a number of African bishops are strongly opposed to the way you understand sexuality in the West," Solomon Tilewa Johnson, Archbishop and Primate of the West Africa section of the Anglican Communion, told Reuters on the eve of the ceremony.
Others at the ceremony were more optimistic.
"He's a bridge-builder and a reconciler," Josiah Idowu-Fearon, Archbishop of Kaduna in Nigeria - effectively the largest province in the Communion - told the BBC.
"It is a good description to call it a holy anarchy," he added, referring to a phrase coined by Welby himself. "And how is he going to put all that together? We wait and see."
Pope Francis, who was formally installed as head of the world's 1.2 billion Roman Catholics about a week ago, sent Welby a message from the Vatican to congratulate him.
"Please be assured of my prayers as you take up your new responsibilities, and I ask you to pray for me as I respond to the new call that the Lord has addressed to me," he said.
"I look forward to meeting you in the near future, and to continuing the warm fraternal relations that our predecessors enjoyed."
INCREASINGLY SECULAR
Welby is seen as a pragmatic and down-to-earth trouble-shooter, hardened by years of work as a crisis negotiator in Africa among separatists in the swamps of the Niger Delta and Islamists in northern Nigeria.
His life changed dramatically in 1983 when his daughter was killed in a car accident, an event he described as a "dark time" which brought him and his wife closer to God.
The bespectacled and soft-spoken Welby inherits a church struggling with falling congregation numbers in an increasingly secular society where many see religion as irrelevant.
The church now counts about 26 million baptized members, but says only about a million of them attend services every Sunday.
Born in London in 1956, he was educated at the elite Eton College, and went on to study history and law at Cambridge University. His father's family were German-Jewish immigrants who fled persecution to England in the 19th century.
His liberal predecessor Rowan Williams - a self-confessed "old hairy lefty" who opposed the Iraq war - once famously said the next Archbishop of Canterbury needed "the constitution of an ox and the skin of a rhinoceros" to do the job.
Just hours before the ceremony, Welby spoke out publicly about gay marriage, offering a softer stance on the issue.
"You see gay relationships that are just stunning in the quality of the relationship," he told the BBC, while stressing he had no doubts over the church's policy on same-sex relationships.
"The Church of England holds very firmly, and continues to hold to the view, that marriage is a lifelong union of one man to one woman."
(Additional reporting by Philip Pullella; Writing by Maria Golovnina, editing by Michael Roddy)
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/former-oil-executive-becomes-head-anglican-communion-154004402.html
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DNA singers open up to MTV News about their U.S. invasion and their debut single 'Wings.'
By Jocelyn Vena
Little Mix
Photo: MTV News
Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1704062/little-mix-dna-wings.jhtml
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Logitech might have been down, but they?re not out?of the gaming peripherals business. Contrary to reports received earlier in the year, the company is not discontinuing its gaming peripheral line. Instead the company is redoubling its efforts and launching 8 new products for PC gamers. Touting a ?new approach to PC gaming, the collection, including 4 mice, 2 keyboards and a pair of headsets, has been dubbed the G Series.
The company is hoping to appeal to certain niches of gamers, creating mice targeting specific gaming genres. For FPS gamers, there?s the G500s Laser Gaming mouse ($69.99) and the G400s Gaming Mouse ($59.99). The G500s has gaming-grade laser for precise control with a dual-mode scroll wheel, and 10 programmable buttons and a hydrophobic coating to prevent gamers? hands from sticking to the device. The G400s has 8 programmable buttons with a DPI range of 400 -4000.?
MOBA and RTS aficionados will want to take a gander at the G100s Optical Gaming Mouse ($39.99). Outfitted with an?inverted trapezoid shape and buttons designed for heavy clicking action, this mouse can take a beating.?
Logitech is also releasing the $99.99 G700s Rechargeable Gaming Mouse for players that are searching for no-strings attached gaming. Logitech claims that the mouse registers 8 times faster than a USB-connected mouse with 13 programmable buttons. There?s no word on battery life at the time of this writing. Each of the mice has been outfitted with new?low-friction polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) feet for faster movements and a?hydrophobic coating to prevent gamers? hands from sticking to the device. ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
It appears that Logitech is looking to compete directly with Razer with its new LogitechR G19s Gaming Keyboard ($199.99). This latest keyboard will stream important information to gamers such as stats via a integrated, adjustable GamePanelT LCD similar to the?The LCD multitouch track panel touchpad on the Razer Blade gaming notebook. There?s also the $119.99 ?G510s Gaming Notebook that allows gamers to configure a maximum of 54 different functions across three different modes, with three macros per key.
To round out the series, the company is also launching two new headsets: the $79.99 LogitechR G430 Surround Sound Gaming?Headset?and the $59.99 LogitechR G230 Stereo Gaming?Headset. The Dolby Headphone 7.1 surround sound-powered?G430s offers 360 degrees of sound with up to seven discrete channels of audio data and a noise-cancelling mic. The G230s features a pair of 40mm neodynium drivers for immersive sound, a bendable noise-cancelling mic and soft, washable earpieces.
Gamers looking to upgrade their gaming peripherals can expect Logitech?s new offerings to hit U.S. store shelves sometime in April.
Follow Sherri L. Smith on Twitter or Google+. Follow LAPTOPMAG on Twitter, Google+ or Facebook.
Source: http://blog.laptopmag.com/logitech-launches-8-new-gaming-peripherals
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Mar. 21, 2013 ? Amateur parody videos on YouTube can lead to increased views and popularity for the original, Bournemouth University (BU) research has found.
The study looked at the economic effects of parody and how parody videos impacted on the original artists.
Parody videos take elements from an original song and often remix or re-imagine them for humorous or satirical effect.
It has been suggested that they infringe on the original artists' copyright -- exploiting too much of the original work and crowding it out of the market.
But the team from Bournemouth University found that artists could actually benefit from parody videos.
Lead researcher Dr Kris Erickson said: "The team found that the presence of parody was correlated with higher than average audiences for an original work. The effect was most noticeable for songs with lower pre-existing sales.
"In other words, up-and-coming artists may benefit most from having their work parodied on YouTube."
The research was led by Dr. Erickson, Senior lecturer in Media Regulation from the Media School, with Professor Martin Kretschmer and Dr. Dinusha Mendis from the Centre for Intellectual Property and Policy Management at BU.
Their team examined 343 hit pop songs using public data from the British Charts Company, before tracking the quantity of parodies on YouTube for each of the songs.
A total of 8,299 user-generated parody videos were discovered, with an average of 24 user-generated parodies available for each commercial music video on YouTube.
The sample was then further analysed to determine whether a large number of parodies for a track influenced either its retail sales or the number of views for the official version on YouTube.
Key findings included:
The research was commissioned by the Intellectual Property Office, the official government body responsible for granting Intellectual Property rights in the UK, and the findings have been used to propose a new copyright exception to allow parody.
Copyright law does not currently allow parody -- even the amateur online variety -- without the permission of the copyright owner.
But in December 2012, Business Secretary Vince Cable announced the Government's plan to reform the Copyright regime in the UK, including a statutory exception for parody.
The Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Bill began report stage in the House of Lords in February 2013.
Dr Erickson said: "Enabling small producers to create and monetise parody on platforms such as YouTube may unlock millions of pounds of revenue for small producers and skilled amateurs.
"Furthermore, the research makes clear that building the digital creative capacity of young people in the UK via copyright exceptions will have longer-term effects on the competitiveness of the UK creative sector."
To find out more about the research and the proposed parody exception visit:
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Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/most_popular/~3/iiZMqHG8ghY/130321092951.htm
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America?s infrastructure will need an estimated $3.6 trillion in total investment by 2020, leaving a funding shortfall of $1.6 trillion, according to an assessment by the American Society of Civil Engineers.
The 2013 Report Card for America?s Infrastructure, which is updated every four years, gave the performance and condition of the nation?s infrastructure an overall grade of D+, up from a D in 2009. The study evaluated 16 sectors that include solid waste, the power grid, drinking water, wastewater, roads and bridges.
None of the 16 categories received a lower grade than in 2009, according to the report. However, near-failing grades were given to a number of sectors, including levees and inland waterways.
The nation?s energy grade remained a D+. The ASCE warned in the report the availability of energy will become a greater challenge after 2020. Some 17,000 miles of additional high-voltage transmissions lines as well as oil and gas pipelines are planned for the next five years. However, permitting and siting issues threaten their completion, the ASCE said.
Dams maintained a D grade, in part because of an increase in the nation?s aging and high-hazard dams. Many of these were built as low-hazard dams to protect agricultural land. However, population shifts and development have increased the number of high-hazard dams to nearly 12,000 in 2012, the report said. The number of deficient dams is more than 4,000, the ASCE said.
An analysis conducted by the US Department of Energy last year found existing dams across the country could provide more than 12 GW of additional electric generating capacity, the equivalent of roughly 15 percent of the nation?s hydropower capacity.
Some sectors saw their grades stabilize or improve. Solid waste, drinking water, wastewater, roads, bridges and rail each had small improvements in their grades since the last assessment.
Cities and states renewed efforts to address deficient roads, bridges, drinking and wastewater systems, and private investment for efficiency and connectivity improved the nation?s railways, ports and energy grid. Several infrastructure categories benefited from short-term boosts in federal funding, the ASCE said.
?
Stay Up-to-Date On Environmental Management, Energy & Sustainability News with EL's Free Daily Newsletter
Source: http://www.environmentalleader.com/2013/03/19/americas-infrastructure-receives-d-grade/
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Hello, fellow Lifehackers! Time for another MacGyver Challenge. What's a MacGyver Challenge, you ask? Simple. We give you an object and you show us what cool things you can do with it. Our editors pick the best submissions and our favorite will win an autographed copy of the Lifehacker book!
Ready? Yes. Yes, you are.
This week, we're showing some love to IKEA. We've featured a lot of IKEA hacks on the site in the past, including ways to use an IKEA tissue box to curb front door clutter, turn an IKEA bookshelf into a bench, and build an attractive monitor stand with IKEA parts.
Now, it's your turn. Share your best hack using IKEA products. Your hack can use other materials, of course, but the IKEA stuff should be the defining element. Send us pictures and a description of your hack and feel free to annotate your photos if you need to. And don't be afraid to get creative!
Make sure to follow these instructions when you submit your entry:
So grab that leather flight jacket, comb your mullet, and start channeling those MacGyver vibes. Here's a little theme music to put you in the mood. And don't forget to check back every week for a new challenge. We'll be alternating between Hacker Challenges and MacGyver Challenges.
Standard Gawker contest rules apply, so be sure to check them out before submitting your entry.
Image by Jag_cz and Kesu (Shutterstock), taestell (flickr), Dante Alighieri and Pegasus1138 (wikimedia).
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Mar. 18, 2013 ? A new National Research Council report finds that by the year 2050, the U.S. may be able to reduce petroleum consumption and greenhouse gas emissions by 80 percent for light-duty vehicles -- cars and small trucks -- via a combination of more efficient vehicles; the use of alternative fuels like biofuels, electricity, and hydrogen; and strong government policies to overcome high costs and influence consumer choices. While achieving these goals will be difficult, improving technologies driven by strong and effective policies could make deep reductions possible.
"To reach the 2050 goals for reducing petroleum use and greenhouse gases, vehicles must become dramatically more efficient, regardless of how they are powered," said Douglas M. Chapin, principal of MPR Associates, and chair of the committee that wrote the report."In addition, alternative fuels to petroleum must be readily available, cost-effective and produced with low emissions of greenhouse gases.Such a transition will be costly and require several decades.The committee's model calculations, while exploratory and highly uncertain, indicate that the benefits of making the transition, i.e. energy cost savings, improved vehicle technologies, and reductions in petroleum use and greenhouse gas emissions, exceed the additional costs of the transition over and above what the market is willing to do voluntarily."
Improving the efficiency of conventional vehicles is, up to a point, the most economical and easiest-to-implement approach to saving fuel and lowering emissions, the report says.This approach includes reducing work the engine must perform -- reducing vehicle weight, aerodynamic resistance, rolling resistance, and accessories -- plus improving the efficiency of the internal combustion engine powertrain.
Improved efficiency alone will not meet the 2050 goals, however.The average fuel economy of vehicles on the road would have to exceed 180 mpg, which, the report says, is extremely unlikely with current technologies.Therefore, the study committee also considered other alternatives for vehicles and fuels, including:
?hybrid electric vehicles, such as the Toyota Prius;
?plug-in hybrid electric vehicles, such as the Chevrolet Volt;
?battery electric vehicles, such as the Nissan Leaf;
?hydrogen fuel cell electric vehicles, such as the Mercedes F-Cell, scheduled to be introduced about 2014; and
?compressed natural gas vehicles, such as the Honda Civic Natural Gas.
Although driving costs per mile will be lower, especially for vehicles powered by natural gas or electricity, the high initial purchase cost is likely to be a significant barrier to widespread consumer acceptance, the report says.All the vehicles considered are and will continue to be several thousand dollars more expensive than today's conventional vehicles.Additionally, particularly in the early years, the report predicts that alternative vehicles will likely be limited to a few body styles and sizes; some will rely on fuels that are not readily available or have restricted travel range; and others may require bulky energy storage that will limit their cargo and passenger capacity.Wide consumer acceptance is essential, however, and large numbers of alternative vehicles must be purchased long before 2050 if the on-road fleet is to meet desired performance goals.Strong policies and technology advances are critical in overcoming this challenge.
The report identified several scenarios that could meet the more demanding 2050 greenhouse gas goal.Each combines highly efficient vehicles with at least one of three alternative power sources -- biofuel, electricity, or hydrogen.Natural gas vehicles were considered, but their greenhouse gas emissions are too high for the 2050 goal.However, if the costs of these vehicles can be reduced and appropriate refueling infrastructure created, they have great potential for reducing petroleum consumption.
While corn-grain ethanol and biodiesel are the only biofuels to have been produced in commercial quantities in the U.S. to date, the study committee found much greater potential in biofuels made from lignocellulosic biomass -- which includes crop residues like wheat straw, switchgrass, whole trees, and wood waste.This "drop-in" fuel is designed to be a direct replacement for gasoline and could lead to large reductions in both petroleum use and greenhouse gas emissions; it can also be introduced without major changes in fuel delivery infrastructure or vehicles.The report finds that sufficient lignocellulosic biomass could be produced by 2050 to meet the goal of an 80 percent reduction in petroleum use when combined with highly efficient vehicles.
Vehicles powered by electricity will not emit any greenhouse gases, but the production of electricity and the additional load on the electric power grid are factors that must be considered.To the extent that fossil resources are used to generate electricity, the report says that the successful implementation of carbon capture and storage will be essential.These vehicles also rely on batteries, which are projected to drop steeply in price.However, the report says that limited range and long recharge times are likely to limit the use of all-electric vehicles mainly to local driving.Advanced battery technologies under development all face serious technical challenges.
When hydrogen is used as a fuel cell in electric vehicles, the only vehicle emission is water.However, varying amounts of greenhouse gases are emitted during hydrogen production, and the low-greenhouse gas methods of making hydrogen are more expensive and will need further development to become competitive.Hydrogen fuel cell vehicles could become less costly than the advanced internal combustion engine vehicles of 2050.Fuel cell vehicles are not subject to the limitations of battery vehicles, but developing a hydrogen infrastructure in concert with a growing number of fuel cell vehicles will be difficult and expensive, the report says.
The technology advances required to meet the 2050 goals are challenging and not assured.Nevertheless, the committee considers that dramatic cost reduction and overall performance enhancement is possible without unpredictable technology breakthroughs.Achieving these goals requires that the improved technology focus on reducing fuel use rather than adding greater power or weight, the report says.
It is impossible to know which technologies will ultimately succeed, the report says, because all involve uncertainty.The best approach, therefore, is to promote a portfolio of vehicle and fuel research and development, supported by both government and industry, designed to solve the critical challenges in each major candidate technology.Such primary research efforts need continuing evaluation of progress against performance goals to determine which technologies, fuels, designs, and production methods are emerging as the most promising and cost-effective.
Overcoming the barriers to advanced vehicles and fuels will require a rigorous policy framework that is more stringent than the proposed fuel economy standards for 2025.This policy intervention could include high and increasing fuel economy standards, R&D support, subsidies, and public information programs aimed at improving consumers' familiarity with the new fuels and powertrains.Because of the high level of uncertainty in the pace and scale of technology advances, this framework should be modified as technologies develop and as conditions change.
It is essential that policies promoting particular technologies to the public are not introduced before these new fuels and vehicle technologies are close to market readiness, and consumer behavior toward them is well understood.The report warns that forcing a technology into the market should be undertaken only when the benefits of the proposed support justify its costs.
Report: http://www.nap.edu/catalog.php?record_id=18264
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Renowned game developer Ken Levine has spent the last few years trying to take the artificial out of artificial intelligence. The result of this effort has a name. It's Elizabeth.
"Elizabeth is an artificial intelligence that?s quite different from what you see in other games," the mastermind behind the forthcoming game "BioShock Infinite" told NBC News in a recent interview.
In this game, Elizabeth is the character that you, the player, have been sent to rescue from a mysterious turn-of-the-century floating city called Columbia. Elizabeth is also your partner ? a very powerful partner and, Levine hopes, an especially realistic partner despite the fact it is AI that governs her every move.
Levine has called Elizabeth the heart of "BioShock Infinite" ? the new installment in the beloved BioShock franchise and a game that will launch to much anticipation on March 26.
"It was a very difficult game to make," he says of "Infinite" which was originally scheduled to arrive back in October, before he delayed the launch to give the team at Irrational Games time to make it "into something even more extraordinary."
"This is certainly the largest game we?ve ever made, and there were many complicated elements to it," Levine says, explaining that one of the most complicated elements was Elizabeth, an AI character that doesn't just mindlessly follow the player about like some zombiefied ragdoll, backing you up in combat and feeding you tidbits of repetitive dialog.
Instead, Levine says the developers at Irrational have gone to great lengths to infuse her with life.
Levine describes Elizabeth as a "nerdgirl of 1912." She's a young woman who has been locked up in a tower her whole life. And though she has no worldly experience, she's had access to plenty of books and is plenty smart. (You can get a preview of her in action in the below trailer for the game).
In many ways, she is the opposite of the character gamers will play ? the cynical, world-weary Booker DeWitt sent to retrieve Elizabeth from Columbia. But how did the developers at Irrational go about making this AI nerdgirl different than the AI characters we've seen in countless other games?
"The first work with Elizabeth was figuring out, how do people act?" Levine says. "I said to the animators and the programmers, 'Go home and don?t tell your wife or your husband, but go watch them. Go creepily stare at them for an hour, and see how they do things.' Because, you know, if I said, 'Tell me how somebody washes their hands, specifically, exactly how does that work?' you might not be able to tell me exactly. But if you saw somebody doing it wrong, you would know."
The point, Levine says, is this: "Elizabeth has to behave in a way that we think is natural ? and she has to do it not just in the big dramatic moments, she has to do it all the time."
And it's that all the time bit that makes Elizabeth such an intriguing AI creation. As gamers know, AI characters spring to life when you interact with them and often then simply stand there woodenly waiting for your next move. But Levine says what they wanted with Elizabeth was for her to "never let her guard down and turn into a robot."
"What?s interesting about Elizabeth is what she's doing when you?re not in combat ? what she's doing when you?re just sort of walking through the space, exploring," Levine says. "We wanted her always to be engaged. We wanted to always give you the sense that she?s discovering things, that she?s finding things, that she cares about what?s going on. That she?s worried about something, she?s angry about something, she?s scared of something."
By way of example, Levine describes an early scene in which the player and Elizabeth find themselves at a resort beach inside the floating city.
"There are literally dozens of things that Elizabeth can interact with," he says. "There are people she can talk to. She can pick up rocks and skip them along the water. She can try to pick up a medicine ball that?s on the ground. She can look at the surfboards. She can want to buy cotton candy."
In short, she is at all times bubbling with life and engaged not only with what the player is doing, but with the environment around her.
Part of the point of doing this, Levine says, is that they wanted to get away from telling the game's story in cut scenes ? those moments in a game where the control is taken away from you the player and you are shown a brief movie-like cinematic detailing an important moment in the story.
"We don?t put up a cordon and say, OK, time for a narrative, step back. We just let the narrative happen as the player is going through the experience," Levine explains. "I guess the simplest way I can put it is, our goal at the company has been to make a player be a participant in the narrative, not an observer."
Ultimately, he says, "The story is a very personal story of Booker and Elizabeth and the changes they go through, and this journey that you?re on. And the fact that a lot of it is told in dialogue between these two, creates this connection ? this emotional connection ? that I think you?re going to feel."
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