A slew of pieces threw up some hits and misses, yet all served to remind us of the challenging and daring oeuvre that the experimental composer still masters Steve Reichs late period has been one of the great ongoing delights of New Yorks contemporary music scene. The onetime hardcore minimalist has been on a steady hot streak, ever since his Pulitzer-winning 2007 piece Double Sextet. While that piece built on some of the instrumental doubling familiar from his past works, it also announced a new focus on melodic lyricism. And though some may have suspected Reich of pandering when he first announced Radio Rewrite a five-movement work inspired by Radiohead themes that one turned out to be even more melodically imaginative. Hes been working slowly, as is his style. But the products have been strong. And the premieres have come alongside a bounty of local performances of early Reich successes like Music for 18 Musicians and Drumming (both performed at BAM in 2014). Yet this plenitude of Reich celebrations and premieres must have presented a minor conundrum to Carnegie Halls programmers, when it came to constructing a celebration in honor of Reichs 80th birthday this season. How to celebrate someone who seems to be celebrated several times a year? To the credit of everyone involved, the night threw some curveballs. On Tuesday, Reich oversaw the world premiere of a fresh work, titled Pulse. Played by members of the International Contemporary Ensemble, under the direction of conductor David Robertson, it was another contemporary Reich winner as catchy lines for strings and winds wrapped around an electric bass part that provided a rhythmic anchor (as well as the occasional bit of harmonic surprise). Listening to the piece, it was easy to imagine Reich getting carried away with his own melodic invention, particularly when the composer gave a violin line a quick, upward glissando that evoked the swooning lilt of Americana fiddling. Unlike the fast-slow-fast construction of many Reich chamber pieces, Pulse felt like a rapturous extended song one with enough confidence to end with the feel of reverie, as opposed to Reichs traditional headlong-rush climax. Elsewhere, a crisp performance of the two-piano, two-vibraphone Quartet (from 2013) gave the exquisitely patterned clatter of late Reich a hearing. (The vibraphonists were Adam Sliwinski and Nathan Davis; the pianists Jacob Greenberg and Cory Smythe, the latter of whom is an interesting young composer in his own right.) Together, this half of the concert was a fitting testament to a creative icon still working at a high level. Less successful was a presentation of Reichs video-assisted music drama Three Tales, from 2002. Conceived and produced with his partner, the video artist Beryl Korot, the hour-long piece isnt one of Reichs most oft-performed works, in part because of its technical demands. Its music-plus-montage exploration of the Hindenburg explosion, the nuclear tests at Bikini, and the cloning of Dolly the sheep takes a quasi-documentary form complete with talking heads and freeze frames (and zooms) on relevant images. At Carnegie, the video portion played on a 30ft-wide screen, stretched behind the string players, percussionists and singers. The conceptual through-line is easy enough to appreciate. Questions related to humankinds technological fetish are certainly fair game for multimedia art to explore. But Three Tales suffers from seeming more obvious than profound. When a scientist says the idea of cloning gives her pause, the video part duly freezes, then loops the sample. (And just when you think that point has been bludgeoned to death, the loop comes back.) Similarly on-the-nose choices crop up through the Bikini section as when an animated film-production slate claps in sync with a Reich percussion slap, just before every insertion of period documentary footage. Still, as Three Tales often reminds us, mistakes can be a part of forward progress. And its instructive to see a much-feted artist pushing creative boundaries, even when a work doesnt fully connect. The fact that this composer is still challenging himself means that we stand a good chance of having a surprising 90th birthday concert in his honor, a decade down the road. The post Steve Reich’s 80th birthday celebration review patchy tribute to music icon appeared first on Safer Reviews, Unbiased & Independent Reviews.. from https://saferreviews.wordpress.com/2016/11/03/steve-reichs-80th-birthday-celebration-review-patchy-tribute-to-music-icon/
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Washington (CNN)An email released by WikiLeaks on Wednesday appears to show a senior Justice Department official sending information about the State Department’s review of Hillary Clinton’s emails to her presidential campaign — a move that comes as the Justice Department is under increased scrutiny for its handling of the email investigation.
Assistant Attorney General for Legislative Affairs Peter Kadzik, who essentially serves as the Justice Department’s lobbyist to Congress, sent the email in question to Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta from a private Gmail account on May 19 last year with the subject line, “Heads up.”
“There is a (House Judiciary Committee) oversight hearing today where the head of our Civil Division will testify,” he wrote. “Likely to get questions on State Department emails.”
“Another filing in the (Freedom of Information Act) case went in last night or will go in this am that indicates it will be awhile (2016) before the State Department posts the emails,” he added.
The exchange is one of tens of thousands of emails stolen from Podesta’s Gmail account and published by WikiLeaks in recent weeks. CNN cannot independently verify the authenticity of any of the emails, and the Clinton campaign has so far declined to verify individual emails.
The Department of Justice declined to respond to questions regarding the email, and Clinton campaign spokeswoman Jennifer Palmieri, who was among the officials to whom Podesta forwarded the email in 2015, also declined to comment when asked by a reporter aboard Clinton’s campaign plane.
The email plays into Republican candidate Donald Trump’s long-running narrative that Clinton and her entourage belong to a corrupt political elite seeking to exert influence at the Justice Department. Over the summer, days before the FBI announced it had completed its investigation into the private server, Bill Clinton met with Attorney General Loretta Lynch aboard her government plane, sparking accusations of a conflict of interest.
Trump was quick to raise the Kadzik email during a campaign rally in Florida Wednesday afternoon, calling Kadzik “a close associate of John Podesta.”
“These are the people that want to run our country, folks,” Trump said to a chorus of boos. “The spread of political agendas into Justice Department — there’s never been a thing like this that has happened in our country’s history — is one of the saddest things that has happened to our country.”
The legal filing referenced in the second part of Kadzik’s email had been submitted to the court a day before Kadzik sent it, and had already been reported on in the media. But Kadzik’s phrasing, and his decision to write from his personal email account, gives the impression he was passing the information along as an informal tip, not knowing whether it had been filed.
Information about the congressional hearing was also publicly available.
Podesta later forwarded Kadzik’s note to Clinton’s other senior campaign staff with the comment, “Additional chances for mischief,” though it wasn’t clear to whom or what he was referring.
The conversation suggests Kadzik may have felt inclined to keep Podesta informed about developments at the Department of Justice that related to the fledgling campaign. The FOIA case in question involved the State Department, not the campaign, and Podesta was not directly involved in the legal proceedings.
Kadzik previously worked for Podesta as a lawyer, and additional emails released by WikiLeaks suggest the two men were friends.
For example, in January, Kadzik and his wife emailed to wish Podesta a happy birthday and invite him to dinner next time he was in town.
Kadzik’s wife, Amy Weiss, worked in the White House in the late 1990s when Podesta was then-President Bill Clinton’s chief of staff.
It’s unclear how Kadzik learned of the FOIA filing, which was submitted by Department of Justice attorneys representing the State Department in ongoing lawsuits.
Despite Trump’s assertions to the contrary, Kadzik was not directly involved in the FBI’s investigation into Clinton’s private email server, nor is he involved in its current review of emails found on a computer belonging to the estranged husband of top Clinton aide Huma Abedin.
The stolen email is one of several published by WikiLeaks in recent weeks that raise questions about the coziness between the Clinton campaign and government officials.
Last month, the group published an email in which Brian Fallon — a former spokesman for the Department of Justice now working for the Clinton campaign — indicated he has spoken with “DOJ folks” about pending FOIA litigation.
And on Wednesday, an email emerged showing communication between a State Department spokeswoman and top Clinton aides about how the State Department would respond to reports about the former Secretary’s emails. This particular exchange was from March 1, 2015 — one day before Clinton’s private server was first revealed by The New York Times, and about a month before the official launch of her presidential campaign.
The spokeswoman outlined the State Department’s response to the upcoming report, indicating that the press office had incorporated input from the Clinton aides.
The email was forwarded to Palmieri, who in turn forwarded it to Podesta.
“You may have already heard from other channels, but NYT will have a story tomorrow on HRC’s Benghazi emails,” Palmieri wrote, along with speculation about how the reporter learned of the server.
“Better now than April,” she added.
Read more: http://www.cnn.com/2016/11/02/politics/peter-kadzik-john-podesta-wikileaks/index.html The post Hacked email appears to show DOJ official tipping Clinton campaign about review appeared first on Safer Reviews, Unbiased & Independent Reviews.. from https://saferreviews.wordpress.com/2016/11/03/hacked-email-appears-to-show-doj-official-tipping-clinton-campaign-about-review/ There are some among us who truly want a tablet to replace their laptop—by actually turning it into one, thanks to a keyboard attached to it, clamshell style. Zagg has been making tablet keyboards and cases since the beginning, and with its latest release the transformation is near completion. This iteration on the Zagg Slim Book—the Slim Book Pro—sees a number of incremental changes, the most notable of which is that the keyboard is now detachable, magnetically connecting to the case unit when you want it. As with most tablet keyboard cases, you jimmy your iPad into the backing shell component of the Slim Book Pro. The keyboard then attaches to an elongated bit that juts out of the bottom. WIREDIn keyboard mode, the Slim Book Pro is at its best. The keys are tiny, but this is an unfortunate reality when you have only the real estate of a 9.7-inch iPad to work with. The key action is nothing special, but as a typing experience it gets the job done. A row of shortcut keys across the top help with productivity, as otherwise you have to reach up to the screen to launch apps and select items. The keyboard can be paired to three different devices (a simple button press lets you pick your poison), and there’s even a little loop on the back where you can store either your Apple Pencil or a goth eyeliner. TIREDA detachable keyboard adds flexibility, but it introduces a big drawback to the case design, the problem being that without a built-in, sturdy hinge, the screen can’t hold itself upright. Zagg’s solution for this isn’t the most elegant design decision ever: A huge metal flap on the back of the outer shell folds down flat against the table to hold the tablet screen erect. While this lets you meticulously adjust the angle of the screen, in practice it introduces more problems than it solves. The flap is very stiff and difficult to retrieve, forcing you to hook a fingernail between it and the case itself in order to pry it out. While a pair of rubber feet are installed to cushion the blow, I wouldn’t trust the sharpish edges of the flap against any decent piece of furniture in the house, for fear of utterly disrespecting the wood. The overall look is wholly utilitarian, and the metal flap is downright homely. For $150, I expect a bit more elegance in design and a more thoughtful choice of materials. As well, when using my iPad disconnected from the keyboard, I just wasn’t in love with tactile feel of the case material. The rubbery surface is slick—nay, dolphin-like—and doesn’t instill confidence in a one-handed grasp. With keyboard attached, the whole shebang is also incredibly heavy, turning a sub-one-pound iPad Air 2 or iPad Pro into a monstrous 2.3 pounds all together. That’s only half a pound lighter than my laptop, although, admittedly, the latter doesn’t include a pencil holder. RATING4/10 – Downsides outweigh the upsides. Read more: http://www.wired.com/ The post Review: Zagg Slim Book Pro appeared first on Safer Reviews, Unbiased & Independent Reviews.. Source: http://www.saferreviews.com/review-zagg-slim-book-pro/ from https://saferreviews.wordpress.com/2016/11/03/review-zagg-slim-book-pro/ Newspaper issues correction to Mike Hales review of Goliath, which he called needlessly complicated after inadvertently starting with episode two The New York Times has issued a correction after its television writer panned a show for being confusing when he watched the first two episodes in the wrong order. Mike Hale, the Times television critic, had criticised the split personality and needlessly complicated structure of the initial episodes of Amazons new legal drama Goliath. The noirish series is co-created by David E Kelley the producer behind Boston Legal and Ally McBeal and stars Billy Bob Thornton as Billy McBride, a down-and-out lawyer. Though Hale praised the promising opening episode as quick, textured, with a sense of place in the review, published in print and online on 14 October, he noted the show had an odd, bordering-on-bizarre split personality. The nature of the case McBride has taken on … is revealed slowly and cryptically, a bit of writerly delayed gratification that keeps your attention but isnt particularly rewarding, wrote Hale, according to a screenshot of the original review archived by the Wayback Machine. Then, presumably because the first episode leaves so much unanswered, the next jumps back in time to fill in the history of the case and when the second episode ends, the story hasnt even caught up to where it started. The narrative juggling has the feel of stretching of starting with a story suited for an episode of traditional TV or maybe a feature film and extending it to more than nine hours. Final judgment on that will have to wait until all 10 episodes are available. The NYT issued a correction on 18 October.
The online review has had the above paragraphs removed. NewsDiffs, a site that collates corrections to online news article, has compared it with the original. The Guardian has attempted to contact Hale for comment. Read more: http://www.theguardian.com/us The post New York Times review pans series but then admits critic saw it in wrong order appeared first on Safer Reviews, Unbiased & Independent Reviews.. from https://saferreviews.wordpress.com/2016/11/03/new-york-times-review-pans-series-but-then-admits-critic-saw-it-in-wrong-order/ A debut novel which raises timely questions about how we regard the suffering of others The opening sequence of Anuk Arudpragasams debut novel, in which a six-year-old child with a shrapnel-shredded arm is brought to an open-air operating theatre, feels horribly timely. The young man carrying the listless little boy finds a strange solace in discerning the childs prospects: Soon the doctor would arrive and the operation would be done, and in no time at all the arm would be as nicely healed as the already amputated thigh According to the boys sister [that] injury came from a land mine explosion four months before, the same accident that killed their parents also. It brings to mind the images of stunned, bloodied children now coming out of Syria and other war zones. The novel both implicitly and explicitly raises crucial questions about the aesthetic and ethical stakes involved in regarding the suffering of others. Arudpragasam uses placid, even poetic prose, with results that range from brilliantly unsettling to questionably indulgent. The novel is set approximately seven years ago, in the Tamil-majority north of Sri Lanka. Its action takes place over a few days during the harrowing final months of the islands vicious civil war. Recalling Jos Saramago, The Story of a Brief Marriage takes a fraught political-historical moment and creates out of it a fable-like novel: a boy and girl meet and get married. These are humble characters known only by their first names, Dinesh and Ganga. They live in an unnamed village and in a makeshift camp in lush woodlands that are thick with tropical heat, artillery smoke and the constant threat of sudden death. Accepting the impossibility of his own survival, Gangas father decides to do what best he can for his daughter and proposes that Dinesh marry her. Given their collective horrible situation, Dinesh is surprised by this offer. But in keeping with the muted feeling and fatalism that mark every character in the book, he accepts, as does Ganga, though neither seems particularly excited about it. The carnage surrounding them is too much for a newlywed couple to overcome, given how much each has already lost: But if they couldnt talk about their pasts, what could they say to each other at all, given that there was no future for them to speak of either? They try to make a shared life, and their efforts produce the novels most moving material. Never mind the constant probability of death, wounding, forced conscription, starvation and rape: Ganga and Dinesh are shy, uncertain and tentative just as any other sudden new young couple would be. He proposes a stroll, which they take silently; she makes him a small meal of rice and dhal that he revels in, not least because she made it for him. Arudpragasam describes each gesture and thought, all the way down to the shape and taste of the soft grains that Dinesh savours, cleaving the rice into separate sections in his mouth. Only at chapters end does Arudpragasam reveal that allthis haute literary deferring enacts the young couples own unspoken interest in delaying the inevitable: Dinesh licked the last grains of rice offhis fingertips aware that it was time nowfor them to spend their first night together. Soon enough, Dinesh and Gangas bleak expectations are fulfilled, though its here that the novels aesthetic and ethical ambitions fail to cohere. Shells fall once more, and amid the infernal smoke and sulphur, Dinesh searches and searches for Ganga. Eventually, he discovers her: Her left eye was half-open and the right corner of her parted lips was kissing the dirt. The cheaply evocative wording of this image suggests a literary immaturity at odds with the restraint and poise found elsewhere inthis often formidable novel. Randy Boyagodas Beggars Feast is published by Penguin. The Story of a Brief Marriage is published by Granta. To order a copy for 10.65 (RRP 12.99) to bookshop.theguardian.com or call 0330 333 6846. Free UK p&p over 10, online orders only. Phone orders min p&p of 1.99. Read more: http://www.theguardian.com/us The post The Story of a Brief Marriage by Anuk Arudpragasam review love and war in Sri Lanka appeared first on Safer Reviews, Unbiased & Independent Reviews.. from https://saferreviews.wordpress.com/2016/11/02/the-story-of-a-brief-marriage-by-anuk-arudpragasam-review-love-and-war-in-sri-lanka/ The hacks are cynical, the laughs regular, the Hecht and MacArthur play a familiar joy. But it is Lanes entrance as Walter Burns that really stops the press If ever an actor was the theatrical equivalent of a banner headline, that actor is Nathan Lane. Lane, who plays the bellowing editor Walter Burns, arrives a little more than halfway through the revival of The Front Page at the Broadhurst Theatre, splashed across the stage like a 72-point font. His jubilant, giant performance injects a cantankerous vitality into Jack OBriens otherwise pleasant and respectful revival. The talky, gleefully squawky 1928 play by Ben Hecht and Charles MacArthur is a comedy as black as shoe polish. It is also a passionate op-ed on the romance of the bygone newspaper industry. The action is set in a press room at the criminal courts building on the eve of the hanging of a cop killer, Earl Williams (John Magaro). The forthcoming execution doesnt especially trouble the old hands who have gathered here to drink, jaw, play a hand of poker, and call in the occasional story. Their only complaint is the timing of the hanging. Why cant they jerk these guys at a reasonable hour so we can get some sleep? one gripes. The plot coagulates when Williams escapes from custody, just as the longtime reporter Hildy Johnson (a dapper, oddly wan John Slattery) announces his retirement from the city pages in favor of marriage to Peggy (Halley Feiffer) and a cushy job in advertising. (As Slattery only recently finished his run on Mad Men, that line gets a particular laugh.) Journalists, Hildy complains, peeking through keyholes. Running after fire engines like a lot of coach dogs. Waking people up in the middle of the night to ask them what they think of companionate marriage a lot of lousy, daffy buttinskis, swelling around with holes in their pants, borrowing nickels from office boys! And for what? The business, of course, wont let him go so easily, especially when a scoop beckons. The set is handsome, the dialogue sharp-witted, the cast an assemblage of some of New Yorks finest character actors (Jefferson Mays, David Pittu and Dylan Baker) and big names including John Goodman. The style is vivid and almost expressionist in the way that conversations are layered over around each other. Some of the discussion of race and gender is fairly unreconstructed, but OBrien has excised the nastiest words. Yet the revivals energy is something less than crackling and the enterprise might have seemed merely respectable were it not for the joyously disreputable Lane. Dressed in a homburg hat and a chalk-stripe suit, with a moustache that looks like a chipmunk has attached itself to his upper lip, he gives a performance that is both outsized and just the right size. A man seemingly devoid of ethics (he wont let a little thing like kidnapping or arson stand in the way of a good story), his Burns is outrageous, disgraceful and yet impossible not to adore. He represents the best and worst of journalism, the selfish and single-minded pursuit of the truth (and advertising dollars). Print media may be imperiled, but one has the sense that were Lanes Burns in charge, hed shout it right back into shape. Read more: http://www.theguardian.com/us The post The Front Page review: Nathan Lane scoops plaudits in newspaper comedy appeared first on Safer Reviews, Unbiased & Independent Reviews.. Source: http://www.saferreviews.com/the-front-page-review-nathan-lane-scoops-plaudits-in-newspaper-comedy/ from https://saferreviews.wordpress.com/2016/11/02/the-front-page-review-nathan-lane-scoops-plaudits-in-newspaper-comedy/ Campaigners have said they will consider seeking a judicial review into a decision not to hold a public inquiry into the so-called Battle of Orgreave. Home Secretary Amber Rudd told MPs a review into clashes between police and pickets during the 1984 miners’ strike was not in the public interest. The Orgreave Truth and Justice Campaign (OTJC) told a press conference earlier “the gloves are off”. Secretary Barbara Jackson said it may start crowdfunding to pay for a review. “This has been four years of hard work, it’s taken over our lives,” she said at the Barnsley branch of the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM). “The campaign has no intention of collapsing or folding. The gloves are now off on our side.” More on this and other South Yorkshire stories A Home Office spokesman said at no point did Ms Rudd “ever commit” to establishing any form of inquiry. Asking an urgent question in the House of Commons earlier, Andy Burnham said Prime Minister Theresa May “invited Orgreave campaigners to submit a bid for an inquiry”. The MP for Leigh said: “She entered Downing Street talking about fighting burning injustices. The House will understand why today so many people feel bitterly betrayed. “Given there is evidence of unlawful conduct by police in relation to it, isn’t it simply staggering that the home secretary has brushed away an inquiry as not necessary?” ‘Bottled it’Mr Burnham asked Home Office minister Brandon Lewis whether Ms Rudd reviewed police files, cabinet papers and new testimony from police officers. “If she didn’t do each and every one of these crucial things, won’t many people conclude that her decision-making process was incomplete and therefore unsound?” he said. What was the ‘Battle of Orgreave’? Orgreave: The battle that’s not over Mr Lewis said Ms Rudd, who was not present to face the questions, had taken “a wide range of factors” into account. Louise Haigh, MP for Sheffield Heeley, told Mr Lewis: “I feel sorry for you because the home secretary bottled it yesterday and she’s bottled it today.” In a letter to campaigners, Ms Rudd said policing had changed sufficiently in the years since Orgreave to mean an inquiry was not merited. She added “ultimately there were no deaths or wrongful convictions” resulting from the conduct of South Yorkshire Police at the time. Labour and Rotherham MP Sarah Champion, told the Commons: “[The government] now seems to be saying that the reason not to have the inquiry is because nobody died, is this the new bar that this government is levying on justice?” Dennis Skinner, MP for Bolsover, added: “Why is it that 31 years is too long for an inquiry, yet 31 years is not too long for this government to hide the Cabinet papers on the [miners] strike and refuse to release them? “We now know that the Thatcher government was to close 75 pits and not 20. “The truth is, this nasty party has now become the nasty government – more concerned about preserving the Thatcher government than it is fighting for truth and justice.” ‘Get over it’Meanwhile, Philip Davies, Conservative MP for Shipley was jeered and heckled as he backed the decision not to hold an inquiry. “Unlike most of those people opposite bleating I lived in South Yorkshire in a mining community at the time of the Miners’ Strike and I saw first hand the brutality and intimidation that went on,” he said. “These people were trying to bring down the democratically elected government of the time and they lost and they need to get over it. Anyone only has to look at the TV pictures to see the violence.” Lawyer Michael Mansfield, who represented miners caught up in the violence at Orgreave, said campaigners calling for an inquiry into police tactics at the coking plant near Rotherham had been “sloughed off”. He told the BBC’s Today programme Ms Rudd had overlooked an orchestrated campaign by South Yorkshire Police of “uncontrolled, unlawful violence” against miners. “There has been no disciplinary proceedings and no prosecution [of South Yorkshire Police] at all over the years,” Mr Mansfield said. “This does not reinforce public faith in the system and what is needed here is the restoration of confidence. “It’s not about what happened, it’s really much more fundamental than that. How was this allowed to happen and why did it happen?” The “Battle of Orgreave” was the most violent day of the year-long 1984-85 miners’ strike. Huge lines of police clashed with striking miners as they tried to stop lorries carrying coke to fuel the Scunthorpe steel furnaces. Violence erupted on both sides and at one stage police horses were sent to charge the crowd up the field as officers followed to make arrests. Miner Chris Skidmore was at Orgreave and told BBC Radio Sheffield it was a “frightening experience”. “It was chaos. The horses were chasing people, it was like a battle scene. “There was no resemblance of any order or regimented formation. [The police] were everywhere, all over the field and road just hitting people.” Dr Alan Billings, South Yorkshire Police and Crime Commissioner, said he had fully supported a public inquiry and was “absolutely devastated” and “in shock”. “I think we’ve been led to believe there would be an inquiry, it was just a question of what form it would take,” he said. “I think the Home Office and government have led us up to the top of the hill and down again and I really can’t understand that, they could have taken the decision two years ago.” He said a public inquiry would have meant South Yorkshire Police could demonstrate it had moved on from the force’s “legacy issues”, including the Hillsborough and Rotherham child sex abuse scandals. “We don’t fully know what happened at Orgreave, why it took this military-scale of activity, if it was somehow government-directed. “It’s the point, I think, where the police come closest to being the instrument of the state and that’s a very dangerous place to be. “We need to understand how that happened so we never get anywhere near that again.” Chris Kitchen, national secretary of the NUM, accused Ms Rudd of trying to protect the Conservative Party in denying a public inquiry. He said: “All [yesterday’s decision] has done is reinforce a long-held belief we’ve all had – that they have something to hide, and now we know it for sure,” he said. Joe Rollin, chair of the OTJC, said: “That dismay and flabbergasted feeling is now turning into anger and we’re not going anywhere.” A Home Office spokesman said: “The home secretary met the campaign and their supporters on 13 September to hear their concerns in person. “She has told the OTJC that she considered a range of options in reaching her decision, but at no point did she ever commit to establishing any form of inquiry.” Read more: http://www.bbc.com/news/uk The post Orgreave campaigners consider judicial review bid – BBC News appeared first on Safer Reviews, Unbiased & Independent Reviews.. Source: http://www.saferreviews.com/orgreave-campaigners-consider-judicial-review-bid-bbc-news/ from https://saferreviews.wordpress.com/2016/11/02/orgreave-campaigners-consider-judicial-review-bid-bbc-news/ People of Earth, Furby has returned. And its beady eyes are aimed at your wallet. WIREDFor those not in the know, the original Furby was the Christmas gift of 1998, an animatronic, Mogwai-like fuzzball that spoke its own language when it wasn’tmaking rude noises. Like all fads, Furby was dying before its second birthday, and gone by 2002. TIREDBut wait! Furby returnedwith an upgrade in 2005, andagain in 2012. New versions have launched eachyear since. The $100 Furby Connectisthe most recent edition. As with all Furbies, the Connect is plush and effusive and so annoying that one simply cannot comprehend its enduring popularity. It is designed for nostalgic hipsters and small children (6 and up per the box), andany parent who purchases one for their tyke is setting themselves up for immediatepsychological ruin. Let me put it this way:In my 25-plus years of writing about tech, thisis the only device I’ve tested that left my entire family pleading with me to turn it off within minutes of unboxing. Let me put it another way: Google “Furby” and the top question in the “People also ask” section is, “How do you turn off a Furby?” And let me tell you: It is freakin’ hard to turn off a Furby. Discretion has never been Furby’s strong suit. He hollers in pidgin English (aka “Furbish”) in an especially loud and shrill voice about nothing in particular, begs to be played with or sung to, and incessantly wiggles about like a kid jonesing on too many Froot Loops. There is no power button. With the Furby Connect, the toy ships with a “sleep mask,” which, when positioned perfectly eventually shuts the thing up. This is not instantaneous, however, taking as long as10 seconds to kick in. If you’ve slightly misaligned the mask or find yourself at all inebriated, Furby won’t go down at all, and you maywell fear that Furby has become self-aware and refusing toobey instruction, at least for the six hours of play time that four AA batteries will supply. Of course, one Furby is buta gateway to a whole pack of them. Multiple Furbies will talk, sing, and fart in unison. The toy also is a gateway to the even more nefarious side of the Furbyverse: Furby Connect World, a mobile app that lets your Bluetooth-enabled Furby interact with a rudimentary video game designed for the 8-and-under set. Furby Connect World is a game where you hatch Furbies—dozens of them if you stick with it—and put them to work like virtual (yet cuddly) slaves. The reward? More Furbies, all of which mustbe exhaustingly fed, cleaned, and medicated in the increasingly chaotic virtual world. Your real Furby can even take an e-shit on a massive toilet that speaks volumes about the target audience for this game. Paired properly via Bluetooth (which was not always a given in my testing), your real-world Furby will offer a running commentary about the goings on in the virtual-world game, hollering and screeching and laughing at the same damn thing, over and over. The game is playable without a real-world Furby, but doing so activates a Freemium version of the game. Some of the upgrades cost a pretty penny—so think carefully before handing your phone over to Junior. I want to be clear: I’m not saying the Furby Connect is a bad product. It does exactly what it says it will do. What I am saying is that if you allow one in your home, you are mentally deranged. To my family, I apologize deeply. That is all. RATING2/10 – Sad, really. Read more: http://www.wired.com/ The post Review: Furby Connect appeared first on Safer Reviews, Unbiased & Independent Reviews.. Source: http://www.saferreviews.com/review-furby-connect/ from https://saferreviews.wordpress.com/2016/11/02/review-furby-connect/
Image: lance ulanoff/mashable
Apples entry-level 13-inch MacBook Pro would be considered an exciting, if not innovative, laptop, if it wasnt for the fact that Apple already teased us with the Touch Bar-sporting version. Instead, the $1,499 MacBook Pro comes across as a strong, sexy upgrade for budget-minded MacBook Pro owners. To get the bells and whistles of the fascinating Touch Bar, two additional Thunderbolt-3 ports and even a faster Core i5 processor, youll have to pay at least $200 more. The new 13-inch MacBook Pro looks like a cross between the venerable MacBook Pro circa 2012 and the edgier and much lighter 12-inch MacBook introduced in 2015. At a glance, the profiles of the two MacBook Pros are virtually identical, a reflection of Apples ongoing satisfaction with a portable design language it introduced in 2008. Since then, its been refining that theme. This time, though, Apple wanted to boil down the MacBook Pro. The only way to achieve that kind of reduction, though, was to borrow heavily from the MacBook. Apple took all the system design lessons learned from the creation of the single-port ultraportable and poured them into the thinner, lighter and smaller MacBook Pro. A familiar designExternally, the new, 3-pound MacBook Pro is smaller and lighter (by a half a pound) than the last 13-inch MacBook Pro. Its also a simpler device, with fewer ports, seams, materials and even screws than the Retina MacBook Pro. Unlike the Touch Bar model, this entry-level device offers just three ports: a headphone jack (something Pro users may care about even more that iPhone owners) and two USB-C Thunderbolt 3 ports (there are still two microphones, but the holes are no longer visible on the chassis). In addition, the hinge has been completely redesigned. No more black composite material showing inside the lid or on the bottom, just more aluminum. As you might suspect, the hinge design was also borrowed from the MacBook. The most visible change is the redesigned keyboard. Like the original MacBook, the keys retain their chiclet style, however, the overall look and feel is virtually the same as what youd find on a MacBook. Apple makes no secret of this. Its actually a second-generation butterfly keyboard, with slightly better travel technology underneath each key. Even though the keys are slightly closer together than on the last MacBook Pro, typing on it is satisfying and comfortable. It did not feel markedly different than what I found on the MacBook and its first-gen butterfly technology keyboard. Its also worth noting that this is the only new MacBook Pro to still feature a traditional Function Key row, which also houses key system controls like screen brightness, the brightness of the keyboard backlight, playback controls, volume and power. How well the Touch Bar replaces all these keys we wont know until we test the MacBook Pro with the Touch Bar. Right below the new keyboard is the gigantic trackpad, which is 46 percent larger than the trackpad on the last Retina MacBook Pro (the trackpad on the MacBook is larger than the one on the Retina MacBook Pro as well). Unlike a traditional trackpad, this glass-covered plane doesnt click when you press it. Haptic motors underneath make the sound and recreate the feeling of a click, but its all a perfectly engineered illusion. I found the click a bit tinny, but got used to it and was pretty happy with the fake click feel. Unlike the new Touch ID “button” on the iPhone 7, the trackpad does have a little flex to it, which is more pronounced at the outer edges. Pressing the trackpad when the MacBook Pro is powered down is pretty strange. You get that flex, but no auditory or haptic response. I did a lot of typing on the new system and, to my surprise, the giant track pad never got in the way. I really do wish Apple would add Apple Pencil support so I could draw on it. Speaking of sound, its true, the startup tone familiar to most Mac users since the early 1990s is gone. Since most people rarely power down their Macs, they might not even miss it. What they should appreciate, though, is the ability to power up the system simply by opening the lid. Retina upgradeThe new 13-inch MacBook Pro has the exact same 2,560 x 1,600 resolution as the last display, but this panel is far brighter (500 nits) and more color-rich (it has a wider color gamut) than virtually anything Apple has produced before for a MacBook Pro. Apple says the screen has 67 precent higher contrast ratio that the previous MacBook Pro. Every single person I showed the new display expressed astonishment at its brightness, color and clarity. The monitor is also slightly larger and noticeably thinner than the display lid on the last MacBook Pro. No doubt Apple fans will miss the glowing Apple logo on the back, but Apple told me that that logo leaks a lot of light, which would have had an adverse effect on the thin Retina display. PortsThe smaller chassis and sleeker design came at a cost. The new 13-inch MacBook Pro has just two USB-C ports (you get two more on the more expensive model). The Thunderbolt, USB, HDMI, and SD card slot are all gone. Yes, USB-C is versatile. You can plug in a jack in either direction and both ports can handle data and power effectively. However, youll need adapters for virtually all your legacy hardware and the entry-level 13-inch MacBook Pro does not ship with adapters. Apple did supply me with one as well as a lengthy Thunderbolt cable. In addition, the trademark MagSafe power connector is gone. If someone walked into your USB-C power cable while its plugged into the laptop, they might just drag your MacBook Pro to the floor. At workInside the entry-level MacBook Pro is a sixth-generation Intel Core i5 processor, 8GB of DDR3 RAM and a 256GB solid-state drive. Single- and multi-core Geekbench numbers 3,754 and 7,268, respectively are in line with what youd expect for a midrange system.
In my experience, performance was solid and stutter free whether I was playing a game, browsing the Web or watching a video. Apple has squeezed a lot into this tiny frame and even though it re-engineered the thermal system, I did notice the system occasionally getting pretty hot on the rear part of the base (nearest the hinge). It wasnt uncomfortable, but I could feel it. Even with all those components squeezed in there so tight and very little air space, the new stereo speakers producers loud and crystal clear sound. A Netflix showing of DCs Legends of Tomorrow sounded excellent. It was so loud I had to close my door so I didnt disturb everyone else in the office. Battery life was as good as advertised. I easily got 10 hours of mixed use. Overall, the entry-level 13-inch MacBook is a satisfying and still sexy system with myriad improvements, but no signature innovation. It should attract budget-conscious MacBook Pro users (those who aren’t willing to switch to Windows where they can get a similarly appointed system for under $900) who think $1,799 is too much for a Core i5 MacBook Pro, even if it does feature that unusual new Touch Bar. Entry-level 13-inch MacBook ProThe GoodExcellent design Great keyboard and trackpad Lighter and thinner than ever Beautiful Retina screen Solid performance Excellent battery life The BadNo legacy ports No signature innovation You’re still paying an Apple premium The Bottom LineThis is a smart and more affordable MacBook Pro upgrade in almost every way and would be considered a lot cooler if it wasn’t for the Touch Bar edition waiting in the wings. Bonus: Everything you need to know about the new MacBook ProRead more: http://mashable.com/ The post MacBook Pro review: No Touch Bar, but still a happy Mac appeared first on Safer Reviews, Unbiased & Independent Reviews.. Source: http://www.saferreviews.com/macbook-pro-review-no-touch-bar-but-still-a-happy-mac/ from https://saferreviews.wordpress.com/2016/11/02/macbook-pro-review-no-touch-bar-but-still-a-happy-mac/ Goofy adaptation of Douglas Adams cult novel pairs Elijah Wood and Samuel Barnett for a crime-solving caper that over-delivers on quirk It was always a certain kind of kid in high school that would be carrying around a dog-eared copy of Douglas Adams Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy: a bit of an outcast, kept to himself, was a little bit too into Star Wars, and always knew where to get the best weed. Its exactly that same guy who will love BBC Americas new adaptation of one of BBC radio producer turned novelist Adams other seminal novels Dirk Gentlys Holistic Detective Agency. For the rest of us, well, it might be a little much. Todd Brotzman (Elijah Wood) is a hotel bellhop who is having an awful day his landlord is demanding rent money, he sees himself in a bloody fur coat roaming the halls of his hotel, and, worst of all, he discovers a murdered millionaire in the hotels penthouse. That is what attracts Dirk Gently (Samuel Barnett), the suggestively named detective hired by said dead millionaire to investigate his own murder six weeks before he was killed in what appears to be an animal attack. Dirk is a holistic detective, which means that he believes in the fundamental interconnectedness of all things and he investigates his cases by doing absolutely nothing and relies on coincidence and happenstance to guide him toward a solution. He says: My intuitions are rarely wrong but also rarely completely right. It seems unclear why anyone would spend either money or confidence on Dirks abilities, but, as these things do, they always seem to pan out. Dirk decides that Todd was put in his path to be his assistant and best friend, a job that Todd certainly doesnt want but might be uniquely qualified for. Dirk promises that Todd will get paid for his work and Todd needs the money desperately. Hes not only in the red with his landlord but hes also trying to pay for his sister Amandas (Hannah Banks) treatment for Pararibulitis, a (fake) condition where she has hallucinations she believes are real. Its a genetic disease and one that Todd successfully fought himself. But how does all of this fit together? And how does it fit with the Rowdy 3, a quartet (yes, they know) of marauding energy vampires, the kitty cat found at the murder scene, a corgi that seems to be following Todd around, a pair of mysterious black ops types who are secretly protecting Dirk, a woman who is chained to the bed in the apartment above Todds, and a holistic assassin who is on the warpath trying to find Dirk and killing anyone she wants before she gets to him? That sure is a lot to pack into one show, and it sometimes feels like whiplash to go from one set of whimsy to another set of idiosyncratic mischief. However, the relationship between Dirk and Todd (just barely) holds the thing together. Though Todd says he has no interest in side-kicking, they soon settle into the familiar Sherlock and Holmes dynamic of an annoying genius that its hard to trust and his long-suffering and overly competent assistant. In his annoying genius, Dirk Gently talks a lot about the parallels of life. Everything is chaos, but its synchronized, Dirk tells Todd. There is always something ready to mirror itself life turning inward. That is a perfect way to describe the program, but, so far, it doesnt seem like the chaos is synchronized at all. In fact, its a little too daffy for those who dont think two people killed by randomly ricocheting bullets in one pilot episode is one too many. There is a lot of that True Detective by way of Cheech and Chong mumbo jumbo going around. Every second is a chance to save your life, Todd overhears on a television broadcast. Every choice is a new beginning. This is your chance to fix everything. These are the kids of platitudes that seem profound when youre coming down off of MDMA but completely fall apart when examined more deeply. Just like this years Preacher adaptation on AMC (a sister network to BBC America) Dirk Gentlys Holistic Detective Agency manages to blend genre conventions and humor quite effectively, which is something we need more of in this very earnest age of The Walking Dead and Westworld. However, it ultimately fails at being anything other than goofy. That is another universal trait of that kid from your high school with the good weed: he always thought he was a lot deeper than he really was. The post Dirk Gentlys Holistic Detective Agency review Sherlock for the stoner set appeared first on Safer Reviews, Unbiased & Independent Reviews.. from https://saferreviews.wordpress.com/2016/11/02/dirk-gentlys-holistic-detective-agency-review-sherlock-for-the-stoner-set/ |