The Little Film That Could

Film Cowboys in Paradise - The Graduates, made for a mere $95,000 opens in select cities this May.

Most indie films spend $95,000 before lunch on the first day. So how did director/producer Ryan Gielen squeeze an entire movie out of the tiny budget?

“We begged, borrowed and stole, literally,” says Gielen. “We didn’t actually steal, but we did get about $250,000 worth of free stuff from supporters, which is the only way we could make the film.”

The hysterical coming-of-age comedy is full of laughs and touching moments, and even won the prestigious Director Discovery Award at one of the country’s top film festivals, Rhode Island International Film Festival.

How is The Graduates faring in this tough economy?

“We’ve sold out ten festival and sneak preview screenings in a row, all by word-of-mouth,” says Gielen. “People need a laugh right now, and we’re thrilled to give it to them.”

Gielen and his brother Matthew Gielen (also a producer on The Graduates) are pioneering the way filmmakers use free social media and new media to spread the word about the film, selling out ten (10) sneak previews in a row.

“Indie filmmakers now have the ability to become small business owners,” says Gielen. “We’re not dependent on a studio to create a film or sell a film. Everyone would love that luxury, but the reality is that we must take control of our film’s fate, and free social media like Facebook and Twitter allow us to do that.”

One trick the filmmakers employ: giving away 1,000,000 free soundtracks to The Graduates, for free.

“Anyone who wants to get to know our film, or the bands involved can download our soundtrack for free, any time, anywhere,” says Gielen.

Fantasy Football

Piala Dunia 2010 Afrika Selatan - In the world of fantasy sports – fantasy football, tied to real NFL players and stats, is more popular than other fantasy games on the World Wide Web today. Fans say they enjoy the virtual sport because their knowledge of the NFL is deepened by the experience of playing. This web-based game is gaining in popularity.

Who Plays on Fantasy Football Leagues?

What motivates fantasy football players to engage in the online sport? According to a study commissioned by the Fantasy Sports Trade Association and conducted by Dr. Kim Beason, a Fantasy Sports Research Specialist, the pay for play group of fantasy football consumers are more involved with the competition and may even engage in workplace contests. This group is more likely to play with friends and form private leagues. The pay for play group is more competitive than free fantasy football, and they demand the design of the game is fun and easy to use.

Pay for Play Fantasy Football Sites

An example of a widely known pay for play site is also a company that is well represented in airing and promoting games in professional sports: Fox Fantasy Sports. Pay for play Fantasy Football site fees vary. One website might charge a monthly fee while another may require a per game fee. Some fans spend large amounts of money on the game. Fantasy Football enthusiasts who want to play in the World Championship of Fantasy Football (WCOFF) are willing to pay $7,000 for this privilege.

The advantages of joining pay for play fantasy football sites are numerous. Most paid sites will provide an array of information on players and statistics at no additional charge. Another benefit is that pay for play participants tend to take the sport more seriously than those who play on the free sites. Since pay for play participants are often eligible for cash prizes when their team wins, the award of prize money is a motivational factor.

Free Online Fantasy Football

Dr. Kim Beason’s analysis of fantasy football participants highlights several characteristics of those who choose to play on the free Fantasy Football sites. Many are invited to enter fantasy football sites by friends. Social interaction during the game, rather than competition, is a key reason for playing. Many of the players who utilize free websites say relaxation is a main reason for spending time playing fantasy football.

According to Jason McCoy, CEO of Stinkball.com, “the free fantasy football sites are a great entry level way to enter the Fantasy Football arena.” Yahoo is a good example of a free website for players. Though participants may play for free, Yahoo charges additional fees for stats and performance reports, and tacks another fee on for stat tracking. Often the paid fantasy sports websites will try to entice new players by offering free play time or free sign ups for the season. Yet to truly enter the game and be competitive the player will find it is easier to pay for membership.

According to Dr. Kim Beason, free fantasy football participants are a much larger group than the pay for play football players. Though not all players are in a position to pay to play, it seems that inspiration, camaraderie and competition are some of the defining motivations for players who choose to join fantasy football’s paid websites.

Hp Nexian

Nexian She - Handphone produksi China makin diminati masyarakat. Bahkan kini sudah mampu menggeser pasar merek HP lain yang telah mapan. Pasalnya, fitur-fitur dan kualitas yang disajikan sangat bersaing bahkan harganya cenderung murah. Contohnya HP Nexian. \ Salah satu karyawan toko HP Mega seluler, Ellen, menjelaskan saat ini perkembangan HP Nexian di Pontianak lumayan baik. Ini terbukti dari minat konsumen mencari HP Nexian makin tinggi.

“Saat ini Nexian diminati masyarakat mungkin karena modelnya yang bervariasi dan harganya juga sangat terjangkau. Khusus HP nexian di toko kami dalam satu hari bisa terjual sekitar 3 hingga 5 unit perhari dengan harga yang beragam tergantung jenisnya,” katanya kepada Pontianak Post, kemarin (29/3).

Tifany, karyawan Tara Boutique HP di Ayani Megamal mengatakan, saat ini HP buatan China memang sangat digemari kosumen. Khususnya Nexian yang belakangan ini makin dicari. “Ditoko kami saja kemarin baru mulai mencoba menjual 3 unit HP nexian dengan jenis terbaru merk she dengan harga Rp1,3 juta per unit. Tidak sampai satu hari langsung laku terjual ini membuktikan bahwa Nexian khususnya merek she sangat diminati konsumen,” ujarnya. Harga yang ditawarkan pada konsumen khusus HP Nexian sangat terjangkau mulai dari Rp600ribu hingga sekitar Rp1juta.(

Handphone Nokia

Harga Hp Nokia - Nokia Corp. on Tuesday launched three less-expensive smart phones, including its first model expected to sell for under euro100 ($135) — in a strong move to grab new customers in emerging markets.

Nokia C3 - The world's largest mobile phone maker said it wants "to put better messaging and social networking tools in the hands of more people around the world at affordable prices."

The new Nokia C3, Nokia E5 and Nokia C6 handsets have full QWERTY keyboards, enable instant messaging and give access to e-mails. Their expected selling prices respectively are euro90, euro180 and euro220 before taxes and subsidies.

The handsets will be available during the second and third quarters of this year.

"Nokia's strategic focus is clearly on emerging markets now and taking higher feature devices to the masses and these three devices do that quite nicely," said Neil Mawston, analyst at Strategy Analytics in London.

Finland-based Nokia, which is increasingly turning to providing applications and services for handset users, said in December it will focus on the smart phone sector, including providing cheaper handsets in emerging markets.

Despite strong competition from Blackberry and iPhone, Nokia's market share in smart phones grew from 35 percent to 40 percent in the last quarter of 2009.

The cheapest of the new models, the C3, with an estimated price tag of euro90, includes a two megapixel camera, a 2.4 inch screen and will include access to Nokia's Ovi Mail and Ovi Chat that allow first-time users to set up e-mail and chat accounts straight from the device without the need for a computer.

It has WiFi connectivity and support for up to an 8GB memory card, allowing users to update their status and share pictures on social networks such as Facebook and Twitter.

"The C3 stands out the most at a very competitive price with a very effective feature set ... that goes squarely after the lower-tier mass market in India, Africa, China," Mawston said. "It's going to be one of their star devices over the next two quarters."

The Nokia C6, with an estimated price of euro220, has a 3.2-inch touch screen with full slide-out keyboard and a five megapixel camera featuring autofocus and flash.

The E5, expected to sell for some euro180, is targeted at corporate customers with numerous productivity applications available in Nokia's Ovi Store. It has direct access to over 90 percent of the world's corporate e-mails through Mail for Exchange and IBM Lotus Notes Traveler.

Nokia's share price was virtually unchanged at euro11.18 ($15.19) in early afternoon trading in Helsinki.

Flight Picture

Gambar Gambar Lucu - Hundreds of flights to and from Canada remained grounded Friday on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean as volcanic ash clogged airspace across northern Europe, threatening to scuttle even Prime Minister Stephen Harper's plans to travel to Poland. There was barely a trickle of traffic between Canada and Europe as an erupting volcano in Iceland continued belching ash into the sky, forcing the closure of airspace over Britain, France and the Nordic countries.

Gambar Lucu - Dozens of European airports remained closed for a second straight day. Air Canada and Air Transat were both forced to cancel all of Thursday's flights to London, Paris and Frankfurt.

On Friday, Air Canada added Munich, Zurich and Geneva to its list of destinations that were off-limits.

One Air Transat flight was cleared to depart Scotland for Toronto, while the CBC reported that a Thomas Cook flight from Vancouver had also been allowed to depart for Scotland, but was diverted to Manchester.

Only one Air Transat flight departing from London had to be cancelled Friday, spoksman Jacques Bouchard said. Transat has not been as heavily impacted by the numerous airport closures as it would have been later in the travel season, he added.

Authorities in Britain, where flights have been cancelled until Saturday, also said Friday that some transatlantic evening flights would be cleared to depart from airports in Glasgow, Edinburgh and Aberdeen.

Harper and political rivals Michael Ignatieff, Jack Layton and Gilles Duceppe were among those Canadians waiting to find out whether their travel plans would be thwarted.

Harper and a delegation of Canadian dignitaries, including the leaders of all three federal opposition parties, were scheduled to fly out of Ottawa early Saturday morning to attend the funeral of Polish president Lech Kaczynski and his wife.

Kaczynski's presidential plane crashed in heavy fog last Saturday as it approached Smolensk, Russia, to mark the 70th anniversary of the Katyn Massacre.

All 96 people aboard, including Poland's senior military command, the country's central bank president and more than a dozen political leaders, died in the crash.

All airports in Poland were closed Friday with no immediate word on when they would reopen.

Even if Harper's plane had a place to land, safety concerns would still be taken into account when deciding whether or not to fly, said Andrew MacDougall, a spokesman with the Prime Minister's office.

"We continue to monitor the situation closely," MacDougall said.

"We are mindful of the risks the volcanic ash presents to air travel. As always with the prime minister's travel - and keeping in mind the tragic events in Poland - proper safety procedures will be followed."

So far, Harper, President Barack Obama, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and German Chancellor Angela Merkel remained among those planning to attend and no one had cancelled.

Kaczynski's family insisted Friday they wanted the funeral to go forward as planned, but there was no denying the ash cloud was moving south and east.

The air traffic agency Eurocontrol said almost two-thirds of Europe's flights had been cancelled.

"The skies are totally empty over northern Europe," said Brian Flynn, deputy head of Eurocontrol. "There will be some significant disruption of European air traffic tomorrow."

The agency said about 16,000 of Europe's usual 28,000 daily flights were cancelled Friday - twice as many as were cancelled a day earlier.

Only about 120 trans-Atlantic flights reached European airports compared to 300 on a normal day, and about 60 flights between Asia and Europe were cancelled.

The International Air Transport Association said the volcano was costing the industry at least $200 million a day.

Long Poem Challenge

Contoh Pidato - THE Colwall Orchard Group is launching a year-long mass-participation Renga poem at its Blossom Picnic on May 2, with poetry workshops by prize-winning poet Annaliese Emmans Dean.

Renga is a thousand-year-old Japanese tradition of collaborative poetry writing. Each verse is passed to the next writer who must link their new verse to the one that went before. Gradually a poem that can extend to hundreds of verses is created.

"It's a fabulous, creative way for everyone - young and no longer quite so young - to join in celebrating spring, and all the wonderful blossom, butterflies, bees and other beasties that arrive at this time of year,” said Annaliese.

In Japan, Rengas are written to celebrate the cherry blossom festival. Tim Dixon of the Colwall Orchard Group said: “Broadwood cherry orchard, which should be in full bloom for the blossom picnic this year, is the perfect place to launch our Renga.”

The Blossom Picnic is a family event. Throughout the day Annaliese Emmans Dean will be running Renga workshops for all ages. There will be guided walks of the orchards, and children and the young at heart can go on a bug hunt with Dr Roger Key, then take their finds to the workshop as inspiration.

The orchard group will be running the Renga throughout the year at seasonal events, as well as this year’s Ledbury Poetry Festival.

Blackberry Onyx 9020 Spotted With Trackpad

Blackberry Onyx - The both upcoming RIM devices, BlackBerry Onyx/Bold 9020 (left) and the BlackBerry Gemini/Curve 8520 (right) has leaked. This is the first public picture of the 9020 having the trackpad, as the first pre production models all had the classic trackball. The Onyx is one of your future RIM smartphones. It is targeted to be the successor to the Bold.

Rumors about the Blackberry Onyx have been floating around the web for quite some time now, and back in May, we’ve even seen it in a leaked photo. Now, another photo of what is believed to be the Blackberry Onyx 9020 has again surfaced, this time around, with a slight difference than its first leaked.

We’ve first seen a touch-sensitive trackpad on the entry-level Blackberry Gemini, and it looks like this Onyx 9020 will also get the same trackpad and not a trackball as what it has shown on its first leaked image.

But anyway, that’s still all we have for now, no specs or other features, though it is still expected to come with 3G, GPS, Wi-Fi, 480 x 360 pixels display, and other usual Blackberry features.

This Blackberry Onyx 9020 is said to be released by both AT&T and T-Mobile later this year but it is yet to be confirmed.

"Titans"

Contoh Teks Pidato - "Clash of the Titans" headed a heavyweight trio of movies which took the box office by storm over Easter and ended the brief reign of Nanny McPhee. Director Louis Leterrier's 3D, special effects-laden update of MGM's 1981 action fantasy loosely based on Greek mythology took 5.6 million pounds on its debut weekend, according to Screen International on Wednesday.

Teks Pidato - Dreamworks' animated feature "How to Train Your Dragon" came in at No.2 with a 4.8 million pound take and director Matthew Vaughn's "Kick-Ass," starring Aaron Johnson as a would-be superhero, opened at three with 3.8 million pounds.

"Nanny McPhee and the Big Bang," with Emma Thompson riding to the rescue of harassed mum Maggie Gyllenhaal, was down in fourth spot after its single week on top.

"Alice in Wonderland," director Tim Burton's version of the classic Lewis Carroll fantasy, slipped from second place to fifth.

Sixth, down three, was "The Blind Side" with Sandra Bullock, who won Best Actress at the Oscars last month for her role as a mother who turns a disadvantaged teenager into a football star.

New York love story "Remember Me" was new at seven, just above Martin Scorsese's psychological thriller "Shutter Island," which was down four at eight.

Gerard Butler and Jennifer Aniston were down in ninth spot from five with "The Bounty Hunter" and Jackie Chan as "The Spy Next Door" slipped to 10th spot from seventh.

Terre'blanche murder

Contoh Makalah - South African President Jacob Zuma has called for calm after the killing of white far-right leader Eugene Terre'blanche in a suspected pay dispute with black workers fanned fears of racial strains. Police detained two farm workers and said they were investigating the quarrel they had with Terre'blanche, but his Afrikaner Resistance Movement (AWB) says he was battered and hacked to death on Saturday in an attack with political overtones.

Makalah Zuma, who has made it a priority to court white Afrikaners, called it a "terrible deed" and urged South Africans "not to allow agent provocateurs to take advantage of this situation by inciting or fuelling racial hatred".

Terre'blanche, 69, was the voice of hardline opposition to the end of apartheid in the early 1990s although his party has since played a marginal role and does not have a big following among whites, who make up 10 percent of South Africans.

The AWB urged restraint while the funeral is prepared and before the party decides next steps. At Ventersdorp, in rolling farmland over 100 km (60 miles) west of Johannesburg, party followers in paramilitary khaki laid flowers at the gate of Terre'blanche's farm.

"We will decide upon the action we are going to take to avenge Mr Terre'blanche's death," said spokesman Andre Visagie.

Terre'blanche could be buried either on Thursday or Friday this week, Visagie said.

Concerns over increasing racial polarisation have been thrown into the open by a row over the singing of an apartheid-era song with the lyrics "Kill the Boer" by the youth leader of the ruling African National Congress.

The ANC has defended the song as no more than a way to remember a history of oppression, but it has worried minority groups and particularly white farmers, some 3,000 of whom have been killed since the end of apartheid.

Strain

"The killing of Terre'blanche will symbolically be seen as a strain on these relationships," said analyst Nic Borain of HSBC Securities. "But Terre'blanche is an old criminal and I don't think people would come to his defence or his killing (would) somehow invigorate white people's opposition to the new South Africa."

Terre'blanche's party did not hesitate to link the murder to the song. Terre'blanche had always described himself as a Boer. "That's what this is all about," Visagie said.

The ANC said the killing was a matter to be handled by the police rather than being a political issue and it should not be used to polarise the nation.

"We make this call to all South Africans to refrain from making speculative pronouncements on Terre'blanche's murder," Jackson Mthembu, ANC spokesman said.

Terre'blanche had lived in relative obscurity since his release from prison in 2004 after serving a jail sentence for beating a black man nearly to death.

The party -- whose flag resembles a Nazi swastika -- was revived two years ago. He was trying to build a united front among far-right parties to fight for a white homeland, but had gained little support.

Terre'blanche was a powerful orator in his Afrikaans language and was a distinctive, heavily built figure, with a thick grey beard and dressed in khaki. He often attended rallies on horseback during his fight to stop majority rule.

Police said the suspected killers were aged 16 and 21. Both had worked for Terre'blanche and are due to appear in court on Tuesday.

"It seems there was a dispute and these guys were arrested ... The police are investigating and the public will be kept abreast," Police Minister Nathi Mthethwa told a news conference. "Somebody is dead, can we keep it at that."