Telling a Story: Fascinating Interview With George Lucas in Charlie Rose’s Studio

 

George Lucas, the world-famous filmmaker and creator of our beloved Star Wars saga, recently gave an interview to the American journalist Charlie Rose. The conversation throws fresh light on the interesting facts from George Lucas biography and his attitude toward filmmaking in general. Find out more about the director’s plans for the future and the way he feels about modern cinematography and the Star Wars movies.

 

Working in Hollywood

’20 Feet From Stardom’ Singers Set To Sing National Anthem At 2014 Rose Bowl

                         
Merry Clayton, Lisa Fischer, Judith Hill and Darlene Love, the backup singers who get the spotlight in RADiUS-TWC‘s Oscar documentary 20 Feet From Stardom, will sing the National Anthem at the 100th Rose Bowl on New Year’s Day 2014. The special performance during the Stanford-Michigan State game marks the first time in a century that one of the Rose Bowl participants’ band is not performing the “Star-Spangled Banner.” That’s about the flashiest PR stunt conceivable for this year’s heated Oscar docu race, and shrewd timing – nominations voting ends just a week later on January 8.

 

Smarty Ring Sends Smartphone Updates to Your Finger

One ring to rule them all — or at least manage all of your incoming smartphone alerts.
That's the idea behind Smarty Ring, a Bluetooth-enabled wearable gadget that allows users to check smartphone alerts and manage incoming calls right from their finger.

Users can manage the settings for their Smarty Ring from a mobile app, and can even use the device as a watch, timer or phone finder. If a user walks more than 30 feet from his phone (sadly, a rare occurrence these days), the ring will beep to alert him that he's left something behind.
The stainless-steel ring has a 24-hour battery life. Android and iOS devices are all compatible, as long as they have Bluetooth 4.0 capabilities, according to Smarty Ring's Indiegogo page.

Despite the general popularity of wearable devices (the Pebble Watch raised more than $10 million on Kickstarter), Smarty Ring's Indiegogo campaign is struggling. Since launching in early November, its campaign has raised only $6,500 of the team's $40,000 goal, with 4 days remaining.
Still, Smarty Ring's campaign is set up so that money will be collected even if the campaign goal is not met.

'Game of Thrones' Video Game to Launch in 2014

HBO is teaming up with Telltale Games to create a Game of Thrones-inspired video game due out in 2014.
Telltale Games is the studio behind The Walking Dead and The Wolf Among Us video games. The news was announced on Saturday during Spike TV's “Video Game Awards." There was a 25-second teaser trailer aired during the awards show, but it didn't reveal too much about what to expect from the game.

Wearably Brings RSS Feeds to Google Glass

With more wearable devices entering the market, the way we read online content could change significantly. Instead of taking out a smartphone, readers of the near-future will more often read from devices like Google Glass or the Galaxy Gear.
A new service makes it easier for content from RSS feeds and websites to transition to wearable technology. Wearably helps publishers display their content on wearable devices such as smartwatches or Google Glass.
Atlantic Media, National Geographic and NPR already use the service, created by a three-person team called Silica Labs. The company's biggest selling point is its ability to help companies keep up with the rapidly changing digital content arena while saving money. Silica Labs co-founder Marvin Ammori told Mashable that customers come to the company because they know it will avoid "costs that are more unpredictable."

Originally called SimpleWing, Wearably allows users to create Google Glass apps similar to the ones created by CNN and Elle.
The service takes the important elements of an article — headline, photographs, time of publication — and transfers them to interactive cards designed to be viewed on wearable devices. Users simply install the Wearably app and then subscribe to certain outlets. Because many websites publish content throughout the day, the service allows users to organize news into morning and evening editions.
Wearably CTO Antonio Zugaldia told Mashable that publications can organize their content as they wish. National Geographic, for example, dedicates one section entirely to photographs.
"It's totally up to the publication how they organize their content," says Zugaldia. "Our responsibility is to deliver the content to users in a beautiful way."
Zugaldia also explained that the biggest challenge during the development of Wearably was working with so many different devices, which meant a variety of application programming interfaces (APIs). In addition, the team does not want to overwhelm users with content.
As designer and co-founder Stephanie Nguyen says, these devices can affect how users read content. "

What we're hoping to do is re-imagine the way users consume news

What we're hoping to do is re-imagine the way users consume news," says Nguyen. To use the service, individuals pay $11 a month while big publishers pay $449 a month. The publisher plan guarantees distribution of one RSS feed onto Google Glass, the Sony Smartwatch 2 and the Pebble Watch.
Ammori also revealed that the team is working on developing a way to bring news to users based on their location and eventually deliver city-wide alerts to users' devices.

Google, Microsoft Lead Campaign to Limit Government Surveillance

Eight technology giants, including Google and Microsoft, have started a public campaign to limit government surveillance of users, The New York Times reports.
The companies — Google, Microsoft, Apple, Facebook, Twitter, AOL, LinkedIn, and Yahoo — published an open letter in national newspapers and opened a website at reformgovernmentsurveillance.com (which, curiously, doesn't work at the time of this writing).
In the letter, the Reform Government Surveillance group is calling for the U.S. President and Congress to limit surveillance of people, as it "undermines" their freedoms.
"We understand that governments have a duty to protect their citizens. But this summer's revelations highlighted the urgent need to reform government surveillance practices worldwide," the letter said.
“The balance in many countries has tipped too far in favor of the state and away from the rights of the individual — rights that are enshrined in our Constitution. This undermines the freedoms we all cherish.”
The initiative comes after a string of leaks this summer, detailing the NSA's extensive surveillance of users, including spying on data centers of Google, Microsoft, Yahoo and other tech companies.

Waka Flocka Flame Says Gucci Mane "Doesn't Exist" To Him

Waka Flocka Flame and Gucci Mane's run together came to an end last year and the two have been asked about one other frequently since.
Recently sitting down with Vlad TV, Waka was asked about his thoughts on Gucci Mane and replied that he was unaware of who that was.
"Who is that? He don't exist to me," Waka Flocka Flame said. "I don't got time for nobody, my watch stopped on me man."
The Atlanta, Georgia native was also asked about the recent management split between French Montana and Waka's mother, Debra Antney.
"That's my brother," Waka replied when asked about whether it had an affect on his relationship with the Coke Boys artist. "That's my brother, happy birthday, belated birthday, that's my brother. Business is business, personal is personal, ain't no one crossing personal boundaries, that was just business. A lot of stuff you've got to respect it as business."
In late October, Waka questioned the authenticity of Gucci Mane's craziness and said he doesn't believe it's real.
"I feel like it’s a gimmick," Waka said. "Ain’t nothing crazy about him... Man, I been got out of a contract with Gucci…Me and him fell out 2012, but we kept it in house. He the person that spilled the beans."
Gucci Mane recently made headlines regarding legal issues. The former Atlantic Records signee has been charged in federal court with two counts of possessing a firearm as a felon, leaving the rapper facing major jail time. The charges, which stem from two September incidents during which the rapper showed a gun and threatened police, could land Gucci in jail for 20 years.
Watch Waka Flocka Flame's full interview with Vlad TV below:

How the FBI Used Hacker Tricks to Track Down a Would-Be Bomber

Malicious hackers commonly use phishing emails to lure would-be victims into clicking a seemingly harmless link that will actually install malware on their computers, allowing the perpetrators to siphon data, or even spy on their victims.
But the FBI is increasingly using the same techniques in its investigations; that's how it tried to track down a suspect who was making a series of bomb threats last year, according to The Washington Post, which confirms that the feds are relying on hacker's tricks to fight crime.

The FBI's elite hacker team created a customized piece of malicious software, or malware, that would install on a suspect's computer when he signs into his Yahoo email account. A judge in Colorado authorized the bureau to use the malware, according to court documents obtained by The Post.
The malware was designed specifically to siphon certain information from the suspect's computer to the FBI, including location data and websites visited. What's more, it allows the FBI to spy on a suspect through his webcam even without its indicator light turning on.
This is not the first time that the FBI has reportedly used malware, spyware and other hacking tricks to track down suspected criminals.
In August, it was revealed that the FBI uses sophisticated hacking tools. Chris Soghoian, principal technologist at the American Civil Liberties Union, discovered this after researching LinkedIn, where FBI contractors openly advertised their hacking services for the bureau.
The FBI's use of these techniques has critics concerned they could be too intrusive and perhaps illegal.
"There hasn't been a debate in Congress about the FBI getting into the hacking business; there hasn't been any legislation giving this power; this just sort of happened out of nowhere," Soghoian said at the Def Con hacking conference this summer.
This shaky legal ground was evident in a similar case earlier this year in which a Texas judge refused to sign off on an FBI warrant request to install malware that would covertly extract files from a suspect's laptop, and take pictures using its camera, according to The Wall Street Journal.
"It's time for a real discussion about what the rules should be," Kevin Bankston, a privacy and free speech lawyer and the policy director of the New America Foundation's Open Technology Institute, said on Twitter.
In the case of the would-be bomber, identified only as "Mo," the malware didn't work as intended, but revealed that Mo actually loves in Tehran, where he is safe from arrest by the FBI — although not from its hacking tools.

How to Get a Time Traveler to Visit You

If you often find yourself waiting with bated breath for a time traveler to appear in your midst, and give you the secret to the time-space continuum, we've got just the thing for you: a Craigslist ad.
Because all time travelers must be seeking out friends somewhere, right?

SpaghettiOs' Dubious Tweet to Remember Pearl Harbor Enrages Twitter

"Uh-oh! Spaghettios" has just gotten a whole new meaning.
Seventy-three years after the Japanese navy attacked the U.S. with a surprise strike on Pearl Harbor, American pasta company SpaghettiOs commemorated the event in a dubious tweet Friday night — and many Twitter users were not happy.
Here's what SpaghettiOs tweeted Friday, on the eve of the anniversary of the Pearl Harbor attack.


SpaghettiOs deleted the tweet and apologized on Saturday.

Ask A Dev: Why Did Apple Decide to Offer a Budget iPhone?

Since September, Apple's iPhone event has sparked many questions about iOS mobile development.
In the latest video of our Ask a Dev series, iOS architect Kevin Harwood provides answers to those questions, including why Apple chose to sell its "budget" iPhone 5C. He also offers helpful resources for those starting to develop iOS apps.
The new Apple A7 system-on-a-chip found in every iPhone 5S is twice as fast as its A6 predecessor. The A7 also introduces twice the level of improvement on graphics performance, especially apparent in gaming, and it opens the door for apps to be made with faster and more powerful 64-bit chip architecture in the future.
When discussing Apple's decision to offer the iPhone 5C, Harwood says, "Apple's new strategy is going to be releasing a phone at that price point every year that's an updated newer model to continue the attack on the lower price range of smartphones."
Lastly, Harwood recommends his favorite tools for app development on iOS including, Apple's developer resource page and the video tutorials on Lynda.com. He also suggests investing in some Apress books for learning Objective-C programming and other coding syntax for the iOS platform.
Our developer experts are from Mutual Mobile, a leading development and design firm that builds mobile strategies for top companies such as Audi, Google and Citigroup. The team is eager to answer your questions about mobile, so ping us with your top queries on Twitter, using the hashtag #AskaDev. Don't forget to check out our Ask a Dev YouTube channel and subscribe.

Rare warplane that survived Pearl Harbor attack returning to USA New York-built American fighter that's one of the few remaining still-airworthy planes to survive the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor is being donated to a Massachusetts-based organization that flies World War II aircraft at living history events across the nation.

Robert Collings, executive director of the Stow, Massachusetts-based Collings Foundation, said that the purchase of the Curtiss P-40B Warhawk from an aviation museum in England was completed this week. The plane will be disassembled and shipped to the United States, where it eventually will fly over Buffalo and other cities, with plans to participate in the 75th anniversary of the Pearl Harbor attack in 2016, he said.
"The history that comes with it is pretty special," Collings said Friday, the day before the 72nd anniversary of the surprise attack in Hawaii that launched the U.S. into the Second World War. "It was obvious that we needed to get this airplane back to America."
Collings said a sponsor who wishes to remain anonymous bought the plane for several million dollars from The Fighter Collection in Duxford, England. He said the person who bought the warplane will donate the aircraft to the Collings Foundation, bringing its collection of World War II aircraft to a dozen, including a B-17 Flying Fortress and B-24 Liberator, both bombers.
The Warhawk heading back to the U.S. came off the assembly line at the Curtiss Aircraft Co. plant in Buffalo in early 1941. Later that year, it was undergoing repairs in a hangar at Wheeler Field on Oahu when waves of Japanese warplanes attacked Pearl Harbor on the morning of Dec. 7, 1941. While more than 300 other U.S. planes were destroyed or damaged during the attack, the P-40B escaped unscathed.
But seven weeks after the attack, the plane crashed into a mountain on Oahu, killing the pilot. His body was recovered but the wreckage was left at the remote crash site. In the 1980s, a California warplane restoration group recovered the wreck and began working on the P-40B, rebuilding it with parts salvaged from two similar aircraft. The plane was flying again by 2004, soon after being acquired by The Fighter Collection.
Collings said the plane was purchased from the English museum for "several million dollars" but wouldn't divulge the sale price or who the sponsor is. He said only a handful of P-40Bs exist, including one owned by Microsoft founder Paul Allen. Curtiss produced nearly 14,000 P-40s at its Buffalo plant from 1939-44. It was a workhorse for American and Allied air forces early in the war, and it was the same plane flown by the famed Flying Tigers, the name given to the American squadron that fought for China against Japan before American entered the war.
The only other Pearl Harbor survivor still flying is a Grumman J2F-4 Duck, a privately owned, float-equipped biplane based in Kenosha, Wisconsin, according to vintage warplane experts. The few other surviving aircraft, such as the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum's Sikorsky JRS-1 amphibious search plane, are no longer airworthy.
"It's pretty important in terms of the rarity of that particular airplane," Jeremy Kinney, a Smithsonian aviation curator, said of the foundation's P-40B and its Pearl Harbor connection. "We don't even have one."

Taylor Swift Strips To Lingerie-Style Outfit As She Performs At Grammy Awards Nominations (WATCH)

Taylor wasn't able to make it to the The Nokia Theatre in Los Angeles, but she did put on an amazing show from her Red tour in Australia, where she was performing in Sydney.
The Love Story superstar started the song in an angelic white dress, before she then tore it off to reveal the sexy black number.
Taylor also took to Twitter last night following the news that she was up for Album Of The Year, posting:

I LOVE YOU GUYS WE GOT AN ALBUM OF THE YEAR NOMINATION AND I AM TOO EXCITED TO USE PUNCTUATION

Meanwhile, not only has Taylor managed to bag a nomination at this year's Grammys, but she has also been smashing records in Australia, with the beauty becoming the first female to sell out a stadium in Sydney, Oz on her global tour.
Swift performed at the Allianz Stadium on Wednesday evening where she performed to more than 40,000 fans who lapped up live performances of tracks from her number one, best-selling fourth album Red.
The show means Taylor has become the first female in 20 years to embark on a national stadium tour in Australia, earning the Grammy-winning singer yet another accolade to her ever-growing collection.

Amy And Joey Are The Latest Camp-Mates To Leave In Shock Double Elimination

• Following the departure of both Alfonso and Rebecca last night there was only five campmates left in the Jungle, and tonight it was time to boot another two out in another double elimination, and we were not expecting the outcome!

Before that though, it was time for the return of our favourite bush tucker trial: Celebrity Cyclone: you know the one that looks like a home-made slip and slide with lots of wind, water and plastic balls being thrown at them?! Once they’d been dressed appropriately, in lyrca capes and pants it was time to battle against the elements in the attempt of winning five stars, for their last night before they become a threesome.
The bush tucker didn’t disappoint and just like previous years the celebrities had a great time completing the challenge and thankfully walking away with five stars and big smiles on their faces. Kian acted like a superstar and really helped everyone out, especially the girls which made us love him even more!

Amy and Joey Essex are the latest celebrities to be voted out of the jungle. (ITV)

Once again they lost the dingo dollar challenge after answering the question wrong! They had to guess how much weight the celebrities who had left the camp had lost. They guessed it was 7 stones 1lb, however it was actually 10 stones 3lbs, which seems like an awful lot. However Alfonso, Rebecca and Matthew all lost two stone each, Steve lost over one and a half stone, Laila just under a stone and a half and Vincent and Annabel both lost under a stone too. Sounds like the perfect pre-Christmas diet before putting it all back on over the festive period!
Contraband gate wasn’t over with a third notice being sent into camp saying that there is still contraband within the camp. All eyes looked at Amy who quickly traipsed over to the hut and handed in numerous bikinis and make-up, which the other camp-mates weren’t overly impressed with, although to be fair nor would we, seeing as she’s said over and over again that she has nothing left. Naughty Amy!
In the evening the camp were told that there were 10 different telephone numbers hidden around camp and five of them would call through to their family members. Joey got to speak to his dad, David to his sister, Amy to her mum and Lucy to her husband, albeit very briefly after they found the right numbers. However time run out before Kian got a chance to speak to his wife. We would have been more upset for him, if he hadn’t have already seen her earlier on!
And finally it was time for Ant and Dec to go into camp and announce who would be next to leave the jungle. We couldn’t quite believe it when they announced it was Amy and Joey. Joey Essex? Surely not! We thought he’d be King, obviously not! Whilst being interviewed Joey said: “It’s been the most amazing experience ever. But I didn’t expect it to be so hard, it’s like a proper ,proper jungle down there, ain’t it?!” Err, yeah Joey it is, what were you expecting: a set?! Amy also referred to herself as the “Queen of contraband!” (which we agree with) and explained her cheeky actions by saying: “I thought I’d try it and if I get away with it then fab!” which is fair enough, we’d probably be smuggling things in if we went in too, to be fair.
So there we have it, Joey and Amy are out leaving Lucy, David and Kian left. Who do you think will be crowned King or Queen of the jungle? We’re just two days away from finding out!

Disney Wins Rights To Future Indiana Jones Movies

Disney has acquired the rights to any future Indiana Jones films from Paramount Pictures.
Walt Disney Studios confirmed on Friday that they now have the rights to market and distribute any future movies from the hugely popular franchise starring Harrison Ford.
Paramount retains distribution rights for the first four Indiana Jones films though, in addition to financially benefiting from any future movies.
While there are no confirmed plans for future films, the new deal signifies that more projects are likely be in the works, with Ford dropping some pretty heavy hints recently about a new film to follow on from the last Indy outing in 2008 - Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.
The actor revealed during a recent appearance on The Graham Norton Show that he would jump at the chance to play the hero again.
"I don't think there is any barrier to Indiana Jones being an old fart," Ford joked.
"I'm old enough that we don't need [Sean] Connery anymore - I'm old enough to play my own father!"

Victoria Beckham And Harper To Have Play-Date With Adele And Her Son?

 They will be living close together in London

 
Victoria Beckham wants her daughter to hang out with Adele's son now that they live so close to each other in London, insiders report.

Victoria and David will be moving their four children into a new mansion, which will be very close to Adele's and a source claims that Victoria wants their children to become friends by holding playdates.
“Victoria would love to become friends with Adele because she really admires her,” a source told Closer. “She joked it would be great to arrange a play-date between Adele’s one-year-old son, Angelo, and Harper. She’s a massive fan."
Victoria's daughter is two so they would be the perfect age to become friends!
Adele has kept a very low profile since given birth to Angelo last October with her charity entrepeneur boyfriend, Simon Konecki. She even warned Kelly Clarkson against having babies so soon after getting married.
According to Kelly, Adele warned her, "'Girl, don't have a baby 'cause everything else will go on the back burner. I'm so happy living in babyland'," she told Us Weekly.
The Beckhams have reportedly spent $71 million (£43 million) renovating their new mansion and they will be living in a very nice area, judging by their high-flying neighbours.
"They’ll be living near [American businessman] Bill Gates and the king of Saudi Arabia – there are so many wealthy people, the Beckhams will be right at home!," the source told Closer.
Victoria is reportedly planning to combine her 40th birthday in April with the housewarming for a massive party to put them back on the London social circuit.
“Victoria wants her 40th birthday in April to mark their moving in, which she’ll combine with a housewarming. She’s so excited to have her dream house,” a pal added. "The house has kick-started her 2014 goal of making her and David part of London’s social royalty.”

The Prison Goes To War And A Shocker For Hershel In The Walking Dead

9 Clever Comic Artists to Follow on Tumblr

Most casual Tumblr users view the site as a veritable goldmine of funny GIFs, memes and pictures of the Supernatural cast. What many don't realize is that Tumblr is also home to an extremely talented community of comic artists.
Tumblr's hassle-free sharing buttons and customizable templates make it a perfect place to start building a website for creative content like comics, and tons of cartoonists and illustrators have taken note.
"At first, I decided to post my comics on Tumblr simply because it was free," Safely Endangered artist Chris McCoy told Mashable. "But the kind messages and words of encouragement from users, and even other artists, are why I still post there."
If you're looking to browse through some great comics, or start one of your own, look no further than our list of great Tumblrs to follow. From the hilariously absurd to the thoughtfully resonating, these comics are some of the best the web has to offer. The images you see below are just a sampling of each comic — we strongly encourage that you view the blogs individually for more laughs.

1. Three Word Phrase

Image: Ryan Pequin Ryan Pequin, a storyboard artist for Cartoon Network's Regular Show, created and maintains this hilarious, offbeat Tumblr comic. His site features Tumblr celebrities like President Bird, and will lead new users to other great artists.

2. Twitter: The Comic

Image: Mike Rosenthal Twitter: The Comic is the artistic brainchild of comedian Mike Rosenthal. Rosenthal takes his content from the weird side of the Twitter tracks, creating hilarious, panelled illustrations from the tweets.

3. For Lack of a Better Comic

Image: Jacob Andrews In describing his creative process, creator Jacob Andrews says that he "haphazardly combines words and pictures until something remotely funny happens." Follow his comic and see that he's doing something right.

4. Zen Pencils

Image: Gavin Aung Than Taking famous, inspirational and thought provoking quotes from both history and present day, Zen Pencils creator Gavin Aung Than brings the words to life with extraordinary illustrations. The above image is only a small section of one of his comics, click the link to view Than's work in full.

5. Poorly Drawn Lines

Image: Reza Farazmand Often featuring the antics of cute animals, naive robots and French conservationist Jacques Cousteau, this comic by Reza Farazmand will hold you captive in front of your laptop for hours.

6. Safely Endangered

Image: Chris McCoy Pun-filled, simply illustrated and geniously written, Chris McCoy's Safely Endangered is a must follow for all Tumblr users with a sense of humor.

7. Time Trabble

Image: Michael Heller Parodying the outer edges of pop culture — think the Cheese Nips/ Cheez-Its war — you'll always be able to count on Michael Heller's comic, Time Trabble to deliver darkly hysterical comics to your dashboard.

8. Eat More Bikes

Image: Nathan Bulmer This art blog by Nathan Bulmer, who works on Nickelodeon's cartoon Sanjay and Craig, updates three times a week with irreverent, inventful comics.

9. UP and OUT

Jeremy Kaye, creator of UP and OUT, describes his comic as being "about how weird everything is." His mixture of cute illustrations with dry, dark humor is perfect for the Tumblr community.

Microsoft and FBI Claim to Stamp Out Malware That Steals Ad Dollars

Microsoft is working with the FBI to stop malware responsible for infecting more than 2 million computers as a part of an effort to steal dollars from online advertising companies.
The company's digital crime unit said on Friday it has "successfully disrupted" rampant malware called the Sirefef botnet — also known as ZeroAccess — which recently targeted search results on sites such as Google, Bing and Yahoo search engines.