Engadget Podcast 337 - 03.28.13

Missed us live at our new weekly livestream home on YouTube at 3PM ET last Thursday? Fret not, because we've got you covered here with the video and audio recordings as usual. So, listen on your own time as Tim, Brian and Peter talk everything from OUYA to Angry Birds hand sanitizer. Stream it below, or catch the subscription links and video embed after the break. Happy weekend!

Hosts: Tim Stevens, Peter Rojas, Brian Heater

Producers: James Trew, Joe Pollicino

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Best Buy giving Samsung the Apple treatment with in-store mini-stores

Way back in the year 2011, the big box gadget retailer Best Buy surprised us with the launch of dedicated in-store miniature Apple stores, or if you prefer fancier Apple display sections with dedicated sales staff. The move has worked well for both Best Buy and Apple, offering prospective Apple customers and current Mac and iOS users more than one thousand new spots to go check out and pick up the latest gear from Cupertino.

Clearly no longer content playing second fiddle to Apple, Samsung's partnering with Best Buy to do the same, launching before the launch of the Samsung Galaxy S4 at the end of April. According to Geek.com, Best Buy's high traffic stores will be getting the Samsung mini-stores, with staff being told to start clearing out two aisles worth of space next to the popular in-store mobile departments.

Apparently there will be "large Samsung signage" and demonstration stations to show off the features of Samsung products. And like the Apple mini-stores, Best Buy employees will receive special training, though it appears that the entire mobile department staff will be receiving this training instead of select individuals like the Apple sections. If all goes according to plan, Samsung and Best Buy plan to eventually roll the mini-store expansion out to all of Best Buy's locations.

The move signals both Samsung's desire to push forward with their newfound swagger and the acceptance of the largest brick-and-mortar electronics retailer in the United States of the aforementioned swagger. It's worth giving some consideration to how Samsung's store will be adjacent to and staffed by the Best Buy mobile department, where the sales emphasis is almost exclusively on smartphones, with a handful of cellular tablets thrown in for good measure.

Samsung's success in the mobile market has been almost exclusively thanks to their Galaxy S line. Where consumers see Apple as a company that makes desktop computers, laptops, smartphones, and tablets, they see Samsung as televisions and smartphones. Setting up their store inside Best Buy is obviously a step to expand consumer recognition of what Samsung does, but by pairing it with Best Buy's powerful mobile presence they're also acknowledging what customers know and expect of Samsung.

It's also worth considering the benefits in the move for Best Buy. While they'll be losing significant floor space to the Samsung sections, this is a chain that's in the midst of an upheaval of sorts, faltering through a botched bid to take the company private and closing numerous stores over the past year to save costs. No doubt Samsung has paid well for the privilege of getting the same treatment as Apple, and that's money Best Buy desperately needs.

Source: Geek.com

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Confederate flag comes down at old N.C. capitol

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) ? A Confederate battle flag hung inside the old North Carolina State Capitol last week to mark the sesquicentennial of the Civil War is being taken down after civil rights leaders raised concerns.

The decision was announced Friday evening, hours after the Associated Press published a story about the flag, which officials said was part of an historical display intended to replicate how the antebellum building appeared in 1863. The flag had been planned to hang in the House chamber until April 2015, the 150th anniversary of the arrival of federal troops in Raleigh.

"This is a temporary exhibit in an historic site, but I've learned the governor's administration is going to use the old House chamber as working space," Cultural Resources Secretary Susan Kluttz said Friday night. "Given that information, this display will end this weekend rather than April of 2015."

Kim Genardo, the spokeswoman for Gov. Pat McCrory, said the exhibit that includes the Confederate battle flag will be relocated, possibly across the street to the N.C. Museum of History.

The decision was a quick about-face for the McCrory administration, which initially defended the display. Many people see the flag as a potent reminder of racial discrimination and bigotry.

State Historic Sites Director Keith Hardison had said Thursday the flag should be viewed in what he called the proper historical context.

"Our goal is not to create issues," said Hardison, a Civil War re-enactor and history buff. "Our goal is to help people understand issues of the past. ... If you refuse to put something that someone might object to or have a concern with in the exhibit, then you are basically censoring history."

North Carolina NAACP president Rev. William Barber was shocked Friday when he was shown a photo of the flag by the AP.

"He is right that it has a historical context," Barber said. "But what is that history? The history of racism. The history of lynchings. The history of death. The history of slavery. If you say that shouldn't be offensive, then either you don't know the history, or you are denying the history."

Barber couldn't immediately be reached Friday night, after the decision to take down the flag.

Sessions of the General Assembly moved to a newer building a half-century ago, but the old Capitol building is still routinely used as a venue for official state government events. McCrory's office is on the first floor, as are the offices of his chief of staff and communications staff.

The Republican governor was in the House chamber where the Confederate flag hangs as recently as Thursday, when he presided over the swearing-in ceremony of his new Highway Patrol commander.

The presentation of the Confederate battle flag at state government buildings has long been an issue of debate throughout the South. For more than a decade, the NAACP has urged its members to boycott South Carolina because of that state's display of the flag on the State House grounds.

Prior to taking his current job in North Carolina in 2006, Hardison worked as director at the Mississippi home of Confederate President Jefferson Davis, which is operated as a museum and library owned by the Sons of Confederate Veterans. The group has led the fight in the South for the proud display of the Confederate flag, which it contends is a symbol of heritage, not hate.

Hardison said the battle flag was displayed with other flags described in the diary of a North Carolina woman who visited the Capitol in 1863. A large U.S. flag displayed in the Senate chamber is reminiscent of a trophy of war captured from Union troops at the Battle of Plymouth.

"I thought, wouldn't it be wonderful to recreate this?" Hardison said. "I think we were all thinking along the same vein. ... The Capitol is both a working seat of government, in that the governor and his staff has his office there. But it is also a museum."

Hardison pointed out that the national flag used by the Confederate government, with its circle of white stars and red and white stripes, is still flown over the State Capitol dome each year on Confederate Memorial Day. The more familiar blood-red battle flag, featuring a blue "X'' studded with white stars, was used by the rebel military.

David Goldfield, a history professor at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte and author of the book "Still Fighting the Civil War," said the battle flag can hold starkly different meanings depending on a person's social perspective.

"The history of the Confederate battle flag, how it was designed and formulated, how it has been used through the years, clearly states that it is a flag of white supremacy," Goldfield said. "I know current Sons of Confederate Veterans would dispute that, saying 'Hey, I'm not a racist.' But the fact remains that the battle flag was used by a country that had as its foundation the protection and extension of human bondage."

___

Follow Michael Biesecker at twitter.com/mbieseck

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/confederate-flag-old-nc-capitol-coming-down-234855125.html

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Shiri Appleby Welcomes Daughter Natalie Bouader

"Natalie Bouader Shook came into this world Saturday, March 23rd at 5 p.m. sharp, weighing in at 6 lbs. 12 oz. [and] 20.5 inches," Appleby tells PEOPLE.

Source: http://feeds.celebritybabies.com/~r/celebrity-babies/~3/at_Pv4PrqZI/

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Outrage, sadness as Americans barred from adopting Russian children

NBC News

Sonia greets her new parents, Kristina and Rich England.

By Jim Maceda, Correspondent, NBC News

BRYANSK, Russia --?Kristi and Rich England of Marshall, Minn., shook with nerves and joy on their fourth and last trip to an orphanage in Bryansk, in?rural Russia. ?

They were finally taking Sonia, a partially blind and hyperactive 3-year-old, home with them.?The tearful Feb. 12 meeting, punctuated by Sonia?s screams of ?mama? and ?dada,? was all the more emotional because the Englands knew that they were the last lucky couple to leave Russia with an adopted child.?

?So many other families have seen their children and have loved their children and can?t bring them home,? said Kristi England, 34, a family doctor. ?It?s so unfair in so many ways.?

Those already undergoing the costly process of adopting a child from Russia found out Russian president Vladimir Putin signed a law barring any future adoptions, canceling the ones in progress. NBC's Kerry Sanders reports.

The process wasn?t easy ? the Englands endured multiple background checks and spent at least $50,000 to ensure that Sonia, now called Sophia, could go home with them.

But the ban signed into law on Dec. 28 barring all U.S. adoptions ? which numbered more than 60,000 over the past two decades ? has marooned hundreds of families in the middle of adopting, and stranded thousands of children in orphanages throughout Russia.??

"We should do all we can so that orphaned children find a family in our country, in Russia," President Vladimir Putin said in defense of the ban.

Fueling the outrage in Russia over the fate of children adopted by Americans, Russian media reported earlier this week that Alexander Abnosov, 18, showed up in the Volga River port town of Cheboksary saying his adoptive family had mistreated him. He had left Russia five years earlier, having been adopted by a family outside Philadelphia, but said he fled after suffering from verbal abuse by his adoptive mother. ?

"She would make any small problem big and always try to find a reason to shout at you," he told Russia?s state-owned Channel 1.

While UNICEF estimates there are about 740,000 children not in parental custody in Russia, only about 18,000 Russians are on the waiting list to adopt.?

But while Putin denies any direct connection, Kremlin-watchers say the ban is really about geopolitics and not about protecting kids.

NBC News

Russian child psychologist Valentina Rakova Valentina (left) stands with Kristina and Richard England and newly adopted Sonia in an orphanage in Bryansk, rural Russia.

They say it was retaliation by Moscow for an American law banning any Russian human rights violators from U.S. soil, enacted after the suspicious death in prison of Sergey Magnitsky, a Russian lawyer working for Heritage Fund, an American private equity firm.?

Russian media didn't hesitate to bolster the official line. ?

Despite the negative reports, child psychologist Valentina Rakova, who has worked in the Bryansk orphanage for 30 years, says the ban is terrible for children.?

?Here in Russia we have many examples of bad parents -- even worse than these American cases -- where kids are just tossed out,? she said as she coiffed Sonia, who requires special medical attention.

?A child like Sonia, no Russian would accept her,? Rakova said. ?Before the ban, orphans were offered to Russian families but no one took them in.??

Rakova's experience confirms the U.N.'s statistics. As far as she has seen, Americans are far more likely to adopt children who are ill or suffer from a disability.

Becky Preece, a housewife from Nampa, Idaho, is one such American. ?

She was finally able to take home 4-year-old Gabe, who has Down syndrome, in February, after years of filling out paperwork and a court battle. ?

Preece, who like the Englands beat the ban by days but was then delayed by red tape, said she saw a complete disconnect between the horrors of Russia?s adoption ban and the kindness and hospitality of the Russians themselves.?

NBC News

Becky Preece from Nampa, Idaho, adopted 4-year-old Gabe just days before the ban on Americans adopting Russian orphans went into force.

?It?s not a matter of the people,? she said while walking with the little boy in the thick Moscow snow.

?It?s politically charged and it?s something that is hard for us to understand because it?s so different from the experience that we?ve had here.?

Preece said she was excited to get Gabe into school back home, and watch him bond with his new brother who also has Down syndrome.?

?They need the infrastructure, they need the kind of support that we get at home for our children,? she said.?

But for the hundreds of American families who missed the cut and are now unable to bring their adoptive children home, the future could mean months -- even years -- of waiting and praying that the two superpower rivals find common ground before more of society?s most vulnerable pay the price.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Jim Maceda is a London-based correspondent who has covered the Soviet Union and Russia since the 1980s.?

Related:

Boy's Christmas wish: Adoption of little brother caught in US-Russia spat

Thousands march in Moscow to protest Russian adoption ban

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Putin flexes Russian military muscle in naval exercise

By Alexei Anishchuk

MOSCOW (Reuters) - President Vladimir Putin ordered large-scale military exercises in the Black Sea on Thursday, projecting Russian power towards Europe and the Middle East in a move that may vex neighbors.

Officials suggested the surprise drill would test reaction speed and combat readiness, but Putin's order also seemed a signal to the West of Russia's presence in the region.

Presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters Putin triggered the maneuvers as he flew back overnight from South Africa after a summit of the BRICS emerging economies.

Peskov said 36 warships and an unspecified number of planes would take part, but not how long exercises would last.

Putin has stressed the importance of a strong and agile military since returning to the presidency last May. In 13 years in power, he has often cited external threats when talking of the need for reliable armed forces and Russian political unity.

Late last month, Putin ordered military leaders to make urgent improvements to the armed forces in the next few years, saying Russia must thwart Western attempts to tip the balance of power. He said maneuvers must be held with less advance warning, to keep soldiers on their toes.

Putin, 60, has used his role as commander-in-chief to cast himself as a strong leader for whom national security is foremost. State media emphasized he ordered the exercises from a plane in the dead of night.

Russia's Black Sea Fleet, whose main base is in the Ukrainian port of Sevastopol, was instrumental in a war with ex-Soviet neighbor Georgia in 2008 over the Russian-backed breakaway regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia.

In addition to Georgia and Ukraine, Russia shares the Black Sea with Turkey, Bulgaria and Romania.

But Russian foreign affairs analyst Fyodor Lukyanov said the exercises were "more likely part of a wider attempt to reconfirm that Russia's navy and military forces in the south are still able to play a political and geopolitical role."

"It is flexing muscles and may have more to do with what is happening in the Mediterranean, around Syria, than in the Black Sea," said Lukyanov, editor of journal Russia in Global Affairs.

REGIONAL ROLE

Russia's modest naval maintenance and supply facility in Syria is its only military base outside the former Soviet Union, and the Defense Ministry recently announced plans to deploy a naval unit in the Mediterranean on a permanent basis.

Russia has clashed diplomatically with the West throughout a two-year conflict that has killed more than 70,000 people in Syria, using its U.N. Security Council veto to block Western efforts to push President Bashar al-Assad from power.

Moscow-based military analyst Alexander Golts said unannounced exercises are good for Russia's military, but the location could raise questions among Russia's neighbors.

"We will be watching these exercises very closely as Georgia has its own experience with Russia," Tedo Japaridze, head of the Georgian parliament's foreign relations committee, told Reuters. He said all Black Sea nations have the right to hold exercises.

The Kremlin portrays Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili as a bellicose leader, and Russia said last week annual U.S.-Georgian training exercises that began this month in Georgia, far from the Black Sea coast, put peace at risk.

Meanwhile, disputes with Ukraine over Moscow's continued lease of the Black Sea navy base have been a thorn in relations with its former Soviet neighbor.

Peskov said the number of servicemen participating was short of the threshold requiring Russia to notify other nations of its plans, but Russian news agency Itar-Tass quoted a spokesman for Ukraine's foreign minister, who was in Moscow on Thursday, as saying Ukraine had been informed in advance.

A NATO official said the Western alliance was not given notice and that "exercises are part of what the military do. NATO also conducts regular military exercises, which are not directed at anyone". But he said NATO would like to see greater openness from Russia, including on military exercises.

(Additional reporting by Gabriela Baczynska in Moscow, Pavel Polityuk in Kiev, Margarita Antidze in Tbilisi and Adrian Croft in Brussels; Writing by Alissa de Carbonnel and Steve Gutterman; Editing by Jason Webb)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/putin-flexes-russias-military-muscle-black-sea-exercises-150222901.html

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Confederate flag comes down at old N.C. capitol

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) ? A Confederate battle flag hung inside the old North Carolina State Capitol last week to mark the sesquicentennial of the Civil War is being taken down after civil rights leaders raised concerns.

The decision was announced Friday evening, hours after the Associated Press published a story about the flag, which officials said was part of an historical display intended to replicate how the antebellum building appeared in 1863. The flag had been planned to hang in the House chamber until April 2015, the 150th anniversary of the arrival of federal troops in Raleigh.

"This is a temporary exhibit in an historic site, but I've learned the governor's administration is going to use the old House chamber as working space," Cultural Resources Secretary Susan Kluttz said Friday night. "Given that information, this display will end this weekend rather than April of 2015."

Kim Genardo, the spokeswoman for Gov. Pat McCrory, said the exhibit that includes the Confederate battle flag will be relocated, possibly across the street to the N.C. Museum of History.

The decision was a quick about-face for the McCrory administration, which initially defended the display. Many people see the flag as a potent reminder of racial discrimination and bigotry.

State Historic Sites Director Keith Hardison had said Thursday the flag should be viewed in what he called the proper historical context.

"Our goal is not to create issues," said Hardison, a Civil War re-enactor and history buff. "Our goal is to help people understand issues of the past. ... If you refuse to put something that someone might object to or have a concern with in the exhibit, then you are basically censoring history."

North Carolina NAACP president Rev. William Barber was shocked Friday when he was shown a photo of the flag by the AP.

"He is right that it has a historical context," Barber said. "But what is that history? The history of racism. The history of lynchings. The history of death. The history of slavery. If you say that shouldn't be offensive, then either you don't know the history, or you are denying the history."

Sessions of the General Assembly moved to a newer building a half-century ago, but the old Capitol building is still routinely used as a venue for official state government events. McCrory's office is on the first floor, as are the offices of his chief of staff and communications staff.

The Republican governor was in the House chamber where the Confederate flag hangs as recently as Thursday, when he presided over the swearing-in ceremony of his new Highway Patrol commander.

The presentation of the Confederate battle flag at state government buildings has long been an issue of debate throughout the South. For more than a decade, the NAACP has urged its members to boycott South Carolina because of that state's display of the flag on the State House grounds.

Prior to taking his current job in North Carolina in 2006, Hardison worked as director at the Mississippi home of Confederate President Jefferson Davis, which is operated as a museum and library owned by the Sons of Confederate Veterans. The group has led the fight in the South for the proud display of the Confederate flag, which it contends is a symbol of heritage, not hate.

Hardison said the battle flag was displayed with other flags described in the diary of a North Carolina woman who visited the Capitol in 1863. A large U.S. flag displayed in the Senate chamber is reminiscent of a trophy of war captured from Union troops at the Battle of Plymouth.

"I thought, wouldn't it be wonderful to recreate this?" Hardison said. "I think we were all thinking along the same vein. ... The Capitol is both a working seat of government, in that the governor and his staff has his office there. But it is also a museum."

Hardison pointed out that the national flag used by the Confederate government, with its circle of white stars and red and white stripes, is still flown over the State Capitol dome each year on Confederate Memorial Day. The more familiar blood-red battle flag, featuring a blue "X'' studded with white stars, was used by the rebel military.

David Goldfield, a history professor at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte and author of the book "Still Fighting the Civil War," said the battle flag can hold starkly different meanings depending on a person's social perspective.

"The history of the Confederate battle flag, how it was designed and formulated, how it has been used through the years, clearly states that it is a flag of white supremacy," Goldfield said. "I know current Sons of Confederate Veterans would dispute that, saying 'Hey, I'm not a racist.' But the fact remains that the battle flag was used by a country that had as its foundation the protection and extension of human bondage."

The NAACP's Barber said the McCrory administration eventually made the right call, but questioned how the decision to hang the flag was made in the first place.

"A flag should represent a banner of unity, not division," Barber said. "A substantive symbol and sign of our best history, not our worse. We cannot deny history but neither can we attempt to revision it in a way that glorifies the shameful and attempts to make noble that which is ignoble."

___

Follow Michael Biesecker at twitter.com/mbieseck

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/confederate-flag-old-nc-capitol-coming-down-234855125.html

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Michael Dell spoke with Blackstone during "go-shop": source

By Greg Roumeliotis

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Dell Inc founder and CEO Michael Dell met with private equity firms Blackstone Group LP and Francisco Partners during the computer maker's "go-shop" period, a person familiar with the matter said on Friday.

The meetings, which took place on March 7 and 8, will be disclosed in Dell's proxy statement on Friday and indicate Blackstone explored early on the possibility of keeping Michael Dell as CEO in a bid to take over the company, the person said on condition of anonymity because the information was not yet public.

Michael Dell also met this week with Blackstone's senior managing directors Dave Johnson and Chinh Chu, although the outcome of these discussions has yet to become clear, the person added.

Blackstone and Dell declined to comment.

The company set up a special committee to evaluate all options for the world's No. 3 PC maker, a move to placate concerns over potential conflicts of interest facing Michael Dell. The CEO owns 15.7 percent of the company he started in 1984 out of his college dorm room with $1,000.

Following a 45-day go-shop period that expired last week, Dell received two alternative preliminary takeover offers that sought to top a $24.4 billion deal Dell had reached with its founder and buyout firm Silver Lake to go private

One offer was from Blackstone, Francisco and Insight Venture Management and the other was from billionaire Carl Icahn, who has amassed a roughly $1 billion stake in the Round Rock, Texas-based company.

Icahn has proposed paying $15 per share for 58 percent of Dell. Blackstone has indicated it can pay more than $14.25 per share for the whole of the company, all in cash or partly in shares, thereby also leaving Dell as a publicly listed company. Silver Lake's $13.65 per share all-cash offer would see Dell go private.

Dell said on Monday that Blackstone's and Icahn's proposals could reasonably be expected to result in superior offers, and that it would continue negotiations with both parties to secure superior bids that are binding and financed.

Michael Dell has expressed concerns that Blackstone's offer would dismantle the PC maker he founded in 1984, two people close to Michael Dell familiar with the matter have previously told Reuters.

The founder is worried that the buyout firm's plans would be inconsistent with his strategy to reinvest in the company, the people added.

Blackstone has already made an unsuccessful push to recruit Oracle Corp President Mark Hurd to run Dell if it takes over the company, one source familiar with the situation said last week.

(Reporting by Gregory Roumeliotis; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama and David Gregorio)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/michael-dell-spoke-blackstone-during-shop-source-155247372--sector.html

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It Is What The Holy One Did For Me When We Came Out Of Egypt (Balloon Juice)

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As U.S. hardens line on North Korea, South may pay

By David Chance and Ju-min Park

SEOUL (Reuters) - Washington's decision to fly B-52 and stealth bomber missions over Korea this week in a warning to Pyongyang risks pushing the North into staging an attack on the South just as its threats may have been on the cusp of dying down.

New leaders in Seoul, Beijing and most importantly, an untested 30-year-old in Pyongyang who has to prove he is capable of facing down a perceived threat from the United States, have raised the stakes in a month-long standoff that risks flaring into a conflict.

"It seems that Kim Jong-un is in the driving seat of a train that has been taken on a joyride," said Lee Min-yong, North Korea expert at Sookmyung Women's University in Seoul.

With the looming April 15 celebrations to commemorate the birthday of North Korean founder Kim Il Sung, the grandfather of the current ruler, and large chunks of North Korea's peasant army due to head to farms for spring planting, the crisis may have been lurching to a close before the American bombers' flights on Thursday.

Instead, pictures of Kim Jong-un released by the state-owned KCNA news agency showed him sketching out a response to the stealth bomber flights and depicted the possible paths of North Korean missile attacks on U.S. bases in the Pacific and on the United States itself.

The missile threat to U.S. bases in the Pacific and certainly to the continental United States may be overstated, given the untested nature of North Korea's longer-range missiles. But the risk to South Korea is real.

Seoul is just over 40 km (25 miles) from the massed artillery and battle-proven short-range Scud missiles placed north of the demilitarised zone that separates the two sides. And North Korea has proved, as recently as 2010, that it is capable of launching strikes on the South.

In that year, it was charged with sinking a South Korean naval vessel and shelled an island close to the maritime border.

A study by the International Institute for Strategic Studies says North Korea keeps 80 percent of its estimated firepower within 100 km (60 miles) of the zone. This includes approximately 700,000 troops, 8,000 artillery systems and 2,000 tanks, it said.

STAMP OUT LIKE AN ANT

Deng Yuwen, deputy editor at the Study Times, a newspaper published by China's Central Party School which trains rising officials, believes neither side intends to wage a full-scale war in which the "Americans will stamp him (Kim) out like an ant and crush him" but says the risk of conflict has risen.

"This doesn't rule out the risk of misfiring, this kind of accident cannot be ruled out," Deng said.

While Pyongyang has a new Kim in charge, South Korean President Park Geun-hye and China's new leader Xi Jinping took office just this year.

Before becoming president, Park pledged engagement in return for the North giving up its nuclear ambitions. Just a week before she took office, Pyongyang literally exploded those policies when it carried out its third nuclear test on February 12.

While Park has no option but to sit and wait, China's Xi will have to navigate a tricky path that seeks to restrain and punish the North, as it did by backing United Nations sanctions imposed after the test. But, as the North's only major ally and its supplier of food and fuel, Beijing will not go too far.

"If the Chinese take too stringent measures, the situation in North Korea will be even more unstable," said Deng.

However, the script of the Korean Peninsula being on the verge of widespread conflict has been played out many times after the 1950-53 war. American B-52 bombers were used to pressure the North in the 1970s.

In 1976, a U.S. decision to remove a tree in the demilitarised zone that separates the two Koreas saw two American soldiers bludgeoned to death with axe handles. This was followed by a show of military force that included the bombers.

That incident passed without major conflict even though North Korea subsequently fired on an American helicopter.

North Korea's state media has a long history of antagonistic rhetoric, threatening to turn Seoul into a "sea of fire" and dubbing one South Korean President a "rat-bastard" .

Even its recent repudiation of the armistice agreement that ended the 1950-53 Korean War has happened before.

FARM SUPPORT

If it was not for the American bomber flights, North Korea may have been willing to tone down tensions around now because of the spring thaw. This is the time of year its peasant army helps with planting, a key task in a country that suffers from perennial food shortages.

While that doesn't affect missile units and the core elite troops, experts in Seoul say that large parts of the North's 1.2 million-strong armed forces spend about a month on the farm from mid-April onwards.

"The soldiers are sent for 'farm support.' They stay on the farms and engage in planting like all the other farming population. They usually stay until around May 20 and leave once they are done," said Ahn Chan-il, a high-ranking North Korean defector who now lives in Seoul.

Washington's bomber flights appear to have been aimed at reassuring key allies in South Korea and Japan that it stood beside them amid the North's sabre-rattling.

President Barack Obama, who closely controls all major national security decision-making within the White House, has shown himself to be reluctant to involve the United States in foreign conflicts.

He has stayed largely on the sidelines in the Syrian civil war, minimized U.S. involvement in Libya and rebuffed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's efforts to press him for military action against Iran'a nuclear program.

New Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel was wounded in combat in a earlier war in Asia, in Vietnam, and has spoken of the need to use military force only as a last resort.

"From the U.S. point of view, it is appropriate to reassure South Korea of U.S. continuing commitment, especially in these times where some people may doubt that commitment due to the financial crisis," said Denny Roy, an expert on Asia-Pacific security at the East-West Center thinktank In Hawaii.

(Additional reporting by Sui-Lee Wee in BEIJING; Jack Kim and Christine Kim in SEOUL; Warren Strobel and Paul Eckert in WASHINGTON; Editing by Raju Gopalakrishnan)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/u-hardens-line-north-korea-south-may-pay-061712239--finance.html

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Scuba-diving saboteurs caught trying to cut internet

Paul Marks, senior technology correspondent

(Image: Cris Bouroncle/AFP/Getty)

The Egyptian coastguard has apprehended three scuba divers in the act of attempting to cut a major underwater telecommunications cable off the coast of Alexandria.

"Marine forces today successfully foiled an attempt by three divers while they were cutting a submarine cable for internet connection belonging to Egypt Telecom," coastguard spokesman Ahmed Mohammed Ali said in a statement quoted by news website Al Arabiya.

The attempted act of sabotage is a sign that criminals or even terrorists are becoming all too aware of the economic damage they can do by attacking the world's subsea cables.

The alleged cable cutters were caught on a speeding fishing boat just off the port city of Alexandria. While their motives - and indeed their degree of cable-cutting success - are unclear, local subsea cable operator Seacom has been reporting cable breaks and internet service outages in the last week, affecting trans-Mediterranean lines from Europe to Africa, the Middle East and Asia.

The news highlights issues raised in a 2010 report by the IEEE, which suggested that urgent international action was needed to rid the global submarine cable network of its many vulnerable "choke points". It said that diversifying the deep-sea cable routes on which the internet and telephony depends would bolster the network's chances of surviving attacks by saboteurs, pirates and cable thieves.

The major choke points - where cables come together after traversing oceans - are in the Strait of Malacca near Singapore, the Luzon Strait between Taiwan and the Philippines, and the Suez Canal. Even optical fibres have valuable metal shielding, making cables a target for cable thieves, just as copper cables are on land. Ships' anchors and fishing nets drag cables up and snap them, too, and this was responsible for most of Asia's internet outages between 2000 and 2009, the IEEE report said.

A fresh concern is that the highly specialised cable ships used to lay cables and fix broken ones could also be hijacked by pirates off places like Somalia - seriously delaying attempts to fix severed lines. And with new subsea cables recently laid into East Africa, that could have a damaging effect on the continent's adoption of wired technologies.

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The justice who will decide gay marriage

Supreme Court Justices Anthony Kennedy (R) and Stephen Breyer on Capitol Hill on March 14, 2013. (Win McNamee/Getty??

Few things were certain after the Supreme Court's first foray into the issue of gay marriage earlier this week?except that conservative-leaning swing vote Justice Anthony Kennedy will control the outcome.

The four liberal and the four conservative justices appeared to split right down the middle on how (and whether) to decide the constitutionality of both Proposition 8 and the Defense of Marriage Act. Kennedy?who in the past authored the court's two most important opinions affirming gay rights?seemed to be on the fence in both cases.

The most likely scenario: Kennedy will form a coalition with the liberals to strike down Proposition 8 and DOMA without substantially addressing the plaintiffs' claims that gays and lesbians should be allowed to marry and have those marriages treated equally to opposite-sex marriages by the law.

The hope for a "nationwide ruling on same-sex marriage was clearly dashed on Tuesday," said Doug NeJaime, a professor at Loyola Law School.

Gay rights advocates had pinned their hopes on the 76-year-old Sacramento native and Ronald Reagan appointee, based on his striking down of state anti-sodomy laws in Lawrence v. Texas (2003) and a Colorado statute that prohibited local governments from passing anti-discrimination laws protecting gay people in Romer v. Evans (1996).

But in both cases, Kennedy appeared unsympathetic to the argument that same-sex couples have a fundamental right to marriage. He repeatedly noted that same-sex unions are historically new and that there's not much "sociological" evidence about them and their offspring. He did, however, express sympathy for the children of same-sex couples, saying he believed their voices were "important" and that they were harmed because their parents were not allowed to wed.

Kennedy did seem far more open to striking down both anti-gay marriage laws on procedural grounds. While this would have a much more limited effect than a broader decision, it would still be a victory for the gay rights movement.

In the Proposition 8 case about California's 2008 voter-approved gay marriage ban, Kennedy dropped a bombshell early into oral arguments when he wondered aloud whether the Supreme Court should have ever agreed to hear the case in the first place. (At least four justices must vote to take on a case, which happens privately in the judges' chambers.)

"I just wonder if?if the case was properly granted," Kennedy said to attorney Ted Olson, who was arguing for the ban to be struck down. Kennedy later asked attorney Charles Cooper, who was arguing on behalf of Proposition 8, why the Supreme Court should hear the case at all.

Justice Sonia Sotomayor took up Kennedy's line of argument, asking Cooper why they couldn't let the issue of same-sex marriage "percolate" longer before making such a major decision.

Kennedy appears to be weighing dismissing the case altogether, and Sotomayor's questioning suggests he may be able to get the four liberal justices to join him. If they dismiss the case, the lower-court decision stands allowing gay marriage in California, but no other state would be affected. If that's the route the court goes, it's possible Kennedy would write the opinion without substantially addressing the plaintiffs' claims that they have the same right to marry as people of another sexual orientation.

Interestingly, Kennedy's comments in Wednesday's DOMA oral arguments also suggest he may take a way out that doesn't require him to rule on the substance of whether the law discriminates against gay couples. DOMA defines marriage at the federal level as only between opposite-sex couples, denying federal benefits and obligations to same-sex married couples in the nine states that allow it. Kennedy appeared very intrigued by the argument that DOMA improperly intrudes into the states' domain of marriage, characterizing the law as potentially in "conflict" with states' rights.

Chief Justice John Roberts also pursued this line of questioning, repeatedly asking the attorneys arguing against DOMA if they believed it was a violation of federalism. Neither attorney would take the bait, however, instead sticking with the reasoning that DOMA discriminates against same-sex couples.

"The chief justice got both parties to the case to admit that they don't think there's a federalism issue here," said Chapman University law professor John Eastman. Eastman is the chairman of the anti-gay marriage group the National Organization for Marriage. "I don't know whether that persuaded Justice Kennedy that he was going down the wrong line."

NeJaime said it's possible Kennedy could write an opinion striking down DOMA on federalist grounds, while the four liberal justices joined in a concurring opinion that struck it down as discriminatory. (If Kennedy sides with the liberals, he could assign the opinion to himself because he is the most senior justice of that group.) If so, Kennedy's decision could say nothing substantial about gay rights, merely sticking to the argument that it's an overreach of federal power.

"You could end up with two decisions from Kennedy that basically allow same-sex marriage in some ways but do nothing on the substance," NeJaime said.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/ticket/kennedy-decide-gay-marriage-cases-201558362--election.html

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Richard III Burial Challenged on Human Rights Grounds

The debate over the reburial of English King Richard III is heating up, with a group of the monarch's supposed descendents challenging the University of Leicester on the plans for reinterment, basing their argument on human rights violations.

University of Leicester archaeologists discovered the bones of the lost monarch under a parking lot in Leicester last year, and they confirmed the king's identity in February. The U.K. Ministry of Justice issued the university an exhumation certificate before the project began, giving them the right to decide where the king's remains would be reburied, if found. That certificate hasn't stopped the eruption of debate over the best spot for the burial.

From the beginning of the long search for Richard's grave, the Univeresity of Leicester officials have stated that the king would be reburied in Leicester Cathedral, not far from his unmarked parking lot grave. But a number of Richard III enthusiasts say they'd rather see the king buried in York, a city where he spent about a third of his life.

Now, the Plantagenet Alliance, a group of about 15 people who claim to be relatives of the dead king, has released its intentions to file a legal challenge against the University of Leicester's exhumation certificate. The challenge will argue that the Ministry of Justice is in violation of article 8 of the European Convention of Human Rights, which affirms the right to respect for family and home life. [Gallery: The Discovery of Richard III]

According to the Alliance, the Ministry of Justice should have consulted the 15 relatives of Richard III before issuing the university a license to rebury the king as they wished. In a statement, the University of Leicester called this argument "particularly odd."

"There is no obligation to consult living relatives where remains are older than 100 years," the University of Leicester said.

In addition, Richard died without offspring. Any relatives are thus the descendents of his siblings, a relatively distant tie.

"Statistically speaking, many tens of thousands of individuals alive today are descended this way," the university officials said.??

Although he died in 1485, Richard III has many fans today. There are several societies for "Richardians," as enthusiasts are known. Most Richardians are history buffs drawn by the mystery surrounding the king ? was he really a villain as portrayed in Shakepeare's "Richard III?" Did he have his nephews murdered to ascend to the throne, as rumored after his reign? Or was the king, the last of the Plantagenet dynasty, simply smeared by the Tudor dynasty that came after him?

University archaeologists argue that plans for a Leicester reburial have been transparent and in place since before the dig started.

"Reinterment on the nearest consecrated ground is in keeping with good archaeological practice," university officials stated. "Richard has lain in the shadow of St. Martin's Cathedral, Leicester, for over 500 years."

Follow Stephanie Pappas on Twitter?and Google+. Follow us @livescience, Facebook?& Google+. Original article on LiveScience.com.

Copyright 2013 LiveScience, a TechMediaNetwork company. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/richard-iii-burial-challenged-human-rights-grounds-181350663.html

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Tokyo bar offers cocktail of booze and Buddhism

By Hyun Oh

TOKYO (Reuters) - Japanese Buddhist monk Yoshinobu Fujioka enjoys bringing his congregation together, one cocktail at a time.

Fujioka owns the 23-seat "Vowz Bar" in central Tokyo, where Buddhist chants replace karaoke songs and the shaven-headed bartenders serve up sermons and homilies along with the drinks.

"People would gather in a Buddhist temple and drink together, we've just updated the tradition to fit our times", said Fujioka, who also works at a temple just outside Tokyo.

"They become totally different believers here, the distance between them and myself diminishing. They are more connected with each other," he added, dressed in traditional black robes.

Vowz Bar has been going strong for 13 years and the cocktail list includes the vodka and cognac-based "Perfect Bliss" as well as "Infinite Hell" - a vodka, raspberry liqueur and cranberry juice concoction with a splash of tonic water.

The special is called "Enslavery to Love and Lust" and costs around 800 yen (5.59 pounds).

"Every day, my heart gets tainted by dirt in the secular world, so I come here to repurify it over some drinks and fun," said regular patron Noriko Urai, a 42-year-old businesswoman.

"Vowz" is a play on the Japanese word for monk.

(Editing by Elaine Lies and Miral Fahmy)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/tokyo-bar-offers-cocktail-booze-buddhism-045634569.html

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How does innovation take hold in a community? Math modeling can provide clues

Mar. 27, 2013 ? Mathematical models can be used to study the spread of technological innovations among individuals connected to each other by a network of peer-to-peer influences, such as in a physical community or neighborhood. One such model was introduced in a paper published yesterday in the SIAM Journal on Applied Dynamical Systems.

Authors N. J. McCullen, A. M. Rucklidge, C. S. E. Bale, T. J. Foxon, and W. F. Gale focus on one main application: The adoption of energy-efficient technologies in a population, and consequently, a means to control energy consumption. By using a network model for adoption of energy technologies and behaviors, the model helps evaluate the potential for using networks in a physical community to shape energy policy.

The decision or motivation to adopt an energy-efficient technology is based on several factors, such as individual preferences, adoption by the individual's social circle, and current societal trends. Since innovation is often not directly visible to peers in a network, social interaction -- which communicates the benefits of an innovation -- plays an important role. Even though the properties of interpersonal networks are not accurately known and tend to change, mathematical models can provide insights into how certain triggers can affect a population's likelihood of embracing new technologies. The influence of social networks on behavior is well recognized in the literature outside of the energy policy domain: network intervention can be seen to accelerate behavior change.

"Our model builds on previous threshold diffusion models by incorporating sociologically realistic factors, yet remains simple enough for mathematical insights to be developed," says author Alastair Rucklidge. "For some classes of networks, we are able to quantify what strength of social network influence is necessary for a technology to be adopted across the network."

The model consists of a system of individuals (or households) who are represented as nodes in a network. The interactions that link these individuals -- represented by the edges of the network -- can determine probability or strength of social connections. In the paper, all influences are taken to be symmetric and of equal weight. Each node is assigned a current state, indicating whether or not the individual has adopted the innovation. The model equations describe the evolution of these states over time.

Households or individuals are modeled as decision makers connected by the network, for whom the uptake of technologies is influenced by two factors: the perceived usefulness (or utility) of the innovation to the individual, including subjective judgments, as well as barriers to adoption, such as cost. The total perceived utility is derived from a combination of personal and social benefits. Personal benefit is the perceived intrinsic benefit for the individual from the product. Social benefit depends on both the influence from an individual's peer group and influence from society, which could be triggered by the need to fit in. The individual adopts the innovation when the total perceived utility outweighs the barriers to adoption.

When the effect of each individual node is analyzed along with its influence over the entire network, the expected level of adoption is seen to depend on the number of initial adopters and the structure and properties of the network. Two factors in particular emerge as important to successful spread of the innovation: The number of connections of nodes with their neighbors, and the presence of a high degree of common connections in the network.

This study makes it possible to assess the variables that can increase the chances for success of an innovation in the real world. From a marketing standpoint, strategies could be designed to enhance the perceived utility of a product or item to consumers by modifying one or more of these factors. By varying different parameters, a government could help figure out the effect of different intervention strategies to expedite uptake of energy-efficient products, thus helping shape energy policy.

"We can use this model to explore interventions that a local authority could take to increase adoption of energy-efficiency technologies in the domestic sector, for example by running recommend-a-friend schemes, or giving money-off vouchers," author Catherine Bale explains. "The model enables us to assess the likely success of various schemes that harness both the householders' trust in local authorities and peer influence in the adoption process. At a time when local authorities are extremely resource-constrained, tools to identify the interventions that will provide the biggest impact in terms of reducing household energy bills and carbon emissions could be of immense value to cities, councils and communities."

One of the motivations behind the study -- modeling the effect of social networks in the adoption of energy technologies -- was to help reduce energy consumption by cities, which utilize over two-thirds of the world's energy, releasing more than 70% of global CO₂ emissions. Local authorities can indirectly influence the provision and use of energy in urban areas, and hence help residents and businesses reduce energy demand through the services they deliver. "Decision-making tools are needed to support local authorities in achieving their potential contribution to national and international energy and climate change targets," says author William Gale.

Higher quantities of social data can help in making more accurate observations through such models. As author Nick McCullen notes,"To further refine these types of models, and make the results reliable enough to be used to guide the decisions of policy-makers, we need high quality data. Particularly, data on the social interactions between individuals communicating about energy innovations is needed, as well as the balance of factors affecting their decision to adopt."

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Journal Reference:

1. N. J. McCullen, A. M. Rucklidge, C. S. E. Bale, T. J. Foxon, W. F. Gale. Multiparameter Models of Innovation Diffusion on Complex Networks. SIAM Journal on Applied Dynamical Systems, 2013; 12 (1): 515 DOI: 10.1137/120885371

Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.

Disclaimer: Views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/top_news/~3/hugYw5OyB2M/130327163559.htm

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Chris Brown Writing Song For Rihanna, Staying on "Focused Path," Taking in Third-Person

Source: http://www.thehollywoodgossip.com/2013/03/chris-brown-writing-new-song-with-rihanna-staying-on-focused-pat/

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Bill O'Reilly: Gay Marriage Critics Have No Argument!

Source: http://www.thehollywoodgossip.com/2013/03/bill-oreilly-gay-marriage-critics-have-no-argument/

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Lululemon: Downward dog not required for returns

FILE - In this Tuesday, March 19, 2013 file photo, a woman walks past the Lululemon Athletica store at Union Square in New York. Lululemon says no demonstrations of yoga positions or otherwise are needed to return its pricey black yoga pants that the company pulled from shelves for being too sheer. The yoga gear maker?s policy statement comes after a New York Post report that was widely circulated by the media recounted one woman?s tale of being asked to bend over when trying to return some pants to prove they were sheer. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer)

FILE - In this Tuesday, March 19, 2013 file photo, a woman walks past the Lululemon Athletica store at Union Square in New York. Lululemon says no demonstrations of yoga positions or otherwise are needed to return its pricey black yoga pants that the company pulled from shelves for being too sheer. The yoga gear maker?s policy statement comes after a New York Post report that was widely circulated by the media recounted one woman?s tale of being asked to bend over when trying to return some pants to prove they were sheer. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer)

NEW YORK (AP) ? No "downward-facing dog" is required.

Lululemon said Wednesday that no demonstrations of yoga or any other positions are needed to return the pricey black yoga pants that the company pulled from shelves last week after finding that they were too sheer.

"We do not require guests to demonstrate the sheerness of their bottoms," said Sari Martin, who works for communications firm ICR and spoke on behalf of Lululemon.

The Vancouver-based yoga gear maker's statement comes a day after a New York Post report that was widely circulated by the media recounted one woman's tale of being asked by sales staff to bend over to prove that the yoga pants she was trying to return were sheer.

Martin would not comment on the specific instance recounted by the Post, but said Wednesday that this is not standard policy for Lululemon staffers. To the contrary, she said that people who bought the black "Luon" yoga pants, which cost $72 to $98, since March 1, either online or in store, can return them for a full refund, "no questions asked."

The hubbub comes a week after Lululemon said it was recalling its black "Luon" yoga pants, which account for about 17 percent of all women's pants in its stores, because their material was too sheer. The pants are made from a combination of nylon and Lycra fibers.

The company still hasn't determined the cause of the problem. And officials have declined to say when the items would be back in its stores. But the company has added more stringent controls and is diversifying its suppliers to make sure it doesn't happen again.

The flap is a blemish for a company that has been a superstar in the athletic world. Lululemon has grown to 211 stores, including 135 stores in the U.S. and 51 in Canada, as its yoga and other workout clothing has gained popularity with men and women. Its devoted fans helped Lululemon, founded in 1998, become a $1.4 billion business.

But the pants snafu isn't the only quality issue the chain has had, though. The company also has had sheerness problems with swimsuits and light-colored pants.

RBC Capital Markets analyst Howard Tubin said that while the sheer pants are an "odd" situation, it's just a growing pain for the rapidly expanding company.

"They tried to get in front of this by not letting the merchandise stay on store shelves and they're working with vendors to try to figure out how this happened," he said. "They're probably handling it the best way they can."

Shares fell 76 cents to $62.27.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/f70471f764144b2fab526d39972d37b3/Article_2013-03-27-Lululemon-Yoga%20Pants/id-ae26b6aeec094230b1842ca114c60713

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Poll: 60% think federal gov't should recognize same-sex marriages (cbsnews)

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Coupon clipping declines as shoppers get savvier

Nati Harnik / AP file

Margery Gibbs uses coupons at a store in Omaha, Neb., in 2009. Coupon use fell in 2012 after several strong years.

By Allison Linn, TODAY

The good, old-fashioned coupon ? which surged in popularity in recent years ? appears to be falling out of favor.

Two separate studies show that coupon use declined significantly in 2012.

One study, from coupon industry consulting firm Inmar, found that about 3 billion coupons were redeemed in 2012, a drop of about 14.3 percent from approximately 3.5 billion coupons redeemed in 2011. Another, from NCH Marketing Services, found that coupon use fell by 17 percent in 2012 over the year before.

The drop came after several good years for the coupon, which seemed to indicate that the weak economy had helped bring coupon clipping back in style. The coupon has even enjoyed its 15 minutes of pop culture fame thanks to the reality show ?Extreme Couponing,? which documents people using thousands of coupons to save hundreds of dollars stockpiling diapers, paper towels and other items.

But experts say that while frugality is still in vogue, many shoppers have gotten so savvy at saving money that they've moved past the coupon.

?It was like the training wheels ? to teach people how to save money,? Phil Lempert, the chief executive of Supermarket Guru, said of coupons.

Experts say it?s pretty common for coupon use to rise when the economy goes south, and start falling as the economy gets better.

But the economic gains in 2012 weren?t really strong enough to warrant people giving up their frugal habits. In addition, experts say they saw plenty of other reasons that coupon use has declined.

?It?s sort of a thousand cuts,? said David Mounts, the chief executive of Inmar. ?It?s little things here and there.?

For starters, there were slightly fewer coupons. The industry distributed about 310 billion coupons in 2012, down from 313 billion in 2011 and a big drop from 336 billion in 2010, according to Inmar?s research.

Last year?s batch of coupons also tended to be for smaller discounts and to expire more quickly than in the past, Mounts said.

In addition, shopping habits have changed.

Some customers have started to want more than a one-size-fits-all coupon that you clip out of a Sunday newspaper, Mounts said.??Instead, more shoppers are looking for personalized deals that more closely match their shopping habits. They also want deals that are delivered digitally so they don?t have to manage a stack of paper.

So far, though, those types of coupons aren?t that widespread. Inmar?s data shows that more than four in 10 coupons still come from the newspaper inserts.

Frugally minded shoppers also are finding even more sophisticated ways to save money, said Lempert of Supermarket Guru, which tracks customer shopping habits.

These days, he?s seeing more savvy shoppers going to multiple stores to find the best prices on food and other items. Their stops may include drugstores, dollar stores, warehouse chains like Costco and specialty grocers such as Trader Joe?s.

They?re also turning more to store brands that may be cheaper than name brands, even when there?s a coupon for the branded item, he said.

Many younger customers also are constantly changing their eating and shopping habits, he said, and may not be as interested in buying the items that are traditionally discounted with coupons. They also may be more captivated by new types of ways to save, such as a four-hour sale promoted on Twitter.

?Frankly, the coupons weren?t meeting their needs,? Lempert said.

The extreme couponing fad may not have helped either.

The trend sparked a backlash among some in the industry, who alleged that the TV show set unrealistic expectations.

Lempert thinks it also made some shoppers feel uneasy. He said he receives thousands of emails a week from shoppers, and reaction to extreme couponing was largely negative.

Despite such challenges, experts say?the coupon industry is adapting to changing customer preferences.?Inmar?s early data from the start of 2013 appears to be showing more positive trends in coupon use than last year, Mounts said, which suggests coupon clipping likely won't disappear completely any time soon.

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Boomers Turn To Encore Careers After Retiring

USA Today:

Sitting at home through a 20-or 30-year retirement is no longer an option for an increasing number of Baby Boomers.

Some are looking to do something else because they have to for financial reasons. But, increasingly, Boomers are embarking on entirely different

Read the whole story at USA Today

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Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/03/26/boomers-turn-to-encore-ca_n_2956762.html

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'World War Z' trailer: Brad Pitt vs. undead world

By Cody Delistraty, NBC News contributor

After going way over budget and undergoing script rewrites and re-shoots, "World War Z" is finally coming to the screen -- and it looks to have all the trappings of a thrilling zombie blockbuster.

Just as director Marc Forster (of "Quantum of Solace" fame) has been working against the clock, budget problems, and unhappy producers to finish the film, so, too, Gerry Lane (Brad Pitt) must beat the odds. With only 90 days to stop a zombie apocalypse, Lane, a United Nations worker, must leave his family to hunt for clues around the globe, interview survivors, and find out how to stop the zombies.

Paramount Pictures

"I think these things have a weakness," Pitt's character says.

According to the latest trailer, which dropped Monday, something in Russia may hold the key. As Lane says "weakness," the trailer shows a boy crouching as zombies run past him, paying him no attention even while destroying everything else in their path. So what exactly is the secret then? It?s tough to tell, but Lane must leave his family to find it.

Naturally, there are some stunning visual effects, such as when a plane is blown open in flight, ? la the "Iron Man 3" trailer. There are mountains of fast zombies, which are nothing like those in "The Walking Dead" or the original "Dawn of the Dead" films. No, the "World War Z" zombies move, climb and destroy with incredible pace. In fact, the newly released poster has a whole swarm (herd? gaggle? army?) of zombies piled atop one another, mercilessly pulling a helicopter out of the sky.

And, of course, lest we forget, there?s also the genre's hallmark: super serious dialogue. "I can?t leave my family," Pitt?s character says. "Don't pretend your family is exempt when we talk about the end of humanity!" a stern officer volleys back.

Over-the-top dialogue aside, the trailer shows that "World War Z," based on Max Brooks' novel of the same name, straddles action and mystery with equal importance. And we can?t wait to follow Brad Pitt and company along for the ride.

The film hits US theaters on June 21.

More Entertainment news:

Source: http://entertainment.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/03/25/17458628-world-war-z-trailer-pits-brad-pitt-against-mountains-of-zombies?lite

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