'Prometheus': The (Early) Reviews Are In!

Critics love the effects and praise Michael Fassbender's performance, but some feel the sci-fi flick gets lost in its own high-mindedness.
By John Mitchell

Michael Fassbender as David 8 in "Prometheus"
Photo: Twentieth Century Fox

One of the summer's most anticipated films, director Ridley Scott's "Prometheus," doesn't open until June 8, but early reviews for the sci-fi blockbuster are already trickling in, something many studios would fear so far ahead of a film's release — that is, if they weren't as universally positive.

So far, the consensus is clear: "Prometheus" is a flawed film with a lot of great things going for it, most notably a breakout scene-stealing performance from Michael Fassbender ("Shame"), inspired and amazing 3-D effects and plenty of "jolt and amaze" moments that all but assure filmgoers "will be right back for seconds" when 20th Century Fox releases the film next Friday.

Critics have nothing but praise for the performances of Charlize Theron, Noomi Rapace and Idris Elba, though they are particularly emphatic in their appreciation for Fassbender as the android butler David. When MTV News caught up with Theron recently, she gushed about what makes Fassbender worthy of all that praise. And for fans who can't wait to see the cast in action, Theron will appear at the MTV Movie Awards, airing this Sunday, June 3 at 9 p.m. E.T. on MTV.

"Technically, 'Prometheus' is magnificent. Shot in 3-D but without the director taking the process into account in his conceptions or execution, the film absorbs and uses the process seamlessly," The Hollywood Reporter writes. "There is nary a false or phony note in the effects."

"Scott and his production crew compensate to some degree with an intricate, immersive visual design that doesn't skimp on futuristic eye-candy or prosthetic splatter," Variety agrees.

Those going in expecting a straightforward prequel to Scott's "Alien" may be disappointed. While it does answer a few questions burning in the minds of sci-fi aficionados, including some insight into the acid-for-blood aliens of the original series and the spacecraft they are discovered aboard, "Prometheus" is very much its own film.

"Much of Scott's audience are expecting a fully-formed prequel to 'Alien,'" The Telegraph writes, "but 'Prometheus' only really lays the groundwork, leaving plenty of dots disconnected."

Though movie review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes is only culling from nine reviews so far, many of them are from top critics, and the film enjoys an 88 percent "fresh" rating. That puts "Prometheus," presently, a few points ahead of "The Hunger Games" and a few points behind "The Avengers" in the race for best-reviewed blockbuster of the year so far. And several critics attribute that standing to Fassbender.

"Upstaging everyone is Fassbender, who provides the film's real glint of steel, while decentring its dramatic focus," the Guardian continues. "[Fassbender] steals the film with the chilling, parasitic relentlessness of that first gut-bound alien."

"The film contains the ideal embodiment of its sly existential paradox in David, the man-made manservant whose soulfully soulless presence brings to mind both 'A.I.' and '2001'; he's like HAL 9000 with better cheekbones," Variety concludes. "In a particularly witty touch, Fassbender's droll performance takes its cues from Peter O'Toole in 'Lawrence of Arabia,' a clip of which David continually watches as a model for how to behave around humans."

The ultimate result, according to THR, is a "visual feast of a 3D sci-fi movie that has trouble combining its high-minded notions about the origins of the species and its 'Alien'-based obligation to deliver oozy gross-out moments."

It's a sentiment echoed by The Guardian: "It is a muddled, intricate, spectacular film, but more or less in control of all its craziness and is very watchable. It lacks the central killer punch of 'Alien': it doesn't have its satirical brilliance and its tough, rationalist attack on human agency and guilt. But there's a driving narrative impulse, and, however silly, a kind of idealism, a sense that it's exciting to make contact with whatever's out there."

Are you planning to see "Prometheus"? Let us know in the comments below!

Head over to MovieAwards.MTV.com to vote for your favorite flicks now! The 21st annual MTV Movie Awards air live this Sunday, June 3, at 9 p.m. ET.

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Developing Team Produces Improved Business Success | Personal ...

During the early years of business, I kept hearing about the importance of developing team. I didn?t quite capture why it was necessary for someone just starting out. However, the basics were in place such as accounting, bookkeeping, and availability of legal advice.

The next big picture advice heard was to establish a succession plan. Again, just having begun my business, I thought the need for this was very far off into the future. But time has a way of advancing, goals and directions change, and new needs arise. It has become obvious that the people preaching the advice were right on target.

Team success

Today I was congratulated on the number of followers I enjoy on Twitter but I couldn?t take all of the credit. I attribute the phenomenon to the once thriving community that taught the better practices for this site. A virtual assistant was taking the same classes and researched additional information. I eventually hired her to help me grow a like-minded following on a couple of the social media sites. Those of us that were in the community began to collaborate formalizing an online team. By promoting one another we grew our followings even further.

Just as I was reviewing the concepts of creating team and succession, a good friend emailed me with her news. ?Julie? built a successful women?s organization with chapters in major cities in the United States. She also developed chapters in foreign countries, and adopted schools in Africa to send some of the proceeds to help educate the children.

Team growth and achievement

Julie and I began business about the same time, and we always seem to be having similar thoughts simultaneously. She wrote to say she is very glad that her team was built from the start. Everyone who works with her has full knowledge of her intentions for business, and are trained well on how to do their job. In addition, they are given decision-making power. Over the years, her team formed a close network. Turnover is next to non-existent. Her team and teamwork have paid off greatly in every respect including loyalty.

On the very same day as I was reviewing these concepts, Julie was advised to step away from being CEO. She is to hand the reigns over to someone on her team who is well groomed for the position. Julie will now become the Founding Member and Platform Speaker. When she speaks, Julie is both inspirational and motivational able to move audiences to new heights. I exclaimed it was brilliant advice.

In her new capacity, Julie will be able to further showcase her company and attract additional sponsors to empower the giving portion of her business. By stepping away from being CEO, a path is also being built for her to one day sell the company to another with a very strong foundation in place.

The moral of the story is to envision the final outcome of your business. How will you step out? Will you sell, hand it over to the next generation or simply walk away? Time passes quickly but your personal brand has the capacity to live on for many generations to come. Make your plan today and make it a Smooth Sale!

Author:

Elinor Stutz, CEO of Smooth Sale, LLC, (800) 704-1499, was honored by Open View Labs with inclusion in their international list of ?Top 25 Sales Influencers for 2012.? Elinor authored the International Best-Selling book, ?Nice Girls DO Get the Sale: Relationship Building That Gets Results?, Sourcebooks and the best selling career book, ?HIRED! How to Use Sales Techniques to Sell Yourself On Interviews?, Career Press. She provides team sales training, private coaching and highly acclaimed inspirational keynotes for conferences. Elinor is available for consultation.

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Trustable Directory for Nonprofit Jobs Information | Business ...

It is true that getting the dream job require for hard effort. However, the chance is always there for you as long as you keep fighting for your dream. In seeking for the job, for example, there are many sources you can go to. They are available online and offline.

If you are interested to join into non-profit sectors, there are available various Nonprofit Jobs you can apply. To do this kind of job, you need to have full dedication. And wisely put aside the getting rich orientation. If you go online, there are many sites that post information about jobs in non-profit sectors. Unfortunately, they are not always trustable. For the best recommendation, you can directly visit Nonprofitjobseeker.com. Non profit jobs directory like this is beneficial for both employers and job seekers. If you are a job seeker, then you just need to search for the jobs by state or title. Post your resumes and start getting connected with the employers.

You may wonder about the income earning from nonprofit careers. However, the huge number of applicants on non profit sectors is the real proof. Working on careers nonprofit will give you more than just making money. Still feel hesitated to apply? Do not worry. You can start creating the account first at Non Profit Job Seeker site.

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This entry was posted on May 29, 2012, 3:15 am and is filed under Info. You can follow any responses to this entry through RSS 2.0. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

Comments are closed.

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Julie Farrar: Bored Games Kids Play

?Sometimes the most exciting games require little more than space

School?s almost out for the summer.? I know that because the neighborhood grade school just held its field day at the park up the street.? For many of these kids, summer means computer camp, or summer school, or art camp, or circus camp, or 8 weeks of sleep-away camp in a place halfway across the country, or heading out of state to their family?s summer home someplace cooler and less humid.? The one thing that the kids in my community don?t do in the summer is get bored.? Are the only games they know digital and Hunger?

I remember summer boredom well when I was a kid.? As I recall, it didn?t kill me and didn?t cause my brain to deteriorate.? At least I think it didn?t.? Maybe I could have founded a multi-billion dollar technology start-up or had written a best-selling novel by age 25 if I had never been allowed to be bored.? But there it is.? My parents didn?t care enough for my future or safety because they left me to spend the summer sitting in a friend?s tree house reading Nancy Drew books or let me take off on my bike in the morning to ride all over town (without a helmet ? egads!) and not return until dinner.? Or I just sat around playing solitaire all day.

Summer boredom was great.? During the day my friends and I would be so bored we?d start peeking in the windows of empty houses or climbing into the loft of the one remaining barn in the area and make up stories of murderers and ghosts and criminals on the Most Wanted lists who clearly had taken up residence as evidenced by an abandoned hammer in the corner or a light bulb burning at night.

We were bored enough to sit in the driveway past midnight telling ghost stories about the crazed killers who escaped from insane asylums and were out to get all young lovers parked on country roads or teenage girls babysitting alone on a Friday night.? We were bored enough to play 20 rounds of the card game Slap Jack in the breezeway of our unairconditioned 60s ranch homes.? We were bored enough to play kick ball in the street until the complete darkness set in and the porch lights failed to illuminate our game.

I went to a morning music camp a couple of weeks each summer.? And I went to a week of Bible school when younger.? But for all my friends, the summer was the same.? Morning was reserved for doing our household chores.? We ate hot dogs and Campbell?s soup for lunch.? Then we started knocking on each other?s doors saying, ?What do you want to do?? I don?t know, what do you want to do??

Everyone likes to let loose on a hot summer afternoon

We had a bottomless well of games to play.? Games with cards.? Games with balls of all sizes.? Games with ropes.? Games that required no equipment at all, like Freeze Tag.? Or games that didn?t require anything more than a piece of chalk and small stone ? not even friends ? like Hopscotch.

I don?t much remember my kids playing games during their summers.? They did play cards.? However, as much as I wanted to resist it, I became one of those parents who started scouring the local papers in March for suitable summer programs.? Why?? Not because I thought it was better than sitting around being bored.? I did it because everyone else was, which meant no kids were around for most of the day (or evening, because of organized sports) for my kids to play with.? They were kids when dodge ball was discouraged because someone?s body or feelings might get hurt.? They were kids during the rise of the video screen.

Are childhood games a thing of the past?? Canadian writer Marijke Vroomen Durning has asked that question on her website Games We Used To Play. It grew out of a question about whether we are losing the art of play.? The site is a way to relive the games we remember and see if they connect with someone else. She asks readers to submit the games and their rules to the site, so pop on over and see if one of your favorites is there.?

As a post-script, last week a flyer came attached to an e-mail from my neighborhood association president.? Apparently there will be a family kickball night soon up at the park.? All adults and children welcome.? Yep, that?s the way things go now.? It would never occur to the kids on my street today to grab a big, red rubber ball and kick it around until dark.? Yet the parents do fondly remember their days of running the makeshift bases.? So they decided to organize and manufacture ?play? for their own children.

Something?s not right here.? Anyone for double-Dutch?

Do you think that the idea of play has disappeared from the youngest generation? What was your favorite game as a child? Share stories of your childhood summers in the comments box.

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Rihanna, Drake Spotted Getting 'Hot and Heavy' In Miami

Pair, who recently collaborated on Drake's 'Take Care,' allegedly took part in some dirty dancing at Liv nightclub.
By Jocelyn Vena

Photo: Kevork Djansezian/ Getty Images

Rumor has it that Rihanna and her onetime paramour and frequent collaborator Drake got their dance on while clubbing together in Miami on Sunday night.

According to an onlooker, their dancing got somewhat dirty while they partied at Miami's Liv nightclub. The source told Usmagazine.com that the twosome got "hot and heavy" while out together, saying, "Rihanna was all over Drake this weekend. They were holding hands and dancing all close on the dance floor."

This is hardly the first time these two have sparked romance rumors. They briefly dated in 2009, but the relationship fizzled from romance to friendship. Since their platonic transition, they have collaborated on several hit tracks including Rihanna's "What's My Name?" and most recently Drizzy's "Take Care." They even steamed up the videos for both tracks by playing lovers.

"We weren't really sure what it was," Rihanna told Elle magazine in 2011 about her relationship with the MC. "I definitely was attracted to Drake, but I think it is what it is, like what it was. We didn't want to take it any further. It was a really fragile time in my life, so I just didn't want to get too serious with anything or anyone at that time."

While it seems the twosome have since moved on from their '09 fling, at the time, Drake had some strong emotions about the breakup.

"She's just such an overwhelming and incredible person," Drake said. "And such a talented person and someone that I was like, 'I can't believe I'm here talking to this individual,' that she just gave me that feeling like when I was 17 years old trying to take Nikki Ramos, this girl from Toronto, out on a date and she never wanted to go with me. She never would go; she would have a million excuses why she couldn't talk to me. That's how [Rihanna] made me feel, she made me feel small; she made me feel nervous. It just put me back to the Acura in Toronto, feeling like Aubrey Graham, not Drake."

Related Artists

• Rihanna
• Drake

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Fighting US's worst teen pregnancy rate in Miss.

In this May 2, 2012 photograph taken in Marks, Miss., Shalendrick Tribble, 19, shows off a tattoo of her son's name in a classroom at Madison S. Palmer High School in Marks. Tribble had her son almost two years ago, and has been taking classes in parenting and family planning. (AP Photo/Laura Tillman)

In this May 2, 2012 photograph taken in Marks, Miss., Shalendrick Tribble, 19, shows off a tattoo of her son's name in a classroom at Madison S. Palmer High School in Marks. Tribble had her son almost two years ago, and has been taking classes in parenting and family planning. (AP Photo/Laura Tillman)

In this May 2, 2012 photograph taken in Marks, Miss., Shalendrick Tribble, 19, holds an early photo of her son, Malick, who is now almost two years old. Tribble has stayed in school despite the challenges of having a child at a young age. She hopes to be a cosmetologist one day. (AP Photo/Laura Tillman)

In this May 2, 2012 photograph taken in Marks, Miss., Madison S. Palmer High School Principal Carl Palmer talks about teen pregnancy in his office. Palmer says teen pregnancy is a dangerous cycle in the Mississippi Delta. This year, the state's schools will be required to teach sex education for the first time. Republican Gov. Phil Bryant has created a task force to address the issue. (AP Photo/Laura Tillman)

In this May 2, 2012 photograph taken in Marks, Miss., Willie B. Gilmore, right, director of the Delta Health Partners Healthy Start Initiative, and Debra McGee, a social worker with the Initiative, discuss the teen pregnancy crisis in the Mississippi Delta during a visit to Madison S. Palmer High School, one of several they visit on a regular basis. This year, the state's schools will be required to teach sex education for the first time. Republican Gov. Phil Bryant has created a task force to address the issue. (AP Photo/Laura Tillman)

In this May 2, 2012 photograph taken in Marks, Miss., Donyell Hollins, 18, holds a picture of her daughter, who is four months old. Hollins attends Madison S. Palmer High School in Marks, and is taking part in the Delta Health Partners Healthy Start Initiative to learn more about family planning and parenting. (AP Photo/Laura Tillman)

MARKS, Miss. (AP) ? With her hair in a ponytail and her smile quick and wide, it's hard to tell that high school junior Donyell Hollins has been pulling all-nighters for most of the semester to take care of her infant daughter.

Her situation isn't unusual in the small Delta town of Marks, home to one of the highest teen pregnancy rates in the state that leads the nation in the statistic. But unlike teen mothers in previous decades, 18-year-old Hollins is benefiting from a change in attitude that's paving the way for frank discussions about parenting skills, career goals and contraception.

Instructors from the Delta Health Partners Healthy Start Initiative come to Hollins' high school monthly to teach lessons that incorporate some of the newest theories on the relationship between poverty and teen motherhood. It's a far cry from decades past, when women in Hollins' situation were given little guidance and often left to drop out and languish.

Part of the goal is to change patterns of communication about sex that have persisted for years.

"I'm going to talk to her more about it, inform her," Hollins said of her 5-month-old daughter. "'Cause I didn't have that talk with my mom. I had to learn on my own."

The Delta Initiative, run through Tougaloo College since 1999, is a forerunner in the state's changing attitude toward teen pregnancy. Next year, a new state law will require schools to teach sex education, and they'll have more leeway in how much information they can incorporate about birth control. Schools previously had to get special permission to teach anything but abstinence. Delta Health Partners' classes are run independently of the school districts' curriculum, though they use classrooms at welcoming schools to make it convenient for the girls to attend.

Republican Gov. Phil Bryant has also created a task force to discuss ways to reduce teen pregnancy ? considered an important acknowledgement of the problem in a state where elected leaders were once loathe to discuss it.

Mississippi's teen birth rate declined modestly over the past decade as rates around the country fell. But Mississippi still has 55 births per 1,000 15- to 19-year-old girls, compared to a national average of 34.3, according to the most recent figures from the federal government's National Center for Health Statistics.

Experts say there was a culture of silence around the issue for decades in Mississippi, allowing the problem to build. Teen mothers were expected to drop out of school, or even leave town.

Delta Health Partners work in one of the poorest sections of the poorest state in the U.S. Recent research by economists Phillip Levine of Wellesley College and Melissa Kearney of the University of Maryland challenges the long-held assumption that pregnancy is a deciding factor in whether a young woman slides into poverty.

"If two identical people going down a path in life, did the one who had a baby do particularly worse?" Levine asked. "It's hard to find evidence that's true."

In the Marks classroom, more than a dozen girls told Delta Health Partners caseworkers about their plans to become nurses, pediatricians and cosmetologists.

When asked how their pregnancies have impacted their lives, 19-year-old Shalendrick Tribble said things are largely the same.

"There's just certain things at certain times you can and cannot do," she said.

"For me, it got harder," Hollins chimed in. "My mom, she helps me to a certain extent. But she's trying to make me responsible, so she makes me do everything."

It was clear from the girls' stories that life has become more complicated. Some parents gave them the silent treatment. Others had watched boyfriends promise support, and then ignore them when asked to take on the responsibility of fatherhood. They also told of friends who dropped out of school when they couldn't arrange childcare.

Delta Health Partners is not the only initiative aimed at addressing teen pregnancy. The Mississippi Department of Human Services lists more than two dozen resource centers that provide education on teen pregnancy, and some districts work with the girls to keep them in school.

States such as Idaho and Texas have public schools designed specifically for pregnant and parenting teens, which provide in-school daycare. Deborah Hedden-Nicely, head teacher at the Marian Pritchett High School in Boise, Idaho, says schools designed specifically for teen parents make a difference by pushing them to finish high school and go to college.

"Our mascot is a mortar board and a diploma," Hedden-Nicely said. "We have speakers who come in and tell them, 'yes, life is going to throw down roadblocks. You've got to get around them.'"

Advocates say that fighting teen pregnancy ultimately requires a lot more than sex education classes.

"It really circles back to education and job opportunities, it circles back to health care, to generational poverty," said Jamie Bardwell of the Mississippi Women's Fund. "These are all interconnected issues with lots of different players. Good people are working on it, but we have to realize for the teen birthrate going down, we need more than people talking about it. We need legislative action. We need more funding for this issue."

Research by Levine and Kearney underscores this message. When poor young women are pessimistic about their chances of reaching the next economic class, researchers say they tend to care less about whether they'll get pregnant.

The Delta Health Partners know they must fight this ambivalence and instill in the girls hope that they can accomplish their goals. To do this, they visit the girls both in 17 Delta high schools and at their homes.

A recent visit to Hollins' school, Madison S. Palmer High School in Marks, was the last day the case workers would see some of the girls in school before graduation.

Jodi Bailey, a nurse and case manager, read off some statistics to the students. Half of high school students who get pregnant don't graduate. Three in 10 girls in the U.S. will get pregnant before age 20.

"We want to keep you in high school, we want you to graduate and say 'I did it,'" Bailey said. "If you're having problems, we're here. We'll help you any way we can, OK?"

For its part, the Marks school district plans to adopt a curriculum to include more comprehensive sex-education, which will still emphasize the benefits of abstinence.

Some in the small town about 70 miles south of Memphis, Tenn., still think teen pregnancy should be addressed in the home, not the classroom. Harold Smith, a local evangelical pastor, said sex outside marriage is a sin and parents ? not educators ? should teach children to avoid it.

"You've got to spread the gospel," Smith said. "If they get a hold of God just right, they won't have (children)."

But limiting discussion to the home didn't work for Hollins: "I wish my mom would have talked to me more about sex."

That's why Delta Health Partners is seeking to change the pattern.

"You've got to do something different," said social worker Debra McGee. "You cannot keep doing the same thing and expect a different result."

Associated Press

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Using a Payday Loan Responsibly - KnowHowTips.com

Worldwide, economies are recovering from economic recession. High unemployment, layoffs, and business closings have had short term and long term effects. An epidemic of financial turmoil has rolled across continents and into millions of lives on a scale never experienced before. Banks have not only folded, but have confiscated property, including homes, cars, and other assets for failure to pay. Here are some considerations about when and how to use payday loans to help bridge sudden financial emergencies.

911 Financial Crises

Payday loans may be exactly the antidote to unexpected emergencies. Medical emergencies may suddenly occur that require out-of-pocket or co-payments. For the uninsured, such loans may be the key to fast recovery so that work does not stop or delays are minimized.

Car emergencies are another reason to take out a payday loan. It?s not unusual for a car to unexpectedly require maintenance, repair or to experience malfunctions. Diagnostic work or towing is not cheap. Parking in the wrong zone, private lot or overstaying a meter can cause a car to be towed and impounded. In large cities, the car impoundment lot appears similar to one at the local car dealership, because of the sheer size and variety of cars. Typically, car drivers have a limited time period to pay fines when their car has been booted or towed. Every day the clock ticks and the fines grow. Not only can this snowball grow into hundreds of dollars, often money orders or cash is required to release a vehicle. If the car is not freed from impoundment, municipalities often put the car up for public auction. Not only can a person lose a needed work car for a short duration, but the potential exists to lose all money invested in the car.

Short term loans can arrest unexpected financial crises that snowball into bigger loses. While the world economy recovers, now is not the time for absences, being laid off, or considered a disposable liability rather than an asset. A short term loan can provide a safety net for job security in times of crises.

5 SMART Personal Finance Keys

In business, the key principle, ?SMART? refers to specific, measurable, attainable, reasonable and time sensitive. This principle can also be used for personal finance management. Before obtaining a loan, if possible, a person should revisit or obtain his or her credit score. This will establish a base line before further financing options are implemented.

• Specific: Determine specifically what the objectives are, the costs needed, whether the expense(s) can wait, and for how long.
• Measurable: Decide what expense(s) are needed now to meet objective(s). Establish exactly how fast and how much of the loan can be paid off and when. A spreadsheet is helpful. It can include dates of incoming funds, amount of incoming funds, short term loan amounts, and short term loan due date(s).
• Attainable: Decide if and from whom the loan is attainable, and whether the payback funds can be attained.
• Reasonable: Determine the short term loan amount and terms.
• Time sensitive: Decide whether the loan objective and payback timeline(s) are reasonable.

The doors to loans have narrowed among traditional financial institutions. Fortunately, short term loans (such as payday loans) have provided stop gaps to bridge financial hardships for those in need. Knowing when and how to use payday loans can be a lifestyle saver and a financial safety net.

Financial expert and writer Sharon Koontz is a blogger writing on behalf of nowaitloans.co.uk.?

Tags: business closings, car, car emergencies, clock ticks, economic recession, financial crises, financial emergencies, financial turmoil, Loan, medical emergencies, payday loans, public auction, short term loan, short term loans, unexpected emergencies, work, work car

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Trademark Violation? - iPhone Dev SDK Forum

Today, 02:17 AM	? #1 (permalink)
New User ? Join Date: Oct 2011 Posts: 6	I am the developer of "Sleepy Baby FREE" in the AppStore (and on other platforms). My app plays music for children to fall asleep to, and has an animation on screen to act as a soothing distraction. I have been challenged about trademark infringement. I'm not sure where I stand. The company sells a CD called "Sleepy Baby" with soothing childrens music. First Question: My app is called "Sleepy Baby FREE" not "Sleepy Baby" does that void their argument? Second Question: Is a mobile application and CD comparable in the word of trademarks? Theirs is music only mine is music and visual Any advice would be appreciated.
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Today, 03:01 AM	? #2 (permalink)
Registered Member ? Join Date: Mar 2012 Posts: 48	Quote: First Question: My app is called "Sleepy Baby FREE" not "Sleepy Baby" does that void their argument? No. Quote: Second Question: Is a mobile application and CD comparable in the word of trademarks? Theirs is music only mine is music and visual Yes, in this case. Quote: Any advice would be appreciated. Look up their Trademark; a) What countries is it registered in? You can use the name in countries where they haven't registered it. b) Was it registered before or after you started using the name? If it was registered after you had already started using it then you should be okay in countries where it is registered despite the Trademark but could end up in a legal spat. Get an IP lawyer. Change your app's name to something not being used and so without a Trademark? You could then Trademark it yourself.
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Today, 03:19 AM	? #3 (permalink)
New User ? Join Date: Oct 2011 Posts: 6	Quote: No. Yes, in this case. Look up their Trademark; a) What countries is it registered in? You can use the name in countries where they haven't registered it. b) Was it registered before or after you started using the name? If it was registered after you had already started using it then you should be okay in countries where it is registered despite the Trademark but could end up in a legal spat. Get an IP lawyer. Change your app's name to something not being used and so without a Trademark? You could then Trademark it yourself. Thanks for replying. I am seeing a IP lawyer this week. But I think I will end up having to change the name. Naively I never thought to look up trademarks before releasing my app ... lesson learnt
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Today, 04:16 AM	? #4 (permalink)
Registered Member ? Join Date: Nov 2009 Location: London, UK Posts: 984	Trademark Electronic Search System (TESS) Yup they've got a live mark and they are challenging you, so you will have no chance, just be polite and change you app name and everything is going to be fine, don't spend time and money with a lawyer.
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Today, 04:16 AM	? #5 (permalink)
Registered Member ? Join Date: Oct 2009 Location: Los Angeles Posts: 1,312	Actually they don't have to register the trademark to own it. If they made a product and claimed trademark (mentioned TM somewhere) it's theirs. Registering the trademark just makes it stronger. Since they are selling CDs and I assume all over the world, they can claim the trademark in any country. I'd save attorney's fees and just change the name of the app. The app name doesn't really matter much in terms of sales.
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Today, 04:41 AM	? #6 (permalink)
Registered Member ? Join Date: Mar 2012 Posts: 48	Quote: Actually they don't have to register the trademark to own it. If they made a product and claimed trademark (mentioned TM somewhere) it's theirs. Registering the trademark just makes it stronger. Since they are selling CDs and I assume all over the world, they can claim the trademark in any country. I'd save attorney's fees and just change the name of the app. The app name doesn't really matter much in terms of sales. They do in the UK (and US I think). You can Trademark even if somebody else is using the name, so long as they haven't registered it. However you can't then go back and stop them using it once you have it. You can only stop future uses by other entities. Putting "TM" is pretty meaningless unless you own it in the UK and USA.
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Today, 06:05 AM	? #7 (permalink)
Registered Member ? Join Date: Oct 2009 Location: Los Angeles Posts: 1,312	Quote: They do in the UK (and US I think). You can Trademark even if somebody else is using the name, so long as they haven't registered it. However you can't then go back and stop them using it once you have it. You can only stop future uses by other entities. Putting "TM" is pretty meaningless unless you own it in the UK and USA. Trademark - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Proprietary rights in relation to a trademark may be established through actual use in the marketplace, or through registration of the mark with the trademarks office (or "trademarks registry") of a particular jurisdiction. Maybe it's different in UK though.. IDK
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Today, 07:29 AM	? #8 (permalink)
Registered Member ? Join Date: Mar 2012 Posts: 48	Quote: Trademark - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Proprietary rights in relation to a trademark may be established through actual use in the marketplace, or through registration of the mark with the trademarks office (or "trademarks registry") of a particular jurisdiction. Maybe it's different in UK though.. IDK I am personally applying in the UK and USA at present. If somebody is using the name that I want to trademark then they haven't registered which is why mine are in process. If I register then they obviously can't register too, even if they are using it. That's what my lawyer says anyway (Deverill IP). Wikipedia is wrong, unfortunately.
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Blinks Reveal What Toddlers Think

Head Lines | Mind & Brain See Inside

Eyeblinks reveal what autistic toddlers pay attention to

By Morgen E. Peck ?| May 28, 2012

Image: J. Parsons/Getty Images

In this groundbreaking adventure into the worlds of psychopaths, the renowned psychologist Kevin Dutton argues that there is a fine line between a brilliant...

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Tracking eye movements lets scientists figure out what we pay attention to in a scene. When people blink during such experiments, those few milliseconds are usually discarded as junk data. A new study finds that blinking might reveal important information, too. It turns out that the more we blink, the less focused is our attention. In kids with autism, blink patterns appear to offer clues about how they engage with the world around them.

During eye-tracking experiments with toddlers, Warren Jones, a pedia?trician at the Emory University School of Medicine, found that the children were strategic about when they blinked. While watching a recorded scene, the toddlers seemed to inhibit their blink?ing during the moments that sucked them in. ?The timing of when we don?t blink seems to relate to how engaged we are with what we?re looking at,? Jones says.

He now uses this discovery as a tool to study attention in autistic children. In a paper published last December in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA, Jones observed differences in the blinking patterns of autistic and develop?mentally normal children. Both groups watched a video that included moments of human emotion and sudden action. Developmentally normal children inhibited their blinking before emo?tional climaxes, as though they were following the narrative and predicting an outcome. Autistic children blinked right through those moments, sug?gesting they were not following the emotional arc of the story, but they responded sharply when an object suddenly moved.

The results confirm well-established observations of attention in autistic children?namely, they are more in?terested in action than in emotional phenomena. They also validate eyeblink studies as a powerful research tool, Jones says. The approach could be particularly helpful in exploring the minds of nonverbal children and may help define new subcategories of autism.

This article was published in print as "Think Before You Blink."

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Lynnwood | Northwest Referral Partners - Business Networking Event

20+ attend each Tuesday morning as participants in this great "Members only" networking group from 8:00am to 9:30am at the Alderwood Boys & Girls Club, 19719 24th Avenue West in Lynnwood.

How would you like to get clients without cold calling and hard-selling? Imagine what having a steady stream of pre-qualified prospects will do you for business!

Join us at this event to learn how we have developed this high-energy group of Referral Partners who send each other an abundance of pre-qualified prospects.

Think of us as your extended sales team as we exchange referrals, marketing tips, and testimonials each week.

By developing personal relationships with other qualified business professionals in a focused environment, you'll have the opportunity to substantially increase your business.

Visitors are always welcome. Please come to our next meeting to see what word-of-mouth advertising is all about.

Check us out before your competition does!

Be sure to bring at least 25 Business Cards and be prepared to share a 60-second commercial to promote your business to the group.

Come join us and have fun and great exposure for your business.

Please visit our page at: https://www.facebook.com/groups/NWReferralPartners/

About Northwest Referral Partners: We are a fun and energetic group of business professionals who are serious about taking their businesses to the next level through effective referral networking that gets results. The purpose of this networking organization is giving its members highly qualified referrals. We meet Tuesday mornings for social networking, and to pass referrals to members and guests. Each person has 1 minute to present their business to the entire group.

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Romney promises world's strongest military

SAN DIEGO (AP) ? Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney promised Monday to maintain an American military "with no comparable power anywhere in the world."

The likely Republican presidential nominee faced a San Diego crowd estimated at 5,000 in what was billed as a Memorial Day service paying tribute to the nation's war dead, not a campaign rally. The appearance came the day before Romney was expected to win enough delegates to claim his party's nomination, a formality that cements his status as President Barack Obama's general election opponent.

Without naming his general election rival on Monday, Romney drew clear contrasts with Obama on the issue of defense.

The Democratic president has proposed reducing the size of the military following the end of the U.S. combat role in Iraq and plans to remove troops from Afghanistan at the end of 2014.

"We have two courses we can follow: One is to follow in the pathway of Europe, to shrink our military smaller and smaller to pay for our social needs," Romney said outside the city's Veterans Memorial Center and Museum. "The other is to commit to preserve America as the strongest military in the world, second to none, with no comparable power anywhere in the world."

The White House and congressional Republicans have agreed to cut $487 billion in military spending over the next decade. Even with Obama's proposed cuts in the military budget, the U.S. would remain by far the world's dominant military power. The Pentagon's budget this year exceeds $600 billion. Closest rival China said this year its defense budget will top $100 billion for the first time, although the U.S. claims China spends twice as much.

Across the country in Washington, Obama marked the solemn holiday with remembrances at Arlington National Cemetery, and later at the Vietnam War Memorial marking the 50th anniversary of U.S. involvement in Vietnam.

He noted that for the first time in nine years "Americans are not fighting and dying in Iraq. After a decade under the dark cloud of war, we can see the light of the new day on the horizon."

The candidates' comments underscored the political and practical effects the presidential contest could have on America's role in the world.

A new Gallup survey found that veterans prefer Romney over Obama by a double-digit margin, 58 percent to 34 percent. That voting bloc, consisting mostly of older men, makes up 13 percent of the adult population.

Obama won the presidency handily four years ago while losing veterans by 10 points to Sen. John McCain, a former Navy pilot. Neither Obama nor Romney served in the military. Romney, 65, did not serve in Vietnam. His campaign says he received deferments for his Mormon mission to France and academic studies. He later entered the draft, but his number was not called, a spokesman said. Obama, 50, was a child during the Vietnam conflict.

In San Diego, Romney was joined by McCain, a Vietnam veteran who spent more than five years as a prisoner of war. McCain said that Romney, "I believe, is fully qualified to be commander in chief."

Romney noted that he visited Afghanistan and Iraq during his term as Massachusetts governor. But he has limited foreign policy experience.

Still, Romney has been critical of Obama's plans to reduce the military, in addition to the administration's policy toward Syria's handling of the uprising against President Bashar Assad's government.

In a written statement Sunday, Romney said Obama "can no longer ignore calls from congressional leaders in both parties to take more assertive steps in Syria." Romney said the current approach has only given Syrian leaders more time to crackdown on protesters.

World leaders blame the Syrian government for the weekend killing of more than 100 people, including 49 children and 34 women, following peaceful protests.

"I wish I could tell you that the world is a safe place today. It is not," Romney said Monday, ticking off a list of threats including Iran, Pakistan, China, Russia, Venezuela and Mexican drug cartels. He did not mention Syria.

He spoke a day before Texas voters were likely to give him enough delegates to formally clinch the Republican presidential nomination.

Texas' Tuesday primary offers 152 delegates, and Romney is just 68 delegates shy of the 1,144 needed to become the nominee.

Romney said Monday that America's military might is needed "not so that we just win wars, but so we can prevent wars."

"A strong America is the best deterrent to war that has ever been invented," he said.

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Single Mom Inspirations: Guest Post: Heather Von St & Being ...

A baby gives new meaning to the old clich? ?it takes a village.? Except for an emergency C-section during delivery, I had an uneventful pregnancy. Little did we know the storm that lay ahead.

Although I returned to my full-time job within four weeks, I was tired and breathless. Being a new mom was hard work, but I knew something was wrong. A battery of medical tests soon led to an answer.

On November 21, 2005, just three and a half months after Lily came into our lives, doctors gave me a diagnosis of malignant pleural mesothelioma, lung cancer caused by asbestos. Thirty years after a previously unknown exposure, I had mesothelioma.

Doctors said I had 15 months to live if I rejected treatment. My mind flashed to my baby, my husband, and my new life. I knew we would do whatever it took to keep our family together. The prognosis was grim, and so we chose the most radical treatment offered.

My husband and I flew to Boston where some of the best mesothelioma doctors and doctors handled my care. On February 2, 2006, I underwent extrapleural pneumenectomy, a surgical treatment that removed my left lung. I spent the next 18 days recovering in the hospital and two months later, I started chemotherapy and radiation, all the while thinking of my new role as mom.

The ?village? came to our rescue, surrounding us with love, support, and prayers. Unexpected help came from surprising places; and some of the people we thought we could depend on fled. Cancer has a way of weeding through the people who stick around during rough times and those who disappear.

Lily lived with my parents while we were in Boston and they had their own village as well. Girls I once babysat now had kids of their own who volunteered to watch Lily while my parents went to work each day. Church members I knew as a child encircled my parents with strength and love. Meanwhile, we met new friends in Boston who were going through the same hardships. These connections sustained us from day to day.

In South Dakota where I had grown up, my baby girl was starting to eat solid foods and scoot around the floor. I witnessed these events through grainy back and white photos emailed by my mom and printed on a community printer by my husband. Trying not to cry, nurses joined me to ooh and ah over the pictures that replaced the baby in my arms. I was fighting for Lily, and she was in the best of hands.

Although miles and months now separate our visits, Lily has a strong bond with my parents. Knowing how fragile life can be, we embrace the future as a family. No one promised it would be easy, but we do our best. My favorite quote says it all: ?life is a banquet and most poor suckers are starving to death.?

Cancer is a funny thing; a lot of good comes along with the bad. I am grateful for that lesson.

Heather Von St James is a 43-year-old wife and mother. Upon her diagnosis of mesothelioma, she vowed to be a source of hope for other patients who found themselves with the same diagnosis. Now, over 6 years later, her story has been helping people all over the globe. She continues her advocacy and awareness work by blogging, speaking and sharing her message of hope and healing with others.?

Check out her story at the

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