Friday, July 26, 2013

Zynga folds on U.S. gambling bet, shares fall

By Gerry Shih

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Zynga Inc said on Thursday it will largely abandon its long-running efforts to build a real-money gaming business in the United States, a prospect observers had believed to be the struggling company's sole, tenuous lifeline.

"Zynga is making the focused choice not to pursue a license for real money gaming in the United States," the company said in a statement. "Zynga will continue to evaluate all of its priorities against the growing market opportunity in free, social gaming, including social casino offerings."

The announcement, which came on a day when Zynga reported quarterly results mostly in line with investor expectations, sent its shares down 13 percent to $3.05 in after hours trading.

Over the past year, Zynga's business model has rapidly crumbled while it continued to lose online gamers to rivals. Executives have pleaded for time to turn around the company, arguing to investors that greater fiscal discipline and execution would stabilize Zynga's position, while its foray into casino-style, real-money gaming could pay off handsomely in the long run.

That thinking has changed in recent months within the company's upper echelons, with founder Mark Pincus and his replacement as chief executive, Don Mattrick, opting for a return to Zynga's roots with free social games such as FarmVille, which catapulted the company to stardom in 2009.

"We need to get back to basics and take a longer term view on our products and business, develop more efficient processes and tighten up execution all across the company," Mattrick said in a statement.

Zynga reported $231 million in quarterly revenue on Thursday, a 31 percent drop from a year ago, as the struggling game publisher continued to lose gamers.

Zynga said the number of active monthly players dropped to 187 million this quarter from 306 million a year ago, its lowest since mid-2010. The company, which has acknowledged fundamental problems with its business model, went public in December 2011 at $10 a share.

Excluding certain items, Zynga posted a 1 cent per share loss, compared with a 1 cent profit a year ago.

Zynga reported $188 million in bookings, which is a measure of the value of virtual goods bought by players during the three-month period ending June 30. That is a 38 percent drop from $302 million a year earlier.

(Reporting by Gerry Shih. Editing by Andre Grenon)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/zynga-reports-231-million-revenue-201306957.html

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OKC West Stockyards Reopen Following El Reno Tornado

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Source: http://www.news9.com/story/22931241/okc-west-stockyards-reopen-following-el-reno-tornado

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Football Woman melts down over not getting autographs at Redskins training camp

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Source: http://www.chiefsplanet.com/BB/showthread.php?t=274812&goto=newpost

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Thursday, July 25, 2013

DFI launches 'Film Lab Series' to hone skillset of first and second ...


Doha Film Institute (DFI) today has launched the ?Film Lab Series?, a number of practical and hands-on sessions on all areas of filmmaking.? The series is designed to strengthen the skillset of first and second time filmmakers from the Gulf and locally who have mastered the creative steps of filmmaking, for those who have taken part in the Addesha Programme, and individuals who have the talent and drive to become professional filmmakers.

Comprising a series of programmes that touch upon each facet of filmmaking ? from script to screen ? the ?Film Lab Series? includes the: Documentary Lab; Hezayah Screenwriting Lab; Professional Hezayah Lab; Professional Directing Lab; Doha Film Lab; Animation Lab; Producer?s Lab; Transmedia Workshop & Lab; and Acting for the Camera Workshop.

Paul Miller, Head of Film Financing, Doha Film Institute, said: ?With DFI?s Qumra Film Festival billed to become the ultimate launchpad for up-and-coming filmmakers, the ?Film Lab Series? will take the efforts of the Festival further by creating a genuine cinematic culture in the region, by giving filmmakers the opportunity to bring out their own creative interpretations, inspired by their personal narratives.?

Mahdi Ali Ali, Gulf Film Development Manager, said: ?The ?Film Lab Series? will play a pivotal role in developing the proficiency of emerging filmmakers, allowing them to implement these skills through more tangible conduits like the Hazawi Short Film Programme and apply for DFI?s grants.?

Providing a transformative experience for Gulf filmmakers, the ?Film Series Lab? will explore approaches to access inner themes that are applied to personal narratives. During the ?Doha Film Lab? participants will create a short film while developing skills in scriptwriting, directing, pre-production planning, camerawork, lighting, on-set production, and editing.

The ?Documentary Lab,? will provide an intensive, hands-on introduction to the process of documentary filmmaking; while the ?Hezayah Screenwriting Lab,? led by script consultant Christian Routh (Elizabeth; Rob Roy), will focus on the rapid development of the skills needed to write a viable screenplay; and the ?Professional Hezayah Lab,? for established Qatari writers, playwrights, novelists, and poets who have had limited film training, will strengthen their skills to write for the screen.

International and Gulf producers come together for the ?Producers? Lab,? to hone their skills, develop the unique selling points of their projects, discuss business strategies and action plans to bring those projects to fruition. Storytelling techniques and logistical skills required to direct a film take centre stage at ?Professional Directing Workshop,? where first-time filmmakers or more experienced directors to gain new perspectives on their work.

The evolving filmmaking landscape and newer mediums that provide the opportunity for filmmakers to narrate their stories through technological platforms are the themes in the ?Transmedia Workshop & Lab;? while aspiring actors are guided through the specifics of acting for film with the ?Acting for the Camera Lab.?

DFI conducts year-round screenings, workshops, and masterclasses, under its mandate of active development of local and regional filmmaking talent. The Institute will also host workshops on technical skills such as Cinematography, Producing, Acting, and Editing.?DFI is committed to nurturing and developing a strong film industry in the region through various initiatives including film appreciation, education, finance and outreach.?

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Source: http://www.qatarisbooming.com/2013/07/24/dfi-launches-%E2%80%98film-lab-series%E2%80%99-to-hone-skillset-of-first-and-second-time-directors/

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Monday, July 22, 2013

House GOP Focus is Repeal, not Replace Obamacare

Three years after campaigning on a vow to "repeal and replace" President Barack Obama's health care law, House Republicans have yet to advance an alternative for the system they have voted more than three dozen times to abolish in whole or in part.

Officially, the effort is "in progress" ? and has been since Jan. 19, 2011, according to GOP.gov, a leadership-run website.

But internal divisions, disagreement about political tactics and Obama's 2012 re-election add up to uncertainty over whether Republicans will vote on a plan of their own before the 2014 elections, or if not by then, perhaps before the president leaves office, more than six years after the original promise.

Sixteen months before those elections, some Republicans cite no need to offer an alternative. "I don't think it's a matter of what we put on the floor right now," said Rep. Greg Walden of Oregon, who heads the party's campaign committee. He added that what is important is "trying to delay Obamacare."

Rep. Fred Upton of Michigan, who leads a committee with jurisdiction over health care, said, "If we are successful in ultimately repealing this legislation, then yes, we will have a replacement bill ready to come back with."

Divisions were evident earlier this year, when legislation to make it easier for high-risk individuals to purchase coverage died without a vote. It was sidetracked after conservatives, many of them elected with tea party support, objected to any attempt to improve the current law rather than scuttle it.

With the rank and file growing more conservative, some Republicans acknowledge that without changes, they likely couldn't pass the alternative measure they backed when Democrats won approval for Obama's bill in 2010. Among other provisions, it encouraged employers to sign up their workers for health insurance automatically, so that employees would have to "opt out" of coverage if they didn't want it, and provided federal money for state-run high-risk pools for individuals and for reinsurance in the small group market.

The current state of intentions contrasts sharply with the Pledge to America, the manifesto that Republicans campaigned on in 2010 when they took power away from the Democrats. That included a plan to "repeal and replace" what it termed a government takeover of health care.

It promised "common-sense solutions focused on lowering costs and protecting American jobs," including steps to overhaul medical malpractice laws and permit the sale of insurance across state lines. Republicans said they would "empower small businesses with greater purchasing power and create new incentives to save for future health care needs." They promised to "protect the doctor-patient relationship, and ensure that those with pre-existing conditions gain access to the coverage they need."

But Rep. Paul Broun, R-Ga., said, "We never did see a repeal and replace bill last time," referring to the 2011-2012 two-year term that followed the Republican landslide. "I hope we can this time, and I'll keep fighting for it."

Broun, running for the Senate from Georgia in 2014 as a conservatives' conservative, has drafted legislation of his own that relies on a series of tax breaks and regulatory changes such as permitting insurance companies to sell coverage across state lines to expand access to health care.

Other Republicans are at work on different bills, in the House Energy and Commerce Committee headed by Upton, and elsewhere.

Rep. Steven Scalise of Louisiana, who leads the conservative Republican Study Conference, said the organization is working on legislation to reduce health care costs "without the mandates and the taxes" in the current law.

Like others involved with the issue, he provided no timetable and few specifics.

At the same time, the other half of the 2010 pledge to "repeal and replace" is getting a workout.

The House voted last week to delay two requirements, the 38th and 39th time they have gone on record in favor of repealing, reducing or otherwise neutering the system that bears Obama's name.

In the case of one of the rules, a requirement for businesses to provide insurance to their workers, the administration announced a one-year delay earlier this month.

Democrats and even some Republicans say the intense focus on repealing the health law is wide of the mark.

"Every voter knows what Republicans are against. They don't know what they're for" on health care, said Rep. Steve Israel of New York, who heads House Democrats' campaign committee. He said the strategy would haunt Republicans next year among moderate and independent voters who want changes, not outright repeal.

The fate of legislation to put more funds into high-risk pools demonstrated a belief among some Republicans that they should advance alternatives. Polling presentations make the same point but are not uniformly persuasive among the rank and file, according to officials, and lawmakers' speeches sometimes make it sound as if the health law is disintegrating on its own.

Yet one prominent conservative, Ramesh Ponnuru, warned recently that it was a "perverse complacency" to do nothing while assuming the health law will implode.

"We can be sure that the Left would respond to any such collapse by making the case for a 'single payer' program in which the federal government directly provides everyone insurance," he wrote on May 30 in National Review Online.

Ponnuru added that in some Republican circles, "the idea that an alternative is necessary is seen as a mark of wimpiness, a weakness for big-government programs that are just slightly" weaker than what Democrats possess.

? Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Source: http://www.newsmax.com/Politics/GOP-Health-Care/2013/07/22/id/516212

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Thursday, July 18, 2013

Download Battleship: Batalha dos Mares Dublado e Legendado

Download Battleship: Batalha dos Mares Dublado e Legendado Download Battleship: Batalha dos Mares Dublado e Legendado

Bot?o CastorDownloads

Informa??es do Filme

Titulo Original: Battleship
T?tulo Traduzido: Battleship: A Batalha dos Mares
G?nero: A??o, Fic??o Cientifica
Dura??o: 02h e 11min
Diretor: Peter Berg
Ano de Lan?amento: 2012
Tamanho: 900 MB
Resolu??o: 640 x 272
Frame Rate: 23 Fps
Formato: BRRip
Qualidade de Audio: 10
Qualidade de V?deo: 10
Codec do V?deo: XviD
Codec do ?udio: MP3
Idioma: Portugu?s e Ingl?s

Elenco
Taylor Kitsch ? Lieutenant Alex Hopper
Alexander Skarsg?rd ? Commander Stone Hopper
Rihanna ? Petty Officer Cora ?Weps? Raikes
Brooklyn Decker ? Sam
Tadanobu Asano ? Captain Yugi Nagata
Hamish Linklater ? Cal Zapata
Liam Neeson ? Admiral Shane
Peter MacNicol ? Secretary of Defense

Sinopse: O Filme Battleship: A Batalha dos Mares, a hist?ria ? focada em uma guerra que acontece no mar, no c?u e na terra, quando o planeta luta contra uma terr?vel e superior for?a alien?gena, para tentar sobreviver.

Trailer do filme Battleship: A Batalha dos Mares

Source: http://castordownloads.net/download-battleship-batalha-dos-mares-dublado-ts-2012-46787.html

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Injustice DLC Trailer: Introducing Martian Manhunter!

Source: http://www.thehollywoodgossip.com/2013/07/injustice-dlc-trailer-introducing-martian-manhunter/

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