The Silent House

          Based on a true events occuring in the late 40's in a small village in Uruguay, The Silent House - La Casa Muda is groundbreaking horror filmed in one single continuous shot of seventy eight minutes. The film centers on Laura, who, second by second, intends to leave a house which hides an obscure secret, unharmed. Laura and her father Wilson settle down in a cottage they have to renew since its owner will soon put the house up for sale. They will spend the night there and repair the following morning. Everything seems to go smoothly until Laura hears a sound that comes from outside and gets louder and louder on the upper floor of the house.
                                   

SHOGUN 2: TOTAL WAR

When the first Shogun: Total War came out, its real-time battles made you feel like you were playing through the epic battle scenes from one of Akira Kurosawa's samurai films. Shogun 2 is like playing through a new, remastered edition of that game, complete with both the character dramas and the enormous battles. Merging beautiful graphics, scheming generals, improved multiplayer options, and deep strategic gameplay with countless small details that imbue it with historical flavor and drama, Shogun 2 is one of the most captivating strategy games ever made.

SJM seeks SJF. Interests must include poetry, strategy, and the wedge formation.

Like the previous Total War games, Shogun 2 combines a turn-based strategy mode with tactical, real-time battles. The turn-based portion of the game takes place on a gorgeous strategic map that, although limited to the country of Japan (minus Hokkaido), feels every bit as epic as the continent-spanning maps of previous iterations in the series. It is on this magnificent 60-province map of Japan that you make all of your strategic decisions, manage your dynasty, research technologies, build improvements like roads and farms, and direct your armies. When an army engages in combat, you can either use the auto-resolve feature or fight things out in fantastic real-time battles. The goal during real-time battles is to route the enemy army as an attacker and hold out as a defender. Either way, you have to make intelligent use of terrain and unit abilities, keep your flank adequately protected, and do your best to sap the enemy units' morale before they can get the upper hand.
Shogun 2's turn-based single-player campaign stands on its own merits as an excellent strategy game. You play as an ambitious daimyo, or leader, of one of the 10 most powerful clans in Japan. Each clan has unique strengths that you have to master if you plan to capture Kyoto, the nation's capital city, and unify Japan as its new shogun. For instance, the Chosokabe have superior bow infantry, while the Mori are master shipwrights, and the Hojo get building construction bonuses. The choice of clan is an easy one compared to the many difficult decisions you have to make during the campaign. One example is the allocation of your research efforts, which must be carefully divided between the chi and Bushido arts (the civilian and military tech trees, respectively). A strong economy based on chi is needed to pay for a powerful army's upkeep, but a narrowly focused autocrat, however enlightened, may be overrun by a militaristic brute. Furthermore, sound economic planning is necessary for success. Your economic potential and buildable units are limited by the types of buildings in your provinces. The size of a province's castle determines the number of possible buildings that may be constructed there. Since larger castles consume more food, you have to carefully plan your upgrades lest you inadvertently cause mass starvation. Temporary prosperity is possible through honorable trade relations with other clans, but these arrangements rarely last.

By law, all Japanese generals must be exceptional orators.

Such concerns coupled with the constant barrage of special events and natural disasters are problematic enough, but the tricky issue of religion is added to this explosive mix. Allowing Nanban, or European, merchants into your cities lets you field units with powerful matchlock firearms, but it also opens up your homogeneous Buddhist society to Christian influences. The growing Christian population has to be either appeased or subdued in some manner. One solution is for the clan to convert to Christianity to unlock powerful European cannons or carracks, but this would outrage the Buddhist population and bring dishonor to the daimyo. The best course of action is to ensure that the majority of the populace follows the daimyo's faith whether through conversion or isolationism. Angry religious minorities are an Achilles' heel for any daimyo, so religious and secular grievances must be kept to a minimum lest bloody rebellions ruin your chances of becoming shogun.
In Shogun 2, generals add another level of strategy, as well as some much-appreciated drama. Generals have always been important for maintaining troop morale in the Total War series, but they've never had as much character as in Shogun 2. For starters, generals now have a loyalty rating, and one could conceivably turn on you, especially if his overambitious wife is feeding him poisonous ideas. As a result, you need to find some way to keep them loyal. You might give them important positions in the clan, or bring them into your family through marriage or adoption (which works even if the general is only slightly younger than the daimyo). For example, a general's loyalty improves immensely once he has been entrusted with the clan's finances. It is vitally important to keep generals around for as long as possible because their combat experience can be used to gain a variety of new skills and followers for the clan's benefit. For instance, you could increase a general's poetry skill, giving your clan a research bonus and opening up the path for your general to become a "living treasure" capable of bringing unrestrained jubilation to any province he passes through. Alternatively, you may mold a general into a feared tyrant, an expert at siege warfare, or a near invincible legendary warrior. The general's retinue, which is increased every few levels, is equally diverse.

Keep an eye on the weather because adverse conditions can cost lives.

His retainers can be people, like a samurai master who gives a melee bonus to all units; animals, such as a lovable monkey; or even inanimate objects, like a Go board, which increases the general's command ability. These are all in addition to random traits that generals pick up during battles or through marriage. The "fecund wife" trait, which ensures that a general sires many children, is particularly useful for daimyos since they need heirs to carry on their legacy after death. The daimyo's male children will grow up to become fairly loyal generals, so you want to be blessed with a large brood. In addition to the generals, all special characters, such as the metsuke (inspectors), monks, ninjas, and geisha, gain experience points, skill traits, and a retinue. A Christian missionary, for example, can learn to become a scholar and aid his clan's chi research, or he can focus his efforts toward proselytizing for Christian faith with the help of his retinue of church notaries and Japanese converts.
Another important consideration is weather. On the campaign map, armies suffer significant attrition when outside of your territory during winter, so you must plan your campaigns with the seasons in mind, or risk losing samurai to frostbite. Likewise, fleets suffer heavy losses from attrition while outside of placid coastal waters. Weather also plays a major role during real-time battles. For instance, matchlock firearms and fire arrows are useless when it rains, and heavy fog can change the face of battle, enabling dramatic conflicts where diversionary assaults further obfuscate the true threat that bides its time in the dark mist.

The major addition to Shogun 2's multiplayer options is Avatar Conquest mode. In this mode, you create a persistent avatar who gains levels of experience as you play online skirmish battles. After creating your avatar, you gain access to the conquest map that divides Japan into numerous provinces, each of which grants a bonus of some kind, such as new unit types or improved reload speeds for bowmen. Once you've picked a province for your avatar to attack, you can join or host a multiplayer skirmish game. If you win the match, then your avatar conquers the province and receives the corresponding bonuses. Regardless of who wins, each player gains experience during these battles, which is then used to buy improvements for your avatar's leadership, bow mastery, physical, and melee-combat skills.

The 'boss battle' of Shogun 2's campaign takes place in the giant capital city of Kyoto.

Avatars also receive new retainers and additional retinue slots as they level up. Similarly, individual units can achieve veteran status, becoming permanent and even gaining skills of their own. These veterans don't replenish their numbers after combat unless you let them rest for a few battles. The improved skills and experienced units don't feel unbalanced because each match has a gold limit that determines the maximum value of each fielded army. Since better generals and experienced units cost more to bring into a battle than ordinary units do, a new leader could overwhelm a heavily experienced army through sheer force of numbers. There is also a clan mechanic where clan-wide victories grant bonuses to each individual clan member. All of this makes Avatar Conquest mode more interesting than more traditional unranked skirmish battles (which are still available).
Multiplayer campaigns, which were first added to the series in Napoleon: Total War, are back in Shogun 2, which boasts both cooperative and versus multiplayer campaigns. Your ultimate goal in a versus campaign is to destroy the other player, and to further this goal, you can control any AI troops that your enemy fights on the battlefield. Cooperative campaigns won't let you play as the AI during your allies' battles, but it won't force you to passively watch during allied battles either. Now you have the ability to gift control of some units to your ally during battles. While Napoleon would auto-resolve conflicts where both players' armies were fighting as allies, Shogun 2 now lets you battle it out alongside each other. Assaulting the vast fortress of Kyoto with a friend is an amazingly entertaining experience. Not so entertaining are the stability problems that crop up during some multiplayer campaigns. On one of the three computers used for this review, Shogun 2's multiplayer campaign modes caused numerous inexplicable crashes. Crashes were much rarer for the other computers, making it possible to play a cooperative multiplayer campaign all the way through to the successful invasion of Kyoto without any issues.
Shogun 2 has improved upon Napoleon in several additional ways. First, Shogun 2 offers more options during skirmish battles. Skirmish mode now boasts 37 maps, three map types (land battle, naval battle, and siege), and various options regarding weather, seasons, and time of day. One additional new option is the ability to add "key buildings" to the map. These buildings grant bonuses to whichever side captures them, giving both sides good reason to eschew turtle tactics and sally forth. Furthermore, the artificial intelligence has been improved for both campaign and skirmish games. On the campaign map it can cleverly conceal its units, waiting within the woods and striking once your army leaves a keep underdefended. It also attempts amphibious invasions. During real-time battles, the AI is more capable than before and makes commendable attempts to smash your weakest flank. AI-controlled armies can be surprisingly effective during castle sieges and often attempt to divert your attention between multiple castle sections, obfuscating your opponent's true intentions. Unfortunately, on occasion the AI mysteriously "forgets" its plan and just marches troops around your castle walls aimlessly until your archers' persistence routes them from the battlefield. There doesn't appear to be a way to separate the campaign difficulty from the battle AI difficulty, so you are out of luck if you want to face hard AI on the battlefield while playing at normal campaign difficulty.

Its work here complete, the Chosokabe clan sallies forth toward new adventures.

Stylistically, Shogun 2 is a visionary, coherent, and beautiful game. The rotatable campaign map is gorgeous and full of details, like tiny peasants moving their wares between provinces and cherry blossoms falling from the trees during autumn. Every unit or character is represented by an image card that looks like it came straight from a historical Japanese painting or woodcut, and the user interface is adorned with beautiful Japanese calligraphy. The graphics during battles are equally impressive, and even warriors in the same unit often have unique faces and armor. Shogun 2 is incredibly detailed: arrows stick in castle walls or boat hulls; corpses of men and horses cover the battlefield in silent testament to the price of your lust for power; and fire arrows, lanterns, and rockets light up the night sky. Complementing all of this are excellent sound effects and an effective score.
The captivating character of Shogun 2 doesn't end with its visuals. In cutscenes before each battle, generals give inspirational speeches to the troops, often focusing on themes like fealty or remaining fearless in the face of death. Subordinates bow when new orders are issued, an advisor laments the "shameful" behavior of retreating units, and unit formations have names like "reclining dragon" and "barking pine tree." All of this combines to give Shogun 2 a unique feel that is highly evocative of its historical setting. Shogun 2's delightful and all-encompassing world, coupled with its excellent production values, artful interface, deep strategic campaign, and thrilling real-time battles, makes it more impressive than its predecessor was a decade ago. Its only real flaw is the stability issue that occurred almost exclusively during multiplayer campaigns. Overall, Shogun 2 is just about everything you could want from a strategy game and is easily the apex of the Total War series up to this point.

Last Night

Set in New York City, Last Night is the story of a married couple that while apart for one night, is confronted by temptation that may decide the fate of their marriage. Joanna (Academy Award nominee Keira Knightley) and Michael Reed (Sam Worthington) are 7 years into a successful and happy relationship. They are moving along in their lives together until Joanna meets Laura (Eva Mendes), the stunningly beautiful work colleague whom Michael never mentioned. While Michael is away with Laura on a business trip, Joanna runs into an old but never quite forgotten love, Alex (Guillaume Canet) and agrees to have drinks with him. As the night progresses and temptation increases for the couple, each must confront who they are inside and outside of their relationship. Last Night is ultimately a film about choices - the choice you make to be with someone, to give yourself physically and emotionally, and how to survive all three.                       

Expanding iStockphoto makes high-end video play

iStockphoto COO Kelly Thompson

(Credit: iStockphoto)

LONDON--iStockphoto, a leader in the market for photos and other stock art, is expanding into premium-quality video under its Vetta brand.
The company announced the move at its weeklong iStockalypse event here, at which contributors take photos to sell, meet with peers, and learn tricks of the trade.
But this is not the only high-end video move under way at iStock. The company also expects to eventually offer high-end "2K" and "4K" video, which has roughly quadruple the resolution of mainstream 1080p video, iStock Chief Operating Officer Kelly Thompson said in an interview.
The video expansion is a significant one for iStock, a pioneering member of the "microstock" industry that has helped disrupt the professional photography business. Microstock companies, which are Internet-based middlemen that let customers license royalty-free images, introduced legions of amateurs eager to make some money if not necessarily a living.
iStock has been working to distinguish itself from rivals such as Shutterstock, Dreamstime, and Fotolia by also offering higher-quality, higher-priced content. To that end, iStock began offering top-shelf photos when it launched its Vetta collection in 2009, edging closer to the core business of its parent company, Getty Images.
Starting today, iStock is making the shift with Vetta video, too.
Although stock photos account for the bulk of iStock's business, video has actually been its fastest-growing category and last year surpassed 10 percent of revenue, Thompson said. The video is used anywhere from in independent films to background imagery on ABC News or "American Idol."
Expansion is important for iStock--and for parent Getty Images, which has suffered through the transformation of the stock-art business even as it embraced the change through its iStock subsidiary. Since going private in 2008, Getty no longer reveals financial details, but Thompson said iStock has "excellent growth considering its maturity."
The subsidiary employs 170 people, with 150 more contractors inspecting content to see whether the contributions are acceptable. And that's a big job. "About 65,000 files per week are uploaded, and we are working on mechanisms that will allow our contributors to upload more," Thompson said. On the customer purchase side, "A file is downloaded every second of the day."
International expansion is also crucial to the company. Getty's $50 million acquisition of iStock in 2006 gave the latter access to the all-important keyword translation technology so those with non-English languages could search for its imagery.
More recently came search results tailored for different countries, which has increased the rate at which searches yield sales, Thompson said. In 2010, revenue outside North America surpassed 50 percent, he said.

Expansion has been tough for the company, though, because of a contributor payment system that the company judged financially unsustainable. A switch last year to a performance-based compensation scheme was painful, but in the end, only about 0.1 percent of the more than 100,000 contributors were dramatically affected, Thompson said.
"It didn't really affect most people," Thompson said. "Everyone sort of settled down."
Video demands
Video can be much more technically demanding than still photography. Photographers can pick the best of a dozen or a hundred photos of the same subject, but video is less forgiving when there are problems with technique, equipment, or interruptions. Editing video also is more complicated and time-consuming, especially given audio integration matters.
What's it take to get your video into Vetta? iStock has a list of Vetta video guidelines: rarity, believable performances, environments with a strong visual impact, thought-provoking ideas, effective storytelling, technical excellence, live action, and imaginative animations or composites.
A Vetta collection will help contributors justify higher-end work, iStock believes.
"Our videographers have been excited about the price point," Thompson said. "They're investing a lot more money into their shoots. They're looking at something where they could get a lot more return back."
A new generation of cameras, led by Canon's 5D Mark II SLR, is transforming digital video. High-end videocameras still are important, but video-capable SLRs have introduced video to photographers who often have an arsenal of lenses and other equipment.
"Some of our photographers make exceptional video," Thompson said. "The Canon 5D Mark II is sort of the perfect camera. We're looking for short bursts of intense greatness, and cameras like that are perfect for those sorts of clips."
Other camera makers are taking it further, though. Red cameras, which are all the rage among feature-film producers, can produce 2K and 4K video--2048x1536 and 4096x3072 pixels, compared with 1920x1080 for 1080p video.
Right now, though, iStock downsamples such video to mere 1080p. But 2K and 4K eventually will arrive, though.
"It's a ways into the future--probably next year at the earliest," Thompson said.
One reason for the caution: 4K video takes up a lot of space--especially because iStock offers video in a variety of resolutions, and each must be stored separately. 4K videos would drastically increase computing needs.
"It boggles the mind what would be required," Thompson said. "We can barely keep up putting new servers into rotation now."
Other expansion under way
Vetta video isn't the only video expansion in the works. iStock recently launched editorial photos, which are for use by the news media and unlike its commercial art don't require models to sign releases permitting usage of their image. Editorial videos will come too, though Thompson wouldn't say when.
And this is not the only Vetta expansion, either. iStock also is launching Vetta for illustrations--imagery created with vector graphics software commonly used for logos and other line art. With Web browsers now supporting the SVG format for vector graphics, expect this category to gain in importance.
Today's illustration category of Vetta is actually a relaunch. iStock tried earlier but had to pull back when it judged it didn't have the right criteria for assessing price and complexity.
And one more new category coming for iStock: the PNG, (portable network graphics) format. Its big advantage compared with JPEG: it supports an "alpha" channel that lets designers mark parts of the overall image as transparent. That means objects work with colored or complex backgrounds without arduous image editing.
A key factor in the decision to support PNG is the fact that Microsoft Office now properly supports it, Thompson said. Because of that, objects with transparent backgrounds can easily be dropped into PowerPoint presentations, for example, he said.
Expansion notwithstanding, iStock has no plans to support raw image formats that offer higher quality than JPEG. Raw photos, the uncompressed, unprocessed data from higher-end digital cameras, offer greater flexibility for editing.
iStock has held many discussions with its customers about the possibility, but they've resoundingly expressed a preference for a finished product, not something they have to work on, Thompson said. "Customers are not interested," he said.
Infrastructure demands
All this expansion--now and in the future--has a big consequence for a data-intensive, international business. Infrastructure is a major matter for iStock.
Right now, the company's archive of content is 1.4 petabytes, growing at a rate of 22 terabytes per month, the company said.
The company today has two data centers in Calgary, Canada, where iStock is headquartered, and relies on Akamai to distribute the data internationally. That works well--until there's an Akamai hiccup from something like a configuration change.
"Man, do our servers start smoking if they have a glitch," Thompson said. "You see the load go [up] whoosh!"
At some point, the company plans to launch new data centers, likely in Europe and Japan, Thompson said.
Through a project called C9, the company is switching from lower-end storage systems to EMC's Atmos technology.
Another IT project at iStock is the move to a new Getty system that's more flexible. Today, each new category requires a new infrastructure, but the new technology will let iStock offer new categories as just a new module.
Given how fast the company is adding new content, that sounds like a good idea.

Thor

The epic adventure Thor spans the Marvel Universe from present day Earth to the mystical realm of Asgard. At the center of the story is The Mighty Thor, a powerful but arrogant warrior whose reckless actions reignite an ancient war. As a result, Thor is banished to Earth where he is forced to live among humans. When the most dangerous villain of his world sends its darkest forces to invade Earth, Thor learns what it takes to be a true hero.                   
                               

How to Plan for a Perfect Holiday

1

Set a budget. Before chalking out a plan for the holiday, the most important thing is to set a budget. It helps you to plan and enjoy the trip within your limits. Always estimate a little more than what you might need.

2

Plan ahead. The first thing you need to do is to be sure of what you need from this trip. Do you want to experience the local culture or just have fun on those sandy beaches? Do you wanna mingle with the locals or fade away from busy people and the world? Strategize your trip according to your needs and likes.

3

Read up before you go. Prepare yourself before plunging into an unknown holiday destination. Buy a good guidebook and read up on the culture, history, local attractions of the destination. You can read the local publications on-line or surf the net for more information. The more you know, the better you can enjoy or appreciate the place and their traditions.

4

Pack light and right. Pack only the essential things. Avoid carrying unnecessary things around. A heavy luggage may sometimes dampen your holiday spirit. Carry clothes that are comfortable and right for the season. As much as possible try to stuff everything you need in a single carry-on bag.

5

Always reserve your stay. It's always better to book your stay if possible because all you need is a good night's sleep after an exciting day.

6

Have Realistic Expectations: Unreasonable expectations can lead to unwanted stress, so enjoy the holiday by managing what you can with the time you have. Embrace each moment, whether good or bad.

Best Smartphones in 2011

New Smartphones 2011: Altek Leo

Altek Leo is an upcoming Smartphone that would run on Android OS 2.1 (Éclair).
The most interesting thing it is located on its back panel, the camera.
It has 14MP camera with 3x Optical Zoom (Like Regular Digital Cameras) and Xenon Flash.

Other Features and Technical Specs of Altek Leo Smartphone:-

• Shoots HQ videos at 720p resolution, 30 fps
• Sunny 9 Digital Image Processor for sharp, crystal clear final product
• 3.2″ large capacitive touchscreen, supports multi-touch too
• Dedicated photo editing and video editing software comes bundled with this Smartphone

If I am not majorly mistaken, Altek Leo is a New Smartphone for anyone who is interested in HQ photography but doesn’t want to carry an additional digital camera with him.

New Smartphones 2011: Motorola Atrix 4G

If you think that 4G phones are not functional then you are mistaken because in United States 4G communication technology is live that can provide broadband speed up to 20 Mbps.
Motorola Atrix is a New Smartphone that has a lot of other features like dual-core Processor other than just the 4G tag.

Other Features and Technical Specs of Motorola Atrix 4G Smartphone:-

• 4″ capacitive touchscreen, 540×960 pixel resolution with 16.7 million color display
• Runs on Android 2.2 (Froyo)
• Operates on Dual-core 1GHz ARM Cortex-A9 processor, ULP GeForce GPU, Tegra 2 chipset
• 16 GB internal memory with microSD expansion slot
• Support Wi-Fi, 3G, 4G connectivity
• 5 MP Camera with autofocus and LED flash
• 1080p MP4/H.263/H.264.WMV/Xvid/DivX @ 30 fps video playback

New Smartphones 2011: Samsung Galaxy S2

Samsung Galaxy S2 was given a lot of attention by media because it was rumored to have a 2GHz processor but now almost every new Smartphone has the 1GHz NVIDIA Tegra 2 dual-core Processor so it is even.
My expectations from Samsung Galaxy S2 are mighty, this upcoming smart phone and would be released probably within second quarter of 2011. It might be announced at the upcoming MWC 2011.

Other Features and Technical Specs of Samsung Galaxy S2 Smartphone:-

• Powerful dual-core processor i.e. 1.2 GHz Samsung Orion Processor
• Ultra Sharp 4.3″ Super AMOLED Plus capacitive touchscreen with support for multi-touch
• Next-Gen Bluetooth 3.0
• NFC technology for easy payments
• 1GB that lets you multitask
• Android 2.3 (Gingerbread) Operating System
• 8MP back camera + LED Flash + 1080p video recording + 1.3 MP front facing camera

New Smartphones 2011: Motorola Milestone 2

Motorola Milestone is till date the most popular Android Smartphone ever made and that is the reason why Motorola Milestone 2, the sequel is coming out.
I have used Motorola Milestone in my palm and I have one word for it, actually technically there too, it is ‘Bloody Brilliant’. It has the perfect combination of hardware and software and the slide-out QWERTY just makes it easier for Business People to get attracted towards this Smartphones, anyways.

Other Features and Technical Specs of Motorola Milestone 2 Smartphone:-

• 3.7″ TFT capacitive touchscreen with 16 million colors and 480 x 854 pixels resolution
• Slide-out QWERTY keyboard
• 8GB internal memory + 8GB memory card (microSD included) + upgradeable to 32GB
• 5MP camea with dual-LED flash and autofocus
• 720p video recording at 30fps
• Operates on Android OS 2.2 (Froyo) on 1 GHz Cortex-A8 processor, PowerVR SGX530 GPU, TI OMAP3630 chipset
• supports Adobe Flash 10.1 with Quick Office document Editor (You need it! right?)
• SoundHound Music Recognition Software comes inbuilt

New Smartphones 2011: Motorola Droid Pro

Motorola Droid has made some changes it their design. The previous versions of Droid were full touch Smartphones whereas this one has a QWERTY keypad too. I have found a perfect Smartphone for my brother now, he craves QWERTY + Motorola + Android OS.
Motorola Droid is a signature name for Android, I mean you might say that Android is very popular, it needs no recognition now and i would agree with you but in Google Android’s primitive days, Motorola’s fine products made a name for Android.

Other Features and Technical Specs of Motorola Droid Pro Smartphone:-

• 3.1″ capacitive touchscreen with 16 Million colors
• Multi-touch support with a full QWERTY keyboard
• 8GB internal memory + 8GB memory card (microSD included) + upgradeable to 32GB
• Supports Wi-Fi and 3G connectivity
• 5MP camera with autofocus and dual-LED flash
• Supports video recording at 720×480 pixels at 26-30 fps
• Runs on Android OS 2.2 (Froyo)
• 1 GHz ARM Cortex-A8 processor, PowerVR SGX530 GPU, TI OMAP3620-1000 chipset massive processor too
• Lacks DivX and Xvid video playback but support WMV so it is kind of fine