Abandon Normal Devices | Manchester festivals | CreativeTourist.com

Aug 30, 2012 | Comments: 0

If you see something unusual around Manchester this weekend, get closer and take a good look: it might just be art.

The Abandon Normal Devices Festival has come to town and its patented mix of edgy digital art, intriguing talks, mind-bending film and live happenings is in full flow. An annual collaboration between two like-minded North West multi arts venues ? Liverpool?s FACT and Manchester?s Cornerhouse ? ?the main action of the festival rotates between the two cities while spinning out interesting projects across Lancashire and Cumbria.

It?s Manchester?s turn this go round, and as usual we?re being treated to a feast of curious works that blend genres and challenge our perceptions of what culture can be. Such as a post-apocalyptic drive-in complete with wrecked cars to sit on. That?s Empire Drive-In, from Brooklyn artists Todd Chandler and Jeff Stark, and we can?t imagine a better place to watch Mad Max II: The Road Warrior, augmented with live tributes from Manchester troupe Tranarchy. The film programme is stuffed with tasty screenings, including Gravity Was Everywhere Back Then, Brent Green?s quirky live action/stop animation love story, and Turner nominee Luke Fowler?s film debut, All Divided Selves, which digs into the psychology of RD Laing.

We also like the sound of alt drag shenanigans from trixxie carr (above right) at Gorilla and Ask a Teenager, Mammalian Diving Reflex?s live teen advice project, which invites us to expose our dilemmas to the deliberations of their powerful young brains.? And we?re alternately creeped out and fascinated by the prospect of the world?s first bio-engineered football, on display at CUBE. This year there?s a theme of success and failure and self-improvement running through the programme, which poses a central question that mischievously inverts one of everyone?s least favourite soundbites: ?Are you big enough to fail?? If this is what failure tastes like, we say success is way overrated.

Abandon Normal Devices, to 2 September, Cornerhouse and venues around the city and the region. Full schedule and booking info is online at andfestival.org.uk.

Words: Kate Feld; Images: (from top) Empire Drive-In, Todd Chandler and Jeff Stark, by Tod Seelie courtesy of the artists; trixxie carr by Stanley Frank courtesy of the artist.

Possibly related to this:

1. Drive in, moor up, stroll by: The 2012 Canal Festival The city's first float-in cinema, floating gardens & Lomography...
2. Event Radar: July 2012. Things to do in Manchester. Brass bands, birthdays, book festivals and home movies....
3. Abandon Normal Devices. Manchester?s digital art festival launches. We talk to festival producer Gaby Jenks about strange commissions, boundaries and, er, swans...
4. Event radar: May 2012 Art in the park, museums at night, music in the bath and Eurovision in a mill ? all happening in...
5. Event radar: March 2012 A month of interesting things to do in Manchester, carefully selelected for your cultural pleasure....

Filed Under: Events ? Events feature ? Featured

Tags: Abandon Normal Devices ? digital art ? film ? manchester festivals

Source: http://www.creativetourist.com/featured/abandon-normal-devices-2012?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=abandon-normal-devices-2012

masters live

Japanese pachinko mogul sues Wynn Resorts in Tokyo

TOKYO (AP) ? Japanese pachinko tycoon Kazuo Okada has filed a lawsuit in Tokyo District Court seeking $140 million in damages from casino operator Wynn Resorts.

Universal Entertainment said in a statement Wednesday that it is seeking damages for harm caused to its share price and business due to Wynn's decision to remove Okada as a board member and reclaim the $2.77 billion of shares in the company owned by Okada's company, Universal Entertainment Corp.

Okada and billionaire Steve Wynn, the co-founder, chairman and CEO of Wynn Resorts, are former friends and business partners, but have been trading accusations of improprieties as regulators investigate alleged violations of U.S. anti-corruption laws on both sides.

The lawsuit filed in Tokyo this week is demanding 11 billion yen ($140 million) in damages. It alleges that Wynn's actions and comments hurt Universal Entertainment's stock price, hindering its business opportunities and damaging Okada's reputation.

"This action asserts that Steve Wynn has indulged in fraud, deception, theft and betrayal to maintain control of his gaming enterprises and enrich himself based on a false and predetermined pretext," Universal Entertainment said in a statement.

Universal's spokesman in Tokyo was not immediately available for comment. Wynn's staff in Macau referred inquiries to their offices in Las Vegas, Nevada.

The two sides have been feuding for months. Wynn refused to back Okada's plan to build a $2 billion casino resort project in the Philippines, saying it would compete with Wynn Resorts' own business there. Meanwhile, Wynn commissioned an investigation and sued Okada in Nevada for alleged breach of his fiduciary duties and other "gross improprieties."

In March, Universal countersued, questioning a donation by Wynn Resorts to the University of Macau that is now being probed by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and Nevada Gaming Commission as a possible violation of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.

One of Japan's wealthiest businessmen, with net worth over $1.8 billion according to Forbes, Okada started out selling jukeboxes and then expanded into selling the machines used in pachislot, or slot machines, and pachinko, a popular form of pinball that skirts Japan's law against gambling by awarding prizes that players can later swap for cash.

Wynn Resorts' articles of incorporation provide for redemption at "fair value" of the shares held by "unsuitable" individuals. After designating Okada as unsuitable, the company sought to redeem the shares, valued at about $2.7 billion in mid-February, for about $1.9 billion.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/f70471f764144b2fab526d39972d37b3/Article_2012-08-29-AS-Japan-Wynn-Resorts-Okada/id-2b9e9cdcf59f4fe88da04f0da6959b9b

carolina panthers

Therapy center in East Texas offers pain management strategies ...

An East Texas city features a facility staffed by people who hold physical therapy jobs who use the benefits of water to help improve daily living, according to a column penned by the manager of the center.

Janice Jircik extols the virtues of the licensed physical therapists who assist people recovering from health issues, states the column printed in The Anahuac Progress. The therapy that the center offers can help with physical functionality and enhanced mobility. The center can aid by minimizing chronic pain and enhance one's level of fitness.

Back pain, challenges with walking, knee injuries, arthritis and spinal issues are some of the many topics that the facility's physical therapists are prepared to confront with assistance from the indoor heated pool.

Stretching, the performance of exercises for the core of the body, lifting weights and walking are among the routines that the physical therapists can use to help patients address the maladies that are plaguing their life and times.

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, physical therapists aid patients' recovery from injuries and surgery while also helping to manage pain.

Source: http://www.aureusmedical.com/news/2012/08/therapy-center-in-east-texas-offers-pain-management-strategies-director-says/

ufc 144

Cloud strategy: Choose wisely ? Cloud Computing News

As executives contemplate the emergence of cloud computing, it?s important that they understand the questions they need to ask about why they?d adopt the new IT paradigm. Those deciding should consider the history and decisions made by Borders, the bookstore chain. Its execs chose poorly.

Choices matter. Just ask Indiana Jones. In The Last Crusade, he was forced to pick the Holy Grail out of a lineup of cups that spanned everything from a crude wooden model to a high-end chalice apparently designed by Faberg?. The stakes were high. His adversaries chose poorly; Indy chose wisely, and won the day. Cloud computing strategies are a lot like that.

Every decade or so, we?re confronted with the arrival of a new mega-technology that has the power to shape our businesses in powerful ways. In the 1980s, it was personal computing. In the 1990s, it was the Internet. Now, we?re faced with cloud computing. It?s important that we choose a wise strategy for dealing with this technology. In order to understand the future, let?s take a look at the past.

Amazon chooses wisely

In 1994, Borders Group was already one of the largest book retailers in the world. That same year, Jeff Bezos founded Amazon.com recognizing that physical bookstores were limited in the number of titles they could stock. In contrast, an online storefront could ?stock? as many titles as needed, delivering a huge competitive advantage in product selection.

These two organizations had vastly different Internet strategies. Without the Internet, Amazon simply couldn?t exist?the web was central to it?s business model. In contrast, Borders largely ignored the Internet through the 1990s. Instead, Borders pursued a traditional retail strategy, opening large stores in the U.S. and expanding internationally in Europe and Asia.

Borders finally took note of the Internet in 2001, deciding to open an e-commerce storefront. The company knew that it didn?t understand e-commerce, and so it made the decision to outsource its online operations to an expert ? Amazon. In hindsight, the move was foolish, but it reflects a vastly different strategic vision and set of choices about how to view the new Internet technology. For Borders, the Internet was a way to take orders for books and augment transactions occurring at its retail stores. Amazon viewed the Internet as a competitive weapon that could deliver strategic differentiation through greater selection and ease of purchase.

Borders ended its Amazon alliance in 2008 and finally developed its own online presence, but the company never found its stride. In early 2011, Borders filed for bankruptcy and finally ceased operations in late 2011.

Lessons learned

There are some lessons here:

1. New technologies can significantly change the way that businesses operate, creating new business models and obsoleting old ones. Make sure you?re on the right side of that transition before you decide to move slowly with the adoption of a new technology.
2. The market will often take a wait-and-see approach with new technology, particularly established enterprises. While the Amazon vs. Borders comparison provides one of the starkest examples of Internet success and failure, Borders wasn?t the only company that ?didn?t get it.? Barnes & Noble also struggled to incorporate e-commerce into its business model, for instance.
3. So, choose your technology strategy quickly and wisely. And remember that if you choose not to decide, you still have made a choice.

Making the wise cloud computing choice

Today, the Internet transition is behind us, but the cloud computing transition is upon us. The conventional wisdom says that:

1. The biggest benefit to cloud computing is the cost reduction associated with efficient external cloud suppliers, operating at massive scale.
2. The biggest risk associated with cloud computing is security.

Do CIOs have their heads in the sand?

That analysis provides a huge mental crutch for people who are comfortable with the status quo. Budget savings are always interesting, but they are rarely compelling. If we?re currently profitable under the current cost structure, there is less pressure to change our behavior to save money. And that?s particularly true if that means taking additional risk on things like security. Better to pay more for the moment and be safe, the conventional wisdom says, than to be overly aggressive and get burned. Let someone else go first. That?s exactly how Borders approached the Internet.

Here are some questions that might help shape your thinking about a cloud computing strategy:

1. Is information technology be a core input to your business strategy? If you?re a Web 2.0 company, the answer is obviously, ?Yes!? If you?re a manufacturing company in a very old, stable market sector, on the other hand, the answer may be ?No,? but remember that Borders didn?t think the Internet was core. And they were right as long as book selling remained a brick-and-mortar business.
2. What is business agility worth to you? Again, if you?re in an inherently slow-moving business sector, the answer might be, ?Not much.? But remember that book selling wasn?t very fast-moving in the 1990s either. But Amazon has used the Internet multiple times to evolve its business model, lately innovating with e-books. In 2011, Amazon reached the crossover point where it sold more Kindle e-books than physical books, which really starts to undercut competitors based on brick-and-mortar storefronts.
3. What is the risk to your company if your competitors embrace cloud computing first? If that?s troubling and you can think of ways the technology can be used against you, then you?ll want to move before they do. It?s important to think outside the box here and consider new market entrants. If you?re Borders in the 1990s, you need to be thinking about young upstart Amazon, not just your historical competitor Barnes & Noble.

The Amazon vs. Borders comparison puts technology adoption strategies in stark perspective. Cloud computing is upon you right now and its important that you create a proactive strategy for its adoption in your enterprise. It may be the case that you can slow-roll your adoption, taking advantage of the wisdom and experience of first-movers, but make sure you aren?t being lulled into a false sense of security, sustaining the status quo just because it?s easy and low risk for the moment. Border did that and got crushed in the process. They chose poorly and paid the price.

Dave Roberts is SVP of Strategy and Evangelism at ServiceMesh. He blogs here, and tweets as @sandhillstrat.

Indy image courtesy of Flickr user zombieite.

Source: http://gigaom.com/cloud/cloud-strategy-choose-wisely/

Tom Daley

Article: Challenges of Regulating Online Gaming By Location

JDianda 2012-08-25 09:29:27 Indo almocar p. jogar o dia 1B do @MasterMindsAW8 !

Marc_Steinhauer 2012-08-25 09:24:46 Fantasy Football chatbox chirping>>>

Seda16 2012-08-25 09:21:18 I scored 25 points in Gameweek 2 on Fantasy Premier League http://t.co/I0MCammf @nvmea

EWassPoker 2012-08-25 09:20:04 They are $400.00 each. Let me know if you want to attend! @JPBeastMode

EWassPoker 2012-08-25 09:19:54 My dad has a few tickets available for the Halladay Family Foundation private event at the Philadelphia Ritz Carlton.

sbrounder 2012-08-25 09:17:35 RT @GAFollowers: RIP to the 8 year-old girl, Monique James, who was killed by a drunk police officer in Atlanta. No one seems to care. R ...

Seda16 2012-08-25 09:16:03 RT @celticfc: NL: "Tony gives us something a bit different. He was a real handful for two strong centre-halves today." (MH)

tmoitie 2012-08-25 09:15:13 RT @HeroicVillainy: I hate having to teach a Pok?mon flash just to use it in a dark cave and never use it again. #Pok?worldproblems

sanatkaikini 2012-08-25 09:13:20 RVP scored? Fuck yeah. #GGMU

rorydowntown 2012-08-25 09:12:48 Wow Van Persie.

KJulius10 2012-08-25 09:12:43 Got KK in against AJ button vs bb for 200k stack at 1200-2400 in 5k turbo...A on the turn #showers

Grohl_ 2012-08-25 09:11:54 Nice RVP (c) @Roland_Kesler

Delaney09 2012-08-25 09:11:29 Van Persieeeeeeeeeeee

JayKon17 2012-08-25 09:11:22 Some jackass at my table today wished cancer on my whole family after cracking his aces. Awfully polite world we live in. #lolatyousir

MoveTiMe99 2012-08-25 09:08:14 I just want to set the record straight. I've paid $0.00 for the 143 followers that I have.

reraise999 2012-08-25 09:08:08 Ok the turbo will kick in soon with the blinds increasing, time to run it up!

KumoZing 2012-08-25 09:07:40 Duff the legend scores against the scum! Fair play!

Daniel_Blum 2012-08-25 09:04:29 For all my morning fans. I will be playing a large session today with a few final tables and 2 possible victories

Daniel_Blum 2012-08-25 09:03:53 Our hearts will never be the same again

Daniel_Blum 2012-08-25 09:02:43 Too many fish in too big of an ocean. Where do I go for the undiscovered

PokerPlaying 2012-08-25 09:02:37 The best nights start with me already sweating before I get out of the shower. Here we gooooo

Daniel_Blum 2012-08-25 09:01:25 Heading to the gym for a diverse workout of cleans, shoulder presses, heavy triceps, and to maintain my beautiful abdomen. #handsupfeetdown

Daniel_Blum 2012-08-25 09:00:20 The bevy of small yachts in my view right now makes the ocean look that much more blue #richniggapoems

MastaP89 2012-08-25 09:00:01 Doing commentary of the Barcelona final table right now. Questions can be directed at nuts@pokerstars.Tv. tune in! #eptlive

Daniel_Blum 2012-08-25 08:59:31 Just to let all my fans know. I'm still breathing about 19 breaths per minute

jamesjgavin 2012-08-25 08:59:11 Camping time! But first...Dunkin Donuts!

reraise999 2012-08-25 08:54:16 42k @ 1st break. Watching ilari 'some1 just stole my candy' sahamies 4handed on the FT of the main event (1mil 4 1st)

Chonflax 2012-08-25 08:50:33 I'm at Vi?a Balduzzi http://t.co/MbaK6Nw

UWOkid87 2012-08-25 08:49:11 The Mechanical Bull drew blood tonight #wewillleaveitatthat Oh wait, also lost my roommate in Tijuana #ayyiyi #fb

rhinodash 2012-08-25 08:47:46 Had a little snafu getting a rental car but got it all squared out with a different company gonna be a little late but still playing wpt

Joe8Chat 2012-08-25 08:42:26 What would be worse.... A world with no music or a world with no football?!

theczar19 2012-08-25 08:34:56 #Mysteryland in Amsterdam today. Seeing @msolveig @avicii @CalvinHarris @djchuckie @feddelegrand and more. Should be a sick day/night.

Gwed92 2012-08-25 08:33:48 RT @jguest07: The Wolves chairman should be a very happy man right now, how he has managed to get ?12-14m for Fletcher and ?10m for Jarv ...

Gwed92 2012-08-25 08:33:41 RT @MarcoGuido2: sunderland spend 12 million on fking fletcher, yet cant maintain a pitch in august. you fucking idiots

epitomised 2012-08-25 08:31:52 @thedozza @pokerstars Sweet, thanks for letting me know. Maybe something to do with latest update *shrugs*

		Player	PLB
1		ch0ppy	7,094 Points
2		1bigacehole	7,044 Points
3		Gettin Daize	6,729 Points
4		Hixx	6,713 Points
5		Flush_Entity	6,713 Points
6		Vinkyy	6,454 Points
7		mtstackin88	6,258 Points
8		padjes	6,228 Points
9		whereisdonny	6,201 Points
10		dhilton12	6,116 Points

	Player	Score
1	cal42688	3,212.87
2	Hixx	2,999.35
3	WhiteRabbito	2,355.37
4	dhilton12	2,334.35
5	mementmori	2,317.53
6	davidv1213	2,267.26
7	shakentoucan	2,206.43
8	BudnikovDP	2,198.92
9	My Brim Low	2,130.19
10	ynd	2,101.36

Recent PocketFives Awards

Source: http://www.pocketfives.com/f3/article-challenges-regulating-online-gaming-location-669112/

eric cantor