Entertainment World: 05/15/11

Sunday, 15 May 2011

How close were the Terminator films to the reality of 2011?

Will he be back? - Could the dystopian future of Terminator still come true?

The date 21 April 2011 has been prophesied in the Terminator series as Judgement Day, when the machines rise up and bring about the end of human society as we know it.

Artificial intelligence clearly has not developed in quite the way James Cameron's science-fiction franchise predicted, but how close are we to the technologies he depicted?
Central to the Terminator series is the idea of Skynet, the United States's "Global Digital Defense Network", which develops self-awareness and begins a nuclear war.
Western military forces have long relied on networks to distribute information, such as the US Department of Defense's system for sharing top-secret information - the Joint Worldwide Intelligence Communications System.
Yet despite the vast amounts of confidential data stored on such networks, the greatest military disaster to have occurred to date is probably Wikileaks's release of diplomatic cables.
Drones More worrying to would-be members of "the resistance" is the rise of augmented systems and unmanned military technology.
The Guardian reported last week that a Ministry of Defence study had warned this technology could be the start of an "incremental and involuntary journey towards a Terminator-like reality".

Continue reading the main story

TERMINATOR TIMELINE

4 August 1997: The date Skynet goes online according to the first Terminator film
29 August 1997: The first Terminator film claims this is when Skynet becomes self-aware and destroys human civilisation
25 July 2004: This is the date Judgement Day is pushed back to in Terminator 3 after the Skynet research is destroyed in Terminator 2
19 April 2011: The date Skynet goes online in the Sarah Connor Chronicles
21 April 2011: The date in the Sarah Connor Chronicles when Skynet launches its first missiles

Chris Cole, a campaigner who runs the Drone Wars UK website, said: "It's a fictional scenario... which we are some distance away from, but it's becoming easier to imagine because of the push towards speed.

"Military decision makers are saying we are too slow to react and we need to start handing over more decision making to machines.
"We should not go down this route, just like chemical weapons and biological weapons are regarded as being beyond the pale, we should be saying this about automated systems."
Of course for fans of the Terminator series, the real point of contention is the date Skynet will implement its attack against humanity.
In the original Terminator film Kyle Reese, played by Michael Biehn, is sent back in time from a post-apocalyptic future and tells how Skynet was installed on 4 August 1997 and gained its deadly self-awareness on 29 August.
This future was, however, altered in the second Terminator film, where the heroes succeed in destroying the research that led to the creation of Skynet.
But, as is conveniently revealed in the subsequent sequels, the apocalyptic future was not prevented but merely postponed.
Alternative futures In the timeline shown in the TV show Sarah Connor Chronicles, we see a young Kyle watch as Skynet finally succeeds in launching missiles on 21 April 2011.

Man or machine? Arnold Schwarzenegger reinvented himself as governor of California

The film's director, James Cameron, told the TMZ website: "Kyle Reese said in the first film that it was only one possible future - clearly, not the one we're in.
"Maybe Kyle, Sarah, John and the T-800 changed things enough to steer us away from that possible future."
He added: "Now instead of nuclear war we need to worry about global climate change.
"And the machines taking over? With everybody going through their lives bent over their Blackberrys all day long, you could even argue the machines have already won."
Mr Cameron's cinematic vision has, thankfully, not been borne out, but could there be a final twist in his tale?
To this day the UK's family of military satellites is still called Skynet - a name first coined in 1969 when the first one was built in the US.
A spokesman for Astrium, the company which builds them, said the name preceded the film and was probably a coincidence.
But he added it was just possible the director could have read something about the UK satellite system and adopted the name.

Pasha man of the match

The killing of Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden in a covert US military operation, on May 2, has brought the Pak-US relations at the crossroads, the future of which is premature to determine in the present uncertain environment.
Ever since Pakistan joined the SEATO and CENTO in early 50s, Pak-US relations have seen many ups and downs. So, the present standoff not only between Islamabad and Washington, but also between GHQ and the Pentagon is a matter of grave concern. This has surprisingly happened for the first time in the history of the love-hate relationship between the two allies. That too, in the middle of a joint war effort against terrorism, in which Pakistan has suffered more casualties than all the other allies, especially at a time when both the countries know that neither can win it without each other’s support.
Against this backdrop, the unilateral action in Abbottabad had not only shocked the civilian and military leadership, but also the people of Pakistan. As a result, people demanded answers from the leadership – both civilian and military; they were frustrated for being kept in the dark. No form of government can hope to survive if it ignores public sentiment.
Keeping this in view, the military authorities asked the federal government to take people into confidence before their patience runs out and also offered themselves for accountability before Parliament surely setting a rare precedent in the history of Pakistan. The President and Prime Minister agreed, and so an in-camera session of the National Assembly and Senate was held on Friday.
Both the parliamentarians and the people welcomed the briefing by the leadership of the armed forces in Friday’s joint session. DG ISI Lieutenant General Ahmad Shuja Pasha, PAF Chief Rao Qamar Suleman and Deputy Chief of Air Staff (Operations) Air Marshal Mohammad Hassan briefed the parliamentarians and responded wisely to their questions; this has helped to remove the uncertainty that prevailed for almost two weeks after the Osama’s death.
It is important to note that the civilian and military leadership jointly agreed to share a part of the briefing with the media. This decision was quite important, since it was necessary to take our own people as well as the international community into confidence; nothing was hidden and all the issues were discussed in a transparent manner.

Stock market indicators to remain positive in FY12

OUR STAFF REPORTER

KARACHI - The local equity market will continue to perfor strongly in the upcoming fiscal year 2011-12 in anticipation of healthy corporate earnings, improved liquidity conditions in the money markets and attractive valuations.
However, in the short to medium term, the market is expected to be highly sensitive to the geo-political developments emerging in post-Osama scenario, future of the US-Pakistan strategic relationships and continuation of financial assistance from the US. In addition to these factors, the law and order situation and future of the IMF-supported Stand-By Arrangement Programme will set the market direction in months to come.
In a report issued by JS Global, it was stated that the upcoming budget might be a non-event for the oil and telecom sectors. On the other hand, increase in corporate tax rate for banks and insurance and potential removal of gas subsidy for fertilizers would bode negative for all three sectors in the coming financial year.
According to the report, the government is unlikely to withdraw the Capital Gain Tax on stocks trading, especially when the key focus is to bring in new sectors under the umbrella to broaden the tax base.
Pakistan market is trading at the cheapest PE multiples in comparison to its regional peers. The KSE-100 index is trading at a 2012F PE of 6.6x, and offers a steep discount of 48 per cent to the regional peers. Also, in comparison to the regional frontier markets the KSE is at a 44 per cent discount, the report said.

Australia win Sultan Azlan Shah Cup

KUALA LUMPUR (AFP) - World Champions Australia won the 20th edition of the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup on Sunday beating Pakistan 3-2 through a golden goal in extra-time. Australia took the lead in the 11th minute through Christopher Ciriello off their second penalty corner, but the goal only served to spur on Pakistan who went in search of the equaliser. It came in the 31st minute off their second penalty corner attempt by Sohail Abbas whose powerful drag flick had goalkeeper George Bazeley well beaten.
Australia regained the lead in the 44th minute through a field goal by Glenn Turner, only for Rahan Butt draw Pakistan level with an equaliser on 61 minutes sending the match into added-time. Both teams had their chances to score the golden goal but it was Australia who prevailed through a Ciriello winner to give Australia their sixth Sultan Azlan Shah Cup title. Pakistan's manager K. M. Junaid was happy with the performance of the players but was anguished at his side's failure to take their chances to grab the winner.
"It was a good showing by the players and they played one of the best matches here. It shows that despite having a young team we can play good hockey and the young players are maturing fast," he said. Pakistan had the consolation of adding two individual awards to their silver medal. Shakeel Abbasi was named the best player of the tournament while Sohail Abbas was the joint top scorer with India's Rupinder Singh at six goals each. Meanwhile, Great Britain bounced back from a lethargic start to beat New Zealand 4-2 and finish third in the tournament held in Ipoh, the capital of northern Perak state.

World’s oldest scrabble player passes away

Alerts

BIN LADEN WAS A U.S. PRISONER BEFORE BEING KILLED: IRAN 04:50 PST

Ishtiaq Chishti. PHOTO: EXPRESS

KARACHI: Ishtiaq Chishti, the oldest scrabble player in the world – fondly called ‘Baba Scrabble’ (the father of scrabble) – passed away after liver failure complications late on Saturday.

He is survived by wife Malka Chishti and four children.
Chishti, 77, became the oldest player in the World Scrabble Championship in 2003 when he played at the age of 69 years and came 44th out of 150 players. Before him, the previous record holder for the oldest scrabble competitor was Bil Rose, who died in 2003 at 98.
Chishti was born in March 1933 in Ajmer and after the subcontinent’s partition, migrated to Pakistan and later moved to Saudi Arabia to pursue his career. There, his love for scrabble grew when he started playing the game in 1960 after a friend gave him the board game as a present on his return from the United States.
“In Saudi Arabia, he became the founding member of the Dhahran Scrabble Club, the oldest club in the world today,” his son, Sohail Chishti, told The Express Tribune.
Over 300 trophies adorn his drawing room. But they are eclipsed by a letter from Alfred Mosher Butts, an American architect who invented the board game in 1938. In his hand-written letter, he appreciated Chishti’s efforts and contribution to the mind sport.
The oldest scrabble player played in tournaments across the world, in Sri Lanka, Australia, Malaysia, England, Canada, the United States, Bahrain, Qatar and Dubai among others.
He resettled in Pakistan after retiring in 2005 and since then, he had been working to promote the stimulating mind sport.
A colleague, Tariq Parvez, who is the director of the Pakistan Scrabble Association’s Youth Programme, recalled his vigour and untiring efforts to make the game popular among the youth of the country. “He was instrumental in promoting the game and despite his age, he actively went to schools and gymkhanas to urge students to play scrabble,” he said.
Chishti had been playing scrabble for 46 years and used to call it a “stress buster” and “a game of the literates”.
In an earlier interview with The Express Tribune, he had said, “Skills learnt for any other game are limited to the game alone, but those acquired in scrabble can be used across the board.” His pun was intended.
Chishti and his wife, Malka, started playing from home and they made it to the list of the best scrabble players in the world. Malka once made a world record with the word ‘Computerization’ that stretched across the board.
Javaid Iqbal, the Pakistan Scrabble Association vice president, told The Express Tribune that Chishti was the most patient person he had ever met. “Whenever a difference of opinion arose, he never argued and never became angry.” Recently, when Muhammad Sulaiman secured first position in the Malta International Scrabble Open Championship 2010, Chishti hosted a celebration in his honour.
with additional reporting by
sohail khattak
Published in The Express Tribune, May 16^th, 2011.

Pakistan fail to break Australia

Pakistan failed to break Australian jinx and succumbed to pressure and lost the match 3-2 in sudden death period in the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup Hockey Tournament at Ipoh on Sunday.
Australia earlier handed 5-1 defeat to Pakistan in the pool match and they again fell prey to pressure and lost the final.
Nobody was expecting here that Pakistan will reach the final. But Nations prayers and team's own hard work enable them to book berth in final. Greenshirts played well throughout the tournament except two matches they lost one against Australia and the other against England.
In the final they displayed superb game and came from behind to level the 2-2 at full time. In the extra time both the sides missed a few scoring chances. But Australia succeeded in scoring goal in the sudden death period.
Australia, the defending champions, were the hot favourites of the tournament and they stamped their authority by winning the final 3-2 against Pakistan.
Pakistan players failed to hold the nerves and succumbed to pressure. The time is ripe now for Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) to pinpoint shortcomings and weaknesses of players and remove them to boost hockey in the country.
Pakistan played well they beat New Zealand, South Korea, Malaysia and arch-rivals India in the league matches. Victory against India was a great achievement for our players.
Win and defeat is part of game one have to lose and the other to win. Now Pakistani team should forget the defeat and look ahead to prepare for the upcoming events in the future.

Useful Tips To Increase Your Website Traffic

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Some might take years to generate traffic and some takes few months. High traffic is what we all want for our website. Many websites fails within a month or two because they are not getting much traffic, they just loose all hope without even trying some tools. Blogging is not an easy task that you just start and will get lots of money you need to be patience, smart and build links.
Increase Website Traffic

It does not matter how much great content and specific information you have on your blog, what matter much is visitors. How much traffic or visitor visiting your site daily or your stats is what matters much, because all of your web earning and branding depend entirely upon the traffic you get to your website. The following tips will help you increase the much required traffic to your website.

Submit your blog to popular search engines like Google, Yahoo, Bing. Submitting a blog to these major search engines can really increase your traffic by indexing your site to their list.
Keywords are what people search on the web and typed in search boxes. What people generally do is overcrowd their post with keywords to make it optimize for search engines. You should take this in mind that you want people not only search engines to find your website. Try to use keywords in your post title and in body as well. The blog should be rich in keyword content but not only contain keywords that are considered as spam.
Social media is another best tool to increase your website traffic. You must share your site to social networks to increase your network. Also try using the plugins like tweet me, Facebook share, Linkedln share on your site to make it easy for your visitors to share your contents with their friends. This will greatly help you to make your blog popular on social networks.
Do some link building as this will make your website rank high in search engines like Google and help you to increase the volume of traffic to your website. You can do this by submitting your articles to directories and comments on famous blogs, posting guest articles on sites. This will increase the link popularity of your website and leaving your link in comments will help people trackback your website.
RSS(Real Simple Syndication) feeds submission is the best method for SEO in the purpose of submitting any website feed to the directories which are popular. Your regular visitor or audience will get their regular updates of your site and connected to you by this way. This will help you to increasing rank to search engines.
Interact with your readers, Reply to their comments and answer their questions. Asking their opinion is what all you can do to make your readers engage with you and love to visit your site. Make sure that you are polite to your readers and if they are happy with you then surely they will tell to their friends and companions.
Update your blog regularly like you must post regularly, but don’t post too early that your readers will not get time to read the previous one. So let the user analyze your post while you are posting another one. As it is well said before, it is always better to have quality than quantity.
There are various online communities and forums available out there. Choose the forums and communities in your niche and actively participate on them. While participating in them, use your links in the forum signature as it will serve as a backlink as well as it will help you get a good amount of targeted traffic to your website.

Three simple actions that doubled my website traffic in 30 days

The following post on how to increase website traffic was submitted by Adrian W Kingsley-Hughes.
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I started the PC Doctor blog in May of 2005 and for the first few months my traffic was really low – down in the few hundreds of visitors a day. It was pretty depressing I can tell you and there were times when I thought about quitting. I knew that the site was in the Google ‘sandbox’ and so I either had to keep on plugging at it until it was out or I had to give up.
Fortunately, I decided to keep on posting but in the interim I decided that I was also going to do my utmost to drive traffic to my site manually until Google kicked in. I took a look around at what some of the successful blogs were doing and came up with three tactics that helped to double my website traffic in a month.

First, I made the most of Technorati tags. I tagged every key word in each of my posts. Initially I did this manually but them I discovered a WordPress plugin called SimpleTags that made the job a whole lot easier. I found that by tagging my post effectively they were getting a lot more attention then their untagged counterparts, and as an added advantage I was getting focused, quality traffic to the site!
I leveraged my existing website. I’ve been running my business website for a few years and that was getting modest levels of traffic that was relevant to my blog – so why not try to drive some of that to my new blog! I placed a few FeedBurner headline animator blocks on some of my most popular pages and after a day or so I noticed a significant increase in traffic for 5 minutes worth of work on my part.
Finally, I made effective use of trackback links to popular sites. If I commented on a post on another site I would make sure that I set up the appropriate trackback for it. The results from this are varied depending on the site and post that you are linking to but since I liked to comment and interact with the wider blogosphere anyway, it was free traffic!

Using these three simple techniques, I took The PC Doctor blog from a few hundred hits a day into the thousands in less than 30 days. This kept my interest in the site until it came out of the Google sandbox and I started to receiver some serious traffic. However, I’m convinced that these actions I took at the early stages have helped me create a loyal and targeted readership that continues to benefit my blog today.

Charlie Sheen Enters Rehab

John Sciulli/Getty Images

Charlie Sheen is saying, "Yes, yes, yes," to rehab.
His rep just released a statement that the embattled sitcom star "has voluntarily entered an undisclosed rehabilitation center today.
"He is most grateful to all who have expressed their concern," the statement said. "Mr. Sheen asks that his privacy be respected at this time and that no additional information will be provided."
But what about Two and a Half Men? Earlier today, Sheen's rep said the actor would return to work next Tuesday…
RELATED: Source: Charlie Sheen doesn't think he has a problem
A statement issued by CBS Entertainment, Warner Bros. Television and executive producer Chuck Lorre says that the hit show has been placed on production hiatus.
"We are profoundly concerned for his health and well-being, and support his decision," the statement said.
Sheen was rushed to a hospital yesterday morning from his L.A.-area home because, he told friends and family, he was suffering severe abdominal pain, possibly due to a hernia from laughing so hard while watching television.
However, a source has told us that Sheen had been on a long partying bender that included a bevy of porn stars.
"He says things like, 'Men like me don't die,'" the source said yesterday, adding that the actor does not think he has a problem. "Give him some free time and he's off and running."
Let's hope any free time he has now will be spent on his recovery.

Amazing photos of people who loves extreme hobbies

Ashton Kutcher To Replace Charlie Sheen On 'Two And A Half Men'

According to the Hollywood Reporter,after months of speculation, rumors and uncertainty, it looks like the producers of "Two and a Half Men" have their other man. Ashton Kutcher is putting the final touches on a deal to replace Charlie Sheen on Two and a Half Men.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, two unnamed sources close to the negotiations say that Kutcher is putting the "final touches" on a deal to replace Sheen. While reps for the show and Kutcher declined to comment, the Reporter said the deal is "all but signed," and Kutcher himself seemed to indicate that an announcement was imminent in a Twitter message.
"What's the square root of 6.25?" he tweeted followers on Thursday night. The answer, of course, is two and a half, a clever hint that the actor could be making his return to scripted TV for the first time since ending his run as dimwitted Michael Kelso on "That '70s Show" in 2006. Though an exact salary was not known at press time, a source told the Reporter that it would be a "huge payday" for Kutcher.
Kutcher's name surfaced on Thursday in connection with "Two and a Half Men" after a long line of other leading men had been rumored as possible Sheen replacements, including Woody Harrelson, John Stamos, Jeremy Piven and Rob Lowe.

Moscow!!!

The late spring is probably the best season time: the sky is blue, the sun is shining and streets are green. So let’s take a walk through Moscow in one of such nice days. The following pictures are made from a model of a helicopter with a camera attached to it.