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Saturday, March 2, 2013

'Switched at Birth' goes silent to make a point

This publicity image released by ABC Family shows Karla Gutierrez, left, and Ashley Shimizu in a scene from ABC Family's TV series, "Switched at Birth." When news of the school's closing spreads, the students of Carlton School for the Deaf stage a protest. (AP Photo/ABC Family/Eric McCandless)

This publicity image released by ABC Family shows Sean Berdy in a scene from ABC Family's TV series, "Switched at Birth." When news of the school's closing spreads, the students of Carlton School for the Deaf stage a protest. (AP Photo/ABC Family/Eric McCandless)

This publicity image released by ABC Family shows from left, Marlee Matlin, Katie Leclerc and Brian Gutierrez in a scene from ABC Family's TV series, "Switched at Birth." When news of the school's closing spreads, the students of Carlton School for the Deaf stage a protest. (AP Photo/ABC Family/Eric McCandless)

LOS ANGELES (AP) ? "Until hearing people walk a day in our shoes, they will never understand," says a guidance counselor at a high school for deaf students in "Switched at Birth."

Such insights are a staple of the ABC Family drama, a TV rarity that puts deaf characters, played by deaf or hard-of-hearing actors, at the center of the action.

But Monday's episode takes it a bold step further: Save for a few spoken words at the beginning and the end, it is silent. The actors' hands do the talking with American Sign Language, even rapping together in one gleeful sequence.

Subtitles, which are typically sprinkled throughout "Switched at Birth" episodes, keep the viewer clued in. But when a deaf character is confused because she can't hear something vital, the audience is too. It's powerfully disconcerting.

The cast, including Oscar-winner Marlee Matlin as the school counselor, are excited about what they see as a grand experiment and eager for viewer reaction.

"This is an opportunity for the hearing person to watch at home and try to experience it," said Katie Leclerc, who stars as deaf teenager Daphne Vasquez. "It's not exactly the same, but maybe you can try to imagine what your everyday life would be like."

"It's a risk," added Leclerc, who has an inner ear disorder, Meniere's disease, that can cause hearing loss and vertigo.

"A big risk," Matlin said through a sign language-interpreter. "But it's going to be an eye-opener. I'm very proud to be part of this risk-taking, history-making episode."

Matlin knows about making history. She was the first ? and remains the only ? deaf person to receive an Academy Award acting trophy, honored as best actress for 1986's "Children of a Lesser God."

The "Switched at Birth" episode pivots on another key moment for the deaf community: A 1988 student protest at Gallaudet University in Washington, D.C., that ended the unbroken succession of hearing presidents at the school for the deaf.

For fictional Carlton High School (inspired by real-life LA school, Marlton), more is at stake: The school faces closure because of funding cuts, which means its students will be "mainstreamed" with hearing teens.

(It mirrors a real-life trend caused by budget constraints, Leclerc said. There's also an increasing number of children being given cochlear implants to counter hearing loss, itself a controversial issue, according to series creator and executive producer Lizzy Weiss.)

The prospect is dreaded by the Carlton students, either because they've felt the sting of being an outsider or because they treasure being part of a deaf-oriented school.

"Deaf people feel that moving into the mainstream chips away at their community, which is about language and culture," said Jack Jason, Matlin's longtime interpreter and the series' on-set arbiter for correct sign-language use.

With Daphne as the driving force and invoking Gallaudet, students mobilize to take over the administration building and demand Carlton's survival. The conflict's ending will wait for the March 11 season finale.

The uprising panics parents and puts relationships at risk, including that of Daphne and Bay Kennish (Vanessa Marano), the switched-at-birth characters of the title who have come together as teenagers from two very different households.

"We started in the pilot with just one scene that was pure ASL," involving Daphne and Emmett (Sean Berdy), said Weiss. As the series developed, she and her writing team began pondering the "what-if" of an all-sign language episode for the second season.

Then ABC Family approached her with the same idea, and the challenge was on to find a logical and engaging way to realize the ASL-only goal and a big enough story to make the most of it.

Last year, a "CSI: NY" episode took a stab at a nearly silent episode, using music by Green Day for most of its storytelling before reverting to dialogue in the final act.

The solution for "Switched at Birth" was to make sure every scene included a deaf character: "The truth is, when you're around people who are deaf, it's considered rude not to sign if you know how," Weiss said.

To avoid overloading viewers with subtitles the story was designed to be highly visual, including scenes of the student protest complete with picket signs and a defiant "Take Back Carlton" banner unfurled from the occupied school building.

Although some moments depict the pitfalls of being a deaf person in a hearing world, Weiss said, that's balanced by positive aspects.

"If you have been anything that's in the minority ? gay, Jewish, a woman, anything ? you have some piece of your identity that brings with it a lot of baggage and hardship, but also a lot of pride," Weiss said. "That's what we're trying to connect with."

The episode also highlights the beauty of ASL and its "coolness," such as being able to sign across a crowded theater and have an essentially private conversation, she said.

As with a silent movie ? last year's Oscar-winning "The Artist" the latest case in point ? "Switched at Birth" includes music intended to reflect the characters' internal lives. A viewer could add to the silence by muting it, but Weiss said that misses the point.

The episode "is not about silence, or 'absence of' sound. It's about language and culture and seeing the world from the point of view of a deaf person, and our perspective is that deaf people's inner lives are not silent," she said.

Matlin, whose counselor is a recurring character on "Switched at Birth," said the episode is an emotional and professional high point for her, one she would like to see exceeded.

"I never thought in my life I would see this happen. But I want to go further in terms of using deaf actors. ... I want (Steven) Spielberg to say, 'Hey, we want to use deaf actors.' Why not? And, hey, let's have the same respect for actors who are deaf as for those who are hearing.

"I don't know if we'll ever get there, but never say never," Matlin said.

___

Online:

http://www.abcfamily.go.com

___

Lynn Elber is a national television columnist for The Associated Press. She can be reached at lelber(at)ap.org and on Twitter (at)lynnelber.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/bbd825583c8542898e6fa7d440b9febc/Article_2013-03-01-TV-Silent%20Drama/id-3ef317f2d8cb4376aceadc8602c94ca0

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Friday, March 1, 2013

China says US-based hackers target its websites

BEIJING (AP) ? China's military said Thursday that overseas computer hackers targeted two of its websites an average of 144,000 times per month last year, with almost two-thirds of the attacks originating in the United States.

The claim from Defense Ministry spokesman Geng Yansheng follows accusations last week by American cybersecurity company Mandiant that Chinese military-backed cyberspies infiltrated overseas networks and stole massive amounts of data from U.S. companies and other entities. China denied the allegations, and its military said it has never supported any hacking activity.

Geng told reporters at a monthly news conference that an average of 62.9 percent of the attacks on the Defense Ministry's official website and that of its newspaper, the People's Liberation Army Daily, came from the U.S.

"Like other countries, China faces a serious threat from hacking and is one of the primary victims of hacking in the world," Geng said. "Numbers of attacks have been on the rise in recent years."

Geng attacked the Mandiant report, which blamed hacking on the People's Liberation Army's Shanghai-based Unit 61398, as "unprofessional and not in accordance with the facts." He also criticized the U.S. military's cyber command for impeding international efforts at controlling hacking.

The Mandiant report was widely praised by cybersecurity professionals interviewed by The Associated Press, who said it provided the most detailed picture yet of China's state-sponsored hacking efforts.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2013-02-28-China-US-Hacking/id-d8312ca0e87c42b49902c3b5d9fa517f

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Workstation design improvements for drone operators may reduce costs and mishaps, researchers suggest

Feb. 27, 2013 ? The U.S. Department of Defense reports that drone accidents in which personnel or aircraft are damaged or destroyed occur 50 times more often than mishaps involving human-operated aircraft. The U.S. Marines and Army reported 43 mishaps that involved human factors issues associated with drone ground control workstations and technology during 2006?2007.

Human factors/ergonomics (HF/E) researchers Qaisar Waraich, Thomas Mazzuchi, Shahram Sarkani, and David F. Rico suggest that multimillion-dollar drone losses might be prevented if long-established and broadly applied HF/E workstation design standards had been used in designing workstations used by ground controllers.

In their Ergonomics in Design article, "Minimizing Human Factors Mishaps in Unmanned Aircraft Systems," the authors propose applying long-established commercial computer workstation standards, particularly ANSI/HFES 100-2007 Human Factors Engineering of Computer Workstations, in the absence of more specific guidelines for drone ground control workstations or a federal agency that is responsible for setting workstation standards.

Waraich et al. interviewed 20 drone operators about their ground control workstations, finding up to 98% similarity between input/output devices used in ground control workstations and those used for general purposes. Therefore, results, the authors posit that standards that have been used to improve general-purpose workstations could have the same result for drone operators' workstations. The researchers included UAS designers with the U.S. Navy, systems engineering researchers from George Washington University, and engineers from top airframe manufacturers.

Application of design guidelines from ANSI/HFES 2007-100 might have prevented the awkward placement of a landing gear button and the subsequent loss of a $1.5-million drone in 2006. Similarly, had design guidelines been applied for reducing glare from a computer screen, a drone operator might not have mistakenly shut off engines midair, resulting in the loss of a $4.34 million drone.

"The application of this standard could help to ensure that operator workstation equipment and layouts have been designed with human compatibility considerations," says Waraich. "Commercial computer workstation standards provide quantitative parameters based on empirical data and well-established HF/E engineering practices."

Drones have been, and will continue to be, used in a broad range of applications, including police surveillance and natural disaster research, and ground control workstation designers can benefit from incorporating HF/E principles and standards.

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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Human Factors and Ergonomics Society, via EurekAlert!, a service of AAAS.

Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.

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Disclaimer: Views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/~3/yMTGHkiqGvA/130227162018.htm

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'We Saw Your Junk' parodies Oscars 'Boobs'

By Gael Fashingbauer Cooper, TODAY

It wasn't your typical Oscars song. On Sunday night, host Seth MacFarlane led a number of singers, including the Gay Men's Chorus of Los Angeles, in a song he called, "We Saw Your Boobs." The lyrics called out a number of actresses in the auditorium who'd gone topless in movies, repeating, "in the movie that we saw, we saw your boobs." Meryl Streep, Naomi Watts, Angelina Jolie, Anne Hathaway, Halle Berry, Nicole Kidman and Kate Winslet (repeatedly) were among the women mentioned.

But now someone is striking back, and pointing out the fact that MacFarlane chose to focus only on women who'd gone partially nude in films, not men. Kevin Gisi, an engineer at Mashable.com, put together a hilarious twist on the song, aimed at male actors and called, "We Saw Your Junk."

Sporting a great voice, Gisi dives right in, with "We saw your junk, we saw your junk, in the movie that we saw, we saw your junk." He goes on to namedrop such male actors as Kevin Bacon, Bruce Willis, Harvey Keitel, Richard Gere, Ben Stiller and more.?

"Mark Wahlberg used prosthetics in 'Boogie Niiiiiiiiiights,'" he sings, gesturing ?to indicate that said prosthetics were quite lengthy.

And where MacFarlane used Kate Winslet's numerous nude scenes as a joke in his version, Gisi picked someone who's made his name on nudity. He sings, "And Ron Jeremy kept it hidden in (1996 horror film) 'They Bite.' And 'Orgazmo.' 'Crank: High Voltage.' And 'The Chase.' And '54.' But that doesn't make up for the porn!"

Gisi even gets in a dig at the Oscar host himself, singing, "Not a peep of Seth MacFarlane's junk to see, hypocrite!"

But Gisi says that he has mixed feelings about MacFarlane's original song.?

"For that particular joke premise, if it didn't offend, it wouldn't have gotten laughs in the first place," Gisi told TODAY.com. "I abhor the objectification of anyone -- but I don't think Seth actively objectified, rather he identified the objectification in the film industry. But I can certainly understand why being so casual about it would make many people feel uncomfortable. My video was just to point out that whether Seth's song was taken as crass and immature, or as insightful social commentary -- there's no shortage of men who've done the very same thing as the women he mentioned."

Some have pointed out to Gisi that the talk show "Chelsea Lately" also did a version of "We Saw Your Junk." His was out first, but he says he "enjoyed their take quite a bit."

Gisi had to work hard to get his video together before the Oscar parody lost steam. "It was a fair bit of work," he says. "Honestly, the toughest part was re-orchestrating the music. I was in a rush to get the video up, mainly just concerned that people would be sick of the Oscars if I waited too long. I think I could have done better, but I'm proud I was able to get it out.

His video deftly skewers MacFarlane's number, but Gisi says he realizes what a tough job the "Family Guy" creator had hosting the Oscars.

"Seth tweeted out 'The Oscars is basically the Kobayashi Maru test,' " Gisi says, referring to "Star Trek's" famed unwinnable scenario. ?"It certainly seems that way to me -- award shows hosts are expected to be roast masters, but in front of too wide an audience to avoid seriously offending many."

While this is Gisi's first video that's gone viral, he releases videos Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays on his You Tube Channel,??"The Kevin Show."

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Groups file legal challenge to Washington charter schools initiative ...

February 27, 2013 in City

By Donna Gordon Blankinship Associated Press

SEATTLE ? A coalition of educators and community groups today filed a legal challenge with the state attorney general, questioning the constitutionality of Washington?s new charter schools law.
The three-page ?legal demand? asks Attorney General Bob Ferguson to investigate seven constitutional issues with the law approved by voters in November.
The coalition ? led by the Washington Education Association, the League of Women Voters and El Centro del la Raza ? says if the attorney general doesn?t take action, they will file a lawsuit in state courts. Their issues range from the way the law would divert money from public schools??

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SEATTLE ? A coalition of educators and community groups today filed a legal challenge with the state attorney general, questioning the constitutionality of Washington?s new charter schools law.

The three-page ?legal demand? asks Attorney General Bob Ferguson to investigate seven constitutional issues with the law approved by voters in November.

The coalition ? led by the Washington Education Association, the League of Women Voters and El Centro del la Raza ? says if the attorney general doesn?t take action, they will file a lawsuit in state courts. Their issues range from the way the law would divert money from public schools to private non-profit organizations to a perceived violation of the requirement that the superintendent of public instruction should supervise everything related to public schools.

They question the way levy dollars could be converted to a new purpose without consulting voters if a regular public school is converted to a charter school, as is allowed under the new law.

The group, which includes the state?s largest teachers? union, doesn?t like a provision of the new law that restricts collective bargaining units of charter school employees to the school in which they work.

?The Charter School Act is an unconstitutional law that impedes the state?s progress toward fully funding public education and places even greater pressure on school districts to fill this gap,? their letter said.

The attorney general?s office did not immediately reply to a phone call requesting comment.

Washington became the 42nd state to OK the independent public schools in November. Voters authorized the opening of up to 40 charter schools over five years. The new law sets up a Charter School Commission to authorize groups to open charter schools and puts the State Board of Education in charge of approving applications by local school districts that also want to authorize charter?schools.

Source: http://www.spokesman.com/stories/2013/feb/27/groups-file-legal-challenge-washington-charter-sch/

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PSA: Kindle iOS app users should not update to version 3.6.1

This one's coming straight from the horse's mouth. Amazon is acknowledging a "known issue" with version 3.6.1 of its Kindle app for iOS -- the company is recommending that current users avoid the latest update, which hit the App Store today. According to TUAW, the new version may completely erase a user's book library. How this passed the e-book giant's QA team is anyone's guess, but until a revision hits the cloud, we suggest you stay away.

Filed under: Software, Amazon

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Via: TUAW

Source: Amazon (iTunes)

Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/jkBDhgHZ9HM/

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Syrian clashes reach 12th century Aleppo mosque

AAA??Feb. 28, 2013?5:56 AM ET
Syrian clashes reach 12th century Aleppo mosque
AP

Free Syrian Army fighters from the Knights of the North brigade move to reconnaissance a Syrian army forces base of al-Karmid, at Jabal al-Zaweya, in Idlib province, Syria, Wednesday, Feb. 27, 2013. Syrian warplanes carried out airstrikes on rebels trying to storm a police academy outside Aleppo on Wednesday, while jihadi fighters battled government troops along a key supply road leading to the southeastern part of the city, activists said. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)

A Free Syrian Army fighter from the Knights of the North brigade moves to reconnaissance a Syrian army forces base of al-Karmid, at Jabal al-Zaweya, in Idlib province, Syria, Wednesday, Feb. 27, 2013. Syrian warplanes carried out airstrikes on rebels trying to storm a police academy outside Aleppo on Wednesday, while jihadi fighters battled government troops along a key supply road leading to the southeastern part of the city, activists said. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)

Free Syrian Army fighters from the Knights of the North brigade move to reconnaissance the Syrian army forces base of al-Karmid, at Jabal al-Zaweya, in Idlib province, Syria, Wednesday, Feb. 27, 2013. Syrian warplanes carried out airstrikes on rebels trying to storm a police academy outside Aleppo on Wednesday, while jihadi fighters battled government troops along a key supply road leading to the southeastern part of the city, activists said. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)

A Free Syrian Army fighter, Abu al-Yaman, left, a commander of Knights of the North brigade, cheers as he leaves with other rebels one of their caves to reconnaissance a Syrian army forces base of al-Karmid, at Jabal al-Zaweya, in Idlib province, Syria, Wednesday, Feb. 27, 2013. Syrian warplanes carried out airstrikes on rebels trying to storm a police academy outside Aleppo on Wednesday, while jihadi fighters battled government troops along a key supply road leading to the southeastern part of the city, activists said. The Arabic words in the cave entrance read:"Knights of the North brigade". (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)

BEIRUT (AP) ? Syrian activists say rebels are clashing with government forces around a historic 12th century mosque inside the walled old city of Aleppo.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says the clashes Thursday are concentrated around the Umayyad Mosque with rebels controlling part of it and government troops holding another part.

The Observatory, which relies on reports from activists on the ground, also says rebels continue to battle troops for control of a police academy west of Aleppo.

Aleppo, Syria's commercial capital, has been a key battleground in the civil war since rebels entered in July.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/cae69a7523db45408eeb2b3a98c0c9c5/Article_2013-02-28-Syria/id-7b50476175bd43f6bf8cb226c881cb0a

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