Yandel, left, of the group Wisin y Yandel, Jennifer Lopez, center, and Enrique Iglesias pose together after the announcement of their summer tour together, Monday, April 30, 2012, in Los Angeles. The initial 16 dates of the North American tour were announced on Monday, with more dates soon to be announced. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)
Yandel, left, of the group Wisin y Yandel, Jennifer Lopez, center, and Enrique Iglesias pose together after the announcement of their summer tour together, Monday, April 30, 2012, in Los Angeles. The initial 16 dates of the North American tour were announced on Monday, with more dates soon to be announced. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)
LOS ANGELES (AP) ? Jennifer Lopez, Enrique Iglesias and Wisin Y Yandel are touring together this summer.
Lopez and Iglesias announced Monday in Los Angeles that the 20-city MEGA concert tour will begin July 14 in Montreal.
"We are going to give you everything we got," Lopez said. "I think it's going to be one of the most historic tours ever. Because I don't know that there has ever been something ... where these Latinos have come together like this as family."
Iglesias said the tour will include individual hits as well as collaborative performances. "I have a bunch of songs with Wisin Y Yandel and obviously with Jennifer," he told the crowd.
Lopez said her 4-year-old twins, Max and Emme, will also be on the tour bus.
And if they get stir crazy? "There's always Grandma's house," she said.
The March smartphone market share tally for the US is in from comScore, and it paints a familiar picture that's rosy for Apple, Google and Samsung, but not so flush-cheeked for everyone else. Android is still tops and jumped almost four points to 51 percent of new American buyers. Apple's still riding high after shipping 35.1 million iPhones, however, and moved up to 30.7 percent. As is often becoming the case, it was Microsoft and RIM that took the biggest hit, with the BlackBerry dropping as much as Android gained and tumbling down to 12.3 percent.
A total of 106 million Americans had a smartphone, nine percent higher than in December, and that was mirrored in the hurt dealt out among total cellphone market share. Outside of Samsung's gangbuster run in smartphones keeping it on top at 26 percent, the only other company to move up as an individual cellphone brand was Apple, which staked out 14 percent of the US cellphone space for itself. HTC, Motorola and LG are all shedding market share, with HTC no doubt hoping that the One X and One S will turn its fortunes around pretty soon.
Rapper-turned-actor also updates MTV News on his in-the-works FX series 'Eye for an Eye,' N.W.A biopic and fourth 'Friday' film. By Tamara Palmer
Ice Cube Photo: Kameron Zach/MTV News
As the clock struck midnight on April 29, ringing in the 20-year anniversary of the day three police officers were acquitted in the Rodney King trial and the start of the Los Angeles riots, Ice Cube was imploring a sold-out crowd at KDAY's Krush Groove concert at L.A.'s Gibson Amphitheatre to never forget what happened in 1992.
The upheaval fueled the direction of Ice Cube's The Predator later that year. The album remains his career bestseller, a home to express songs like "We Had to Tear This Mother----a Up" as well as a wry hit like "It Was a Good Day." Two decades on, he still believes in music as a vehicle for social change.
"People have music in their hearts," Cube told MTV News before stepping onstage. "Music ain't about the charts. It's about how you feel about a certain song. I know people who have music and music changed their life just by hearing a song. It could be an old song. It could be a song that people thought was thrown away and you can hear it and it can inspire you. So, I think music has always had the power to change, heal, bring understanding and bring people together."
After serving up his best-known 'hood and Hollywood anthems, Ice Cube brought his rapping sons OMG and Doughboy to offer a taste of a collaboration they'll bring on his next album.
"I think I'm gonna call it Everything's Corrupt," he revealed. "It's just really hardcore West Coast hip-hop — what I do. I don't think changing the formula is what should be done. I think it's all about do what you do best and give the people what they want."
Cube stays busy with his film and television pursuits and has talked about several ideas that are in development, including creating a dramatic television series for FX called "Eye for an Eye," in which he'll play an ambulance driver with a mission to avenge victims of violence.
"It's a great series as far as the idea, the concept," he said. "We're still trying to find that top-notch A-list writer who will want to be with us in the long haul, be with the project and ready to go. So, we want to find the best because we think the premise of the show is great.
"I play a guy who is an ambulance driver. He's basically not really qualified as a paramedic, more EMT kind of dude, and he's sick of seeing all these victims," he explained. "He wants to do something to give them some kind of revenge. So, it's an eye for an eye — whatever you do to your victim, same thing can happen to you."
Longtime collaborator F. Gary Gray has signed on to direct the planned biopic of N.W.A, which Ice Cube says is "full steam ahead."
"We're excited about him being part of the project, and the script is getting tighter and tighter, and once the script is tight as sweaty butt cheeks, we'll put it out, and we'll start working on it.
" 'Friday' is the same thing," he said of the anticipated fourth installment of his popular movie franchise. "I'm almost finished with the script, so as soon as we can finish the script, fast motion on it."
Which of Ice Cube's upcoming projects are you most looking forward to? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
FILE- In this Sunday, Jan. 17, 2010, file photo, a publicist walks down the red carpet as it rains before the 67th Annual Golden Globe Awards in Beverly Hills, Calif. A federal judge ruled on April 30, 2012, that a $150 million agreement keeping the Globes on NBC is valid, siding with the show?s longtime producers and against the organization that organizes the glitzy awards gala each year. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello, File)
FILE- In this Sunday, Jan. 17, 2010, file photo, a publicist walks down the red carpet as it rains before the 67th Annual Golden Globe Awards in Beverly Hills, Calif. A federal judge ruled on April 30, 2012, that a $150 million agreement keeping the Globes on NBC is valid, siding with the show?s longtime producers and against the organization that organizes the glitzy awards gala each year. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello, File)
LOS ANGELES (AP) ? A federal judge ruled Monday that producers of the Golden Globe Awards acted properly when they negotiated a deal keeping the glitzy gala on NBC through 2018.
U.S. District Judge A. Howard Matz's 89-page ruling states that the production company, dick clark productions, has a right to negotiate the deal and work on the show as long as it airs on NBC. That right was a key part of a long-running dispute between the company, known as dcp, and the Globes' organizers, the Hollywood Foreign Press Association.
The association sued over the broadcast deal in November 2010, but the two sides have worked together on the past two awards shows. The production company has claimed it has a perpetual right to work on the show as long as it airs on NBC, but the association argued that it never agreed to those terms and it was facing the loss of its creation.
The Globes have become big business, with Hollywood A-listers appearing each year. The journalists' group and producer split the multimillion-dollar annual profits evenly.
There was no immediate comment from the HFPA. Matz has said he doesn't expect his ruling will end the dispute, but that it will likely lead to an appeal.
Matz's ruling states the dcp only has a right to work with NBC, but that it does not need to receive approval for its broadcast deal directly from the HFPA anymore because of a 1993 amendment to their working relationship.
"We are pleased the court affirmed our contract and look forward to working with the HFPA and NBC to nurture and expand the Golden Globes franchise for years to come," dcp wrote in a statement.
The company's CEO, Mark Shapiro, said he wished Dick Clark, who died April 18, had lived to see the ruling.
"My only sadness is that Dick wasn't here to see the win," Shapiro said. "This was the brainchild of Dick Clark. It was his idea to do a long-term deal."
The judge stated the unusual agreement came about largely because of HFPA's own leadership problems. "HFPA suffered from the absence of sound, business-like practices," Matz wrote.
He noted the group's complicated internal politics and frequent elections, some of which "triggered bitter feelings."
"HFPA members have always been dedicated to the success of the Golden Globes Award Show," Matz wrote. "But often they succumbed to bouts of pronounced turmoil and personal feuds."
The judge's ruling came after he heard nine days of testimony earlier this year over the deal negotiated by dcp. Clark sold the last of his interest in the company in 2007, but the dispute focused heavily on events that took place while he still owned it in 1993.
The judge had to determine whether a 1993 agreement between the HFPA and dcp gave the production company the right to work on the show perpetually, provided it airs on NBC. The association contended it never agreed to the perpetuity clause, and that if it were upheld it would the HFPA control over its signature property, the Globes.
Attorneys for dcp argued that the clause was to ensure continuity and protect the production company, which had just negotiated a multi-year deal to return the Globes to broadcast airwaves for the first time since a scandal knocked them from CBS in the early 1980s.
Matz noted the contrast between the production company and the journalists' group in his ruling.
"In contrast, dcp acted in a consistently business-like fashion, and for almost all of the 27 year relationship it had with HFPA before this suit was filed dcp was represented by one experienced executive who was adept at dealing fairly and effectively with the often amateurish conduct of HFPA," he wrote.
The disputed deal is worth $150 million, but the association contends the broadcast rights are worth much more now. The show, while not a reliable predictor of Oscar night glory, attracts the top stars from both television and film and attracts millions of viewers each year. The booze-filled gala is more unpredictable and less staid than other major reality shows, which has only been amplified by host Ricky Gervais in recent years.
Matz noted that the agreement between the HFPA and dcp ? and his ruling ? tie the two groups together as long as the show remains on NBC. If the network drops the show, the production company's rights to work on the gala would also end.
Shapiro said that despite the trial and the cloud of uncertainty it has cast over the Globes, dcp has a strong relationship with NBC that includes several other shows.
___
Anthony McCartney can be reached at http://twitter.com/mccartneyAP .
NASA's Chandra sees remarkable outburst from old black holePublic release date: 30-Apr-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Megan Watzke mwatzke@cfa.harvard.edu 617-953-5411 Chandra X-ray Center
An extraordinary outburst produced by a black hole in a nearby galaxy has provided direct evidence for a population of old, volatile stellar black holes. The discovery, made by astronomers using NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory, provides new insight into the nature of a mysterious class of black holes that can produce as much energy in X-rays as a million suns radiate at all wavelengths.
Researchers used Chandra to discover a new ultraluminous X-ray source, or ULX. These objects give off more X-rays than most binary systems, in which a companion star orbits the remains of a collapsed star. These collapsed stars form either a dense core called a neutron star or a black hole. The extra X-ray emission suggests ULXs contain black holes that might be much more massive than the ones found elsewhere in our galaxy.
The companion stars to ULXs, when identified, are usually young, massive stars, implying their black holes are also young. The latest research, however, provides direct evidence that ULXs can contain much older black holes and some sources may have been misidentified as young ones.
The intriguing new ULX is located in M83, a spiral galaxy about 15 million light years from Earth, discovered in 2010 with Chandra. Astronomers compared this data with Chandra images from 2000 and 2001, which showed the source had increased in X-ray brightness by at least 3,000 times and has since become the brightest X-ray source in M83.
The sudden brightening of the M83 ULX is one of the largest changes in X-rays ever seen for this type of object, which do not usually show dormant periods. No sign of the ULX was found in historical X-ray images made with Einstein Observatory in 1980, ROSAT in 1994, the European Space Agency's XMM-Newton in 2003 and 2008, or NASA's Swift observatory in 2005.
"The flaring up of this ULX took us by surprise and was a sure sign we had discovered something new about the way black holes grow," said Roberto Soria of Curtin University in Australia, who led the new study. The dramatic jump in X-ray brightness, according to the researchers, likely occurred because of a sudden increase in the amount of material falling into the black hole.
In 2011, Soria and his colleagues used optical images from the Gemini Observatory and NASA's Hubble Space Telescope to discover a bright blue source at the position of the X-ray source. The object had not been previously observed in a Magellan Telescope image taken in April 2009 or a Hubble image obtained in August 2009. The lack of a blue source in the earlier images indicates the black hole's companion star is fainter, redder and has a much lower mass than most of the companions that previously have been directly linked to ULXs. The bright, blue optical emission seen in 2011 must have been caused by a dramatic accumulation of more material from the companion star.
"If the ULX only had been observed during its peak of X-ray emission in 2010, the system easily could have been mistaken for a black hole with a massive, much younger stellar companion, about 10 to 20 million years old," said co-author William Blair of Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore.
The companion to the black hole in M83 is likely a red giant star at least 500 million years old, with a mass less than four times the sun's. Theoretical models for the evolution of stars suggest the black hole should be almost as old as its companion.
Another ULX containing a volatile, old black hole recently was discovered in the Andromeda galaxy by Amanpreet Kaur, from Clemson University, and colleagues and published in the February 2012 issue of Astronomy and Astrophysics. Matthew Middleton and colleagues from the University of Durham reported more information in the March 2012 issue of the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. They used data from Chandra, XMM-Newton and HST to show the ULX is highly variable and its companion is an old, red star.
"With these two objects, it's becoming clear there are two classes of ULX, one containing young, persistently growing black holes and the other containing old black holes that grow erratically," said Kip Kuntz, a co-author of the new M83 paper, also of Johns Hopkins University. "We were very fortunate to observe the M83 object at just the right time to make the before and after comparison."
###
A paper describing these results will appear in the May 10th issue of The Astrophysical Journal.
NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala., manages the Chandra program for NASA's Science Mission Directorate in Washington. The Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory controls Chandra's science and flight operations from Cambridge, Mass.
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AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
NASA's Chandra sees remarkable outburst from old black holePublic release date: 30-Apr-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Megan Watzke mwatzke@cfa.harvard.edu 617-953-5411 Chandra X-ray Center
An extraordinary outburst produced by a black hole in a nearby galaxy has provided direct evidence for a population of old, volatile stellar black holes. The discovery, made by astronomers using NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory, provides new insight into the nature of a mysterious class of black holes that can produce as much energy in X-rays as a million suns radiate at all wavelengths.
Researchers used Chandra to discover a new ultraluminous X-ray source, or ULX. These objects give off more X-rays than most binary systems, in which a companion star orbits the remains of a collapsed star. These collapsed stars form either a dense core called a neutron star or a black hole. The extra X-ray emission suggests ULXs contain black holes that might be much more massive than the ones found elsewhere in our galaxy.
The companion stars to ULXs, when identified, are usually young, massive stars, implying their black holes are also young. The latest research, however, provides direct evidence that ULXs can contain much older black holes and some sources may have been misidentified as young ones.
The intriguing new ULX is located in M83, a spiral galaxy about 15 million light years from Earth, discovered in 2010 with Chandra. Astronomers compared this data with Chandra images from 2000 and 2001, which showed the source had increased in X-ray brightness by at least 3,000 times and has since become the brightest X-ray source in M83.
The sudden brightening of the M83 ULX is one of the largest changes in X-rays ever seen for this type of object, which do not usually show dormant periods. No sign of the ULX was found in historical X-ray images made with Einstein Observatory in 1980, ROSAT in 1994, the European Space Agency's XMM-Newton in 2003 and 2008, or NASA's Swift observatory in 2005.
"The flaring up of this ULX took us by surprise and was a sure sign we had discovered something new about the way black holes grow," said Roberto Soria of Curtin University in Australia, who led the new study. The dramatic jump in X-ray brightness, according to the researchers, likely occurred because of a sudden increase in the amount of material falling into the black hole.
In 2011, Soria and his colleagues used optical images from the Gemini Observatory and NASA's Hubble Space Telescope to discover a bright blue source at the position of the X-ray source. The object had not been previously observed in a Magellan Telescope image taken in April 2009 or a Hubble image obtained in August 2009. The lack of a blue source in the earlier images indicates the black hole's companion star is fainter, redder and has a much lower mass than most of the companions that previously have been directly linked to ULXs. The bright, blue optical emission seen in 2011 must have been caused by a dramatic accumulation of more material from the companion star.
"If the ULX only had been observed during its peak of X-ray emission in 2010, the system easily could have been mistaken for a black hole with a massive, much younger stellar companion, about 10 to 20 million years old," said co-author William Blair of Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore.
The companion to the black hole in M83 is likely a red giant star at least 500 million years old, with a mass less than four times the sun's. Theoretical models for the evolution of stars suggest the black hole should be almost as old as its companion.
Another ULX containing a volatile, old black hole recently was discovered in the Andromeda galaxy by Amanpreet Kaur, from Clemson University, and colleagues and published in the February 2012 issue of Astronomy and Astrophysics. Matthew Middleton and colleagues from the University of Durham reported more information in the March 2012 issue of the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. They used data from Chandra, XMM-Newton and HST to show the ULX is highly variable and its companion is an old, red star.
"With these two objects, it's becoming clear there are two classes of ULX, one containing young, persistently growing black holes and the other containing old black holes that grow erratically," said Kip Kuntz, a co-author of the new M83 paper, also of Johns Hopkins University. "We were very fortunate to observe the M83 object at just the right time to make the before and after comparison."
###
A paper describing these results will appear in the May 10th issue of The Astrophysical Journal.
NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala., manages the Chandra program for NASA's Science Mission Directorate in Washington. The Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory controls Chandra's science and flight operations from Cambridge, Mass.
[ | E-mail | Share ]
?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
Every child loves to play in his or her own way, and very often that natural tendency leads them to sports and organized recreation. There may seem nothing quite so quaint and innocent as a handful of kids tossing the ball around after school, but the real benefits of athletic activity are undeniable. In this age of 24-hour entertainment, ubiquitous cell phones, and handheld gadgets with constant connectivity, the need for that ?old-fashioned? exercise is all the more acute.
Organized Sports There are, of course, many different kinds of sports kids can become involved with. Traditional team sports include basketball, football, soccer, rugby, baseball, and lacrosse, and are invaluable as vehicles both of physical exercise and complex social interaction. But other modes of exercise can be equally fulfilling. From swimming, tennis, and track-and-field to golf and martial arts, individual sports have their own special gamesmanship. Outdoor recreation and athletics?skiing, snowboarding, archery, backpacking, extreme hiking, orienteering?constitute a particularly unique brand of sports, offering kids the added attraction of exercising out in nature.
Settings Physical-education classes usually expose kids to the rules and techniques of basic sports, and?with a regular slot in the academic schedule?do much to provide a recreational output. Kids can also participate, of course, in leagues administered by the school or by some community organization. For outdoor experiences, there are many clubs offering wilderness outings, and the time-honored tradition of summer camp tends to include a lot of rustic exercise and sport.
Don?t underestimate, however, the unstructured, spontaneous, chaotic, and otherwise child-directed play of recess, after-school and weekend play. The ?scratch game? of basketball or football may not always emphasize the official rules to the strictest degree?a lesson better delivered in phy-ed or by a coach?but the camaraderie, sheer energy, and opportunities for creativity and leadership are real.
Physical Benefits Most obviously, sports and recreation help develop and maintain healthy bodies. Athletics bolster everything from hand-eye coordination to endurance and agility. There?s no question that regular, vigorous physical exercise combats against childhood obesity, an intensifying issue in many countries. With the array of technological distractions more available than ever to young people, warding against an excessively sedentary lifestyle is that much more crucial.
Social Benefits Much evidence suggests participating in athletics confers benefits well beyond strengthened muscles and greater flexibility. Kids who participate in athletics tend to have higher rates of self-esteem, perform better in academics, and are less likely to abuse drugs and alcohol. The Women?s Sports Foundation suggests female athletes have lower incidences of pregnancy and depression.
Character Building and Interpersonal Skills Team sports in particular have long been considered wonderful classrooms for working on interpersonal communication. Athletes learn how to work together to achieve a common goal, accepting that everyone has something to offer and no single individual can do everything without help. The competitive situations both team and individual athletes regularly face are hugely life-shaping. They help impart a strong sense of fair play, of respect for one?s opponent, and of a healthy humbleness even alongside a justified satisfaction in one?s own physical and mental abilities.
Critically, athletics can foster a strong sense of self-reliance and problem-solving. A kid learns that coaches and teammates have much to teach, but at certain key moments it?s up to them to perform and harness all the power of their abilities in the process.
Whether it?s learning the real meaning of winning, practicing the art of well-oiled teamwork, or mustering that extra nugget of resolve and mental fortitude when all other energies are depleted, sports and recreation provide unparalleled opportunities for physical, psychological, and emotional advancement in children. With all this in mind, don?t forget, too, that these activities are, at heart, just plain old fun?and without that ingredient they aren?t worth pursuing.
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Public release date: 30-Apr-2012
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