HAPPY NEW YEAR 2012

HAPPY NEW YEAR to all Visitors :) Have a Blessed New Year.

Be Connected and Updated With Arsalan Jilani ,,,

FarmVille Christmas Save the Children Campaign: Everything you need to know

This week marked the launch of Zynga's "A Very Merry Christmas" holiday video in FarmVille, which gave us just a taste of the game's "Save the Children" charity event for this year. Now that the event has actually launched in your game, you'll be able to give yourself the warm and fuzzies by knowing that you've helped those in need through one of three programs (or a combination of the three).

The next time you login to FarmVille, you'll be greeted with a window like the one below, asking you to consider donating one of three dollar amounts ranging from $10 to $20 to the Save the Children charity, which works to help impoverished children across the United States. You'll see exactly which area of the program your donation will benefit, with 100% of the proceeds going to support Save the Children's efforts.

At the $10 level, you'll receive a Teddy Bear Tree, with your $10 going to provide "Healthy Snacks" to children. At the $15 level, you'll help stock a Library and will receive a Holiday Pony. Finally, at the $20 level, you'll receive a permit to plant the Green Peppermint Crop, a limited edition crop that will be yours for a week. You'll be able to plant as many Green Peppermints as you like, with each rewarding you with 2 XP and 120 coins when harvesting after their 8-hour growing time. That contribution goes to fighting poverty in general, giving children a chance to participate in after-school activities or early learning programs (as two examples).

There's no time limit listed currently for how long you'll have to donate, but we'd assume the promotion will end shortly after Christmas. If you'd like to help those less fortunate, and receive something in your own game in the process, make sure to login to your game and check these options out in the store.

Income inequality for dummies

And by dummies, I mean me. Analyzing income inequality has become a national pastime in recent years and threatens to remain so, since the extent of increased inequality seems so hard to put to rest. Some point out that high-income individuals are pulling in a greater share of total income than in the past. Others argue that the picture isn’t so simple, since tax reforms in the 1980s presented incentives to shift what was previously business income into personal income. And these questions only scratch the surface. What’s a simple man like me to make of it all? Here’s how I think about it. When you get a dollar of income, you can do one of two things with it: spend it or save it. So rising income inequality should lead to rising inequality of either consumption (the spending part) or wealth (the saving part). But has it?
Wojciech Kopczuk of Columbia University and Emmanuel Saez of the University of California, Berkeley, show that the share of wealth held by the top 1 percent of households has remained roughly constant since the 1940s and is actually somewhat lower today than it was in the mid-1980s. So if the rich are gaining more income, it doesn’t seem that they’re saving it.
So they must be spending it, right? Maybe not. Dirk Krueger of Stanford and Fabrizio Perri of NYU find that “from 1972 to 1998 the standard deviation of the log of after-tax labor income has increased by 20 percent while the standard deviation of log consumption has increased less than 2 percent.” Krueger and Perri argue that part of the measured increase in income inequality is a function of higher income volatility from year to year. But if households can borrow in bad years and save in good years, consumption can be smoother than income. And ultimately it’s consumption that matters.
None of this puts the question to rest. Survey data on consumption isn’t as high quality as for income, so it’s possible we’re missing something important. But it’s also possible that the income data that shapes our perceptions of inequality are missing something as well.

> By Andrew Biggs

Formula One: I hope to race in Pakistan one day, says Vettel

ABU DHABI: With sports fans in Pakistan experiencing dearth of international action, Formula One’s youngest double world champion Sebastian Vettel has showered them with hopes of seeing him in action in the future.

Vettel, who, at the Yas Marina circuit in Abu Dhabi, equalled Nigel Mansell’s record of 14 pole position in a single season, has won 11 races this year including the inaugural Indian Grand Prix that marked the arrival of Formula One in the subcontinent.

With a huge following in the country – of the sport and the driver – the security situation and the infrastructure will hinder any possibilities of the sport coming to Pakistan but Vettel’s willingness may give authorities a push to get things moving.

“It is great to know that there are so many fans around the globe watching us race, especially if they don’t get a chance to see us live in action and on the track,” Vettel told The Express Tribune in Abu Dhabi.

“I hope that, one day in the future, there will be an opportunity for us to bring the sport closer to them. This will allow us to help them experience what it is all about.”

Vettel’s retirement in Abu Dhabi, his first since last year’s Korean Grand Prix over a year ago, ended his run as the only driver to finish every race in 2011.

The right rear puncture allowed on the opening lap allowed Briton Lewis Hamilton to take the lead, one that he maintained until the chequered flag to win one of his ‘best races’. Vettel’s unassailable lead in the championship, however, allowed him a smile despite such an early exit after a stunning qualifying lap that threatened another podium finish.

Massa issued warning

Meanwhile, Ferrari President Luca di Montezemolo has issued a warning to Brazilian driver Felipe Massa to improve in the next season.

Massa has failed to finish higher than fifth this season and has seen his teammate Fernando Alonso win at Silverstone and sit third in the drivers’ rankings, just 10 behind former world champion Jenson Button.

Alonso’s 245 points are more than double Massa’s 108 and has led to speculation over the Brazilian’s future.

“Let’s hope 2012 goes well,” Montezemolo told La Gazzetta dello Sport. “I have great confidence in our drivers and there seems to have been a clarification as regards the regulations.

“I’m sure we’ll have a more competitive car. We have a contract with Fernando until 2016 and he’s the best driver in the world.”

Montezemolo was not satisfied with the team’s performance in the season, terming its reluctance to take enough risks during the winter the biggest reason behind its downfall.

“I’d give the team a five on ten which I’ll raise to six considering the effort and the victory at Silverstone exactly 60 years after Ferrari’s first win in F1. But the season started badly, we didn’t interpret the regulations well and we didn’t take risks in the technology of our project.”

Vettel’s show this season

Australia       -         1^st

Malaysia       -         1^st

China            –         2^nd

Turkey          –         1^st

Spain            –         1^st

Monaco         –         1^st

Canada         –         2^nd

Valencia       –         1^st

Britain          –         2^nd

Germany      –         4^th

Hungary        –         2^nd

Belgium        –         1^st

Italy              –         1^st

Singapore     -         1^st

Japan            –         3^rd

Korea            –         1^st

India             –         1^st

Abu Dhabi     –         DNF

NASA's NPP Satellite Acquires First VIIRS Image

GREENBELT, Md. -- The Visible Infrared Imager Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) onboard NASA's newest Earth-observing satellite, NPP, acquired its first measurements on Nov. 21, 2011. This high-resolution image is of a broad swath of Eastern North America from Canada’s Hudson Bay past Florida to the northern coast of Venezuela. The VIIRS data were processed at the NOAA Satellite Operations Facility (NSOF) in Suitland, Md.

VIIRS is one of five instruments onboard the National Polar-orbiting Operational Environmental Satellite System Preparatory Project (NPP) satellite that launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif., on Oct. 28. Since then, NPP reached its final orbit at an altitude of 512 miles (824 kilometers), powered on all instruments and is traveling around the Earth at 16,640 miles an hour (eight kilometers per second).

"This image is a next step forward in the success of VIIRS and the NPP mission," said James Gleason, NPP project scientist at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md.

VIIRS will collect radiometric imagery in visible and infrared wavelengths of the Earth's land, atmosphere, and oceans. By far the largest instrument onboard NPP, VIIRS weighs about 556 pounds (252 kilograms). Its data, collected from 22 channels across the electromagnetic spectrum, will be used to observe the Earth's surface including fires, ice, ocean color, vegetation, clouds, and land and sea surface temperatures.

"VIIRS heralds a brightening future for continuing these essential measurements of our environment and climate," said Diane Wickland, NPP program scientist at NASA headquarters in Washington. She adds that all of NPP's five instruments will be up and running by mid-December and NPP will begin 2012 by sending down complete data.

"NPP is right on track to ring in the New Year," said Ken Schwer, NPP project manager at NASA Goddard. "Along with VIIRS, NPP carries four more instruments that monitor the environment on Earth and the planet's climate, providing crucial information on long-term patterns to assess climate change and data used by meteorologists to improve short-term weather forecasting."

NPP serves as a bridge mission from NASA's Earth Observing System (EOS) of satellites to the next-generation Joint Polar Satellite System (JPSS), a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) program that will also collect weather and climate data. NASA Goddard manages the NPP mission for the Earth Science Division of the Science Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters in Washington. The JPSS program provides the NPP ground system and NOAA provides operational support.

During NPP's five-year life, the mission will extend more than 30 key long-term datasets that include measurements of the atmosphere, land and oceans. NASA has been tracking many of these properties for decades. NPP will continue measurements of land surface vegetation, sea surface temperature, and atmospheric ozone that began more than 25 years ago.

"The task now for the science community is to evaluate VIIRS performance and determine the accuracy of its data products," said Chris Justice a professor of geography at the University of Maryland, College Park, who will be using VIIRS data in his research.

"These long-term data records are critical in monitoring how the Earth's surface is changing - either from human activity or through climate change."

CLICK HERE TO SEE LARGE IMAGE

Need For Speed: The Run

Adrenaline junkies and speed fiends will find themselves on the wrong side of the law in Need for Speed: The Run.

Players will take control of Jack, a driver on the run from cops and crims alike in a cross-country race from San Francisco to New York after a prize of US$25 million.

Players will blow across borders, weave through dense urban traffic, rocket down icy mountain passes and navigate narrow canyons at breakneck speeds.

Powered by DICE’s Frostbite 2 engine, Need for Speed: The Run aims to take the action racing genre to new heights with stunning visuals and car physics that hug the road even at top speeds all built around a gripping storyline.

“This is the year that Need for Speed goes to the next level,” says Jason DeLong, Executive Producer at EA.

“We think that Need for Speed The Run is going to surprise people with its intense, thrilling story and big action feel. But the game would be nothing without hot cars and crazy-fast chases. So that is what we’re delivering - explosive racing that will have players flirting with disaster at 200-miles an hour.”

Need for Speed: The Run is the 18^th title in the NFS franchise, and will be released for PC, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Nintendo Wii and 3DS on November 17.

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MULTI PLAYER

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Even though it’s one of the best-selling franchises of all time, some may have missed that Need for Speed: The Run is coming out in less than two weeks on November 15 aka retail apocalypse for games. Despite competition from Assassin’s Creed Revelation, Mario 3D Land, and Saints Row: The Third that week (among a hundred other games), The Run keeps looking good every time we see it. This newest trailer details how the racers online works, with the races looking nice and on foot missions thankfully absent.

The cross-country multiplayer races are promising, and the graphics are top of the line, but can it beat the great online of last year’s Hot Pursuit? And if you need anything else to sell you on the game, The Run will soon have a fancy new commercial that involves the director of all things shiny and fast, Michael Bay. Once enough people like or share a teaser for it on the official Facebook for the game, EA will release the Transformers director's ad to the world. And if you don’t think Michael Bay knows commercials, you never saw this.
 
Watch the Official Teaser Trailer.

Climate Change and the Developing World

The United Nations Development Program delivered some dire news Wednesday in its annual Human Development Report. By midcentury, it said, the development progress of the poorest countries will be halted or even reversed if bold steps are not taken to forestall the effects of climate change.

“The poorest countries’ really remarkable and often overlooked progress in recent decades now faces this calamity down the road,” said William Orme, a spokesman for the agency. “If their progress is stopped because we developed countries didn’t do things that we could have, it adds a huge moral imperative to take action sooner rather than later on climate change.”

The study tracks 187 countries and territories in the U.N.’s human development index, which is based on composite measurements of health, education and income, and has tracked global living standards since 1990.

From 1970 to 2010, countries in the lowest 25 percent of the rankings improved their scores by a striking 82 percent, twice the global average. If this pace of improvement continues over the next 40 years, the report says, most of these countries would achieve standards equal to or better than those now enjoyed by the top 25 percent.

But models of future scenarios cast doubt that this progress will come to pass.

Factoring in the effects of global warming on weather, food production and pollution, the index’s average score drops 8 percent worldwide from what would otherwise be predicted (and it drops by 12 percent in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia). In the more adverse “disaster” scenario — which entails vast deforestation, dramatic biodiversity declines and increasing extreme weather — the global index falls by 15 percent, with the deepest losses felt in poor regions.

Providing electricity to the 1.5 billion people — 45 percent of them in Africa — who currently live without it would be a step in the right direction, Mr. Orme says. Electricity means children can study at night, electric stoves can be used instead of pollution-emitting coal, and people can have access to a wider community through television or radio. “We can do this without increasing global CO2 by even 1 percent,” he says.

The agency proposes an international tax on foreign exchange trading to raise $40 billion toward that goal. And it says reducing carbon-dioxide emissions in developed nations — Denmark, for example, has pledged to cut emissions by 40 percent within the decade — can be achieved without lowering living conditions.

As for the United States, it ranked fourth over all in the development index. But when the rankings were adjusted for “internal inequalities,” the United States fell to 23rd, from 13th last year, mainly because of inequalities in income and health care, the report says.

Downloadable content: Click Here

YouTube Launches Entertainment Venture

YouTube is making a bold step into original programming in an entertainment venture with some 100 content creators, from Madonna to The Wall Street Journal.
The Google-owned video site said that it's launching more than 100 new video channels.
The partners include an array of Hollywood production companies, celebrities and new media groups that will produce mainly niche-oriented videos.
YouTube is shelling out US$100 million to producers, according to people familiar with the matter, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
The money is an advance on advertising money the videos will bring in, and Google will recoup its portion first before splitting the proceeds.
 Advances are as high as US$5 million per channel, said another person familiar with the arrangement, also speaking on condition of anonymity.
Neither person was authorized to comment publicly on the matter.
Google declined to offer financial details of the deals, but said the majority of revenue will go to partners.
Participants include Madonna, former NBA star Shaquille O'Neal, comedian Amy Poehler, actor Ashton Kutcher, "Office" star Rainn Wilson, spiritual doctor Deepak Chopra and "Modern Family" actress Sofia Vergara. Most are creating channels through their production companies. Madonna is a partner with the dance channel DanceOn, while O'Neal plans the Comedy Shaq Network.
Lionsgate is presenting a fitness channel, and other channels will be launched by news satire the Onion, professional wrestling's WWE, online magazine Slate and news service Thomson Reuters.
The channels will roll out beginning this month, though most will premiere next year.
YouTube says the channels will add 25 hours of new original content daily, with dozens of Web series debuting at scheduled times.
Ultimately, YouTube is aiming to create a new digital video platform that will rival television programming.
In a blog posting YouTube said the channels are being developed "specifically for the digital age." The video site compared the expanded video offerings to the advent of cable television.
YouTube has tried to build a more advertiser-friendly product of professional-quality video, as opposed to simply user-created videos.
Advertisers generally prefer to have their ads matched with known quantities. YouTube has also previously tried to urge viewers to stay longer with TV-like services like the YouTube Leanback, which continuously plays a personalized selection of videos.
Google is also looking to add professionally produced content to its huge roster of user-generated videos, to give users of its Google TV platform something to watch.
Major Hollywood networks such as News Corp.'s Fox and The Walt Disney Co.'s ABC have blocked their content from being shown on Google TV because the sides have been unable to come to a licensing deal that the networks believes pays them fairly.
Networks also don't want to jeopardize their lucrative relationship with pay TV distributors like Comcast Corp. and DirecTV.
Google is a platform that has been adopted by set-top box maker Logitech, which makes a device called a Logitech Revue that sells for US$100.

WORLD'S FASTEST MERCEDES SLR MCLAREN

 

Given that Mercedes and McLaren went their own separate ways a few years ago, finally winding Mercedes SLR McLaren production down in 2009, we thought for sure we'd see less terrible SLR tunes. Yet they keep coming.

This rough-looking, gaping-mouthed SLR took not one, nor two, but four different doctors to Frankenstein together.

Platinum Motorsport, RENNtech, MACarbon, and Exotics Boutique all put their tuning expertise together and popped out what they're calling the world's fastest SLR. They're also calling it the L4P SLR777.

These four partners conspired to increase the SLR's quickness, speed and look by adding the Mansory Renovatio bodykit (the first car to receive the kit outside of Mansory walls), upgrading a variety of hardware and customizing the interior.

Renntech left few corners untouched, boosting output to 770 horsepower and upgrading the five-speed transmission to handle it, upgrading the exhaust system, adding racing coilovers and shocks, increasing road clearance with a push-button hydraulic system, and upping stopping power with a performance brake system.

Platinum Motorsport was responsible for the bodykit install and "liquid white" paint job; MACarbon outfitted the interior with carbon fiber components; and Platinum finished the tune off with suede elements inside and 20-inch Agetro M140 Monoblock wheels outside.

As to the "world's fastest" claim, the L4P SLR777 runs the quarter mile in 10.29 seconds at 134 mph. That's well over a second faster than the 11.6 @ 125 mph that the stock version is capable of--and here's the proof:

Chelsea v Arsenal

Barclays Premier League CHELSEA v ARSENAL

Venue: Stamford Bridge
Date: Saturday, 29 October
Kick-off: 1245 BST              





TEAM NEWS

Chelsea will be without Didier Drogba, who is suspended following his dismissal against QPR.
Fernando Torres could return to the starting XI after completing a three-game domestic ban, while Ramires is fit after a knee injury.
Arsenal's Thomas Vermaelen could make his first Premier League appearance since August.
Fellow defender Carl Jenkinson faces a fitness test but Kieran Gibbs is still unavailable.


MATCH REVIEW

For Chelsea this game comes a month later than they may have liked.
The Arsenal side they will face at Stamford Bridge is much improved from the ragged, confidence-shorn outfit that had plunged the Gunners into crisis by mid-September.
Beaten by Liverpool, humiliated by Manchester United, and then outmanoeuvred by Blackburn, Arsene Wenger's team found themselves charting unfamiliar territory in the bottom half of the Premier League.
But since that defeat at Ewood Park they have made steady progress towards respectability. Robin van Persie's goals - six in his last four league games - have been no small part of that improvement.
However, they are on a poor run away from home and, as restorative as victories against Bolton, Sunderland and Stoke have been, beating Chelsea on their own patch is a completely different prospect.
Andre Villas Boas's side have gone about their business quietly but effectively so far this season. Defeat against QPR was an unexpected setback, but even with nine men they could still have salvaged a point.
Chelsea still start as favourites but they will have to curb the indiscipline that saw them pick up two red cards and another seven bookings at Loftus Road.

MATCH FACTS

Head-to-head

• Arsenal's 3-1 win the last time the two sides met, at the Emirates in December 2010, was their first in six games against Chelsea.
• Chelsea have lost just three of their last 19 games in all competitions against the Gunners.
• Arsenal have lost their last two Premier League visits to Stamford Bridge - both by a 2-0 scoreline.

Chelsea

• Chelsea have gone eight Premier League games without a clean sheet for the first time since September 2003, when the run was nine.
• They are unbeaten in their last 10 Premier League home London derby matches, winning each of the last nine. Their last loss was a 2-1 defeat to Arsenal in November 2008.
• Andre Villas Boas's side have won all four Premier League home matches this season.
• Since making his debut in February, David Luiz has conceded more penalties (3) than any other Premier League player.
• Chelsea's next goal will be their 6,000th in league football.
• Ashley Cole, who has played every minute of Chelsea's Premier League games this season, is set to make his 450th club career start.

Arsenal

• Arsenal are on a run of eight away league games without a win - their longest in the Premier League.
• Robin Van Persie has 25 goals in 26 Premier League games in 2011 - more prolific than any other player.
• If Arsenal lose it will equal their worst run of away defeats (4) in the Premier League.
• The Gunners' win against Stoke was the first time they have collected back-to-back victories in the Premier League since February.
• This will be Wenger's 30th Premier League match against Chelsea, having won 13 and lost seven of the previous 29.
• The Gunners have conceded more goals from free-kicks (5) than any other Premier League side this season.

Premier League managers deny racism problems

Two top Premier League managers have denied racism is a problem in English football following two alleged incidents this month.
In the wake of accusations made against Liverpool's Luis Suarez and Chelsea and England captain John Terry, both Liverpool boss Kenny Dalglish and Arsenal's Arsene Wenger on Friday said racism was not widespread.
Dalglish told reporters: "I don't think it is prevalent in the game here and it certainly isn't at this football club."
Wenger said: "I do not think that, in sport, racism is basically a problem because you are rewarded on merit. However, in society I still think there is some job to do and we are not at the end of it.
"But in sport, overall, I don't think it is a problem."
Dalglish added that he hoped the case against Uruguayan striker Suarez, following allegations that he racially abused Manchester United's French defender Patrice Evra, will be concluded swiftly.
He said: "For me, I don't see racism as far as this football club is concerned, apparent in any way, shape or form. We have got a case going on ourselves which seems to be dragging its feet.
"We would rather have it done and dusted, out in the open, and whoever is the guilty party, whether it's the person who said it or the accuser, get their due punishment.
"We look forward to the case coming to a conclusion."
Chelsea host Arsenal Saturday with Terry likely to return after missing their midweek League Cup win at Everton.
Terry, with full support from his club, has denied racially abusing Anton Ferdinand during Chelsea's defeat at Queens Park Rangers last Sunday. Suarez has similarly denied Evra's accusations.
Anton Ferdinand is the brother of Terry's predecessor as England captain Rio Ferdinand.
The Football Association are investigating both alleged incidents.

Manchester United signs partnership deal with Zong

Zong has entered into a three-year partnership agreement with Manchester United, said a statement issued by Zong on Tuesday.

With this agreement, Zong is planning to launch dedicated value added services and products specifically for Man U fans that will enable the club’s estimated 10 million fans in Pakistan a chance to see all the goals scored, as well as exclusive interviews, news and behind-the-scenes access – bringing them closer to Old Trafford than ever before.

Announcing the deal, Commercial Director Richard Arnold said:

Zong is a great partner for United in Pakistan. It is a relatively young company, but has ambitions to be one of the major players in the country and partnering with United will give them high visibility, as well as helping the Club to communicate directly with millions of our supporters there.

Using our digital assets to engage our global fanbase is an increasingly-important part of our commercial strategy and we are very excited about the possibilities presented by this partnership.

Sir Alex Ferguson also commented on the development and said:

The way the club uses modern technology to reach our millions of fans around the world is outstanding. Zong will be a key player in allowing us to bring the passion and excitement of Manchester United to our fans in Pakistan.

Rizwan Akhter, The Director Advertising and Promotions of Zong said:

This partnership is one of a kind coming from Pakistan and the initiative that Zong has taken to team up with a giant like Manchester United will only lead to prosperity, growth and triumph! For all the glory that is to come, we stand united, to take on all opportunities and victories together as one.

Today, we play for the same team!

 Commercial Ads published in Pakistani Newspapers.

Woman pulled out alive 3 days after Turkey quake

Emergency workers rescued a 27-year old woman alive from a collapsed building on Wednesday, nearly three days after a powerful earthquake killed more than 400 people and left tens of thousands homeless in southeastern Turkey.


The woman, Gozde Bahar, went into cardiac arrest as she was being transported to hospital in the town of Ercis, one of the hardest hit by Sunday's 7.2 magnitude quake.

Doctors later managed to revive her. She was in critical condition at a hospital in the provincial capital of Van, Reuters reporters at the scene said. Rescuers battled against time to find more missing people from the quake.

Early Review: Harry Potter Page to Screen: The Complete Filmmaking Journey

Harry Potter Page to Screen: The Complete Filmmaking Journey, which arrives in bookstores this Tuesday, is one of the most comprehensive Harry Potter film guides imaginable.  Its 532 pages, three times as many as Harry Potter Film Wizardry, are filled with countless never-before-seen photos from the production of each of the eight films, along with detailed notes and interviews with the cast and crew about their experiences working on the film. Leaky was able to get an early copy of the book for review, which can be read below.  Enjoy!

~~~*~~*~~~

The first impression one gets about Harry Potter Page to Screen: The Complete Filmmaking Journey is how massive the entire tome is in hand.  It feels as if it's an ancient book checked out from the Hogwarts Library, and has about as much information on its pages, too.  It took me a moment after first taking off the shrink wrap to just feel and examine the book before I even opened it.  It's a classic dark blue and gold and looks as if it's a book you'd want to keep out handy on a table and not stocked away on a bookshelf.  Opening it cover and going through the pages reveals countless production photos and production art that are set along side interviews with the cast and crew.   Small tidbits of information about the sets, their props and dressings, and even drawings and notes from author J. K. Rowling to the production team also litter the pages, giving the book the most comprehensive feelings I've ever come across.

The book itself it divided up into three parts: The Making of Harry Potter, The Art of Harry Potter, and, most appropriately, the Epilogue, which contains a special note on the Golden Boards feature.  The first section of the book gives way to nearly 200 pages on making all seven films in the series and shows the countless details and choices that helped make the films look as real-- and magical-- as possible.  The production of and major elements for each film are laid out as if you were walking through the story once again and works very well for this book.  Intermixed with behind the scenes photos and narrative are production designs and concept art which give a great juxtaposition between what the designers envisioned and what ultimately appeared in the films. This includes building designs and sets, but also original character and creature sketches.  This section does and excellent job at showing the long and detailed process how each film evolved from Jo's story to the filmmakers concepts to, finally, what we see on screen.

In the second section, the art of the Harry Potter films is profiled.  Production Designer Stuart Craig and Creature Designer Nick Dudman and their teams take us through each characters, creatures and sets seen throughout the films.  I could not think of a being or place that was not featured in this section-- it's that comprehensive.  The pages devoted to the evolution of Hogwarts Castle from its first sketches during pre-production of "Sorcerer's Stone" to the destruction of the castle in "Deathly Hallows," are jaw-dropping and filled with more details than have been given before about the iconic building.  It is difficult to pick out favorites because there is just so much that's included in this book.  The same can be said of many of the characters in the film, particularly, the Trio and Lord Voldemort.

However, there is one part of the films noticeably absent from the book is the Epilogue scene at the end of "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2."  Images from this final part of the film, along with the usual behind the scenes detail and information is not included in the book.  Whether this is due to the secret nature of the filming of that scene or the fact that it's final cut was the product of re-shoots following the initial wrap of the film we do not know.  However, it is slightly disappointing, given the amount of information this book features for every other major moment in the film, that we don't get to see the kind of details there must have been to create the Harry Potter cast nineteen years on.

Those concerned about this book being more of a scrapbook-styled look at the Harry Potter films, such as last year's Harry Potter Film Wizardry, need not worry; Harry Potter Page to Screen is its own unique volume and hardly overlaps with Film Wizardry.  Flipping through the pages of this book and reading of the process by which the Harry Potter films came to be is a tremendously rewarding experience.  It is rewarding not only for the thousands of images of cast and crew on set and behind the scenes details included in the book, but also for the shedding light on how and why the filmmakers made the films the way they did.  No other book, at least in my memory, has comes close to showing just how much went into the production of these films and how each detail was malicious planned and perfected by the filmmakers.  Harry Potter Page to Screen is a enlightening and engaging read for any Harry Potter fan wishing to know more about the series, as well as any film student curious on what it takes to bring a seven part fantasy series to life on the big screen.

Harry Potter Page to Screen: The Complete Filmmaking Journey retails for $75 in the US, and is available for sale Tuesday, October 25, 2011.

'Paranormal Activity 3' scares up huge $54M debut

 

LOS ANGELES (AP) — "Paranormal Activity 3" didn't just go bump in the night. It made a ton of noise at the box office with a record-setting, $54 million opening.
The third film in Paramount Pictures' low-budget fright franchise, which was No. 1 at the box office, had the biggest debut ever for a horror movie, according to Sunday studio estimates. It broke the previous record part two set a year ago with $40.7 million. It's also the biggest opening ever for an October release, topping the $50.35 million Paramount's "Jackass 3D" made last year.
"Paranormal Activity 3" is actually a prequel, with the discovery of disturbing home-movie footage from 1988. Henry Joost and Ariel Schulman, who made the creepy documentary "Catfish," took over directing duties this time.
Don Harris, Paramount's president of distribution, said the studio hoped part three would simply perform better than part two. The first "Paranormal Activity," with its reported $15,000 budget, became a phenomenon in 2009 through midnight screenings and word of mouth.
Harris believes this installment did so well because it's actually the best movie of the three. He noted that it appealed to an older crowd, with 47 percent over the age of 25 compared to 40 percent for "Paranormal Activity 2." Strong reviews also helped, he said, including a rave from Time magazine. And fundamentally, horror movies simply play better in a packed theater.
"Ultimately, it gets back to why there's still a theatrical business, why people still go to the movies," Harris said. "We want to laugh in a group, we want to be scared in a group, people like to cry in a group in the dark where nobody can see them crying. It's all the reason movie theaters exist and this genre has always been front and center."
Paul Dergarabedian, box-office analyst for Hollywood.com, said he was expecting "Paranormal Activity 3" to come in around $35 million for the weekend, simply because most newcomers have been underperforming this fall.
"This brand is as solid as the 'Twilight' brand or the 'Jackass' brand. There are certain brands that just transcend any kind of box-office rhyme or reason. They just resonate," Dergarabedian said. "These are shot in someone's house, they look like they're shot with a home video recorder, and people just relate to it."
Last week's No. 1 release, the futuristic boxing robot adventure "Real Steel," fell to second place. It made $11.3 million for a domestic total of $67.2 million. Worldwide, the Disney movie has grossed $153.3 million.
Among the other new releases this week, Summit Entertainment's 3-D version of "The Three Musketeers" came in fourth place with $8.8 million. And Universal's "Johnny English Reborn," a sequel to the 2003 spy parody starring Rowan Atkinson, opened at No. 8 with $3.8 million. But it's already a huge hit internationally, having made $104.5 million so far.
In limited release, the critically acclaimed psychological thriller "Martha Marcy May Marlene" made $137,541 on four screens in New York and Los Angeles. That's a hefty $34,385 per screen average, according to Fox Searchlight.
Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Hollywood.com. Where available, latest international numbers are also included. Final domestic figures will be released Monday.
1. "Paranormal Activity 3," $54 million. ($26 million international.)
2. "Real Steel," $11.3 million. ($18.5 million international.)
3. "Footloose," $10.85 million.
4. "The Three Musketeers," $8.8 million. ($17.1 million international.)
5. "The Ides of March," $4.9 million.
6. "Dolphin Tale," $4.2 million.
7. "Moneyball," $4.05 million.
8. "Johnny English Reborn," $3.8 million. ($13.5 million international.)
9. "The Thing," $3.1 million.
10. "50/50," $2.8 million.
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Estimated weekend ticket sales at international theaters (excluding the U.S. and Canada) for films distributed overseas by Hollywood studios, according to Rentrak:
1. "Paranormal Activity 3," $26 million.
2. "Real Steel," $18.5 million.
3. "Johnny English Reborn," $13.5 million.
4. "The Three Musketeers," $17.1 million.
5. "Contagion," $9.6 million.
6. "The Smurfs," $3.4 million.
7. "The Lion King," $3.3 million.
8. "Rise of the Planet of the Apes," $2.9 million.
9. "Friends With Benefits," $2.8 million.
10 "The Change-Up," $2.4 million.
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Online:
http://www.hollywood.com
http://www.rentrak.com
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Universal and Focus are owned by NBC Universal, a unit of Comcast Corp.; Sony, Columbia, Sony Screen Gems and Sony Pictures Classics are units of Sony Corp.; Paramount is owned by Viacom Inc.; Disney, Pixar and Marvel are owned by The Walt Disney Co.; Miramax is owned by Filmyard Holdings LLC; 20th Century Fox and Fox Searchlight are owned by News Corp.; Warner Bros. and New Line are units of Time Warner Inc.; MGM is owned by a group of former creditors including Highland Capital, Anchorage Advisors and Carl Icahn; Lionsgate is owned by Lions Gate Entertainment Corp.; IFC is owned by Rainbow Media Holdings, a subsidiary of Cablevision Systems Corp.; Rogue is owned by Relativity Media LLC.