The original Halloween, released in 1978

Tuesday 25 October 2016

Halloween is an American horror franchise that consists of ten films, novels, comic books, merchandise, and a video game. The franchise predominately focuses on the fictional character of Michael Myers who was committed to a sanitarium as a child for the murder of his older sister, Judith Myers. Fifteen years later, he escapes to stalk and kill the people of Haddonfield, Illinois while being chased by his former psychiatrist Dr. Sam Loomis. Michael's killings occur on the holiday of Halloween, on which all of the films primarily take place. The films collectively grossed over $366 million at the box-office worldwide.


 The original Halloween, released in 1978, was written by John Carpenter and Debra Hill, and directed by Carpenter. The sequels have had various writers and directors attached to them. Michael Myers is the antagonist in all of the films except Halloween III: Season of the Witch, the story of which has no direct connection to any other film in the series. Carpenter, who had a hand in writing the first sequel, has not had any direct involvement with the rest of the films. The film series is ranked fourth at the United States box office—in adjusted 2008 dollars—when compared to other American horror franchises. The first Halloween film is credited with beginning a long line of slasher films inspired by Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho. The franchise began when the first novel appeared less than a year after the release of the first film, and seven sequels have since followed. In 2007, director Rob Zombie produced a remake of the 1978 film. A direct sequel to the 2007 remake was released two years later.


This related in source mentalfloss shown below.



1. The original title of the movie wasn't "Halloween."

Director John Carpenter originally intended to call his movie “The Babysitter Murders,” but producer Irwin Yablans suggested that the story may be more significant if it were based around a specific holiday, so the title was changed to Halloween. Carpenter and co-screenwriter Debra Hill wrote the original script in only 10 days.

2. Halloween is actress Jamie Lee Curtis’ screen debut.

Curtis was initially interested in the role because she loved Carpenter’s film Assault on Precinct 13 and went on to audition for the part of Laurie Strode three separate times. Carpenter initially wanted actress Anne Lockhart for the role, but cast Curtis after her final audition, where she nailed the scene of Laurie looking out her window to see Michael Myers in her backyard. Curtis would appear as Laurie Strode in three Halloween sequels, and also lent her voice in an uncredited appearance as a phone operator in Halloween III: Season of the Witch (the pseudo-sequel that did not feature the Michael Myers storyline). 

3. IT WAS SET IN THE MIDWEST, BUT IT WASN'T SHOT THERE.

Though the movie is set in Haddonfield, Illinois, it was actually shot on location in South Pasadena and Hollywood, California. If you look closely, you can see palm trees in the backgrounds of some shots, like the scene above where Laurie walks Tommy Doyle to the Myers’ house. Haddonfield is named after co-screenwriter and producer Debra Hill’s hometown of Haddonfield, New Jersey.

4. THE PRODUCTION WAS INCREDIBLY SHORT.

The 20-day shoot commenced in the spring of 1978 and the film was released in October of the same year. The seasonal restrictions created some interesting hurdles for the production—dozens of bags of fake leaves painted by production designer Tommy Lee Wallace were reused for various scenes. Others may notice that the trees that line the streets of the fictional Haddonfield are fully green instead of autumnally colored. Carpenter initially wanted to somehow change the trees too, but budget restraints kept him from making them seasonally correct.

5. THE SCRIPT DIDN'T CALL FOR A SPECIFIC KIND OF MASK.

The mask for Michael Myers was only described as having “the pale, neutral features of a man,” and for the movie the design was boiled down to two options—both were cheap latex masks painted white and bought for under $2 apiece at local toy stores by production designer Tommy Lee Wallace. One was a replica mask of a clown character called “Weary Willie” popularized by actor Emmett Kelly, and the other was a stretched out Captain Kirk mask from Star Trek. Carpenter chose the whitewashed Kirk mask because of its eerily blank stare that fit perfectly with the Myers character. 

6. Carpenter named many of the characters in Halloween after acquaintances or influences.

Michael Myers came from the British film distributor who helped put out Carpenter’s previous movie, Assault on Precinct 13, in the UK, while Laurie Strode is named after one of his ex-girlfriends. Tommy Doyle is named after a character from Alfred Hitchcock’s Rear Window, and Sheriff Leigh Brackett is named after sci-fi novelist and screenwriter Leigh Brackett who wrote classics like The Big Sleep, Rio Bravo, and The Empire Strikes Back.

7. Halloween’s iconic floating P.O.V. shots were done using a Panaglide camera rig.

The Panaglide was a competitor to the now-ubiquitous Steadicam, which allowed the camera to be fitted to a camera operator for far-ranging and smoothly unbroken shots. Carpenter loved it because he could shoot copious amounts of footage in one day to make up for the film’s minuscule $300,000 budget. Halloween was among the first films to use the Panaglide, alongside films like Terrence Malick’s Days of Heaven. Check out Director of Photography Dean Cundey’s original camera tests for Halloween using the rig above.

8. ONE CHARACTER WAS NAMED AFTER ANOTHER FAMOUS MOVIE CHARACTER.

Actor Donald Pleasence’s character, Dr. Sam Loomis, was named after the character of the same name from Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho. Jamie Lee Curtis’ mother, Janet Leigh, appeared in Psycho as Sam Loomis’ girlfriend Marion, and was killed in the film’s famous shower scene. For the Loomis character in Halloween, Carpenter originally wanted either Peter Cushing or Christopher Lee, but both passed on the film because the pay was too low. Pleasence would go on to appear in four Halloween sequels, concluding with Halloween 6: The Curse of Michael Myers, which was released after his death in 1995.

9. Most of the main cast provided their own wardrobe.

Jamie Lee Curtis bought her costumes at JC Penney, all for under $100.

10. THE THING MAKES A CAMEO.

One of the scary movies that little Lindsay Wallace watches on TV is the 1951 version of The Thing (aka, The Thing from Another World). Carpenter would later remake The Thing in 1982, though his version is more heavily based on the source material: a 1938 novella by John W. Campbell Jr. called “Who Goes There?”

11. Throughout the film, Michael Myers is played by three different actors.

He's primarily played by actor Nick Castle, who was John Carpenter’s friend from USC film school and who would go on to co-write Carpenter’s 1981 film Escape from New York, but was also played by production designer Tommy Lee Wallace whenever needed. When Myers is unmasked at the end of the film, he is played by actor Tony Moran who would go on to appear in guest spots on TV shows like The Waltons and CHiPS. Moran was paid only $250 for a day’s work and a single shot in Halloween.

12.Fans of Halloween looking for the original location of the Myers house are out of luck

It was relocated from its location at 709 Meridian Avenue in South Pasadena after it was slated to be demolished in 1987. Fans can visit its new location at 1000 Mission Street in South Pasadena, and can safely do so from now on. It was named a historical landmark in the city of South Pasadena, not only because of its cinematic history but also because the house itself dates back to 1888 and is thought to be the oldest surviving residential structure in the city.

13. At the time of shooting, the Myers house location was an actual abandoned house.

The scenes of the house looking dilapidated were actually how the crew found it and they shot it as is. It wasn’t until the last shot on the last day of production (which, funny enough, is the first shot in the movie) that the entire crew banded together to paint the house and dress it with furniture to make it look lived-in.

14. Carpenter completed the entire score for Halloween by himself in only three days.

The director usually does all the music for his own films, and his theme for the movie came from a simple drumming exercise for the bongos that his father had taught him when he was a child.

15. Carpenter filmed new scenes after-the-fact.

To fill a two-hour time slot needed for television broadcasts of Halloween, Carpenter filmed additional scenes during the production of Halloween II (which Carpenter Co-wrote and co-produced, but did not direct) that primarily featured Donald Pleasence and Jamie Lee Curtis. The new scenes include Dr. Loomis at a hearing to review young Michael’s incarceration at the sanitarium and confronting a young Michael in his room, Loomis discovering Michael has escaped and scrawled the word “Sister” on his door, and a concerned Laurie asking her friend Lynda about the man she keeps seeing around their neighborhood.
 
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Stephen Hawking: So here's how it all happened without God

Thursday 18 April 2013

Stephen Hawking: So here's how it all happened without God Full video In a speech in Pasadena, Calif., the famed physicist wonders what God was doing before the universe was created and says he's grateful that he wasn't subject to a church inquisition. Stephen William Hawking, CH, CBE, FRS, FRSA (Listeni/ˈstiːvən ˈhɔːkɪŋ/; born 8 January 1942) is an English theoretical physicist, cosmologist, author and Director of Research at the Centre for Theoretical Cosmology within the University of Cambridge. His scientific works include a collaboration with Roger Penrose on gravitational singularity theorems in the framework of general relativity, and the theoretical prediction that black holes emit radiation, often called Hawking radiation. Hawking was the first to set forth a theory of cosmology explained by a union of the general theory of relativity and quantum mechanics. He is a vigorous supporter of the many-worlds interpretation of quantum mechanics.


He is an Honorary Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, a lifetime member of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences, and a recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian award in the United States. Hawking was the Lucasian Professor of Mathematics at the University of Cambridge between 1979 and 2009 and has achieved commercial success with works of popular science in which he discusses his own theories and cosmology in general; his book A Brief History of Time appeared on the British Sunday Times best-seller list for a record-breaking 237 weeks.

Hawking has a rare early-onset, slow-progressing form of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), commonly known as motor neurone disease in the UK and as Lou Gehrig's Disease in the US, that has gradually paralysed him over the decades. He now communicates using a single cheek muscle attached to a speech-generating device. Source of WikiPedia
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The company added 7.2 million smartphones in the period, with 28 percent coming from customers that are new to Verizon

The latest news today. The company added 7.2 million smartphones in the period, with 28 percent coming from customers that are new to Verizon. Shammo declined to provide a figure for Android sales. In total, Verizon sold 9.7 million devices on a contract basis, with 87 percent made up by phones. The 4G LTE push continued in the first quarter. Verizon activated 5.9 million 4G LTE devices in the period. More than half of its data traffic -- 54 percent -- are on the 4G LTE network, and 40 percent of smartphones and 63 percent of its Internet devices are now on 4G LTE. Growth, as usual, was driven by the Verizon Wireless unit, which generated $19.5 billion in revenue, up 6.8 percent from a year ago.

While the industry as a whole has faced slowing growth in terms of adding customers, Verizon has maintained healthy growth, adding 720,000 net new subscribers in the first quarter. The figure includes 677,000 customers who signed two-year contracts. There has been a renewed focus on the long-term prospects for two-year commitments after T-Mobile said last month that it is moving away from contracts and subsidies, kicking off a campaign to educate consumers on the savings they can see when moving away from the traditional subsidies model. Still, at a time when network speeds matter to consumers, Verizon has had a significant advantage with its quick deployment of 4G LTE.

The company offers 4G speeds in more markets than the other three national carriers combined with 491 markets covered. In total, Verizon had 98.9 million million retail connections, which includes prepaid and wholesale customers, as well as non-smartphone devices such as Wi-Fi hotspots, tablets, and other connected devices. Customers continued to gravitate toward smartphones, with 61 percent of contract subscribers snapping one up in the period. Its industry-low turnover rate ticked up to 1.01 percent from 0.96 percent a year ago. Verizon's wireline consumer business saw its revenue increase 4.3 percent to $3.6 billion. Its FiOS TV business added 169,000 net new customers to bring its total to 4.9 million. It added a net 99,000 broadband customers, with FiOS Internet offsetting the continued declined in its older -- and slower -- DSL business. It had 8.9 million total broadband customers by the end of the period. Verizon typically provides information on iPhone and Android sales during its investor conference call. Check back with CNET for additional details later this morning.
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Verizon profit up 16 percent as wireless growth chugs along – CNET

The latest news today - Roger Cheng is an executive editor for CNET News.

Prior to this, he was on the telecommunications beat and wrote for Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal for nearly a decade. He's a devoted Trojan alum and Los Angeles Lakers fan. InTheNews.biz is designed to be your place for snipets of hot topics in the news. Each post will give you the headline and a link to the original article source.

We dont cover all the news, but we do try to give you an overview of whats making news and where you can find more information. Obama hits Capitol Hill -- and a few snags along the way Analysis: Afghan security vacuum feared along "gateway to Kabul" Gun Control: Why We Can't All Just Get Along How to get along for 500 days alone together Google scraps Chrome's RSS extension along with Reader

 This source came from CNET

While the industry as a whole has faced slowing growth in terms of adding customers, Verizon has maintained healthy growth, adding 720,000 net new subscribers in the first quarter. The figure includes 677,000 customers who signed two-year contracts.

There has been a renewed focus on the long-term prospects for two-year commitments after T-Mobile said last month that it is moving away from contracts and subsidies, kicking off a campaign to educate consumers on the savings they can see when moving away from the traditional subsidies model.
Still, at a time when network speeds matter to consumers, Verizon has had a significant advantage with its quick deployment of 4G LTE. The company offers 4G speeds in more markets than the other three national carriers combined with 491 markets covered.

In total, Verizon had 98.9 million million retail connections, which includes prepaid and wholesale customers, as well as non-smartphone devices such as Wi-Fi hotspots, tablets, and other connected devices.
Customers continued to gravitate toward smartphones, with 61 percent of contract subscribers snapping one up in the period. Its industry-low turnover rate ticked up to 1.01 percent from 0.96 percent a year ago.

Verizon's wireline consumer business saw its revenue increase 4.3 percent to $3.6 billion. Its FiOS TV business added 169,000 net new customers to bring its total to 4.9 million. It added a net 99,000 broadband customers, with FiOS Internet offsetting the continued declined in its older -- and slower -- DSL business. It had 8.9 million total broadband customers by the end of the period.

Verizon typically provides information on iPhone and Android sales during its investor conference call. Check back with CNET for additional details later this morning.
READ MORE - Verizon profit up 16 percent as wireless growth chugs along – CNET

Google announces its third Google Fiber city: Provo, Utah (aka Silicon Slopes)

Wednesday 17 April 2013

The latest newsToday the Google Fiber team is in Provo, Utah, where Mayor John Curtis just announced that we intend to make Provo our third Google Fiber City. Utah is already home to hundreds of tech companies and startups, and many of them are based in Provo. In fact, the Provo area ranks second in the nation in patent growth, and is consistently ranked as one of the top places to live and do business in the U.S.

We believe the future of the Internet will be built on gigabit speeds, and we’re sure the businesses and residents of Provo already have some good ideas for what they’d build with a gig. In order to bring Fiber to Provo, we’ve signed an agreement to purchase iProvo, an existing fiber-optic network owned by the city. As a part of the acquisition, we would commit to upgrade the network to gigabit technology and finish network construction so that every home along the existing iProvo network would have the opportunity to connect to Google Fiber.

Our agreement with Provo isn’t approved yet—it’s pending a vote by the City Council scheduled for next Tuesday, April 23. We intend to begin the network upgrades as soon as the closing conditions are satisfied and the deal is closed. Provo started building their own municipal network in 2004 because they decided that providing access to high speed connectivity was important to their community’s future.

In 2011, they started looking for a partner that could acquire their network and deliver an affordable service for Provoans. We’re committed to keeping their vision alive, and, if the deal is approved and the acquisition closes, we’d offer our Free Internet service (5 Mbps speeds) to every home along the existing Provo network, for a $30 activation fee and no monthly charge for at least seven years.

We would also offer Google Fiber Gigabit Internet—up to 100x faster Internet than today’s average broadband speeds—and the option for Google Fiber TV service with hundreds of your favorite channels. We’d also provide free Gigabit Internet service to 25 local public institutions like schools, hospitals and libraries. Over the next few days, we’ll be in and around Provo with Mayor Curtis, attending community meetings and talking to residents about what widespread gigabit connectivity could mean for their community, and the ways in which we’d invest in their iProvo network. If you are a Provoan, we hope to see you there!
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Samsung Galaxy S4 up for preorder in U.S. today

Tuesday 16 April 2013


Samsung Galaxy S4 up for preorder in U.S. today

The Latest news today. It looks like Samsung’s Galaxy S4, one of the most highly anticipated smartphones of year, finally has a ship date on the nation’s leading smartphone carrier. AT&T on Tuesday made the Galaxy S4 available for preorder starting at $199.99 on a two-year agreement for the 16GB model. The phone will ship by April 30th according to the carrier’s website, and Engadget reports that handsets will be delivered to those who preorder by Friday, May 3rd. The Samsung Galaxy S4 features a 5-inch Super AMOLED display with full HD resolution, a quad-core Snapdragon processor, a 13-megapixel camera, 2GB of RAM, up to 64GB of internal storage and Android 4.2 Jelly Bean.

This related source Samsung Galaxy S4 U.S. smartphone buyers looking to grab Samsung's Galaxy S4 finally get their shot today. Preorders for the next Galaxy-class phone have launched at both AT&T and U.S. Cellular today. The Galaxy S4 is listed on AT&T's Web site with a ship date of April 30. Earlier today, the S4 was available for preorder in just a select number of U.S. cities. But AT&T has since expanded the phone's reach so that it can be preordered throughout the U.S. The page confirms $199 as the two-year contract price and $639 as the off-contract price. The phone itself is available in either White Frost or Black Mist. U.S. Cellular subscribers also can scoop up the S4. A preorder button for the phone is available on the carrier's home page. Clicking on that button lets you order either the White Frost or Black Mist flavors for $199 with the standard two year-contract.
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Logitech unveils Harmony Ultimate and Smart Control universal remote sets for home entertainment heroes

The latest News today Got no touchscreen on your living room remote? That's a shame, because Logitech and others have been flogging such universal controllers since way back when. After a long new product hiatus, the late 2012 release of the Harmony Touch remote hasn't stopped Logitech from mulling a sale of the brand, but it's not done with it just yet.

Coming soon are two fresh bundles bearing the Harmony name: the Ultimate and Smart Control. At the heart of both is the Smart Hub, a palm-sized box somewhat similar to the Harmony Link. It receives commands from remotes via RF, or from smartphone apps via WiFi, and in turn, broadcasts its own orders to your A/V setup using IR and Bluetooth. It's especially useful for those wanting to hide their kit away in cabinets, as it translates inputs into IR signals that'll bounce around those secluded spaces. Optional extender nodes will also pipe IR into other nearby recesses.

To do that though, the Hub needs instructions, which is where remotes and apps come in. The new Ultimate remote (aka the Touch Plus) is last year's Touch remote with a few refinements, including the addition of a trigger-like nub on the underside to improve grip. It uses IR, Bluetooth or RF (to the Hub) to control up to 15 devices, and is programmed using Logitech's software for PCs that pulls settings from a database of 225,000 home entertainment products. The Ultimate's 2.4-inch touchscreen serves as a number pad, a favorite channel list for easy hopping, and is the home of one-touch "activities," which are basically macros for issuing multiple commands.

Set up an activity for "Play Xbox," for example, and in one touch it'll turn on your console, switch your TV to the correct source, select the right channel on your amp, and so on. It'll even tell Philips' connected Hue lightbulbs to set a mood. Jump on past the break for more. Free smartphone apps for iOS and Android (dedicated tablets apps are coming soon) essentially replicate the functions of the Ultimate remote, but use WiFi to speak to the hub. In certain countries with compatible metadata, like France and Germany, they also integrate programming guide information. If you opt for the Smart Control package, the apps will be the only way to access advanced features.

Bundled with the Hub is a much simpler remote capable of controlling 8 devices; physical number buttons are back in, but the touchscreen's out. It's really supposed to be a back-up device -- your smartphone is the primary remote, but if you're running out of battery or need to take a call, the basic remote will act as a slightly dumber stand-in.

The Ultimate package is due to hit shelves in Europe and the US in late April / early May for $349.99 / £229, with the Smart Control package following later in May for $129.99 / £109. You'll also be able to pick up a Smart Hub on its own sometime in summer for $99.99 / £79. This option is intended for those who already have the previous generation Touch remote, but theoretically, you could bust out of Logitech's box and be the rogue that controls living room setups with nothing but portable devices.
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