kitchener slabbing: October 2013

Thursday, October 31, 2013

iPad Air and Retina iPad mini buyers guide

Everything you need to know before choosing your perfect iPad Air and Retina iPad mini color, capacity, carrier, and more!

There's a lot to consider before you buy or upgrade to a new tablet, even a new iPad. What's more important, portability or productivity? Can you live with an older, cheaper model or do you really need a newer, more expensive version? Which color, what capacity, and if you want cellular data, on which carrier? There's never been more to choose from, which means it's never been harder to choose!

Enter iMore's 2013 iPad buyers guide. We'll go over all the details, all the options, and help you decide on which iPad is perfect for you. And if you've already decided, just bookmark, email, Facebook, or Tweet this so we can help your friends and family and you can get on with enjoying your new iPad!

iPad evolution

Since Steve Jobs first unveiled it at a special event in 2010, the iPad has improved steadily in one way or another. The iPad 2 was thinner, lighter, and faster. The iPad 3 got a Retina display and LTE. The iPad 4 went Lightning. The iPad mini dropped back to iPad 2 tech, but in a much smaller form factor. The above chart shows the evolution of the iPad from the original to the latest Retina iPad mini and iPad Air, including pricing and capacity at launch. While what you paid for it when you got it might vary, you can check your current model and see how it compares to the ones available now.

iPad Air and Retina iPad mini: Should you upgrade?

When a new iPad hits the market - or two iPads, as is the case right now - one of the hardest decisions we face is whether or not to upgrade from and original iPad, iPad 2, iPad 3, iPad mini, or iPad 4 to the latest and greatest. If you have unlimited funds, you can just buy everything, all the time. Most of us don't, however, so we need to check out the new features of the iPad Air or Retina iPad mini, see how they compare to what we already have, and decide if the difference is worth the price of an entirely new device, a price that starts at $399 and $499 and goes well up from there. So, is there enough value to justify the cost?

iPad Air and Retina iPad mini: Should you upgrade?

How to sell - and get the most money for! - your old iPad before upgrading to an iPad Air or Retina iPad mini

How to sell and get the most money for your old iPad before upgrading to an iPad Air or Retina iPad mini

If you plan on upgrading to an iPad Air or Retina iPad mini, selling your old iPad is a no brainer. Apple products hold their resale value very well. If you've taken good care of your iPad, you should have no problem finding it a new home and putting some cash in your pocket while doing it. Selling the old really does help you afford the new. If you're not sure how to sell, or if you just want to make sure you get the most money, or save yourself the most time and effort, possible, here's everything you need to know!

How to sell - and get the most money for! - your old iPad before upgrading to an iPad Air or Retina iPad mini

iPad vs. Galaxy vs. Nexus vs. Kindle vs. Surface: Which tablet should you get?

Apple has flipped the tables - er, tablets - and not only managed to cram a 2048x1536 display into the 7.9-inch Retina iPad mini, but managed to cram a full-sized 9.7-inch display into the new iPad Air. But is either of them to right tablet for you? While everyone here at iMore certainly believes the iPad is still the best tablet for most people, most of the time, there are rare exceptions where an alternative tablet might suit your specific needs better. The iPad may have the best overall user experience, the highest quality apps and games, the widest range of services, the biggest selection of accessories, and the best customer support, but there are also things the iPad doesn't offer that other tablets do, like subsidized hardware pricing, digitizer support, Microsoft compatibility, or simply no Apple about them. How do you know which one is for you?

iPad vs. Galaxy vs. Nexus vs. Kindle vs. Surface: Which tablet should you get?

iPad Air vs. MacBook Air: Which Apple portable should you get?

Apple now has two products designated as "Air", the MacBook Air, updated last June with the latest generation Intel Haswell processors, and the brand new iPad Air, introduced in October with a custom Apple A7 chipset. Both are ultra light, super thin, and incredibly long lasting, but one has a keyboard and runs OS X and the other a multitouch and iOS 7. Both can be absolutely killer on a plane, in an office, or around the house. But which one is better for you?

iPad Air vs. MacBook Air: Which Apple portable should you get?

iPad Air vs. Retina iPad mini vs. iPad 2 vs. iPad mini: Which iPad model should you get?

Once you're sure you're buying an iPad and now, the next step is to decide which iPad you're going to get. And this year, it's a tougher decision than ever. The new iPad Air and Retina iPad mini are identical in every way but screen size, 7.9- vs. 9.7-inches the only differentiator. If money is incredibly tight, though the old iPad 2 is a bit cheaper, and the old iPad mini, a cheaper still. No matter which one you choose, however, you'll be paying hundreds of dollars. Either a few, or a lot. So do you go with big or small, old or new? Which iPad should you get?

iPad Air vs. Retina iPad mini vs. iPad 2 vs. iPad mini: Which iPad model should you get?

Silver vs. space gray: Which iPad Air and Retina iPad mini color should you get?

Unlike the pop-art inspired iPhone 5c, Apple's iPad line remains discreetly metallic when it comes to color schemes. It's not as bad as 2010, mind you, when you could have your choice of color, as long as it was black. Now you can get a silver back with white faceplate, or a space gray back with a black faceplate. And you can get either finish on either new iPad, the iPad Air or Retina iPad mini. (The space gray replaces last year's slate gray, likely because it's tougher and easier to anodize.) So which color is better for you?

Silver vs. space gray: Which iPad Air and Retina iPad mini color should you get?

16GB vs. 32GB vs. 64GB vs. 128GB: Which iPad Air or Retina iPad mini storage capacity should you get?

Apple offers four different storage sized options for the new iPad Air and Retina iPad mini, ranging from a paltry 16GB to an enormous 128GB - literally 8 times the capacity! Every step up in capacity, however, comes with a matching $100 step up in price. That might seem like a pretty straightforward bit of math, but it really isn't! Figuring out how much storage you really need, and how much you can afford is really important. It's the difference between a great experience and a lot of frustration. So what's the deal?

16GB vs. 32GB vs. 64GB vs. 128GB: Which iPad Air or Retina iPad mini storage capacity should you get?

Speed vs. reliability vs. value: Which iPad Air or Retina iPad mini carrier should you get?

AT&T vs. Verizon vs. Sprint vs. T-Mobile in the U.S. Rogers vs. Bell vs. TELUS in Canada. Three vs O2 vs EE vs Vodafone in the U.K. And many more around the world. Then there are various discount carriers, regionals, and MVNOs. It's a mess! How do you know which carrier will give you the fastest data speeds, or the most reliable connections, or simply the best value for your money? It all comes down to where you live, work, or go to school, and what options work best in your specific area. However, there's a lot of broad generalities that can apply. Here are some of the most important, broken down by country!

Apple Store vs. other stores: Where should you buy your iPad Air or Retina iPad mini?

So now that you know what you're getting, how about where? Carrier compatibility aside, the iPad you get will be the same, but the customer service you receive can vary greatly. Also, if you have specific loyalty rewards at a certain carrier or company, that can change the deal you get.

Apple Retail: If you have an Apple Retail Store in your area, you can go there, and if it's in stock, leave with your new iPad right away. They also offer help with your purchase and will even help you get set your new iPhone up free of charge. If you're worried about protecting your investment, they can also get you setup with AppleCare, and their Genius Bar can help you with hardware problems in the future. Corny as it sounds, It's not just shopping, it's an experience. Apple Retail has the best customer service in the business and it shows. There are no discounts, however, not ever. (Though your carrier discounts can still apply.
Apple Online: If there's no Apple Retail store near you there's also Apple Online in many countries. Again, no discounts but you're dealing directly with Apple. If there are any shortages or shipping delays, you can still order and they'll get it out to you as soon as stock allows.
Carrier stores and big box retailers: If you want brick-and-morter but don't have an Apple Store nearby, your carrier will often have one or several stores in your area. If you want a cellular model, drop buy or get it shipped to you. Big box and chain retailers, everything from Best Buy to the Shack to Tesco also carry iPads. If you have loyalty points or they're just super convenient, check them out as well.

Shady operators also try to sell discount iPads, sometimes devices that aren't even really iPads but cheap -- and highly breakable -- knockoffs. It goes without saying you should avoid those. Any deal too good to be true probably is. If you save money only to end up with a phone that doesn't run iOS and may not even run on your carrier you really just wasted your money.

AppleCare+ vs. insurance vs. nothing: Which iPad Air or Retina iPad mini protection plan should you get?

If you plan on picking up a new iPad Air, a Retina iPad mini, or one of the cheaper, previous generation iPads, one of the last - but most important - things you have to decide is whether or not you'd like to get some kind of insurance to protect your investment, whether it be AppleCare+, third party, or something else. There are lots of factors that can play a part in your decision, such as how long you plan on keeping your iPad before upgrading, and how careful you are with it. Here's what you need to know!

AppleCare+ vs. insurance vs. nothing: Which iPad Air or Retina iPad mini protection plan should you get?

Need more help?

If there's any detail you're still not 100% sure about, or any question you'd still love to get answered before you buy your brand new iPad Air or Retina iPad mini, we have fantastic information pages that are always kept up-to-the-minute, and amazing community forums filled with experts for you to talk with. Bookmark them and check back often! And once you've decided, let us know in the comments - which iPad did you get and why?

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheIphoneBlog/~3/5txNfbxDu2E/story01.htm
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International Contest: Win one of two Nexus 5 phones!

We’re giving away two new Nexus 5 devices, here’s how you can win one

Want to win a new Nexus 5? Here's how!

The Nexus 5 is top-of-mind today, and for good reason. It couples top-level hardware with stock Android 4.4 KitKat at a very reasonable price. And now that it’s official and ready for orders, we know you want one. NOW.

Android Central is here to help you out. We’re giving away TWO Nexus 5 devices. For the details, just click this link.

For those that want to stay and read the rules, there are a few:

You need to have a legit email address registered at Android Central. If you don't, we can't contact you should you win.
Enter ONCE. It's easy for us to tell if you're posting more than once in the contest.
If you've won a device from us in the past 12 months, you can't win. We want to share the love a little bit.
The contest will stay open until 11:59PM EST on Tuesday, November 5th. At that point we'll shut it down and randomly pick two winners.

Enter to win one of two Nexus 5 devices

GOOD LUCK!

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/androidcentral/~3/UirmjtNAPyE/story01.htm
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Ask A VC: AngelPad's Thomas Korte On NYC Expansion, The Incubator's New $7M Funding Round And More

Ask A VC: AngelPad’s Thomas Korte On NYC Expansion, The Incubator’s New $7M Funding Round And More

In this week’s special episode of Ask A VC from Disrupt Europe in Berlin, Germany, AngelPad founder and former Googler Thomas Korte talked to TechCrunch about his incubator’s strategy, expansion and more.

Korte, who launched AngelPad in 2010 with six other ex-Google employees, explained why he’s kept the incubator small, with only around 10-12 startups per session (with two sessions per year). Korte also told us that AngelPad is heading east for its next session, debuting a new session in New York City (interested founders can apply here, and the deadline is Sunday).

While AngelPad was bootstrapped for the past three years with the backing of its founders, Korte also revealed that AngelPad just raised $7 million in outside investment from undisclosed LPs.

As of January of this year, AngelPad had seen 62 companies participate in five sessions. In 2012 alone, AngelPad’s 62 total companies raised $56 million, which is on top of the $25 million they had raised in 2011. The incubator has also seen some impressive exits from portfolio startups, including Twitter’s recent $350 million acquisition of MoPub.

Tune in above for more!

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/gZSkrQHiaCA/
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Dickensian Ambition And Emotion Make 'Goldfinch' Worth The Wait

"Dickensian" is one of those literary modifiers that's overused. But before I officially retire this ruined adjective (or exile it to Australia, as Dickens himself would have done), I want to give it one final outing, because no other word will do. Here goes: Donna Tartt's grand new novel, The Goldfinch, is Dickensian both in the ambition of its jumbo, coincidence-laced plot, as well as in its symphonic range of emotions. The Goldfinch far exceeds the expectations of those of us who've been waiting on Tartt to do something extraordinary again, ever since her debut novel, The Secret History, came out in 1992. Hell, I feel like I've been waiting for a novel like this to appear not only since I read The Secret History, but also since I first read David Copperfield.

There's a lot of Copperfield in Tartt's hero, Theo Decker, who's 13 years old at the start of this story, which he narrates in retrospect as an adult. Young Theo lives with his adored beautiful mother in Manhattan. (His dad, a shiftless actor and gambler, has deserted them — and good riddance, too.) Unfortunately, Theo is not as pure as David Copperfield was as a boy; in fact, on the most fateful morning of his life, Theo and his mother have an appointment at his prep school to discuss his suspension for smoking on school grounds — or maybe it's for stealing (Theo is guilty of that crime, too). But what Theo will ultimately spend the rest of his life atoning for is the death of his mother. It wasn't his fault. Adults will assure him: It was "a terrible accident, rotten luck, could have happened to anyone." "[I]t's all perfectly true," Theo admits, "and I don't believe a word of it."

Donna Tartt's other works include The Secret History and The Little Friend.

Bruno Vincent/Getty Images

Donna Tartt's other works include The Secret History and The Little Friend.

Bruno Vincent/Getty Images

What happens is that on the way to the school appointment, Theo and his mom take shelter from a sudden thunderstorm by ducking into The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Theo's mom studied art and she steers him over to one of her most beloved paintings: It's called The Goldfinch and it's an actual painting done in the mid-17th century by a teacher of Vermeer's named Carel Fabritius. Theo half-listens to his mother's lecture on the glories of this painting of an alert yellow bird "chained to a perch by its twig of an ankle"; then, just as they're moving off to the dreaded school appointment, a terrorist bomb explodes in The Met. Theo's mother is killed and life as he knew it is shattered.

As in The Secret History and her second, less successful novel, The Little Friend, which centered on an unsolved murder, Tartt plays here with the conventions of the suspense thriller. In the aftermath of the explosion, Theo comforts a dying man who gives him a ring and points to the small painting of The Goldfinch, lying in the rubble out of its frame. Theo takes custody of both objects and they lead him on a baroque coming-of-age adventure that includes a season in hell in Las Vegas with his deadbeat dad, brushes with the Russian mob, unrequited love, excessive teen drug use and the discovery of a place almost like home in a New York antique shop — an old curiosity shop, if you will — run by an open-hearted mensch named Hobie, who becomes Theo's guardian. I have, by the way, only taken us halfway through this 700-plus-page novel.

As ingenious as Tartt's plot is, this novel would be but a massive scaffolding feat, were it not for her uncanny way with words. Here's Theo, as an adult, telling us about a feverish dream he had of his mother:

"[S]he came up suddenly beside me so I saw her reflection in a mirror. At the sight of her I was paralyzed with happiness; ... [S]he was smiling at me, ... not a dream but a presence that filled the whole room ... I knew I couldn't turn around, that to look at her directly was to violate the laws of her world and mine; ... our eyes met in the glass for a long moment; but just as she seemed about to speak ... — a vapor rolled between us and I woke up."

Like the goldfinch in the painting he can't bring himself to relinquish, Theo is chained, forever yearning for the mother he lost on that terrible day in the museum. His loneliness is the realistic emotional constant in this crowded, exuberantly plotted triumph of a novel. And if that ain't "Dickensian," I don't know what is.

Source: http://www.npr.org/2013/10/31/242105656/dickensian-ambition-and-emotion-make-goldfinch-worth-the-wait?ft=1&f=1032
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Pa. residents living above mine fire free to stay

FILE - In this Jan. 26, 1983, file photo, smoke rises from the ground in Centralia, Pa., where and uncontrolled underground mine fire was burning. The attorney for the few remaining residents of the central Pennsylvania coal town that was decimated by a 50-year-old mine fire said on Thursday, Oct. 31, 2013, that they have settled their lawsuit against state officials who have been trying for years to evict them. The settlement allows eight Centralia residents to stay in their homes for as long as they live and it also includes a cash payout. (AP Photo/Rusty Kennedy, File)

FILE -- This Jan. 13, 2010 file photo shows steam rising from the ground around retired Centralia Postmaster Tom Dempsey as he stands in an area that was in Centralia, Pa. The steam is caused by a fire that was still burning underground after it started in 1962 at the town dump and ignited an exposed coal vein. The underground fire eventually forced an exodus of more than 1,000 people, nearly the entire population. The attorney for the few remaining residents of the central Pennsylvania coal town that was decimated by a 50-year-old mine fire said on Thursday, Oct. 31, 2013, that they have settled their lawsuit against state officials who have been trying for years to evict them. The settlement allows eight Centralia residents to stay in their homes for as long as they live and it also includes a cash payout. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster, FILE)

FILE - In this Jan. 13, 2010 file photo, the empty town of Centralia, Pa., is seen from above. The attorney for the few remaining residents of the central Pennsylvania coal town that was decimated by a 50-year-old mine fire said on Thursday, Oct. 31, 2013, that they have settled their lawsuit against state officials who have been trying for years to evict them. The settlement allows eight Centralia residents to stay in their homes for as long as they live and it also includes a cash payout. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster, File)

FILE - In this Jan. 13, 2010, file photo, an old sign reading "Keep Centralia On The Map" is visible in the entrance of the closed Centralia Municipal Building in Centralia, Pa. The attorney for the few remaining residents of the central Pennsylvania coal town that was decimated by a 50-year-old mine fire said on Thursday, Oct. 31, 2013, that they have settled their lawsuit against state officials who have been trying for years to evict them. The settlement allows eight Centralia residents to stay in their homes for as long as they live and it also includes a cash payout. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster, File)

FILE - In this April, 1981, file photo, U.S. Bureau of Mines' John Stockalis, right, and Dan Lewis drop a thermometer through a hole on Main Street in Centralia, Pa., to measure the heat from a shaft mine blaze that was burning under the town. The attorney for the few remaining residents of the central Pennsylvania coal town that was decimated by a 50-year-old mine fire said on Thursday, Oct. 31, 2013, that they have settled their lawsuit against state officials who have been trying for years to evict them. The settlement allows eight Centralia residents to stay in their homes for as long as they live and it also includes a cash payout. (AP Photo/Paul Vathis, File)

The few remaining residents of a Pennsylvania coal town that was largely razed in the 1980s because of an underground mine fire that still burns today have gotten their wish — to be left alone, free to live out their lives there.

A lengthy battle over eminent domain culminated this week when eight residents of Centralia settled their lawsuit against state officials who had been trying to evict them from their condemned homes. The settlement, notice of which was filed in U.S. District Court, allows the residents to stay for as long as they live. It also includes a cash payout of $349,500.

"Everybody got what we wanted, and everybody's happy now," resident Tom Hynoski, 52, said Thursday.

The mine fire was ignited in 1962 and eventually spread to the vast network of mines beneath homes and businesses, threatening residents with poisonous gases and dangerous sinkholes. By the end of the 1980s, more than 1,000 people had moved and 500 structures had been demolished under a $42 million federal relocation program.

But some holdouts refused to go, even after their houses were seized in the early 1990s. They said the fire posed little danger to their part of town, accused government officials and mining companies of a plot to grab the rights to billions of dollars' worth of anthracite coal, and vowed to stay put.

After years of letting them be, state officials decided a few years ago to take possession of the homes. The homeowners fought back with a federal lawsuit.

Hynoski, who has long contended that government corruption involving the coal rights was behind the state's drive to force them out, claimed vindication.

"They bent us, but they didn't break us," he said.

State officials have long denied any such plot to grab the coal rights and say they sought possession of the properties out of public safety concerns.

Last year, a geologist with the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection said the fire may have gone deeper underground but still poses a threat because it has the potential to open up new pathways for deadly gases to reach the remaining homes. But residents say that's nonsense and point out that they've lived for decades in their homes without incident.

The agreement includes $218,000 to compensate residents for the value of their homes and $131,500 to settle additional claims raised in the lawsuit, according to Steve Kratz, spokesman for the state Department of Community and Economic Development, a defendant in the suit.

The mine fire has transformed Centralia into a macabre tourist attraction. There's an intact street grid with almost nothing on it, clouds of steam waft from the cracked earth, and visitors gawk at the ruins of an abandoned highway.

But the homes that remain are neatly kept, and this week's settlement means that Centralia as a town has not yet breathed its last.

"They get to live in their property and enjoy it the rest of their life," said the plaintiffs' attorney, Don Bailey. "We did very well."

Associated PressSource: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/386c25518f464186bf7a2ac026580ce7/Article_2013-10-31-Centralia's%20Final%20Days-Suit/id-8f4d177ca7614257b0a165484ed67fd2
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Israel strikes Russian weapons shipment in Syria

In this image taken from video obtained from the Shaam News Network, which has been authenticated based on its contents and other AP reporting, people try to extinguish a fire on the roof of a building, allegedly caused by shelling in Homs, Syria, Thursday, Oct. 31, 2013. President Bashar Assad's government met a key deadline in an ambitious plan to eliminate Syria's entire chemical weapons stockpile by mid-2014 and avoid international military action. (AP Photo/Shaam News Network via AP Video)

BEIRUT (AP) — Israeli warplanes attacked a shipment of Russian missiles inside a Syrian government stronghold, officials said Thursday, a development that threatened to add another volatile layer to regional tensions from the Syrian civil war.

The revelation came as the government of President Bashar Assad met a key deadline in an ambitious plan to eliminate Syria's entire chemical weapons stockpile by mid-2014 and avoid international military action.

The announcement by a global chemical weapons watchdog that the country has completed the destruction of equipment used to produce the deadly agents highlights Assad's willingness to cooperate, and puts more pressure on the divided and outgunned rebels to attend a planned peace conference.

An Obama administration official confirmed the Israeli airstrike overnight, but provided no details. Another security official said the attack occurred late Wednesday in the Syrian port city of Latakia and that the target was Russian-made SA-125 missiles.

The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to publicly discuss the attack. There was no immediate confirmation from Syria.

Since the civil war in Syria began in March 2011, Israel has carefully avoided taking sides, but has struck shipments of missiles inside Syria at least twice this year.

The Syrian military, overstretched by the civil war, has not retaliated, and it was not clear whether the embattled Syrian leader would choose to take action this time. Assad may decide to again let the Israeli attack slide, particularly when his army has the upper hand on the battlefield inside Syria.

Israel has repeatedly declared a series of red lines that could trigger Israeli military intervention, including the delivery of "game-changing" weapons to the Syrian-backed Lebanese Hezbollah group.

Israel has never officially confirmed taking action inside Syria to avoid embarrassing Assad and sparking a potential response. But foreign officials say it has done so several times when Israeli intelligence determined that sophisticated missiles were on the move.

In January, an Israeli airstrike in Syria destroyed a shipment of advanced anti-aircraft missiles bound for Hezbollah, according to U.S. officials. And in May, it was said to have acted again, taking out a shipment of Iranian-made Fateh-110 missiles at a Damascus airport.

The Fateh-110s have advanced guidance systems that allow them to travel up to 200 miles (300 kilometers) per hour with great precision. Their solid-fuel propellant allows them to be launched at short notice, making them hard to detect and neutralize.

Israel has identified several other weapons systems as game changers, including chemical weapons, Russian-made Yakhont missiles that can be fired from land and destroy ships at sea, and Russian SA-17 anti-aircraft missiles. Israel's January airstrike is believed to have destroyed a shipment of SA-17s.

Syrian activists and opposition groups reported strong explosions Wednesday night that appeared to come from inside an air defense facility in Latakia. They said the cause of the blasts was not known.

The announcement Thursday that Syria had completed the destruction of equipment used to produce chemical weapons came one day ahead of a Nov. 1 deadline set by the Hague-based watchdog, the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons.

But while some experts portrayed the step as a milestone, others said it has little impact as long as Syria still has its entire remaining stockpile of functioning chemical weapons.

"Only after those weapons have been destroyed or removed from Syrian control will the state be demilitarized," said David Reeths, director at HIS Jane's Consulting.

With the initial stage of verification and destruction of weapons machinery completed, the hard task now begins.

The executive committee of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons has until Nov. 15 to decide how best to permanently destroy Syria's chemical weapons program and its stockpile of deadly mustard gas, sarin and precursor chemicals.

It's not yet clear how and where the arsenal will be destroyed, but carrying out the work in Syria or transporting the chemical weapons out of the country for destruction elsewhere are both fraught with risks amid the ongoing civil war. The country is believed to have around 1,000 metric tons of chemical weapons.

Assad has so far met all required deadlines according to the strict timeline, demonstrating his willingness to go to great lengths to avoid international military action.

"This is a clear indication of the Syrian government's wish to cooperate and abide by its commitments," said Syrian lawmaker Issam Khalil. He said Syria knows "full well that the U.S. has not ceased its hostile policies toward Syria and will attempt to exploit any excuse — however small and inconsequential — to carry out a military strike against Syria."

The U.S.-Russian deal to destroy Syria's stockpile averted a U.S. military strike against the Syrian government that appeared certain in August, following a chemical weapons attack near Damascus that killed hundreds the U.S. blamed on Assad.

By making him a partner in implementing the disarmament deal, the agreement appears to have restored some of Assad's legitimacy while angering his opponents, who now balk at attending political transition talks the U.S. hopes will begin in Geneva in November.

No final date has been set for the talks, and there have been disagreements among opposition groups on whether to attend or not, and the conditions for taking part. Syria's main opposition group in exile, the Syrian National Coalition, postponed its general council meeting in Istanbul from Friday to Nov. 10, pending further discussions on the highly divisive talks.

U.N.-Arab League envoy Lakhdar Brahimi, currently in Damascus, has urged both sides to come to the talks without preconditions. But both have placed seemingly unrealistic conditions for attending.

At a Senate hearing in Washington on Thursday, Sen. John McCain said Assad, who was about to be toppled a year ago, has "turned the tide" while continuing to slaughter innocent civilians.

Fighting continued at a high pace across many parts of the country, including in the town of Safira, in northern Aleppo province. Experts say the town is home to a chemical weapons production facility, as well as storage sites.

Activists said troops were advancing Thursday in the town, capturing several neighborhoods and causing casualties on both sides.

Also on Thursday, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based Syria watchdog, said more than 120,000 people have been killed since the start of the country's conflict nearly three years ago. In July, the U.N. estimated 100,000 have died in the conflict since March 2011. It has not updated that figure since.

The violence underscored the dangers the chemical weapons' inspectors face as they race against tight deadlines in the midst of an ongoing civil war.

Earlier this week, the inspectors said they had completed their first round of verification work, visiting 21 of 23 sites declared by Damascus. They were unable to visit two sites because of security concerns, the inspectors said.

On Thursday, the chemical weapons agency said the two locations were, according to Syria, "abandoned and ... the chemical weapons program items they contained were moved to other declared sites, which were inspected."

It was not immediately clear if the facility in Safira was one of the two sites.

Commenting on the two sites, OPCW spokesman Michael Luhan said, "it was just deemed too risky." He told the AP that Syrian authorities were not able to offer the necessary security guarantees for inspectors to visit those sites.

He added, however, that the Syrian side provided "quite compelling documentary evidence" that equipment in one of the sites was moved to another location that inspectors did visit.

___

Corder reported from The Hague, Netherlands. Associated Press writers Robert Burns in Washington, Albert Aji in Damascus and Bassem Mroue in Beirut contributed to this report.

Associated PressSource: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2013-10-31-Syria/id-a138341aa4f04ab7a77aeaf1d441a5d4
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Does "Redskins" Cause Psychological Damage?

Audio for this story from Tell Me More will be available at approximately 3:00 p.m. ET.

Members of the Oneida Nation met with representatives from the NFL on Wednesday to discuss the growing call to change the Washington Redskins name. Host Michel Martin finds out how the meeting went from the Nation's representative, Ray Halbritter.

Source: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=242105917&ft=1&f=1001
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Lionsgate Pins Growth Plans on 'Ender's Game' and 'Catching Fire' (Analysis)

This story first appeared in the Nov. 8 issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine.

In March 2012, Lionsgate CEO Jon Feltheimer and the cast of its AMC drama Mad Men rang the opening bell at the New York Stock Exchange. "I think back to when we first rang the bell in 2004, and we didn't have Mad Men and we didn't have Hunger Games, and we didn't have Expendables," gushed Feltheimer to CNBC's Jim Cramer that day. "You know, the company is growing beautifully."

That was only the beginning. In the 19 months since Feltheimer rang that bell, Lionsgate stock is up 140 percent, five times the growth of the S&P 500. The company, which began in 1997 as a tiny Vancouver-based distributor, has become so large -- it boasts a market capitalization of around $5 billion, more than twice that of DreamWorks Animation -- that the often-used term "mini-major" no longer seems adequate.

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But now Lionsgate is facing key tests of whether it can sustain that momentum. Beginning with the Nov. 1 release of the young-adult adaptation Ender's Game, followed by the sequel The Hunger Games: Catching Fire on Nov. 22 and another new YA adaptation, Divergent, in March, the studio once known for low-budget horror films and Tyler Perry comedies is poised to have three major franchises. Investors are hoping those films will work, given that its Twilight property, acquired through the 2011 merger with Summit Entertainment, is winding down after taking in $3.3 billion worldwide.

"I like the management, but they are riding high on Hunger Games and Twilight, and those are hard to replace," says Doug Creutz, a Cowen & Co. analyst who downgraded Lionsgate stock to "neutral" in September. "It's hard to see how they grow the film business from here." Lionsgate shares closed at $34.76 on Oct. 28.

Since its founding by Canadian mining magnate Frank Giustra, Lionsgate largely has grown through acquisitions, first nabbing Artisan Entertainment in 2003, then a piece of the indie distributor Roadside Attractions, a TV distribution business in Debmar-Mercury and finally the $412.5 million purchase of Summit that added Stephenie Meyer's sparkly vampires and film execs Rob Friedman and Patrick Wachsberger. "The company went through a complete and utter structural transformation, where it went from a small, independent producer to the owner of a number of blockbuster franchises with multiyear visibility and earnings," notes RBC Capital Markets analyst David Bank.

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Lionsgate revenue surged 71 percent to $2.71 billion from fiscal 2012 to 2013. But Creutz estimates -- rather ominously -- that for the next three years, 62 percent of the company's earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization will come from just two properties: Twilight and Hunger Games.

To lessen its dependence on the hit-or-miss film business, Lionsgate is relying more than ever on television. It expects to produce 11 shows in the current fiscal year, including Mad Men, Orange Is the New Black for Netflix, Nurse Jackie for Showtime, Anger Management for FX and Nashville for ABC. Lionsgate also has partnered with MGM and Paramount on the cable channel Epix, and Debmar-Mercury is expanding its "10-90" approach to TV syndication, in which it sells 10 episodes for a test-run and renews for an additional 90 episodes. (Lionsgate also invests in digital businesses and music publishing. Through an arrangement with Net-a-Porter, it plans on rolling out a fashion and jewelry line from the Catching Fire costume designer.)

Not surprisingly, Feltheimer, 62, says he wants a third of Lionsgate's revenue eventually to come from its TV division, led by Kevin Beggs. However, in the most recent fiscal year, the company reported $2.2 billion in revenue from motion pictures and only $379 million from television. That means that for the foreseeable future, movies will remain Lionsgate's bread and butter.

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And as the rest of Hollywood knows, the film business can be boom or bust. Eight years ago, Feltheimer boasted that Lionsgate risked no more than $8 million on any one film, citing such hits as the Saw and Hostel franchises. Those days are long gone, but investors aren't complaining that Hunger Games: Catching Fire cost $130 million as long as the pricey investment delivers on par with the $691 million global box office of the first installment. "Having 10 films that outperform and five that underperform will never have the operating leverage of one $700 million global film," says Ben Mogil of Thomas Weisel Partners.

Lionsgate has been diversifying its film efforts as well. In 2010, it launched, along with Grupo Televisa, Pantelion Films, an arm devoted to distributing films aimed at Latino audiences. Its Mexican comedy Instructions Not Included, released in September, has become the top-grossing Spanish-language film of all time with $44 million and counting.

Hunger Games, based on the Suzanne Collins trilogy about kids forced to fight to the death, has two more installments, due in 2014 and 2015. And Lionsgate actively is seeking to develop other properties and position itself as the home of YA titles turned into film franchises. "In the young-adult space, in all our intellectual property we now have over a quarter of a billion fans on Facebook alone," vice chairman Michael Burns said on CNBC.

Still, Ender's Game, about an alien race attacking Earth, is a risky proposition. Though Lionsgate's Summit label minimized exposure by releasing the $110 million-budget film only in the U.S., controversial anti-gay remarks by the novel's author, Orson Scott Card, and a sci-fi storyline revolving around young children could limit its broad appeal. Tracking indicates the movie will open in the mid-$20 millions domestically. Analysts also express concern over 2014's I, Frankenstein, a special-effects-laden movie in which Dr. Frankenstein's creation (Aaron Eckhart) gets involved in a power struggle between gargoyles and demons.

VIDEO: 'Ender's Game' TV Spot: 'Destroy Them'

Lionsgate has higher hopes for Divergent, about a dystopian future in which people are divided into factions based on their personalities. The film, starring Shailene Woodley, already is being positioned as the next Hunger Games.

If so, then, will Hollywood soon drop the "mini" qualifier when speaking of Lionsgate? Some already have. "If you're making Hunger Games and Twilight, you're a major studio," says Creutz. "Heck, they're putting out more films than Disney and Paramount nowadays. Not as big, but more of them."

And without a physical studio lot or a bevy of rich development deals, "They are running a leaner-cost business," adds Wunderlich Securities analyst Matthew Harrigan. "I think for all practical purposes, in terms of market share, talent relationships and power to get into a release window, they are a de facto major. It's really been an amazing story."

Etan Vlessing contributed to this report.

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