CMU School of Drama


Friday, July 31, 2015

Paper4Everyone puts teamwork on the table and screen

GizMag: No matter how many new forms of technology we come up with for writing, pen and paper always seems to have a place. It's with this in mind that smart pens like LiveScribe and the Neo Smartpen N2 have come into use. Now, a new device called Paper4Everyone aims to take the idea of a connected pen a step further by adding in a collaborative element.

Test Your Eye For Color With This Addictive iPhone Game

FastCoDesign: A hue test can be a maddening exercise. Arranging colors into a perfect gradient sounds easy enough, until you’re staring at two teals that you swear are exactly the same. The glee of bragging rights goes out the window as you’re faced with the limits of your own perception.

Five Clever Tool Hacks

MakeZine: Cut with a Drill (Above image) “If you need to shorten a bolt, let your drill do the hard work. Spin two nuts onto the bolt, tightening them against each other. Then chuck the bolt into the drill and hold a hacksaw blade against the spinning bolt. The nuts help to steady the blade and clean off burrs when you unscrew them.”

DEWALT 18 GA Precision Point Brad Nailer

ToolBoxBuzz: As part of their new pneumatic line of nailers, DEWALT unveiled the DWFP12233 18 gauge Precision Point Brad Nailer in June of 2015 at their DEWALT Experience event in Charlotte North Carolina. The Tool Box Buzz Crew was at the event when the new pneumatic line was unveiled and had a brief chance to test and evaluate them. We could not get a complete evaluation on this nailer due to time restrictions, so DEWALT sent one for us to review and evaluate actually using it on the jobsite and in the workshop. DEWALT’s new line of finish nailers features Precision Point Technology, very similar to their Bostitch line of nailers’ Smart Point Technology. The Precision Point Technology offers much better accuracy and easier nail placement through a smaller nose footprint.

SawStop Sues Bosch Over REAXX Table Saw

CopTool: Well no surprise here, SawStop who seems to get more press coverage for involvement in lawsuits than their actual saws is now filing another lawsuit, this time with Bosch over their REAXX Table saw GTS1041A ($1499). Timing falls just days before the largest national Woodworking Shows AWFS, July 22nd-25th where both companies will most likely be displaying their latest products to dealers and professionals alike.

‘Homeland’ Shoot Prompts Berlin to Add $1.63M a Year to Film and TV Funding

Variety: BERLIN — Citing the economic impact of international TV series such as “Homeland,” which is currently being shot in the German capital, Berlin Mayor Michael Mueller has announced a €1.5 million ($1.63 million) increase in the annual budget of film and TV subsidy organization Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg to some $37 million.

Thursday, July 30, 2015

AP to Put Nearly 17,000 Hours of Archival News Footage on YouTube

Variety: The Associated Press is uploading more than 550,000 video clips to YouTube — covering news events dating back to 1895 — which the news org said will be the largest collection of archival news content on the Google-owned platform to date.

AP, together with newsreel archive provider British Movietone, will deliver more than 1 million minutes of digitized film footage to YouTube. The goal: to provide high-profile, searchable repositories that let documentary filmmakers, historians and others find news footage, and to promote licensing deals for rights to use the video.

How The Walking Dead uses special effects to fake gory zombie kills

 Gizmodo: The Walking Dead is probably one of the goriest and grossest shows on television because all they do is kill zombies. And though zombies are not real (yet, at least), the blood and gore look real because of all the amazing special effects on the show. Here’s a reel from Stargate Studios showing their best work of VFX on The Walking Dead.

Emma Thompson On Sexism In Hollywood: “I Still Think It’s Complete Shit”

TheFrisky: Emma Thompson sat down with The Radio Times and delivered a very important message: sexism in Hollywood is still horrible. Thompson acknowledges that the general inequality and shittiness that runs rampant towards women in Hollywood has gotten worse:

Call for Entries Opens for Nickelodeon’s $25,000 Animation Scholarship Competition

Variety: Nickelodeon and education nonprofit Get Schooled have opened a call for entries for their inaugural “What’s Your Nickfluence?” Animation Challenge, which will give young animators a chance to win a $25,000 scholarship.

The $25,000 scholarship competition is open only to college students, aged 17-24, but there is a separate competition for high schoolers, aged 13-17. The high-school aged applicants will be vying for a Wacom Cintiq 13HD Interactive Pen Display and a one-year subscription to Adobe Creative Cloud. There will only be one scholarship winner, but there will be five winners in the high school category.

TPP's Copyright Trap

EFF: Few arguments around copyright are as self-evidently fact-free as the length of its term. Defying economic reasoning, the astonishingly long period of restrictions has only grown over the years, and frequently the newer, longer terms have been retroactively applied to earlier works. The argument against term extension, and retroactive term extension in particular, is so obvious that the Nobel Prize winning economist Milton Friedman reportedly agreed to sign a Supreme Court brief opposing the most recent extension only on the condition that it used the word “no-brainer.”

Wednesday, July 29, 2015

7 Tips To Rock Any Networking Event

TheGrindStone: Networking events can be painful, but they don’t need to be. In fact, if you play you cards right, you can actually have fun and make handy contacts in your industry. Here are a few tips and tricks to make the most of any networking event.

How Thomas The Tank Engine Appeared In Ant-Man

I09: In the trailers for Ant-Man, Marvel played up a funny gag: one of the fights featured a battle on a Thomas the Train Engine play set. Over on FilmSchoolRejects, director Peyton Reed talks about how that scene made it into the film.

Opera review: Opera Theater takes on 'Capriccio'

Post-Gazette: “Capriccio,” the last opera by Richard Strauss, is an opera about writing an opera, but it’s no mere intellectual exercise. The very literate libretto by conductor Clemens Krauss transforms the quandary of words vs. music into a human dilemma: The glamorous Parisian Countess Madeleine must choose between two rival suitors, a poet and a musician. As the second installment of a four-year Strauss cycle, Opera Theater’s Summerfest brought this unique and very entertaining work to life Saturday in the 20th Century Club’s Art Deco Theater in Oakland.

Karaoke Bacche Blends Tunes, Tragedy, And Beer Pong

LettersFromTheMezz: Euripides’ classic tragedy, which pits the carnally passionate demi-god Dionysus against his authoritarian cousin Pentheus, is adapted for modern-day mischief in Jesse Freedman’s Karaoke Bacchae, which premiered at the New Ohio Theater’s Ice Factory Festival.  What says drunken revelry and abandoning inhibition like killing it at a karaoke bar?

Behind the Scenes of BattleBot Production

Tested: The BattleBots season finale is tonight, and we were on location during the filming of the final match-ups. Here's what you didn't see on TV. We chat with some of the competitors after their matches, learn how they prepare and repair their bots, and stick around for the unaired grudge matches!

Review: Pittsburgh CLO's 'Wedding Singer' offers few surprises

TribLive: If you loved “The Wedding Singer” when it was a 1998 movie or 2006 Broadway adaptation or a production at your local high school, you probably will like the Pittsburgh Civic Light Opera version that's playing through Aug. 2 at the Benedum Center, Downtown.

I didn't and I still don't.

Set in 1985, it's a silly rom-com about two young people so eager to get married that they would happily tie the knot with someone wildly unsuitable. In dogged pursuit of these train wreck relationships, they fail to recognize a perfect match when it presents itself.

Projection Mapping – The Future is Here

Projection-Mapping: Projection mapping has exploded in popularity in the past 5 years. We’ve seen projection mapping on outdoor events in lieu of fireworks, at car shows, at corporate events, for retail advertising and more. As we are only at the genesis of this new medium, new uses of projection mapping are popping up every week. Once somebody comes up with something new, we see iterations on the idea popping up everywhere. So the question remains, what can you do with projection mapping?

Sunday, July 26, 2015

10 Reasons Every College Student Should Take An English Class

CollegeCandy: It’s ever so daunting on paper and/or screen: English ### with Dr. So-And-So. How could anyone love to read and write so much that he or she pursued a terminal degree in it? You struggle through ten pages of reading on a daily basis—several chapters assigned regularly seems impossible.

You didn’t know medieval literature was a thing nor did you know that there is a difference between British and American Romanticism. You certainly can’t fathom the value of Victorian literature prior to your English class. How can studying literature benefit your future in any way?

Well, you’d be surprised.

Pittsburgh City Council passes film-permit legislation

Post-Gazette: After months of amendments and drafts, Pittsburgh City Council unanimously passed an ordinance Tuesday that “sets clear guidelines for permitting of major motion pictures, television and commercial productions,” Councilwoman Darlene Harris’ office said. 

Mrs. Harris’ ordinance, modeled after the California Film Commission, requires a city-issued permit for most types of major filming and directs the mayor’s office to develop regulations for processing and issuance of the permits, with notification for businesses and residents, traffic control, street closures and other criteria.

Variety’s ‘Actors on Actors’ PBS Series Wins Emmy

Variety: Variety’s “Actors on Actors” series on PBS was awarded the Emmy for best entertainment programming at the Television Academy’s 67th Los Angeles area Emmy Awards.

“Actors on Actors,” which is an interview special that features pairings of prominent actors discussing their craft, was produced by PBS SoCal in partnership with Variety Media, LLC.

The winners were announced Saturday at the 67th Los Angeles Area Emmy Awards at The Skirball Cultural Center Guerin Pavilion in Herscher Hall.

Sony Made Pixels Even Lamer to Appease Chinese Authorities

Gizmodo: Sony apparently didn’t care very much that the script to its new sci-fi comedy movie Pixels is pretty bad. It did, however, go to pains to ensure that Pixels would pass Chinese censorship boards with flying colors. Goodbye integrity, hello authoritarian-sanctioned blockbuster.

According to Reuters, which cites emails leaked by Sony hackers, Sony ‘sanitized’ the new Adam Sandler movie to make certain it would get on the circuit in China, the world’s second biggest box office. This entailed deleting references to China from the script and removing a rather insensitive scene, in which intergalactic pixelated aliens blast a hole in the Great Wall.

Twitter is deleting stolen jokes on copyright grounds

TheVerge: Let's face it: coming up with a grade-A tweet isn't easy. That's why some people just copy good tweets from other people and act like they came up with the 140-character witticism on their own. This has been going on since the beginning of Twitter.

It now appears Twitter is using its legal authority to crack down on these tweet-stealers. A number of tweets have been deleted on copyright grounds for apparently stealing a bad joke.

Saturday, July 25, 2015

Magenta Doesn’t Exist, Here’s Why

TwistedSifterMagenta is an ‘extra-spectral color’, meaning that it is not found in the visible spectrum of light. Science presenter Steve Mould demonstrates the strange phenomenon of colour mixing, in which not everything is as it seems.
The cone cells within our eyes are responsible for the colours we see, but are only sensitive to Red, Green and Blue light. So how are we able to see so many colours when we can only directly detect three and how do our brains see the colour magenta which doesn’t have a wavelength?

Latino Theater Alliance/Los Angeles Writers’ Circle

HowlRound: Mirroring a movement that was transpiring across the country, members of the Latina/o theatre community of Southern California came together to found the Latino Theater Alliance of Los Angeles (LTA/LA) in 2012. Actors, designers, directors, scholars, playwrights, and allies began to meet and to discuss what the different “constituencies” were looking for—why they joined this alliance. The consensus: everybody wanted more opportunities to network and to ply their craft(s) prompting the leadership of the Alliance to address these needs through programming, including panels, public lectures, workshops, and, to date, two major gatherings. 

Grizzly’s Mini Track Saw

ToolGuyD: Bigger isn’t always better. Grizzly’s 4-1/2″ mini-track saw is an intriguing tool because it is lighter and more compact than most other track saws and it is designed to cut a variety of materials including wood, steel, and stone. It is also far cheaper.

The saw uses a 4-1/2″ blade with a 7/8″ arbor hole. With such a small blade, the cut depth is limited to just 1-1/16″ when used with the track and 1-1/4″ without it.

[Federico Musto] Of Arduino SRL Discusses Arduino Legal Situation

HackADay: Recently we had the opportunity to sit down and interview Arduino SRL’s CEO, [Federico Musto], over a nice dinner. His company is one half of the Arduino vs Arduino debacle which has pitted Arduino.cc against Arduino.org in a battle over the trademark on “Arduino”.

Given the tremendous amount of press coverage of [Massimo Banzi] and the Arduino LLC side of the story (Arduino.cc), we were very interested in hearing how the whole situation looks where [Frederico Musto] sit (Arduino.org). In the end, we came away with what we feel is a more balanced and complete picture of the situation, as well as interesting news about future products from the Arduino SRL camp. [Musto’s] take on the legal proceedings, both past and present, is nothing short of fascinating.

“I’m Always Attracted to the ‘Mutt’ Aspect of Sets”: Production Designer Michael Shaw on Orange is the New Black

FilmMakerMagazine: Michael Shaw has had an illustrious career as a production designer, moving from some of the most notable independent films of the 1990s (Heavy, Boys Don’t Cry, You Can Count on Me) to a string of this decade’s top television shows (The Big C, Orange is the New Black). On Saturday, July 25, he’ll be leading a production design masterclass focused on Orange is the New Black at the IFP’s Made in New York Media Center. Shaw kindly took time out from designing the Wall Street environs of Showtime’s upcoming Billions to speak about his career as a production designer, Orange‘s prison set, film vs. television, and how he prepares to meet a director for the first time. Tickets for Saturday’s event are still available.

The Perfect Resume

DailyInfographic: The job hunt can be excruciatingly tedious at times. At one moment you think you’ve got a job after hitting a home run at the interview. A month later you still find yourself unemployed without a call back in weeks. Building the resume that will catch the eyes of the recruiter is crucial. Today’s infographic can help you craft an intriguing resume showing off your assets and attributes in the perfect way.

Thursday, July 23, 2015

Forget 4K: This Low-Res Screen Creates Images Out of Thread

Wired: 4K DISPLAYS ARE tack-sharp, plentiful, and getting cheaper. But UltraHD screens will never be as cool as this low-res 0.02K display for a simple reason: Instead of using OLED or LED, this screen creates images using motorized belts of multicolored fabric.

The F21 Thread Screen has a resolution of just 80 pixels by 80 pixels, and in order to get that measly resolution, it uses 6,400 spools, nearly seven miles of fabric, and thousands of motors and gears. Each “pixel” is actually a 5.5-foot strip of threaded material, each of which can display 36 colors depending on what part of each multicolored strip is showing on the front of the machine.

Discover Bank Must Pay $18.5 Million Over Illegal Student Loan Servicing Practices

Consumerist: As federal regulators continue to probe potentially unscrupulous student loan servicing practices, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has ordered Discover Bank and its affiliates to pay nearly $18.5 million in refunds and fines for, among other things, overstating amounts due on student loans and failing to notify borrowers of their rights.
According to the CFPB consent order [PDF], Illinois-based Discover Bank and its affiliates – Student Loan Corporation and Discover Products Inc. – have engaged in illegal student loans servicing and debt collection practices since at least 2010, when the company acquired some 800,000 private student loans accounts from Citibank.

Increased Competition, New Options Means College Students Are Paying Less For Course Materials

Consumerist: Once upon a time, most college students had very few choices when it came to the textbooks and other course materials they were required to buy each semester: Pricey new books or not-quite-as-pricey used copies, and most of these were gone quickly. But now there are multiple online competitors for buying, renting, and reselling these materials and a new survey shows that students are paying a lot less.
According to the National Association of College Stores, spending on course materials for the 2014-15 academic year averaged $563. That’s down more than $100 in the last five years, even though the amount of materials being acquired has remained virtually the same.

Voice actor's wonderful tour of US regional accents

BoingBoingA classic from 2011: the entertaining Amy Walker demonstrates regional accents in the US from east-to-west, plus a few job-related accents. In 2010, Amy produced a videos series of accent tips for international accents:

How to Deal With Harsh Criticism of Your Writing

IO9There’s nothing more vulnerable than the act of making up stories. Whether it’s an introspective personal story or a seat-of-your-exploding-pants thriller, you’re taking something out of your unfiltered imagination and putting it into the form of a product. That people then criticize. How do you handle that?

Wednesday, July 22, 2015

Meyer Sound Selected as System of Choice for 2015 Tony Award Winners

Stage-DirectionsThe 2015 Tony Award winners for Best Musical and Best Play, Fun Home and The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime, both rely on Meyer Sound systems to carry their stories to audiences. The aural experience for these acclaimed shows is the work of sound designers Kai Harada and Ian Dickinson, with each of the shows winning five Tony Awards.
“I think the role of sound and music is integral to The Curious Incident,” says Dickinson, the show’s sound designer and an associate of London-based Autograph Sound. “Take them away and it becomes a different and maybe less magical world. One of the production managers once said to me that the play’s aural world was like glue binding everything together. I think that is the highest compliment one could pay. I’m absolutely overjoyed for all concerned.”

15 Ways to Access AutoCAD commands

Cad-NotesOne common question that I get is how to access AutoCAD command quickly.
AutoCAD is a 30 years old software. People already use it before it runs on Windows. It was designed to run on different operating system and different standard interface until today. That’s why there are many methods to access AutoCAD commands. One method may be faster in general, but other method can be faster when doing other tasks.

New Bosch Hammer Drill (Corded), HD18-2

ToolGuyDIt’s not often to hear about new corded tools these days, as most brands have placed R&D emphasis on cordless power tools. But, lo and behold, earlier today I was welcomed with a Bosch press release about their new HD18-2 corded hammer drill.
The new Bosch HD18-2 hammer drill has an 8.5A motor and 2-speed gearbox that covers both high-torque and high-speed applications.

Apply Now for a New Musical-Theater Female Composer Award

IndieWireThe Ziegfield Club, one of the first not-for-profit organizations in the Broadway community, is launching a new award for an emerging female composer-lyricist who "compellingly demonstrates financial need, professional initiative and outstanding artistic promise in musical theater songwriting." Teams comprised of a composer and lyricist are also welcome to apply to The Billie Burke Ziegfield Award 2015, set to include $10,000 and professional mentorship by an experienced musical-theater composer or lyricist (who hasn't been named yet).

Emma Thompson On Sexism In Hollywood: “I Still Think It’s Complete Shit”

TheFriskyEmma Thompson sat down with The Radio Times and delivered a very important message: sexism in Hollywood is still horrible. Thompson acknowledges that the general inequality and shittiness that runs rampant towards women in Hollywood has gotten worse:

Saturday, July 18, 2015

How to Avoid Miscommunications & Email Like a Real Human Being

99UWhen speaking face-to-face, it’s the verbal and nonverbal social cues that allow us to gauge the best way to arrange our wording in order to get our point across clearly. In email, we don’t get such real-time feedback. Once our message is in the hand of the recipient, we’ve lost all control.
This, of course, often leads to miscommunications, guessed intentions, and a total unawareness of whether an email was typed in red-faced anger or while sipping a martini by a pool. What really leads to those miscommunications is a lack of empathy.

‘Homeland’ Director Talks Emmy Noms, Hiring Disparity For Female Helmers

Variety: Director Lesli Linka Glatter was in the middle of a tone meeting at the 
“Homeland” production offices in Berlin on Thursday when news of the show’s 
five hefty Emmy nominations landed. “All of a sudden our phones started going 
crazy,” Glatter told Variety. She was “stunned” to learn that she was in the race
 for directing the “From A to B and Back Again” episode of season four. 
(In February she took home the DGA’s TV drama award for the episode.)

Top 10 Performers of Color Overlooked by the Emmys

ColorLinesThis year's Primetime Emmy nominations, announced yesterday, are receiving appropriate praise for honoring respected actors and actresses of color for their acclaimed work on a variety of television programs. The nominations reflect a broader industry trend—that Hollywood, responding to viewers, is starting to promote shows with diverse lineups where performers of color are not just tokens, but taking center stage and challenging perceptions of what's watchable.

Incredible Science Machine team seeks Rube Goldberg record with chain reaction gizmo

BoingBoingChain reaction artists and domino builders have collaborated to create what they hope will go on record as the largest chain reaction in history.
The “Incredible Science Machine” will flip into action at 3:00pm ET on Saturday, July 18, and you can watch live at incrediblesciencemachine.com.
“More than 15 builders from around the world” have build the Rube Goldberg Device,according to the project website. It features “more than half a million objects, about 200,000 dominoes and thousands of other common items in a single display of the largest Rube Goldberg machine ever to set the Guinness World Record!”

SawStop Sues Bosch over new ReaXX Table Saw and its Flesh-Detection and Blade-Braking Tech

ToolGuyDSawStop, and their owner Stephen Gass, who happens to be a lawyer, issued a press release about their lawsuit against Bosch. They contend that Bosch, and their new ReaXX table saw, which also features flesh-detection and blade brake technology, is infringing on SawStop’s patented inventions.
This isn’t the first time Stephen Gass and SawStop has sued Bosch and other power tool brands. In recent years, they sued 22 companies, including Bosch and other table saw manufacturers, for allegedly forming a secret boycott of SawStop’s technology. That lawsuit was ultimately dismissed.

Thursday, July 16, 2015

Get Your Ruby Slippers Ready: NBC’s THE WIZ Schedules Open Call for Dorothys in L.A.

SamuelFrenchDon those ruby red slippers, and warm up your voice:  NBC is holding an open casting call for the leading role of Dorothy in their upcoming live presentation of The Wiz, according to Deadline Hollywood. The description for the role of Dorothy reads: “Female, African American, must be 18 years-of-age or older. Must have an extraordinary voice that can still tell a story, and maturity with a youthful energy.”

Emmy Nominations: Did the Rule Changes Work?

VarietyNow that the 2015 Emmy nominations have been unveiled, it’s worth a look at this year’s sweeping rule changes to see the impact on the key races. “Our new rules provided clarity and answered many of the gray area questions of prior years,” said TV Academy chairman Bruce Rosenblum. “The general consensus is that these rule changes were very effective this year.”

Five Job Search Myths That Might be Holding You Back

LifeHackerIf you want to find a job you love, you have to have high standards. You have to know what you want and what you’re worth, and you can’t be willing to settle for anything lower than that. But that doesn’t mean you can hold the job-hunting process to the same standards. In fact, it’s far too easy for job hunters to go into the job search with unrealistic expectations about how the process will work—expectations that often result in disappointment.

NFL Cheerleaders Will Finally Get Minimum Wage, Thanks To Bill Signed By CA Governo

FriskyCalifornia governor Jerry Brown signed a bill yesterday that will allow all cheerleaders for California-based sports teams to have benefits like minimum wage, paid sick leave and many other legal rights and protections that full time employees receive. According to Buzzfeed, the bill comes on the heels of a much-publicized lawsuit filed by an Oakland Raiderette, Lacy T., which claimed that Raiderettes were not paid for all the hours they worked and “that Raiderettes were not reimbursed for ‘business expenses,’ [and] were ‘paid a flat fee of $125 [per home game], regardless of the hours worked,’ and were required to make unpaid charity appearances.”

Santa Fe Opera Adds Performance of ‘Cold Mountain’

NYTimesThe strong interest in next month’s world premiere of “Cold Mountain,” an opera by Jennifer Higdon based on the novel by Charles Frazier, has led the Santa Fe Opera to add an extra performance and make plans to release a recording of it, the company announced on Thursday.

Ars Prepares to put “audiophile” Ethernet Cables to the Test in Las Vegas

ArstechnicaBack in February, we ran a piece discussing a hyper-expensive "audiophile-grade" Ethernet cable, the Audioquest Diamond. An 8-meter version of the Audioquest Diamond costs about $4,500, and a 12-meter version will run about $10,000; proponents (like Audiostream reviewer Michael Lavorgna) say that the Audioquest Ethernet cables have a meaningful and positive impact on sound when you use them to listen to audio files hosted on a NAS.

Wednesday, July 15, 2015

What do I need to know?

LinecheckSo you’re just starting out in Live Sound. You probably feel a little overwhelmed with the amount of information out there; Amplifiers, System Processing, Consoles, Speakers, Plug Ins, in-ear monitors, wireless, microphones, technical specs, electronics, power, Ohm’s Law, and more.  Where do you start?

California ‘Has Started to Reverse’ Runaway Production, State Senate Leader Says

VarietyState Senate President Pro Tem Kevin de Leon said Friday that California’s overhauled film and TV tax credit is reversing the flight of production from the state.
Speaking on the Paramount Studios lot to the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce
de Leon, a Democrat, cited the 11 TV series awarded credits in the first round of 
selection under the expanded program. Among them were four series relocating 
to the state, including HBO’s “Veep.”

Broadway Shows Suffer Total Phone Etiquette Meltdown

GizmodoThis week, the theater world and social media exploded over a man who jumped on stage at Hand to God in order to plug his charger into a (fake) on-set outlet. Then queen diva Patti LuPone snatched a phone straight out of a texting audience member’s hand and sauntered off with it. What the hell is happening on Broadway?

XL Video Creates Live Mapped Projection For Shangri-La Heaven At Glastonbury 2015

TechieTalkFollowing a successful event at last year’s festival, XL Video, working with Technical Producer, Nick Diacre, has once again produced a significant achievement in 180˚ live mapping for Shangri-La’s Heaven Stage at the Glastonbury festival 2015.

Tuesday, July 14, 2015

Why We Miss Deadlines, and How to Stop

LifehackerWe’re obsessed with planning when we’ll get work done. But when we need to knuckle down and put our plans into action, we push tasks back further and further, up until the last minute—or worse, past the established deadline. 
It happens to us all. But some of us struggle with deadlines more than others. It’s not completely our fault, though: Our brains hold a hidden bias that leads us into this trap.

Watch: Tom Cruise Performed the 'Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation' Airplane Stunt Eight Times

MoviesApparently Tom Cruise isn’t happy with just being a huge movie star. Nope, clearly the 52-year-old actor also wants to be known as one of Hollywood’s greatest stuntmen too. 
We’ve seen Cruise perform all kinds of crazy stunts over the past few years -- the sort of things that would make even grizzled stuntmen a little nervous. However, nothing is likely to top this new imagery of the actor hanging on to the side of an airplane as it cruises at 5,000 feet above the English countryside. That’s just flat-out nuts.

Move Over Gucci; Laser Cut Handbags Are A Thing

HackaDayWhat happens when you want to make a custom handbag with some handy tech features, and have access to a nice laser cutter? You end up doing what [Christian] did: design a assemble a Woman’s Handbag made of Laser-Cut Leather with iPhone charger and LED Light.
The design of the bag was made in Adobe Illustrator and sent off to a Epilog Legend 36EXT laser cutter located in the hackerspace located near [Christian] in Vienna. Once the parts were precision cut, traditional leather sewing methods were used to assemble the handbag (with a little help from a shoe cobbler).

Benedum Sign to Get Upgrade

Post-GazetteEach year, about 100 shows are staged in Downtown’s Benedum Center for the Performing Arts. Each time a new production opens, four workmen must change the letters by hand on the theater’s marquee, working from a lift parked on Seventh Street.
Once a $500,000 renovation is finished later this summer, changing the marquee will require just a few clicks of a computer mouse.

You Are Now Free To Exploit Your Interns

InsideTheArtsFor the last year or so, non-profit arts organizations have been somewhat nervously wondering whether the criteria being used to define what constituted an internship might be applied to the non-profit industry as well.
The concern arose over a ruling against Fox Searchlight pictures in a case where interns on the film Black Swan where the court found the interns should have been classified as employees instead under the six points of criteria set down by the U.S. Labor Department.

Sunday, July 12, 2015

Turning Tricks: Penn and Teller Back on Broadway

ClydeFitchReportWe’re talking here about Penn and Teller on Broadway. The venerable duo who’ve much more than dabbled in magic tricks while wearing matching three-piece suits (unlike no one in their audiences) for just about 40 years have landed on the Great White Way with what amounts to a 95-minute Best of show at the Marquis Theater, directed by John (On the Town) Rando on a dandy Daniel Conway set, running until Aug. 16.

Kathy Bates and Gal Gadot Talk Sexism, Challenges at Comic Con Panel

JezebelEntertainment Weekly held their annual “Women Who Kick Ass” panel at Comic-Con. The guests included Kathy Bates from American Horror Story, Gal Gadot, who’s playing Wonder Woman in Batman v Superman, Gwendoline Christie who plays Brienne of Tarth on Game of Thrones, Jenna Coleman of Doctor Who and Hayley Atwell from Agent Carter. The women discussed female role models, physical challenges they’ve faced on set as well as discrimination in Hollywood.

Festool TSC 55 Cordless Track Saw

AConcordCarpenterThe new Festool TSC 55 Cordless Track Saw 561 702 is a real nice addition to the Festool cordless line.   Complete with all of the features of their corded saw, [See our track saw Head to Head test] with easy-to-read dual-depth scale for cuts on or off the guide rail, the TSC 55 allows you to cut the cord without losing the versatility, and precision your accustomed to.

How To Dress (Appropriately) For Your Summer Office Job

CollegeCandyWhether you are interning, working part-time, or full-time in an office setting, knowing what to wear can be a little tricky. As the temperatures rise, you’re faced with the problem of wearing enough clothing that you look professional, but not so much that you are sweating throughout the day. So how do you find that balance? Below are some helpful Dos and Don’ts of dressing for work in the humidity and heat this summer.

3D Printering: The Makerbot Class Action Suit

HackaDay: Since the 5th generation of Makerbot 3D printers were released at CES in 2014, there has been an avalanche of complaints about the smart extruder in these printers. Clogs were common, and the recommended fix was to simply replace the extruder. The smart extruder is a $175 part, and the mean time before failure is somewhere between 200 and 500 hours. With these smart extruders, you’re looking at a new extruder every dozen prints or so. Combine this with Makerbot’s abdication of open source values, and it’s easy to see why no one in the know would buy a Makerbot.

Saturday, July 11, 2015

The Mornin' Ain't So Beautiful For This Dark 'Oklahoma!' Production

NPR: Oklahoma! was the first musical that the celebrated team of Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II wrote together. On the surface, it tells the story of a young woman (Laurey) deciding whether to go to a party with a dangerous, lonely farmhand (Jud) or a nice, young cowboy (Curly). But the show also has a dark undercurrent: It's set at the turn of the 20th century before Oklahoma became a state, when the territory was in social and political upheaval. Now a new, experimental production at the Bard SummerScape festival in upstate New York is asking audiences to focus on the darker story behind the musical's well-known songs.

Leatherman Tread Review: Is The Bracelet Multitool Genuinely Useful?

Gizmodo: A TSA-compliant multitool you wear on your wrist. Neat! But does it work as well as a tool as it does manly wrist jewelry? I put it to work around the house and on my bike to find out. The Tread packs 29 different tools into its nine links and watch-like clasp. The latter includes a bottle opener. 

What Does Your Handshake Say About You?

Slate: Science purports to explain a lot of things that still remain confusing to the average individual. Gravity, colors, electrity, and wireless networks for example.However, scientists at the University of Manchester have finally broken a code that everyone can understand. In the video above, watch their guide for perfecting your handshake and finally wave goodbye to sweaty palms, limp fingers and a weak grip.

'Who Does That?!' Broadway Stars React To Badly Behaved Audiences

NPRThe set for the first scene of the Broadway comedy Hand to God is a fairly realistic depiction of a church basement and, since there's no curtain at the theater, it's in full view of audience members when they enter. A week ago, a 19-year-old college student jumped onstage to plug his cellphone into what turned out to be a prop outlet.

How to Quit Your Day Job at Capital Fringe

DCTheatreScene: Millennials may be an under-appreciated generation, but take heart – they aren’t without their supporters. How to Quit Your Day Job! sings the song of the millennial and finally gives their plight a day in court.