Heres a lesson for all pasar malam traders peddling t-shirts with Rihannas image: If you aint careful, youre gonna get sued! RiRi, it seems, is taking UK highstreet brand Topshop to court for a cool US$ 5 mliion for selling tees with her image, so yeah, think about what the Barbadian singer could do to a humble night market vendor. A source told the New York Post about Rihannas Topshop suit: Rihanna’s management asked Topshop a number of times to stop selling her image and were told, We do what we want. They buy the pictures from a photographer, but they do not pay the artiste licensing fees. Unfortunately, UK law does not protect the artiste. What is most offensive for Rihanna is that they basically told her, Go to hell. We dont care; we are going to continue selling you.
The source continued: She has spent almost US$ 1 million in litigation at this point. She says its the principle, and wants to make a statement about it. They are taking advantage of artistes. It is just exploitation. What they are doing is wrong.
I hate wearing me
The offensive tee
Nokia has always teetered on design brilliance with its Lumia 900/920—and recently the Lumia 928—but the company’s recently announced Lumia 925 is far and away its best. Forgoing Nokia’s very public love affair with bright primary colors and thick polycarbonate bodies, the newest Lumia family member is a hugely refined approach that puts the company (design-wise) on the same plane as an Apple or HTC.
As for specs, the 925 comes equipped with an 8.7-megapixel PureView camera with OIS, 1.5GHz dual-core Snapdragon processor, 1GB of RAM, LTE, 2000mAh batterym 4.5-inch WXGA display and a sweet metal frame with polycarbonate back. The device is also fitted with new Smart Camera software to capture ten images at once—which you can then edit for Best Shot, Action Shot and Motion Focus—and a new camera app called Oggl, from the makers of Hipstamatic.
Even as Samsung and Apple continue to grow, Nokia has slowly clawed its way back into the smartphone frame, showing a resilience in the face of insurmountable odds. Nokia’s Windows Phone 8 devices still won’t propel the company into the top tier of the mobile market, but devices like the Lumia 925 sure make a good argument when it comes time to buy a new handset.
[via technobuffalo]
You asked for it, and now you’ve got it. Okay, you didn’t ask for it, but Tanning Mom Patricia Krentcil still released a music video for her debut single “It’s Tan Mom.”
It is probably the worst video in the history of human civilization.
For reasons unknown, Tan Mom decided to try her shriveled, brown hand at music, and “It’s Tan Mom” puts even Octomom, Kim K. and Farrah Abraham to shame.
Yes, it really is that bad. We dare you to check it out above.
If you couldn’t bring yourself to, she begins with the classic “It’s Tan Mom, B!TCH” a la Britney Spears … and it pretty much goes downhill from there.
Or uphill, depending on your POV. Maybe she’s in on the joke?
Eh, you know what, don’t even watch. It’s beyond terrible. By the end, Patty just plain gives up trying to sing along to the beat and just kinda hangs around.
At least the Garden State hottie wears a bikini throughout.
You can’t make up, or unsee this stuff. Sorry THGers.
[via thehollywoodgossip]
PROBLEM: The pre-societal, animal model of conflict resolution is simple, brutal, and effective. Leaving aside political gambles, moral considerations, and the like, the strong are more willing to fight for their self-interest, while the weak find it more advantageous not to assert themselves. Extrapolated to a fairly simple conflict of interest — wealth redistribution — do modern humans operate under the same logic?
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METHODOLOGY: Researchers at Aarhus University in Denmark and UC Santa Barbara collected from several hundred men and women in Argentina, the U.S., and Denmark. They categorized the subjects by socioeconomic class, their upper-body strength, or “fighting ability” (as measured by the “circumference of the flexed bicep of the dominant arm”), and their responses to a questionnaire gauging their support for economic redistribution.
RESULTS: Rich men, who would benefit least from redistribution, were more likely to be opposed to it — but only when they also had large biceps. There was a negative correlation between the two, so that rich men with less muscle strength were more open to redistribution. In men of lower socioeconomic status, the correlation was reversed: stronger men were more in favor of redistribution, while men with smaller muscles were less likely to support it.
These associations remained significant even once the researchers controlled for political party. No relationship between strength and ideology, however, was seen in women.
IMPLICATIONS: Evolutionarily speaking, write the authors, “it is a fitness error for weaker contestants to attempt to seize resources when they cannot prevail and for stronger ones to cede what they can cost-effectively defend,” at least in men. For women (again, in terms of evolution), physical conflict is rarely worth it. Regardless of the high-minded ideas we may have about how our ideologies are formed, their findings suggest, whether we argue in favor of the common good or our own self-interest is to some degree influenced by who would win should it come down to an arm wrestle.
The full study, “The Ancestral Logic of Politics: Upper-Body Strength Regulates Men’s Assertion of Self-Interest Over Economic Redistribution,” is published in the journal Psychological Science.
[via theatlantic]
Precursor Games chief creative officer and former Silicon Knights CEO Denis Dyack has taken to video to address allegations about his tenure at the X-Men Destiny studio. Specifically, Dyack broke down a year-old Kotaku article that cited financial impropriety and rocky treatment of subordinates.
In the video, Dyack admits to mistakes, but largely denies the serious allegations. According to Dyack, no comment was made or interview granted to the author of the Kotaku article, Andrew McMillen, so as not to give the piece credence. In the video, Dyack also claims that the anonymous sources cited in the original piece did not provide accurate information.
During the thirty minute clip, he reads an email from reporter Andrew McMillen that was sent to an anonymous source (also duplicated on the Precursor forum). The forum post also contains material copied from the University of Iowa regarding journalistic ethics as related to use of anonymous sources.
We've previously addressed concerns about the Shadow of the Eternals project, spoken with Silicon Knights, and received comment directly from Precursor Games. This video response provides another perspective on the ongoing (complicated) relationship between Silicon Knights and the new studio.
[Source: Precursor Games]
Last year I came to New Jersey for the 3-day Bamboozle festival in Asbury Park and had an amazing weekend. The festival was right on the beach, had impressive staging and even a cute Ferris wheel. This year, Bamboozle was unable to put on a show and it’s old counter part Skate And Surf stepped in to fill the void. This year taking place at the Six Flags New Jersey, my toes were not in the sand, but in my sneakers on the asphalt. And all that impressive staging was nowhere to be found, but they did have roller coasters! Basically, Skate And Surf was Bamboozle’s little brother who may of not had the same budget, but just like the new Fall Out Boy song says, “I don’t have the right name, or the right looks. But I have twice the heart.” Skate And Surf has heart.
Skate And Surf day one delivered up a light mist of steady rain the entire day, but each act still took the stage and gave some memorable performances. The enthusiasm from the crowds made it possible for bands like Boston natives Transit, to make it thought their set. They had an especially rowdy crowd that sang back each word, crowd surfed and made the best of the at times dangerous situation. That’s what makes a live show, how passionate the interaction between musician and fan can become when they meet face to face. Sure the rain added a bit of annoyance to the day, but once the bands took the stage it made for an almost epic and almost cinematic experience.
During Lights’ performance her drummer’s kit had pools of water on the drum heads and as he feverously kept time, the water sprang up creating a cool effect like you see at a Blue Man Group show. Not sure how safe it was to have some of my favorite musicians up there with wet equipment, but they all stuck it out. I was most concerned that Fall Out Boy’s headlining title would be taken away if the rain got worse, but thankfully FOB came out and played to almost everyone who had come to the festival. About 30 minutes before the set time, EVERYONE ran to the main stage in anticipation of FOB’s arrival.
Fall Out Boy’s set was exciting because they played a few new songs off their album Save Rock And Roll including “The Phoenix” and “Alone Together” – but also the FOB classics like “Grand Theft Autumn” and “Sugar We’re Going Down.” It was exciting to see some of the new songs and hear Patrick Stump’s incredibly soulful voice echo across the parking lot in the dark rain.
So sure it rained, and we were in a parking lot, and the set times were running late– but the bands still brought the festival to life. Like I mentioned before, a show is only as good as the connect that’s established between the fans and the artist and that element was present. Skate And Surf has the heart. #musicrules.
What’s your favorite music festival?
Let’s talk music, let me know your thoughts in the comments below.
Photos by Sam DeSantis.
[via buzznet]