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RM Auctions Every infamous dictator needs suitably imposing machines to cruise around in, surveying their minions. And Mussolini was no different, with his expensive taste for cars. But it's his mistress's car that is in the limelight now, after selling for more than $2 million (£1.4 million) at auction in Paris.
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File under: Latest News
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AP Photo/Jacques Brinon A recently discovered horde of rare classic cars on a farm in France is expected to raise as much as €16 million (£12 million) at auction.
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One of the casualties, and maybe even causes of the recent dissent at DreamWorks Animation is the hugely popular How To Train Your Dragon franchise. The second film was expected by many to be among the highest grossing films of the year. Despite the film being a worthy follow-up to the first movie, however, it disappointed financially. It was one of many recent disappointments for the studio, which in turn was forced to make some huge cutbacks. The third film was delayed one year, then pushed back another.
So the original 2016 release date has become a 2018 release date, which is just fine for writer and director Dean DeBlois. That gives him more time to get everything right with How to Train Your Dragon 3. In a new interview, he hinted at the structure of the film, some character stuff, once again discussed the ending and offered an update on the script. Read about the How to Train Your Dragon 3 plot and more below.
Collider talked to DeBlois about How To Train Your Dragon 3. Watch the full interview, or we’ll just pull some highlights below.
If you didn’t watch the video, here are a few highlights.
DeBlois talked about the status of the film:
There were a few months of pitching outlines and making sure that everybody was content with where it was headed, and now I’m deep into the script. I’m about halfway through. I was literally working on it this afternoon before coming here. I have to hand it off pretty soon.
As for what happens in the script, DeBlois once again talked about the ending we revealed back in June, but with more How to Train Your Dragon 3 plot details. Spoilers for How to Train Your Dragon 2 here.
[Dragon 3 is] the culmination of Hiccup’s coming of age. Both he and Toothless are now chiefs of their respective tribes, and it’s a dueling story where you have both characters trying to do what’s right for their kind, and an eventual outcome where Hiccup is able to stand on his own. We’re gonna take the story to where the books begin, which is Hiccup as an adult reflecting back on a time where there were dragons, suggesting that the dragons will in some way go away. Why and could they come back and the mystery of what all that is will be saved for the actual story.
As I wrote before, I love that. We know that at the end of this movie, the dragons will be gone, which is the start of the original books. How and why? We’ll find out in 2018.
DeBlois also talked about Hiccup’s mom and the evil villain of the sequel, Drago, both of whom will be expanded upon in a part three. You can find out more in the interview.
How to Train Your Dragon 3 is currently scheduled for release June 29, 2018.
The post ‘How to Train Your Dragon 3′ Update: Plot Details, Script Status and the Ending appeared first on /Film.
It’s been a turbulent week for Sony but the studio is moving forward full-speed ahead on the long-awaited realization of Jon Spaihts‘ sci-fi script Passengers. Director Morten Tyldum (The Imitation Game, Headhunters) just came on to direct earlier this week, a couple months after Sony grabbed rights to the script following failed development efforts at other companies. And now Jennifer Lawrence is in early talks to play one of the two lead roles, which instantly turns Passengers into a top-tier project — assuming her schedule allows her to sign on.
Update: Just after we published this, another report revealed Chris Pratt as being in early talks for the second lead role, opposite Lawrence.
Variety reports. Given his awards season heat for The Imitation Game, having Tyldum sign to direct was a big deal. Getting Lawrence on board demonstrates that Sony really sees this film as a prestige effort. Calling it a prestige effort is no surprise to anyone who has read about Passengers in the past, however. I can’t think of another script that has generated such intense good will in the past decade.
Keanu Reeves had previously been attached to play the male lead, a passenger on a colonization ship traveling through deep space who wakes decades before the journey’s planned end, and then wakes another passenger to share those decades with. But Reeves fell away when the pre-Sony development efforts withered. As far as we know, Tyldum is assembling an all-new cast.
The role we presume Lawrence will play — the second passenger who is awakened — has previously been linked to Rachel McAdams and Reese Witherspoon. With Lawrence on board, I wonder if there’s any thought to gender-swapping the primary roles in the film. It’s been many years since I scanned the script, and I can’t recall a huge impediment to that concept. But it’s just my curiosity talking for the moment, and the fact that we’d assume Sony will want to put Lawrence front and center.
If Lawrence signs, we’ll probably see a high-profile male lead cast within days. We’ve heard this film is a “major priority” for Sony, and this cast certainly suggests as much.
But Lawrence has a lot to do, from promo for the last Hunger Games movie to shooting the next X-Men film and doing promotion for that, along with shooting and promoting Joy, the next film she has in the pipeline with David O. Russell, and possibly doing the James Cameron-produced The Dive.
Unsurprisingly, then, THR says that scheduling could be a problem for her.
Update: Now The Wrap says that Chris Pratt is in early talks to play the lead male role. So forget what I said ten minutes ago about hearing of a male lead “within days.” And if this cast firms up with Pratt and Lawrence in the two lead roles, Passengers will immediately become a bigger movie for Sony than we would have ever expected.
The post Jennifer Lawrence and Chris Pratt in Talks for Sci-Fi Romance ‘Passengers’ [Updated] appeared first on /Film.
Yes, dear readers, the rumors are true: Canon has two new flagship DSLR cameras. Enter the 5Ds and 5Ds R, each packing a massive 50.6-megapixel full-frame sensor -- which, at first glance, is clearly the specification that stands out the most. But th...
Canon is determined to leave no camera niche uncovered, it seems. Just a month after it kicked out an avalanche of PowerShot point-and-shoots, it's back with two more that fill what few holes are left. The SX410 IS super-zoom is the darling of the tw...
A dongle created by Columbia University researchers can turn any smartphone (whether iPhones or Android devices) into an HIV and syphilis tester. Even better, it only takes 15 minutes and a tiny drop of blood to get a result -- the device doesn't eve...
After sending Roger Vanderklok for jail for the audacity of asking to file a complaint, Philadelphia International Airport TSA supervisor Charles Kieser then lied about what happened on the stand in court. He fabricated an aggressive confrontation and a bomb threat, neither of which are in evidence on the CCTV footage or in the police report. His victim was help incommunicado in jail, panicking his wife who had no idea where he'd gone. Kieser gets to keep his job.
Google is on the verge of getting into the ride-sharing business, creating a rift with the market leader Uber, Bloomberg reports. Uber and Google have been allies since Google invested $258 million in Uber in 2013 and got a seat on its board of directors. But Bloomberg says David Drummond, the Google executive who holds that Uber board seat, has recently informed Uber of its plans to get into the market itself.
Bloomberg suggests the move is part of Google's larger plan to build a business around self-driving car technology. That would make a lot of sense.
A lot of people assume that a self-driving car is a product that customers will buy the way people buy conventional cars today. But Google has never been very good at selling physical products; its strength has always been in the provision of services. And that makes the taxi business the perfect place for Google to introduce its self-driving car technology.
Another advantage of renting self-driving cars instead of selling them is reliability. Manufacturers will face lawsuits every time a self-driving car injures or kills someone, so they'll want to do everything they can to prevent errors. And this will be easier to do if manufacturers, not customers, own the vehicles. The last thing Google wants is for a car to crash because its owner forgot to bring it in to replace a key sensor. If Google owns all of the cars running its software, it can ensure that software is upgraded promptly and defective hardware is swapped out immediately.
Another reason to start in the taxi business is that, for all the talk about Uber and Lyft being disruptive business, they are themselves ripe for disruption. When you take an Uber ride, the majority of the fare goes to pay your driver. With no driver, Google should be able to charge dramatically less than Uber and still make a profit. That big price advantage won't exist if Google tries to sell cars to consumers directly.
To capture the taxi market, Google needs an Uber-style ride-sharing service to pair with its self-driving technology. It could try to acquire Uber or Lyft, but these companies are now worth billions of dollars.
So, according to Bloomberg, Google is going to build its own service. This would be an uphill struggle if Google were just trying to create another conventional ride-sharing business, since Uber and Lyft have a huge head start. Ride-sharing services are hugely dependent on what economists call network effects: the more drivers you have, the more attractive the service will be to passengers, and vice versa. Google will be starting with zero drivers and zero passengers, putting it at a big disadvantage.
Luckily, Google has a lot of money. It can afford to heavily subsidize the service while it develops the software and expertise it needs to connect customers with rides. Then, once the self-driving technology is ready to go, it can beat Uber and Lyft with much lower prices.
While it made a ton of money, it can't get any love at awards time
Physics students from the University of Leicester have calculated the time and energy required to beam a complete person from the Earth’s surface to a location in space. Their results were discouraging, to say the least.
    
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If you have been itching for a 4K Thunderbolt Display from Apple, you may be waiting a little while longer. Sharp is prepared to scratch that itch, though, and intends to add full pen and touch compatibility with OS X later this year. The announcement comes from Mac Otakara (Japanese link) and comes after July's announcement of the PN-K322B 32-inch professional display.
Sharp's IGZO display technology drives these high resolutions without sacrificing power efficiency, and the company just announced a 15.6-inch model. The road to ultra high-definition (UHD) displays on every desk is a long one, though; this beauty is expected to cost upwards of $5,000 when it hits stateside. By then, visual professionals should expect to be able to whip their stylus across an array of 8 million pixels.
There's more display news from Sharp, too. At CEATEC Japan 2013 today, Sharp was the recipient of an award for its MEMS-IGZO exhibition that showcased a combination color e-paper MEMS and IGZO LCD display. The prototype display features always-on capability, similar to E Ink, and the color richness and pixel density that IGZO can bring while sipping less power than current technology. It will still be a while before we see the combo displays in handsets and tablets, but they may be worth the wait.
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You may not have heard of the Saygus V2 but it's a very powerful Android device. It comes with a Snapdragon 801 chipset, 3GB of RAM, 5" 1080p screen, 21MP and 13MP camera combo, fingerprint scanner, 3,100mAh battery and 64GB of internal storage. What's more interesting about the Saygus V2 is the inclusion of two 128GB-supporting microSD card slots which end up giving the smartphone an insane maximum storage capacity of 320GB. And now the Saygus V2 can be pre-ordered for $549, down from the usual price of $599. Saygus is allowing pre-orders for the next 72 hours, ending February 5, and you'll need to create an account from which you can get as many as 10 V2s. The Saygus V2 is also IP7X-certified and offers a Kevlar-plated back. Source |...
Over the years, the Raspberry Pi has helped children learn to code and has powered many homebrew projects around the world, but some users have often lamented at the lack Windows support. Luckily, now that the Raspberry Pi 2 is here, that's all about...
Today's the day that football fans have been waiting for. In fact, given that this day is normally a great day for pizza, wings, and snacks, it's turned into a day for more than just football fans. It's Super Bowl Sunday! Today is the day that the New England Patriots and the Seattle Seahawks clash in Phoenix, Arizona, in a game that Vegas and analysts are saying is too close to call.
Of course, Madden NFL 15 isn't afraid to prognosticate, as an official EA simulation has already called today's game for the Patriots. The annual football franchise has the Pats triumphing by a score of 28-24. Meanwhile, anyone that watched the official Shacknews simulation (and Andrew's John Madden impression) saw that game end with the Seahawks blowing out the Pats 28-7.
Of course, this is all poppycock. What does a video game know about calling the big game anyway? Today, we analyze the last five years of Madden predictions to find out whether EA's simulations should be taken with any kind of seriousness.
The official Madden prediction had both the Colts and the Saints coming out firing on all cylinders in the first three quarters. Going into the fourth quarter, the Colts were up 24-21 before Drew Brees led a final drive that would see David Thomas catching a game-winning 11-yard touchdown. Brees would wind up with the MVP.
The real game was indeed close, but surprisingly low-scoring in the first half. However, a video game simulation could never replicate the human element. That was never more evident than when the Saints started the second half with an onside kickoff that caught everyone, including the Colts, completely off-guard. That's because it was the first onside kick in Super Bowl history, something that Madden couldn't quite account for. Nor could it account for the Colts attempting a 51-yard field goal with Matt Stover that would wind up missing the mark.
Madden also didn't account for Peyton Manning's rough postseason history. While Manning had been money throughout this postseason, it was one bad throw to Tracy Porter that cost his team everything. Porter would return the interception 74 yards to the end zone, sealing the game for New Orleans. A last-ditch touchdown drive would ultimately fail with Manning unable to convert a 4th and goal. The Saints would triumph by a larger margin than Madden had predicted, though the game did nail the MVP prediction, as Drew Brees hoisted the trophy high in the air.
Final score: Saints 31, Colts 17
The next year, the Madden simulation had Ben Roethlisberger leading the Steelers to victory with a final fourth quarter drive that would leave the opposing Green Bay Packers stunned. Aaron Rodgers would throw a crippling interception to Ryan Clark and the Steelers would take home the Super Bowl trophy. Steelers receiver Mike Wallace would take home MVP honors, which raised a few eyebrows, given that receivers don't commonly take that award.
Madden came awfully close, especially with the details. However, when one of those details is slightly off, the whole prediction goes down the tubes. Yes, Ben Roethlisberger did lead the Steelers from a two-score deficit. Now down 31-25, he did have a final fourth quarter drive that would look to give the Steelers the lead. Unfortunately for the Pittsburgh faithful, Big Ben was unable to convert on a 4th-and-5 pass to Mike Wallace, which would allow the Pack to run down the clock. Green Bay was victorious and Aaron Rodgers would hoist his first Super Bowl MVP trophy.
Final score: Packers 31, Steelers 25
This was the big Super Bowl rematch that Pats fans had been salivating for. Madden NFL 12 did not foresee revenge, though, predicting a close 27-24 win for the Giants. The game foresaw a thrilling fourth quarter that would see Tom Brady connect with Wes Welker to tie the game with 1:50 on the clock. They also saw the Pats' defense unable to hold off Eli Manning, who would set the table for Lawrence Tynes to kick the game-winner. Eli Manning would collect MVP honors.
The actual game would be just as close, despite the Pats starting with a killer intentional grounding call that led to a Giants safety and a turnover that was negated by a defensive "12 men on the field" penalty. The game would see the Giants chipping away at the Patriot lead with field goal after field goal before Brady threw a costly interception in the fourth on a contested pass to TE Rob Gronkowski. With three minutes and change left in the game, it would be Manning with the game-winning drive, connecting with Mario Manningham for an improbable sideline catch before Ahmad Bradshaw fell into the end zone butt-first for go-ahead touchdown. Brady's final minute drive would not end well, as Rob Gronkowski couldn't hold onto the end zone Hail Mary. The Giants would knock off the Patriots in the Super Bowl, once again, while Eli Manning would win his second Super Bowl MVP, a fact that still flabbergasts anyone that follows the Giants on a weekly basis today.
Final score: Giants 21, Patriots 17
Ah, the "Harbaugh Bowl," in which football fans were suffocated with talk about the Harbaugh brothers. Thank goodness there's nothing like that happening today. Madden didn't take the Harbaughs and their collective airtime into account when putting together the Madden NFL 13 simulation. Madden had the Ravens prevailing over the 49ers by a score of 27-24, with RB Ray Rice setting up a go-ahead Justin Tucker field goal. A Colin Kaepernick comeback would end with an Ed Reed interception, as the Ravens would go on to win and Joe Flacco would pick up his first MVP.
What Madden could never have accounted for was pure manmade disaster, with the Super Bowl undergoing a 35-minute blackout shortly after the start of the second half. It was one of the most bizarre situations ever to unfold during the big game.
The game itself was nothing remarkable, as it was all Ravens to start with an offensive assault and a Jacoby Jones 108-yard kickoff return. The birds would go up 28-6 before the Niners would start mounting their comeback. Michael Crabtree would haul in a Kaepernick touchdown and Frank Gore would run it in again minutes later to suddenly bring San Francisco within eight. Ray Rice would fumble minutes later and the Ravens would get called on a critical "running into the kicker" penalty, capping off a 21-point third quarter.
The Ravens would bend, but they wouldn't break in the fourth quarter, as they'd keep the Niners out of the end zone with two minutes to go. Though the Ravens would give up a safety with four seconds to go, Ted Ginn's free kick return would get stopped near midfield and the Ravens would prevail. While Madden nailed the result, the game couldn't have foreseen the dramatic journey.
Final score: Ravens 34, 49ers 31
Last year, Madden NFL 25 expected a return to glory for Peyton Manning. Despite a pick six to Richard Sherman, Madden foresaw Manning finding Demaryius Thomas and Wes Welker to lead the Broncos to a big lead. The Broncos were expected to hold on, despite a valiant Seattle comeback, and Manning would take home MVP honors.
Yeah... about that...
In one of the biggest Super Bowl blowouts in recent memory, the game was over before Bruno Mars even took the stage for halftime. The very first play of the game for the Broncos saw the snap sail over Peyton Manning's head, flying into the end zone. It was all downhill from there from the Broncos. The Seahawks would dominate Denver across all facets of the game, including a devastating pick six. The Seahawks would go up 22-0 going into halftime and would come out of halftime with Percy Harvin returning the kickoff all the way, adding another seven.
No simulation could have predicted this. The Seahawks obliterated the Broncos and would win the Super Bowl 43-8. Defensive lineman Malcolm Smith, the recipient of the Manning pick six, would hoist the MVP trophy.
Final score: Seahawks 43, Broncos 8
Get your popcorn ready. Let us know who you've got in the comments. Enjoy the game, everyone!
Pundits schmundits. Give us a console and an annually rehashed sports game series and we'll do the rest. Possibly. EA's Super Bowl simulation, which ran on Madden 15 last week, pegged the New England Patriots to win, coming from behind to clinch it 2...
While Raspberry Pi fans were told to expect a brand new board somewhere around 2017, it turns out that wasn't quite true. This is the Raspberry Pi 2 Model B: a substantial upgrade from the Model B+ that will go on sale later today for $35/£25. The ne...
If you didn't think that Tesla's Model S P85D was bonkers enough, you're in for a treat. Elon Musk has revealed that the already speedy electric sedan is getting a software update that will improve its 0-60MPH acceleration time by a tenth of a second...
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