Salma Hayek: I'm Addicted to Breastfeeding

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Salma Hayek may soon need rehabilitation for an addiction.

The actress, who gave birth to daughter Valentina in 2007, says she can't stop breastfeeding.

Click here to see photos of Hayek

She said: "I'm like an alcoholic. It is like, I don't care if I cry, I don't care if I am fat, I am just going to do it for one more week, one more month, and then when I see how much good it is doing her and I can't stop."

The 42-year-old also said breastfeeding does not helps mothers shed post-pregnancy weight.

She told Style magazine: "The myth that says you lose all this weight when you breastfeed! That is so not true! It's like, please, will everyone stop telling me I look really well."

Last Member Of Jimi Hendrix Experience Dies

By: MARY HUDETZ

This Aug. 21, 1967 file photo shows Noel Redding, left, Jimi Hendrix, center, and Mitch Mitchell, of the Jimi Hendrix Experience, at Heathrow airport in London. Authorities say Mitch Mitchell, drummer for the legendary Jimi Hendrix Experience of the 1960s, has been found dead in his Portland, Ore. hotel room. (AP Photo/Peter Kemp, file)

PORTLAND, Ore. — Mitch Mitchell, drummer for the legendary Jimi Hendrix Experience of the 1960s and the group's last surviving member, was found dead in his hotel room early Wednesday. He was 61.

Mitchell was a powerful force on the Hendrix band's 1967 debut album "Are You Experienced?" as well as the trio's albums "Electric Ladyland" and "Axis: Bold As Love." He had an explosive drumming style that can be heard in hard-charging songs such as "Fire" and "Manic Depression."

The Englishman had been drumming for the Experience Hendrix Tour, which performed Friday in Portland. It was the last stop on the West Coast part of the tour.

Hendrix died in 1970. Bass player Noel Redding died in 2003.

An employee at Portland's Benson Hotel called police after discovering Mitchell's body.

Erin Patrick, a deputy medical examiner, said Mitchell apparently died of natural causes. An autopsy was planned.

"He was a wonderful man, a brilliant musician and a true friend," said Janie Hendrix, chief executive of the Experience Hendrix Tour and Jimi Hendrix' stepsister. "His role in shaping the sound of the Jimi Hendrix Experience cannot be underestimated."

Bob Merlis, a spokesman for the tour, said Mitchell had stayed in Portland for a four-day vacation and planned to leave Wednesday.

"It was a devastating surprise," Merlis said. "Nobody drummed like he did."

He said he saw Mitchell perform two weeks ago in Los Angeles, and the drummer appeared to be healthy and upbeat.

Merlis said the tour was designed to bring together veteran musicians who had known Hendrix _ like Mitchell _ and younger artists, such as Grammy-nominated winner Jonny Lang, who have been influenced by him.

Blues-rock guitarist Kenny Wayne Shepherd, who is 31 and was part of the tour, said Mitchell was to the drums what Hendrix was to the guitar.

"Today many of us have lost a dear friend, and the world has lost a rock n' roll hero," he said.

Mitchell was a one-of-a-kind drummer whose "jazz-tinged" style was influenced by Max Roach and Elvin Jones, Merlis said. The work was a vital part of both the Jimi Hendrix Experience in the 1960s and the Experience Hendrix Tour that ended last week, he said.

"If Jimi Hendrix were still alive," Merlis said, "he would have acknowledged that."

During his career Mitchell played with the best in the business _ not just Hendrix, but also Eric Clapton, John Lennon, Keith Richards, Jack Bruce, Jeff Beck, Muddy Waters and others.

Mitchell performed with Hendrix and Redding at the Monterey Pop Festival in June 1967, the U.S. debut of the Jimi Hendrix Experience. He also was member of a later version of the band that performed the closing set of the Woodstock Festival in August 1969 _ where Hendrix played a psychedelic version of "The Star-Spangled Banner" before the band launched into "Purple Haze."

The Jimi Hendrix Experience was inducted into the Rock Hall of Fame in 1992. According to the Hall of Fame, Mitchell was born July 9, 1947, in Ealing, England.

Terry Stewart, chief executive of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum, said Mitchell transformed his instrument from a "strictly percussive element to a lead instrument."

"His interplay with Jimi Hendrix's guitar on songs like 'Fire' is truly amazing," Stewart said Wednesday. "Mitch Mitchell had a massive influence on rock 'n' roll drumming and took it to new heights."

Hendrix, Redding and Mitchell held their first rehearsal in October 1966, according to the Hall of Fame's Web site.

In an interview last month with the Boston Herald, Mitchell said he met Hendrix "in this sleazy little club."

"We did some Chuck Berry and took it from there," Mitchell told the newspaper. "I suppose it worked."

10 movie releases that can save Blu-ray

The flicks that can revitalise the hi-def format

Will The Dark Knight be the start of something special for Blu-ray?

With DVD still dominating retailer's shelves, and digital downloads and upscaling players pinching some of the limelight, Blu-ray has had a pretty hard run of it of late. All is not lost for the format, however, it needs the right film release to get back on the straight and narrow.

With this in mind we've taken a look at upcoming releases and the films still to make it on to the format to compile TechRadar's list of movies that can, with a little luck, save Blu-ray from a fate worse than Laser Disc…

1. The Matrix

It was the film that gave the DVD format a much-needed shot in the arm when it was released back in '99 and Warner is hoping its forthcoming release will do the same with Blu-ray.

Picture-wise, the movie is 1080p, taken from a VC-1 codec and, thankfully, the whole trilogy is presented in its original 2.40:1 aspect ratio. Audio is Dolby TrueHD 5.1.

No matter what your quibbles are about the subsequent sequels, there's no getting around the fact that seeing bullet time in HD will be simply awesome. Couple this with the mountain of extras The Complete Matrix Trilogy has, including some HD-exclusive features, and this will be one unmissable Blu-ray release.

Release date: 24 November

2. The Godfather

The Godfather: The Coppola Restoration Collection has been out on Blu-ray for a while now, but its recent win at the High-Def Disc Awards, where it was given the prestigious title of 'Best Blu-ray of 2008' should hopefully make naysayers stand to attention.

The Godfather is not just an old re-release, either, the edition is the closest you will ever get to seeing the film as it looked in the cinema in 1972, in 1.78:1 aspect ratio with Dolby TrueHD 5.1 sound. If that isn't an offer you can't refuse, then we don't know what is.

Release date: out now

3. Lord Of The Rings: The Fellowship Of The Ring

Peter Jackson is the king of the home entertainment format. He embraced Laser Disc, giving his comedy horror flick The Frighteners an extensive release, and his King Kong and Lord Of The Rings trilogy are still the best and most comprehensive discs on DVD.

Lord Of The Rings on Blu-ray will undoubtedly be something special. While it will be hard to top the original Extended Editions, just seeing The Shires in HD will be something special. And, who knows, he might slip his recent short film 'Crossing The Line' in as an extra. Shot with the brilliant 4k RED camera, it's one of the best things around in HD.

Release date: TBA

4. The Dark Knight

The best film of this year by a country mile, The Dark Knight has been mooted by many – and now TechRadar – as the film to save Blu-ray. Number crunching analysts are predicting the movie will hit the magical million mark when it is released in December.

The film will suit Blu-ray perfectly, with Nolan promising some hi-def exclusive extras, and you will be able to see the ground-breaking IMAX shots in 16:9.

There's no doubt that The Dark Knight will be huge, and with a release date just before Christmas, it could well be the movie to finally make average consumers take the hi-def plunge.

Release date: 8 December

5. Wall-E

While putting a near-silent movie onto Blu-ray may not sound like the greatest idea, the bleeps, whizzes and coo-ing of Wall-E (voiced by Ben Burtt), Pixar's latest and cutest creation, will sound superb in HD when it's released at the end of the month.

Pixar movies have the added advantage of being loved by children and adults alike, and with the rest of the animation company's creations already superbly transferred to Blu-ray, Wall-E should be the icing on a very lucrative cake. And considering the CGI animation is among the best seen, it won't be difficult for the last robot on Earth to shine on Blu-ray.

Release date: 24 November

6. Sleeping Beauty

This may seem like an odd entry, but Disney finally deciding to embrace Blu-ray with open arms is a fantastic boon to the format. Every time a classic Disney movie was released it was an event, as The Mouse House only allows them to be on the shelves for a limited time (in the UK that is) until the next classic release comes along. This added a limited edition factor that no collector could refuse.

But Disney is holding a different Ace this time around – Profile 2.0. The company is going straight for every parents' Achilles' heel – their kids. With downloadable content including ringtones and games, Sleeping Beauty could well be the disc to show off Blu-ray's interactive capabilities.

Release date: out now

7. Watchmen

Even though Watchmen hasn't even hit the cinema's yet, the movie should still be on everyone's must-have Blu-ray list.

Not only will Zach Snyder's movie be a visual feast – if the trailer and Alan Moore's peerless graphic novel is anything to go by – but the Blu-ray will open up the Watchmen world even more. Rumoured to contain a whole new mini movie, based on 'The Black Freighter', the comic within the comic, it looks as if Snyder will be putting out a Blu-ray disc so good that even Alan Moore might watch it.

Release date: TBA

8. Apocalypse Now

The multiple releases of Apocalypse Now on DVD made a mockery of the film. Light on features, the movie suffered as a result of distributors not seeing eye to eye, so fantastic extras like Hearts Of Darkness weren't released with the main film.

Release the film on Blu-ray in one package, complete with theatrical version, the redux version and uber-documentary Hearts Of Darkness and you will have such a complete set that fans will find it irresistible.

Oh, and if the film is fully remastered and comes with ear-bleeding audio, then that would be an added bonus. We can only but dream.

9. Star Wars

Yes, you bought the remastered DVD release. You probably coughed up for the original version of the trilogy in disc form. And you may even have paid out for Episodes I-III. But even in these credit-crunching times the idea of The Star Wars Trilogy on Blu-ray is an enticing one.

There's been no word about Lucas' plans for Blu-ray, but as the Clone Wars BD is soon to be released on the format, it's definitely more 'when', rather than 'if'.

If you want to hear what a John Williams THX score would sound like on Blu-ray, then the latest Indiana Jones Blu-ray release has been given the THX seal of approval.

Release date: TBA

10. Alien

Ridley Scott's horror monster movie brought unimaginable terror to space, and paved the way for countless imitators.

Its release on DVD as part of the Alien Quadrilogy remains one of the best things on the format. Packed to the rafters with Making Of content, commentaries and even a director's cut, the collection was so good, it even made you forget just how bad Alien: Resurrection was.

Seeing HR Giger's monstrous creation in HD would be a treat for horror fans, though seeing John Hurt's chest explode in 1080p may be too much for some to stomach.

Release date: TBA

By Marc Chacksfield

Presidential perks: Here's what awaits the Obamas.

Air Force One

chicagotribune.com — Lots of perks come with this president gig--a fleet of helicopters, a Camp David retreat, a fully-staffed kitchen--the list goes on and on. Here's a few of the most mouth-watering items.

--Mark Silva and Lauren Oslon, Washington Bureau

(AP photo by Eckehard Schulz / June 10, 2008)

Two 747s serve the president and are based at Andrews Air Force Base. He takes one of them on every domestic trip. Both planes are flown on foreign trips as part security decoy and part staff conveyance. Only one plane at any one time is known as Air Force One. In fact, any plane carrying the president is referred to as Air Force One on that trip. The Air Force runs a respectable mess in the galley at the back of the aircraft, tailoring the menu to the president's desires.

Marine One

(AFP/Getty Images photo by Tim Sloan / November 6, 2001)

The president also travels by helicopter fleet. Known as Marine One, depending on which helicopter the president is on, the white-topped fleet flies three at a time when the president is on board one, with the other two landing as decoys.

Motorcade

(McClatchy-Tribune photo by Zbigniew Bzdak / November 5, 2008)

The motorcade generally runs 15 vehicles long, with two identical black Cadillac missile-proof limos with indestructible truck tires on them (one transports the president and the other serves as a decoy), several SUVs full of heavily armed Secret Service agents, a communications truck, Hazmat truck, ambulance, press vans and staff vans. When the president travels, the motorcade flies with him. There is a separate "car plane," a military transport that ferries the vehicles.

The West Wing

(Eric Draper, McClatchy-Tribune / November 10, 2008)

The president and his staff of about 18 assistants get the West Wing, where the Oval Office is located, with a view of the Rose Garden. The first lady has an office in the East Wing, on the opposite end of the residence. Both wings literally extend out from the White House, which is a residence only.

Bowling

(Image by © Bettmann/CORBIS / September 17, 1971)

President Nixon bowls at the White House in September 1971. In this photo, his left foot is over the foul line. Barack Obama said during the campaign that "we're taking out the bowling alley in the White House and we're putting in a basketball court." The one-lane alley is located in the basement under the North Portico.

Camp David

(McClatchy-Tribune handout / August 6, 1976)

The presidential retreat in the woods atop the Catoctin Mounatains in Maryland. Located about one hour north by car, but usually reached by helicopter, Camp David has a great wide lawn and hanger for the Marine One shuttle. Sitting within Catoctin National Park, a beautiful run of woods with vistas or surrounding lands, Camp David opened with the name Shangri-La until President Eisenhower thought better of it and renamed the getaway.

Kitchen staff

(AP photo by Ron Edmonds / November 12, 2008)

The president has access to a fully-staffed kitchen, including a head chef and a pastry chef. The White House Mess, located in the basement of the West Wing, is a men's club-like restaurant with paneling and service by a formally attired Navy staff, which runs the mess in two shifts for lunch. Navy Bean soup is a specialty.

Putting green

(AP photo by J. Scott Applewhite / November 13, 1997)

Bill Clinton customized the White House putting green on the South Lawn with the help of a big golfer.

Morning newspapers

(AFP/Getty Images photo by Karen Bleifer / November 5, 2008)

The president receives newspapers from around the country in the morning. The Bushes prefer reading in bed.

Quantum of Solace Is the Perfect Bond Movie

gizmodo.com — The latest Bond is the perfect Bond Movie. Yes. It is. In fact, Quantum of Solace is not only the perfect Bond movie, it's the best Bond movie ever, period. Even surpassing Casino Royale —and I mean both the Craig's one and the original Peter Sellers, David Niven, and Woody Allen's delirium

Spoilers ahead....

Review: Quantum of Solace Is the Perfect Bond Movie

'Quantum of Solace' Makes $200 Mill Even Before US Premiere

Quantum of Solace' to run uncontested

For the Bond sequel, the question is how big it will bow

By Carl DiOrio

Article Templatehttp://link.brightcove.com/services/link/bcpid1119669402http://www.brightcove.com/channel.jsp?channel=769341148

You know there has been a seismic shift in the global marketplace when a studio tentpole can ring up $200 million before its U.S. bow.


That's the likelihood with this weekend's lone domestic opener, the James Bond film "Quantum of Solace" from Sony and MGM, which registered $180 million internationally by Tuesday and was ringing up foreign coin at a daily clip of $10 million this week. The Daniel Craig starrer has been playing -- oh has it been playing -- in dozens of countries worldwide before its domestic debut in a major reversal of the industry norm.

Sony is handling physical distribution of "Solace" worldwide, but MGM was a 50-50 participant in its $200 million production costs. So the partners crafted the unusual global strategy jointly, expanding on the franchise's traditional U.K.-first rollout to unspool the 22nd Bond film in an unprecedented 60 foreign territories before its Friday release in the U.S. and Canada.

The domestic rollout includes showtimes at 12:01 a.m. Friday in more than 1,600 locations.

"The Bond movies belong to the world," Sony domestic distribution president Rory Bruer said. "They're popular around the world, so getting the dates right -- whether domestic or elsewhere -- was particularly important."

Initially, "Solace" was to bow Nov. 7 in the U.S. and Canada, with only the U.K. and a handful of markets getting the film first. But when Warner Bros. bounced "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" from November to July, executives at Sony and MGM decided to hold back the Bond film one week domestically to open "Solace" closer to the lucrative Thanksgiving period.

Bruer said the film's established international success should help boost must-see interest among domestic moviegoers.

"I certainly believe the buzz is out there, with regard to what it's doing throughout the world," he said. "The world is a much smaller place, and that resonates back to the U.S. as well."

"Solace" has yet to unspool in several overseas markets and won't travel to Japan until January. But its early bow in China and other piracy-prone territories has helped keep unauthorized copies of "Solace" from circulating on the Internet or elsewhere, Bruer said.

"All that has shown up is an unwatchable version on the Internet of really, really poor quality," Bruer said.

Partly because of the global buildup to the stateside bow, the Marc Forster-helmed "Solace" appears likely to mount the biggest domestic Bond opening ever, well outpacing the $47.1 million debut for 2002's "Die Another Day." Many believe a $50 million-plus opening is likely, with a first-weekend haul of $60 million doable if moviegoing proves robust this weekend.

Meanwhile, it bears watching how films held over from recent domestic openings hold up under the 007 assault.

The family comedy "Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa" from DreamWorks Animation and Paramount will seek as much moolah as possible before Disney bows its animated feature "Bolt" next weekend. Animated films tend to play longer than the average release, but the overlap could cause some tumult.

Elsewhere, Universal has a pair of holdover titles targeting different core audiences than "Solace." Yet each could get jostled in a marketplace that will get only more competitive with each successive frame.



Universal's R-rated comedy "Role Models" grossed $19.2 million in an overachieving bow and could see a big second-session drop if younger demographics flock to see Bond. The Angelina Jolie starrer "Changeling" -- which rung up $7.3 million during its second session in wide release for a $20.6 million cume -- might need a leggy theatrical run if the Clint Eastwood-helmed period drama is to attract notable awards consideration.

Similarly, though it's a foregone conclusion that "Solace" will open well, it's more of an unknown how it will hold up domestically once holiday releases starting hitting multiplexes.

Reviews of the film haven't been as solid as they were for 2006's "Casino Royale" -- which marked Craig's first assignment as 007 -- and that Bond installment proved a far greater hit internationally than in the U.S. and Canada. "Royale" rung up $40.8 million during its first weekend in domestic release, en route to $167.4 million U.S. domestically and $594.2 million in worldwide boxoffice.

Two big films bow during the Nov. 21 frame -- the first session in the holiday boxoffice season that runs through New Year's weekend -- with Disney's "Bolt" and Summit Entertainment's vampire release "Twilight" representing a possible boxoffice combo of $80 million or more. The following Wednesday, three more tentpoles open wide: Fox's epic adventure "Australia," Lionsgate's action sequel "Transporter 3" and Warner Bros.' seasonal comedy "Four Christmases."

If the blur of titles isn't enough to illustrate the holidays' hyper-competitiveness, consider this: "Twilight" was outselling "Solace" almost 2-to-1 this week in presales by MovieTickets.com.

Of course, the core teens and tweens fan base for "Twilight" is more likely to buy tickets online than that for a Bond film. Execs at Sony and MGM also can take solace that their film has marked 50% more sellouts than the Summit film -- though "Twilight" still has another week ring up its presales.

Boston Cigar Ban Vote Postponed to 12/11

Get the Word out to prevent such silly Draconian nonsense at private businesses.

Or just lay down as supposed do gooders take away your rights in the "interest" of public health.

Commission Board Postpones Vote on Tobacco Limits

BOSTON - The Boston Public Health Commission board will postpone until December a decision on proposed regulations to limit the sale of tobacco products and reduce workplace exposure to secondhand smoke.

The board had been scheduled to give final consideration to the rule changes Thursday, Nov. 13, but decided to take more time to review transcripts from two public hearings held in October and written comments submitted during a 60-day public comment period that ended Nov. 3.

The vote is now scheduled for the board’s next regular meeting, from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 11, at the Public Health Commission’s offices, 1010 Massachusetts Avenue, on the second floor, in the Hayes conference room.

7 Methods for Coping with Tragedy (Courtesy of James Bond)

By JJ Gauthier

Although our attempts to form a religion around the teachings of James Bond have largely failed, the man still has much to teach us.

Today we'll examine how Bond deals with the many, many tragedies he's encountered in his life. We hope to show you that, though he may be a suave secret agent with an almost inhuman ability to score chicks, Bond lives his life by principals we can all apply in our own day to day existence.

#1. A Colleague Dies

As Seen In:

A View To A Kill, The World Is Not Enough

The death of a coworker is something we must all be prepared to deal with, especially if we work at a large company with bad health benefits. Being able to cope ensures the tragedy doesn't derail a healthy workplace and career. Having repeatedly watched fellow agents fall in the line of duty, Bond has had no choice but to learn to properly mourn his colleagues.

"Goodbye, Hagrid."

The Grieving Process:

Step One: Look slightly surprised for two seconds.

Step Two: Go on as if nothing happened.

"I shall miss you, Agent 003. As soon as I finish looting your corpse."

#2. You Find Your Best Friend's Corpse, After a Drug Lord Fed Him to a Shark

As Seen In:

License To Kill

Probably no more than 10% of you will lose a close friend to a premeditated shark attack, and fewer still will find out about their death from a taunting note taped to the half-eaten body.

But as Bond demonstrates once again, you must learn to keep the tragedy from taking over your life.

The Grieving Process:

Step One: Resign from the service.

Step Two: Go on a rampage, brutally murdering every drug dealer in South America.

Step Three: Utter dry witticism.

Step Four: Never mention friend again.

#3. A Woman You Love is Murdered

As Seen In:

Goldfinger, You Only Live Twice, Diamonds Are Forever, The Man With The Golden Gun, Moonraker, For Your Eyes Only... pretty much all of them.

How often have you met a woman--say, during a high-stakes card game or while sneaking into a criminal mastermind's submarine--only to have her turn up brutally murdered later? As Bond demonstrates, the important thing is that you not blame yourself ... even if it's happened to a statistically convincing percentage of the many women he's slept with.

"That must have taken forever! What an asshole."

The Grieving Process:

Step One: Bow head for three seconds

Step Two: Kill said bad guy

"You're about to find out why they call me Bulletfinger."
"Wait, what?"
*POW*

Step Three: Utter dry witticism.

Step Four: Go on as if nothing happened.

#4. The Love of Your Life Is Cruelly Murdered By Your Arch-Nemesis on Your Wedding Day

As Seen In:

On Her Majesty's Secret Service, concluded by Diamonds Are Forever.

The death of the spouse is the most life-changing event a person can suffer (according to the Holmes-Rahe Life Change Scale). How can any man go on? Ask Bond.

The Grieving Process:

Step One: Spend five minutes attempting revenge

Step Two: Fail

Step Three: Fly to Vegas

Step Four: Pick up cheap floozie

"My wife just died, you know."
"Oh, you poor man. Sympathy's an extra five bucks."

Step Five: Go joy riding in a stolen moon-buggy for some reason

Step Six: Go on as if nothing happened, even when face-to-face with said nemesis.

"Well, Bond, how do you feel about my killing your wife?"

"My what now?"

#5. You're Forced to Murder a Woman You Loved (Because She Turned Out to be Evil)

As Seen In:

Live And Let Die, The World Is Not Enough

If you ever find yourself in this situation, please consult a professional before you murder the woman. Bond is careful never to kill his lovers unless they are a threat to the free world. Finding out she's banging your neighbor Todd does not qualify (at least, in the eyes of the law).

"I know that unlike Denise Richards, you can actually act. But trying to kill me is still going to end poorly for you."

The Grieving Process:

Step One: Utter dry witticism.

Step Two: Bow head for two seconds

Step Three: Dive out the window to kill more bad guys.

#6. You Lose a High-Stakes Card Game

As Seen In:

Casino Royale

Up to 10 million people suffer from gambling addiction. The effects of major losses can result in depression or even suicide. Bond shows us that the path to recovery requires a little help from a friend.

The Grieving Process:

Step One: Order vodka martini, angrily refuse to specify whether shaken or stirred.

Step Two: Have someone smash your nuts over and over again.

#7. Your Parents Die in a Skiing Accident at Age 11

As Seen In:

Referenced in the books, mostly, but comes up from time to time.

We pity anyone whose childhood was lost to the untimely death of a parent. But, once more when life is at its cruelest, Bond shows us that it is possible to transform tragedy into a life of purpose and resolve.

The Grieving Process:

Step One: Drop out of school

Step Two: Join the Royal Navy

Step Three: Transfer to Secret Service

Step Four: Get paid by the government to kill bad guys and get laid like it's 1969.

"THIS IS MY BURDEN AND I SHALL BEAR IT ALONE!"

Hands On with the New Nikon D700

After some months of saving my pennies, I blew them this week on a Nikon D700. Remember our post about buying old, full frame lenses and using them on your small-sensor DSLR? There was a reason for it -- those cheap old lenses will last you until you move up to full-frame.

There are plenty of reviews and incredibly detailed spec-sheets for the D700 already online, so here I'll just cover a few of the quirks and delights I have found so far. In short, though, the D700 kicks ass. It's easy to use, and takes an incredible picture, even in the dark.

That Sensor

The headline feature of the D700 is its full-frame sensor, which is the same one you'll find in the flagship D3. You only get 12 megapixels, but they're big pixels, and their light-gathering ability is extraordinary. The top ISO available on the D700 is a staggering 25,600, a full eight stops faster than ISO 100. At that setting, though, the pictures are terrible. Convert them to black and white and they look exactly like they have been through a photocopier. A photocopier that is running out of toner. That said, even this is better than the results that the Canon G9 gives at just ISO 1600.

Drop just one stop, to ISO 12,800, and things are a lot better. The pictures are still noisy but Nikon has tweaked its noise reduction algorithms to mimic film grain, or so it seems. The EXPEED processor has no mercy with color noise, but is a little easier on the luminance noise. What does that mean? It means that the nasty stuff is cleared out, leaving a grainy but pleasing result.

Drop the ISO to 6400, the highest setting with an actual number (Nikon uses names like H0.3 for the more sensitive settings) and you'd never know you were shooting at more than 800. This, combined with a fast lens (a 50mm ƒ1.8, for example) means you can shoot in ambient light, handheld, at night. And coupled with the heavy body, which steadies things, you can handhold to some pretty slow shutter speeds, too. If you were to add a shake-reducing lens into the mix, you'd likely have no trouble with shooting 2001's monolith in a black hole. At midnight.

The Knobs and The Aperture Ring

About that heavy body. The weight is reassuring (body only and without the battery it weighs 995g, or 2.2 lbs.) but the feel in your hand is what counts. I used to own a couple of Nikon F100 bodies and the feel is similar, if a bit chunkier. The biggest change for anyone moving up from a cheaper DSLR is the manual controls. Instead of all the functionality being hidden away in menus, most of the important functions get their own knobs, dials and switches.

Those of you who remember our post "History’s 5 Best Interface Designs" will know I'm a big fan of knobs:

Its strength is its simplicity. Once you have twisted one knob, you know how every other knob works. If it is marked, its position provides visual feedback. If not, our brains easily associate the amount of twist with the level of the knob’s effect. And best of all, it’s the only controller we know of which can go up to 11.

Better still, many of the knobs can be customized to do different things. Part of the fun is digging through the custom settings inside the menus to figure out just what you can tweak. The short answer is "almost everything."

But the one thing I really love, the discovery of which actually brought a small tear to the corner of my emotionally suppressed eye (hey, I'm English. We don't do emotions) is the aperture control. You can choose to use the aperture ring around the lens to set the size of the hole, shifting it away from the finger-dial on the grip (custom function f9, page 326 in the manual).

For someone who has this muscle memory baked in since childhood, this is huge. You lose the fine grained control of the 1/3 stop adjustments available with the command dial, but the shutter speed takes care of this. You also lose the Live View function, but you can always switch back temporarily (and quickly).

Live View

It works, and the high resolution screen means it looks great, but the live view is janky as hell. Here's how you use it: Turn the dial on the top to the LV setting (it's the same dial that chooses between self timer, single and continuous shooting). Then press the shutter release all the way down. The mirror flips up and live view is on. To refocus, press the shutter half way. The mirror flips down, the camera focusses, and the mirror flips up again. And when you actually take a picture, the mirror flips again.

You can choose the "tripod mode", which uses contrast detection like a compact camera, but it is slow as molasses. To me, Live View is little more than a gimmick. You can, however, zoom in on the live view image to see a 100% rendering for easy manual focussing (if holding a two pound camera plus lens at arms' length and twisting the focus ring is your thing) and there's a semi-useful level that can be superimposed on the image, but still: Gimmicky.

Built-in Flash

Really. Why? C'mon, Nikon.

Full Frame

The full frame sensor means that all your DX lenses are useless. If you were hoping that you could use your 18-55mm DX zoom as an ultrawide objective, you're out of luck. You can force the camera to treat the lens as a full frame one, but you'll get heavy vignetting at the wide end and a drop in image quality away from the center at all focal lengths.

The D700 defaults to reading just the central part of the image area, which means that an 18mm lens will act just like it does on a DX camera and give the equivalent view of a 27mm lens. The rub is that you are then shooting at just 5 megapixels. Even my D60 doubles that. For Lomo-style fun and frolics, though, those extreme angles, low-definition edges and black corners can be useful.

Auto Focus

The D700 has 51 focus points, all of which can be individually selected, and 15 of which are cross-type sensors which are faster and more accurate. There are several modes, from single point AF to a 3D tracking mode which remembers the color of the thing you first focus on and then locks onto it like a junkyard dog on a schoolkid as it moves around the picture.

But all you really need to do is to set it to auto and forget about it. The D700's autofocus is uncanny. It seems to know what you are taking a picture of and it locks on almost instantly. If you ever saw the Clint Eastwood movie "Firefox" (or read Craig Thomas' book), you'll remember the thought controlled weapon system in the plane. I believe Nikon took this and built it in to the D700. It really is that good.

Should You Buy One?

There's so much more to this camera that we have no chance of covering it here. But if you're thinking of buying a D700 (and especially if you are weighing it up against the more expensive D3), go ahead. I haven't had this much fun taking photos since I sprung for a Leica M6 some years ago (yes, I saved long and hard for that one, too. I then sold it to pay the rent). Bonus: Stick the 472 page manual in the bathroom and you'll have your morning reading taken care of for weeks. $3000, or thereabouts.

New Drug Bypasses Gene Mutations

Missing pieces: A novel drug developed by PTC Therapeutics allows diseased cells to produce cystic fibrosis transmembrane regulator (CFTR), a protein missing in cystic fibrosis patients. Intestinal cells of an untreated rodent are shown at top; those of a treated animal, with the CFTR protein labeled in red, are at bottom. Credit: PTC Therapeutics

A novel drug that enables the production of normal proteins from mutated DNA might one day help people with a variety of genetic diseases. The drug has shown promise as a treatment for cystic fibrosis and muscular dystrophy, and it is now being tested in large, international clinical trials.

Most drugs alter the activity of proteins after they're manufactured, but the new drug intervenes in the cellular machinery that makes the proteins in the first place. Consequently, it could be effective against diseases where completely different proteins go awry. "It's a great breakthrough," says Robert Singer, a biologist at the Albert Einstein Medical School, in New York, who is not involved with the company that produces the drug.

Severe genetic disorders, such as muscular dystrophy, result from mutations in genes that code for vital proteins. In some cases, the mutation is a misplaced genetic stop sign, a sequence that tells the cellular machinery to halt production before the protein is complete. The result can be a truncated, ineffective version of the protein, or none at all. The new drug, being developed by PTC Therapeutics, a startup in South Plainfield, NJ, allows the cellular machinery to essentially skip over these aberrant stop signs and produce normal molecules.

While severe genetic diseases are individually rare, mutations that prematurely truncate protein production are found in many of them--including spinal muscular atrophy, hemophilia, and retinitis pigmentosa. "Since the drug treats the underlying gene-expression problem, it is applicable to a few thousand diseases," says Allan Jacobson, chair of the department of Molecular Genetics and Microbiology at the University of Massachusetts Medical School, in Worcester, and a PTC cofounder.

PTC is focusing its early clinical efforts on Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD), a degenerative muscle disease that affects approximately 20,000 children a year worldwide (one of every 3,500 male children), and cystic fibrosis, a chronic disease of the lungs and digestive system that affects about 70,000 people worldwide. About 15 percent of DMD cases result from premature stop signs. For cystic fibrosis, the number is about 10 percent worldwide, but more than 50 percent in Israel. No drugs have been approved to treat DMD, and the drugs approved for cystic fibrosis treat its symptoms rather than its cause.

Results from early clinical tests for both diseases, which wrapped up last year, were "incredibly encouraging," says Brenda Wong, a neurologist at the Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, who led part of the trial.

Muscle biopsies showed that about 50 percent of DMD patients taking the drug began making normal copies of the dystrophin protein--a structural protein that helps maintain muscle's tensile strength. Without this protein, muscles are fragile and break down over time.

Patients with cystic fibrosis lack a protein called CFTR (cystic fibrosis transmembrane regulator), which is involved in the transport of chloride ions in and out of cells. Without this protein, thick mucus clogs the lungs, eventually leading to respiratory failure. Scientists found that patients given the drug showed protein production in the nasal epithelium, which is similar to the lung epithelium. Patients also wore vests studded with sensors, which indicated a 30 percent reduction in coughing: people with cystic fibrosis cough an average of 600 to 1,500 times a day, compared with two or three times for healthy people. However, neither study was blinded, meaning that both scientists and patients knew who was getting the drug.

A larger, placebo-controlled study of the drug's effectiveness against muscular dystrophy is now under way, with 175 patients at 38 sites in the United States, Europe, Australia, and Israel. A similar study for cystic fibrosis will begin next year. The tests will last a year or more, allowing scientists to determine whether, over time, the drug can boost protein production enough to halt the progression of the diseases. (Even though scientists measured changes in some symptoms in the earlier studies, they were not designed to determine how effective the drug was at treating patients, but rather whether the target proteins were made.) Lee Sweeney, a biologist at the University of Pennsylvania who collaborates with PTC, estimates from animal research that protein production will need to rise to about 20 to 30 percent of normal levels. "We will get insight over the next six months into how much we can halt their disease," he says.

The trials will also be an important test of safety. While no safety problems have yet arisen in human studies, the long-term effects of the drug are not yet clear. "I do worry a bit about off-target effects," says Melissa Spencer, a researcher at the DMD research center at the University of California, Los Angeles, who is not involved with PTC. Because the drug allows protein-production machinery to skip over premature stop signs, there have been concerns that it might skip normal protein termination signals as well, producing extralong proteins. PTC says that so far it has seen no signs of this.

The drug has also shown promise in animal models of other diseases, including Rett syndrome, some tumors with mutations in tumor suppressor genes, and hemophilia, says Stuart Peltz, PTC's chief executive officer. The company is now planning human tests of the drug for hemophilia A and B, he says.

Because the compound is a small molecule that can be taken orally, it has some advantages over other new biological therapies being developed to treat these diseases, including gene therapy and RNA interference. Such therapies are often difficult to deliver and can trigger immune reactions. "It's essentially a gene therapy that is using cellular machinery rather than introducing DNA," says Spencer. "The chance of immune response is much less than if you took a virus and put it in that way."

Making Materials Untouchable

Air drying: Water (dyed blue) and hexadecane (dyed red), an oil, bead up on an omniphobic surface, which repels all liquids. The droplets in this photo, which are separated from the surface by air pockets, are about three millimeters in diameter. Credit: Anish Tuteja/Wonjae Choi

Materials under development at MIT could lead to coatings that repel both water and oil. A group of MIT researchers have created an improved set of design rules for making any surface impervious to any liquid, be it water or gasoline. Such materials could eventually have promise as fingerprint-repelling coatings, fuel filters, self-washing car paints, and stain-resistant clothing.

Last year, the MIT group, led by chemical engineer Robert Cohen and mechanical engineer Gareth McKinley, created the first superoleophobic, or oil-repellant, surfaces. They started with a polymer developed by the Air Force that contains large numbers of oil-repelling fluorine groups. The MIT researchers made the material even more oil resistant by using lithography to pattern it with overhanging microstructures. These tiny structures create air pockets that help suspend liquids and prevent them from penetrating to the surface. The MIT researchers found that the surfaces are both superoleophobic and also superhydrophobic, or water repelling. Because they repel everything, they're called omniphobic.

Although these were the least wettable materials ever developed, it wasn't clear last year how much pressure the materials could withstand before the liquid would sag into the air pocket, causing the surface to fail. In their new work, the MIT researchers used mathematical models of surface properties to predict how changes in the surface geometry would improve resistance to pressure, allowing them to make surfaces that withstand greater pressure. Based on the properties of a given surface and a given liquid, the models can predict the contact angle between them. A high contact angle means that the liquid will bead up and easily roll off. The MIT researchers use their equations to predict how best to modify a surface in order to increase the contact angle.

These design rules don't just apply to one particular material. The MIT researchers have shown that a combination of structure and chemistry can turn any surface omniphobic, says Weihua Ming, a professor in the nanostructured-polymers research group at the University of New Hampshire. The MIT surfaces, says Di Gao, a professor of chemical and petroleum engineering at the University of Pittsburgh, are truly superomniphobic: they repel all liquids, causing them to bead up and roll off.

However, you won't find these coatings on your next iPod. Major practical issues remain. "The issue with a lot of these surfaces is that they may not be mechanically robust," says Chuck Extrand, principal scientist at Entegris, which makes fluid-handling equipment for the semiconductor industry. But Extrand says that in principle, it's possible to make these surfaces more durable. "I'm still hopeful we'll find something that's mechanically robust," he says.

Right now, to make flat omniphobic surfaces, the researchers need to make them on a silicon wafer using lithography. However, the team is working on designs for spraying or dip-coating flat surfaces.

Sick Searchers help Track the Flu

Credit: Technology Review

On Tuesday, search giant Google released an experimental tool that tracks the intensity and movement of the influenza virus across the United States by monitoring the number of times that people search the Web using terms related to the disease.

The tool, known as Google Flu Trends, makes use of the fact that, before they go to the doctor's office, many people will search for information about what ails them. Using aggregate data on the number of searches for terms such as "flu" and "flu symptoms," software engineers from Google and researchers from the Center for Disease Control (CDC) found a strong link between these searches and reports from doctors of flu outbreaks a week to 10 days later.

"We found that there's a very close relationship between the frequency of these search queries and the number of people who are experiencing flu-like symptoms each week," Jeremy Ginsberg and Matt Mohebbi, both software engineers at Google, write in a blog post describing the work. "As a result, if we tally each day's flu-related search queries, we can estimate how many people have a flu-like illness."

The result could allow the CDC to respond to outbreaks of influenza more than a week earlier than it could using intelligence based on trends in reports from doctors, the federal agency's top flu tracker says. "Influenza has a very short incubation period," says Lyn Finelli, lead for influenza surveillance at the CDC. "You can have a lot of transmission in a very short time, so the more warning you have, the more you can do to prevent an outbreak of the disease."

The Google researchers worked closely with the CDC for more than a year to improve their model. The tool reveals a close match between historical increases in searches related to the flu and increases in reports from doctors, Finelli says.

The idea of mining data that people leave behind through their electronic existence is not new, says Nathan Eagle, a research scientist with the Media Lab at MIT. "This isn't the first example of it, by any means," Eagle says. "Virtually any type of trace that you, as a user or as a citizen, leave could be mined for all sorts of purposes."

Eagle and other researchers have published research on tracking students' movement patterns using GPS to better understand how a disease can spread through a population. Another system, called HealthMap, plots news and blog reports related to different diseases on Google Maps. And Philip Polgreen, an assistant professor at the University of Iowa, recently published a paper that used Yahoo search data to correlate searches for flu symptoms with the incidence of reports of the disease. "Every day, people search for information on health on the Internet, and we thought that the pattern of searches could give some information about future expectation or current incidents," Polgreen says.

Keeping track: Flu Trends uses Google search data to estimate flu cases for 2008-2009 and previous years (top) and shows the current flu-related search activity for individual U.S. states, with more activity shown in darker blue (bottom). Credit: Google

Gunther Eysenbach, a health-policy professor with the University of Toronto, says that three years ago, he proposed to Google the idea of analyzing search data in the same way that Flu Trends does. However, he claims that he did not receive a response. Without direct access to Google's data, Eysenbach decided to take out an AdWords advertisement on the site. The ad not only gave him access to search data for the terms "flu" and "flu symptoms," but it also showed the number of people who clicked on the advertisements.

"If you count the number of clicks, then you can get a better prediction," Eysenbach says. "You can weed out the number of people who have flu symptoms from the number of people who just hear about the disease from media reports."

In a paper published in 2006, Eysenbach showed a strong positive link between Internet users' searches and the incidence of influenza in a certain region--in this case, Canada. While Eysenbach's work is briefly mentioned in Google's paper, the researcher says that he was "in a mild state of shock" that Google had decided not to collaborate with him.

In its announcement, Google tried to head off any concerns that the tool would impact users' privacy, stressing that, while the research "aggregates hundreds of billions of individual searches," the information is anonymized and therefore cannot be employed to track an individual user.

MIT's Eagle, however, says that people should expect that their data will increasingly be used in the future. "At the end of the day, this type of data is a fact of life in the 20th century," he says. "We could ignore it and pretend it doesn't exist, or we could use this data, without compromising privacy, in ways that can help people."

The 007 Best Bond Theme Songs

November 13, 2008

As long as there have been James Bond films (nearly five decades now) there has been some degree of anticipation of the new James Bond theme with each new theatrical release. While the series stumbled early on in terms of theme songs (Dr. No didn’t even feature a song – though we’d be remiss if we didn’t acknowledge the “James Bond Theme” written either by Monty Norman or John Barry (depending on which piece of litigation you subscribe to) for the film, as the signature piece of music that is most associated with Bond and the series as a whole – and the easily forgettable title track to the second film in the series From Russia With Love), Shirley Bassey’s rendition of the title song for Goldfinger showed that the Bond themes were now being approached as viable, commercial products in their own right and not just simply filler over the credits.

Over the years, the series has approached title songs in a variety of ways. Early on, torch singers such as Bassey or crooners such as Tom Jones were preferred. Eventually the producers of the series turned to popular music acts to boost the popularity of the movie while selling come records as well by enlisting such acts as Paul McCartney & Wings, Duran Duran, and Garbage (to name just a few). While the series did return to the torch-style approach in the late seventies and the producers managed to make some questionable assignments throughout the years (ah-ha – yes, that ah-ha – recorded a James Bond theme!), the revamping of both the character and series with Casino Royale in 2006 signaled a new approach to the music as well. As Bond reestablished himself in the new millennium, the title tracks to his films began to take on a much needed edgier and grittier feel as well.

So, without further adieu, sit back, fix yourself a martini (shaken, not stirred of course) and enjoy MovieRetriever’s top seven (get it? – there are seven because Bond’s designation is 007, clever huh?) choices for Best Bond Theme Songs (please note that we’ve included a YouTube link with each of our picks so you can listen to each selection – you’ll also find an image of the soundtrack that you can follow to the MovieRetriever Store). Enjoy.

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001. Goldfinger – Shirley Bassey

Considered by many fans and critics to be the best film of the series, it also features one of the series’ best songs. This is the quintessential Bond theme. It encapsulates the essence of the series (at least until Casino Royale) with Shirley Bassey’s strong vocal and a big brassy production and set the template for subsequent themes. Bassey is easily the queen of the Bond themes as she also recorded the superb title song for Diamonds Are Forever (1971). She also sang the underwhelming song for Moonraker (1979), the equally disappointing attempt for the Bond series to cash in on the Star Wars phenomenon (but we don’t blame Shirley for the song – which is probably the worst song of the series – as she did the best she could with the material provided her).

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002. Live and Let Die – Paul McCartney & Wings

Ex-Beatle Paul McCartney scored what may be the best all around “song” created (to date at least) for any Bond film. It was difficult to put this one at number two as it’s arguably more listenable than “Goldfinger,” but in the pantheon of Bond themes, Sir Paul takes a backseat to Shirley Bassey (though just barely). This is a flat out rocker and features some of McCartney’s best work up to the time of the film and since for that matter. It is also one of the songs that the Bond series will always be associated with (though the song has managed to distance itself from the film to a certain extent – at least more than any other entry on this list).

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003. The Spy Who Loved Me – “Nobody Does It Better” – Carly Simon (1977)

One of the most successful singers of the 1970s, Carly Simon delivers one of the more popular songs of the series. While universally identified as a Bond theme, this track could just as easily be a song taken from one of Simon’s albums, and excellently captures the sexuality of Bond while simultaneously delivering a pretty darn good love song to boot.

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004. A View to a Kill – Duran Duran (1985)

Following “Live And Let Die,” this is probably the catchiest of all the Bond songs. Duran Duran delivers a hook-filled track that is still wildly popular to this day. Although the song slowed the descent of the Bond theme, little can be said for the movie other than that the song was pretty good (oh, and Christopher Walken was the villain – but even that was couldn’t help what thankfully turned out to be Roger Moore’s final turn as Bond).

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005. Casino Royale – “You Know My Name” – Chris Cornell (2006)

Bond returned to the silver screen after a four-year-hiatus with a new face, a new attitude, and an equally new approach to the title song. The pounding beat of this track, sung by former Soundgarden frontman Chris Cornell, has an edge that most previous entries lacked. This is an excellent and appropriately game-changing theme for the film that redefined the Bond series.

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006. Quantum of Solace – “Another Way to Die” – Jack White and Alicia Keys

Without a doubt, the title song from Quantum of Solace is one of the more bizarre entries to the Bond theme canon. But the underlying beat of the Jack White/Alicia Keys collaboration (incredibly, this is the first Bond theme to feature a duet) is refreshingly atonal while still managing to remain oddly melodic.

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007. For Your Eyes Only – Sheena Easton (1981)

Although it sounds like a 1980s electronic echo of “Nobody Does It Better” and sounds slightly dated by current standards, this wildly popular theme is one of the better late-era Bond themes and still manages to hold up remarkably well as a decent ballad. It also helps that the film may be Moore’s best work as Bond.

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A Few Other Themes That Are Licensed to Kill

008. The World Is Not Enough – Garbage (1999)

Garbage is a fantastic band and this is a pretty good song. It would have made the top seven but it just seems a little bit mediocre when compared to the band’s other work.

009. Thunderball – Tom Jones (1965)

Valiantly approaches the level of “Goldfinger” but misses the top seven due to its obvious attempt to mimic that song’s success. However, it is does occasionally deliver the goods and it scores points for being sung by Tom Jones who’s just one cool cat.

000. You Only Live Twice – Nancy Sinatra (1967)

Following the success of the single “These Boots Are Made for Walking,” the choice of Nancy Sinatra as a Bond balladeer seemed to foretell the mixed-result practice of securing pop stars for crooning purposes. Fortunately, she delivers with a fine vocal performance that enhances a haunting and eerily enjoyable tune.

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A Collection of the Title Songs from All 23 Bond Films

Courtesy of the MovieRetriever YouTube Page

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Also of note are the many Bond themes that never made the final cut. For example, did you know that Johnny Cash made a demo for “Thunderball”? Or that Alice Cooper had his own unique version of “The Man with the Golden Gun”? Or even that Blondie recorded the original version of “For Your Eyes Only”? Many of these oddities and a whole lot more are discussed in an excellent article about from guardian.co.uk called “For Your Ears Only.”

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You can buy all of the movies and soundtracks listed above (and more) through the MovieRetriever Store! Click here to visit the store!