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Posts Tagged 'Panasonic'
CES 2015 In The Rearview Mirror
- Published on Monday, 12 January 2015 16:12
- Pete Putman
- 0 Comments
After all the PR hype and anticipation, the 2015 International CES has come and gone, leaving me to edit over 1500 photos and a bunch of videos and sift through stacks of press releases to see what was really significant about the show…and what was just fluff.
Before I drill down to make my top picks, I should point out some trends that have been building for a few years. We all know that the majority of our electronic gadgets (phones, tablets, home alarm systems, televisions, computers, cordless phones, and so on) are manufactured in China and Southeast Asia.
Still, the expanding CES footprint of Chinese brands (Haier, TCL, Hisense, Changhong, Konka, Skyworth) takes some getting used to. So does the shrinking footprint of former Japanese powerhouses like Sony, Sharp, and Toshiba. There is a profound shift in power happening in the CE world as the center of gravity moves farther away from Tokyo and Osaka past Seoul to Shenzen and Shanghai.
Another unmistakable trend is the decline in prices for a wide range of CE products. "Connected health" was a big deal at least year's show, but is there really any news to be found in $60 Fitbits? Or $149 home security systems? Or $125 32-inch televisions?
Speaking of televisions, they are becoming less important in the overall scheme of things with each passing year. 4K Ultra HD was all the rage last year – this year, everyone had 4K televisions, and many models were equipped with quantum dot backlights for high dynamic range. Of course, there was no shortage of curved televisions in all sizes.
The facts are these: Changhong and TCL can make a large, curved 4K LCD TV with high dynamic range just as easily as Sharp, Samsung, and Panasonic. In some cases, the LCD panels used in these TVs are all coming from the same factory.
Samsung made a big splash this year with their S UHD television line, but they're using quantum dots just like anyone else. LG showed both quantum dots and their new M+ technology that adds white pixels to an LCD matrix to boost brightness. TCL is selling QD-equipped TVs in China and expects to launch them on these shores this year.
Perhaps surprisingly, LG decided to make a big push for OLED technology, unveiling five new Ultra HD models at the show. While the Chinese also showed OLEDs (as did Panasonic), LG appears to be "all in" with their white OLED technology, claiming manufacturing yields as high as 70%. Well, someone's got to pick up the torch that plasma dropped in 2013.
For many of these manufacturers, appliances and white goods are taking on a more important role in contributing to the bottom line. The margins are better on high-end refrigerators and washer-dryer sets for the likes of Samsung and LG, even though consumers don't turn them over as often as televisions. For Panasonic, beauty products are an important income stream.
Cameras and camcorders are still holding their own against mobile phones, surprisingly. I entered the CES arena equipped with both a new Samsung Galaxy 5 phone and a Panasonic Lumix ZS40 camera. While the Galaxy 5 does take some great pictures under ideal conditions, it was no match for the 30:1 optical zoom lens (Leica glass) on the Lumix – the latter allowed me to shoot under, around, and over people to get the photos I needed.
Speaking of mobile phones and tablets, there wasn't much news to be had at the show. LG showed its updated LG G-Flex 2 and Samsung had a crowd around its Galaxy family of phones and tablets, but there just wasn't the "BYOD buzz" we've seen in previous years. The 5" to 5.5" screen size seems to be a sweet spot for phones now – 6-inch models were scarce in Vegas.
Connecting all of this stuff together made for a more compelling story from my perspective, especially as far as wireless technology goes. I saw more demos of wireless video streaming, wireless appliance control, wireless security systems, and wireless display connectivity at CES than at previous shows.
The 802.11ac channel bonding protocol is becoming increasingly important for making this stuff work in the 5 GHz band. And the wide-open spaces at 60 GHz are starting to attract everyone's attention – having 2 GHz channels to play with is a lot more appealing for making high bitrate connections than fighting the congestion at 2.4 and 5 GHz.
Display interfaces are getting fast – a lot faster – and relying on compression for the first time. And now we're starting to see the boundaries blur between small, high-performance mobile display interfaces and full-sized versions, which leads me to wonder why we need so many versions of HDMI and DisplayPort in the first place.
I'd be remiss if I didn't mention the growing number of automobile manufacturers who set up shop in the North Hall every year. It reminds me of the New York Auto Show, with the likes of Hyundai, VW, Ford, Fiat Chrysler, and Audi showing off their latest high-tech "connected" automobiles that can do everything from mirror your smartphone's display to recognize speech commands, navigate flawlessly, and even drive themselves.
And there were plenty of alternatives to gasoline-powered engines to seen, from BMW's i3 electric car to Toshiba's Mirai hydrogen fuel cell vehicle. All equipped with Bluetooth, 802.11, Sirius, and in some cases, user-customizable dashboard displays using flexible displays (important to survive vibration and G-forces).
Quite a bit to take in over three and a half days! What follows is my list (in no particular order) of significant products and trends I spotted in Vegas. Let's see if they hold up as the year progresses:
High Dynamic Range – as usual, a hot new technology makes its appearance at the show and quickly becomes a buzzword. HDR Ultra HDTVs were shown by numerous manufacturers at CES; none more prominently as Samsung, who made HDR the centerpiece of their Monday press conference with their S UHD line. Virtually all of these TVs use quantum dot technology to boost image brightness and color saturation, and only one (LG) had an alternative path to HDR with M+ technology.
HDR is a key part of the transition to next-generation television. So are wider color spaces, high frame rates, and increasing resolution. Looks like everyone's getting into the game, including the Chinese. Interestingly, I saw only one demo of Dolby's HDR technology in the TCL booth (Vizio also has it), so it appears many homegrown solutions are in the works for HDR displays.
OLEDS Are Back – at least as far as LG is concerned. Seven new Ultra HD OLED TVs were rolled out at CES with sizes ranging from 55 inches to 77 inches, and one of them can flex back and forth from flat to curved surface mode. A partnership with Harman-Kardon should ensure better audio quality than you hear from typical super-thin televisions. (There were even two models featuring bases made from Swarovski crystal!)
With the demise of plasma, videophiles are still looking for displays that can give them the magic combination of deep blacks, saturated colors, and wide viewing angles. Right now, OLEDs are the only game in town, but they've proven to be tricky to manufacture with acceptable yields. LG Display seems to have overcome that barrier with these models (which use IGZO TFTs for pixel switching, by the way) and it will be interesting to see the uptake as 2015 winds on.
Super MHL Is Here: The battle for fastest display interface shifts back and forth between Silicon Image and VESA. DisplayPort fired the first salvo with their introduction of version 1.3, raising the maximum data rate to 32 Gb/s and introducing Display Stream compression for the first time. Now, the MHL Consortium has fired back with Super MHL. MHL stands for Mobile High-definition Link, and in its first iteration, allowed transport of 1080p/60 video over the 5-pin micro USB connector found on smartphones and tablets.
But Super MHL is different – it is a full-sized connector with 32 pins and matches the data rate of DP 1.3. The CES demo showed a Samsung 8K display being driven through Super MHL. How would anyone fit this on a mobile device? Does it replace HDMI 2.0? (It's a LOT faster and uses DS compression, too.) So many questions to be answered…
Talk To Me: Conexant showed a demo of voice control for TV set-top boxes (change channels, bring up program guide, set DVR recordings) that was leap years ahead of their demo from 2013. This system works exceptionally well in noisy environments and can be used to control other devices, such as room lighting, thermostats, and security systems.
Conexant is looking to sell their technology as a system on chip (SoC) to a wide cross section of manufacturers. The trick had been reliable speech recognition in all kinds of high and low noise environments, something that doomed Samsung's voice control TVs back in 2012. It appears they've finally pulled it off, but the focus has shifted away from TVs to set-top boxes this time around.
I'll Be Watching You: The EyeTribe of Denmark showed an amazing eye tracking and control system at ShowStoppers that can operate tablets and phones and costs all of $99. Yep, you read that right! While Tobii's impressive demos have focused on laptops and gaming systems, EyeTribe has gone after potentially the biggest market for eye tracking. How many times have you wished you could operate your mobile phone while your hands were full?
Faster Video For All: Giraffic had an intriguing demo of optimizing and speeding up video streaming rates over conventional TCP/IP networks. And it had nothing to do with adaptive bitrate streaming, using H.265 encoding, or AVB protocols. What Giraffic is doing is changing the nature and frequency of HTTP requests. This is the best way I can explain it: Imagine you just sat down with a big piece of chocolate cake and want to eat it as quickly as possible. If you take big bites, you'll be chewing for a while and some pieces may get stuck in your throat.
But if you start with very small bites (like crumbs) and keep shoveling them in quickly, you'll finish the cake just as fast – or perhaps faster – than the conventional way of eating. And that's what Giraffic does – it keeps nibbling at the video stream to ensure continuous delivery, even with 4K content. The company claims they can achieve streaming throughput 200% to 300% faster than conventional video streaming, with no freeze-ups and annoying "buffering" warnings.
4K Blu-ray: Okay, we've been waiting for this for some time now. And 4K video streaming has already begun at Netflix and Amazon. But Ultra HD BD is finally out of the gate, although you won't see it until the fourth quarter of this year. Streaming rates will be on the high side of 100 Mb/s with single and dual-layer discs available. (And yes, high dynamic range will be a part of the equation!) Panasonic showed their prototype of an Ultra HD Blu-ray player at the show. The question is; with all the enhancements coming to streaming, does optical disc matter anymore? Time will tell…
Circular LCD Displays: This was a breakout year for oddball sizes of LCDs, particularly in the Sharp booth where automotive displays were shown. (LG Display also exhibited circular and curved LCD displays.) Given the drop in TV prices and Sharp's ever-dwindling market share in TVs, the market for automotive and transportation displays may be a better bet, long-term. Especially given the company's leadership in implementing IGZO TFTs, which are important for brighter displays with lower power consumption and higher pixel density.
USB Type-C Connectors: VESA had an excellent demo of this game-changing connector, which has a symmetrical design (no need to worry about which way you've plugged it in) and can multiplex DisplayPort 1.3 video with high-speed data. USB 3.1 Type-C is seen as the next generation of USB connectors for mobile and portable devices, and by itself, it can move serial data at 10 Gb/s.
SiBEAM Snap Wireless Connectivity: Silicon Image has revived the SiBEAM name (they bought the company in 2011) and implemented their 60 GHz wireless display connectivity into a close-proximity variant. You simply bring two Snap-equipped devices together (like a smartphone or tablet and a matching cradle), and voila – you've established a full bandwidth data and display connection that can run up to 12 Gb/s. Plus, the connector can be used for wireless charging.
SI is showing integrated Snap transmitter and receiver chips that would replace USB 2.0 or 3.0 connections. Clearly, they are also targeting USB interfaces that support DisplayPort 1.3 (see USB 3.1 Type-C) and trying to move away from physical display connections. (This was one argument against using MHL to connect to televisions.) But if they're successful, what happens to MHL? And now that Super MHL has been shown, what happens to conventional HDMI? Stay tuned..
Super-wide, high resolution desktop monitors: Seems like everybody had one of these at the show. HP, Dell, LG Display, Samsung, and others showed 27-inch widescreen displays with "5K" resolution (5120×2880 pixels). These monitors also support wider color gamuts and use 10-bit panels (a necessity, given all the 10-bit RGB images they'll be asked to display). What's surprising is how inexpensive these monitors are – HP's Z27Q version will be available in March for just $1300.
Toshiba Glass: The jury's still out on whether Google Glass is a hit or a bust (I'm leaning toward the latter). But Toshiba, who recently retrenched their television operations to Japan, is all-in with a line of enhanced glasses that employ a tiny projection module to show images on the lens surface. This has been tried before – Epson's Moverio VR glasses have tiny QHD LCD panels embedded in them – and it remains to be seen if the public will buy into the idea. They do look stylish, though. (And there's even a pair of safety goggles in the line.)
I'll close out this report with a few passing thoughts. First, it's impossible to miss the trends of mass-produced, cheap consumer electronics that are increasingly showing up at CES. Next, there is hardly any new technology debuting at the show that multiple manufacturers have in short order (and that includes the Chinese).
Whereas voice recognition was big a few years ago, gesture control took its place the past couple of years. But now that Omek (bought by Intel) and PrimeSense (bought by Apple) are absent from the scene, voice recognition has come back. My new Galaxy 5 phone has Samsung voice on it and it works reasonably well. However, it appears that consumers just haven't jumped on the gesture recognition bandwagon yet.
Remember 3D? I almost got all the way through this report without mentioning it. A few companies still showed it, such as LG, Toshiba, HP, Hisense, Changhong, Ultra D (digital signage), Panasonic, and some gaming companies. Likewise, Google TV was gone this year, replaced by Android TV in such places as the Sony booth. Aside from program guide searches, I'm not convinced that the average TV viewer needs a Google search engine or Android OS on their TV. But I could be wrong.
Remember drones? I almost managed to skip them as well. There were so many at the show, ranging from behemoths that idled in place overhead while we visited tables at Digital Experience to pocket-sized models with built-in cameras that could zip unobtrusively over a crowd under the control of your smartphone. (I'm waiting for the first pocket-sized EMP generators to appear next year – like electronic bug-zappers.)
Finally, after a day full of press conferences during which there was only about 30 minutes of actual, usable news, I'd like to see a temporary moratorium placed on the words "innovation," "big data," "stunning," "cloud," "ultra" anything, and in the Chinese booths, "happiness."
The only thing stunning about Vegas is how expensive cab rides have become. True happiness can only be found at Big Daddy's Barbecue outside the Central Hall (dee-lish!). "Big Data" should be the name of a blues band, or at least the harmonica player. (Maybe Big Data and The Cloud?)
And I'm sorry, but a floor-mounted pet camera and toothbrushes that sync up to video games are not "innovation." Cute, yes, but no innovative. (Although the self-powered skateboard I saw that can run up to 16 miles might fall into that category…)
So I Bought A New Camera…
- Published on Monday, 01 December 2014 14:18
- Pete Putman
- 0 Comments
Yeah, I know. Camera sales are in decline (even digital SLRs), thanks to smart phones that can hit nearly 20 megapixels, have digital zooms, accessory telephoto lenses, and instant connections to Instagram and other photo sharing sites.
Still, there are a lot of things smart phone cameras don't do well. Like shooting sharp, correctly-exposed images under low lighting levels. Or zoom optically over ranges of 15x, 20x, and even 30x. (Plus you don't need to enter a password or swipe your fingerprint to turn on a camera.)
I shoot lots of photos every year, mostly for my articles, classes, and trade show coverage. In 2013, I probably captured well over 10,000 images and videos. My CES 2014 images alone totaled 1500 with an additional 100 videos, and it looks like it I will also break the 10K barrier by the end of December.
At one time, I did a lot of commercial photography, using Nikon F2s, Rolleiflex twin-lens reflex cameras, and even view cameras. But those days are long in the past – I sold off everything to do with film starting a decade ago, and finished the job when point-and-shoot cameras exceeded 10 megapixels, supposedly equaling the resolution of 35mm Kodachrome 25 film.
I've been 100% digital for many years, relying on small cameras to grab product shots, shoot videos of trade show demos, and even capture a product shot here and there. My cameras have mostly been Nikon CoolPix models in recent years, as they are a lot smaller than DSLRs and easier to truck around convention centers. Plus, they don't give up much in picture quality for their compact size and ease of use.
What's funny about these cameras is how fast they depreciate in value. I beat the heck out of a CoolPix 8200 for a couple of years, only to discover its lens had a scratch. After bringing it to the local camera store (now gone), I was told it had a used value of $30 and would cost at least $200 to fix.
I was also told that I could pick up a brand-new Nikon P310 for just $229, thanks to a special instant rebate. So I popped out the SD memory card and battery from the old camera and left it there for recycling, walking away with the P310.
That was two years ago. As much as I like the P310, its 4:1 zoom ratio just wasn't cutting it for my needs. Last Saturday, I hopped in the car and drove to one of the very few remaining camera stores in the area, Cardinal Camera, to see what my upgrade options were.
Cardinal sells all the big brands – Canon, Sony, Panasonic, Nikon, and Olympus – and this would give me the chance to play around with a model before I committed. (Yep, I could buy one online, but I needed to shake it out in person first.)
What caught my eye right off the bat was how little merchandise was on display in the store. Clearly, retail camera and accessory sales is not a growth business these days! Cardinal seems to do better with photography classes and quick color printing than offering much of the pro gear they used to, like studio lighting packages.
The second thing that caught my eye was the preponderance of Sony digital cameras and the scarcity of Canon and Nikon models behind the counter. Sony really has some nice models that use "mirrorless" technology with rangefinders and interchangeable lenses. The salesman brought out a Sony A6000 Cyber Shot model with combination LCD screen and viewfinder – 24 megapixels, 15-50mm interchangeable zoom lens, 23.5 x 15.6mm sensor, and 1080p/60 video capture.
I have to admit, I was impressed. The standard viewfinder activates when you raise the camera to your eye, and the 3" LCD screen was super-sharp. But the price was $700, and I just wasn't interested in spending that much money on something I'd likely recycle in two years, given the depreciation and heavy use. (Plus, it wouldn't fit in my jacket pocket.)
After checking out a few other models, I ultimately decided on a Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZS40 point-and shoot. If you haven't tried out a Panasonic camera lately, you will be in for a surprise – they're every bit as good in build quality and performance as the Nikons I've been using, and the better models use Leica lenses exclusively.
The Leica DC lens on the ZS40 isn't removable, but does have a 30x zoom range, and the camera's 2/3 CMOS sensor is good for 18 megapixels, Plus, it has both an LCD display screen and viewfinder, selectable with a small button. And it slides easily in and out of my pocket, great for traveling light when traversing the Las Vegas Convention Center for four days.
Even better – the Lumix camera was discounted from $449 to $349, and Cardinal "ate" the 6% sales tax as part of a Black Friday weekend special. I added a couple of extra SDHC memory cards and a wall charger and was on my way. For that kind of deal, it wasn't worth it to order online.
My point? There are some great deals to be had on cameras these days, thanks to competition from smart phones and a slow but steady decline in camera sales that started in 2010. If you know what you're doing with lighting and composition, you don't need to buy an expensive digital SLR to get acceptable image quality – $300 to $500 will do the trick.
While DSLRs are the way to go for high-end, museum-quality photography, point-and-shoots like the Lumix are a much better choice for everyday photos, especially if you need to get a quick shot unobtrusively under a wide range of good to poor lighting conditions.
And let's be realistic – it's hard to go wrong these days for a few hundred dollars. After a year, if you still aren't in love with your camera, just buy a new one! They're certainly cheap enough and their performance just gets better and better. (The same axiom holds true for televisions.) Just don't be surprised when you see how little your camera is worth a year or two from now.
Welcome to the brave new world of consumer electronics…
A Tale Of Two Companies, Part II: The Best-Laid Plans…
- Published on Friday, 16 May 2014 13:22
- Pete Putman
- 0 Comments
In a recent post, I talked about Panasonic's impressive financial turnaround from its last fiscal year, booking a nice profit after doing some soul-searching and consequent house-cleaning of underperforming business units. And I contrasted Panasonic's performance with the struggles of Sony, who continues to struggle with red ink. Let's take a few moments to revisit both brands.
Coincidentally, Panasonic held a couple of press days this week in New York City to talk about its 2014 TV lineup. I attended the Thursday session and can say that it was much more low-key than previous Panasonic TV events.
For 2014, the emphasis was on two things – 4K, and cloud connectivity. Panasonic introduced a new concept, LifeScreen, which is yet another search engine combined with a clever graphical user interface. You pre-set your preferences, and your Panasonic TV searches for content to match them.
And how, exactly, does the TV know it's you? Thanks to a pop-up camera and face recognition software, the TV comes to life when you stand or sit in front of it and loads up your programs choices. A new remote control provides both swipe control and voice recognition (shades of Samsung 2011!), and seems to work reliably.
Panasonic's cloud structure isn't much different than other manufacturers. You can download photos and video and share them with connected tablets and phones in your house. And you can upload your own photos and videos to the same online storage.
Now, to the nitty-gritty. As expected, the 2014 TV lineup is 100% LCD. What's unexpected, but ultimately not surprising, is that you'll find a mix of IPS and PVA LCD panels in these new TVs, meaning that Panasonic (like everyone else) is shopping for the best price and performance combination in LCD panels for their new TVs.
Given the cutthroat pricing in the TV market, this isn't surprising and in fact is a smart strategy: There's plenty of good LCD glass coming out of Korean, Taiwanese, and Chinese fabs, so why bother with the costs of making it yourself?
Panasonic's value-add for these TVs is to improve the spectral response of the white LEDs used in these new sets, and it's impressive. They're claiming 98% coverage of the minimum DCI color space and have improved the rendering of yellow.
Side-by-side demos with last year's award-winning ZT60 plasma TV showed the difference dramatically. Aside from the usual issues with PVA and IPS LCD panels, the images had excellent contrast, great color saturation, and decent black levels – and you can clearly see why plasma has fallen by the wayside.
There will be six series of models in the 2014 TV line-up, starting with the entry-level A400 and moving all the way up to the new 55-inch and 65-inch Ultra HD AX800-series TVs. The new remote and camera system come with three of these lines, and some models now include a sound bar (smart move!) in the box.
HDMI 2.0 and HEVC decoding are standard on the AX800, which is interesting considering how few Broadcom HEVC decoder chips have been deployed by TV manufacturers to date. And you can operate the TV from your iPhone or iPad (or Android device), even to the point of doing a full color and grayscale calibration, thanks to a new app.
So Panasonic remains a player in the TV game, even though the company's worldwide market share fell out of the top five in 2013. Panasonic's return to corporate profitability will take a lot of pressure off the TV division, which has relocated to San Diego from New Jersey.
In contrast, Panasonic's neighbor down the street in San Diego – Sony – continues to struggle with red ink. The company released its final numbers for fiscal year 2013 last Thursday, and things still don't look good, even though the picture is lightening up a bit.
For 2013, Sony booked a net loss of -¥125B (about $1.23B USD) with operating income of ¥26.5B (about $265M USD). There were a couple of operating divisions that continue to drag down profit, most notably Sony's discontinued PC business unit, battery manufacturing, and disc manufacturing (DVD, Blu-ray) outside Japan and the U.S.
Sony's long-struggling TV operations are reported as part of the company's Home Entertainment and Sound business unit, which recorded a loss of -$248M for FY 2013. That's actually a 70% reduction from FY 2012, which is a silver lining. Overall, the TV division saw its sales increase 30% Y-Y, which is more good news.
Another bright spot for Sony is its Imaging Products and Solutions (IP&S) division, which booked $256M in operating income. That's not enough, however, to offset the -$729M operating loss from PC operations and the -$78M loss from the Game division. And an impairment charge of -$250M was assigned to the disc manufacturing business, adding more red ink.
Getting rid of the unprofitable PC business will definitely help next year's results. (Apparently, so will the sale of Sony's New York City headquarters on Madison Avenue, which netted almost $700M, according to the company's financial statement.) The operating loss reported for the Game division (-$78M) was a surprise, but Sony attributed it to costs involved in launching the PlayStation 4 console and a $60M write-off of PC game software titles.
There's no question that Sony has quite a mountain to climb and get back on the "plus" side of the ledger. Unlike Panasonic, Sony's worldwide share of television shipments held pretty steadily in 2013 (about 7%, down slightly from 2012), but that number either has to go up or further cost-cutting must take place to make TV retailing worth continuing.
Sony also has to make a decision about its optical disc business unit. The Blu-ray Disc Association (BDA) hasn't released a standard for 4K yet, while the Digital Entertainment Group's numbers have shown pretty consistently over the past four years that digital media consumption is shifting emphatically to digital downloads and streaming. Given this trend, it's not likely that the disc manufacturing unit will ever return to profitability and might also be a candidate for the axe by year's end.
You know that old saying about the best-laid plans oft going astray? Hmmm…
A Tale Of Two Companies, Revisited
- Published on Friday, 02 May 2014 12:50
- Pete Putman
- 0 Comments
It's annual meeting time in Japan, and the final reports for fiscal year 2014 are trickling in. (In Japan, the fiscal year starts on April 1 and runs through March 31.)
Given all of the financial misery that Japan Inc. has been enduring for the past four years, you'd probably cringe before opening the latest consolidated financial statements. Yet, there was a surprise this time.
Let's look at two of the dominant CE brands in Japan – Panasonic and Sony. The former company grabbed some headlines last year when it announced an exit from the plasma display panel (PDP) business, effective 12/31/13. For years, plasma displays and televisions were synonymous with Panasonic – they dominated the market and provided most of the technological breakthroughs that led to the (still to this day, IMHO) "best in class" televisions on the market.
Sometimes "best' doesn't always win. Plasma TV shipments and sales had been in steady decline for the past seven years as more and more consumers chose LCD TVs, particularly after 1080p resolution became widespread and national discounters like Vizio forced prices down to bargain-basement levels.
2013's final numbers from NPD DisplaySearch show that plasma TV shipments from all brands (Panasonic, Samsung, and LG) accounted for slightly more than 4% of the global TV market. You don't need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows, and Panasonic – who had been in the midst of a massive review of all 80+ of its business units – did the right thing and quickly cut its losses, however painful that may have been.
Now, it appears all of that aggressive restructuring and cost-cutting has paid off. For FY 2014, Panasonic posted a net profit of about ¥120.4 billion, or $1.18B USD. That represents a spectacular turnaround from a ¥754 billion loss in FY 2013, or about $7B USD.
In addition to the money-losing plasma operations, Panasonic also jettisoned its mobile phone business. (Didn't know they made mobile phones? Neither did most people.) Along with slimming down underperforming business units, finishing the acquisition of Sanyo and all costs associated with it, and shifting their focus to everything from energy storage solutions to Lumix cameras, the company realized an operating profit of ¥305 billion ($2.3B) for the fiscal year.
Now, on to Sony, who has struggled to maintain profitability for several years, thanks in part to the never-ending red ink generated by its television business unit. Sony won't post its final numbers until May 15, but an advisory went out on May 1 saying that they won't be pretty – and in fact will be worse than previous guidance suggested.
The company now is forecasting an operating income of ¥26 billion ($255M USD) for FY 2014 when all is said and done. That number represents a steep drop of 67% from the company's original forecast of ¥80 billion ($783M USD). Sony identified two primary reasons for the drop in income. I'll quote from the company's press release:
"Sony expects to record approximately 30 billion yen in additional expenses in the fiscal year ended March 31, 2014 related to exiting the PC business. Since Sony's announcement on February 6, 2014 that it will exit the PC business, PC sales for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2014 and expected PC sales for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2015 are underperforming the February expectation. Consequently, Sony expects to record write-downs for excess components in inventory and accrual of expenses to compensate suppliers for unused components ordered for Sony's spring PC lineup. In addition, certain restructuring charges are expected to be recorded ahead of schedule."
Okay, so the computer operations weren't pulling their weight, which is why Sony decided to exit stage right and reportedly sell their VAIO operations to Lenovo (as announced in February). But there's more:
"Sony expects to record approximately 25 billion yen in impairment charges mainly related to its overseas disc manufacturing business. Primarily due to demand for physical media contracting faster than anticipated, mainly in the European region, the future profitability of the disc manufacturing business has been revised. Consequently, Sony has determined that it does not expect to generate sufficient cash flow in the future to recover the carrying amount of long-lived assets, resulting in an expected impairment charge. Primarily due to the reason mentioned above, the fair value of the entire disc manufacturing business also has decreased, resulting in an expected impairment of goodwill."
Translation: The Blu-ray and DVD business is in the tank, particularly in Europe. Clearly, consumers are turning more and more to cloud storage and streaming of movies and TV shows, and not purchasing or renting optical discs. That's definitely not good news in Tokyo, but it's not like this trend snuck up and blindsided the company: I've been writing about it for several years now in Display Daily.
Given how aggressively Sony worked a few years ago to convince Warner Home Media and other studios to dump the nascent HD-DVD format in favor of Sony's home-grown Blu-ray platform, this development must sting all the more. And talk about bad timing: The latest numbers from the Digital Entertainment Group (DEG) show that digital movie sales (streaming and downloads) during the first three months of 2014 totaled $330.25 million, while optical disc sales and revenue were down 13.7% to $1.82 billion from $2.1 billion in the first quarter of 2013, continuing a long-term steady decline that goes all the way back almost a decade.
We won't have the final numbers from Sony for a few weeks. (Sharp and Toshiba also have yet to report their year-end results.) But you can clearly see what happens when one company faces reality and takes the bull by the horns, while another keeps stalling for time. I'll check in again in two weeks with the rest of the numbers from Japan, Inc.
NAB 2014 In The Rear View Mirror
- Published on Friday, 18 April 2014 14:33
- Pete Putman
- 0 Comments
The 2014 NAB Show has come and gone, and although attendance was strong, this year's edition didn't have quite the buzz that I expected. Given all that is happening with UHDTV currently, that's surprising: We are seeing a transformation of television into something very different from traditional models, including demonstrations of next-generation broadcast systems (ATSC 3.0), more powerful encoders (HEVC), and a migration to IP-based video production facilities (the cloud, AVB).
I spent three and a half days at the show, taking it all in while setting aside some time to present a paper at the Broadcast Engineering Conference on the current state of wireless AV connectivity and moderating a Wednesday Super Session on the future of video technology. If I really had to pick one word to characterize this year's show, it would be "flux."
Some trends were clear. The Japanese brands (aside from Canon) continue to down-size their booths as their business models shift away from traditional cameras, switchers, recording devices, and monitors. There were numerous companies showing cloud-based storage and media delivery over IT networks, and more than a few booths featured demos of HEVC H.265 encoding and decoding; most of it done with software.
Only a handful of booths emphasized monitors, and some of those had super-sized screens for digital signage out for inspection. In the north and central halls, you could find the traditional purveyors of broadcast transmitters, antennas, and coaxial cable, along with microphones and conventional audio products. But the emphasis seemed to be on "connected" anything – video, audio, cloud storage and delivery, and even wireless cameras for field acquisition and live events.
Given the sheer number of booths, it was difficult to compile a "pick hits" list, but I'll give it a shot. To me, these companies/products/demos made the trip to Las Vegas worthwhile (and having traveled there over 70 times in the past 20 years, that's saying a lot!).
Visionary Solutions may not be on your radar, but these clever folks are building some impressive hardware and software codecs at affordable prices. This year, they rolled out their PackeTV system, an end-to-end IP-based video delivery product with scheduling, recording, security, and delivery of real-time and recorded H.264 video, all rolled into one. The graphical user interface (GUI) for controlling the system was well-designed and easy to figure out.
LG and Gates Air had an impressive demo of an ATSC 3.0 concept broadcast. They combined Quad HD, 2K, and SD video programs into one 6 MHz channel, using HEVC encoding and decoding. The signals were encoded at 14, 1.6, and .98 Mb/s respectively, and the signal-to-noise threshold for the SD cast was just 1.5 dB. Multipath sets emulating mobile reception were also demonstrated with the 2K and SD streams holding up very well even at 50 mph.
Sony demonstrated a beautiful 30-inch OLED reference monitor that will soon take its place in the existing Trimaster series. This is a home-grown product and employs the same top-emission system with optical bandpass filters found on the 17-inch and 25-inch products. No price has been announced yet, and Sony has a real challenge in trying to figure out what that price should be as its customers aren't willing to shell out 1990s bucks anymore for reference displays.
Altera had a clever demo of 12 Gb/s HD-SDI streaming over a piece of "conventional" coaxial cable. 3G HD-SDI has a nominal data cap of 3 Gb/s, so this demo used linked HD-SDI streams to hit the magic number (coincidentally, the data rate for a Quad HD video stream with a 60 Hz refresh rate and 4:2:2 coding). The coax link was 60 feet long and the transmission was flawless, aside from some hiccups on the PC playout server.
Ericsson showed there is more than one way to stream live 4K content. They set up a system that transported a live Quad HD video stream (3840x2160p/60) from a server in England, through satellite and fiber links, to the Ericsson and Intelsat booths at the show. But they used conventional H.264 encoding, breaking the 4K signal into 2K quadrants and using their Simulsync process to stich them together at the receiving end in a seamless presentation on an 84-inch monitor.
NHK once again had their 8K Super Hi-Vision booth set up, but this time they were streaming live 8K (7680×4320) content from a new, compact 4-pound camera head. The signals were broadcast across the booth in two separate streams on a standard UHF channel, using 4096 QAM at 91 MB/s. Half of the data traveled as a horizontally-polarized signal and the other half as a vertically-polarized signal, both on UHF channel 36. (At that frequency, you can achieve about 20 dB separation between polarization angles.)
Haivision was demonstrating their Secure Reliable Transport (SRT) system over at the Renaissance Hotel. SRT is a hardware/software overlay for existing Haivision encoder/decoder products that is intended to better manage end-to-end streaming over public Internet connections. It offers adaptive streaming rates and two levels of encryption (AES 128-bit and 256-bit). SRT is positioned as an alternative to more expensive satellite backhaul links and dedicated MPLS point-to-point connections.
Korea's Electronics and Telecommunications Institute (ETRI) had a small but intriguing demo of facial recognition linked to ad servers. The recognition system is built into a standard TV and has a range of about 10 feet, can discriminate between older and younger viewers, and will recognize a face turned 45 degrees to the right or left of center. An appropriate advertisement for the viewer is then displayed during a commercial break.
Fraunhofer HHI always has clever technology demos at NAB, and this year they spotlighted real-time software-based HEVC H.265 encoding and decoding at bit rates up to 40 Mb/s. They also showcased a real-time, hardware-based H.265 decoder using an Altera Stratix V FPGA. This decoder can handle bit rates to 80 MB/s and uses standard interfaces for set-top box designs. Fraunhofer also had an intriguing demo of surround sound playback for tablets in a nearby isolation booth.
BlackMagic Design continues to introduce powerful camera systems at bargain basement prices. Their new Ursa 4K field/studio camera has a huge 10-inch LCD monitor, touchscreen control, RAW and ProRes recorders, and upgradable Super 35mm shutter. The EF lens-compatible version lists at $5,995 while the PL-compatible version is $6,495. Their Studio Camera 4K, also equipped with the 10-inch LCD monitor and 12 GB HD-SDI connections, had an even more amazing price – $2,995.
Intel showed a clever use for Thunderbolt technology: Using a display interface for file exchanges. Thunderbolt runs on the DisplayPort physical layer and has a maximum speed of 20 Gb/s. By using a simple mini or regular DisplayPort cable; two MacBooks, two Windows laptops, or a MacBook/Win laptop can link together for file transfers, working just like a 10GigE network connection.
Panasonic showed it still has game after shutting down plasma manufacturing. Two new large digital 4K LCD displays were up and running in their booth – an 84-inch model (TH-84LQ7OU) and a 98-inch model (TH-98LQ7OU). We've seen the 84-inch LG Display LC glass cut before offered by other manufacturers, but the 98-inch hasn't been in wide circulation. These will replace the 85-inch and 103-inch plasma monitors previously offered.
Finally, Christie had regular screenings to show off its new laser cinema projector system. This projector uses two sets of color primaries and matching eyewear, using wave division multiplexing to achieve a high degree of left eye/ right eye separation. According to a Christie rep, the system can achieve a brightness level of 72,000 lumens, and what was interesting to me was virtually no difference in image brightness through the glasses or without them.


text:
Arizona Pro Arte Ensemble: Nosferatu With Live Orchestra
* Additional fees apply. No coupon or promo codes necessary to enjoy the displayed discount price.
The last date listed for Nosferatu: A Symphony of Horror was Saturday October 25, 2014 / 7:30pm.
Currently at Tempe Center for the Arts
Sideways Stories From Wayside School: Zany Adventures From Popular Books
- Full Price:
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Childsplay presents Sideways Stories From Wayside School, a play adapted from Louis Sachar's popular… More
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Featured review from Robb Sinert
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Got there early to hear and see the pre-show discussions and film clips. Great introduction to a wonderful evening. The movie was wonderful, and the print was in exceptional condition, assuming it was remastered. The Arizona Pro Arte Ensemble orchestra did a fantastic job!. I have attended two summer concert events and this movie event last night and they are quite amazing. I have you on my radar for future events.
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Spectacular piece of movie history.
The original score creation and performance were outstanding!
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Great unique experience! Loved the classic film and music that complemented the movie perfectly.
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Quality of the film was incredible, but the picture was frequently blurry. Unfortunately, the whole point of this presentation was to have the live Orchestra - which was nice - but the new score is dreadful: it doesn't match the mood of the film...continued
Timothy Verville, Conductor
About the Ticket Supplier: Arizona Pro Arte Ensemble
Arizona Pro Arte (APA) is a flexible ensemble model for innovation in the performance of classical music in Arizona through the presentation of expert-level collaborative performances.

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Dedicated to the 2000 National College Football Champions, the Oklahoma Sooners
Over fifty years, boy and man, I've been a Sooners fan
Watched and reveled in their glories, every one;
But there's no more glorious "Sooner Magic"
Than the Red October Run.
The new millennium's first football season,
Excited Sooners fans' hopes did soar.
They had tasted victory in Bob Stoops' first year;
Now, they wanted - no, expected - even more.
There was a glint of promise in Bob's eyes,
Strength and confidence in his every word.
"Our Team has shown improvement", is what he said;
"We'll win!" is what fans heard.
By September's end, the Sooners were 4 and O,
A "cupcake schedule" some anxious fans would say;
Twenty-two days in October would rule their destiny.
Texas, K-State, Nebraska, the teams they'd have to play.
"OU's October is a gauntlet", said ESPN;
"Play #10 and #2 and #1…and win"?
So, on a rainy Saturday morning in Dallas,
The Red October Run would begin.
The Texas State Fair at the Cotton Bowl,
Fans were welcomed by Big Tex.
They screamed, "Go OU!" and "Hook'em Horns!";
But none could imagine what happened next.
Heupel was a dominating General;
The Sooners Offense, his relentless troops.
Calmus and the Defense assured a total rout,
The Coach of the Day was Bob Stoops.
Sooners fans were wild, delirious with glee;
But Bob seemed focused and sedate.
"We'll enjoy this victory Sunday;
Then Monday, we'll prepare for Kansas State".
No time to revel in the Glory, #2 was tough.
Better than the Huskers? The possibility was real.
The road to #1 went through Manhattan,
And the Sooners would have to win it on the field.
The sportscasters had a field day.
Last year's "coaching coup" was news again.
Beasley versus Heupel was "The Match-up".
Could Heupel evade K-State's awesome defense
and find a way to win?
Again, Heupel and his troops met the challenge;
And as the Sooners "D" assured a hard fought win,
Every Sooners fan's heart was stirred.
Could our Sooners be "Big Red" again?
Mighty Nebraska, #1, was coming to Owen Field.
"Biggest OU - Nebraska game in years!" Corso said.
It would be 1 versus 2, a heralded gridiron epic
For the coveted title of…"Big Red".
It was OU's biggest home game ever.
The campus was alive with vendors and would-be
ticket buyers.
Every Sooners Fan's heart was pounding.
Could the smell of #1 stoke the Sooners' fires?
The Huskers struck so quickly.
At 14 to nothing, Sooners fans were stunned.
It was shaping up to be a long, long day;
And it wasn't going to be fun.
Quickly tho', Heupel rallied his Sooners troops.
They scored and scored and scored again.
The Sooners "D" built a Wall at the 50,
And would not let the Huskers in.
Winners, the Sooners ran and jumped with glee.
Fans flooded Owen Field, milling all around,
Praising and hugging their Sooners Heroes.
They even tore the goal post down.
Now #1, the Sooners had won it on the field.
Their preparation had been well taught.
Bob Stoops, all his great coaches and assistants,
Took pride in how the Sooners fought.
Someone once said, "Everyone loves a winner."
Everywhere you looked confirmed it's true.
OU flags fluttered. Decals, hats, and clothes abound.
Come November, the Sooners and their Fans
had been renewed,
There's no slighting the importance of Red October.
The Sooners came together as a Team.
No doubt too, without "The Red October Run"
Their National Championship would still be just a dream.
For the next five games, it was simply unacceptable
For the Sooners to even think that they could fail;
And, tho' Heupel played injured, they won the Big 12 Championship;
Great Sooners Defense had prevailed.
But no one gave these Big 12 Champs the slightest chance to win
Against the mighty Seminoles of Florida State.
The Heisman Trophy Winner was their quarterback
And their defense was touted to be great.
At the coin toss, Team Captain Torrance Marshall
Said to their quarterback in words most serious and sure,
"You took our boy's trophy". Then he smiled,
"Now we're gonna take yours".
The Sooners "D" was everywhere and completely shut them down;
And, when Quentin Griffin's touchdown closed the door,
Their quarterback knew that Marshall's words rang true;
The not-so-mighty 'Noles had not been allowed to score.
Yes, Bob Stoops and his Sooners knew the challenge:
To win Each game 'til Every game's been won;
Win for Sooners and their Fans the unchallenged right
To revel in the Glory of being #1.
Yes, my Sooners Team goes on and on,
Different faces, different names;
But these Sooners Champions will be well remembered
For the Season they won Every game.
Undefeated National Champions!
Before October, who would have ever dreamed?
Why, just last year, we didn't even know the players' names;
And now, they're College Football's Greatest Team.
To overcome all adversity and rise to every challenge,
The reward for such a feat is being #1;
Their path to Glory born of a Sooners Legend
Called The Red October Run.
Copyright ©
Robert Candler
You spoke of Love in the kingdom to come
Where the works of hatred would be undone
you bid your disciples to follow whats true
to demonstrate its power in the actions they do
But I have seen injustice
In the congregations of God
they have castigated children
with verbal tirades they did flog
committed vicious slander
and the innocent threw away
refused to hear their lack of justice
and those who tell the truth they slay
But these actions are not hidden
from our King God has given throne
those of us who've seen it
our thoughts to him have shown
His retribution will not linger
with his army he arrives
expose he will oppressors
those who cover deceit with lies
They profess to be disciples
of the Christ and Father Jah
but the errors of injustice
have trespassed the Love that's law
Into the sanctuary
I have sent this word
that like prayers of incense
their cries and tears be heard
At the house of God there's punishment
until true mercy we can learn
willing to investigate the truth
and its advocates not spurn
You have practiced Law and Judgment
the child of God you did not see
you interpreted the scriptures
and pronounced his children unworthy
I have trouble understanding
those who lift your eulogy
so easily destroy their kin
blame not themselves as ungodly
Its always someone else's fault
not the things you did or say
you couldn't possibly be the reason
that from the "truth" they walked away
When you stand before the throne of God
will they judge your actions clean
all the thoughts that you committed
will prove you kind or mean
I can only say to you
I saw your justice taken away
my own afflictions and slander
paralyzed my voice that day
Even now to late in time
their judgments I do fear
they've spent their time convincing me
my perception is not clear
But I have spent my time
considering the instructions in your word
their placement in my heart and mind
and my pen has proved I've heard
to those youths I'm still connected
you've remained in mind and heart
I've considered what you experienced
and I know it's origins start
Not all of us who worship truth
will condemn your walk away
those who expose their heartlessness
before the throne will pay
I only hope you remember
those of us who cherished you
If I could manipulate nature
none these things would you go through
I want you to remember
that's whats broken and with flaw
have difficulty executing
the perfection of cosmic law
I hope to see you in the future
when you've considered my digress
what you've experienced in life
is very difficult to digest
The things that connect us
are more than human skin
together we are the children
of the parents who gave us sin
This is my apology
for you whom I could not defend
I was suffering my own afflictions
which prevented my love to mend
I have failed far to many
and on others can lay no blame
unlike the power that controls the cosmos
my limitations physics name
My complaints here I have spoken
but the threads of them are true
they are laid before the throne of justice
and our God and Christ will see them through
Choose to invest in excellence
but these are traits that you must learn
to humans they come not natural
your inclinations they will confirm
From your introduction I have loved you
and to my thoughts have given voice
but your own road you must travel
and free will is yours of choice
Only one thing can fill whats hollow
a majestic gift from Christ and God
that we "learn" to love each other
correct the inherited things and flawed
Self justification (self rightousness) is a peculiar
trait among mankind ….and is significantly
emboldened when applying law and tradition
and distinctly visible among those who "practice"
religion , instead of "following the truth" like a
detective …….outside appearances can be so
deceiving, whats hidden and out of visions
range the guilty are not just catholic and protestant
those who abuse the truth have always sat
right among Gods own chosen people ….
Luke 17:1-4
COPYRIGHT © 2011 C. Michael Miller
via Duboff Law Group LLC
Copyright ©
Poetryof Providence
A shameful act in this world we live today
surely an educated mind can clearly see the truth behind a mask
Ignorance is the hardness of heart manifests in such violence
The horrors and inhumanity of it heartbreaking reality reeks
A mortal sin attacking the vital principle within us all
slavery is very much alive and growing each dawning new day
New bigger than ever in the 21st century, returning evil dawns
Turn a blind eye poor unfortunate girls without a voice cry for love
India has the largest number of slaves in world we live in
The dark side of such a beautiful country an evil vice grips hold
Taking a new form, bride trafficking exploiting the poor
those unfortunate falling prey to traditional arranged marriages
some are sold off like objects for as little as 160 euro's, up to 225 euro's 5000 rupees
Vulnerable young women exploited forced into hard labor some injected with drugs e.t.c they say their life is Hell not worth living
Working morning and night beaten in extreme heat raped by family members
Their is a social status manufactured from all this a stigmata deceit and trickery
they are then disgraced known as purchased women
Men and women so called mercenaries in a perverse vice
looking at ill got wages they act as brokers in a deliberate choice of evil
This the gravest violation of good clouds and corrupts judgement
Entrapment and sale of poor unfortunate vulnerable women as brides
victims of greed to an illegal trade one grave offence
Turning away from evil out of fear of punishment
we ourselves are in a position of slaves
Studies have been carried out the world over
treating women as baggage or a commodity or an item of less worth
they lead their victims into evil doing without choice
They do the most punishing of manual labor exploited under extreme conditions
Some have been taken from their families forcefully again'st their will
then sold many times over as sexual objects and given drugs
sedated to prevent them from escaping living a life of constant fear
Tears roll down my cheeks
law is a broken promise of truth to protect innocence
25 years of selective abortions willfully being practiced
by doctors and surgeons alike
protecting wrong doers cry people oppressed forced in some circumstances
life is sacred a verdict of moral conscience
Only in the female section a shame and disgrace
now a population of mostly men seed of their wrong doing
Oppression of the poor cries to Heaven for revenge
keeping of slaves deprives thee laborer of their wages
were is human rights in all this God be merciful
Our blessed mother holding Queen of Heaven sits with the father and the son
forgive them as they are blind to the truth an ignorance in their guilt
A mothers tears are the most precious love one blessing
The suffering of these innocent girls, we all seek happiness in the fairy tale end
Rich men acting as brokers dowries a property exchange how awfully sad
How shameful this is slavery returning to the past sins
enduring a life of constant sexual abuse considered unclean
this should be banned as it turns my stomach were is equality
More the Devil's advocate, such heartache and tears justice a virtue
all because you were born a woman some are taken by force an uneven balance
beaten and battered victims, a sadness overwhelms me
Sex selective abortions, a blast again'st girls
if the unborn child is female more than likely will be aborted
Costs of dowries crippling to parents, going into debt
A woman, one precious jewel in my eyes who gives birth to new life
in the fruit of love, to be held equal with an equivalent say
contrary to the divine law
Created from a rib of man
Families torn apart for what, such reason greed of money
The countless women enslaved live in hope
unrepented evil brings eternal darkness destroys charity
This new prosperity is but a distant dream for some
10 million people in enslaved in India
They have an imperialist attitude with political dominance over the poor
The colonist legacy remains with status
Some are considered of worthless class
Slavery laws should be enforced abolishing such inhumane cruelty
in such loveless acts
fruits of charity are joy to behold brings peace and mercy
as they project something to the outside world that they are not
Hidden under the carpet their lies the sins of falsehood
Copyright ©
liam mcdaid
The eyes of Sarlissia were as large as the seventh moon of her parent's planet. Not yet five, she stood before one of the bloodied walls of the Commons, her shimmering skin almost translucent after a year of near-starvation. Hope was gone. She'd been caught.
Until now, she'd managed to survive the culling of her people, the Atramillons. Quickly, so quickly, she'd become apt at hiding from the League of Cleansing and their vicious hounds, laying low in rodent tunnels or remaining still for days in the tight, mud caves of a nearby bog.
Six times this season, she'd travel North to the city of her birth, risking execution. Praise the Maker-Being, there were those who did not hate her species, those who endangered themselves and their families by being merciful.. Many of the Others offered her small amounts of food and water, a pair of shoes, one had even provided her with a knife. Sarlissia realized what would happen to those who had helped her, and though she now faced her death, she refused to call out, choosing to protect her protectors.
Most windows of the nearby homes were dark, but she could still see several curtains lift. The Others who had cared enough to give her scraps were a mere forty feet away. But she took small, shallow breaths and accepted that she was soon to become light and join all those who had been culled before her.
"Rot, where are your parents?" one of the soldiers asked.
Sarlissia bit her lips, tried to still the quiver that had begun in her knees.
"Clip her. Then we won't be able to shut her up."
Four heads turned as a door opened.
It was Marion, kind Marion who'd given her more than any Other. Sarlissia shook her head, beseeched the kind lady with her eyes to turn and leave.
Instead, Marian dashed towards her, wailing. One soldier lifted his assault rifle, but his Sergeant pushed the weapon down. "Wait!"
"Please, don't!" Sarlissia cried. "I am ready to die."
Marian reached the child, stroked her softly glowing cheek. "We have been silent too long. And I will no longer stand by to see the slaughter of the innocents. May your kind forgive us, one day."
"Stand aside,"The Sergeant called. "They must be eradicated."
"I will not move." Marion lifted her chin. "You will have to cull me, too. Son."
The Sergeant shifted."Mother, they are not human, they are worse than vermin, capable of destroying the logic of nature, capable of-"
"What? Changing shape, healing, traveling through time? Yes. I know."Marion sighed. "What have you done, Thomas? My God, what have we all done? Can't you see that she means no harm? Her species deserved a chance. It was a mistake, one mistake-"
"One mistake that changed the course of history. Mankind cannot chance that kind of power in the hands of those we do not know and are unable to trust. Order must be restored, no matter by what means. No matter the cost. It is for the good of the many."
"Are you hearing yourself? We are the monsters, can't you see that? Marion shielded Sarlissia, her voice gruff. "Do what you must do and I will do what I should have done, long, long ago."
Sarlissia tried to move, but Marion held her fast.
Suddenly, several doors opened. Sarlissia began to weep, unable to control her fear for her beloved Others as more and more began to run towards her. Shame of jeopardizing these kind strangers consumed her. She should have stayed away.
Soon, there were dozens of Others around her, united in their want to save her. The crowd grew to be hundreds.
The soldiers stood frozen, uncertain of what to do. Before them stood their friends and family, people they had known their entire lives.
It seemed like a century until the Sergeant lowered his rifle. One by one the other soldier did the same. Weapons fell to the ground. There was a moment of silence, of stunned disbelief that Law would be broken.
Then Sarlissia looked up, smiled at Marion and nodded. The Others parted and the glowing girl walked towards the soldiers.
She reached out and light traveled between her and the Sergeant, seemed to sing in the air around them. He dropped to his knees and began to weep.
Sarlissia leaned forward, pressed her forehead against his and whispered, "Hush, I forgive you. After all, you're only human"
---- the---?----beginning------
Copyright ©
Cyndi MacMillan
The signs started in December
When she started waking up in tears each night
She was a normal girl with dark brown hair and darker brown eyes
She had plenty of friends and a loving family with just one thing missing
Her father.
Days passed by and turned into weeks but only felt like a few seconds
Her life just whizzed by faster and faster until it was just a whirr in front of her eyes
Darkness filtered into her heart and mind until she didn't know if she could go on
But she had to. She couldn't let her mother and her sister drown in this same pain
She wouldn't let them.
She pushed all the darkness into the depths of her own heart
In hopes to save the hearts of the two people she had left
Because what else was there to live for now?
The rest of her world had crashed and her mother and sister was all that was left
She wouldn't let them drown in pain too.
She watched as they started to heal in her loving arms
Their hearts started to lighten up once more
But hers was just as dark as it was before
And growing darker day by day
But she wouldn't let that stop her.
Suddenly a year had passed... and then two
It only seemed like seconds to her but everyone else started moving on
Her mother and sister no longer needed her nurturing care
But she needed someone to hold on to
With nothing left for her to take control of, the dark pushed past her boundries
It found a way into her soul
Until all she could see was dark and no light
But her mother and sister were healed now
They didn't understand
The tears came back and engulfed her soul
Bit by bit until she wasn't sure why she was still alive
The grief took over like knives
Piercing her skin over and over and over
It hurt so much.
She started to wonder what it'd look like to be dead
She could see him again if she was
Wouldn't it be so much easier than having to endure this pain?
Wouldn't it be so much easier than having to live knowing she'd never see him again?
It would.
So she started to hate herself
All that negative energy was starting to take toll
Everyone around her was breathing while she suffocated more and more by the second
She wished she'd just choke already instead of living in constant pain
If no one would put her out of her misery, she'd have to do it herself
She couldn't see any light anymore
So she grabbed the pill bottle off the shelf and just hoped it wouldn't take long to die
Deep down she still had a spark of light, but she just couldn't find it
And now it was too late in her mind to change, to turn back and try to look deeper
She was done living.
That's when people started to notice that everything wasn't as peaceful as it seemed
They started to see how deeply depressed she had become
They wanted to help her see the light again before it was too late
So they sent her away to see doctors and to take pills to make everything better
It was a start.
She didn't see a change at first but suddenly she could think clearly
Maybe what they were doing was actually going to help her see the light again
Yes, she still wanted to die, but maybe that wasn't the only option anymore
They cared, and behind all their own problems they were trying to understand
They really were trying
Six months longer she would be treated and cared for
Until suddenly she was sent home from her treatment and care with a smile on her face
She had a new perspective
Someone had helped her ignite that spark in her heart until it was a glowing ember
She had been reborn
Sometimes you have to be able to experience the worst of it
To come back shining brighter than before
And if she had died that cold day in October, she wouldn't of ever seen the best of it
Or known that it would get better
and it did!
And she now sits at her laptop, with a smile on her face and warmth in her heart
It's never been an easy road and it won't ever be
But at least she knows she's lived through the worst
And it can only get better from here
So whenever she feels lonely or gets back into that dark spot again
She can look back on what she's learned and can read this poem
And remember that she survived the darkest depths of depression
And she will continue to survive it as long as she lives
Because she is stronger now than she ever was before ?
Copyright ©
Darian Rehder
So I have some things, that I just have to say,
but please do not take me in the wrong way,
I have this tiny little problem, inside me you see,
and its called trying to live with ADHD.
These thing's that you say, they way you behave,
drive me insane, and inside me I crave,
to tell you your wrong, and look like a mug,
I cant stand the thought, of you being a thug.
If I see you pushing and constantly thrashing,
my friends whom are weak, intending to bash em,
I will have to stand up, and defend with my heart,
Say it to me if you really wanna start!
Ill tell you the truth, don't you threat about that,
I'll never be scared of you, swinging that bat.
I've been through worse times, than you can inflict,
you can laugh and say that I am just a (b)witch.
I've taken many a beating, from one's harder than you,
you're a joke, you're clown, do the best you can do,
you will not like me, cause ill tell you the truth,
it ain't all about being a spoof.
You're a book that's been read, from cover to cover,
Predictable, laughable and not the best lover,
you're as see through as cling film, but before its too late,
get a grip you sad person, before they will hate.
you can change the future, if only you'd try,
stop accusing and blaming, and questioning why?
look around you and see, you have a great life,
but if you don't see before you, lose a possible wife.
So I'll tell it like it is, I wont mince my words
right there, right now, you got an incredible bird,
she loves you and would never hurt you, never make you cry,
but you spit and you hiss, and you don't even try.
You're straight out the book, the tactics you use
we know the next step, we know the short fuse,
The questions, the timing, the jealousy of friends,
its all a plan, for her social life to end.
There's really no need to hate and to follow,
trust isn't really a bitter pill to swallow.
Life and love is really OK,
don't be an idiot and throw it all away.
when you have a good woman be happy and proud,
get on that roof top and shout it out loud.
don't toss it aside, cause your angry inside,
give love a chance, her on your arm bursting with pride.
I'll be honest, and truthful, and hope you will find,
the problem within, ill try to be kind,
but ADHD just makes me be true
I really mean no harm, just giving you a clue.
You can hate me, detest me, I really don't care,
I know what your about, I'll stand and stare,
see if you have the balls, to really be true,
when you stand say 'hello, and how are you?'
Been there, and done it, its really no big deal,
2 faced coward is what i do feel.
thing is it really, you don't need to be like that,
but too proud to say, 'yeah OK I been a prat'
No need at all for the mess that is made,
drag yourself out of that neanderthal cave.
there's more to life than fighting and hating,
you only get on shot, so love and stop wasting.
Let people in, let out your fears,
or cling on to em tight, for another 30 years,
hold on to trouble, grip tight onto hate,
lets these years pass you by, and then its too late.
look at yourself, are you really ok??
want another day marked off, with only hate to say?
we want to make you smile, and assure you its fine,
hold glasses of wine up and clink with ' lets dine'
So I suppose the point, I am trying to say,
with my ADHD, I'll just say it this way,
My words come out 'hectic' and not make much sense,
but I'm trying to help you, I make no pretense.
If you think this is about you, or someone you know,
I hope that this poem will help someone to grow,
Just ask and I'll tell you, I wont hide in the forest,
I don't have two faces, you know ill be honest!
So I bid you goodnight, and tell you I'm grateful,
for Tony, my love, I can trust he'll be faithful,
He treats me with love and respect, don't harass me,
two way trust, with my man, means the world, I'll never judge he.
Shame on you wasters, throwing real love away,
it will spring up on you, you'll realize one day,
you had it right there, in the palm of your hand,
but crushed it and blew it away like the sand.
Copyright ©
Maxine Jones
Moments to Reflect
Memory lane
Our memories are a part of us that helps us to grow. Reminiscing about the past keeps thoughts alive so that they will last. Memories are a record of all the things that we have experienced. We hold on to those that are dear and keep them without any fears. The good ones bring us joy while the bad ones bring many tears.
Yesterday has gone; our childhood to the now, we try our best to keep our wondrous memoires that are so profound around. So that when times are bad and when thing seems rough, they put a smile on face and keep us tough.
We dream of past glories of wars that we have fought and it does not matter if we won or lost or what was the cost. It helps us to cope with the problems that we have to face each day and give us hope. Memories they help to get us out of our self contained, egoistical ways of thinking; oh how finite our minds. Keeping the past alive and in our the way, falsifying the truth without any doubts so that you can find an out, from the tribulation that this day may bring; is not dealing with the now what our lives all about?
Yesterday; this was how it was, yesterday; if I only did this or that, yesterday; now that was a good day; but what about today and problem it brings dealing with good and the bad the past is the past it just do not last. It not about what it was that you were facing, it about you using the experiences of what you have already done without any fears so that you do not find a foot in your derriere.
Our memories are a part of us that helps us to grow. Reminiscing about the past keeps thoughts alive so that they will last. Memories are a record of all the things that we have experienced. Some are hard to forget and some are hard to let go. They are hidden in the deepest, darkest closets in our mind. We try so hard to get around those that hurt that we chose not face them for the pain is sometime to great, we just have not got what it takes. We try to forget but no matter what they will always be a part of us. We try to fool ourselves into believing that they are not. We pretend that they have no meaning, but in reality they help to define you; like it or not. Embrace them we must or else they become nightmare, monster and creating pain and mistrust. Our memories are a part of us that helps us to grow. Reminiscing about the past keeps thoughts alive so that they will last.
Memories are a record of all the things that we have experienced. There is a problem that some do have about their experiences of the past. Shaded truths that brings lies into the future about the past, alternate reality, thinking you are what you aren't. In our arrogance we think that we are hold six aces and will have the chance for that last dance. The lie that you tell yourself will tie you into knots and cause to have to take that bitter pill (facing the truth) so that you can get back to being real.
Memories are a record of all the things that we have experienced. Good or bad they thoughts from your past, private archive within your mind, that will always be with you they do not define who you are if you do not let them play with your mind.
Now here a memory for you to keep for all time so do not waste your time wondering what if, because of this memory was a precious gift. He came from Heaven to this earth and paid a price to give us new birth. Now if you keep this memory close to your heart you will find new life, have faith is all it takes.
From the cross to the earth, from the earth to the sky he did rise. Salvation and a peace of mind you will find. The light of truth and never a dark day will lead the way. He the truth and the light for He is the way, that's what the Gospel said. Jesus is the only way remember the price that He paid. This faith, this memory just might save you on judgment day, faith in Him is the only way.
"In memory of father and the Son a debt that was not owed He paid. So that we could find our way back home, a memory worth keeping alive. He was wounded for our transgression, crushed for our iniquities: by His wounds we are healed"
Isaiah 53
Copyright ©
randall graves
Not a day goes by I don't think of you
you have permeated my fortress and walk freely in all its rooms
(examining it's furnishings)
how did I allow you entry without the
usual search scan and seizure ?
I'ts like a foreign substance and all
my antibodies are seeking to eradicate
your presence (anti-christs)
My mind and heart find your entrance exhilarating
like ecstasy ( a neurologically happy drug ,
which by the way I've never imbibed in but the
other one I'm only slightly familiar with)
My body wants to throw you off like some
intruder to the death it lies in bondaged slavery of.
I finally understand the WAR.
I want to isolate this substance and imbibe at will
or as often as I desire.
There's no corner on the market for this substance,
you can only get this by freely accepting it as your
own life blood , the loss of which kills us , but it's
flow is what keeps us alive.
I desire to lay in it's bliss
like basking in a warm sun's rays
unfortunately I burn easily , so I usually limit
my exposure to substances I feel may do me damage.
But OH , HOW GOOD this FEELS , as though I should
have been born to this naturally .
But NO , love is not the natural substance of the world
in it's battlements and fortresses erected by men and
so thoroughly indoctrinated into his very being .
I just want to bottle this and share it with everyone.
But everyone "knows" every really really great substance
wears off and kicking the habit is way way painful .
But I want to suck this up and live in it , to have the heat
of it never dim , until it is an all consuming fire that lights
everything in it's sphere . Yes LOVE JUNKIE , child of God
a shameless addict to truth about the paths people choose
to "lose" themselves on .
I've been like a bloodhound sniffing out every trail looking
for this substance the one that transforms you into fully
brilliantly vibrantly alive , and to roll in it until every fiber
of my being is saturated with it's fragrance.
The factory that manufactures this is built within ,
and I want unlimited access , but my own body has
set up perimeters and walls to fence off my full access
to my own God given life source ..(the curse)
You can only have full admittance when you can use
it's power to give life and not destroy others , to be
able to manage it usefully for the benefit of all.
But I'm a natural indulgent in what feels good ,
substances always on the intake , seeking to have a
balm that shields me from being abused or seeing
my own abuses of Life. My ability to utilize a substance
so powerful is limited by my training , my will and my
exposure to everything that seeks to sell it on the open
market like a thrill seeker , or cheap whore who can be
had for a bouquet and dinner , which is quickly consumed
in one night and disappears tomorrow . Nothing that the
world offers can even slightly imitate the magnitude and
power residing where Love dwells . When you've been
allowed to taste its manna , the desire for a plateful
is now not even enough but the drive to constant partaking
of its presence is now an all consuming fire and I am
driven to sign up for the lifetime plan . For better is a life
that feeds on love daily , than to choke and suffocate on
the bowls of hatred served up daily in the worlds menu.
I have relished the view from opposite sides of the room ,
when you're ready for the permanent plan you will
have to crossover to the other side . I know you read me,
like the good book , and when you understand you can
hide it from the world , but not from me , or yourself .
We want full access to the wellspring of life and love , I'm
willing to share the source , but it's a limited partnership (MLP)
on a lifetime plan , but it's riches are infinite and can only
be provided by the source. If you're willing to crossover ,
I'll allow you re-entry and full access ... Love
COPYRIGHT © 2013 C Michael Miller
via Duboff Law Group LLC
Metaphor of outrage, Translation of Carlos Bousono's poem : Metafora del desafuero
( In celebration of a birthday)
for Andrés Amoros
Having been outside of you, yourself, dizzying voyage
and then
the quiet, beggar
of your conscience, hermit
in the desert of your inaction, believing
only in the cactus/thistle, in the excessive stone,
without a hole from which to drink, without food, without bread,
miserable and without grove
like a boat struck by tempest
but a tempest not particularly disruptive, without the grandeur
of this sum of experience
in a sea, now, later, monotonous, without end, monochromic,
with greying water,
or, better still, without it, sailing on it in its non-colour,
sailing in the not-water, with continuity in the never-monotony,
or in the midst of ruins after an earth-quake
that leaves everthing low,
rather in a place where there was no house nor where they put up
neither was the floor split open, nor were there cracks,
there, exiled, without the remembrance of a lost country,
dumb, without the notion of a language ido*
all the shine shorn off, all persuation, all complaint,
irremediably left alone, but without solitude,
yet you hadn't any memory of any earlier companionship,
there, where no form of evocation could touch you,
even if to accomplish this, you had to be precise with the previous
declaration ;
there, there you were with your back to your own being,
without seeing, without seeing yourself,
even if sometimes the opposite took place and you began to think with
great clear-sightedness
who knows if for his (sic) condition, that is, principally,
your knee,
which happened, during this period, to occupy
the totality of your attentions and which grew (perceived then as of
a short distance) with it,
your enormous knee, your extraordinary foot, your great foot,
stepping on the treeless plain with resonance,
in a clatter like the rattle of a tambourine,
your gigantic foot,
your treacherous leg, rotund, which grew longer, alone and
autonomous, to a point where nobody could ever reach it,
and after that, but only afterwards,
your entire body made up of indeterminate materal, of noise, such
that your skeleton without peer,
your terrible skeleton, advancing with great strides
towards no one, towards nothing,
because later
everything of a sudden began to diminish in size and returned little
by little to its initial state,
and every part of your body began, by slow degrees – yes, this – to
absent itself :
first the flesh and the skin disappeared, and then your erect sex :
impenitent, the object of ridicule,
even if the nails continued with indifference to grow,
attentive exclusively to its pre-occupation with its strange sense
of avariciousness in an effort to acquire much more :
the hair, the beard, without paying any attention to how
parsimoniously it proceeded,
but, following which, that in itself, subjected to such a state of
enrapture, obliterated itself, and arrived punctually on the
generalization of the scrupulous duty to obedience,
which is to disengage itself, in all precision, without any exception
whatsoever, nor leaving even an iota of dust on the polished
surface of the piece of furniture,
the chaos of not being seen, the scandal of invisibility, of confusion,
there, on the obverse side of truth, on the other side of lying
on the frontier which it was deemed not worthy of being demarcated,
this area without topography where truth and lies appeared
as the self-same answer to the question that you didn't pose.
Oh ! Beggar of your conscience ! Oh ! Scrutinisor !
Oh ! finicky Explorer !
Oh ! Celebrator of the unfortunate !
* Ido, cf. Idus, meaning the « Ides » of March, etc., in English. I don't quite know. Could the poet be so kind as to enlighten us ?
© T. Wignesan – Paris, 2013
Copyright ©
T Wignesan
Submitted to the "Gone Fishin" contest
Trollin' the islands at Texoma,
It was April, 1964.
New rod and reel in hand,
I'd NEVER been fishing before.
A Garcia 2510T casting rod.
The reel, a Mitchell 301,
Plus hand-selected worms and lures…
I was ready to have some fun.
My teacher, a master fisherman,
Had fished all over the earth...
From trout in Austrian mountain streams
To sea bass just west of Perth.
He showed me all the basics,
Including how to tie a lure.
"No snaps. They're no good.
Tie'em on…just to be sure."
He made me practice casting.
"Take aim with your rod's tip
Take her back - ten, eleven, twelve, one;
Smoothly return to ten… with just a little flip."
While I practiced the casting motion,
He said, "Large Mouths will be jumpin' bugs.
Water's bubblin' with Sand Bass spawnin'.
You'll know the difference if one gives you a tug."
As we drifted around the islands,
He said, "I think you're ready."
So, I picked a lure, a pretty Heddon;
And tied her on. My hands were steady.
Yellow with black dots and a weed guard.
A streamer tail and double treble hooks.
Who knew if she would do the job,
But I liked the way she looked.
As I tied her on, I looked around
For a likely place for my first cast.
Magazine pictures always showed weeds
In the background of a striking Bass.
So, I picked a reed bed in the shallows;
Threw my first cast, watched her fly.
What happened next was the stuff of dreams.
We couldn't believe our eyes.
About eighteen inches before she lit,
A monstrous Large Mouth erupted from the water.
My teacher screamed, "Holy Mary, Mother of God!
Kiss O'Reilly's Ugly Daughter!"
When the Bass broke water, it scared me.
My whole body jerked and shook.
So sudden, so silent, it seemed like slow motion.
Until I heard him screaming, "Set the hook! Set the hook!"
When the big Bass scared me,
I must have set the hook.
The tussle was on, long and hard.
This fish didn't want to be cooked.
My lack of skills prevailed, however,
As I finally reeled him in;
I grabbed him by the lower lip,
Like I'd seen Don Wallace do, time and time again.
"Oh, my God", he murmured as he weighed the Bass;
"Jeez. Over thirteen pounds....Thirteen pounds, two."
He took out his Polaroid and laughed,
"I'll take a picture of this fish... holdin' you."
He snapped the picture of me holding the Bass;
On the back wrote the date, the length and weight.
As he turned to put the camera away……
Get ready. This is the part that's great.
I'd watched Don Wallace 'catch and release'.
He always did that on his show.
"This fish put up a good fight." he'd say;
"Now it's time to let him go."
Yes, as my teacher put away the camera,
I held the big Bass by the lower lip and tail
And 'swished' him in the water,
Making sure his gills would not fail.
My teacher turned and saw what I was doing
Just as I let the big Bass go.
This, too, was like slow motion
As I heard him screaming, "NOOOOOOO!"
"Why would you do that, Lad?
Do ya know nothin' at all?
A fish like that... on your very first cast?
Well...Lad, that fish goes on the wall."
"Well…he'll be here next year." I said with a smile,
"And even bigger, I'll bet."
He said, "You'll make a fisherman, Lad.
It's not for the fish that we fish…
but for the great stories we get."
I still have that lure…and the rod and reel.
Still in their bags and boxes, just like new.
I thought about selling them on eBay,
But 50 years later, they have sentimental value.
You see…I've been invited to go fishin' several times
By golfin' buddies and other friends;
But for some reason…I really don't know why…
I've never gone fishin' again.
They say, "Truth is stranger than fiction."
And I believe that is a fact.
I hope you enjoyed this bit of truth and,
In the meantime….."Ya'll come back!"


text:
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122,137pages on
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Wheat was a food product. A variant of it, dry gene wheat, was used in Skannbult Likker, along with dust corn.
- Star Wars Galaxies: An Empire Divided (First appearance)
- Death Star Technical Companion
- Galaxy Guide 9: Fragments from the Rim (Mentioned only)
See alsoEdit
- Wheat on Wikipedia


text:
Can I get some clarification on a few AIOSEO settings?
1) "Show Column Labels for Custom Post Types"
Performance Settings:
2) Why does "Raise Memory Limit" seem to default to 256MB, which I believe changed my prior PHP limit, which was set to 64MB?
3) To what does the default PHP setting refer? Is it the PHP setting prior to AIOSEO being activated?


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IMAN Second to None Cream to Powder Foundation - Earth 10g
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Tigers' identity? They win big games
Wrapping up the top-10 win with takeaways, grades and more
Wrapping up the top-10 win with takeaways, grades and more
Wrapping up the top-10 win with takeaways, grades and more
Notes and quotes from the win over No. 6 Notre Dame
Clemson coordinators break down the win
Clemson players and coaches react to the win over No. 6 Notre Dame
6-9 forward will be in town on Oct. 3; says decision comes down to 'comfortability level'
Clemson hosts Duke on Jan. 13
Tigers-Tar Heels is a part of a Dec. 30 doubleheader
6-foot-6 prospect had offers nationwide
Check out photos from inside the new facility and Monte Lee's charge
Clemson catcher Chris Okey: "We've had a blast and we're learning a lot."
Tigers coach, players met with media in advance of their first fall practice Friday
Vetzel led the team in 2015 with four saves in 20 appearances
100th anniversary of Riggs Field marked by Tiger victories
Florida State hands Clemson women's soccer team first loss
After upset of Notre Dame, Tigers look to continue momentum
Tigers win third match in a row, improve to 6-1-1
Ace Tiger golfer wins spot in PGA Tour event as well as a US Amateur slot
Several Clemson players chase title at Chanticleer Course
Martin sits two shots out of the lead at Chambers Bay
Trio will play in the afternoon and evening for TV locally on FOX networks