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The snow on the fire escape this morning (courtesy of superstorm Jonas) reminded me of this 2008 piece about Loren MacIver that I originally published in The Brooklyn Rail:
In my first college painting course, which I took several years after completing an art history degree, my teacher Arnold Trachtman said that my painting of the bathroom sink reminded him of Loren MacIver�s work. I had no idea who she was, and without the convenience of the Internet, never looked her up. But 20 years later, when I saw that the Alexandre Gallery was presenting an exhibition of her paintings, I recalled Arnie�s offhand remark and made a pilgrimage of sorts up to 57th Street.
[Image at top: Loren MacIver, Spring Snow, 1958, oil on fiberboard, 45 3/4 x 27 1/8 inches. courtesy of Alexandre Gallery]
After seeing MacIver�s work, I wondered how such an accomplished and distinctive painter could have flown so completely outside my radar. A lifelong New Yorker, MacIver died in 1998 at 90. The Pierre Matisse Gallery took her on in the late 1940s, back in the days when galleries rarely represented women, and kept showing and selling her work for fifty years. The prevailing story is that she was largely self-taught, and that what minimal art training she had consisted of Saturday classes at the Art Student�s League when she was ten. It�s said she did not crave fame, and was reticent about her work, which depicts the objects and incidents of her daily life in a fragile, ethereal style reminiscent of Marc Chagall and Paul Klee. Although her name isn�t as well-known as female contemporaries like Georgia O�Keefe, she represented the United States at the 1962 Venice Biennale, had a retrospective at the Whitney, and placed work in many prestigious collections.
A Classicist of the Ordinary
MacIver worked small, usually about easel-sized, depicting objects from her immediate surroundings and views of the city. Although the imagery rarely includes figures, the paintings are infused with MacIver�s singular tranquility. During the late forties, when painting was becoming physically big, angst-ridden, and unprecedentedly theoretical in its exploration of new modes of non-representational painting, MacIver kept her canvases compact and continued developing an intimate brand of lyrical abstraction that remained mimetically based. Her glazed colors, applied in multiple layers of sketchy, delicate brushwork, are vibrant and rich; light seems to emanate from obscure objects, which can appear real or merely suggested. Thus, MacIver�s warm, poetic interpretations of ordinary life and the objects that populate it stood out against a jangle of painterly turmoil and discursiveness. Unlike the iconic painters of the day�the Pollocks, Newmans, Rothkos, and Reinhardts�who were intent on changing the course of art history, she eschewed theory and resisted the urge to contrive elegant commentary to satisfy art critics. �I have no theories of art,� she said in a 1993 ArtNews interview with Jonathan Santlofer. �I don�t know if that�s good or bad. It�s just me.�
There are indications that MacIver was neither gormless nor self-abnegating when it came to her career. She certainly recognized that being a woman could affect it negatively. When she was in her late teens, she adopted a moniker that obscured her gender. MacIver scholar Jenni Schlossman discovered in the census records that MacIver was born �Mary Newman,� but changed �Mary� to �Loren,� and adopted MacIver, which is a variation on her mother�s maiden name, McIvers. Yet at bottom, her anti-theoretical stance appears to have been resolute and genuine. It seems to have set her apart and enhanced her persona as an outsider, a na�f in the edgy territory of Abstract Expressionist histrionics, loftiness, and, arguably, pretension. During the forties, her work was acclaimed for its honest exploration of domestic subject matter and its frank, unapologetically female viewpoint, but in the late fifties and sixties, her paintings lost much of their currency to Abstract Expressionism and later to Minimalism. Nevertheless, MacIver, unlike contemporaries such as Louise Nevelson and Lee Krasner, had no urge to drain her work of content customarily considered �female,� and refused to do so simply to be taken seriously in a decidedly masculine arena.
"Patisserie," (1970). Oil on canvas. 19 3/4 � 28 3/4 in. Courtesy of the Alexandre Gallery.
A formidable cast of friends and supporters undoubtedly helped MacIver sustain her unfashionable artistic identity. Despite her self-imposed terseness, her cohort consisted primarily of hyper-verbal poets: Marianne Moore, Elizabeth Bishop, Dylan Thomas, and e. e. cummings. She and poet Lloyd Frankenberg married when they were 20, and stayed together until he died in 1975. MacIver�s extended family of literati took it upon themselves to champion her painting, which had more in common with their verse of the humble and ordinary than it did with the muscular brio of the NYC painting scene. Nominating MacIver to the American Academy and Institute of Arts in 1956, Marianne Moore characterized her as �a classicist of the imagination, an interpreter of what cannot be painted.�
In an essay Frankenberg wrote in 1960 about their lean early years, he tells how he schlepped MacIver�s paintings all over town trying to sell them. According to this charming account, he did so well that galleries wanted to hire him. Frankenberg�s most important sale was to Alfred H. Barr, Jr., then director of the Museum of Modern Art. Dealer Julien Levy told Frankenberg that money had been donated to the museum to buy work by younger artists, so Frankenberg rushed over to see Barr. After examining each painting carefully, Barr bought two�one for his own collection and one for MoMA. MacIver thus became the first woman represented in MoMA�s permanent collection. To be sure, she was very fortunate to have such an articulate and devoted network to explain and celebrate her artwork and her intentions. Yet in this she was not alone. Her prime coincided with a period of high intellectual expectation for painting, and critics often acted as spokespersons for shy or inarticulate artists. Clement Greenberg probably did more for Jackson Pollock�s career than MacIver�s cadre of poets did for hers. And her fortuitous selection to represent the United States at the 1962 Venice Biennale seems to have played a considerably more important role in her career.
Image of Loren MacIver from the 2002 exhibition catalog Loren MacIver: The First Matisse Years. MacIver is shown in her studio at 86 Christopher Street in the 1930s. Courtesy of the Alexandre Gallery.
The Venice Biennale
Since MoMA had organized the 1962 American exhibition in Venice, I made an appointment at the archives to get more information about the exhibition and the participating artists. In the early 1960s, the museum was shouldering the enormous cost of both maintaining the American Pavillion in Venice (which was in structural disrepair) and mounting the American exhibition. For museum director Rene d�Harnoncourt, financial considerations therefore were crucial. His task boiled down to securing a worthy exemplar of American art whose work would not cost an exorbitant amount to ship and install. The initial plan, according to d�Harnoncourt�s correspondence, was to have a big show of Mark Rothko�s paintings. Rothko�s work was already in Italy at an exhibition in Rome, so expenses would be minimal. The Biennale committee, however, nixed the idea a mere three months before the event on the grounds that Biennale regulations called for new exhibitions. Having already been presented in Europe, the Rothko show was deemed ineligible. The MoMA staff�s second choice was a show combining the work of sculptor Louise Nevelson, which was readily available from her Paris dealer Daniel Cordi�r, and that of sculptor Dimitri Hadzi. Painters under consideration included Jan Muller, who in 1958 had died at the age of 35, Barnett Newman, Richard Diebenkorn, Ad Reinhardt, Jasper Johns, Josef Albers, and Loren MacIver.
With time running out, MoMA painting curator James Thrall Soby, a personal friend of MacIver�s, quickly contacted museums and collectors to determine whether they would collectively lend a sufficient number of MacIver paintings to fill the space. The answer came back in the affirmative, and time worked in MacIver�s favor. Soby sent a telegram to Paris, where MacIver had been living. It read: �museum of modern art planning american representation for venice biennale this summer hoping to devote one gallery to you. other painting gallery memorial show jan muller. center-sculpture louise nevelson. hadzi bronzes in front of building. very much hope you agree. time very short. please cable modern art. love, soby.�
MacIver was elated. �deeply honored, and delighted,� her return cable read, �am writing all love loren maciver.� Nevelson headlined the American contingent with two galleries. But, thanks substantially to Soby�s expeditious research and stalwart advocacy, as his telegram anticipated, MacIver was given a gallery alongside the memorial exhibition for Muller, with Hadzi�s sculptures outside. Most of the twenty-five MacIvers that were hung in Venice were owned by museums (Metropolitan, Whitney, Wadsworth Atheneum, Art Institute of Chicago) and New York collectors with whom MoMA had cozy relationships. The Pierre Matisse Gallery lent three, which were for sale at prices ranging from $5,000 to $7,500.
The hastily organized press materials stressed that the show was intended to highlight the individuality of the four invited artists and not aimed at illuminating any particular direction in contemporary American art. This concept, unlike any of the previous American installations at the Venice Biennale, drew skepticism. In a handwritten note to d�Harnoncourt, Tibor de Nagy Gallery director John Bernard Myer said the museum�s choices left him �really depressed.� He was particularly baffled by the choices of Muller (�a very beginning talent�) and MacIver. �Louise Nev. is OK,� he wrote, �but I don�t know who possibly could have chosen MacIver.� Swept up in the intellectual momentum of progressive modernism, mainstream players in the art world were blas� about a more purely intuitive artist like MacIver. A dozen of MacIver�s paintings found their way into the Metropolitan�s collection in 2002, but that was out of 154 paintings that the Pierre and Maria-Gaetana Matisse Foundation donated from Pierre Matisse�s private collection. Ironically, after Pierre Matisse died and his gallery closed in 1990, the Tibor De Nagy Gallery represented MacIver.
MacIver�s Niche
MacIver�s paintings hold up today because they convey her emotional response to her daily life. Their value is intrinsic to the paintings themselves, and appreciating them doesn�t hinge on the historical context of their creation, their pivotal importance in the history of art, or anything beyond an appreciation of one painter�s enduring process of apprehending the life around her. Thus, somewhat paradoxically, it is the existential timelessness of her work that secures her a niche in art history. In an essay about MacIver�s work, Soby wrote that MacIver used �light as a diagnostic of emotional penetration� and �color as if it were an enchanted dust.� He concluded on a suitably elegiac note: �America may have other painters with more vigor,� but none �whose emotion is more evocatively refined or surely expressed.�
Pollock, Rothko, Newman, and the others were investigating novel avenues of non-representational painting. MacIver�s heartfelt, meditative depictions of household objects, buildings, and landscapes were seen as less ambitious and largely dismissed by trend-making painting theoreticians of the day. Yet judging by the heightened appreciation for artists like Giorgio Morandi, Elizabeth Murray, Richard Tuttle, Ellen Phelan, and Amy Sillman�who, like MacIver, have all invested everyday things and experiences with extraordinary emotion�her perspective turns out to have been equally valid. Beyond that, MacIver anticipated the exploration of femaleness and self-identity that blossomed in the feminist movement during the late Sixties and Seventies. From this perspective, the otherwise thoughtfully curated WACK! Art and the Feminist Revolution exhibition at P.S. 1 seems to have missed a chance by excluding MacIver. Certainly she does not belong with the explicitly militant artists whose work qualified as groundbreaking agitprop. But if Mary Heilmann�s restive painting of a blood-red HVAC vent constitutes feminist art�and I believe it does, at least with a small �f��then so do MacIver�s doleful painting of a fire escape in sooty red light and her forlorn brown Crocus.
MacIver herself probably would not have fretted about P.S. 1�s omission. According to James Kerr, MacIver�s longtime studio assistant and executor of her estate, she felt lucky, and was content with the trajectory of her career. Her show at the Alexandre Gallery�and indeed, her life�demonstrate vividly that making art is fundamentally a personal endeavor, and one that ideally remains unbeholden to fashion or trend. Still, that is a lesson that even MacIver may have struggled to heed. Jonathan Santlofer interviewed her and several other painters in their eighties. �Sometimes it�s very hard to know who you are,� MacIver told him. �Only lately has it gotten easier. I�m more at peace now, no longer distracted by so many outside things and worries. I think artists must learn to leave the voices in their heads alone � let them carry on as best they can without you. Now I just paint.� Twenty years ago, I may have handled my brush in a manner similar to MacIver and chosen kindred subjects. It has taken longer to understand what it is to just paint.
Two Coats of Paint is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution – Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License. To use content beyond the scope of this license, permission is required.


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Happy Friday Friends!! I'm always trying to figure out what to wear during the various stages of motherhood! Today I posted my ideal Summer Play Date outfit and I'd love to hear what you guys are…Continue
Started this discussion. Last reply by Lindsey Kaye Aug 3, 2011. 1 Reply 0 Likes
Hi Lovelies! I'm hoping to connect with other fashion loving bloggers! I'm a new Mom (can you still say that with a 13 month old?! Where does the time go??), with a not-so-new blog. I write about…Continue
Just followed you on Twitter. VERY happy to meet a fellow fashion lover. I am equally obsessed with fashion.
Hey there!! Thanks for reaching out! I just joined Mom Bloggers Club. I love, love fashion too for myself as well as my Chilo. What are your favorite shops? I'll stop by your blog and say hey!
hi Natalie.
Of course I'll be your friend ;-) I'm gonna go take a look at your blog right now! Thanks for the invite.
Thanks for the friend invite! I will totally check out your blog and follow you.! Nice meeting you :-)
Thanks for the friend invite. :) I'll look forward to reading your blog and getting to chat with you! I'm at http://love2encourageyou.blogspot.com. Have a blessed weekend!
I hope you can be our follower at www.madamidea.blogspot.com, I will yours too
Madam Idea
Hi Natalie! Thanks for the friend request. I hope you have a blessed weekend. :)
Natalie- I just glanced at your blog and so far LOVE it- can't wait to explore more!!!! :)

subset: commoncrawl


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I have to admit I didn't read the whole thing (kinda long) but I liked the section on deffering taxes, you made some good points there. Thanks for the post!
Your IRA and 401(k) (or 403(b) if you work for a non-profit) are great tools for deferring taxes, and have other advantages as well. But because they're labeled "retirement" accounts, people are much too likely to put the wrong investments in them. Here's how to use them correctly.
Because of rules designed to discourage people from taking money out until they approach retirement age, people assume that they ought to put their "long-term" investments in their 401(k). But that's the wrong way to think about it.
The key difference in a 401(k) or IRA account is not that it's supposed to be for your retirement. The key difference is that money that goes into the account--and money earned in the account--is tax deferred. If you let the fact that the accounts are called "retirement" accounts influence what assets you hold in them, you're unlikely to make maximum use of their key feature--and that amounts to throwing money away.
There are two steps to optimizing your various retirement accounts. The first is to get some money into them, and the second is to put the right investments into the right accounts.
First of all, you probably want to put as a big chunk of your regular income into your 401(k), as you can.
I say "probably" because there are a few reasons why you might want to limit how much money you put in your 401(k):
Of course, if your company still provides a corporate match, that plays into the decision as well. I've got a post on when NOT to put money in your 401(k) that talks about those issues in some detail. To what I'd say there I'd only add that federal income tax rates are currently at generational lows. That, combined with the current level of the deficit, suggests to me that future tax rates are likely to be higher than current tax rates--another reason why you might not want to put all your long-term savings in your 401(k).
The allocation of assets among your various long-term goals is a completely different step from the selection of which account should hold which asset. Understanding this can add substantially to your wealth.
You probably have several long-term goals. Retirement (including early retirement) is one, but anything that requires years of saving qualifies as a long-term goal. (Examples: college savings for a young child, money to start a business, your dream home, a round-the-world cruise).
Investments for all your long-term goals can and should be managed together. All your assets support all your goals; you just confuse yourself if you start thinking that these stocks are for retirement while those other ones are to put a new roof on the house someday.
So, step one is to figure out your ideal asset allocation. This probably includes putting a large fraction of your investments in a broad-based, low-cost stock index fund, but may include investments in many other asset classes: mutual funds that invest in foreign stocks or dividend-paying stocks (or direct investments in such stocks), bonds, real estate, gold, silver, other commodities, etc.
Only after you've figured out how you want to invest your entire portfolio do you want to figure out which accounts should hold which investments.
The key to this step is to put income-earning investments in tax-deferred accounts.
Your asset allocation may include an investment in non-dividend paying stocks. They'd be part of a long-term investment strategy whose purpose is to produce growth over the next 20 or 30 years--but just because they're long-term does not mean that they should go in your 401(k)! Quite the reverse: a non-dividend paying stock that's a core holding in your portfolio should be in your regular brokerage account. If it does well you can go on holding it for years and years and won't have to pay any taxes until you sell--and when you do sell, you'll owe taxes at the low capital-gains rate.
Holding that investment in your retirement account would be crazy. First, since you already don't owe taxes while you're holding it, you'd get no benefit from the tax deferral. Second, when you withdraw money from a retirement account you have to pay taxes on it as regular income--losing the favorable tax treatment for capital gains.
(It doesn't work out any better if the investment does poorly--in your regular brokerage account you can use a capital loss to offset other gains before paying taxes, but losses in a retirement account are just losses.)
You don't want the compartment decision to drive your asset allocation--you already decided what investments you wanted to hold. But those assets should end up in compartments based on tax considerations. Interest-earning investments like bonds go in tax-deferred accounts. So do investments with frequent turnover--if you make trades in your regular brokerage account you have to pay taxes on your profits every year.
Dividends are a special case. Currently dividends are receiving favorable tax treatment, so you're probably better off keeping most dividend-paying stocks outside of your 401(k) at the moment. This is likely to change, though, so you'll have to monitor the situation.
If you have a good 401(k) plan with lots of low-cost fund choices, it should be easy to hit your target allocation with most of your interest-earning investments (and investments that you might trade actively) inside the plan.
In an ideal world it would be straightforward to allocate things to the different categories: You'd put the things that earned interest into your 401(k) and IRA while keeping things that produced capital gains (and currently dividends as well) in regular accounts.
In the real world there are a bunch of constraints on that, the biggest being that many people, especially younger folks, have practically their whole wealth concentrated in their 401(k).
This happens almost automatically: You get a job, you direct enough money into your 401(k) to get the full corporate match (back when companies actually paid a corporate match), and then you spent most of your take-home pay. You can't hold your stock portfolio in your brokerage account (where you'd get the maximum tax advantage of the capital gains and dividend tax breaks) because you just don't have enough money outside the 401(k).
This and similar real-world considerations are going to limit your ability to get this exactly right--and that's to be expected. The important thing is to base your asset-allocation decisions on your best analysis of your goals and your expectations for the future. Below I've got a few tips for dealing with specific situations.
The main limitation on your ability to optimize your 401(k) plan has to do with the choices your employer offers within the plan. Happily, you can work around even a pretty mediocre plan's limitations, as long as you at least some of your long-term savings outside your 401(k).
First, take a close look at the investment choices you've got and compare them to your desired asset allocation. Maybe there's no bond fund, but there is a balanced investment fund that's half-and-half stocks and bonds. If you wanted 20% in bonds you could get that by putting 40% of your money into the balanced fund. (That would also put 20% of your money into stocks--which is fine, as long as your stock allocation is at least 20%, which it probably is.)
Second, where you really can't find the investments you need within the plan (no international fund, perhaps, or no gold fund) you have to cover that fraction of your asset allocation elsewhere--which is also fine, as long as you have some of your long-term investments outside the plan. If the investment is one that ought to be tax-deferred, see if you can't buy the appropriate asset within an IRA.
Generally, make hitting your asset allocation your number one priority. Maximum tax efficiency is a secondary consideration--but to the extent that you can keep your bond investments (and any investments where you make frequent trades) inside a tax-deferred plan, you'll come out ahead.
As a secondary matter, start saving some money outside your 401(k). As the sum grows, use it to invest for capital gains (and, for however long they remain tax-advantaged, dividends)--and simultaneously shift your 401(k) toward interest-earning investments that make maximum use of the 401(k)'s tax advantages.
For most people this will probably be a long-term problem: Unless you become quite wealthy, your 401(k) will always be larger than the amount of money you want to hold in bonds. But that's not a big problem. Just stick with your asset allocation and emphasize capital gains and dividends outside the 401(k).
A Roth IRA is a special case. If you follow the rules (wait until your Roth is 5 years old and until you're 59-and-a-half), you can avoid paying any taxes on money earned in a Roth.
The upshot is that most of these issues don't really apply to a Roth. Just invest according to your asset allocation and don't worry about it.
Remember that tax rates always change (and everyone's individual tax situation is different), so be sure to check and understand how the rules will actually apply in your case.
Whatever mix of retirement accounts you end up using, don't let the fact that they're called "retirement" accounts distract you from the essential features that distinguish those accounts: the tax advantages. Taking maximum advantage of those features can add significantly to your wealth over the next few decades.
[Update 6 August 2009: This post was included in the Carnival of Personal Finance.]
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I have to admit I didn't read the whole thing (kinda long) but I liked the section on deffering taxes, you made some good points there. Thanks for the post!
This helped me understand the accounts and allocations our financial adviser has been recommending to us. I had a general "this sounds like a good idea" feeling before, and your explanation made it more concrete. Thank you, Philip.
I did not see a traditional IRA mentioned anywhere. Would you ever recommend them as part of the mix? I have one because I rolled over my 401k from a previous employer into an IRA, rather than moving it to my new employer's 401k (I have more investment options in the IRA). Is there an income bracket the traditional IRA is most appropriate for?
Yes, I would like to hear your thoughts concerning traditional IRA's. I have total stock, bond and reit funds in mine. I assume I will be in a higher tax bracket in retirement because of the IRA, as I am low income (today).
If your 401(k) plan has one or two good choices, but is missing something significant, an IRA can give you a tax-advantaged place to buy whatever is missing. (Lots of plans don't have a REIT option, for example, but that'd be easy to buy in an IRA).
IRAs are also really important for people who don't have a 401(k)--people who are self-employed or work for a really small company.
If you've got a really good 401(k)--one with a good selection of investments and high enough limits that you can tax shelter as much money as you want--and especially one with a good corporate match--then you probably don't get much benefit from having an IRA as well. In that circumstance, I'd probably go with a Roth IRA instead.
I would be careful to use the statement "You never pay taxes on money earned in a Roth." Are you sure that is correct?
Nothing with the tax code is ever easy. I was trying to make the point that, if you follow the rules (don't take money out until your account is 5 years old and wait until you're 59-and-a-half), then you don't owe taxes on the earnings in your Roth: It doesn't matter if they're from income or capital gains, and it doesn't matter how much you withdraw in any particular year. But, you're right--if you take money out before your Roth is 5 years old, you may owe taxes on the earnings. And, like with other retirement accounts, there's a 10% penalty tax if you take the money out before you're 59-and-a-half. (There are a bunch of exceptions--you can take the money out early without penalty if you become disabled, for example, or to buy a first house, or to pay college expenses, or to pay your medical insurance expenses if you lose your job--there are plenty more.)
Gory details here:
[Updated to add--I've updated the main text as well so that it comes closer to saying what I meant.]
Great article on a very complicated topic! I also suggest checking out Allstate Insurance's Web site on IRA's and other financial tools for more information: All State Insurance IRA
Advocate of Allstate
"Holding that investment in your retirement account would be crazy. First, since you already don't owe taxes while you're holding it, you'd get no benefit from the tax deferral. Second, when you withdraw money from a retirement account you have to pay taxes on it as regular income--losing the favorable tax treatment for capital gains."
The second point is really, really wrong. You contribute to retirement accounts like a 401k or traditional IRAs with pre-tax income and get taxed when you withdraw at your income rate, likely to be lower in retirement. In contrast, in regular accounts, you've already paid taxes on the amount you've decided to invest and are paying capital gains on top of it--getting doubly taxed at a likely higher rate.
In contrast to finicking around with arbitraging tax rates, investors should take advantage of the enforced long-term horizon of their retirement accounts and tax-deferred growth to engage in buy-and-hold strategies with high expected total return to maximize growth.
I guess I still think I'm right.
In a regular account you've already paid income taxes on the money you save. Any capital gains you earn are (currently) taxed at a very low rate.
In a tax-advantaged account you defer income taxes when you put the money away, but then you pay income taxes at the (then current) rate for income when you take the money out. My point was that capital gains lose their preferential tax treatment in a 401(k) or IRA—you pay taxes at the rate for regular income on everything you take out.
Assuming that your investments will return a mix of interest, dividends, and capital gains, you'd want, as much as possible, to earn your interest in a tax-advantaged account, and earn your capital gains in a regular account.
(Note, of course, that all these tax details are liable to change. Just now, for example, dividends are taxed at a low rate, so there's a second reason to hold stocks in a regular account. But that preferential treatment is scheduled to expire at the end of the year, and it's anybody's guess as to whether that feature will be extended or not.)
Your long-term goals should be funded with long-term investments and your short-term goals with short-term investments. The decision about which type of account should be used to hold which type of investment is a tax-preference decision, not a goal time-horizon question.
And, when you think about it, the "enforced" long-term horizon is really just a crutch anyway. Once your finances are under control, you can establish your own horizons in accordance with your own values. You don't need the government to enforce a long-term horizon for you.


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When Tableau was founded back in 2003, not many people were thinking about artificial intelligence to drive analytics and visualization, but over the years the world has changed and the company recognized that it needed talent to keep up with new trends. Today, it announced it was acquiring Empirical Systems, an early stage startup with AI roots.
Tableau did not share the terms of the deal.
The startup was born just two years ago from research on automated statistics at the MIT Probabilistic Computing Project. According to the company website, "Empirical is an analytics engine that automatically models structured, tabular data (such as spreadsheets, tables, or csv files) and allows those models to be queried to uncover statistical insights in data."
The product was still in private Beta when Tableau bought the company. It is delivered currently as an engine embedded inside other applications. That sounds like something that could slip in nicely into the Tableau analytics platform. What's more, it will be bringing the engineering team on board for some AI knowledge, while taking advantage of this underlying advanced technology.
Francois Ajenstat, Tableau's chief product officer says this ability to automate findings could put analytics and trend analysis into the hands of more people inside a business. "Automatic insight generation will enable people without specialized data science skills to easily spot trends in their data, identify areas for further exploration, test different assumptions, and simulate hypothetical situations," he said in a statement.
Richard Tibbetts, Empirical Systems CEO, says the two companies share this vision of democratizing data analysis. "We developed Empirical to make complex data modeling and sophisticated statistical analysis more accessible, so anyone trying to understand their data can make thoughtful, data-driven decisions based on sound analysis, regardless of their technical expertise," Tibbets said in a statement.
Instead of moving the team to Seattle where Tableau has its headquarters, it intends to leave the Empirical Systems team in place and establish an office in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
Empirical was founded in 2016 and has raised $2.5 million.


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OVERVIEW: What every practitioner needs to know
Rubella virus is single stranded RNA virus of the Togaviridae family (genus Rubivirus). Rubella virus infection gives rise to two distinct clinical entities based on when the virus is acquired. When acquired postnatally, the virus produces a mild illness with a characteristic rash. However, when acquired during fetal development, the virus gives rise to the congenital rubella syndrome (CRS), which can be devastating. Its association with CRS led to the development of an effective vaccine in 1970. In countries that have adopted effective rubella vaccine strategies, the rates of natural rubella infection and CRS have plummeted. Unfortunately, many areas of the world lack effective rubella vaccine programs, and some groups in countries with access to the vaccine choose to forgo childhood immunizations. This leaves a substantial portion of the world population susceptible to rubella virus infection and CRS.
Are you sure your patient has rubella? What should you expect to find?
Postnatal Infection
20-50% of infected individuals are asymptomatic.
Prodromal symptoms
Young children: Younger patients are often asymptomatic until rash onset but can have mild coryza and diarrhea.Related Content
Adolescents and adults: Older patients frequently have prodromal symptoms for 1-5 days prior to the onset of rash. These can include eye pain (primarily with lateral and upward gaze), sore throat, headache, lymphadenopathy, fever (<38.5°C), aches, chills, anorexia, and nausea. Older patients may also exhibit upper respiratory tract infection symptoms and malaise.
The typical rash arises about 18 days (range 14-21 days) after exposure. It begins on the face and spreads centrifugally over 24 hours to the rest of the body, including the hands and feet. It is most confluent on the face and upper body, often remaining patchy on the lower extremities. On day 2, the rash fades from the face and, by day 3, has resolved completely.
The rash is composed of areas of discrete erythematous maculopapular lesions that can be pruritic (more common in older than younger patients).
The duration, pattern, and extent of rash during rubella infection can vary widely. Described patterns include fleeting macular rashes, scarlatiniform rash, morbilliform rash, and a slapped-cheek rash similar to that seen with erythema infectiosum.
Rubella demonstrates a distinctive pattern of lymphadenopathy manifest by enlargement of the post-auricular and sub-occipital nodes.
Generalized lymphadenopathy has also been described.
Lymphadenopathy is generally noted 1-7 days prior to the onset of rash.
Joint Involvement
Arthralgia is frequently reported in women (up to 70%) but is less common in men and children.
Frank arthritis, often of fingers, wrists, and knees, can accompany complaints of arthralgia.
Joint symptoms typically begin in the first week after the onset of the rash, and, in some cases, they can take several weeks to resolve.
All organ systems can be involved in the rubella-infected fetus, leading to an impressive array of possible findings at birth. CRS is characterized by the classic triad of cataracts, cardiac abnormalities, and deafness. Findings in infants with CRS include:
Common Features
Small for gestational age (SGA)
Sensorineural hearing loss
Eye findings: Cataracts, pigmented retinopathy, glaucoma, and others
Congenital heart disease: Patent ductus arteriosis (PDA) and peripheral pulmonic stenosis are most common, but other structural abnormalities may occur.
CNS: Microcephaly, meningoencephalitis
Thrombocytopenic purpura
Large anterior fontanel
Cryptorchidism/inguinal hernia
Uncommon Features
Hepatitis with jaundice
Generalized lymphadenopathy
Hemolytic anemia
How did the patient develop rubella infection? What was the primary source from which the infection spread?
Postnatal Infection: In the pre-vaccine era, rubella epidemics occurred in 6-9 year cycles with highest incidence in late winter and spring. In countries with effective vaccination programs, natural rubella infection is rare and is generally associated with travel to endemic regions. Infected individuals shed virus from the nasopharynx for 7 days prior to and 14 days after onset of the rash, with peak viral loads occurring 5 days prior to and 6 days following the onset of rash. The virus is transmitted via respiratory droplets and close contact with infected individuals.
CRS: Fetal rubella infection occurs when a rubella non-immune pregnant woman is infected. During maternal viremia, the virus infects the placenta, allowing the virus to pass into the fetal circulation. The virus readily infects embryonic stem cells of a wide variety of lineages once in the fetus, leading to the array of findings in CRS.
Which individuals are of greater risk of developing symptomatic rubella infection?
Postnatal Infection: Rubella non-immune individuals (unvaccinated and no prior natural infection)
CRS: Fetus of rubella non-immune mothers (first trimester > second trimester > third trimester)
Beware: there are other diseases that can mimic rubella infection:
Postnatal Infection: Measles has a similar but more pronounced fever and rash. Children with measles are more ill appearing at presentation. Other viral infections (e.g., enterovirus and adenovirus) can present with diffuse rash, fever, and lymphadenopathy. Toxoplasmosis is another cause of postauricular and suboccipital lymphadenopathy.
CRS: Due to the array of findings associated with CRS, there is considerable overlap between many of the congenital infection syndromes. Of the congenital infections, cytomegalovirus is most similar in presentation.
What laboratory studies should you order and what should you expect to find?
Results consistent with the diagnosis
Postnatal Infection: Complete blood count (CBC) with differential will often show leukopenia with lymphopenia more often than neutropenia. Thrombocytopenia is occasionally seen later in the course.
CRS: CBC may show thrombocytopenia and less commonly anemia. Liver transaminases may be elevated with hepatic involvement.
Results that confirm the diagnosis
Postnatal Infection
Viral Culture: Virus can be recovered from the nasopharynx and blood during the prodromal phase and up to 4 days following the onset of rash.
Serology: The presence of rubella-specific IgM in acute serum (persists for about 2 months) or a four-fold rise in rubella-specific IgG from acute to convalescent samples suggests recent infection. IgG antibody avidity may also be used for diagnosis. The presence of low-avidity antibodies suggests rubella infection within the previous 2 months. High-avidity antibodies suggest remote infection.
Viral Culture: Virus can be recovered at birth from urine, blood, and nasopharyngeal swabs. The likelihood of virus recovery declines over the first year of life. Virus can be isolated from most affected tissues but is not commonly performed.
Serology: Rubella-specific IgM can be detected at birth and can persist throughout the first year of life. Low-avidity rubella-specific IgG can be detected at birth and can persist for more than 1 year. Detection of rubella-specific IgG beyond 6 months of age is consistent with congenital infection.
Polymerase chain reaction (PCR): PCR is used primarily in prenatal diagnosis. PCR can also detect virus in most affected tissues, but it is not routinely recommended for the diagnosis of a congenitally infected infant or in the setting of postnatal infection.
What imaging studies will be helpful in making or excluding the diagnosis of rubella infection?
Postnatal Infection: Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the brain may be helpful if encephalitis is a concern.
CRS: Central nervous system (CNS) imaging with cranial ultrasound or MRI may help to define the degree of CNS involvement and aid in determining prognosis.
What consult service or services would be helpful for making the diagnosis and assisting with treatment?
Postnatal Infection: Consider an Infectious Diseases consult to aid in confirming diagnosis. Neurology may be helpful in managing encephalitis. Input from a Hematology/Oncology specialist may be useful if there is significant thrombocytopenia or if the origin of lymphadenopathy and leukopenia is not clear.
CRS: Severely affected patients often require care in a neonatal intensive care unit with assistance from a variety of subspecialty services. Input from Pediatric Infectious Diseases may be helpful in confirming the diagnosis. Assistance from Pediatric Ophthalmology can be useful to determine the extent of eye involvement. Pediatric Cardiology should be consulted to assess and treat congenital heart disease, and Pediatric Neurology can help in managing immediate CNS symptoms, such as encephalitis and seizures. Consultation from Palliative Care services should be considered for infants with extensive or severe organ system involvement. Other consultations should be guided by specific findings.
If you decide the patient has rubella infection, what therapies should you initiate immediately?
Postnatal Infection: No antiviral therapy is effective for postnatal rubella infection. Infected individuals should be counseled to avoid pregnant, non-immune individuals. Supportive therapy should be based on symptoms.
CRS: Likewise, no specific antiviral therapy is effective for patients with CRS. Supportive therapy should be targeted to involved systems.
What complications could arise as a consequence of rubella infection?
Postnatal Infection
Arthritis/Arthralgia: Polyarticular arthralgias and arthritis are common findings in post-pubertal adolescents and adults. Joint involvement is generally self-limited.
Encephalitis: Neurologic involvement is a less-common complication of infection (1:500-1:6000 cases of rubella) and is thought to be post-infectious in nature. Mortality associated with neurological complications can be as high as 50%, but full recovery usually occurs in surviving patients. Rarely, individuals can develop a progressive rubella panencephalitis as a remote consequence of rubella infection.
Hematologic Manifestations: Hemorrhagic complications, such as thrombocytopenic purpura, are also unusual, occur more frequently in children than in adults, and completely resolve in most cases.
CRS: Acute complications of CRS were previously discussed. Other long-term complications may develop over weeks to years, including:
Mental retardation and behavioral disorders
Spastic diplegia
Endocrinopathies, specifically diabetes
Seizure disorders
What should you tell the family about the patient's prognosis?
Postnatal Infection: Patients with rubella infection have an excellent prognosis. Exceptions include patients with encephalitis in which prognosis is related to the severity and extent of encephalitis.
CRS: Prognosis is directly related to the number and severity of organ systems involved. Of surviving children with CRS, 60-90% have hearing loss, 10-20% have mental retardation, and about 35% have visual deficits.
What if a pregnant woman is exposed to rubella virus?
Exposure to rubella virus during pregnancy can be very concerning because of the potential for CRS. Reassurance can be provided if the woman is already known to be immune to rubella. If this information is not available, serologic testing should be performed immediately to assess the risk for primary infection. If the results are negative, they should be repeated in 2-3 weeks after the exposure (and again at 6 weeks if the second test is negative) to determine whether she has seroconverted. A positive rubella-specific IgM or a four-fold rise in rubella-specific IgG between acute and convalescent samples suggests recent infection. In addition, virus can be isolated from nasopharyngeal samples, blood, urine, or cerebrospinal fluid.
PCR can be used to make a prenatal diagnosis of congenital infection. PCR analysis of chorionic villous samples, amniotic fluid, or fetal blood is likely more useful than measurement of rubella-specific IgM in fetal blood. Because of the wide spectrum of possible congenital abnormalities, ultrasound diagnosis alone is unlikely to be helpful.
There is no specific therapy that decreases the risk for CRS in the setting of exposure to rubella virus during pregnancy. Administration of immunoglobulin to susceptible individuals can prevent clinical manifestations of rubella infection, but infants with CRS have been born to women who were treated with immunoglobulin shortly after exposure to virus. Thus, immunoglobulin is not recommended for post-exposure prophylaxis. Some would offer immunoglobulin administration to a pregnant woman exposed to rubella virus when termination of pregnancy is not considered.
How do you contract rubella infection and how frequent is this disease?
Rubella is primarily transmitted via respiratory droplets. Virus is present in respiratory sections of infected individuals from 7 days prior to 14 days after the onset of rash. The incubation period is typically 14 days, with a range of 12 and 23 days. Virus can be transmitted from people with subclinical infections. Importantly, infants with CRS are highly contagious and can shed virus for more than 1 year after birth.
Humans are the natural reservoir for rubella virus and are the only source of infection. Rubella virus has a worldwide distribution, although vaccination efforts have significantly reduced the incidence of rubella disease in many areas. In temperate areas, infection is more common in late winter and early spring months. In the pre-vaccine era, epidemics occurred every 6-9 years, with most cases occurring in children 5-9 years of age.
During an epidemic, the incidence of infection was 50-90% in susceptible hosts of a community. The incidence of infection approached 100% in household contacts. The last epidemic in the United States was in 1964 and occurred as part of a worldwide pandemic from 1962 to 1965. During that epidemic, approximately 12.5 million cases of rubella and 20,000 cases of CRS were reported in the United States.
There was a substantial decline in cases of rubella infection and CRS in the United States following the licensing of rubella vaccine in 1969, and outbreaks began to occur in adolescents and young adults instead of young children. Since the mid-1990s, most cases of rubella in the United States occurred in Hispanic young adults, and most cases of CRS occurred in infants born to Hispanic mothers. Vaccination efforts had eliminated endemic rubella in the United States by 2004. Recent increased vaccination efforts in the Americas have also been successful. All countries in the Americas routinely vaccinated children against rubella by the end of 2009, and the last confirmed case of endemic rubella infection in the Americas occurred in Argentina in 2009.
Rubella remains endemic in many parts of the world, and a substantial number of cases of rubella infection and CRS still occur each year. Importation of rubella virus remains a risk, emphasizing the need for continued vaccination and surveillance.
What pathogens are responsible for this disease?
Hiro and Tasaka established the viral etiology of rubella in 1938. Rubella virus was successfully grown in tissue culture by groups in Boston and Washington, DC, in 1962. Rubella virus is a single-stranded, positive-sense RNA virus. It is the only member of the Rubivirus genus within the Togaviridae family. The Togaviridae family is also comprised of the Alphavirus genus, which includes viruses, such as Sindbis virus and Semliki Forest virus. Humans are the only known host for rubella virus, whereas alphaviruses are capable of replicating in both arthropods and vertebrate hosts.
Two genotypes have been identified based on sequencing of the rubella virus E1 gene. Genotype I is most prevalent in the Americas, Europe, Russia, and Japan. Genotype II is limited to Asia and Europe. The two genotypes are antigenically very similar, so that only one rubella virus serotype is recognized.
How do these pathogens cause disease?
Postnatal Infection
Because it is rarely fatal and good animal models are not available, relatively little information exists regarding the pathogenesis of rubella infection. In postnatal rubella, virus first infects the nasopharyngeal respiratory epithelium and then spreads to regional lymph nodes. A 7- to 9-day period of localized replication is followed by viremic spread throughout the body. Viremia and viruria peak between 10 and 17 days following infection, whereas viral shedding in respiratory secretions can occur up to 24 days following initial exposure.
Virus-specific IgM can be detected within a few days of the onset of the rash and gradually becomes undetectable by 8 weeks following infection. Virus-specific IgG is first detectable around 2 weeks following infection and typically persists for life. Cell-mediated immune responses develop rapidly and also persist. A transient suppression of lymphocyte function can occur early in the course of infection.
Congenital Rubella
Transplacental infection of the fetus occurs during the viremia that accompanies maternal infection. It is more likely to occur in the setting of primary maternal infection, although congenital infection has been reported with maternal reinfection. The risk of fetal infection is greatest when maternal infection occurs during the first trimester, decreases during the second trimester, but then increases again late in gestation, near term. CRS is more likely to occur with maternal infection during the first trimester. For instance, congenital anomalies have been reported in 85% of infants following maternal infection in the first 8 weeks of pregnancy, 52% of infants following maternal infection in gestational weeks 9-12, 16% of infants following maternal infection in gestational weeks 13-20, and in no infants following maternal infection after 20 weeks gestation.
Following transplacental infection, virus disseminates throughout the fetus and persistently infects a wide range of cell types. Although its pathogenesis is incompletely understood, the teratogenicity associated with CRS may be due to factors such as virus-induced apoptosis, inhibition of cell division through effects on actin assembly, and disturbance of other signaling pathways that contribute to cellular proliferation and survival. Some of the tissue damage leading to CRS is also likely related to placental and embryonic angiopathy with ensuing vascular insufficiency.
Appreciable transplacental transfer of rubella-specific IgG occurs during the second half of pregnancy. Fetal immunoglobulin production also increases late in gestation, contributing to total amounts of virus-specific IgG. Over time, virus-specific IgG decreases and, in some cases, can become undetectable in congenitally infected children. Virus-specific IgM is present in congenitally infected neonates and can remain detectable for the first 12 or more months of life. Cell-mediated immune responses are less robust in congenitally infected neonates than in postnatally infected patients. Suppression of cellular immune function can be present in congenitally infected neonates.
What other additional laboratory findings may be ordered?
Although rubella infection is definitively diagnosed by isolating virus from a patient sample using tissue culture, the majority of cases are diagnosed serologically. Other routine laboratory testing is not helpful in distinguishing rubella from other types of diseases.
How can rubella infection be prevented?
Rubella vaccine is a live attenuated virus vaccine. Three separate rubella vaccines were licensed in the United States in 1969. Since 1979, a single vaccine (the RA 27/3 strain) has been licensed in the United States. It is currently available combined with measles and mumps vaccines (MMR) or with measles, mumps, and varicella vaccines (MMRV).
The rubella vaccine is safe and immunogenic. Ninety-five percent or more of vaccinated people at least 12 months of age develop serologic evidence of immunity after a single dose, and immunity lasts for at least 15 years in more than 90% of those vaccinated. At least one dose of rubella-containing vaccine is recommended for all children 12 months of age or older. Children receiving vaccine before 12 months of age should be revaccinated when they are at least 12 months of age. A second dose of rubella-containing vaccine is recommended at 4-6 years of age to produce immunity in those who fail to respond to the first dose. The second dose of MMR may be given as soon as 28 days following the first, whereas the minimum interval between MMRV doses is 3 months.
Adults born in 1957 or later should receive at least one dose of MMR, unless they have documentation of previous vaccination or serologic evidence of immunity to measles, mumps, and rubella. MMRV should not be given to persons older than 13 years of age.
Vaccination is contraindicated in persons who experienced anaphylaxis to a vaccine component or following previous rubella vaccination. Immunodeficient and immunosuppressed patients should not be vaccinated, although MMR should be given to patients infected with HIV who are not severely immunocompromised. Otherwise immunocompetent persons treated with immunosuppressive doses of steroids (2 mg/kg/day or greater than 20 mg/day) for 14 days or more should be vaccinated at least 1 month after discontinuation of steroids. Because immunoglobulin preparations could theoretically interfere with immune responses to rubella vaccine, vaccination should be deferred for 3 months or longer following administration of blood or plasma transfusions or administration of immune globulin.
Rubella vaccine is not effective for post-exposure prophylaxis of rubella. Pregnant women should not receive rubella vaccine. In the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC's) Vaccine in Pregnancy Registry, 1.5% of infants born to women who were vaccinated between 1 to 2 weeks before and 4 to 6 weeks after conception had subclinical infection, but none had congenital defects.
Vaccine-strain virus is generally not transmitted to others. A breastfeeding infant may occasionally be infected through breast milk, although serious effects have not been reported. Breastfeeding is not a contraindication to rubella vaccination. Children in a household with a pregnant woman should be vaccinated.
WHAT'S THE EVIDENCE for specific management and treatment recommendations?
Castillo-Solorzan, C, Marsigli, C, Bravo-Alcantara, P. "Elimination of rubella and congenital rubella syndrome in the Americas". J Infect Dis. vol. 204. 2011. pp. S571-8. (This report provides an overview of recent efforts to eliminate rubella from the Americas. Of note, the entire supplemental issue is devoted to rubella and CRS.)
"Achievements in public health: elimination of rubella and congenital rubella syndrome – United States, 1969-2004". MMWR. vol. 54. 2005. pp. 279-82. (This report describes the elimination of rubella and CRS in the United States.)
Atkinson, W, Wolfe, S, Hamborsky, J. "Rubella". Epidemiology and Prevention of Vaccine-Preventable Diseases. 2012. pp. 275-90. (This is a concise summary of rubella disease, epidemiology, and vaccine strategy.)
Cherry, JD. "Viral exanthems". Curr Probl Pediatr. vol. 13. 1983 Apr. pp. 1-44. (This is an excellent reference describing a variety of viral exanthems.)
Hiro, Y, Tasaka, S. "Die Roteln sind eine Viruskrankheit". Monatsschr Kinderheilkd. vol. 76. 1938. pp. 328-32. (This is the first report linking rubella to viral infection.)
Hobman, TC, Chantler, JK, Knipe, DM, Howley, PM. "Rubella virus". Fields Virology. 2007. pp. 1069-100. (This chapter provides a thorough overview of the biology and clinical features of rubella virus infection.)
Kimberlin, DW, Richman, DD, Whitley, RJ, Hayden, FG. "Rubella virus". Clinical Virology. 2009. pp. 1275-89. (This chapter provides a concise review of the clinical features of rubella virus infection.)
Lee, J, Bowden, DS. "Rubella virus replication and links to teratogenicity". Clin Microbiol Rev. vol. 13. 2000. pp. 571-87. (This report provides a comprehensive review of potential mechanisms that may mediate the teratogenic effects of rubella infection.)
Parkman, PD, Buescher, EL, Artenstein, MS. "Recovery of rubella virus from army recruits". Proc Soc Exp Biol Med. vol. 111. 1962. pp. 225-30. (This is one of two initial reports describing the isolation of rubella virus.)
Peckham, CS. "Clinical and laboratory study of children exposed in utero to maternal rubella". Arch Dis Child. vol. 47. 1972. pp. 571-7. (This report details the risk of CRS based on the timing of maternal infection.)
Tanemura, M, Suzumori, K, Yagami, Y, Katow, S. "Diagnosis of fetal rubella infection with reverse transcription and nested polymerase chain reaction: a study of 34 cases diagnosed in fetuses". Am J Obstet Gynecol. vol. 174. 1996. pp. 578-82. (This report is one of several examples detailing the use of PCR to detect rubella infections during pregnancy.)
Weller, TH, Neva, FA. "Propagation in tissue culture of cytopathic agents from patients with rubella-like illness". Proc Soc Exp Biol Med. vol. 111. 1962. pp. 215-25. (This is one of two initial reports describing the isolation of rubella virus.)
Copyright © 2017, 2013 Decision Support in Medicine, LLC. All rights reserved.
No sponsor or advertiser has participated in, approved or paid for the content provided by Decision Support in Medicine LLC. The Licensed Content is the property of and copyrighted by DSM.
- OVERVIEW: What every practitioner needs to know
- Are you sure your patient has rubella? What should you expect to find?
- How did the patient develop rubella infection? What was the primary source from which the infection spread?
- Which individuals are of greater risk of developing symptomatic rubella infection?
- Beware: there are other diseases that can mimic rubella infection:
- What laboratory studies should you order and what should you expect to find?
- What imaging studies will be helpful in making or excluding the diagnosis of rubella infection?
- What consult service or services would be helpful for making the diagnosis and assisting with treatment?
- If you decide the patient has rubella infection, what therapies should you initiate immediately?
- What complications could arise as a consequence of rubella infection?
- What should you tell the family about the patient's prognosis?
- What if a pregnant woman is exposed to rubella virus?
- How do you contract rubella infection and how frequent is this disease?
- What pathogens are responsible for this disease?
- How do these pathogens cause disease?
- What other additional laboratory findings may be ordered?
- How can rubella infection be prevented?
- WHAT'S THE EVIDENCE for specific management and treatment recommendations?


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Tribeca 2013: Festival Announces Shorts Slate, Including Performances from Elle Fanning, Kevin Corrigan, and Elijah Wood
Now that this year's Tribeca Film Festival has unveiled their feature slate (to remind you of the great lineup, check out HERE, HERE, and HERE), the fest has now rolled out their ironically huge short film slate, which includes a massive sixty films, including thirty world premieres (a new record for the festival), along with one special screening.
This year, Tribeca has divided their giant shorts program into eight thematic programs ‐ including five narrative categories, two documentary categories, and one experimental category ‐ with sections dedicated to New York City and vampire and werewolf themes (juicy). Some of the shorts also include performances by such recognizable talents as Lauren Ambrose, Kevin Corrigan, Elle Fanning, Jessica Hecht, Nastassja Kinski, Julian Sands, Jay O. Sanders, Dominic West, and Elijah Wood. With such a depth of theme and talent, Tribeca looks to be offering a short for everyone. And, hey, if you don't like them, they're, well, short.
Check out the full listing of all the just-announced shorts (and their respective categories) after the break.
Character Witness (documentary program)
These documentaries present first-person perspectives that ponder events affecting life, death and in-between. In Yamamoto, Japan, eighteen months after the Tohoku disaster, survivors left with nothing hold onto their existence through pictures found and restored from tsunami rubble in Recollections. Grave Goodsexplores the fetishism of the "beautiful things" collected by a grandmother during her lifetime and what happens to these prized possessions after she is gone. When the Song Dies weaves a captive spell of stories, songs and memories from across Scotland, in counterpoint to the country's richly evocative landscape. Wilt Chamberlain: Borscht Belt Bellhop reveals a chapter in the life of one of basketball's greatest players when a different era of the sport met the borscht belt at the peak of its Dirty Dancing-style fame. A slot machine junkie records his psychotherapy sessions and confronts the consequences of his twelve-year addiction inLapse: Confessions of a Slot Machine Junkie. We Will Live Again looks at the unusual operations and caretakers of the Cryonics Institute, a mom-and-pop style warehouse that maintains ninety-nine deceased human bodies stored at below-freezing temperatures in cryopreservation. Timmy Brennan, a Freedom Tower ironworker and surfer who lost everything in the Breezy Point fires during Hurricane Sandy, is given a new board by strangers and finds hope riding the same ocean that shattered his community in The Rider and the Storm.
Recollections, Directed and written by Nathanael Carton, (Japan), New York Premiere
Grave Goods, Directed and written by Leslie Tai, (USA), World Premiere
When The Song Dies, Directed by Jamie Chambers, (Scotland), North American Premiere
Wilt Chamberlain: Borscht Belt Bellhop, Directed by Caroline Laskow and Ian Rosenberg, (USA), World Premiere
Lapse: Confessions of a Slot Machine Junkie, Directed and written by Jonathan VanBallenberghe, (USA), World Premiere
We Will Live Again, Directed by Josh Koury and Myles Kane, (USA), World Premiere
The Rider and the Storm, Directed and written by David Darg and Bryn Mooser, (USA), World Premiere
Deadbolt (narrative program)
Robots and vampires and werewolves, oh my, roam these short films as we call for a lockdown with our late-night genre program. In The Girl with the Mechanical Maiden, an inventor takes an unorthodox approach to childrearing after the death of his wife. A young girl who lives in a remote wrecking yard confronts the town bullies when they torment her father in Yardbird. It is 2021, and imprisoned journalist Joseph Michaels faces government execution and contemplates a desperate escape attempt in order to return to his young family in The Exit Room. Following a gruesome accident, a man finds himself stuck and injured on a remote road in the dead of winter waiting for first responders in AB-. As a young runaway heads to Harlem, where her father is a low-level drug dealer, she is assaulted by a mysterious creature and left for dead in Peanut Butter & Jelly. A special American guest is coming to a hotel in Beijing to stay in theHoneymoon Suite, but the new guest services manager soon learns that the visitor is not quite what he appears to be. A culinary connoisseur and a chef go on a hunt for a rare animal in Delicacy. Set in the candy-colored world of 1950s suburbia, The Root of the Problem follows a reluctant young housewife who suspects that the friendly neighborhood dentist is hiding a horrible secret.
The Girl with the Mechanical Maiden, Directed and written by Andrew Legge, (Ireland), New York Premiere
Yardbird, Directed by Michael Spiccia, written by Julius Avery, (Australia), New York Premiere
The Exit Room, Directed and written by Todd Wiseman Jr, (USA), World Premiere
AB-, Directed and written by Daniel Klein, (USA), World Premiere
Peanut Butter & Jelly, Directed and written by David Winkfield, (USA), World Premiere
Honeymoon Suite (????), Directed by Zao Wang, written by Zao Wang and Tom Toro, (China), World Premiere
Delicacy, Directed by Jason Mann, written by Frieda Luk and Jason Mann, (USA), New York Premiere
The Root Of The Problem, Directed and written by Ryan Spindell and Mark E. Davidson, (USA), New York Premiere
The End Is Near (narrative program)
The Mayans were wrong. We're still here, but endings both apocalyptic and personal confront the characters in these short films. Every forty seconds a person commits suicide, and The Acrobat is the story of one of them. Two friends who work as luggage rack attendants on a bus take a road trip filled with reality and mysticism in Murk Light. Snow In Paradise is a snapshot of life on a remote island in the South Pacific through the eyes of a young girl unaware of the power beyond the ocean reef. Grace follows a dozen interconnected lives as they experience loss and understanding in the pivotal hours before a global event occurs. On a stormy night in Long Island, three siblings fight over their grandmother's fortune, but no one realized that Grandma was ready to fight back in Grandma's Not a Toaster. Skillman has vanquished his nemesis, recovered the artifact and saved his latest lover from certain doom, but wait until you see what happens when his greatest adventure is over in Epilogue.
The Acrobat, Directed and written by Gerardo Herrero, (Spain), New York Premiere
Murk Light (??? ????), Directed by Yasir Al-Yasiri, written by Mohammed A. Al Hammadi, (Iraq), North American Premiere
Snow in Paradise, Directed by Justine Simei-Barton and Nikki Si'ulepa, written by Nikki Si'ulepa, (New Zealand), New York Premiere
Grace, Directed and written by Keir Burrows, (U.K.), International Premiere
Grandma's Not a Toaster, Directed by Andrew Napier, written by Shawn Christensen, (USA), World Premiere
Epilogue, Directed and written by Dylan Allen, (USA), World Premiere
History Lessons (documentary program)
The past is brought into the present through these personal and social documentaries offering a wide range of insights on shaping our world. Four experts on arms trafficking recount first-hand experiences with the black market and how the illegal flow of weapons facilitates loss of life and devastation in A Short Film About Guns. Reporting on The Times: The New York Times and The Holocaust explores why The New York Times, a Jewish-owned newspaper, buried reports of The Holocaust during World War II. Coach Vivian Stringer is one of the most prolific coaches in the history of college basketball, and also a perfect example of grace under fire. Royal American features a love triangle between a found typewriter from the 1930s, the streets of Manhattan and the lost art of letter writing. Who Shot Rock & Roll explores the groundbreaking collaborations between the photographers and musicians who created some of the most enduring images in rock history.
A Short Film About Guns, Directed by Minos Papas, (Cyprus), (U.K.), (USA), World Premiere
Reporting on The Times: The New York Times and The Holocaust , Directed by Emily Harrold, (USA),World Premiere
Coach, Directed by Bess Kargman, (USA), World Premiere
Royal American, Directed and written by Michael Scalisi, (USA), World Premiere
Who Shot Rock & Roll, Directed and written by Steven Kochones, (USA), World Premiere
Let There Be Light: The Cycles of Life (experimental program)
This selection of experimental short films showcases the profound artistic influence of light. In their artistic practice, experimental filmmakers are acutely aware of the quality of light that informs their work. This selection highlights the unique manner in which they seek inspiration from the power of the sun, the reflections of the moon and the luminosity emitted by artificial light sources. In linking their own vision directly to that of the eye of the camera, these artists create brilliant moving works that both illuminate the human condition and reflect the cycles of life. Films include Sight, Star Light No. 5 Bis, Depart, Lunatic,Parallel North, Hermeneutics, Light Plate, The Moon Has Its Reasons, Corn Mother, The Last Time, Two Islands, Dead World Order and Look Inside the Ghost Machine.
Sight, Directed and written by Thirza Cuthand, (Canada), U.S. Premiere
Star Light No.5 Bis, Directed and written by Cécile Fontaine, (France), North American Premiere
Depart, Directed by Blake Williams, (Canada), U.S. Premiere
Lunatic, Directed and written by Aasa Ersmark, (Sweden), International Premiere
Parallel North (Parallèle Nord), Directed and written by Félix Dufour-Laperrière, (Canada), World Premiere
Hermeneutics, Directed by Alexei Dmitriev, (Russia), New York Premiere
Light Plate, Directed and written by Josh Gibson, (Italy), (USA), New York Premiere
The Moon Has Its Reasons, Directed and written by Lewis Klahr, (U.K.), North American Premiere
Corn Mother, Directed and written by Taylor Dunne, (USA), New York Premiere
The Last Time, Directed and written by Candy Kugel, (USA), World Premiere
Two Islands, Directed and written by Jan Ijäs, (Finland), North American Premiere
Dead World Order, Directed by Dana Levy, (France), International Premiere
Look Inside The Ghost Machine, Directed and written by Peter Lichter, (Hungary), North American Premiere
Skin Deep (narrative program)
We expose our more sensitive side to delve into issues of self-image and self-discovery. A young girl battles with body image and enters the world of eating disorders, where worth rises as weight falls, in Likeness. Fifteen-year-old Klara is Eating Lunch with four others at the Eating Disorder Clinic under the supervision of nurses, but they have only thirty minutes to finish their meal. In Wings, Christopher prepares for one of the most important concerts of his career knowing that he cannot make any mistake. On a sweltering hot day, pregnant Maria's loving-kindness practice is tested by work schedules, mechanical failures and complex human relationships conspiring against a desperately needed cooling dip in The River. The Cup Readerfollows a woman renowned for her mystical seeing and matchmaking as she reads the fortunes of clients who must choose between love or marriage. Tonight, Sophie will play the violin in the school concert and wants desperately for her mother to be there to see her shine in Ina Litovski. A vow to climb a summit in the Italian Alps becomes the challenge of a lifetime for a man and a woman recovering from open-heart surgery in The Nightshift Belongs to the Stars.
Likeness , Directed and written by Rodrigo Prieto, (USA), World Premiere
Eating Lunch (Äta Lunch), Directed and written by Sanna Lenken, (Sweden), International Premiere
Wings, Directed and written by José Villalobos, (USA), (Spain), International Premiere
The River, Directed and written by Sam Handel, (USA), New York Premiere
The Cup Reader (Qariat il Finjan), Directed and written by Suha Araj, (Occupied Palestinian Territory), World Premiere
Ina Litovski, Directed by Anaïs Barbeau-Lavalette and André Turpin, written by André Turpin and Anaïs Barbeau-Lavalette, (Canada), U.S. Premiere
The Nightshift Belongs to the Stars (Il Turno di Notte lo Fanno le Stelle), Directed by Edoardo Ponti, written by Erri De Luca, (Italy), North American Premiere
Unlimited Ride (narrative program)
This year our New York shorts program takes you on a journey through Manhattan and into the boroughs to meet some unique individuals trying to survive in the city we call home. Henry and Lucy sleepwalk through New York City in the middle of the night and experience sights and sounds that most people slumber through in ZZZZZZZ. Visually impaired Imani has dreams of college acceptance and love despite her over-protective mother's objections to both in Close Your Eyes. Ronnie is an existential enforcer for a Brooklyn crime boss conflicted by his life and the pointlessness around him, as he sculpts in ICE and searches for life's meaning. A seventeen-year-old girl in a wheelchair and a young antisocial male prostitute living on the streets have an unexpected encounter in Atlantic Avenue. Paul and Kate excitedly arrive for dinner at the home of a cool couple from their kids' school, only to discover an interloping third couple already in attendance, as playground politics boil over in Playdate. In Fortune House, a butterfly romance takes flight with a twist of fate and fortune cookies. When his hippie parents suggest he see a shrink, a dreamy fifteen-year-old goes into a tailspin of self-doubt before his confidence is restored thanks to some quick thinking in Space Cadet.
ZZZZZZZ, Directed and written by Tarik Karam, (USA), World Premiere
Close Your Eyes, Directed and written by Sonia Malfa, (USA), World Premiere
ICE, Directed and written by Anthony Tarsitano, (USA), World Premiere
Atlantic Avenue, Directed and written by Laure de Clermont, (France), International Premiere
Playdate, Directed and written by David Shane and Scott Organ, (USA), World Premiere
Fortune House, Directed by Matthew Bonifacio, written by Bob Linton, (USA), World Premiere
Space Cadet , Directed by Paul Riccio, written by Michael Gambino, (USA), World Premiere
Worst Day Ever (narrative program)
If you are having a bad day, we are betting that these short films will make you feel a wee bit better about things. Three friends go to a housewarming in a Paris apartment, but when some uninvited guests try to crash, the tension mounts in The Hounds. Set in the late 1950s at California's iconic Madonna Inn, a despondent father struggles with the decision to end his own life and the life of his young son in What's Left, What's Lost. On the eve of her thirteenth birthday, Esther Weary must come to terms with the realities of becoming a woman through her clueless grandfather and his pet pug in Life Doesn't Frighten Me. Two video game characters forge an unlikely romance in RPG OKC. Showing that there is always a reason to laugh, stand-up comic Reuben Stein does the most daring set of his life in Setup, Punch. A small bird with a Fear of Flying tries to avoid heading south for the winter. A third-grade class pulls an innocent prank on its teacher with disastrous results in Fool's Day.
The Hounds (Les Meutes), Directed and written by Manuel Shapira, (France), North American Premiere
What's Left, What's Lost, Directed and written by Katie Rose, (USA), World Premiere
Life Doesn't Frighten Me, Directed and written by Stephen Dunn, (Canada), New York Premiere
RPG OKC, Directed and written by Emily Carmichael, (USA), World Premiere
Setup, Punch., Directed and written by David Schlussel, (USA), World Premiere
Fear of Flying, Directed and written by Conor Finnegan, (Ireland), New York Premiere
Fool's Day, Directed by Cody Blue Snider, written by Cody Blue Snider and Shane Snider, (USA), World Premiere
Special Screening
The Battle of amfAR, Directed by Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman, written by Sharon Wood. (USA), New York Premiere, Documentary. In the darkest days of the AIDS pandemic, two women from very different walks of life unite to take a stand. Two-time Academy Award®-winner Rob Epstein and his longtime collaborator Jeffrey Friedman, the creative forces behind The Celluloid Closet, tell the story of the extraordinary moment when Dr. Mathilde Krim and Hollywood icon Elizabeth Taylor launched the country's first AIDS research foundation. The fight against HIV/AIDS would never be the same. An HBO Documentary Films release.
The Tribeca Film Festival runs in New York City from April 17th until April 28th. [Press Release]
Related Topics: Tribeca


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Billionaire Kwok brothers plead not guilty in HK graft trial
The two billionaire co-chairmen of property goliath Sun Hung Kai Properties <0016.HK> and a former senior government official pleaded not guilty on Friday to involvement in one of Hong Kong's biggest corruption cases.
In a pre-trial hearing, five defendants, including Thomas and Raymond Kwok of Sun Hung Kai Properties <0016.HK>, listened to eight charges against them before pleading not guilty. The others were former Hong Kong No. 2 official Rafael Hui, another Sun Hung Kai executive, Thomas Chan, and businessman Francis Kwan.
The corruption case involves a series of payments and unsecured loans totaling million of dollars, between 2000 and 2009, allegedly paid to Hui through a number of financial entities by the four men, according to authorities.
A bribery charge against the younger Kwok brother, Raymond, was dropped. However, he still faces two other criminal charges, including "conspiracy to commit misconduct in public office" over a HK$4.125 million payment to Hui and "furnishing false information" to try to cover up the payment.
"(Raymond) faces no allegations at all under the prevention of briberies ordinance," Raymond Kwok's lawyer, Gerard McCoy, said in the courtroom.
His brother, Thomas Kwok, faces "conspiracy to commit misconduct in public office" for a HK$5 million payment to Hui, and involvement in a second HK$8.5 million payment to Hui.
Hui faces one extra charge, that of "misconduct in public office", for allegedly failing to declare or concealing a series of payments totaling HK$11.182 million from Chan and Kwan.
Hui was Hong Kong's No.2 official from 2005 to 2007.
No date was given for the trial by the magistrate, but it is expected to begin next year.
The Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) arrested the tycoons last March in one of the agency's biggest investigations since it was set up in 1974 to root out widespread corruption in the then-British colonial government and police.
Sun Hung Kai Properties is the world's second-largest property developer by market value. The Kwok family is Hong Kong's second wealthiest after that of tycoon Li Ka-shing.
(Reporting by James Pomfret and Grace Li; Editing by Ken Wills)


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Remember the discipline you needed just to go to the gym or jog at the park day-in and day-out? You recall missing those midnight snacks, forgoing dates, and turning down party invites just to ensure your routine is not ruined. With a bittersweet smile (and perhaps a teardrop running down from your eye), you reassure yourself that it's all worth it. You've had your escape to paradise, your fill of Vitamin Sea, and now the challenge is to maintain that fantastic figure. Summer is over, but that's no reason to lose your fit and fab body!
Looking good or having the right figure should not be your only concern. Think healthy living. To effectively maintain that figure for a longer time (if not a lifetime) and to feel good from the inside as well, consider how you keep yourself hydrated.
You have been told to drink at least eight (8) glasses of water a day for as long as you can remember. As our bodies cope with different activities that have different levels of intensity, the need to keep hydrated is not simply satisfied by eight glasses. Most of the time, we need more, especially during summer when we sweat more often than usual. When we sweat, water helps rehydrate the body's fluid loss.
Keeping count of the glasses you've been drinking each day may seem too much though especially while in the middle of our summer escapades. However, the risk of dehydration is real. Sometimes, the common dizziness that people feel while playing under the sun's heat is usually caused by dehydration. Headaches caused by dehydration could even lead to fainting or a ruined natural 'digestive routine', which is crucial for diets and maintaining that figure.
The main tip is to make it a habit to drink the right amount of water your body needs. We know that you can relate to how difficult it is to form habits, so we wrapped up three simple life hacks that can help keep your body beach-worthy!
1. Always keep a bottle of water with you.
The easier it is for you to do something, the easier it is to make it a habit. Writers on self-help, success, and discipline say making a task 20 seconds faster will make you more motivated to do the activity.
Recall how you got yourself to jog everyday. Did you put your shoes beside your bed so that when you wake up, you can easily suit up? Think of it as having that Facebook icon in your smartphone's homepage. Doesn't that give you easier access? Definitely!
Plus, looking for a convenience store to purchase a bottle every time you are thirsty is expensive and a hassle. It will also just contribute to plastic bottle waste. Wherever you go, always bring your handy bottle with you. And don't forget to fill it with water before you leave home!
2. If water bores you, add flavor!
Oftentimes, we don't give our best to create habits because we feel that the task at hand is too much of a bother. Spice it up by trying out something new. Toss in some cucumber slices or lemon with your everyday fix of water. This is an easy way to make drinking water fun and much healthier. While an ordinary workout may not require electrolyte-replenishing, the dose of electrolytes from fruits makes a great option for refueling during an intense workout.
3. When you feel and believe you are hungry, drink water first.
Many of us seem to be hungry almost all the time and it is normal to feel it at an average of four hours after every meal. As Filipinos, we get hungry more often, especially with our merienda culture. The next time you feel hungry, tie up drinking water with that feeling. The next thing you'll know, reaching for that bottle of water and drinking it all will be as effortless as breathing!
Moreover, thirst is often confused with hunger. True hunger will not be satisfied by drinking water. So, if it is just thirst, you save yourself from those unnecessary calories. Those who are on a diet will surely love this!
Go for a stylish, easy to hold, and durable water bottle such as Tupperware's Eco Bottle.It comes in different sizes -- from 1 liter that is equivalent to 4 glasses, down to 310 mL that can fit perfectly in your purse. The Eco Bottle is made of safe, non-toxic materials and is tested and proven safe for reuse. It has a tight screw-on cap that prevents leaks and has a tab for easy opening. It even has an ergonomic shape for an easy grip to make sure that your hand muscles won't get too stressed from holding it. This bottle also comes in different bright colors to choose from. Each one is perfect for summer fun and you will surely find one that matches your unique personality!
Keeping yourself hydrated is vital in having that perfect figure and staying healthy. With Tupperware's Eco Bottle, you not only maintain that picture-perfect body, you also help lessen plastic waste on Earth.
So start the habit of bringing along an Eco Bottle with you all the time!
About Tupperware® Brands
Tupperware Brands Philippines distributes well-loved brands including Tupperware, Baby Care Plus+, Kids Plus+, Colour Collection, Ivana and White Result. You may log on to www.tupperwarebrands.ph or send an email to email@example.com for your questions and inquiries on how to be a dealer. Like Tupperware® on Facebook at http://facebook.com/tupperwarebrandsph for updates and promotions.


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Audrey E. Stryker, MD - an Ob/Gyn and partner at Women's Ob-Gyn, P.C. - has been traveling to underdeveloped countries with Sonosite ultrasound systems since 2004. As a part of the IWISH Foundation (International Women & Infant Sustainable Healthcare), she and her colleagues recently travelled to Haiti to help train the next generation of medical professionals. This is her story.
"We've been traveling to underdeveloped countries since 2004, hoping to achieve a model that offers a sustainable means for countries to provide health care for their women and children. Haiti has presented challenges that we haven't seen in countries also afflicted with abject poverty, governmental corruption and a dire need for access to medical care. Once we addressed the usual acquisition of technology and training involved in utilisation and distribution of knowledge, our colleagues and the people they serve have intermittently been overcome with natural disasters like the alphabet hurricanes of 2008 (Fay, Gustaf, Hanna and Ike), followed by the devastating earthquake of 2010, which has ultimately been a curse and then a blessing in so many ways. The earthquake brought to the forefront some of the obvious shortcomings of the myriad of NGOs tasked (over decades) with their missions to help the Haitian people out of their poverty. Paul Farmer's alliance with the Haitian Health Ministry has brought about some necessary checks and balances that have allowed long-term quality and passionate caring to rise to the top of their mission statements. IT IS HAPPENING. It has taken many years of baby steps but now we are seeing leaps and bounds in medical care provided in the areas we have been serving.
The office that Drs Honoure and Hosty have shared since Dr. Honoure's collapsed on him during the Earthquake in 2010 has a very tiny ultrasound room. The first Sonosite I gave them more 10 years ago survived the hurricanes, the earthquake, as well as many trips to clinics in Port Au Prince, LeBours, Jacmel, Jeremie and on Lagonave. It has served us well, fitting perfectly into the small space next to the examination table. Unfortunately, it started to fail the month before I arrived (may it rest in peace). Thanks to the quick action of the Sonosite team, they now have been blessed with the updated Sonosite ultrasound machine that has a Cine-loop and colour flow Doppler capability, with which to educate the medical students and OBGYN residents.
Dr Batsch and Dr Honoure learned first. They then taught three OBGYN senior residents and Dr Hosty (although Dr Hosty was the one who figured out how to push the buttons to be able to adjust the gain). Because all of our preop patients on Sunday were infertility patients with GYN problems, I offered to do an additional lecture on Infertility during my laparoscopy series of lectures Tuesday. Ultrasound, hysterosalpingogram (HSG) and laparoscopic images were projected so the attendees could assimilate what they are feeling on pelvic exam with the patients' complaints, the HSG and pelvic ultrasound findings with what they will see with laparoscopy and hysteroscopy.
Monday, we went to the orphanage to care for the children and see the progress being made on the Sustainability efforts at the Clinic. There were a couple of pregnant women who were having nonspecific problems, so Dr LaLanne from Port Au Prince General OBGYN residency programme took out our Sonosite and used one of the sleep areas as an ultrasound room. There are so many issues that cause anxiety for pregnant women in Haiti (ie. Zika is still causing some problems), that seeing their baby on that screen is the best gift that we can bring to them. That JOY is a wonderful thing to share. On LaGonave we started out using the machine in their hospital (it was fine), but missed the Cine-loop and Doppler flow, so we ended up using the Sonosite the rest of the time we were there. Ultimately, it will be nice to have one Sonosite on LaGonave so they have portable ultrasound capabilities and updated technology if needed.
These Sonosite machines are so incredibly durable!!! Neither the dust, nor the heat, nor the humidity, nor the bouncing around on what remains of the roads in Haiti after the torrential down pours, has ever disrupted the great resolution and functional quality of this technology. In theory, I could bring them back for repair, but in the case of the ones I currently have down there, they've lasted longer than their replacement parts, without needing ANY attention! I hope this quality continues as the technologic advances improve.
Most importantly, thank you to the Sonosite team for your support of the IWISHFoundation missions over the years! The benefit of your support through the loaner programmes has been an integral part to the training of physicians, particularly in the more remote areas because it is so easy to transport from one clinic to the next in the back pack you provide."
Want to Learn More About our Most Portable Ultrasound Machines?
Dr. Stryker's team was using the Sonosite M-Turbo in Haiti, one of our most portable systems. The Sonosite iViz is also built for extreme durability and portability. Learn about all of Sonosite's ultrasound machines on our Product page here.


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A mobile TV effort by local broadcasters in the U.S. is entering a new phase, with two large groups of stations showcasing new partnerships at the International Consumer Electronics Show, but the initiative still faces major hurdles.
TV stations covering much of the U.S. are gearing up to deliver programming to phones and other devices using a standard from the body that oversees TV technology in North America. Mobile Content Venture (MCV) and the Mobile500 Alliance, both of which include scores of stations across the country, have new deals with equipment vendors and, in one case, a mobile operator. But devices that can receive such programming are still scarce.
MCV is closest to a commercial launch with its Dyle Mobile TV service, as stations in 32 markets are already broadcasting. The group, which includes NBC, Fox, Univision and other large broadcasting groups, aims to offer at least two channels in each market. However, there are no firm dates on when the first client devices that can use the service — a Samsung phone, a series of RCA portable TVs and a variety of Belkin adapters — will be in consumers' hands. And because MCV plans to scramble its content, mobile TV receivers that consumers already have won't work with its service.
A trying time for TV
Traditional TV broadcasters face challenges on several fronts, including Web-based video services such as Hulu, video-on-demand services such as NetFlix and a growing array of viewing options from cable operators and telecommunications carriers. All those rivals are already taking strides in the mobile arena, while over-the-air TV on phones has made slow progress.
The ATSC Mobile DTV standard from the Advanced Television Standards Committee was completed in 2009, and the Open Mobile Video Coalition (OMVC) has been pushing for use of the specification to deliver live local broadcasts and other content since CES 2010.
Using ATSC, Mobile DTV, stations can broadcast shows over a portion of their existing channels. After a test in the Washington, D.C., area showed mobile TV consumers most liked to watch local programming such as news, the backers of ATSC Mobile DTV promoted it as a way for local stations to bring familiar programming at scheduled times to viewers who are away from their TVs. They contrasted this with Qualcomm's FLO TV service, which offered a lineup of national channels with its own program schedule. Qualcomm discontinued FLO TV last year and is in the process of selling its spectrum to AT&T.
The mobile DTV pitch at CES 2010 also included receivers, such as an LG DVD player, a Wi-Fi hotspot called the Tivit (later Tivizen), mobile TVs and USB dongles. They were designed to pick up unscrambled live broadcasts.
Vision evolving
But business realities intruded on that vision. Late last year, the MCV stations turned on conditional access, rendering the first generation of receivers useless for their service. The required registration for the service asks for the user's postal code, gender, birth date, email address and cable provider. (Consumers without a cable provider will be able to register.) That information ultimately will allow broadcasters to build business models around advertising, subscriptions, or cable, satellite, or mobile bills, though the service will be free at least through this year, MCV said.
Though local stations typically own the programming they produce, putting together a complete lineup of shows involves the rights of national networks and other content providers, complicating the process of sending video out over the mobile airwaves, said OMVC spokesman Dave Arland.
"A broadcaster can't just flip on mobile and expect not to get a call from the people who own the content," Arland said. Networks want conditional access in order to protect their content and measure use, he said.
The other major station group, Mobile500, plans to start a beta test of its service in Seattle next month. Mobile500 will launch without scrambling and plans to keep offering at least some unscrambled content for the foreseeable future, said Mobile 500 Executive Director John Lawson. Any conditional access system it might use in the future would be compatible with MCV's, Lawson said.
The station groups are also putting a greater emphasis on allowing added services on top of regular live broadcasts. Both MCV and Mobile500 want to be able to support subscription and pay-per-view programming, and Mobile500 is building in mechanisms for live recording and time-shifting of shows.
Both mobile TV ventures have promising news at CES.
MCV announced a deal in which Belkin will make accessories that allow smartphones and tablets to access Dyle Mobile TV. The accessories will serve as receivers for the TV frequencies, allowing users to get mobile TV by plugging in an adapter, downloading an app, and signing up. Belkin did not disclose a price range for its products and said only that the first accessories would go on sale early this year.
RCA is introducing a series of portable flat-panel TVs with 3.5-inch and 7-inch screens that will be able to receive Dyle Mobile TV as well as standard ATSC broadcasts. The TVs are set to ship later this year.
Also at CES, MCV will be carrying out demonstrations of Dyle Mobile TV with Samsung Electronics and carrier MetroPCS. Last week, the companies announced that Samsung would make a phone for MetroPCS with a built-in receiver for the service. MetroPCS said the Dyle-capable phone will be available in 14 cities this year. MetroPCS has about 9 million subscribers and is the country's fifth-biggest operator.
Mobile500 demonstrated TV tuner dongles for iPads, made with a chip from Siano, which will run a mobile app from Elgato and tie into audience measurement software from Expway on the back end. The company did not forecast a shipping date for such a device.
Holding onto viewers
It may be hard for TV stations to gain much traction in the mobile video world, just as they face challenges in holding on to viewers' TV screens at home, according to industry analysts.
Broadcasters' traditional distribution model of scheduled programming goes against the trend of consumer tastes, said Forrester Research mobile analyst Charles Golvin.
"Now, it's all about what I want, when I want it, on the device that happens to be convenient to me at that particular moment," Golvin said.
The mobile TV providers will need to get buy-in from a lot more parties before the services become viable long-term, analysts said. Getting the technology built in to phones will be critical, and because of mobile operators' role in approving handset designs, that will mean persuading both carriers and manufacturers that it's a worthwhile bet, Golvin said.
With all the other video options competing for consumers' attention, ATSC Mobile DTV providers will need a comprehensive service that consumers can turn to for their favorite shows, said analyst Avi Greengart of Current Analysis.
"I've never, ever seen a comprehensive plan like that," Greengart said. Instead, mobile TV offerings have been limited because of distribution rights issues causing blackouts for content such as live sports events, he said. The minimum of two stations in each market that MCV is promising for now will not be enough, he said.
"There have just been so many different stabs at mobile TV that it may be just one of those technologies that's forever just around the corner," Greengart said.
Stephen Lawson covers mobile, storage and networking technologies for The IDG News Service. Follow Stephen on Twitter at @sdlawsonmedia. Stephen's e-mail address is email@example.com


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Does anyone know of a website which can add hyphen inbetween words for you. Word does it but I dont have Word.
Be really handy if you find one.
Does anyone know of a website which can add hyphen inbetween words for you. Word does it but I dont have Word.
Be really handy if you find one.
I highly doubt it. Does not sound like a height priority item.
Do you mean a visible hyphen (‐) or an invisible hyphenation?
And what will be the goal/usage (in a website, or another way)?
Can you please give an example?
I would think that any text editor with regex search-and-replace can do that.
There are a lot of free ones out there.
It may not even require a regex. Text editors have a search and replace feature. You could search for any space and replace it with a hyphen.
Or you can use the online [U]Hyphenarisator[/U].
Lol I stand corrected. You just make that?
Some of the content in this topic may not be applicable to some languages.
If a word is too long to fit at the end of a line, Microsoft Office Word 2007 moves the word to the beginning of the next line instead of hyphenating it. However, you can use the Hyphenation feature to automatically or manually hyphenate the text, insert optional or nonbreaking hyphens, and set the maximum amount of space allowed between a word and the right margin without hyphenating the word.
When you use automatic hyphenation, Office Word 2007 automatically inserts hyphens where they are needed. When you use manual hyphenation, Word searches for the text to hyphenate and asks you whether you want to insert the hyphens in the text.


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