Stars respond to Piper’s wedding call

December 31st, 2007

Some of the biggest names from the world of stage and television today descended on a small West Sussex village to see the actor Billie Piper marry for the second time.

Piper - best known for her role as Dr Who’s assistant, Rose Tyler - married actor Laurence Fox at St Mary’s church in Easebourne, just over a year after they were cast together in a West End production of the play Treats.

The bride, who wore a low-cut ivory dress and floor-length black jacket, arrived five minutes early for the ceremony at the tiny church, which is around half a mile from the couple’s 750,000 home.

Among the famous names waiting for her were the current Dr Who, David Tennant, who turned up in a burgundy velvet suit, and the actor Kevin Whatley, Fox’s co-star in the Inspector Morse spin-off Lewis.

Members of 29-year-old Fox’s famous acting family were also present, including his father, James, and his uncle Edward.

The ceremony lasted 50 minutes and was a far cry from 25-year-old Piper’s first wedding, to the Radio 1 DJ and TV presenter Chris Evans in May 2001.

Piper, then 18, married Evans, 16 years her senior, in Las Vegas in front of just a handful of friends.

The couple, who separated in 2004, remain close, socialising together with their new partners.

Evans, who turned up to today’s wedding wearing scruffy trousers, with his new wife, Natasha Shishmanian, is thought to be hosting the reception in one of the two pubs he owns.

Outside the church, journalists, photographers and members of the public gathered all morning to catch sight of the couple and their famous guests.

Piper first found fame in 1998, when her single Because We Want To reached number one in the charts.

Before that, she had appeared on children’s television and in an advertisement for the pop magazine Smash Hits.

Her acting career took off when she landed the part of Rose Tyler in the relaunched Dr Who.

The first series, screened in 2005, landed her the most popular actress accolade at the National Television awards - a prize she won again the next year.

She left the show last year, but is due to reprise the role in 2008.

Fox has also had a successful acting career since leaving Rada. As well as his role in Lewis he has appeared in the film Gosford Park and the recent ITV adaptation of A Room with a View.

Video Game Looks Into World of Wolves

December 31st, 2007

(12-31) 09:17 PST MINNEAPOLIS (AP) —

The new video game “WolfQuest” allows players to follow the call of the wild in the role of a wolf in Yellowstone National Park.

Players learn quickly, with help from realistic graphics, that wolves do a lot of running Д across plains, through forests and up and down steep slopes.

“You have to learn how to hunt, survive, defend your territory and ultimately find a mate and establish your own pack,” said project director Grant Spickelmier, assistant education director at Minnesota Zoo in Apple Valley.

The first episode, “Amethyst Mountain,” was officially released Dec. 20 as a free download at «www.wolfquest.org». Spickelmier said the game had been downloaded 13,500 times by Wednesday.

The Minnesota Zoo developed “WolfQuest” with Eduweb, an educational software developer in St. Paul, on a $508,253 National Science Foundation grant. Other partners include the National Zoo in Washington, the Phoenix Zoo, Yellowstone and the International Wolf Center in Ely.

The game is aimed at ages 10 to 15 because kids that age have largely stopped going to zoos and are more interested in things like video games, Spickelmier said.

“We’re hoping to capture some of those kids back with this game,” he said, adding that the Minnesota Zoo also hopes to interest kids in wolf conservation and biology.

Eleven-year-old Riley Breckheimer, of Apple Valley, tried out “WolfQuest” at its launch party at the zoo and declared it “pretty cool.” He said he took down one snowshoe hare and got an elk about halfway down. The game also gave him new respect for wolves.

“They can run over miles and miles of area just to get to one elk to get something to eat,” he said. “It’s not like humans where humans have to go just a few blocks to the grocery store.”

It’s not the first time a zoo has offered computer games. The San Diego Zoo, National and the New York Zoos and Aquarium have games for younger kids on their Web sites. Nor is it the first time a video game has simulated wolf life: the DOS game “Wolf” was released in 1994.

But Steve Feldman, spokesman for the American Zoo Association, said “WolfQuest” takes things to a higher level.

“The level of realism, and also the goal, which is to effect real conservation behavior change, is what make this game unique,” Feldman said.

In the first episode, as a solitary wolf roaming Amethyst Mountain in Yellowstone, players chase down elk and hares, relying on their eyes and sense of smell. When the “scent vision” screen toggles on, the background goes black and white and scent trails light up. The screen also shows how old the trails are.

To howl like a wolf, players just hit the “H” key, which in future episodes will help draw in their pack.

“WolfQuest” can be played alone or with up to five players online, where players also can connect and share tips. Additional episodes due in 2008 will explore other areas of Yellowstone and allow players to establish territory (yes, by lifting a leg) and defend their elk carcasses against hungry grizzly bears, raise pups and even kill sheep on nearby ranches.

The game won praise from David Walsh, president of the National Institute on Media and the Family, a group that studies the impact of media on children’s health and development and often makes news for its criticism of violent video games.

“It’s got great educational value while at the same time it’s engaging,” Walsh said. “It’s a good alternative to the shoot ‘em up games that are so popular with that age group. … I think this game has the potential to chart some new territory.”

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On the Net:

WolfQuest: «www.wolfquest.org»

Minnesota Zoo: «www.mnzoo.org»

Eduweb: «www.eduweb.com»

National Institute on Media and the Family: «www.mediafamily.org»

AT&T Worries Privacy Advocates With Anti-Piracy Initiative

December 31st, 2007

LOS ANGELES—In a break with other Internet service providers, AT&T Inc. () will work with studios and recording labels to devise technology that identifies offshore content pirates who use its network to upload illegal copies of movies and music.

Although details remain sketchy, the effort worries privacy advocates, who fear the San Antonio-based company could become a beat cop, monitoring which Web sites customers visit and what computer files they share.

Technology officers from several entertainment companies met June 5 in San Antonio to discuss the effort, which could take months and quite possibly fail to produce a solution that would be technologically feasible and protect customer privacy.

“It’s daunting,” said James W. Cicconi, AT&T’s senior executive vice president of external and legislative affairs.

“What we’re trying to do here is see if we can devise a technology that can address the problem,” he said. “Then we’ll have to address the legal issues that flow out of using such a technology.”

Legal questions include the privacy interests of customers and legitimate distributions for educational uses or works in the public domain.

Cicconi said such issues will not be ignored.

“We’re not trying to be an enforcement agent against our customers,” he said. “The intent is to devise a network-based approach to dealing with this problem.”

In confirming the effort Thursday, Cicconi acknowledged that AT&T’s interests have become more aligned with content providers.

Like its telecommunications rival, Verizon Communications Inc. (), AT&T has launched its own television service to compete with cable and satellite. The service has increased companies’ dependence on studios, which have been pressing Internet service providers to more aggressively stem piracy.

“We’ve been considering these issues of piracy, and we do feel the interests of our shareholders are aligned with the interests of the content community,” Cicconi said.

“We very much have a stake, as they do, in trying to stem illegal appropriation of that content,” he said.

Cicconi said the effort is primarily aimed at pirates who set up operations in other countries and upload massive amounts of illegal files using AT&T’s network. He said the technology being developed would not target those who download those files.

AT&T’s effort is being watched closely by Verizon, which has vigorously fought demands by recording labels to reveal the names of customers who may have downloaded illegal copies of songs.

Verizon executives have also had discussions with studios and other content providers about piracy as it ramps up its own consumer TV effort.

“As we do more content deals ourselves, this comes up in those discussions,” said Eric Rabe, Verizon senior vice president of media relations.

“But we continue to believe we don’t want to be the policemen on this, while at the same time recognizing copyright is a serious issue and needs to be protected,” he said.

Consumer advocates have raised concerns, fueled in part by the lack of specifics from AT&T about the technology being developed.

They are also concerned that large media conglomerates are increasingly dictating how new technology can be used.

“Frankly, the best hope for the consumer here is that we get more competition in content, and I think that’s coming thanks to things like YouTube and Joost,” said Fred von Lohmann, an attorney with the civil-liberties group .

“The question is how many people can be strong-armed before that arrives,” he said.