Spycams sneak within a paw’s swipe of the world’s largest land predators - Polar bears. Polar Bear Spy on the Ice gets closer than ever before to these charismatic bears and reveals their astonishing intelligence and curiosity.

Iceberg-cam, blizzard-cam and snowball-cam are a new generation of spycams on a mission to explore the icy Arctic islands of Svalbard in Norway. Backed up by snow-cam and drift-cam, these technologically advanced spycams contain sophisticated electronics to endure polar arctic conditions.

From the outset, the wildlife filmmakers are faced with some of nature’s greatest challenges. But one spycam is just a breath away as cubs emerge from winter maternity dens.

Next the spycams team up and prepare to follow in the footsteps of polar bear mothers and cubs as they face their first summer in a world of shrinking ice. Each mother has a single goal, to guide her cubs to the rich hunting grounds of the sea ice. But on the way they must run the gauntlet of roaming males.

One mother and her cubs make it, and iceberg-cam tracks them across shifting ice as they head north towards the sturdier pack ice. But not all bears are so lucky - a mother and cub are marooned on the island, and it’s here that spycams reveal the true depth of polar bears’ intelligence.The land offers slim pickings and spycams discover how land-locked bears unearth new opportunities hunting walrus, diving for kelp, eating grass and even raiding bird colonies - filmed for the first time. Elsewhere on the island a washed-up whale carcass offers a bear banquet; and iceberg-cam captures the bears’ little-known social nature as they share this rare bounty.

Back on the sea ice, iceberg-cam makes another discovery - the polar bears' astonishing intelligence as they hunt seals. While life is relatively good on the ice it has its dangers. The mother and her cubs reach the end of the drift ice and are faced with a marathon swim. Will they make it to the security of the pack ice?

With spycams at their side, Polar Bear Spy on the Ice follows the bears’ fate during a difficult ice-free summer. Ultimately, spycams reveal that polar bears’ intelligence and curiosity are key to their survival in a world of shrinking ice.

Producer Philip Dalton

Directed by John Downer

A John Downer Production for BBC and Animal Planet

Polar bears smash the spy cams ...

The Site

I submitted ten puns to a contest, hoping one would win.

But no pun in ten did.

Loved the visual feast of Imax 3d Avatar,...but.... the story seems.....familiar...

Merry Christmas

Record industry faces liability over `infringement'

Chet Baker was a leading jazz musician in the 1950s, playing trumpet and providing vocals. Baker died in 1988, yet he is about to add a new claim to fame as the lead plaintiff in possibly the largest copyright infringement case in Canadian history. His estate, which still owns the copyright in more than 50 of his works, is part of a massive class-action lawsuit that has been underway for the past year.

The infringer has effectively already admitted owing at least $50 million and the full claim could exceed $6 billion. If the dollars don't shock, the target of the lawsuit undoubtedly will: The defendants in the case are Warner Music Canada, Sony BMG Music Canada, EMI Music Canada, and Universal Music Canada, the four primary members of the Canadian Recording Industry Association.

The CRIA members were hit with the lawsuit in October 2008 after artists decided to turn to the courts following decades of frustration with the rampant infringement.

The claims arise from a longstanding practice of the recording industry in Canada, described in the lawsuit as "exploit now, pay later if at all." It involves the use of works that are often included in compilation CDs (ie. the top dance tracks of 2009) or live recordings. The record labels create, press, distribute and sell the CDs, but do not obtain the necessary copyright licences.

Instead, the names of the songs on the CDs are placed on a "pending list," which signifies that approval and payment is pending. The pending list dates back to the late 1980s, when Canada changed its copyright law by replacing a compulsory licence with the need for specific authorization for each use. It is perhaps better characterized as a copyright infringement admission list, however, since for each use of the work, the record label openly admits that it has not obtained copyright permission and not paid any royalty or fee.

Over the years, the size of the pending list has grown dramatically, now containing more than 300,000 songs.

From Beyonce to Bruce Springsteen, the artists waiting for payment are far from obscure, as thousands of Canadian and foreign artists have seen their copyrights used without permission and payment.

It is difficult to understand why the industry has been so reluctant to pay its bills. Some works may be in the public domain or belong to a copyright owner difficult to ascertain or locate, yet the likes of Sarah McLachlan, Bruce Cockburn, Sloan, or the Watchmen are not hidden from view.

The more likely reason is that the record labels have had little motivation to pay up. As the balance has grown, David Basskin, the president and CEO of the Canadian Musical Reproduction Rights Agency Ltd., notes in his affidavit that "the record labels have devoted insufficient resources for identifying and paying the owners of musical works on the pending lists." The CRIA members now face the prospect of far greater liability.

The class action seeks the option of statutory damages for each infringement. At $20,000 per infringement, potential liability exceeds $6 billion.

These numbers may sound outrageous, yet they are based on the same rules that led the recording industry to claim a single file sharer is liable for millions in damages.

After years of claiming Canadian consumers disrespect copyright, the irony of having the recording industry face a massive lawsuit will not be lost on anyone, least of all the artists still waiting to be paid. Indeed, they are also seeking punitive damages, arguing "the conduct of the defendant record companies is aggravated by their strict and unremitting approach to the enforcement of their copyright interests against consumers."

Source

Might want to rethink your ad campaign.

Richard Simmons on "Whose Line..." 6;29

This always makes me laugh...

The Dark Knight- Joker Interrogation Scene Spoof (2:46)

Signs, signs, everywhere a sign....

Over Powered Powerwheels, Snow Jam Barbie Jeep vs. Corvette vs. F150 vs. Mustang Crazy Drift (2;35)

xkcd

Two women injured by being struck by an out-of-control yogurt hose....

Farmingdale yogurt factory accident

Two female workers were injured Tuesday in a yogurt factory accident in East Farmingdale, police said.

A high pressure hose attached to a machine at the Sabra Dipping Company, 535 Smith St., dislodged about 5:49 p.m. and struck Leyla Sabillion, 29, of Wyandanch and Argelia Ayala, 31, of Lindenhurst, according to police.

Their injuries are not considered life threatening, police said, but Sabillon was airlifted to Stony Brook University Medical Center for treatment for an injured left arm, and Ayala was taken to Nassau University Medical Center after she was struck in the abdomen.

Det. Sgt. Kevin Naylor said, "There was a crimp in the hose and they tried to correct it, but it backfired on them."

No one else was injured, Naylor said. There were other workers in the general area, but only the two women were near the machine where the hose was attached, he said.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration was advised of the accident and is expected to investigate, police said.

Source

Just can't make stuff like that up.