'Family Ties' creator Gary David Goldberg dies

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Randee Dawn TODAY contributor

5 hours ago

Michael Loccisano / Getty Images file

Gary David Goldberg in 2011.

Emmy Award-winning television producer and writer Gary David Goldberg died from brain cancer Sunday at his home in Montecito, Calif., his son-in-law and "The Colbert Report" writer Robert Dubbin confirmed to TODAY.com. He was 68 years old.

Goldberg mined his own life for some of the shows he created, including "Family Ties," the sitcom that made Michael J. Fox a star and ran from 1982-89. He later re-cast Fox in the political comedy "Spin City," which he created with "Cougar Town's" Bill Lawrence. That series ran from 1996-2002.

Initially a sports enthusiast, the Brooklyn-born Goldberg was expelled from two universities; when he met his future wife, flight attendant Diana Meehan, they hitchhiked around the world for a year with his black Labrador Retriever Ubu, a dog who became the symbol of his future production company, Ubu Productions. (The post-credits slate that ran after his shows featured a picture of the dog and Goldberg's voice saying, "Sit, Ubu, sit! Good dog.")

He was 31 when he took a writing class at San Diego State, and encouraged to write for television he took jobs on series like "The Bob Newhart Show" and "Lou Grant." He won a WGA award for a 1978 episode of "M*A*S*H." In 1980 he formed Ubu Productions, and shifted between television and film, also writing and directing 1989's feature "Dad" with Ted Danson and 2005's "Must Love Dogs" starring Diane Lane and John Cusack. Over the years he won two Emmys (for "Lou Grant" and "Family Ties" and was nominated five other times; he also earned a second WGA award, six Humanitas Prizes and a Peabody Award.

In 2008 he penned a memoir: "Sit, Ubu, Sit: How I Went from Brooklyn to Hollywood With the Same Woman, the Same Dog and a Lot Less Hair." (He and Meehan eloped in 1990, over 20 years after they first met.)

Friends and co-workers began immediately Tweeting their condolences and tributes:

As noted by The Hollywood Reporter, Goldberg said in his Archive of American Television interview that he would like to be remembered as "a guy who showed up for work and took the chance on finding out whether I could do it or not. ... I'd like to think I made my success not at the expense of anyone. Success was accidental."

Source: http://www.today.com/entertainment/family-ties-spin-city-creator-gary-david-goldberg-dies-68-6C10423621

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94% Room 237

All Critics (119) | Top Critics (32) | Fresh (112) | Rotten (7) | DVD (1)

A curious and entertaining documentary.

The human brain is a marvellously suggestible organ.

[A] strange, frustrating, occasionally fascinating doc ...

"Room 237" evolves from an ode to movie love at its most delirious to a wry examination of the crackpot mind at work.

There's enough real evidence supporting the theory that Kubrick was a genius, and that's pretty entertaining all by itself.

It's about the human need for stuff to make sense - especially overpowering emotional experiences - and the tendency for some people to take that sense-making to extremes.

An intellectual exercise, and an entertaining one, especially for those who don't want to label The Shining as just a ghost story.

It has the same entertainment value as listening to a late-night radio host indulge his listeners on Roswell, Area 51 and 9/11. Everything sounds completely crackers, until it all makes crazy sense.

What emerges from Room 237 is not a denigration of conspiracies, but a kind of celebration of our ability to create patterns where (perhaps) none exist.

"Room 237" could become an essential companion piece to "The Shining" from now on. For those who see both, it will be impossible to think about one without the other.

...all about the work of criticism - finding fresh avenues of delight.

Watching it makes you feel like you're attending a really entertaining film class where your classmates confidently let their freak flags fly.

It's an essay about the human need to reject the notion of a random universe and find order and meaning in existence. These people are developing their own creation myths, with Kubrick the mastermind responsible for the Intelligent Design.

Termitic film nerds could chow down for years on the wood chips.

You know when "Room 237? starts getting really scary? When the people in the film start making sense.

Kubrick fans and movie geeks will want to check this film out as soon as possible

Kubrick fans will take 'Shining' to 'Room 237.'

The credibility of these theories ranges from faintly plausible to frankly ridiculous, but Ascher isn't interested in judging them; his movie is more about the joys of deconstruction and the special kind of obsession that movies can inspire.

Some of the interpretations seem more of a stretch than others but all are entertainingly presented by director Rodney Ascher. (The movie) serves as a testament to Stanley Kubrick's cinematic mastery.

As fascinating as it is frustrating

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Source: http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/room_237_2012/

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AT&T cuts smartphone prices in half, jumps on the discount bandwagon

If you're looking for a new smartphone, this is apparently the weekend to go shopping. Following Radio Shack's promise to chip in a $100 Google Play credit with purchase an HTC One and Walmart's deep iPhone discounts, AT&T has quietly tacked on a 50% discount to all smartphone purchases under $199. This puts devices like the HTC One, Samsung's Galaxy S4 (and the S4 Active), the Note II, both of BlackBerry's latest handsets and iPhone 5 at an enticing $100. Naturally, Ma Bell has attached the usual hooks: the deal necessitates a new 2-year agreement or contract renewal, and in-store purchases require a trade-in device to activate the discount. Not a bad deal if you're hankering for new hardware -- just make sure you don't walk away with buyer's remorse.

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Lewis leads group atop NW Arkansas Championship

ROGERS, Ark. (AP) ? Stacy Lewis has made no secret about her desire to earn a championship in front of her adopted hometown fans.

The world's No. 2 golfer has also been open about how that internal pressure has caused her to struggle in recent years at the LPGA NW Arkansas Championship.

Lewis put all distractions aside on Saturday, shooting a 6-under 65 to join a group of four players atop the leaderboard at 10 under overall after the second round of the tournament at Pinnacle Country Club.

The round was a welcomed bit of excitement for a surging and vocal gallery that followed Lewis' every shot. It was especially gratifying for the former world No. 1, who played collegiately at nearby Arkansas ? and who has struggled to contend in recent years at the tournament.

Lewis earned an unofficial win at the rain-shortened event as an amateur in 2007. Since then, however, the former Rookie of the Year and last year's Player of the Year entered this week having finished in an average of 23rd place in front of her many fans ? including a 49th-place finish last year.

Back-to-back wins earlier this year briefly vaulted Lewis into the top spot in the world rankings, a position she said prepared her for the hectic schedule she faces this week.

"It's everything I deal with this year with the week that I became No. 1 in the world. It was just chaos," Lewis said. "Dealing with that pressure of being No. 1 in the world, I learned a lot from that.

"I honestly think that's why I've come here this week and it doesn't seem so busy anymore, doesn't seem too hard to play with all the fans."

Chie Arimura and Beatriz Recari both equaled Lewis' 65 on Saturday and are tied entering the final round with So Yeon Ryu.

I.K. Kim and defending champion Ai Miyazato tied for the lowest round of the day, each shooting a 7-under 64.

First-round leader Mika Miyazato shot a 70 and is three shots back, while top-ranked Inbee Park leads a group of three players two shots back at 8 under.

They will all be chasing Lewis on Sunday, at least in terms of the attention from the galleries to begin with. She will be paired with Recari in the final grouping of the day, and she is well aware of the excitement she will feel.

"I think the harder part is I'm going to want it so bad, and I know the fans are going to want me to get it really bad," Lewis said. "So, it's going to be hard. The hardest part is going to be staying patient and not trying to force putts and running them four feet by (the hole)."

Lewis was as low as 11 under after 17 holes on Saturday, thanks in large part to needing only 27 putts for her round ? a number that included several near misses and a three-putt on her final hole. The 28-year-old Lewis, who played during the morning, thrilled her pro-Arkansas gallery with four straight birdies on her first nine holes.

After starting on the back nine, she birdied holes 14-17 to reach 8 under before the par-5 18th took its toll. Lewis' approach on her third shot came up just short and rolled to the bottom of the hill in front of the green. Her following chip did the same.

Fortunately for Lewis, she managed to save bogey with an up-and-down ? thanks to her fifth straight one-putt. She then reached 11 under after four more birdies later in her round before bogeying her final hole of the day.

Lewis will have plenty of challengers Sunday on a leaderboard that features seven players within two shots of the lead, including Park ? with two major wins this year.

Arimura, the rookie from China, also needed only 27 putts on Saturday in shooting a bogey-free 65. She tied for the lead with birdies on her final two holes. Ryu birdied the par-5 7th hole ? her 16th hole of the round ? to reach 10 under in the final tournament before next week's U.S. Open.

Recari also posted a bogey-free round, birdieing four of her first seven holes before making the last of her six birdies on the par-5 14th. The Spanish golfer already has one win this year, the Kia Classic in March.

"I think overall I'm pretty happy and proud of how I handled myself the last two days," Recari said. "I have a very clear idea of what I have to do mentally, so I feel very confident and very good for my last round."

Kim, Pornanong Phatlum and Ji Young Oh are each at 8 under along with Park, while amateur Lydia Ko and Miyazato are at 7 under.

Juli Inkster followed an opening 71 with a 6-under 65 on Saturday.

Lewis, meanwhile, said she planned to play a round of golf with her nephew on Saturday afternoon before relaxing for the rest of the day in anticipation of what she hopes is a hometown celebration on Sunday.

"I'm definitely going to use the crowd some, but then I need to also just kind of scale it back and just stay in what I am doing right now because it's working," Lewis said.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/lewis-leads-group-atop-nw-arkansas-championship-235555077.html

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Moving a $25 Million Magnet Without Moving it an Inch

Once in a great while, the exact $25 million tool you need is laying around, free for the taking. Free, that is, if you can move a delicate, complex piece of scientific equipment halfway across the country without breaking it.

Researchers at Fermilab?a particle physics laboratory outside Chicago?were the recent recipients of this serendipity. A giant doughnut-shaped electromagnet that has been collecting dust for the past 12 years at Brookhaven National Laboratory in New York could be the vital centerpiece of an upcoming experiment, one that could help scientists understand data coming out of the Large Hadron Collider in Europe. This Saturday, scientists and engineers on both ends are going to move it. But the 50-ft. magnet is so fragile that even the slightest bend?a twist or sag a third of an inch anywhere?could irreparably damage it.

"It's one of a kind," says Chris Polly, the project manager of Muon g-2, the experiment that needs the magnet. He plans for Muon g-2 to be up and running by 2016. But if the magnet breaks, "it would cost a lot more money and cause a pretty hefty delay."

Losing the magnet would be devastating for more than just fiscal reasons. As the Large Hadron Collider at CERN in Switzerland prepares to bump up the power for its upcoming experiments, Fermilab's new project, Muon g-2, could play a supporting role. "This is a rapid timescale we're talking about," Polly says. "We want to know the physics right now because it's helpful in interpreting data coming from the Large Hadron Collider."

The Big Move

For someone in charge of $25 million worth of absurdly delicate equipment, Del Allspach, the engineer in charge of the move, describes the journey with surprising calm. Because the magnet can't be disassembled without damaging it, Fermilab is going to ship the thing to Illinois on a white-knuckle waterway journey down the Atlantic and up the Mississippi River. The lab has paid for a private barge, a nearly unbendable casing, and a hydraulically leveling trailer designed just for this mission to transport the magnet to and from the water.

On the monthlong boat ride, the magnet will be locked down in its casing, covered from the elements, and decked out with safety-measuring equipment. "We have four accelerometers and one tiltmeter," says Allspach. "We will be watching the readouts of those in real time." If any of his equipment hints that the water is getting too choppy, it'll feed to a satellite modem, and he'll be autodialed day or night. (You can follow the magnet's path on the Muon website.)

On the boat, the magnet will be able to withstand breakers larger than 16 feet. Still, a surprise jolt or an unexpectedly large storm could turn the prize magnet into a 17-ton paperweight. Allspach is assured that with weather forecasting and the protective and monitoring equipment, the magnet?and with it the hopes of starting the Muon g-2 experiment as soon as possible?is in no danger. "We've done calculations," he says, "and we'll have complete control of the barge."

Combing the Vacuum

Muon g-2 will survey the short-lived particles that pop in and out of existence in a vacuum. The experiment relies on one of the strange truths in particle physics: that empty space is anything but empty. Even in a perfect vacuum pairs of particles?a proton and antiproton, for example, or an electron and antielectron?materialize from the void, only to disappear back into oblivion an instant later. "So a vacuum is mainly nothing," says Bill Morse, a particle physicist with the Muon g-2 experiment.

The scientists at Fermilab plan to study these fleeting particles by shooting volleys of muons (the fat, short-lived cousin of the electron) through the giant, empty electromagnet. The electromagnet causes the muons to wobble like toy tops losing their balance. For nearly a century, scientists have been calculating how much the muons are supposed to wobble, but in reality they wobble a tiny bit more than predicted. This is because the muons are pushing past the other particles popping in and out of the vacuum, each of which can steal a little bit of energy. Physicists call this gap between expectation and reality g-2, hence the experiment's name.

This figure, g-2 is more than just an interesting Snapple-cap fact. "It provides the way to see if new theories actually fit our observations," says Glen Marshall, a particle physicist at Canada's national particle physics laboratory, who is not involved in the Muon g-2 experiment. Any theory that seeks to explain the crazy world of subatomic particles must predict the value of g-2. Any theory that can't, or gets the number wrong, is dead in the water.

Fermilab's experiment will be the most accurate g-2 measurement yet, and accuracy is everything. As the measurements of g-2 become more precise, physicists can narrow down what matter does or doesn't exist in the universe. And the last time g-2 was measured, the theory that almost perished was a big one.

The Hint of Something More

The Standard Model of particle physics not only lays out what particles exist and how they interact, but it also explains a huge variety of subatomic phenomenon that other theories can't. Earlier this year, the theory had its biggest open question answered when scientists at the Large Hadron Collider discovered the Higgs boson.

Like all particle physics theories, the Standard Model specifies a precise number for g-2. But the last time g-2 was measured?at Brookhaven in the 1990s using the very same electromagnet Fermilab is moving?scientists discovered that the Standard Model didn't match their findings.

This could have been a major blow to the Standard Model, but there was a slim possibility?just 0.3 percent?that the Brookhaven findings were false and due to chance. And in particle physics, that's too much. For something to be considered a true discovery, the possibility has to be whittled down to (an arbitrary but widely accepted) 0.00006 percent. Brookhaven lacked the power to make a more accurate measurement, and so the electromagnet and the researchers who ran the experiment have been waiting more than a decade to give it another try.

At Fermilab, physicists will get their second chance. Because of advancements made in the past 10 years, and because Fermilab will be recycling parts from the Tevatron (the high energy particle accelerator that was shut down in 2011), researchers will be able to record 20 times more muons than they could at Brookhaven. Because of this the Muon g-2 experiment will be able to put the Standard Model to the test, and perhaps see whether there is something strange left to be discovered. "It could be that there's a new force" or new particles, Morse says. "Another theory is dark light. All of these are possibilities. We don't know."

But Marshall stresses that the Muon g-2 experiment is only one part of a much bigger picture. "You can't find out what's beyond the Standard Model with just g-2," he says. Regardless, whether the Muon g-2 experiment challenges the Standard Model, the measurement will help make sense of any future results coming from other laboratories. "If there is a new particle discovered at CERN," Marshall says, "we'll know something about it right away because of the g-2 experiment."

Source: http://www.popularmechanics.com/technology/engineering/extreme-machines/moving-a-25-million-magnet-without-moving-it-an-inch-15610395?src=rss

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LeBron James Securing Place In History As Heat Rack Up NBA Titles

MIAMI (AP) ? Dwyane Wade was walking down the hallway toward the Miami Heat locker room in the wee hours of Friday morning, still in uniform and fussing with the new championship hat atop his head as his team and their families were in the midst of partying the night away.

He stopped briefly and assessed the celebration.

"We're getting pretty good at these," Wade said.

That's understandable, the Heat are getting plenty of practice at throwing themselves end-of-season parties. Four trips to the NBA Finals since 2006, three championships in that span and with the last two titles coming consecutively, it's making the decisions that the Heat and LeBron James made three summers ago look pretty smart.

By topping San Antonio in Game 7 of a back-and-forth NBA Finals on Thursday, the Heat became the sixth franchise in league history to win consecutive championships. It's their third title overall; only four clubs have more. And for James, it capped two seasons where he won all he could ? two regular-season MVPs, two titles, two Finals MVPs, even an Olympic gold medal.

"It feels great. This team is amazing. And the vision that I had when I decided to come here is all coming true," James said. "Through adversity, through everything we've been through, we've been able to persevere and to win back to back championships. It's an unbelievable feeling. I'm happy to be part of such a first-class organization."

James said winning his first title was the toughest thing he's ever done.

It's now the second-toughest. Defending the crown, he said, was even more arduous. He was exhausted when it was over ? and still scored 37 points in the finale, more than he posted in any other postseason game this season.

"Believe in LeBron," Heat President Pat Riley said.

Miami did, all the way to the end.

The Heat rolled past Milwaukee in a first-round sweep, needed five games to oust Chicago in the second round, but then went to the seven-game limit against Indiana in the Eastern Conference finals and then to the last game again against the Spurs, who actually were 21 seconds away from ending the series in six games before James and the Heat engineered a huge rally.

Without that comeback, a championship-or-bust season would have gone bust.

Instead, legacies were enhanced, more trophies were hoisted, and Miami's place atop the NBA landscape was cemented.

"To be in the championship three years in a row, to win two of those three, is unbelievable," Wade said. "Everybody can't get to the Finals and win six in a row, like win six and not lose one like Michael Jordan. Everyone don't do that. But we are excited about the future of this organization. We are still a good team. And we're going to do everything we can to make sure that we can stay competitive."

Moves will be made, of course. The Heat have some luxury-tax concerns to address, and it would be a shock if they didn't try to get even better through a trade or free agency.

"All it's about now is what's in front of us," Riley said.

Then again, if James keeps getting better, Miami's place in history will probably only rise.

At 6-foot-8 and 250 pounds, James has a combination of size, speed and strength that seems unmatched in the NBA world. After Miami lost the 2011 finals to Dallas, James decided to improve his post play by working with Hakeem Olajuwon. Last season, his focus was on enhancing his mid-range jumper, something he continued working on throughout the season with Ray Allen.

So with about a half-minute left and the Heat up by two points, it was that mid-range jumper that sealed Miami's title. James delivered with 27.9 seconds left to make it a two-possession game. Not long afterward, he had the Larry O'Brien Trophy in one arm, the Finals MVP trophy in the other, ready for a well-deserved break from basketball.

"I want to be, if not the greatest, one of the greatest to ever play this game," James said. "And I will continue to work for that, and continue to put on this uniform and be the best I can be every night."

James has already put himself in that best-ever conversation.

"We all know his work ethic," said Heat coach Erik Spoelstra, who spent part of his first day as a two-time champion coach at Jim Larranaga's basketball camp at the University of Miami. "It's probably unique for a guy who has been the best in the game since he was in seventh grade. Usually you wouldn't have the type of work ethic that would match that type of talent."

Jordan won six titles, James only has two. But if that's the sole standard, then Jordan isn't even close either, considering Bill Russell won 11 rings in his Boston career. Russell was there for the Heat title clincher, served as part of the on-court trophy presentations, then retreated to a small room not far from the Miami locker room as players meandered in for one of the immediate perks of winning a title ? a photo shoot with the trophy.

James posed for hundreds of photos during his time in there. Camera clicks were a constant sound for about 10 minutes when he was in the room. And before he left, he and Wade waved for Russell to come join them for some more snapshots.

"Get the legend up here," James shouted.

Russell walked to the front of the room as a few people, mostly Heat employees and family members, clapped. He shook hands with the Heat stars, then turned around to face the cameras and said something to James that was barely audible to those even a few feet away.

"You earned this one," Russell said.

James' grin became even broader, and camera shutters kept on whirring. Suddenly, that oft-mocked, oft-replayed "not two, not three, not four" answer James gave during the Heat celebration of their free agency coup in 2010 doesn't look like such a punch line anymore.

"I always felt that when he got up to five, six, seven that he was joking a little bit, but the media decided to take him very seriously," Heat managing general partner Micky Arison said. "I think right now he's real happy with two and next year he'll be worried about three."

James has played 10 seasons now. Including playoffs, his scoring average is 27.6, third-best in league history behind only Jordan and Wilt Chamberlain. Since the league began charting plus-minus (the point differential when a player is on the court), James' teams have outscored opponents by 3,861 points with him in regular-season and playoff games. Second-best on that list? Wade, at 2,301 points. That gap is simply huge.

With an average season next year, he'll move into the Top 25 in all-time regular-season scoring. He got more rebounds per game this season than ever before, shot the 3-pointer better than ever before, punctuating that by making five in Game 7 of the finals. And here's what might be truly frightening for opponents: For the sixth straight year, James' shooting percentage got better.

"Hopefully people will leave him alone a little more now," Heat forward Shane Battier said. "He takes a lot of heat, I think undeservedly. He's the best player on the planet. And hopefully now with two titles, he'll get more the benefit of the doubt. But, you know, he's the best. He's the best right now."

So are the Heat. And that can't be argued.

The Celtics, Lakers and Bulls are the only franchises to win three straight titles. That will be the challenge for the Heat next year, to take a great run and make it a truly elite run.

For now, though, James wants no part of that conversation. He's going to enjoy this one for a good long while.

"It's the ultimate," James said. "I don't want to think about next year right now, what our possibilities are next year. Got to take full advantage of this one. It's an unbelievable moment for our team."

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Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/06/21/lebron-james-greatest-nba-history-heat_n_3480672.html

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EFF looks at rules controlling NSA surveillance, sees big risks for Americans

While The Guardian undoubtedly garnered attention when it posted court papers detailing data collection rules for the NSA, it also provided a lot of detail that isn't easy to digest. The Electronic Frontier Foundation is more than willing to break down those rules, however -- and it doesn't like what it sees. It's concerned that there are too many exceptions letting the NSA store and transmit private information, with little oversight preventing investigators from seeing more US data than they should. Allegedly, the rules could defy American rights to anonymous speech; they may also violate attorney-client privileges both inside and outside of the US. We have a hunch that the NSA might disagree with this interpretation of its authority, but you can see all the points of contention for yourself at the link below.

[Image credit: David Drexler, Flickr]

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