Amazon Studios now accepting short video bids for feature films

Amazon Studios is hell-bent on developing movies and TV series , and on top of script submissions , it’s now asking filmmakers to send in 2-15 minute long shorts to pitch their feature-length film ideas. Those would serve as a foundation for your project and “express an idea that’s begging to be seen on the big-screen, in full-length, full-budget form,” according to the division’s Hollywonk blog. Amazon Studios will spend 45 days evaluating each submission, and those added to the development slate will receive $10,000. After that, you’ll get put into the development pipeline, which could get you paid writing and directing opportunities, guidance and feedback from partners like Warner Bros., and up to $400,000 if your baby hits theaters. Private submissions are welcome, but if you’re feeling brave, you can also post it for the world to see — hit the source or More Coverage link for more info. Filed under: Home Entertainment , Amazon Comments Source: Amazon Studios Hollywonk blog

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Amazon Studios now accepting short video bids for feature films

Amazon Has a 3D Printer Section Now

3D printers just got a little more mainstream. Amazon has now opened its own 3D Printer page for the sale of printers and filaments so you can get all that jazz shipped right to your door with the greatest of ease . Read more…        

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Amazon Has a 3D Printer Section Now

Amazon introduces Storyteller tool to turn scripts into storyboards

Amazon Studios has been forging ahead with its push to develop original movies and TV series, and it has now introduced a new tool that it’s hoping will help foster further development. Dubbed Amazon Storyteller, the tool lets writers quickly turn their script into a storyboard without the need for any actual artistic skills. As Amazon explains it, the tool first scans the writer’s script and then “identifies the scenes, locations and characters from scene descriptions, and ‘casts’ them from a library of thousands of characters, props and backgrounds.” Writers and filmmakers can then choose to customize the storyboard or upload some of their own images if they like, before sharing it with others to solicit feedback (naturally, it’s only available if you submit your script to Amazon Studios). According to the company, the tool works best with contemporary dramas or romantic comedies given its current art assets, so you may still have your work cut out for you if you’re looking to storyboard your post-apocalyptic fantasy epic. Filed under: Internet , HD , Amazon Comments Source: Amazon Storyteller

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Amazon introduces Storyteller tool to turn scripts into storyboards

Disposable VPN: Tor Gateways With EC2 Free Tiers

The established regime in Turkey (not to mention many other countries: take your pick) may not like any-to-many communications, but luckily established regimes don’t always get the final word. An anonymous reader writes “Lahana is my little side project to help people access the Internet and Tor via Amazon EC2 free tier-based VPNs. It’s a couple of scripts that set up a new VPN in a couple of minutes that automatically tunnels everything through Tor. It’s easy to share credentials with groups of people and for most people is free to set up and use. I built it with Turkey in mind, but it no doubt has other uses.” Read more of this story at Slashdot.

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Disposable VPN: Tor Gateways With EC2 Free Tiers

US Government Monitoring Associated Press Phone Records

Picass0 writes with distressing news from the AP wire, about the AP: “The Justice Department secretly obtained two months of telephone records of reporters and editors for The Associated Press in what the news cooperative’s top executive called a ‘massive and unprecedented intrusion’ into how news organizations gather the news.” They obtained call records from a number of desk phones, and the personal phones of many news editors. The DOJ has not commented, but it may be related to the possibility that the CIA director leaked information on a foiled terror plot in Yemen last year. Read more of this story at Slashdot.

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US Government Monitoring Associated Press Phone Records

How the Post Office Sniffs Out Anthrax Before It Hits Your Mailbox

The Amerithrax case of 2001, in which letters harboring Anthrax spores were delivered to media outlets and a pair of US Senators’ offices, killed five people and sickened another 17. In the wake of these attacks, the US Postal Service (USPS) installed a system of electronic noses in mail processing facilities around the country designed to sniff out the deadly bacteria before someone else does. More »        

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How the Post Office Sniffs Out Anthrax Before It Hits Your Mailbox

Google Bans Selling or Lending of Glass

If Google thinks any of its new Google Glass owners have been flogging them on eBay or loaning them their to friends it has the right to remotely deactivate the tech spectacles, according to the Ts & Cs in the contract this first wave of buyers have agreed to. More »        

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Google Bans Selling or Lending of Glass

Teehan+Lax releases easy-to-use hyperlapse tool, blows everyone’s goddamn mind

Have you ever been clicking along a particularly stunning stretch of road in Google Street View and thought: damn, how awesome it would be if you could stitch all these individual images together and turn them into a video? Well… sit down. Clear your schedule. There’s something you need to see. Read more…        

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Teehan+Lax releases easy-to-use hyperlapse tool, blows everyone’s goddamn mind