In 'Letter 44,' a secret threatens a US president

Secrets abound in America, but none on the scale as those revealed in the pages of Charles Soule's "Letter 44," a series where humanity finds the stars hold not just ambition, but a threat kept hidden.

The first issue of the series published by Portland, Oregon-based Oni Press Inc. was released Wednesday. It's illustrated by Alberto Jimenez Alburquerque, colored by Guy Major, lettered by Shawn DePasquale and edited by Jill Beaton.

Soule says the new series is a measured essay on the human spirit, and the quest for knowledge knowing that there is life up there and it may not be friendly.

The story centers on President Stephen Blades who is told about the existence of an alien presence kept secret for years by his predecessor. It's in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter, it's unclassifiable, it won't communicate and it may be girding for war.

From there, it's one truth after another and it changes everything for Blades as a leader, citizen, father and person.

Soule said idea sprang forth in early 2011 about the time "when it was pretty clear that the last space shuttle mission was going to happen soon. The U.S. as a space power was going to change, dramatically."

Inspired by that change, he was walking along the beach in Cape May, N.J., and pondering what it would take for America, among others, to get back to the stars.

"I wanted to write the story about what we could do and, if we really need to, could we get back up there? What would be the incentive? In the 1960s, it was the Cold War and the space race," Soule said. "What could take us up there? The idea of aliens being up there, and then it all fell into place."

And so it does, with Soule's story focusing not just on Blades and the political ramifications of knowing what's up there, but also the crew of the spaceship Clarke, which is poised to make the first, human contact with whatever is there.

Soule said the pieces of both plots will come together, over the course of the series, and "everything will make sense," he says. "Even some of the weird stuff."

___

Moore reported from Philadelphia. Follow him at http://www.twitter.com/mattmooreap

___

Online: http://bit.ly/GJbyBL

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/letter-44-secret-threatens-us-president-055756354.html
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Druva Raises $25M For Backup And File Sharing Platform

Druva has raised a $25 million Series C investment from Sequoia Capital, Nexus Venture Partners and Tenaya Capital for its backup and file sharing platform that safeguards a company's data across mobile devices and desktops. The company will use the funds to extend its new cloud services offering. To date, Druva has raised a total of $52 million.
Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/eC_L31Tz5FY/
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Lee's 31 points lead Warriors past Lakers in China

BEIJING (AP) — David Lee scored 31 points and grabbed six rebounds to lead the Golden State Warriors to a 100-95 preseason win over a Kobe Bryant-less Los Angeles Lakers on Tuesday in China.

Stephen Curry added 24 points for the Warriors, while Andrew Bogut had 14 rebounds and nine points. Lee finished 12 of 16 from the field.

"The way it's supposed to work is that we can get some stuff on the inside early in the game and that will open up the outside for guys like Steph to shoot 3s as the game goes on," the center said.

Nick Young led the Lakers with 18 points. Pau Gasol had 15 points and Chris Kaman scored 14 with 10 rebounds.

Although Bryant made the trip to China, he's sitting out the games to nurse a torn Achilles tendon and an ailing right knee. He was clearly missed by the Chinese fans, who chanted his name throughout the game.

Gasol said the Lakers faded defensively in the third quarter without their star.

"We don't know when Kobe's going to get back," Gasol said. "But until that point we just have to play hard as a team as we've been doing, and making sure we can't wait for him to get back and everything to fall into place at that point."

The Lakers play a second exhibition game in Shanghai on Friday.

The Warriors trailed 11 points at the end of the third quarter, but tied the score at 84 with just over seven minutes remaining on a 3-pointer by Curry and never trailed again.

Golden State coach Mark Jackson said Curry has been healthy the entire offseason.

"I thought tonight for the first time in a long time he had a rhythm and he was the best player on the floor," Jackson said. "It was great to see and we expect tremendous (things) from him throughout the course of this season."

Curry said the team played "probably our best half in the second half all preseason."

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/lees-31-points-lead-warriors-past-lakers-china-160352968--spt.html
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Marvel Studios Reportedly Planning 5 — Yes, 5 — New TV Projects

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. may only be the beginning for Marvel Studios’ television plans. In addition to persistent rumors that the studio is developing a show centering around Captain America: The First Avenger supporting character Sharon Carter, a new report from Deadline says that the company is shopping a package of four drama series and an additional miniseries to shop around cable channels and video-on-demand companies, including Netflix and Amazon.

According to the report, various unnamed providers have shown interest in the package despite the size of the commitment necessary — 60 episodes in total, presumably split between four 13-episode series and an additional eight-episode mini-series, as opposed to a more traditional commitment of 13-20 episodes at a time.

In theory, there’s a lot about this rumor that makes sense from Marvel’s perspective. Not only would an upfront, guaranteed-episode deal remove the worry caused by tumbling ratings — Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. lost 38 percent of its audience between the first and second episodes — but alternate content delivery systems may also be looking more attractive. The third episode of S.H.I.E.L.D. gained 52 percent more viewers when DVR views within a week of broadcast were factored in, and signs point to DVR-based viewing only growing in popularity over time.

The benefit for the companies bidding on the package is slightly more mixed, however. While it would allow them to advantage of the popularity of the Marvel brand, the falling ratings and critical grumbling about Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. have demonstrated that no brand is invulnerable, particularly when it branches outside of its established areas of success.

There’s also the issue of timing. Right now, Marvel is a hot property, but these shows wouldn’t be available to debut until mid-to-late 2014 at the earliest. What if Thor: The Dark World, Captain America: The Winter Soldier or Guardians of the Galaxy flop at the box office in the meantime — or the many DC Entertainment-produced shows currently in development (Batman spin-off Gotham at Fox, Constantine at NBC and The Flash at the CW, in addition to the currently-airing Arrow) simply overwhelm demand for superhero properties on TV?

Even with the considerable strength of Disney behind it, the package as reported by Deadline might be a gamble for whoever ends up buying it. If Marvel’s considerable success at the box office continues and the gamble pays off, however, an instant portfolio of Marvel projects could be a very lucrative thing indeed.

Marvel Studios declined to comment to WIRED on this subject.

Source: http://feeds.wired.com/c/35185/f/661469/s/327ecb46/sc/38/l/0L0Swired0N0Cunderwire0C20A130C10A0Cmarvel0Enew0Etv0Eshows0C/story01.htm
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Major next-gen launch title Watch Dogs pushed to Spring 2014

Ubisoft's major next-gen launch game Watch Dogs is now set to release in Spring 2014. The French game publisher announced as much this afternoon, also noting that The Crew is being pushed to the same window. That means that neither game will arrive until at least April 1, 2014.

Though Watch Dogs is ...

Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/7WY6vvqfETE/
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Asia stocks ebb as US debt resolution awaited

BANGKOK (AP) -- Asian stock markets ebbed in holiday-thinned trade Monday as investors wait for a resolution to the U.S. budget deadlock.

With the Oct. 17 deadline to increase the U.S. debt ceiling looming, Republican leaders have said they would vote to extend the government's borrowing authority for six weeks while a spokesman for President Barack Obama said he would "likely" sign a bill to increase the nation's ability to borrow money. But negotiations over the weekend did not reach a conclusion.

An agreement could also end the partial government shutdown that has idled about 350,000 Federal workers without pay for nearly two weeks.

Trading was muted in Asia, with markets in Tokyo and Hong Kong closed for holidays.

Outside of those major financial centers, China's Shanghai Composite Index was up 0.5 percent at 2,238.39 and South Korea's Kospi was off 0.1 percent at 2,024.03. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 shed 0.5 percent to 5,208.10. Markets in Taiwan and Southeast Asia were also down.

Wall Street rose for a second day Friday as investors bet lawmakers would reach agreement to raise the debt limit and prevent the U.S. from defaulting on its debt payments, a possibly that has upset markets since mid-September. U.S. government bonds are usually considered the world's safest investment, so even the possibility of a default is unnerving for investors.

The Dow rose 0.7 percent to close at 15,237.11. The Standard & Poor's 500 added 0.6 percent to 1,703.20. The Nasdaq gained 0.8 percent to 3,791.87.

In energy markets, benchmark crude for November delivery was down 13 cents at $101.89 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract fell 99 cents to close at $102.02 on Friday.

The euro rose to $1.3563 from $1.3554 late Friday in New York. The dollar rose to 98.27 yen from 98.19 yen.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/asia-stocks-ebb-us-debt-043430344.html
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Today Is The Last Day For the 'International Herald Tribune'

An image showing the final front page of The International Herald Tribune, published Monday Oct. 14. The newspaper will become The International New York Times Tuesday.

New York Times

An image showing the final front page of The International Herald Tribune, published Monday Oct. 14. The newspaper will become The International New York Times Tuesday.

New York Times

Monday marks the last day of newsstand sales of the International Herald Tribune, the newspaper that was once instrumental in keeping American expatriates up to date on their homeland. On Tuesday, the paper will bear a new name: The International New York Times.

"The paper has changed names a number of times since its founding 126 years ago," reads a story in the newspaper about the change, "but its mission has always remained the same: to provide a global perspective on events and ideas shaping the world."

A slideshow accompanying the Herald's story about the name change includes black-and-white photos of luminaries such as Andy Warhol and Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. reading The International Herald Tribune.

For decades, the newspaper was a cultural force, featuring in Ernest Hemingway's novel The Sun Also Rises in addition to French director Jean-Luc Godard's Breathless (or if you prefer the original title, À Bout de Souffle). In that film, actress Jean Seberg is seen hawking it on the street.

For our Newscast unit, NPR's Eleanor Beardsley reports:

"The New York Times has owned the Herald Tribune for the last decade, and the name change is meant to streamline the company's print and online editions.

"Founded in 1887 by New York Herald publisher Gordon Bennett, the paper aimed to provide American expats living in Paris with news from home, from stock prices to the latest baseball scores.

"Charles Trueheart was the Paris correspondent for The Washington Post in the 1990s when the Post jointly owned the Herald Tribune with The New York Times. He says the Tribune began as a Paris local paper.

"'To me, the Herald Tribune represents a time when Paris truly was the expatriate capital of America,' he said.

"The Herald Tribune is sold in 135 countries."

Source: http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2013/10/14/234243845/today-is-the-last-day-for-the-international-herald-tribune?ft=1&f=1003
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