E8 Theory + Yantra
Just something to consider: Is the E8 Theory of Everything proposed by Garrett Lisi related or connected in any way to the ancient Yantra?
Indie Film iPhone Apps — The New Distribution Frontier?
A film about the history and philosophy of the heavy metal movement in Finland, “Promised Land” was the culmination of several years work for Kuusniemi, who played guitar for the band Sarcofagus in the late 1970s and ’80s before switching careers to filmmaking. But after struggling to find full theatrical distribution for his film (it has been shown on Finnish TV and a Scandinavian TV deal is being negotiated), he decided to try a different tactic.
In 2009, anticipating the iPad, with its 9.7 inch digital screen, Kuusniemi and his producing partner Tanja Katinka Kurttunen elected to self-distribute the film as a stand-alone app. “It’s like Apple had been designing the iPad expressly for my purposes,” he said.
Few independent filmmakers begin a new project with the goal of premiering their film on the small screen of TV, and even fewer want their films to debut on the tiny screen of a mobile device. But as distribution deals grow increasingly rare — and experimental approaches, like the Sundance Film Festival’s project to “rent” films on YouTube, fail to drum up viewer interest — filmmakers are coming around to the idea.
Kuusniemi says he didn’t come to the decision lightly. He first began working on “Promised Land of Heavy Metal” in 2007 and finished editing in 2008. The film played several rock film festivals in Europe and in private movie theaters in Finland. It’s also been shown at the London College University, where it’s part of the curriculum for a class on Finnish rock. But he was unable to find a distributor that offered a deal he found acceptable, and he ultimately elected to release the film in his own way.
The release of an film on an iPhone app significantly cuts down on costs. And while any profits earned from a film released on VOD must be split between the cable exhibitor and film distributor before money starts to trickle down to the filmmaker, the only costs for filmmakers who debut a movie on iTunes is the development of the app. (The “Promised Land of Heavy Metal” app costs $2 and includes the 52-minute documentary, photo galleries, and a digital booklet about the making of the film. A “lite” version can be downloaded for free.)
Mark Smillie, the founder of Stonehenge Productions in Houston, Tex (REALLY SAN DEIGO)., charges $300 for the development of a film app, plus 5% of the sales royalties, a process he previously completed for the makers of the independent film “Geek Mythology,” currently selling for $4.99 on iTunes. Smillie realized it was hard for independent filmmakers to make their products available to purchase as iTunes movies because Apple prefers to deal with major studio or major music labels. But as an iPhone app, the process was much simpler.
Granted, sales from such projects are negligible. But they represent the possible start of a new movement, or, at least, a new way of thinking about digital distribution. The number of films being released either on video-on-demand, or concurrently on VOD with a limited theatrical release is growing exponentially, and last year, independent filmmaker Sally Potter debuted the drama “Rage,” starring Jude Law and Dame Judi Dench, through a free application for iPhones and iPods offered by Babelgum, a Web-and mobile-content platform.
Matt Dentler, who used to run the SXSW Film Festival but now works for FilmBuff, the VOD distribution label of Cinetic Media, the company responsible for securing distribution for films like “Little Miss Sunshine” and “Bowling for Columbine,” notes that if nothing else, products like the iPad create more screens and help people realize the power of on-demand.
“We live in an on-demand world now,” Dentler said. “If you don’t know a fact, you Google it. And film distribution, just like music industry learned and the book industry is learning, needs to be accessible in an on-demand function.”
Love This Rube Goldberg Thang!
Are Your Web Sites Down as of March 1st?
How do I fix it?
You need to log in to your control panel and modify the affected domain name's zone file, using the table below as an example.
To Modify or Add DNS Records in Plesk
- Log in to Plesk as an Admin.
- From the list of domains at the bottom of the page, click the domain name you want to work with.
- Under the Services group, click the DNS button.
- To add a DNS entry, select the type of record you want to create and click Add.
To Modify or Add DNS Records in Simple Control Panel
- Log in to Simple Control Panel.
- Click the DNS button on the main screen.
- Click the Edit icon (the pencil) to the right of the domain name you want to modify.
- Change the desired A and NS records and save the changes.
To Modify or Add DNS Records in cPanel
- Log in to cPanel at http://yourdomainnamehere.com/cpanel.
- In WHM, click DNS Functions, and then select Edit DNS Zone.
- Click the domain you want to modify then click Edit.
- Enter the new DNS information then click Save.
Zone File Example
Assuming your domain name is coolexample.com and your IP address is 74.15.27.119, your zone file needs to have the following NS and A records to resolve properly:
| coolexample.com | NS | ns1.yournameserver.com |
| coolexample.com | NS | ns1.yournameserver.com |
| ns1.yournameserver.com | A | 74.15.27.119 |
| ns2.yournameserver.com | A | 74.15.27.119 |
Where ns1 and ns2.yournameserver.com are the nameservers your domain name is pointing to.
If you have an NS record without a corresponding A record, add the A record and make sure it points to the site's IP address.
Most importantly, and not very clear from the above:
ADD THE NS2.yournameserver.com A record in the DNS Settings of your Name Server NOT the domain (coolexample.com)
