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District B13 (Banlieue 13)
Made in: France
Language: French

Synopsis: It is the year 2010. In this dystopic vision of the future, certain slums just outside of Paris have been walled off and isolated due to their "high risk" status.

Infested with drugs, rampant crime, and bad hairstyles, one particularly troublesome area called District B13 is reminiscent of the island of Manhattan from John Carpenter's Escape From New York, only more French (and possibly with better food).

Leto (David Belle) is a well-meaning punk who's in trouble with Taha (Bibi Naceri), District B13's tyrant drug kingpin. After stealing and then destroying a large stash of Taha's dope, Leto escapes the drug lord's armed goons in a brilliant building-to-building chase scene that has to be seen rather than described.

In this sequence, David Belle, who's a stuntman in real life, exhibits the art of Parkour (aka Free Running). Parkour is a sport invented by Belle himself, in which the practitioner uses the abilities of the human body to efficiently and creatively maneuver through physical obstacles.

Another vivid example of free running takes place in the 2006 Bond film Casino Royale when Bond (Daniel Craig) chases down a bomb maker (Sbastien Foucan). Foucan also happens to be a good pal of David Belle.

Anyway, on with the review.

Soon after Leto's escape, Taha kidnaps Lola (Dany Verissimo), Leto's feisty younger sister. Although Leto manages to rescue her, their escape is thwarted by cowardly police officials who refuse to enforce the law, thus allowing Taha to go free.

Lola is recaptured, and Leto ends up in the slammer.

Six months later...

Taha gets hold of an experimental neutron bomb, and accidentally arms it. The French government, upon receiving this alarming news, send in Captain Damien Tomaso (Cyril Raffaelli), the best cop and martial arts expert in Paris.

More bad-ass than Nicolas Sarkozy at a cheese party, Damien has less than 24 hours to locate and diffuse the bomb. But to make his way through District B13 in one piece, Damien must convince the incarcerated Leto to help him.

And so, it's a race against time to save Lola and millions of other lives before Paris, like Jacque Chirac's credibility, goes up in smoke...

The Good: Clocking in at a mere 85 minutes, District B13 is a great example of tight, fast-paced storytelling. The action is creative and highly entertaining, the stunts are cool, and there's nothing in this action movie that doesn't need to be there.

David Belle and Cyril Raffaelli are both amazing stuntmen/athletes, and without taking themselves too seriously, they pull off some great moments that are beyond many conventional Hollywood action flicks.

With a slick techno soundtrack to boot, District B13 may be short, but it's short and to the point and feels complete.

The Bad: Some of the action is a bit far-fetched, but at least it never gets to the point of where it insults your intelligence (not mine, anyway). Also, a lot of the actors have silly fashion taste, but they at least get their asses kicked for it.

Who would like this movie: Whether you're an action movie lover with the attention span of a hyperactive donkey, or looking to broaden your cinematic horizons, this foreign film is for you. It's like a visual energy drink!

(3 out of 4 stars)

Director: Pierre Morel
Starring: Cyril Raffaelli, David Belle, Tony D'Amaro, Bibi Naceri, Dany Verissimo

Joe Yang is a freelance film reviewer specializing in foreign films. You can find more of his reviews at his new website: http://www.foreign-films-for-you.com

The site is often updated- please visit often!

I guess if you are reading this article then you are interested in making and shooting your very own YouTube videos to upload to the site and to share with the rest of the world. If I am right then you may be saying to yourself how and where do I start?

Now you maybe thinking it is very hard to shoot and upload a video to YouTube and you are both right and wrong. But if all you want to do to start is shoot a simple video then the steps are very easy. And to be honest if you can point and click a mouse you have all the computer skills you really need.

Your first step in shooting a video is to get a video recording device. Today these can come in a simple form such as your cell/mobile phone. Your still camera normally has a video recording setting on it as well. Other options are your web cam or your domestic video camera. All these are very suitable for making YouTube style videos.

Now I am going to be honest here, the quality might not be that good with a cell phone, but hey if that is all you have got use it, play around with it, upload some videos and if you like the whole process save up and but a proper domestic video camera.

Your next challenge will come - What do I take a video of? Some ideas to help you get started are :

• A video blog
• Family videos
• Holiday / travel videos
• How To videos
• Comedy Video
• Animal / Pet Videos
• Famous Places

Now with all these and the many more that you will think up can be either scripted or just done on the spur of the moment. To be honest again either one will work, and you need to do what works best for you and the style of video you are shooting.

1) A few tips to keep you in the guide lines of YouTube. With the service you can upload as many videos as you like, but each video must be under 10 minutes, (If you wish to have longer videos then you are able to upgrade your user account). I think the best way to do this is to break your video down into chunks. For instance if your video is 50 mins long make 5 shorter videos. This makes it easier for you and the viewier.

2) When you are ready to shoot your video you need to speak directly at the camera, use a tie-mike or speak in a louder voice so the camera can pick up your voice. Nothing is worse than having to watch a video and try and guess at what the people are saying. The other important area you need to think about is that of lighting. If it is daylight and you are able to shoot outdoors then go for it. But if you have to shoot inside you need to have a good bright light/s in which to shoot. But hey again shoot some video and see what it looks like.

3) With any of the above and for advanced video editing again all is not lost you can you edit and do up your video with some editing software. Now this can go from basic stuff with the free and cheap software right through to complex Hollywood style stuff with real expensive software. Again if you want to go down this route do some research online and find out what is best for your needs and wants.

But a simple tip which even the free software can do is this. Lets say when you listen to the video the sound is rubbish and it is a travel video. You add some captions to each shot, and add some music or do a talk over. Problem solved.

But you can really add some great effects to your videos and you can do some real cool stuff with some. The one I use and I know other uses all the time is the Sony Studio Video software (This is a nice and cheap bit of software and really does the job) If you want to spend mega cash you can buy the Sony Vegas video software.

Like with anything else, shop around and once you have made your mind up do some video , play around with it and then upload it.

Have Fun.

Andrew Milburn, has been self employed for nearly 25 years. He offers consultancy work to small businesses and loves helping those who need that "little Push" to get started. To learn more on using online video in your business please go along to
http://www.andrewmilburn.com

Ah, broken chords. The sound. The cascading pattern of chordal notes. It's beautiful. There's no doubt about it. And this technique is one of the easiest to learn. After all, all you need to do to create it is have a chord under your fingers and be able to "break it up."

What do I mean by break it up? You've probably heard of solid chords. This is when all tones are heard at once. For example, if I finger a C Major triad and play all three keys at once, I'm playing a solid chord. But, if I break this chord up into it's 3 notes and play them one at a time you get a broken chord.

Broken chords are used frequently in New Age piano music. There's something about playing notes of a chord in broken style that's very appealing. Maybe it's because it makes the piano sound fuller. Or it could be that it just sounds lovely.

Now, let's take a look at how we can easily create it.

In the lesson "Reflections in Water," we have 4 open position chords. These chords are ideal for "breaking up" because they are so wide-spaced. Over two octaves of notes lay under your finger tips. Once we finger this chord position we are able to play the broken-chord style. How? By simply letting your fingers play around with the note possibilities! And there are many of them.

When you listen to me play this piece, you'll notice that it's nothing to write home about. That is, I'm not after a "sophisticated" sound here. I'm just gently playing around with the notes and using the element of time to create a calm ambiance. And it works! The notes float out into the air and music is created. Not by planning or trying to come up with material but by following a few simple guidelines and letting go of the need to control the outcome.

Edward Weiss is a pianist/composer and webmaster of Quiescence Music's online piano lessons. He has been helping students learn how to play piano in the New Age style for over 14 years and works with students in private, in groups, and now over the internet. Visit http://www.quiescencemusic.com now and get a FREE piano lesson!

P2P file sharing programs are free. Period. But there are P2P scam sites out there
that want you to pay them instead. P2P scam sites are rogue companies that have
set up shop to fleece unsuspecting music downloaders looking for file sharing
programs by charging a fee for an otherwise free service.



No P2P file sharing software costs money. Exceptions would be a site asking
members to make a monetary donation to help pay for bandwidth, hosting costs,
and other administrative costs.



Some P2P file sharing programs offer "pro" versions of their free software. But again,
their basic service is free to the public. I want you to fully understand this, because
paying a P2P scam site money can not only make your wallet a bit lighter, it can also
make your computer vulnerable to dangerous spyware.



That's right. These scam sites are only interested in making money off you. As well
as actually taking your money by fooling you into paying them, they'll make money
off you by installing spyware on your PC, so that they can get paid by sharing your
online habits and personal information with others.



For music download beginners, all of this can be very confusing. Why? Because
these scam sites advertise all over the Internet. Search engines return results
chockful of these scams alongside the real P2P file sharing programs; their banner
ads riddle the Internet landscape; sites are promoting these scams to get their piece
of your money.



Most real P2P programs don't advertise much on the Internet. The reason is that
they're not money makers. It takes money to advertise, and who has more money--
the free P2P file sharing programs or the scam artists? You guessed it. P2P relies on
word of mouth. The scam sites rely primarily on advertising.

How Can I Tell a P2P Scam Site?

This is the easy part, if you know what you're looking for. P2P scam sites often use
phrases like 100% Legal, which is absolutely untrue. This is a trick they use
to prey on people interested in P2P file sharing programs, but who are worried
(rightly) about Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) lawsuits. Keep in
mind that sharing and downloading of copyrighted files is, at this moment, an
illegal activity.



Another tactic is to use fake endorsements and recommendations from legitimate
companies. Other cons are to use phrases like Direct Downloads!, Get Access
Now!, Download Unlimited Free Music!, and other phrases that are promising
you things they absolutely CANNOT deliver.

How Does It Work & How are They Doing It?

To be honest, I do not know the ins and outs of P2P scam sites. But I know this: all
P2P file sharing programs are free. Think about it a moment. It is because music
files are being shared free of charge (without artists receiving royalties) that
organizations like the RIAA are mad and suing.



These P2P scam sites are merely taking your money, downloading a little spyware to
your PC, then connecting you to one of the real P2P file sharing programs.



This is all convoluted by the nature of P2P, which is a series of servers networking
files to one another. Unless you're buying your music MP3 downloads from a
legitimate company, either per song/album or through a monthly subscription, you
cannot be sure where your music is coming from.



The legal status of P2P file sharing programs is confusing. We know that MP3 files
themselves are not illegal. For example, it's legal to possess MP3s, to rip your CDs
to your hard drive, and to burn CDs for your personal use. But, by sharing and/or
downloading these files, you are breaking copyright laws. To my knowledge, P2P
scam sites are not actually breaking any laws. But why pay for something you don't
have to?



One of the most common techniques these scam artists use is to set up sites that
are misspellings or derivations of popular P2P file sharing programs. KaZaA is
probably the most hijacked name being used these days.



Other sites may not actually charge you anything at all, but they'll "give you the
software for free" if you give them your email address. This too is a scam.
Because once again, they're just sending you along to a proper P2P program, but
after collecting your email address, they're selling it to third parties. Don't give
these scammers any of your personal information!



If you're on a website you trust, even this website, you may see ads by these scam
artists, preaching their lies about 100% blah, blah, blah. For your own security, don't
click on the links. They're still scams. (Many independent websites rely on ads to
pay the bills. We don't always have full control over what advertisements appear on
our sites. Keep in mind that most online advertisements are arranged and
distributed by third-party companies who pair up advertisements with appropriate
keywords. So a page that discusses "music downloads" is likely to have an ad from a
scam site singing their own false praises.)



On this note, there are sites all over the Internet that actually promote P2P
scam sites. Why? I have my opinions. First, these scam sites are paying large sums
of money to affiliates who promote their sites. For example, a scam site may be
charging you $29.95 for their non-service. Well, they're paying affiliates over half
(I've seen the pay-out as high as 75%) of that just for getting you, the visitor, to
their scam sites.

I Think I've Used One of these Scam Sites. What Do I Do Now?

Stop! Right now, stop using that service. If you've got some type of monthly
payment with them, stop paying them. Cancel your "membership," contact your
bank or credit card company, and stop paying them immediately! Secondly, your
computer has probably have been infected by spyware, and you need to remove it
right away. I recommend purchasing spyware-removal software like Pest Patrol
because they do the best job at clearing out spyware parasites.



If you've been pulled into a scam site, just rack it up to experience. Their ad copy is
very convincing, and you just wanted to "be legal" while downloading. Take heart in
knowing that you're not alone. But you're better off now, with this information at
your disposal.



In my opinion, this is another reason to consider not using P2P file sharing
programs as a means to get your online music. I think that these P2P scam sites will
increase in number, and will use more clever tactics to get your money and your
information. Until the peer-to-peer communities are regulated in some way, I fear
that these types of activities will get worse before they improve.

A former financial advisor and NYC book editor, Bill Paulk blends these two experiences by helping people make sound buying decisions. His passion, building digital music collections through MP3 downloads, is the subject of his first website. http://www.mp3-music-downloads-scout.com reviews and recommends the best in legal MP3 downloads.

Marketing yourself and your real estate business needs to be a daily activity. Just think of it as getting to know as many people as possible so that you can do business with them.

Social networking is one of the best ways to attract new people. Sites such as Facebook, Ning and even MySpace can give you access to people you may never have met otherwise. Also look at Craigslist as a place to connect with new clients and prospects. I was at a party during the holidays where the people there had all been found through ads placed on Craigslist during 2007. The hosts of the party were my neighbors, a younger couple who have only been in real estate for two years. It was truly amazing. Make this year the year you start a blog, if you don't have one already. Just posting twice a week can make a huge difference in how many people find you. Even if you don't feel like you're a writer, give blogging a try and see what happens.

Look for opportunities to connect with people in your community through service organizations. I belong to my local Rotary Club and Elks Lodge and make business contacts through the members there on a regular basis. These are loyal people who do what they say they will do. It is such a pleasure doing business with them.

These are just a few of the ways to use marketing in your real estate business. I invite you to find out more about how you can promote yourself and your business.

You can attract new clients and prospects 7 different ways and make the money you deserve in your real estate business by visiting http://www.newmilenniummarketingforrealestateprofessionals.com

I have spent most of my 15 years online dedicating thousands of hours checking out certain trends and statements made by top income earners. The program that I took on was Abunza. I choose Abunza because of the fact it wasn't a 1 or 2 up compensation plan, so I could actually see the results immediately. Good or bad, it was an ideal program to test Web 2.0.

When I started studying web 2.0, it became very clear that Web 2.0 meant different things to different people. I found one so called "expert in Abunza," claiming that Web 2.0 was simply sticking 30 videos on You Tube. He called himself an expert in Web 2.0 and he was making rather good money. I found that web 2.0 can be as simple or complex as you wish to make it. You can use web 2.0 many ways. The more you spread it out, the more success you will have. It was such an interesting topic, I decided to spend some long days working with my web 2.0 techniques with Abunza. I spent days studying Web 2.0 and actually took bits and pieces from several "experts" in the field and applied them to my own case study.

Needless to say, this test wasn't about money, it was about traffic and how targeted the traffic actually was. With 15 years of experience in dealing with different traffic techniques and resources, I came into this project with a better understanding of traffic than most. To me, Web 2.0 is where users interact with others using different social media outlets. That is a simple version of what I was looking at. As I got involved in the more complicated aspect s of social marketing, it became clear that if certain techniques were used, Web 2.0 might be an awesome traffic generation tool (System). It just might be the answer to expensive leads.

It also came clear that if Web 2.0 was used effectively, this might be the perfect advantage that many home business owners could use. I say this because buying leads, calling them, following up with them, chasing them, might save people thousands of hours in lost time, and save them thousands of dollars in BAD lead sources. First, I built a web site, headed over to You Tube and submitted several videos. I joined several social marketing sites, such as Direct Matches, Facebook, Squidoo, and another 10 or so. I was very active in meeting and adding new contacts in all sites. Not only did I put my videos on You Tube, I added all my videos to another 15 media sites and played around with keywords.

The one thing I noticed almost instantly, was how big of an impact using the same keywords in the TITLE and adding those keywords in the description. That actually was something that surprised me. The awesome part of using videos was almost a given that I would end up on page 1-3 on Yahoo and Google with very little effort. I do agree that it took a good chunk of time setting up my Web 2.0 system. I had researched different tactics and applied most of them. At the 3 week mark, I was averaging about 40-60 leads daily. Doing a little math, I would have spent about $1,000 if I had bought leads. I found that maybe I had spent around $20.00 and the prospects were much, much better than buying leads. So far, I were impressed.

The next thing I did was build a better automated system. I found it was crucial as the leads started to grow. Adding a series of video auto responders was a big help and one more key to actually cementing a relationship with my prospects without even talking to anyone. Bingo ! I had people contacting me, signing up with no communication, and developing an excellent relationship with little or no effort on my part. Ok, so here is the bottom line. I'm convinced that Web 2.0 is a winner. In fact, people on a limited budget with a little coaching, can actually apply Web 2.0 without spending a dime. I did use a couple techniques that I don't have time to describe in this article. The outcome of my testing web 2.0 was just short of amazing and seems to be everything that I have read about. Web 2.0 simply works.

Unlike the old MLM methods of spending a fortune on useless leads, or technical know how, you just need a $50.00 Logitech Quick Cam, and a program that you can use to format your videos. I found Hello World ($10 per month) as a good resource. If I could come up with anything negative to say about this entire Web 2.0 experience, trust me, I would say it. I found it very lucrative, little money out of pocket, and a success rate I have not witnessed in my 15 years online. I also came up with a few tricks of my own just by playing around with videos and social networking sites. I actually found it fun. After doing the most common aspects of Web 2.0, there certainly are many methods that can be applied to web 2.0.

If you are not into Web 2.0, you will find out as I did, this method of marketing not only works, it doesn't take very long to create a nice income for yourself. I did some cross linking using our Video links. Since I was having some good success, I opened up and actively used 360Yahoo, Squidoo, Facebook, Wordpress, etc. Most of my video linking was pointed back to my main splash site. The traffic started to come. Some methods worked much better than others. I found myself being contacted by other marketers. I was in this project for 5 weeks now. I had several sign-ups, and a pipeline of leads that was growing daily. I found that I was getting good organic search engine position without all the complex submission stuff I had spent years perfecting. I found that the three items listed below became the mainstream when testing web 2.0.

(1) A couple things that really caught my attention was the simple fact that very little money, if any, produced several thousands dollars.

(2) If the methods I used are actually implemented, you are looking at only 1-2 working hours daily regardless of what business you were promoting.

(3) Anyone can become very efficient in web 2.0 with a little help and research.

David Lake has spent most of his 15 years studying free traffic techniques and the implication of automated systems for various companies. Most of what he teaches is produced in downloadable web formats. http://www.tamilake.com

Now that my system is set up, all I have to do is check that my affiliate partners are sending me cash, suggest the odd joint venture to a partner, and stay in touch with my customers. I rarely spend more than three hours in front of my computer each day.

But it wasnt always like that. It took a lot of effort and a lot of work to get into the position Im in now. When I first started, it was a bit of a struggle to organize myself. My first website took ages to launch and while the other ones went up quickly, my family went days without seeing me.

Lets be frank, if you dont set up your business properly right at the beginning, youre going to make your life much harderand your income much lower.

The problem is that until now, youve always thought of your home as a place to relax and the office as a place to focus and work. Now youre going to have to focus at homeand thats not an easy shift to make. You need to keep the same rhythm (without stopping to watch your favorite daytime soap!) and the same kind of discipline you had when you had to commute every morning.

The first thing to do is to give yourself an office. Im not talking about a laptop on the coffee table or a corner in the library; I mean a proper room with a door you can close and a desk full of goodies: from a computer with broadband to a place to put your safety clips. If you dont have a spare room to start with, then use your bedroom. But if youre serious, think about finding an office once your business gets running.

The next thing youre going to need is a schedulea realistic one. This is one of the greatest challenges when you begin working for yourself. At the end of each day, Id make a list of all the tasks I was going to do the next day. If I got half of them done, I was lucky. I spent weeks frustrated and grumpy.

Once you get a feel for how long each task takes you, whether its approving a new site design, planning a new marketing program or answering customers emails, set yourself a timetable and keep to it. Turn off the radio, shut the office door and get to work! And at the same time, dont get annoyed if the day ends before your work does.

Tim Yuzaki is the owner of http://www.Online2Biz.com providing information on Creating Your Own Business Online. To get Free Internet Marketing Guide" & "49 Ways To Find A Profitable Niche Market Instantly!" course, go to http://www.Online2Biz.com