Video game puts players in shoes of Syrian rebels

BEIRUT (AP) — A new video game based on Syria‘s civil war challenges players to make the hard choices facing the country’s rebels. Is it better to negotiate peace with the regime of President Bashar Assad, for example, or dispatch jihadist fighters to kill pro-government thugs?

The British designer of “Endgame: Syria” says he hopes the game will inform people who might otherwise remain ignorant about the conflict.

Views differ, however, on the appropriateness of using a video game to discuss a complex crisis that has killed more than 60,000 people since March 2011. Computer giant Apple has refused to distribute the game and some consider the mere idea insulting. Others love it, and one fan from inside Syria has suggested changes to make the game better mirror the actual war.

The dispute comes amid wider arguments about violent video games since last month’s shooting in Newtown, Connecticut, that left 20 children and six adults dead. This week, the National Rifle Association revised the recommended age for a new shooting game after criticisms by liberal groups.

Tomas Rawlings, who designed the Syria game, said he got the idea while watching TV pundits debate the possible consequences of directly arming Syria’s rebels, which Western nations have declined to do. He said he thought a game could explore such questions by allowing players to make choices and see their consequences.

“For those who don’t want to read a newspaper but still care about the world, this is a way for them to find out about things,” said Rawlings, the design and production director of U.K.-based Auroch Digital.

In the simple game, which took about two weeks to build, the player assumes the role of the rebels seeking to topple Assad’s regime. The play alternates between political and military stages. In each stage, the player sees cards representing regime actions and must choose the rebel response.

The choices seek to mirror the real conflict. The regime may get declarations of support from Russia, China or Iran to boost its popularity while the rebels receive support from the United States, Turkey or Saudi Arabia – reflecting the foreign powers backing the two sides.

In battle, the regime may deploy conventional military forces like infantry, tanks and artillery as well as pro-government thugs known as shabiha. The rebels’ choices include sympathetic Palestinian or Kurdish militias, assassins or jihadist fighters known as muhajideen.

Some of the rebels’ strongest attacks also kill civilians, reducing rebel popularity and seeking to reflect the war’s complexity.

All along, the player is given basic information about the conflict, learning that Islamists once persecuted by the regime now consider the fight a holy war and that the shabiha are accused of massacring civilians.

The game ends when one side loses its support or the sides agree to a peace deal. The player is then told what follows. The longer the fighting lasts, the worse the aftermath, as chaos, sectarian conflict and Islamic militancy spread.

The lasting impression is that no matter which side wins, Syria loses.

Rawlings said that’s the game’s point.

“You can win the battle militarily but still lose the peace because the cost of winning militarily has fractured the country so much that the war keeps going,” he said. “You can also end the war so that there is less of that.”

The game was released on the company’s website and as a free download from Google for Android devices on December 12. Rawlings submitted the game to Apple to distribute via its App Store but the company rejected it.

Apple declined to comment, but Rawlings’s rejection referred to a company guideline for mobile apps: ” ‘Enemies’ within the context of a game cannot solely target a specific race, culture, a real government or corporation, or any other real entity.”

Rawlings is modifying the game, though he worries it will weaken it.

“It will still be the same overall experience, but it will reduce the value of the game to inform people,” he said.

News of the game was greeted with a mix of interest and outrage online. Some complained that players can’t take the regime side, while others found it wrong to make a game about a brutal war.

“Rawlings has mistakenly understood the Syrian war as a nonchalant ‘experience’ that people can play while waiting for the train to work,” said Samar Aburahma, a university student of Palestinian descent in San Francisco who refused to try the game. “It is beyond insulting to Syrians, especially given the fact that war is ongoing.”

Others find it a valuable, if limited, approach to the conflict.

Andrea Stanton, a religious studies professor at the University of Denver who studies Syria, said she responded emotionally to the game.

“It isn’t really a fun game to play,” she said, noting that she was angry when she lost and felt dread when the frequency of deadly regime airstrikes went up as the game progressed – as it has in the real conflict.

“This a very sobering game in that you sense how quickly the military stakes escalate and how little the political phase has to do with actual Syrians,” she said.

She is organizing a campus activity for students to play and discuss the game.

“I think it is very valuable for teaching and getting people to experience a sense of the limited options the rebels face,” she said.

It is unclear how many people have played the game. Google says it has been downloaded as many as 5,000 times from its site, and Rawlings says more have played online. He guesses more than 10,000 people have tried it.

Few in Syria are likely to have played it, since fighting has made the Internet and even electricity rare in some parts of the country.

One 18-year-old Syrian gamer liked the game so much, however, that he sent Rawlings a list of suggestions for improvement.

Reached via Skype, he said the jihadist fighters should be called Jabhat al-Nusra, after an extremist rebel group that the U.S. has designated as a terrorist organization.

He also pointed out that few rebel groups have tanks, as they do in the game, and suggested new rebel tactics.

“Car bombs are used lots in Syria, so that would make the game more realistic,” he said.

He said he hoped the game would help people understand the situation.

“I wish there were a 3D strategy game about Syria so you could feel the destruction on the ground,” he said.

The player, who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals, said his feelings playing the game often mirror his feelings about the war. He wants peace but can’t imagine the rebels accepting a negotiated solution given how many people have died.

“Right this second, I want the war in Syria to stop, but when you see what is happening on the ground there is no way to make peace,” he said. “When I play the game like a rebel, I have to reject the peace.”

___

Associated Press writer Michael Liedtke contributed reporting.

Online: http://gamethenews.net/index.php/endgame-syria/

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Minaj, Carey fail to boost “American Idol” audience

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – The audience for “American Idol” slumped 19 percent to 17.9 million viewers, its lowest season opener, despite the debut of judges Mariah Carey, Nicki Minaj and Keith Urban, according to early ratings data released on Thursday.

The two-hour premiere of the show’s 12th season on Fox television also lost 19 percent of the 18-49 age group most coveted by advertisers, Nielsen figures showed. Total viewers dropped to 17.9 million from 21.9 million in 2012.

Despite the drop, “American Idol” was still the most watched show by a huge margin on U.S. television Wednesday night, beating all shows combined in the 18-49 demographic on the three other biggest TV networks.

Fox executives also noted that “Idol” beat the 2012 September premiere of NBC singing show rival “The Voice” by some 46 percent in total viewers.

“American Idol,” long a ratings juggernaut for Fox, lost its eight-year crown as the most watched show on U.S. television last year to “Sunday Night Football.”

Singers Carey, Minaj and country artist Keith Urban joined the show as judges after Jennifer Lopez and Aerosmith frontman Steven Tyler left last year.

Fox is a unit of News Corp

(Reporting By Jill Serjeant, editing by Stacey Joyce)

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Personal Health: That Loving Feeling Takes a Lot of Work

When people fall in love and decide to marry, the expectation is nearly always that love and marriage and the happiness they bring will last; as the vows say, till death do us part. Only the most cynical among us would think, walking down the aisle, that if things don’t work out, “We can always split.”

But the divorce rate in the United States is half the marriage rate, and that does not bode well for this cherished institution.

While some divorces are clearly justified by physical or emotional abuse, intolerable infidelity, addictive behavior or irreconcilable incompatibility, experts say many severed marriages seem to have just withered and died from a lack of effort to keep the embers of love alive.

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Jane Brody speaks about love and marriage.

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I say “embers” because the flame of love — the feelings that prompt people to forget all their troubles and fly down the street with wings on their feet — does not last very long, and cannot if lovers are ever to get anything done. The passion ignited by a new love inevitably cools and must mature into the caring, compassion and companionship that can sustain a long-lasting relationship.

Studies by Richard E. Lucas and colleagues at Michigan State University have shown that the happiness boost that occurs with marriage lasts only about two years, after which people revert to their former levels of happiness — or unhappiness.

Infatuation and passion have even shorter life spans, and must evolve into “companionate love, composed more of deep affection, connection and liking,” according to Sonja Lyubomirsky, a professor of psychology at the University of California, Riverside.

In her new book, “The Myths of Happiness,” Dr. Lyubomirsky describes a slew of research-tested actions and words that can do wonders to keep love alive.

She points out that the natural human tendency to become “habituated” to positive circumstances — to get so used to things that make us feel good that they no longer do — can be the death knell of marital happiness. Psychologists call it “hedonic adaptation”: things that thrill us tend to be short-lived.

So Dr. Lyubomirsky’s first suggestion is to adopt measures to avert, or at least slow down, the habituation that can lead to boredom and marital dissatisfaction. While her methods may seem obvious, many married couples forget to put them into practice.

Building Companionship

Steps to slow, prevent or counteract hedonic adaptation and rescue a so-so marriage should be taken long before the union is in trouble, Dr. Lyubomirsky urges. Her recommended strategies include making time to be together and talk, truly listening to each other, and expressing admiration and affection.

Dr. Lyubomirsky emphasizes “the importance of appreciation”: count your blessings and resist taking a spouse for granted. Routinely remind yourself and your partner of what you appreciate about the person and the marriage.

Also important is variety, which is innately stimulating and rewarding and “critical if we want to stave off adaptation,” the psychologist writes. Mix things up, be spontaneous, change how you do things with your partner to keep your relationship “fresh, meaningful and positive.”

Novelty is a powerful aphrodisiac that can also enhance the pleasures of marital sex. But Dr. Lyubomirsky admits that “science has uncovered precious little about how to sustain passionate love.” She likens its decline to growing up or growing old, “simply part of being human.”

Variety goes hand in hand with another tip: surprise. With time, partners tend to get to know each other all too well, and they can fall into routines that become stultifying. Shake it up. Try new activities, new places, new friends. Learn new skills together.

Although I’ve been a “water bug” my whole life, my husband could swim only as far as he could hold his breath. We were able to enjoy the water together when we both learned to kayak.

“A pat on the back, a squeeze of the hand, a hug, an arm around the shoulder — the science of touch suggests that it can save a so-so marriage,” Dr. Lyubomirsky writes. “Introducing more (nonsexual) touching and affection on a daily basis will go a long way in rekindling the warmth and tenderness.”

She suggests “increasing the amount of physical contact in your relationship by a set amount each week” within the comfort level of the spouses’ personalities, backgrounds and openness to nonsexual touch.

Positive Energy

A long-married friend recently told me that her husband said he missed being touched and hugged. And she wondered what the two of them would talk about when they became empty-nesters. Now is the time, dear friend, to work on a more mutually rewarding relationship if you want your marriage to last.

Support your partner’s values, goals and dreams, and greet his or her good news with interest and delight. My husband’s passion lay in writing for the musical theater. When his day job moved to a different city, I suggested that rather than looking for a new one, he pursue his dream. It never became monetarily rewarding, but his vocation fulfilled him and thrilled me. He left a legacy of marvelous lyrics for more than a dozen shows.

Even a marriage that has been marred by negative, angry or hurtful remarks can often be rescued by filling the home with words and actions that elicit positive emotions, psychology research has shown.

According to studies by Barbara L. Fredrickson, a social psychologist and professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, a flourishing relationship needs three times as many positive emotions as negative ones. In her forthcoming book, “Love 2.0,” Dr. Fredrickson says that cultivating positive energy everyday “motivates us to reach out for a hug more often or share and inspiring or silly idea or image.”

Dr. Lyubomirsky reports that happily married couples average five positive verbal and emotional expressions toward one another for every negative expression, but “very unhappy couples display ratios of less than one to one.”

To help get your relationship on a happier track, the psychologist suggests keeping a diary of positive and negative events that occur between you and your partner, and striving to increase the ratio of positive to negative.

She suggests asking yourself each morning, “What can I do for five minutes today to make my partner’s life better?” The simplest acts, like sharing an amusing event, smiling, or being playful, can enhance marital happiness.

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This post has been revised to reflect the following correction:

Correction: January 18, 2013

The Personal Health column on Tuesday, about making marriages last, misspelled the given name of a professor of psychology at the University of California, Riverside, who studies happiness. She is Sonja Lyubomirsky, not Sonya.

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State of the Art: Imagining Ho-Hum C.E.S. as an Action Movie - State of the Art

Hi boss! I’m back from the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. You assigned me to report on what’s new and exciting, but I have some bad news. The answer is: almost nothing.

I mean, think about it: Apple, Google, Microsoft and Facebook don’t even attend C.E.S.; they’d rather make their product announcements on their own schedules without being locked into this every-January thing. It’s still a big show, bigger than ever this year, with 3,200 exhibits and 150,000 attendees, but I wonder why people bother. Whose product announcement will get any press at all when it’s buried by 3,199 others?

C.E.S.’s organizers publish a daily magazine during the show that profiles new products announced there. Here are some actual examples: “Braven Expands Bluetooth Speaker Line.” “Armpocket Unveils Smartphone Cases.” “Bits Ltd. Expands Line of Surge Protectors.”

So if you want an exciting column from me, the thrills won’t come from the news of new products at C.E.S. I’ll have to spice things up another way. See what you think of this.

As he plummets toward the Nevada desert, two deafening sounds assail Daxton Blackthorne’s eardrums — the wind rushing past his ears at terminal velocity, and a deafening explosion over his head. Fumbling for his parachute cord, he’s blasted by the searing heat from the fireball that, until seconds ago, was his Cessna Citation.

For now, though, his concern isn’t the air-to-air missile that has just dispatched his jet, courtesy of the Bora Boran Mafia on his tail. It isn’t even the fact that Daxton Blackthorne is all that stands between them and the collapse of American democracy.

It’s finding a good place to land.

There! Squinting in the blinding sun, he spots an enormous chain of low-slung buildings, stretching through the bustling downtown like a sleeping cobra: the Las Vegas Convention Center.

He hits the roof of the South Hall hard — too hard. Keeping low, he scuttles across the gravel to a ventilation shaft and emerges, moments later, in a blasting cacophony of color, sound and electronics.

He hears the crash of boots behind him as his pursuers explode from the same shaft. Got to move, Daxton thinks. Detaching his ’chute, he darts among the booths, dodging clumps of buyers, reporters and electronics executives.

He weaves among the exhibits, barely noting their wares. External battery packs for phones. Car chargers for phones. Screen protectors for phones. Cases for phones.

What is this place? he thinks, pulse pounding.

Booth after booth. GPS units. Tablets. Earbuds. Bluetooth speakers. Phone cases. Row after row of Chinese manufacturers he’s never heard of. Like this one, Huawei, selling the world’s largest Android phone — the thin, shiny Ascend Mate, with a 6.1-inch screen. That’d be like talking into a cutting board, he thinks.

He bursts into the Central Hall, and the sensory overload is immediate; he pauses, gasping, to take it in. TV screens. Thousands. Screens bigger than a man. Screens stacked up to the distant ceiling. Screens brighter and louder than explosives in the morning. Sharp, Sony, Samsung, LG, Toshiba, Panasonic. The bombardment is almost as lethal as the one that took down his Cessna.

Here are OLED screens, with incredibly black blacks, vivid colors and razor-thin bodies; this LG model is only 0.16 inches thick. Panasonic and Sony each claim “the world’s largest OLED screen” — 56-inch prototypes.

Footsteps pound behind him. Too late to run. He’ll blend in. He merges into a throng of eager showgoers.

“Three-D may have been a flop,” a rep is saying. “But this year, the industry is back with an irresistible offering: 4K television. Ultra HD, we call it. You thought HDTV was sharp? Now imagine: four times as many pixels. Stunning picture quality, in stunning screen sizes.”

Daxton figures you’d have to sit pretty darned close to see any difference between HDTV and 4KTV. But never mind that — out of the corner of his eye, Daxton spots the black uniforms of his pursuers, fanning through the crowd. Play along, he thinks. “Excuse me,” he shouts in a faux French accent. “What is there to watch in 4K?”

“Unfortunately, 4K video requires too much data for today’s cable, satellite, broadcast, Blu-ray, or Internet streaming,” is the reply. “But at Sony, we’re leading the way! If you buy our 84-inch 4K television for $25,000, we’ll lend you a hard drive with 10 Sony movies on it — in gorgeous 4K.”

Daxton can think of better uses for $25,000; a jetpack would come in handy right about now. He dives into the crowd. Must. Find. Disguise.

A crowd wearing headsets is gathered before a Samsung TV. That’ll do. He grabs one; it covers both his eyes and his ears.

“You’re seeing a prototype of Samsung’s OLED dual-view technology,” the spokesman says. “This TV can display two 3-D video sources simultaneously, or four regular ones. Imagine: Your children can be playing Xbox while you watch the Super Bowl!” Daxton moves the switch on the earpiece; sure enough, the TV’s image changes accordingly, along with the audio from the tiny earpiece speakers.

But angry shouts in Tahitian are closing in. He bolts through an archipelago of audio booths, hawking celebrity headphones bearing the names of the rapper 50 Cent, the heavy-metal band Motorhead, the runner Usain Bolt, the N.F.L. quarterback Tim Tebow and the TV reality star Snooki. When did Snooki become an audiophile? he wonders.

By the time he storms into the North Hall, his lungs are screaming. He stands, panting, in a broader area populated by gleaming, polished automobiles. Here are Ford and General Motors, announcing new developer programs, open platforms for new apps that will run on their cars’ computer screens. Ford’s Sync AppLink bans games and video apps, for safety reasons. Good thinking, Daxton thinks. Wouldn’t want distracted driving.

Here are Audi and Lexus, announcing self-driving cars. Glancing at the video loop, he notes that the Audi prototype can, at this point, drive itself only through specially equipped parking garages, like the one set up at the Mandarin Oriental for a demonstration.

But on the Lexus stage, he spots something much more enticing: a car, festooned with sensors, that can actually drive itself on regular roads, much like Google’s fleet of 12 autonomous cars.

“California and Nevada have both made self-driving cars legal, with certain restrictions,” the executive on stage says. “And this Lexus LS safety-research vehicle is a pioneer. The 360-degree laser on the roof detects objects up to 230 feet away; the front camera knows if the traffic light is red or green. Side cameras, GPS and radar enhance what could someday be a safe, efficient, road-aware vehicle.”

There’s a burst of commotion from Daxton’s near right. It’s them. He vaults onto the stage. “Love the idea of self-driving cars,” Daxton tells the presenter. “But right now, I need a car I can drive myself.”

A saber blade shatters the air next to his ear. With a burst of adrenaline, he dives through the open window of the Lexus. His assailants push through the crowd and clamber after him, but he’s already powered on the car. Huddling low, he guns the engine and shifts into gear.

As a hail of bullets shatters the rear window, the Lexus arcs off the stage, plows through seven rotating shelves of phone cases, and, in a cloud of plaster and twisted beams, erupts through the wall of the convention center.

With a wry smile, Daxton adjusts his rear-view mirror just in time to see the knot of black-suited Bora Borans shaking their fists in the distance.

He brushes some safety glass off his shoulder, slips on sunglasses, and leans back into the leather seat.

“Now that’s what I call an exciting show,” he says, grinning, and he swings onto the open road for home.

This article has been revised to reflect the following correction:

Correction: January 18, 2013

The State of the Art column on Thursday, about the range of wares on  display at the Consumer Electronics Show, misspelled the name of a Chinese electronics manufacturer at the show. The company is Huawei, not Huwei.

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L.A. pension boards asked to end investments in assault gun firms

Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa said Wednesday that he has asked the city's three pension funds to review all investments and work to end those in companies that manufacture assault weapons.

Invoking the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting that left 27 dead in Newtown, Conn., last month, Villaraigosa said it was inappropriate for the city to make money off weapons manufacturers.

"It's a moral and financial imperative to end our relationship with these companies," said the mayor, who added that it was unclear how much pension money was invested in weapons makers.

"I don't want to make a quarter, not a penny, not a dime off of companies that make those weapons of war," he later added.

His City Hall news conference came just hours after President Obama announced a new package of gun control proposals in response to the school shooting.

In letters to the city's pension boards — for employees of the Department of Water and Power, the city of Los Angeles, and the police and fire departments — the mayor requested a report on the feasibility of removing all investments in weapons makers.

"We should not invest in or support companies that put military-grade weapons on our streets," Villaraigosa wrote to the pension boards.

The letters and announcement mirror a similar call from Councilwoman and mayoral candidate Jan Perry, who called for an end to such investments in a Jan. 11 City Council motion.

Villaraigosa's directive to review city pension investments was not a result of Perry's motion, according to the mayor's spokesman.

Two days ago, Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel requested a similar review of that city's pension investments. Villaraigosa stressed that the push for gun safety must come from the local level, and said he would be holding a news conference Friday with New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg and the Mayors Against Illegal Guns group.

The mayor also said he would support a citywide ban on the possession of high-capacity magazines, which was proposed by Councilman Paul Krekorian on Tuesday. He also said that he would want to see the California ban on selling and manufacturing high-capacity magazines broadened to include possession and that he would favor a federal ban.

"Getting this done at the state, getting this done nationally, has to be the priority," Villaraigosa said.

wesley.lowery@latimes.com

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BlackBerry maker plans local skate, publicity in Waterloo to celebrate new phone

WATERLOO, Ont. – Call it BlackBerry Town, even if the name isn’t official.

In the lead up to the BlackBerry smartphone unveiling later this month, creator Research In Motion is turning its Waterloo, Ont., home base into a celebration of the device.

The company plans to decorate light poles in areas of Waterloo and neighbouring Kitchener with banners that promote its latest smartphone and thank the community for its support.

City councillors in Kitchener voted earlier this week to make an exception to rules that prevent corporations from using public property to advertise.

RIM says it is making plans for other events as well.

The company will hold skating rink parties at Kitchener City Hall and in Waterloo Town Square on Jan. 30 to coincide with the unveiling of its new BlackBerry devices.

Gadgets News Headlines – Yahoo! News

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“American Idol” returns with feuds, fame, fortune

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – “American Idol” returns on Wednesday with the tantalizing promise of fame, fortune and feuds – and that’s just among the celebrity panel hired to find the next pop music sensation.

Singer Mariah Carey, rapper Nicki Minaj and country artist Keith Urban make their debut as judges when the TV talent contest begins its 12th season on Fox.

“All three judges are eminently qualified. It’s a good spectrum in terms of embracing hip-hop, country and pop,” HitFix.com music blogger Melinda Newman said.

“What everyone is going to be looking at, sadly, is how Mariah and Nicki Minaj get along, instead of focusing on the contestants,” she said.

Carey, with more than 200 million album sales, the outspoken Minaj, one of the most exciting voices in rap, and Urban are expected to revive interest in the contest. Last year average audiences dipped below 20 million, and “Idol” lost its eight-year crown as the most watched show on U.S. television to NBC’s “Sunday Night Football.”

The three newcomers replace departing judges Jennifer Lopez and Aerosmith frontman Steven Tyler who quit last year after two seasons.

The new panel, rounded out by old hand record producer Randy Jackson, didn’t come cheap. Carey is reported to be earning approximately $ 18 million for the season, Minaj about $ 12 million and Urban $ 8 million.

But industry watchers say “Idol” needs more than big names to bring in audiences at a time of cutthroat competition from talent contests like “The Voice,” “The X Factor,” and “America’s Got Talent.”

“While shaking up the show can initially provide curiosity tune in, at the end of the day, the panel needs to click with each other and with fans,” Entertainment Weekly’s James Hibberd said.

“‘Idol’ used to have the playground all to itself. After four months of ‘The Voice’ and ‘ X Factor’ last fall, are audiences still going to be excited by ‘Idol’?” Hibberd asked.

The new season of “Idol” was making headlines in September, when video of Carey and Minaj arguing during early auditions was leaked online.

Minaj also was reported to have threatened to shoot Carey, who said in a TV interview last week that she had hired extra security while filming the show.

FOCUS ON CONTESTANTS

In a tense media appearance last week, the two divas claimed they had put their feud behind them, attributing the fight to passionate differences of opinion about the contestants auditioning for a chance to make it through to later rounds.

Newman said it would be a shame if the fight overshadows the show’s original mission of finding new talent, an achievement that could prove the biggest boost to “Idol” ratings.

“All these shows have become more about the contestants than the judges. It would be nice if ‘American Idol,’ as the one that started it all, got the focus back on the contestants.

“Ten years ago, people were really excited when they were voting for (‘Idol’ winners) Kelly Clarkson or Carrie Underwood. There needs to be a powerhouse group of contestants who really capture people’s interest, and who you want to root for,” Newman said.

The new judges say that’s what they want too.

“When I watch these shows and someone says yes to a person who clearly doesn’t deserve it, it bothers me,” Minaj told TV reporters last week. “And I want to jump through the TV because I feel like, for the people who are talented, it kind of minimizes how talented they really are. So when I came on, I didn’t really have a problem with saying no, because I kind of felt like we’re looking for the best of the best.”

Aspiring rappers – never a group that has been embraced by “Idol” producers or fans – will get short shrift.

“I definitely don’t think a rapper should be in this competition … When I got involved in the competition, I specifically said, I hope they didn’t try to do that because I was on the show, because I think America loves that it’s an honest singing competition,” Minaj said.

“American Idol” kicks off on Wednesday on Fox with a two-hour premiere, followed by a one-hour show on Thursday. Fox is a unit of News Corp.

(Reporting By Jill Serjeant; Editing by Stacey Joyce)

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F.D.A. to Tighten Regulation of All-Metal Hip Implants

After an estimated 500,000 patients in the United States have received a type of artificial hip that is failing early in many cases, the Food and Drug Administration is proposing rules that could stop manufacturers from selling such implants.

Under the proposal, which the agency is expected to announce on Thursday, makers of artificial hips with all-metal components would have to prove the devices were safe and effective before they could continue selling existing ones or obtain approval for new all-metal designs.

Currently, companies have to show only that their devices resemble ones already on the market, and they are not required to conduct clinical studies before selling them.

The F.D.A. action is intended to close a loophole in the 1976 federal law under which medical devices were first regulated. It is the agency’s first use of powers that Congress granted to it last year to deal with medical devices, like all-metal hips, that have been in regulatory limbo for decades.

The move comes amid one of the biggest device-related failures in decades. Just a few years ago, all-metal hips — implants in which the ball and cup component is made from a metallic alloy — were used in one of every three joint replacement procedures performed annually in the United States.

Traditional hip replacements, which are made of materials like plastic and metal, typically last 15 years before wearing out. But the all-metal hips, which companies rarely tested in patients before aggressively marketing them, are failing at high rates not long after implantation.

As a result, thousands of patients have been forced to undergo painful and costly operations to replace the devices. In addition, tiny particles of metallic debris released as the artificial joints move have caused severe tissue and bone damage in hundreds of patients, leaving some of them disabled.

Dr. William H. Maisel, deputy director for science at the F.D.A., said the agency’s proposal would require makers of all-metal hips to produce clinical data to justify their use because of the “large number of patients who received these products and the numbers of adverse events associated with them.”

The use of all-metal implants has plummeted, with the devices now accounting for about 5 percent of hip implants. For some of those devices, which are used in a procedure called resurfacing that is an alternative to total hip replacement, the F.D.A. already requires clinical trials before granting approval.

The impact of the proposal on manufacturers of traditional all-metal hips will not be immediate, and industry lobbyists may oppose its adoption or seek to modify it. Agency officials said it would most likely take a year for the rules to be finalized; after that, producers will have 90 days to submit clinical data to support a device’s safety and effectiveness.

In 2011, the F.D.A. ordered manufacturers of all-metal hips to conduct post-marketing studies to determine, among other things, whether the implants were shedding high levels of metallic debris. Dr. Maisel said he expected that device makers might try to use data from those studies to satisfy the proposed requirements.

If a company decided not to submit clinical data or if the information failed to meet agency standards, it would have to stop selling the implant.

The regulatory limbo involving all-metal hips resulted from the Medical Device Amendments of 1976. The law set differing test requirements for various devices, depending on the perceived risk of using them or the role they played in sustaining a patient’s life and health.

Producers of devices considered high risk, like implanted heart defibrillators, had to perform clinical trials to obtain F.D.A. approval for new products. But makers of devices considered less risky, like hospital pumps, had to show only that a new product resembled one already on the market.

However, at the time the legislation was passed, several types of medical devices, including all-metal hips, were already on the market. So lawmakers crafted what was supposed to be a temporary solution: regulators would treat potentially high-risk products like the hips as moderate-risk products until officially determining how to classify them.

But in the case of all-metal hips, the final classification never happened. Over the years, the F.D.A. started procedures to classify the implants but never completed them. Implant companies also lobbied the agency to classify all-metal hips as moderate-risk products rather than high-risk ones.

The result was that device makers like Johnson & Johnson and Zimmer Holdings were able to start selling a new generation of all-metal hips a decade ago without running clinical tests.

Under the Food and Drug Administration Safety and Innovation Act of 2012, the agency now has a more streamlined way of classifying older devices. It no longer has to seek an economic review of a decision’s impact, a process that can take years, said Nancy K. Stade, the F.D.A.’s deputy director for policy.

About 20 types of older medical devices still await reclassification.

In recent weeks, the first of thousands of patient lawsuits involving the most troubled all-metal device, an implant once sold by the DePuy division of Johnson & Johnson, have started to come to trial. Some plaintiffs’ lawyers say it may cost Johnson & Johnson billions of dollars to resolve the litigation, which involves an implant called the Articular Surface Replacement.

On Thursday, the F.D.A. also expects to issue new guidance to doctors monitoring patients who have received all-metal hips.

For the first time, the agency will recommend that patients who are experiencing pain or other symptoms that indicate possible device failure undergo routine testing to detect levels of metallic ions in their blood.

Dr. Maisel said the agency was not recommending a specific ion level at which doctors should consider replacing an implant. Instead, he said physicians should monitor such tests over time and use that data, along with other information, to make such decisions.

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DealBook: H.P. Said to Have Suitors for Two Units

Hewlett-Packard has received a number of inquiries from would-be buyers for its Autonomy and Electronic Data Systems units in recent weeks, though the technology company isn’t interested in selling at the moment, a person briefed on the matter said on Wednesday.

The volume of calls from potential suitors and bankers picked up after H.P. filed its annual report with regulators on Dec. 28, this person said. In the securities filing, the company said, “We also continue to evaluate the potential disposition of assets and businesses that may no longer help us meet our objectives.”

That is fairly standard legal boilerplate. But H.P. has been struggling with poor performance at both Autonomy and E.D.S., having significantly written down the value of those acquisitions. The company has also claimed to have found accounting and disclosure issues at Autonomy, and has forwarded findings from an internal inquiry to securities regulators in the United States and the division’s home in Britain.

Some of the expressions of interest may also have arisen amid the sudden flurry of news coverage surrounding a potential leveraged buyout of Dell.

Still, H.P.’s management team, led by its chief executive, Meg Whitman, is not interested in selling what it considers to be “core” businesses. The company is focused on growing its enterprise business, which sells software and services to corporate clients.

Shares in H.P. were up 3 percent by late afternoon on Wednesday, to $17.03, after The Wall Street Journal reported news of the inquiries. The company’s stock remains down some 35 percent for the last 12 months.

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Supreme Court upholds state laws on floating homes

WASHINGTON — A house that floats on the water and has no power to move on its own is a home, not a vessel, the Supreme Court ruled Tuesday.

The 7-2 decision upholds laws in California, Washington and other states that say floating homes that are attached to the shore and do not travel are governed by local laws applying to homes, not by federal admiralty law regulating ships and boats.

The ruling will also affect operators of dockside casinos and restaurants, who will now be able to rely on the same state and local laws that protect property owners. State laws, for example, give some protection to store owners for accidents and injuries suffered by their customers or employees. But federal admiralty law gives more generous protections to sailors and harbor workers who are injured working on vessels.

In Tuesday's opinion, the high court narrowed somewhat the definition of a vessel.

It is not "anything that floats," said Justice Stephen G. Breyer, but something "actually used for transportation."

The court ruled for Fane Lozman, who had parked his two-story floating home at a marina in Riviera Beach, Fla. City officials tried to evict him from the marina and later sued him under federal admiralty law over unpaid docking fees. They eventually seized the structure as an abandoned vessel and had it destroyed. In upholding this decision, a federal judge and the U.S. Court of Appeals in Atlanta said the floating home was a vessel because it was capable of moving on the water and, indeed, had been towed several times, including one trip of 200 miles.

Lozman appealed, arguing his home should have been protected under ordinary real estate laws, not classified as a ship subject to seizure.

The Supreme Court, in Lozman vs. City of Riviera Beach, agreed and said a "reasonable observer" looking at the plywood box home would conclude it was a home, not a vessel. It was not "designed to any practical degree for carrying people or things on water," Breyer said. He noted the home had no rudder, steering mechanism or source of propulsion.

The justices sent the case back to Florida, where Lozman can seek to recover a $25,000 bond taken out before his home was seized and destroyed.

"Our clients are thrilled. This 'reasonable observer' test may seem like an obscure technicality, but it's big news for hundreds of floating homeowners we represented in Sausalito and Seattle, and for hundreds of others throughout the nation," said Michelle Friedland, a lawyer in San Francisco. "They live in homes that are designed to remain stationary and are affixed to the land through electrical and other utility connections."

Judy Patterson, executive director of the American Gaming Assn., said the ruling "will have a positive impact on our industry, framing the right of riverboat casino operators and ensuring they do not face overly broad liability, as would have been the case if the Supreme Court had ruled the other way."

Breyer also said that a vessel, once moored, can lose its legal status as a vessel. "For example, an owner might take a structure that is otherwise a vessel (even the Queen Mary) and connect it permanently to the land for use, say, as a hotel," he wrote.

In dissent were Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Anthony M. Kennedy. They said Breyer's "reasonable observer" standard would probably cause confusion in the lower courts.

david.savage@latimes.com

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