Corpse Party: Book of Shadows Review

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Yesterday 07:30:34 PM??? Quote:XSEED Games' 2011 release of Corpse Party was a welcome surprise for most fans of JRPG games, as it combined an old-school Super NES-style art design with a disturbing and downright unsettling atmosphere. It permeated throughout the entire game as the group of children stuck in Heavenly Host Elementary tried to find their way out of its horrors. Needless to say, it struck a chord and for that reason the publisher decided to release the second game in the series, titled Book of Shadows. Full Story: Corpse Party: Book of Shadows Review Twitter: @DarrylGU

Source: http://www.gamingunion.net/forums/thread-18308.html

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Egypt balloon pilots defend colleague in crash

LUXOR, Egypt (AP) ? Hot air balloon pilots in Egypt's city of Luxor are defending their colleague who survived this week's fatal crash that killed 19 tourists.

Tuesday's crash was one of the world's deadliest ballooning accidents. Initial reports say the balloon was in the process of landing when a cable got caught around a gas tube and a fire erupted.

Pilots who know the Egyptian pilot, Momin Murad, say he has an eight-year track record of flying balloons without incident. The pilot, who sustained severe burns, and a British tourist were the only survivors.

In a press conference in Luxor Saturday, the pilots also defended Egypt's safety measures for the popular touristic activity, saying the company that operated the balloon that crashed had canceled trips the day before due to bad weather.

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Source: http://news.yahoo.com/egypt-balloon-pilots-defend-colleague-crash-190042335.html

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China's graft-fighting Xi tells party future is on the line

BEIJING (Reuters) - China's ruling Communist Party will only be able to mark its 100th birthday in eight years time if officials can learn from the selfless sages of the past, party chief Xi Jinping said in remarks published on Sunday, taking another swipe at corruption.

Xi, who will take over the reins of state power from outgoing President Hu Jintao at this month's annual full session of parliament, has made fighting pervasive graft a central theme since assuming the top job in the party and military in November.

The Communist Party marks the 100th anniversary of its founding in 2021, one year before the second of Xi's two five-year term ends and he steps down as party chief.

"Only if the capabilities of all party members unceasingly continue to strengthen, can the goal of 'two 100 years' and 'the dream' of the great rejuvenation of the Chinese people be realized," Xi said in a speech marking the 80th anniversary of the Central Party School, which trains rising officials.

"Two 100 years" refers to both the party and the People's Republic of China lasting at least a century each.

The People's Republic turns 100 in 2049. The Communists swept to power and founded the republic in 1949 after winning a civil war and forcing Chiang Kai-shek's Kuomintang, or Nationalist, troops to flee to Taiwan, which Beijing still claims as its own.

The concept of "two 100 years" has been alluded to in state media over the past few weeks, but this is the first time Xi explicitly mentioned it in his speech on Friday, which was carried in whole by the People's Daily, the party mouthpiece.

Xi has warned in the past that corruption threatens the party's very survival and launched a campaign to prevent waste and graft. He also banned the 2.3 million-strong People's Liberation Army from binge drinking and told it to be combat- ready.

The Chinese leader peppered his latest speech with references to aphorisms from virtuous officials and philosophers from ancient China, including Confucian philosopher Mencius (372 to 289 BC) and Zhuge Liang (181 to 234 AD), a statesman and strategist lauded to this day for his wisdom and devotion to his monarch.

"Leaders and officials must study China's fine traditional culture ... which contains extensive knowledge and profound scholarship," Xi said.

"Spare no effort in the performance of one's duty until the end of one's days ... I will do whatever it takes to serve my country even at the cost of my own life, regardless of fortune or misfortune to myself," he added, quoting two classical texts.

But party members must also not forget the teachings of Karl Marx and late Chairman Mao Zedong, Xi said.

SURVIVAL

Stability and survival remain the Communist Party's watchwords as the world's second-largest economy grapples with an upsurge of protests and social tensions over growing inequality, environmental degradation and graft.

Ensuring the party makes it to its 100th anniversary and does not go down as just a footnote in China's long history is one of Xi's key challenges.

"Even the Nationalist Party is over 100 years," one source with ties to China's leadership told Reuters, referring to Taiwan's ruling party and onetime rival to the Communists in running all of China which was founded in 1912.

"If the Communist Party cannot reach 100, it would only be a dot in China's 5,000-year history," the source said, requesting anonymity to avoid any repercussions.

"The Communist Party turning 100 will be Xi's most important (set) event during his 10-year rule."

(Editing by Sanjeev Miglani)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/chinas-graft-fighting-xi-tells-party-future-line-071416905.html

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Documents: US released more than 2,000 immigrants

FILE - In this Feb. 25, 2103 file photo, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano briefs reporters at the White House in Washington. The Homeland Security Department released more than 2,000 illegal immigrants facing deportation from immigration jails in recent weeks due to looming budget cuts and planned to release 3,000 more during March, The Associated Press has learned. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak, File)

FILE - In this Feb. 25, 2103 file photo, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano briefs reporters at the White House in Washington. The Homeland Security Department released more than 2,000 illegal immigrants facing deportation from immigration jails in recent weeks due to looming budget cuts and planned to release 3,000 more during March, The Associated Press has learned. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak, File)

WASHINGTON (AP) ? The Associated Press has learned that the Homeland Security Department released more than 2,000 illegal immigrants facing deportation from immigration jails in recent weeks because of looming budget cuts. It also planned to release 3,000 more during March.

The newly disclosed figures, cited in internal government budget documents reviewed by the AP, are significantly higher than what the Obama administration acknowledged this week as a "few hundred" illegal immigrants who were released under the budget-savings process.

The budget documents show that Immigrations and Customs Enforcement released roughly 1,000 illegal immigrants from its jails around the U.S. each week since at least Feb. 15. The agency's field offices have reported more than 2,000 released before intense criticism this week led to a temporary shutdown of the plan.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2013-03-01-US-Budget-Battle-Immigrants-Release/id-74de4d1330d94defa2ba21a1bc92b676

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Irving ISD students to attend business ethics summit | Irving Blog

Frank Broyles

About 250 students from each of the Irving school district?s four high schools and eight middle schools will learn about business ethics today. They will attend a seminar put on by Dr. Paul Melendez from the University of Arizona?s Center for Leadership Ethics. The University of Dallas is hosting the event.

Funding for the program will come primarily from La Buena Vida Foundation, but the Irving ISD, the YMCA and some local businesses and business leaders also are contributing. Attorney Frank Boyles is chairman of the program and said he hopes to make this an annual event.

The program will start with Dr. Melendez presenting an ethical decision making model. Then three case studies will be presented with some interaction with the students: a Facebook case, a case based on the game Grand Theft Auto and an underwater mortgage case. Included in the third case will be a professional panel comprised of the following: Jacqueline R. Peterson , attorney, Office of the General Counsel, Hewlett-Packard Company (she currently serves as its Global Anti-Corruption Attorney and Director, Ethics & Compliance, Americas); Areya Holder, attorney and Department of Justice Chapter 7 panel trustee for the northern district of Texas (she also has a private bankruptcy practice); and C. D. Heinen, senior vice president at Texas Security Bank (he?s been in the banking business in the Dallas area since 1974).

For more details about the program, visit http://ethics.eller.arizona.edu/outreach.

This entry was posted in Charity, Irving, Irving ISD, University of Dallas and tagged Frank Broyles, Irving ISD, La Buena Vida Foundation, University of Dallas by Deborah Fleck / News Assistant. Bookmark the permalink.

Source: http://irvingblog.dallasnews.com/2013/03/irving-isd-students-to-attend-business-ethics-summit.html/

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Good reads: the meteors we miss, Tesla's frigid review, car-buying woes, bionic eyes

This week's round-up of Good Reads includes a look at what crashes to Earth every year, a tiff over a Tesla review, why car dealers seem so manipulative, and a new technology that could help individuals dealing with blindness.

By Chris Gaylord,?Staff writer / February 25, 2013

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A meteor blazed over Siberia on Feb. 15. As the rock punched through Earth?s atmosphere, it lit up the morning sky and produced a powerful shock wave. The meteor ? the largest recorded space rock to hit Earth in more than a century ? injured nearly 1,500 people and created a 20-foot crater near the Russian town of Chebarkul.

Skip to next paragraph Chris Gaylord

Innovation Editor

Chris Gaylord is the Monitor's Innovation Editor. He loves gadgets, history, design, and curious readers like you.

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?Could anyone have seen the meteoroid coming?? asks Konstantin Kakaes in Slate. Probably not, at least not yet. The meteor was most likely too small for current instruments to detect. But as Mr. Kakaes writes, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration has made huge strides in locating objects before they reach our planetary backyard.

Countless chunks of rock and ice collide with Earth?s atmosphere each year. Most of them burn up on entry. NASA tracks roughly 5,000 ?potentially hazardous asteroids? that measure more than 330 feet across. But the Russian rock was likely only 50 feet wide before it entered the atmosphere. Finding objects on that scale is much more difficult. ?We now track nearly 100 times more PHAs than we did in 1993,? writes Kakaes, and much of those gains came from identifying small objects that were previously undetectable.

Still, space agencies have a long way to go before these fireballs are no longer a surprise. Roughly 10 meteors crash into Earth each year. Many hit unpopulated areas, such as oceans. Thousands of Cana-dians saw one in 2008. (For more on asteroids, see page 13.)

Cold shoulder for Tesla

Tesla Motors chief Elon Musk came out swinging with details he says will prove that a recent New York Times article about the Model S was ?fake.? Times writer John Broder took the all-electric car for a test drive from Washington, D.C., to Connecticut. (See One Week, Feb. 25.) Tesla loaned Mr. Broder the car so he could try out the new fast-charging stations that now dot Interstate 95 and extend the range of the Model S beyond its reported 265 miles. But after a night of below-freezing temperatures, Broder says that the car battery prematurely ran out of juice, leaving him stranded beside the road and leaving many to wonder if Motor Trend?s 2013 Car of the Year can survive harsh winters.

As James Holloway writes in a play-by-play breakdown for Ars Technica, Tesla and the Times spent the next week hurling words and data at each other. After the BBC car show Top Gear showed a Tesla pooping out in the middle of a test drive in 2008, Tesla has logged the speed, battery charge, and performance of every car that it lends to journalists. The data shows that Broder routinely pulled out of Tesla fill-up stations without fully charging the battery, which Mr. Musk says is the real reason that the car petered out prematurely. Broder acknowledges that he did not top off the battery ? a full charge can take more than an hour ? but says he always ?replenished more than enough energy for the miles I intended to drive.?

CNN ran its own test drive from Washington to Boston without incident. ?However, without an overnight stop in below-freezing temperatures, this is far from a repeat of Broder?s test,? writes Mr. Holloway, ?though it is arguably more representative of the way Model S owners are likely to drive the I-95.?

Protection for wily car dealers

In survey after survey, car salesperson ranks among the least trusted professions. Shoppers complain about the haggling, the seemingly manipulative sales tactics, and how difficult it is to accurately comparison shop. With 14 million vehicles sold in the United States each year, why is buying a car so awful? NPR?s Planet Money dug into the history of car dealers. Reporter Alex Bloomberg says that not only was our current system designed this way, but many local legislators want it to remain just as it is.

Practically every state has laws that protect car dealers. This legislation ? mostly written back when US auto-makers had enormous power and no foreign competition ? can prevent manufacturers from severing ties with problematic dealers and can carve out jurisdictions for dealerships, thereby limiting competition. While automakers have lost much of their influence over the past few decades, these laws have ensured that dealers ?have become even more powerful,? Mr. Bloomberg says. ?In each state, dealers contribute as much as 20 percent of sales tax revenue.? That gives lawmakers little reason to tinker with the current system.

A new aid for sight

The US Food and Drug Administration has just approved its first bionic eye. Trials show that the prosthesis, called Argus II, can restore partial sight among some blind patients.??

?This enables people who are completely blind to see enough to improve their mobility,? Mark Humayun, a professor of biomedical engineering at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles, tells Technology Review. ?It allows people to make out the sidewalk and stay on it without twisting an ankle, see unexpected obstacles like parked cars, make out a table, see someone coming through a doorway.?

The prosthetic eye consists of a video camera that mounts to a pair of glasses and a chip embedded near the retina. Second Sight, the California company behind the device, already sells the Argus II in Europe for roughly $100,000.

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/csmonitor/globalnews/~3/2ZkRvxOW8CE/Good-reads-the-meteors-we-miss-Tesla-s-frigid-review-car-buying-woes-bionic-eyes

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HBT: Can anyone unseat Japan in WBC?

While we?re still a week away from any World Baseball Classic play in North America, the tournament kicks off in Japan and Taiwan on Saturday (Friday night in the U.S.), with eight teams in two pools participating in round-robin play.

Pool A (Japan, March 2-6): Brazil, China, Cuba, Japan
Pool B: (Taiwan, March 2-5): Australia, Chinese Taipei, The Netherlands, South Korea
Pool C: (Puerto Rico, March 7-10): Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, Spain, Venezuela
Pool D: (U.S., March 7-10): Canada, Italy, Mexico, United States

The top two teams in each pool advance into the second round. Pool A & B winners will play in Japan (March 8-12), while Pool C & D winners will play in Miami (March 12-16). Those will be modified double-elimination?tournaments. ?The single-elimination semifinals and finals will take place in San Francisco (March 17-19).

The Favorites

Japan

The two-time defending WBC champs will go it without a single MLB player this time, as talents such as Ichiro Suzuki, Yu Darvish and Hiroki Kuroda are remaining with their U.S. squads. Still, Japan does have one former major leaguer on the roster: infielder Kaz Matsui.

Strengths: A pitching staff full of guys with varied arsenals and deliveries that U.S., Cuban and Dominican hitters will be seeing for the first time. Also, Japan?s team has been training together and is closer to being regular-season ready than the teams comprised of MLB players.

Weaknesses: After two years of playing with a deadened ball in the Central and Pacific Leagues, how will Japanese players adjust to the standardized WBC baseball? Apart from catcher Shinnosuke Abe, Japan?s lineup probably won?t feature much power.

USA

The United States didn?t even reach the finals in either of the first two WBCs. This year?s squad is lacking a lot of top talent, particularly in the rotation with only R.A. Dickey, Gio Gonzalez, Ryan Vogelsong, Derek Holland and Ross Detwiler available to start.

Strengths: The lineup will be very solid from top to bottom, and with Ryan Braun, Giancarlo Stanton and David Wright in the middle, it should particularly feast on any left-handers opposing teams dare to throw. Also, the back end of the bullpen has Chris Perez, Glen Perkins, Vinnie Pestano and likely closer Craig Kimbrel to finish off any leads.

Weaknesses: The rotation is the great unknown, particularly since there?s going to be very little feel for how each pitcher is throwing this early in the spring. It?s imperative that manager Joe Torre and pitching coach Greg Maddux identify quickly who has it and who to bury.

Dominican Republic

Like the U.S., the Dominican Republic?s best WBC finish so far is fourth. But while Team USA?s showing isn?t going to get a whole lot of attention at home, the Dominican team is under plenty of pressure to do better this time. One big problem: Albert Pujols, Jose Bautista and David Ortiz are all coming off injuries and are unavailable to manager Tony Pena.

Strengths: Even without Pujols, the D.R. still has the tourney?s best infield, with Edwin Encarnacion at first, Robinson Cano at second, Hanley Ramirez at third and Jose Reyes at shortstop. Also, the catching situation, which has tended to be a weakness in the past, has been upgraded by Carlos Santana?s emergence.

Weaknesses: The rotation is led by Wandy Rodriguez and Edinson Volquez, with little depth beyond them. Also, Bautista is simply a huge loss for the outfield, which may start Ricardo Nanita or Moises Sierra in left alongside Alejandro De Aza in center and Nelson Cruz in right.

Venezuela

It?d hardly be a surprise if Venezuela ends up outlasting the U.S. and D.R. The well-balanced team has quality major leaguers filling every lineup spot and Anibal Sanchez to lead the rotation.

Strengths: One possible lineup: SS Elvis Andrus, LF Martin Prado, 3B Miguel Cabrera, RF Carlos Gonzalez, 1B Pablo Sandoval, C Miguel Montero, DH Asdrubal Cabrera, 2B Marco Scutaro,?CF Gerardo Parra.

Weaknesses: The bullpen could largely hinge on Francisco Rodriguez closing out games, a scary proposition given the way he finished 2012. After Sanchez, there aren?t any sure things for rotation possibilities (Carlos Zambrano, Jhoulys Chacin, Henderson Alvarez).

Cuba

Cuba couldn?t have been thrilled to be put in Japan?s opening pool after being eliminated by the team in the 2006 Finals and in round 2 in 2009. A win over Japan in pool play might provide a huge shot of confidence this time around.

Strengths: The lineup duo of Yulieski Gourriel and Alfredo Despaigne is about as good as any other country?s top two. That there isn?t much in the way of scouting reports or video of many of the team?s hurlers figures to serve Cuba well. And then there?s the obvious plus: Cuba?s players are in prime shape after playing all winter.

Weaknesses: A lack of depth has sometimes been Cuba?s undoing in tournaments, as the top-shelf talent tends to drop off quickly. While Ismel Jimenez and Odrisamer Despaigne are pitchers to watch, the more veteran hurlers aren?t particularly imposing.

Korea

Korea finished third in the inaugural WBC and second in 2009, winning the 2008 Olympic tournament in between. Veterans of those teams like Seung Yeop Lee and Dae Ho Lee are back for another go. In fact, it?s veterans all around: 12 players on the squad are at least 30 and the youngest player on the roster turns 25 next month.

Strengths: Korea has managed to integrate Japan?s successful small-ball approach with more pop in international play, and this year?s roster will feature a bunch of quality arms, some with unusual deliveries. The infield should be terrific thanks to both Lees, Tae-Kyun Kim and Jung-Ho Kang.

Weaknesses: This roster may be a little past its prime. It?s going to miss Dodgers left-hander Hyun-Jin Ryu and Reds outfielder Shin-Soo Choo, both of whom were with the team in 2009.

///

Going strictly by talent, Pools B and D will be pretty wide open for the second berths. My pick is Taiwan for second place in Pool B and Mexico for second place in Pool D.

While it?d be quite an upset if any of the six favorites failed to advance to the final eight, three-game round-robins don?t always end well for the most talented teams. It?s not at all difficult to imagine a scenario in which Team USA, Canada and Mexico all beat Italy and go 2-1 in Pool D, with a tiebreaker determining which two advance.

As for a prediction, I?m thinking the North American teams are in better shape this year that they have been in the past. The MLB talent drain has left Japan?s roster a bit light, and while I?m a big Korea booster, I suspect this isn?t as good of a roster as the team I fell for in the 2008 Olympics. Team USA has a shot, but that the players still aren?t in regular-season form is a big handicap. I?m picking Venezuela to beat Japan in the finals.

Source: http://hardballtalk.nbcsports.com/2013/03/01/can-japan-be-beat-previewing-the-world-baseball-classic/related/

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1st Polaroid-branded photo store opens in Fla.

Polaroid Fotobar founder and CEO Warren Struhl, stands in his Delray Beach, Fla., store on its opening day Friday, March 1, 2013. The 2,000 square-foot store hopes to reinvigorate the digital world's interest in print photography. Polaroid's new store aims to coax customers to move images off their cell phones and unto paper, canvas, metal, bamboo or other materials. (AP Photo/Matt Sedensky)

Polaroid Fotobar founder and CEO Warren Struhl, stands in his Delray Beach, Fla., store on its opening day Friday, March 1, 2013. The 2,000 square-foot store hopes to reinvigorate the digital world's interest in print photography. Polaroid's new store aims to coax customers to move images off their cell phones and unto paper, canvas, metal, bamboo or other materials. (AP Photo/Matt Sedensky)

Jamie Bloch, 12, is one of the first customers at the new Polaroid Foto Bar store in Delray Beach, Fla., Friday March 1, 2013. The 2,000 square-foot store hopes to reinvigorate the digital world's interest in print photography. Polaroid's new store aims to coax customers to move images off their cell phones and unto paper, canvas, metal, bamboo or other materials. (AP Photo/Matt Sedensky)

The Polaroid Foto Bar store in Delray Beach, Fla., Friday March 1, 2013. The 2,000 square-foot store hopes to reinvigorate the digital world's interest in print photography. Polaroid's new store aims to coax customers to move images off their cell phones and unto paper, canvas, metal, bamboo or other materials. (AP Photo/Matt Sedensky)

The Polaroid Foto Bar store in Delray, Fla. Friday March 1, 2013. The 2,000 square-foot store hopes to reinvigorate the digital world's interest in print photography. Polaroid's new store aims to coax customers to move images off their cell phones and unto paper, canvas, metal, bamboo or other materials. (AP Photo/Matt Sedensky)

DELRAY BEACH, Fla. (AP) ? The first in a chain of Polaroid-branded photo shops opened here Friday, with its backers hoping to reinvigorate the digital world's interest in printed images by capitalizing on an iconic name.

Polaroid Fotobar aims to tap into unprecedented interest in photography with its inaugural 2,000-square-foot store. The trick will be to coax consumers who snap pictures on cellphones and other devices to give their memories new life on paper.

"Maybe it's on a smartphone, maybe it's on Instagram, maybe it's on Facebook," said Warren Struhl, the founder and CEO of Fotobar. "But digital is not permanent. Physical is permanent."

In the glistening new store, customers can pay a visit to the bar where "fototenders" will assist in wireless uploads of photos. From there, a visitor can purchase prints made on-site, or order products sporting their images on canvas, metal, bamboo and other materials.

The cheapest item is a $1 print replicating a traditional Polaroid, though the purchase requires a minimum of six. The priciest product is a 7-foot-by-4-foot, 150-pound slab of acrylic with a customer's image on it, running $2,500. All of the prints made on-site take the form of the original Polaroid, in varying sizes, with its familiar white border. It is thicker, at 1.2 millimeters, and sturdier, but is instantly recognizable.

Struhl says he has heard time and again that photography's transition to digital has brought "a pain point" for people, who feel a sense of guilt that their images may reside on a hard drive but not in a frame.

"It makes them sad," he contends. "Most people are afraid they're going to lose that favorite picture on top of the fact that they wish it was up on a shelf."

Whether that is true, and whether it drives people into Struhl's stores will determine the fate of the Fotobar. But even some with deep nostalgia for the Polaroid brand wonder how the business will fare in a digital world.

Phillip Block of the International Center of Photography said he grew up with Polaroids and is "thrilled that anyone is interested in picturemaking and the physical print." But he said digital cameras have replicated the immediate gratification and emotional impact people experienced when their Polaroid camera spit out a floppy print.

Polaroid cameras were the ultimate in convenience, he said, and "anything other than that is a step backwards."

But as customers began to file in, there was no sign of discontent. Among the first to take a seat at the Fotobar was Jami Bloch, 12, who was uploading photos from her Facebook and Instagram accounts. She frequently takes photos on her iPhone but never has them printed.

"You can actually like see them," she said of the prints, "it's actually like real."

Besides offering a sleek, sparkling white atmosphere, the store also has a studio that will offer free classes, host parties and allow customers to come in for portraits with local photographers. Struhl says he's negotiating at least 10 leases for other Fotobar sites and expects new locations may open elsewhere in Florida, in New York, Boston and Las Vegas, in the next year.

Customers can also find refurbished Polaroid cameras selling for $159.95 and eight-packs of film for $29.95.

Polaroid itself, which pioneered instant photography, ultimately went bankrupt and doesn't produce its iconic cameras or film anymore. Film compatible with old Polaroid cameras is now manufactured by The Impossible Project. Polaroid is paid for the use of its name on the stores through a licensing agreement. Fotobar is owned by Struhl and other investors.

Fotobar faces competition from chain drugstores and other retail sites that allow customers to print their digital pictures, not to mention an array of websites that will deliver prints without someone ever having to leave their computer.

Struhl insists Fotobar is different, though.

"Four-by-six prints are available lots of places," he said. "We're the only place that makes Polaroids."

___

Online:

Polaroid Fotobar: http://www.polaroidfotobar.com/

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/495d344a0d10421e9baa8ee77029cfbd/Article_2013-03-01-Polaroid%20Stores/id-7cf910c81e8444e6a23c5aae1222ba3d

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