Dwight Schrute Spin-Off From 'The Office' In Works

NBC considering launching an 'Office' spin-off focused on Rainn Wilson's Dwight Schrute character.
By Gil Kaufman

Rainn Wilson as Dwight in "The Office"
Photo: NBC

Up until now, we've gotten just an occasional glimpse at the bizarre happenings at the Schrute family beet farm. But if NBC has its way, we may be seeing a lot more of agritourism hotel owner and Assistant to the Regional Manager at Dunder Mifflin Dwight Schrute.

According to The Hollywood Reporter an unnamed source at NBC confirmed that the network is thinking about a spin-off centered on Rainn Wilson's paintball-loving character and his family's farm. The show would delve deeper into life at Schrute Farms and include a number of other Schrutes.

With "The Office" not yet picked up for a ninth season, the plan is to start testing the concept in an episode later this season. So far, it's believed that Wilson, as well as actor/showrunner Paul Lieberstein and executive producer Ben Silverman are involved.

"Paul and Rainn have been joking for years about Dwight's life on the farm, his family and how ill-suited he is to run a B&B," a source told the Deadline Hollywood. "A while ago, it started to feel like a show to them. NBC agreed, it's been further developed to include multiple generations, many cousins and neighbors. At its base it will be about a family farm struggling to survive and a family trying to stay together."

As the Reporter noted, while Wilson's quirky character has a devoted cult following -- as evidenced by such comprehensive fan sites as Schrute Space -- the spin-off concept is not necessarily a slam-dunk. Just as the short-lived, unfunny "Friends" spin-off "Joey" crashed and burned, it's possible that the shrinking "Office" fan base might not follow Dwight off into the beet fields.

"The Office" got a major overhaul at the end of last season, when star Steve Carell left and actor James Spader was brought in as new boss Robert California. So far, the strong ensemble cast has struggled to find its legs without Carell's outrageously clueless Michael Scott to ground them and average ratings have slipped down by more than a million viewers since last season. Given the show's legacy and appeal to young male viewers, though, the trade magazine said it was likely "The Office" would be picked up for another season.

Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1677930/the-office-spin-off-dwight.jhtml

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Distimo: Being Featured In The Android Market Can Boost Apps? Rank By 172%

Earlier this morning, we looked at the findings from analytics provider?Distimo's latest report, which examined what happens when mobile apps go on sale. (Spoiler: when priced correctly, revenue goes way up). The second part of the report looked at the ranking gains that occur when an app achieves "featured" status in a mobile app store like iTunes or the Android Market.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/czzWH_6rM1c/

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NimbleBit calls out Zynga over Tiny Tower clone Dream Heights

Powerhouse social gaming company Zynga, as you may or may not know has a new app on the market called Dream Heights that looks strikingly similar to small indie developer NimbleBits's award winning Tiny Tower -- so much so that NimbleBit has called Zynga out on the matter.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheIphoneBlog/~3/Lt9L567fVz4/story01.htm

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Megaupload founder refused bail in New Zealand (Reuters)

AUCKLAND (Reuters) ? A New Zealand judge ordered the founder of online file-sharing site Megaupload.com to be held in custody for another month Wednesday, saying the suspected Internet pirate posed a significant flight risk.

Kim Dotcom, a German national also known as Kim Schmitz and Kim Tim Jim Vestor, was remanded in custody until Feb 22 ahead of a hearing of an extradition application by the United States.

Prosecutors say Dotcom was the ringleader of a group that netted $175 million since 2005 by copying and distributing music, movies and other copyrighted content without authorization. Dotcom's lawyers say the company simply offered online storage and that he will fight extradition.

The judge said there was a significant risk Dotcom, who had passports and bulging bank accounts in three names, could try to

flee the country.

"With sufficient determination and financial resources, flight risk remains a real and significant possibility which I cannot discount and bail is declined," Judge David McNaughton said.

Dotcom, 38, and three others, were arrested Friday after 70 New Zealand police raided his country estate at the request of the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation.

Officers cut Dotcom out of a safe room he had barricaded himself in within the sprawling mansion, reputedly New Zealand's most expensive home.

LONG BATTLE LOOMS

Dotcom, dressed in the same black trousers and track suit top he was arrested in, showed no emotion when the decision was read out, but his lawyer said he was "very disappointed" and would appeal immediately.

"The judge has agreed with much of what we have submitted but he has taken a different view on the issue of flight risk," Paul Davison told reporters.

The judge said the finding of unlicensed and illegal guns in the mansion, northwest of Auckland, pointed to possible criminal connections, which could make it easier to escape to Germany, where Dotcom would be safe from extradition.

Dotcom's lawyers said he emphatically denied the charges. They also said he was suffering from diabetes and hypertension as well as receiving treatment for a slipped disc.

He now faces four weeks behind bars in Auckland's main remand prison.

Megaupload and its related sites were among the Internet's most popular, allowing users to upload and share all kinds of content.

The site boasted having a billion users and as much as 4 percent of all Internet traffic. Prosecutors say Dotcom personally made $115,000 a day from the business in 2010.

The judge said he could not assess whether the United States had a strong enough case against Dotcom or whether he had a good defense.

"All I can says is that there appears to be an arguable defense at least in respect of the breach of copyright charges," McNaughton wrote.

McNaughton said he did not know how long a hearing would take, nor could it be heard "for some months." Legal experts said the extradition process could drag on for an extended period, as with efforts to extradite WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange to Sweden from Britain.

A group of Dotcom's supporters left the court dejected and refused to talk to media.

Three other men charged with Dotcom were also remanded in custody and applied to the judge for separate hearings to make individual bail applications.

(Writing by Gyles Beckford; Editing by Lincoln Feast and Nick Macfie)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/tech/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120125/wr_nm/us_internet_piracy_megaupload_bail

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Administration nominees awaiting next move by GOP (AP)

WASHINGTON ? Senate Republicans are returning to Washington in an angry mood over President Barack Obama's appointments to two key agencies during a year-end break.

More than 70 nominees to judgeships and senior federal agency positions are awaiting the next move from Republicans, who can use Senate rules to block votes on some or all of Obama's picks.

While Republicans return Monday to discuss their next step, recess appointee Richard Cordray is running a new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, and the National Labor Relations Board ? with three temporary members ? is now at full strength with a Democratic majority.

Obama left more than 70 other nominees in limbo, well aware that Republicans could use Senate rules to block them.

The White House justified the appointments on grounds that Republicans were holding up the nominations to paralyze the two agencies. The consumer protection agency was established under the 2010 Wall Street reform law, which requires the bureau to have a director in order to begin policing financial products such as mortgages, checking accounts, credit cards and payday loans.

The Supreme Court has ruled that the five-member NLRB must have a three-member quorum to issue regulations or decide major cases in union-employer disputes.

Several agencies contacted by The Associated Press, including banking regulators, said they were conducting their normal business despite vacancies at the top. In some cases, nominees are serving in acting capacities.

At full strength, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. has five board members. The regulation of failed banks "is unaffected," said spokesman Andrew Gray. "The three-member board has been able to make decisions without a problem." Cordray's appointment gives it a fourth member.

The Comptroller of the Currency, run by an acting chief, has kept up its regular examinations of banks. The Federal Trade Commission, operating with four board members and one vacancy, usually makes decisions unanimously.

The State Department, however, said it's important to U.S. diplomacy to fill the post of assistant secretary for western hemisphere affairs and the ambassadorships to El Salvador and Ecuador.

""We value highly our relationship with our hemispheric partners and consider diplomatic representation at the level of ambassador a top priority. This is especially true of the top diplomat charged with hemispheric relations, the assistant secretary," said William Ostick, a State Department spokesman.

Republicans have pledged retaliation for Obama's recess appointments, but haven't indicated what it might be.

"The Senate will need to take action to check and balance President Obama's blatant attempt to circumvent the Senate and the Constitution, a claim of presidential power that the Bush administration refused to make," said Sen. Charles Grassley, an Iowa Republican who is his party's top member on the Senate Judiciary Committee.

Grassley wouldn't go further, and Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky hasn't tipped his hand after charging that Obama had "arrogantly circumvented the American people." Before the Senate left for its break in December, McConnell blocked Senate approval of more than 60 pending nominees because Obama wouldn't commit to making no recess appointments.

Republicans have to consider whether their actions, especially any decision to block all nominees, might play into Obama's hands.

Obama has adopted an election-year theme of "we can't wait" for Republicans to act on nominations and major proposals like his latest jobs plan. Republicans have to consider how their argument that the president is violating Constitutional checks and balances plays against Obama's stump speeches characterizing them as obstructionists.

Senate historian Donald Ritchie said the minority party has retaliated in the past for recess appointments by holding up specific nominees. "I'm not aware of any situations where no nominations were accepted," he said. The normal practice is for the two party leaders to negotiate which nominations get votes.

During the break, Republicans forced the Senate to convene for usually less than a minute once every few days to argue that there was no recess and that Obama therefore couldn't bypass the Senate's authority to confirm top officials. The administration said this was a sham, and has released a Justice Department opinion backing up the legality of the appointments.

Obama considers the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau a signature achievement of his first term. Republicans have been vehemently opposed to the bureau's setup. They argued the agency needed a bipartisan board instead of a director and should have to justify its budget to Congress instead of drawing its funding from the independent Federal Reserve.

Cordray is expected to get several sharp questions from Republicans when he testifies Tuesday before a House Oversight and Government Reform panel.

The NLRB has been a target of Republicans and business groups. Last year, the agency accused Boeing of illegally retaliating against union workers who had struck its plants in Washington state by opening a new production line at its non-union plant in South Carolina. Boeing denied the charge and the case has since been settled, but Republican anger over it and a string of union-friendly decisions from the board last year hasn't abated.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/uscongress/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120123/ap_on_go_co/us_nominations_spat

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Judges weigh HIV-infected man's fight to get job (AP)

ATLANTA ? A panel of federal judges appeared skeptical Wednesday of the Atlanta police department's decision to reject a job application from an HIV-infected man.

The 40-year-old man sued the city in 2010, claiming he was denied a police officer job solely because he has the virus. Atlanta attorneys argued there are other officers on the force with HIV, and said the police department does not have a blanket policy disqualifying candidates with the virus. Gay rights groups and police agencies are closely following the case.

One of the three judges signaled the lawsuit would likely be sent back to a lower judge to reconsider.

"I don't see how we can avoid a remand in this case," Circuit Judge R. Lanier Anderson said.

The judges will issue a ruling later.

The man sued under the pseudonym Richard Roe and has requested anonymity because he believes his medical condition could prevent him from other job opportunities. He said in an interview he was a former criminal investigator with the city of Los Angeles who discovered he had HIV in 1997, but that it didn't hinder his ability to perform his duties.

Roe moved to Atlanta to find a better job and joined the city's taxicab enforcement unit. In January 2006, he decided he wanted to join the police force. He passed a series of tests, but hit a snag when a blood test revealed he had the virus that causes AIDS.

The doctor didn't do any more tests, according to records, and recommended to the city that he have "no physical contact or involvement with individuals."

Atlanta attorneys said the city follows the recommendation of the physicians who examine candidates, and in this case, the doctor advised the department to limit Roe's interaction with the public.

"We're told that he can't do the job," said Robert Godfrey, a city attorney. "We have to assume when a doctor tells us this, he can't perform the essential duties."

Roe's attorney, Scott Schoettes of gay rights group Lambda Legal, said there was no evidence that Roe posed a threat to the health and safety of others. The city violated the federal Americans with Disabilities Act by not fully vetting his client, Schoettes said.

Roe's advocates said the city's position perpetuates myths about HIV that have persisted for three decades. Modern medical advances have made the disease a manageable condition that in many cases won't affect job performance even in the most demanding fields, they said.

"I really see an opportunity for the city of Atlanta to make some drastic changes and move forward," Roe said. "I think that's what this whole case is about."

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Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/us/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120125/ap_on_re_us/us_police_hiv_lawsuit

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Foodpairing Is an Interactive Mind Map for Creating Great Drinks and Dishes [Food]

Foodpairing is a beautiful webapp for exploring new flavors and food substitutions. Say you have fresh salmon on hand or some extra sharp cheddar. Use the Foodpairing explorer tree to find ingredients to combine it with, and then even more flavor combinations.

Like Visual Thesaurus, but for food and drinks, Foodpairing is designed to inspire you in the kitchen. You can search for your main ingredient and filter by category and subcategory, or start your dish or drink by choosing the main ingredient from the Foodpairing tree. Then select a complementary ingredient from one of the branches. Foodpairing matches ingredients by major flavor components (see the science behind it here).

The site also features some recipes, like "Broth of sweet onion, onion confit and cream cheese" and "Barfood: Grey Goose l'Orange - ginger - truffel" (the site is sponsored by major food and drink brands). It's less of a recipe site, however, than a flavor mixing board.

Though targeted towards professional chefs and mixologists, if you're a food enthusiast or just tired of the same old food combos, Foodpairing can be great fun. The free account gives you access to about 100 Foodpairing trees; a paid account ($15/month or $129/year) is required for the complete database. (If you're interested in flavor combinations, by the way, The Flavor Bible by Karen Page and Andrew Dornenburg, is a great resource on the topic in dead tree format.)

Foodpairing

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/lifehacker/full/~3/MjhIRdALi2U/foodpairing-is-an-interactive-mind-map-for-creating-great-drinks-and-dishes

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