Saturday, August 31, 2013
Movie Madness
?? If you could be in any of these movies which would it be, which character, and why ??
Shoots Himself After Sneezing
Police in Connecticut say an 81-year-old man who was lying in wait with a rifle for a pesky raccoon accidentally shot himself after sneezing and falling from a chair.
New Haven police say James Pace Sr. shot himself in the shin at his home Saturday night. The injury wasn't life-threatening.
Pace told authorities that a raccoon had been scratching at his back door for several days and he was waiting for it with a .22-caliber rifle.
Police say he sneezed and fell from his chair, then realized he had accidentally shot himself.
Pace's son drove him to Yale-New Haven Hospital.
Police detectives seized the rifle and are investigating the shooting.
200 Year Old Bible Returned after 42 Years
Courtesy Holy Trinity Church
A 200-year-old Bible that was pilfered from the Holy Trinity Church, in the coastal resort of Hastings, England, four decades ago has been returned.
A man who broke the commandment “Thou shalt not steal” has returned a 200-year-old Bible that he pilfered from a British church four decades ago.
Simon Scott, treasurer of the Holy Trinity Church, in the coastal resort of Hastings, England, received the large, leather bound, book in the mail earlier this month.
It followed an anonymous note, inside an envelope marked with a German return address, that he'd received a few days earlier from the man who said he's taken the text back in 1971.
“I hoped it was something to help fill our coffers,” Scott told his local newspaper, The Hastings and St Leonards Observer. “But it turned out to be a 200-year-old Bible which was of little monetary value but came with a major story behind it.”
The anonymous note said: "I've never managed to pluck up the courage to come and hand it back personally. But now that I've retired, I've definitely decided to get on the right side of things."
The author of the note explained that he was from Germany and had gone to the town to take an English language course with his wife but the lecturer seemed to be “very old, and had no teaching skills.”
Some of the classes had been held at the church and when he saw some unused Bibles he thought he would take one “as compensation for the poor course” and to read at home.
“In fact,” he said in the letter, “I never got around to doing it,” adding that his wife was “very angry” with him for taking the book.
"Whenever I came across the bible I would have this guilty conscience about doing it," he added.
Courtesy Holy Trinity Church
The Holy Trinity Church, in the coastal resort of Hastings, England.
Scott, who has been a church member since 1980, said the Bible in question was not small and would likely have sat on a lectern in the church.
"It wouldn't have been an easy steal," he said. "It would have taken a bit of carrying, really."
He added that he had sent a reply to a return address given on the anonymous note.
"I thanked him for sending it back and told him that it had created a lot of interest," he said.
He added that he hoped the culprit could now sleep easier at night.
“I think he is a God-fearing chap and this was his attempt at a confession,” he said. “It must have weighed very heavily on his mind. I’m sure he will be able to rest a little easier in his bed now.
Friday, August 30, 2013
Did You Know??
A raisin dropped in a glass of fresh champagne will bounce up and down continuously from the bottom of the glass to the top.
Joke of The Day!!
A construction worker on the 5th floor of a building needed a handsaw. He spots another worker on the ground floor and yells down to him, but he can’t hear him. So the worker on the 5th floor tries sign language.
He pointed to his eye meaning “I”, pointed to his knee meaning “need”, then moved his hand back and forth in a hand saw motion. The man on the ground floor nods his head, pulls down his pants, whips out his chop and starts masturbating.
The worker on 5th floor gets so pissed off he runs down to the ground floor and says, “What the f–k is your problem!!! I said I needed a hand saw!”.
The other guy says, “I knew that! I was just trying to tell you – I’m coming!”
'Star Wars' stars written out of new saga???!!
It seems the rumors are true. Mark Hamill, who played the original Luke Skyalker in "Star Wars," has confirmed he, Harrison Ford and Carrier Fisher are in talks to reprise their roles in an upcoming film.
The actor has also revealed that franchise creator George Lucas insisted the iconic characters be written out if the actors didn't want to be included in Episode VII.
Hamill told "Entertainment Tonight:" "They're talking to us. George wanted to know whether we'd be interested. He did say that if we didn't want to do it, they wouldn't cast another actor in our parts - they would write us out.
"We haven't signed any contracts. We're in the stage where they want us to go in and meet with Michael Arndt, who is the writer, and Kathleen Kennedy, who is going to run Lucasfilm. Both have had meetings set that were postponed."
"We haven't signed any contracts. We're in the stage where they want us to go in and meet with Michael Arndt, who is the writer, and Kathleen Kennedy, who is going to run Lucasfilm. Both have had meetings set that were postponed."
J.J. Abrams will be directing the new film. Asked how Luke Skywalker may be involved in a new film, Hamill guessed: "I'm assuming, because I haven't talked to the writers, that these movies would be about our offspring - like my character would be sort of in the Obi-Wan (Kenobi) range... I'm going to be a lonely old hermit living out in some kind of desert igloo with a couple of robots."
Earlier this month, Walt Disney Co. Chairman & CEO Bob Iger confirmed speculation that Disney is working on stand-alone films based on Star Wars characters, not part of the main 9-part saga.
Facebook Punishes for Posting Memes??
Facebook is cracking down on Pages that try to trick their way into your News Feed. Today it announced a feed algorithm change for Pages that gives more visibility to timely, relevant, sharable content from trusted sources. Meanwhile, it punishes Pages that ask people to Like their posts and that post “low-quality” memes. The update could drive more traffic to reputable Pages while strangling spammers.
Earlier this month Facebook announced that it would start publicizing changes to the News Feed. It revealed that there are hundreds of thousands of signals taken into account when customizing the feed for each person. Instead of tuning the algorithm quietly, Facebook decided that the impact on users and businesses is so large that it’s best to be transparent and explain the changes in detail.
The first set of changes were focused on content from friends. These included Story Bumping to make sure you don’t miss great posts, Last Actor to show you more about people you’ve recently interacted with, and Chronological By Actor, which is still in testing but could help people follow along with real-time updates.
Now Facebook is focusing on how Pages appear in the feed, a more sensitive topic because so many businesses have grown to depend on the News Feed for content. Many Page admins vocally criticized Facebook for starting to ask them to pay to reach their existing fans. Much of the fervor stemmed from Facebook simultaneously getting more stringent about demoting spammy posts.
The problem was that Facebook wasn’t up-front about these changes, leading to rampant speculation that it was trying to extort Pages by not showing them in the feed unless they paid. By being clear about what’s going on this time, Facebook should avoid much of the backlash.
HOW NEWS FEED IS CHANGING FOR PAGES
Facebook says it did a survey of users asking what they thought made a Page post worth seeing. The questions included:
- Is this timely and relevant content?
- Is this content from a source you would trust?
- Would you share it with friends or recommend it to others?
- Is the content genuinely interesting to you or is it trying to game News Feed distribution? (e.g. asking for people to like the content)
- Would you call this a low-quality post or meme?
- Would you complain about seeing this content in your News Feed?
It took the user feedback and built a better machine-learning algorithm that can distinguish between high- and low-quality posts, and then show the best ones higher in the feed.
Facebook says that in its tests of the changes, “we saw a significant increase in interactions (likes, comments, shares) with this content” and “People in the test group also hid fewer stories overall”. That showed the algorithm tweaks were a success so it will begin rolling out the update over the next few weeks. Facebook says the impact should be minor for most Pages.
The most important thing for Pages to know about the change is that posting Lolcats-style memes with overlaid text on images might not be the best strategy going forward. I asked whether Facebook’s machine-learning algorithm will be able to identify these kinds of posts and demote them, and it seems that it can. The company tells me:
“Pages producing some low quality, meme content can expect to see a slight decrease. Pages that are exclusively posting low quality, meme content might see a bigger drop. The magnitude of the change will be greatest for Pages creating high quality content. Generally, these Pages should see increased distribution.”
In general Pages should focus on a strategy of posting great, engaging content that doesn’t use dirty tricks to get Likes. And that should mean that more of what you see in your News Feed is worth your precious attention.
Will Microsoft "Sell Off" or "Cut Ties" with Xbox??
A story published by Bloomberg floats the idea that Microsoft might spin off its Xbox business, which it calls “more likely [following current CEO Steve Ballmer's] exit.” The publication values Xbox at around $17 billion, a figure based on a comparative revenue multiple with Nintendo.
This is precisely the sort of bilge that cavorts and pretends to be serious analysis. The Bloomberg piece leans on the words of a fund manager, Todd Lowenstein, who claims that Xbox “looks like an attractive standalone business that could hold up on its own.” He continues that it “seems like it would be the most mature candidate with the best growth potential and the most established to stand on its own.”
You could argue that Xbox is currently undervalued inside of Microsoft. However, that potential is not exactly material. Presuming for the moment that the $17 billion figure is reasonable, Xbox as a group would represent 6.1 percent of Microsoft’s current market capitalization, a slim segment.
Presuming a 50 percent lower market valuation while under the aegis of the larger Microsoft corporation (the tax of being part of Microsoft, the value that could be unlocked), Xbox could represent $8.5 billion in lost value to investors. That’s about 3 percent of Microsoft’s worth. So, the potential upside isn’t too great.
The potential downside, however, is hilariously large.
Key Platform Plank vs. Un-Lucrative Short-Term Financial Ploy
Microsoft could spin off Xbox, reap a short-term financial gain from the transaction, and return that money to shareholders via stock buybacks or a special dividend. The former would have a small, but real long-term impact on Microsoft’s earnings per share, perhaps leading to a higher per-share value in the future. The latter would be a waste, as a previous Microsoft special dividenddemonstrated.
So, Microsoft would gain little from the deal as a company, even though institutional investors might enjoy a special dividend boosting their quarterly numbers. That’s nice, but not what Microsoft lives to do. In fact, Microsoft’s job is not to worry about the spreadsheets of external financial entities, but instead to build great products, grow new platforms, make oodles of money, and take care of its employees as it does so.
Therefore, the short-term potential financial gain is not core to what Microsoft needs to worry itself with.
Does the idea of spinning off Xbox make product sense? No it does not. At all. Microsoft is working around the clock to expand the Windows platform to every screen that you view, from the desktop, to your laptop, tablet, phone and, you guessed it, your television.
Windows on my TV, you might think, I don’t want that! Chill fam, it’s fine. What Microsoft is up to is simple: A common set of APIs and foundational code called the Shared Windows Core will underpin all Microsoft platforms. It’s in Windows 8, and Windows Phone 8, and is also present in the forthcoming Xbox One.
As the traditional PC market declines, Microsoft is endeavoring to extend its Windows software to work everywhere. And Xbox is core piece to this gambit, which is a bet that developers matter, and that as a company Microsoft needs to cater to them.
Essentially, Microsoft wants to create a single mega platform, one in which any developer with a shared code base can reach consumers and companies on screens of every size: Tablet, phone, laptop, desktop, and TV. No company offers that, and HTML5 is far from reaching the point in which it can deliver anything similar.
Now, why does Xbox matter for Microsoft? It matters as it has high levels of developer support at the Triple A tier – think ‘Gears of War’ and that sort of game. Xbox has a subscription revenue system that is a key part, and has been a critical antecedent to its new services strategy. And, finally, Xbox allows Microsoft to offer music and video to a family across quite literally all their devices.
If Microsoft were to sell off or spin off or otherwise cut ties with Xbox, which, by the way, makes utterly no sense under the current reorganized structure — it would cede the living room to third parties. The company is not willing to do that. Just as it was not willing to fail in search, or mobile.
–
So the financial upside of the deal isn’t large enough for Microsoft to particularly care, especially given its ample — if mostly foreign — cash reserves. And the exit of Xbox would tear at the fabric of its company-wide plan to unite all screens under the Windows flag.
Sacrifice the end-game of Windows for the potential of a few billion in shareholder equity? No.
Obama Speaks on Syrian Chemical Weapons
(CNN) -- Declaring himself "war-weary" but determined to hold Syria accountable for using banned chemical weapons, President Barack Obama said Friday he was considering a limited response to what U.S. intelligence assessed with "high confidence" as a Syrian attack that killed more than 1,400 people.
Obama told reporters he had yet to make a final decision, but hinted at a military strike that sources and experts say would entail cruise missiles fired from U.S. Navy ships at Syrian command targets -- but not at any chemical weapons stockpiles.
"It is not in the national security interests of the United States to ignore clear violations" of what he called an "international norm" banning the use of chemical weapons, Obama said at a meeting with visiting heads of Baltic nations Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia.
He called the Syrian attack a "challenge to the world" that threatens U.S. allies Israel, Turkey and Jordan while increasing the risk of such weapons falling into the hands of terrorists.
Earlier, Secretary of State John Kerry released details of a declassified U.S. intelligence report in an effort to muster support at home and abroad for a military response against the government of President Bashar al-Assad.
However, NATO allies want the United Nations to authorize any military response, something that both Kerry and Obama said was unlikely because of opposition by permanent Security Council member Russia, a Syrian ally.
"My preference would have been that the international community already would have acted," Obama said, citing "the inability of the Security Council to move in the face of a clear violation of international norms."
He expressed frustration with the lack of international support, saying that "a lot of people think something should be done, but nobody seems willing to do it."
"It's important for us to recognize that when over 1,000 people are killed, including hundreds of innocent children, through the use of a weapon that 98 or 99 percent of humanity says should not be used even in war, and there is no action, then we're sending a signal that that international norm doesn't mean much," Obama said. "And that is a danger to our national security."
The remarks by Obama and Kerry, and the release of the intelligence report, came as Obama's administration faced rising resistance to a military strike against the Syrian government both at home and abroad.
Britain's Parliament voted against joining a coalition sought by Obama to respond militarily, denying the president a key NATO ally that has steadfastly supported previous campaigns.
In Washington, questions about the veracity of the U.S. intelligence and whether the nation is headed for another long war based on false information -- like happened in Iraq -- have emerged from both parties in Congress.
"I assure you nobody ends up being more war-weary than me," Obama said, adding that he was not considering any option that would entail "boots on the ground" or a long-term campaign.
Instead, Obama said, he and his top military and security aides were looking at a "limited, narrow act" to ensure that Syria and others know the United States and its allies won't tolerate future similar future violations.
For almost two years, Obama has avoided direct military involvement in Syria's civil war, only escalating aid to rebel fighters in June after suspected smaller-scale chemical weapons attacks by Syrian government forces.
However, last week's attack obliterated the "red line" Obama set just over a year ago against the use of Syria's chemical weapons stocks.
Veteran Republican Sens. John McCain of Arizona and Lindsey Graham of South Carolina challenged Obama's plan Friday, issuing a statement that said the purpose of any U.S. military action in Syria "should not be to help the president save face."
"It should not be merely cosmetic. Instead, the goal of military action should be to shift the balance of power on the battlefield against Assad and his forces," the two senators said, referring to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in reiterating their call for a more robust response.
Kerry: "We will not repeat" Iraq
Earlier, Kerry insisted that the situation differs from Iraq, saying the intelligence community "reviewed and re-reviewed" its information "more than mindful of the Iraq experience." And he added: "We will not repeat that moment."
He cited particular evidence that he insisted shows al-Assad's regime was responsible.
"We know that for three days before the attack, the Syrian regime's chemical weapons personnel were on the ground in the area, making preparations," Kerry said. "And we know that the Syrian regime elements were told to prepare for the attack by putting on gas masks and taking precautions associated with chemical weapons."
In addition, "we know where the rockets were launched from, and at what time," he said. "We know where they landed, and when. We know rockets came only from regime-controlled areas and went only to opposition-controlled or contested neighborhoods."
Quoting from the U.S. assessment, Kerry said the attack killed 1,429 people, including more than 400 children.
"We assess with high confidence that the Syrian government carried out the chemical weapons attack against opposition elements in the Damascus suburbs," he said.
Citing support from the Arab League, Turkey and France, Kerry said, "We are not alone in our will to do something" in response to the attack. He brushed off the British Parliament vote against joining a military invention, saying that the United States "makes our own decisions on our own timelines, based on our values and our interests" in deciding the proper course of action.
Al-Assad's government has claimed that jihadists fighting on the opposition's side carried out the chemical weapons attacks on August 21 to turn global sentiments against it. Senior administration officials told reporters Friday there is no evidence to support that claim.
On Friday, the Syrian government called the U.S. intelligence information "old tales" based on "fabrications and lies."
Meanwhile, the U.N. mission investigating the suspected chemical weapons attack in Syria has completed its collection of samples, said Martin Nesirky, spokesman for U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.
Nesirky told reporters that inspectors visited a government military hospital in Damascus and the last of them will leave Syria on Saturday.
Ban will get a briefing Saturday from the inspectors, but a Western diplomat told CNN that the secretary-general would likely wait to meet again with the Security Council until a final report with laboratory analysis is completed, which could take a week.
Even as the U.N. inspection was winding down, opposition activists said Friday there is evidence of another deadly assault in Syria involving an incendiary agent. Seven people died and dozens were injured Monday in the attack on a school in northern Syria.
So far, opposition by Russia to any military response has scuttled U.N. action, and Kerry expressed little hope for a breakthrough.
"Because of the guaranteed Russian obstructionism of any action through the U.N. Security Council, the U.N. cannot galvanize the world to act as it should," he said.
Later Friday, Obama spoke by phone with French President Francois Hollande and British Prime Minister David Cameron. White House statements said in both calls, the leaders agreed the Syrian violation of chemical weapons bans cannot be tolerated, but only the statement on the call with Hollande said they agreed the Syrian regime must be held accountable.
While the British vote was a blow to Obama's hopes of getting strong support from key NATO allies and some Arab League states, regional NATO ally Turkey on Friday backed the U.S. contention that al-Assad's regime was responsible for the chemical attack.
"The information at hand indicates that the opposition does not have these types of sophisticated weapons," said Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu. "From our perspective, there is no doubt that the regime is responsible."
Alone or together?
The White House has made clear that the United States will respond in some form to the use of chemical weapons. Previously, it ruled out U.S. troops on the ground or imposing a no-fly zone.
Sources have indicated a campaign of limited strikes by cruise missiles fired from U.S. naval ships in the region, targeting military command centers but not chemical weapons stockpiles, is the likely option.
According to Pentagon sources, any "execute" order by Obama would go to the Pentagon and then through the chain of command from the defense secretary to the Joint Chiefs chairman to the U.S. Central Command and on to the Navy ships, where crews are ready to fire with coordinates programmed into missiles.
The British Parliament vote and demands by other key European allies, including France and Germany, to put off a decision until after the U.N. inspectors report on what happened in Syria have slowed the response time.
Hollande told Le Monde newspaper that intervention should be limited and not be directed toward al-Assad's overthrow, a position also expressed by Obama.
On Friday, former President George W. Bush said Obama's "got a tough choice to make."
"I was not a fan of Mr. Assad. He's an ally of Iran, he's made mischief," Bush told Fox News. "If he (Obama) decides to use the military, he's got the greatest military in the world backing him up."
Also Friday, another Obama predecessor, former President Jimmy Carter, said "a punitive military response without a U.N. Security Council mandate or broad support from NATO and the Arab League would be illegal under international law and unlikely to alter the course of the war."
Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel has repeatedly said the United States will respond to Syria in concert with allies.
"Our approach is to continue to find an international coalition that will act together," he told journalists Friday in Manila, Philippines.
Public opinion
Skeptics of military action have pointed at the decision to use force in Iraq, when the United States government under Bush marched to war based on a thin claim that dictator Saddam Hussein was harboring weapons of mass destruction.
Opponents are conjuring up a possible repeat of that scenario in Syria, though the intelligence being gathered on the use of WMDs in Syria may be more sound.
An NBC News poll conducted Wednesday and Thursday indicated that 50% of the public says the United States should not take military action against Damascus in response to the Syrian government's alleged use of chemical weapons against its own citizens, with 42% saying military action would be appropriate.
But the survey suggested that if military action would be confined to air strikes using cruise missiles, support rises.
Convincing evidence
Supporters of a strong U.S. response say that no further proof is needed that the Syrian regime was responsible.
"Come on. Does anybody really believe that those aren't chemical weapons -- those bodies of those children stacked up?" Republican Sen. John McCain of Arizona said Thursday on CNN.
Democrats say Obama needs to make the case to Congress that al-Assad's regime was responsible and that a possible intervention won't get out of hand.
"The action has to have a very limited purpose, and the purpose is to deter future use of chemical weapons," Democratic Rep. Chris Van Hollen of Maryland told CNN.
More than 160 legislators, including 63 of Obama's fellow Democrats, signed letters calling for either a vote or at least a "full debate" before any U.S. action.
The author of one of those letters, Democratic Rep. Barbara Lee of California, said Obama should seek "an affirmative decision of Congress" before committing American forces. Congress is in recess until September 9, though some members advocate returning early to debate the matter.
Haunted by Iraq
Before military intervention got voted down by Parliament, Cameron had said his government would not act without first hearing from the U.N. inspectors and giving Parliament another chance to decide the matter. But his opposition seemed to be reminded of the Iraq war.
"I think today the House of Commons spoke for the British people who said they didn't want a rush to war, and I was determined we learned the lessons of Iraq, and I'm glad we've made the prime minister see sense this evening," Labour Party leader Ed Miliband told the Press Association.
Though Cameron did not need parliamentary approval to commit to an intervention, he felt it important "to act as a democrat, to act a different way to previous prime ministers and properly consult Parliament," he said Friday.
He regrets not being able to build a consensus of lawmakers, he said.
Thursday, August 29, 2013
Joke Of The Day!!
There once was a girl who wasn't feeling very pretty so she went to a genie to make her pretty. The genie told her that to make her feel pretty, he would make it so that every time someone apologized to her her boobs would increase by one size. So the girl is walking down the street and someone bumps into her and says, "Oh, I'm sorry," and the woman's boobs went up one size. Then someone accidentally stepped on her foot and said, "I'm sorry," and her boobs got one size bigger. Then she's walking down the street and a man from India bumps into her and says, "Oh my god! A thousand apologies!"
?? Did You Know ??
Childhood dreams are shorter than adult dreams and nearly 40% of them are nightmares, which may act as a coping mechanism.
Xbox One Kinect localization issues
The Xbox One launch was delayed to 2014 in eight territories – Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Netherlands, Norway, Russia, Sweden and Switzerland – but it wasn't because of a "volume issue," Microsoft Senior Director of Product Management and Planning Albert Penello toldOXM. The delay came down to localization with the new Kinect, the site reported.
"People assume there's a volume issue which in fact there isn't," Penello said. "You're actually seeing pre-orders pop back up now because we're able allocate the countries' volumes back in. It's there; the problem is localization. And once people see the system and how integral it is – it's not just text integration."
The new Kinect doesn't work like the Xbox 360 Kinect, and its new features make localization more difficult, Penello said.
"I think people are using the way [voice] works on Xbox 360, which was an accessory we built five years after release, as how it's going to work here," he said. "But it's so much more elegant and so much more integrated, and in many ways it's a lot faster and more convenient, whereas on Xbox 360 it's a lesser version of doing the thing you're used to doing on your controller."
The Xbox One will launch as scheduled this November in Australia, Austria, Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Mexico, Spain, the UK, the US and New Zealand.
'Avengers: Age Of Ultron'
by Brett White
We've known since San Diego Comic-Con that Ultron is the villain next in line to throw down with the Avengers, and now we know that James Spader has been cast in the role. But as bad as Ultron is, he can't be the only bad guy in "Avengers: Age of Ultron." Every Marvel movie has more than one bad guy in it, even if they're just henchmen.
Case in point, "Iron Man 3" threw a bunch of super-charged Extremis soldiers at Tony Stark in addition to the threat of Aldrich Killian, and the Red Skull lead an army of HYDRA agents in "Captain America: The First Avenger." Even using the first "Avengers" film as a template, Loki had an entire Chitauri army at his disposal, as well as a bunch of S.H.I.E.L.D. defectors and brainwashed goons. Whatever dastardly deeds Ultron does in the film, he won't be doing them alone.
With that in mind, we've come up with five ideas for Ultron co-conspirators designed to give the Avengers a workout—and also make them look good while they're mopping the floor with them.
The Masters of Evil
Ultron originally debuted in the guise of a villain named Crimson Cowl, the leader of the second incarnation of the Masters of Evil. Avengers fans have been wanting to see the Masters of Evil on the big screen for a while, so including them in the sequel would be both a great nod to continuity and some neat fan service. The incarnation even includes a few characters that could set up future Marvel films, like the Black Panther foe Klaw and the Ant-Man bad guy Radioactive Man.
Jocasta
Ultron may not need to hire from outside when he could easily make his own backup. Jocasta was created by Ultron to be his wife, which could humanize the character considerably—something that Joss Whedon wants to do with Ultron. She has many of Ultron's abilities, including superhuman strength, enhanced durability, and above average senses. Jocasta eventually broke free of Ultron's rule, eventually becoming a valued member of the Avengers.
Vision
Of all of Ultron's creations—and he's had a few—Vision is definitely the most notable. Vision first appeared mere months after Ultron, making him Ultron's first creation as well as one of his deadliest. In addition to the ability to fly and enhanced strength, Vision can also control his density, making him either intangible or hard as diamond. He's gone on to explore his artificial humanity, falling in love and marrying Scarlet Witch—a character that's popping up in the sequel. Vin Diesel was long rumored to be playing the character, but that has since been debunked. Whether there's any room for a character as important as Vision in the film, even in a henchman role, remains to be seen.
Ultrons
Maybe Ultron's backup will be Ultron himself. In the recently concluded "Age of Ultron" limited series, the artificial intelligence utilized hundreds of individual robot bodies to carry out his every whim. Superhero films, especially big ones like "Avengers," need disposable bad guys just to give our heroes something to plow through. An army of Ultron robots could fulfill that role nicely; just imagine the Hulk tearing through dozens of Ultron robots with every punch!
Iron Man
If Tony Stark is indeed Ultron's new creator—in lieu of Hank Pym—then the connection between the two could be used for evil. Imagine Ultron taking control of Iron Man's armor and pitting the Avengers against their biggest ally? Of course this plot twist plays heavily into stuff we've already seen before; we've already seen giant armor battles in two of the three "Iron Man" finales, and Loki tried to turn Tony Stark with his mind control staff in the first "Avengers" film. While this could be an interesting development, it might not be original enough for this highly anticipated movie
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