Smart

"Gimme the Loot" shouldn't be as appealing and exuberant as it is, it really shouldn't. It's set in the Bronx, the grittiest of New York City boroughs. Its larcenous teenage protagonists are introduced stealing spray paint from a hardware store; the world they live in is rife with drug dealing, robbery and all manner of hustles and petty scams. This could be the set-up for a sequel to "The Wire," but in writer-director Adam Leon's hands it is anything but. PHOTOS: Movies Sneaks 2013 In a feature debut that succeeded at Cannes after taking the best narrative prize at last year's SXSW festival, Leon, who himself won Film Independent's Someone to Watch award, has made a small-scale, warm-hearted film that is both upbeat and intimate.

Shaka Smart and Virginia Commonwealth have agreed in principle to a deal to keep the basketball coach at the school. Athletic Director Ed McLaughlin said the details were still being finalized, but the majority of changes involve "program enhancements for the student-athletes and coaches. " McLaughlin said it also extends a contract already scheduled to run through 2020. Smart's record is 111-37 in four years, the sixth-most wins in the country over that stretch. Since he guided VCU to the Final Four in 2011, Smart's name has been among the first mentioned whenever a high-profile job comes open.

Virginia Commonwealth is working to hang on to Shaka Smart, one of the coaches that UCLA has on its shopping list. Athletic department officials at Virginia Commonwealth are working on enhancements for the basketball program, according to a Richmond Times Dispatch story. A new practice facility, increased pay for assistant coaches and a bigger recruiting  budget are things Smart is seeking , according to the Times Dispatch. Smart makes $1.36-million per season, plus incentives.

If you applied for a chance to purchase Google Glass, you may soon be getting contacted by the tech company. The Silicon Valley giant said Tuesday it picked the winners of its "#IfIHadGlass" contest and will begin messaging them over the next few days to determine if they still want to purchase an early version of the smartglasses for $1,500. Glass is a device Google unveiled last year that users wear on their heads like eyeglasses but the device has a video camera and a viewer.

Well, beating UCLA in the NCAA tournament doesn't mean as much as it once did. Minnesota fired coach Tubby Smith on Monday, one day after the Golden Gophers lost to Florida in the tournament after beating UCLA in the first round. Smith went 124-81 in six seasons at Minnesota and won 20 games five times. But he went just 46-62 in Big Ten play and never finished higher than sixth in the conference. "Tubby has had a long and distinguished career and we feel it's time for a fresh set of eyes for our student-athletes and our program in general," Athletic Director Norwood Teague said.

Ben Howland, who led UCLA to three Final Fours, was fired Sunday, the school announced, ending the longest tenure for a Bruins coach since John Wooden retired in 1975. Howland spent 10 seasons in Westwood, finishing with a 233-107 record. He is coming off one of his best coaching performances, with the Bruins winning the Pac-12 Conference regular-season championship. Yet his star had fallen considerably since he took UCLA to consecutive Final Fours in 2006, '07 and '08. He was informed Sunday that he was fired.

UCLA reality check Part (Tier) Two. There are basketball coaches who will please Bruins fans and there are ones Athletic Director Dan Guerrero is actually interested in: Butler's Brad Stevens and Virginia Commonwealth's Shaka Smart. Stevens reportedly makes a little more than $1 million per year. That's Indiana dollars. Multiply it by about three for California inflation. Stevens is also described as an intensely private man who is turned off by public scrutiny. Good thing intense scrutiny doesn't come with the UCLA job. On to Smart, who turned down $2.5 million per year from Illinois a year ago. Smart currently gets $1.36 million per year in salary, but the perks do add up. Smart receives $25,000 for a radio deal.

The Climate-Smart Agriculture Conference kicked off Wednesday at UC Davis. It's the first time the event is held in the U.S. after its inauguration at Wageningen University in the Netherlands. The conference brings together scientists and policy makers to identify and shape agriculture practices that address climate change. Times agriculture reporter Ricardo Lopez attended, tweeting updates throughout the first day. Here's a curated Storify post of his tweets and others:  ALSO: Gas prices cut into spring break travel, survey says  Starbucks buys first farm, plans to double loyalty card members Report: CVS Caremark demans workers disclose weight, health info ricardo.lopez2@latimes.com

For the world's No. 1 TV seller, it's no longer all about bigger screens and thinner panels. Televisions have to be smart too. In the past, Samsung Electronics Co. proudly trumpeted the hardware specifications of its latest televisions during launch events. Now, as smart TVs become more popular and consumers' viewing habits shift, the South Korean electronics giant is turning its attention to improving the Internet-connected-TV experience. At a launch event in New York on Wednesday, Samsung unveiled its 2013 line of televisions with the help of supermodel Kate Upton, New York Giants quarterback Eli Manning and hip-hop artist Flo Rida.

Just like Apple, Samsung is working on a smart wristwatch that it hopes to begin selling as soon as possible. “We've been preparing the watch product for so long,” Lee Young Hee, Samsung's executive vice president of mobile business, told Bloomberg . “We are working very hard to get ready for it. We are preparing products for the future, and the watch is definitely one of them.” The South Korean tech company did not delve into the...