The small farming town of Harrodsburg, Ky., is the home of Willow Glass, thin and flexible, soon to find it's way into the marketplace. It's made by Corning in the same plant that developed Gorilla Glass, the protective cover for Apple's iPhone, and now used by more than thirty other makers of personal devices.
Sam Berns is a 17-year old living with progeria, a rare genetic disease where symptoms resemble aspects of rapid aging. Sam's also a prolific Lego builder and the subject of HBO's award-winning documentary, Life According to Sam, which premieres tonight.
     |
Children play at the Zaatari refugee camp in Jordan, where more than 120,000 Syrian refugees live. Roughly two-thirds are kids, many of whom have been traumatized by the violence in their homeland.
Children play at the Zaatari refugee camp in Jordan, where more than 120,000 Syrian refugees live. Roughly two-thirds are kids, many of whom have been traumatized by the violence in their homeland.
Alexandra Chen, a specialist in childhood trauma, is on her way from the Lebanese capital, Beirut, to the southern town of Nabatiyeh, where she's running a workshop for teachers, child psychologists and sports coaches who are dealing with the Syrian children scarred by war in their homeland.
"All of the children have experienced trauma to varying degree," explains Chen, who works for Mercy Corps and is training a dozen new hires for her aid group.
Her intense five-day workshop is based on skills and techniques developed in other conflict zones, used for the first time here.
"They need to know enough to understand exactly what's going on in the brain of the children they are working with," Chen says of her trainees. Her course stresses the science of severe trauma, which can be toxic for the brain.
"The human memory remembers negative memories almost four times more strongly than positive ones," she says.
Some 2 million Syrian children have been displaced by the war and more than 1 million of them are now refugees in neighboring countries. One of the biggest challenges for international aid agencies is healing the invisible scars of war in the youngest victims.
Mercy Corps organizes games and movies at the Zaatari camp to help children return to more normal activities and routines.
Mercy Corps organizes games and movies at the Zaatari camp to help children return to more normal activities and routines.
"These children have seen terrible things, like bombings and people screaming and people dying, and they've smelled blood and smoke," Chen says as she opens the course. "For them, to be connected to the world feels like a very dangerous thing."
PTSD In Children
Chen tells the trainees that long-term exposure to violence can lead to post-traumatic stress disorder, which is difficult to treat in adults and even harder to manage in kids. Children can remain hyper-alert, with an "inability to step out of survival mode," which is often expressed as anger or aggression.
This group has already seen signs of severe trauma in Syrian children who recently arrived. Chen teaches them key skills to build a sense of safety for children.
But these newly trained Mercy Corps outreach workers face an overwhelming task. More than 85,000 Syrian refugees have migrated to this part of southern Lebanon, living in the poorest neighborhoods. Aid programs are underfunded and basic needs often go unmet.
Still, international aid organizations are raising the alarm over the newest arrivals. They have lived under traumatic conditions for much longer, surviving continuous bombardments, witnessing deaths firsthand, and many need immediate help.
Chen moves between workshops in Lebanon and refugee camps in Jordan to tackle the same problem.
A Camp Where Most Refugees Are Children
We met again in Zaatari, the sprawling camp in Jordan's desert with more than 120,000 residents, 65 percent of them under 18. Here, children seem dangerously aggressive, punching, fighting or throwing rocks in the open spaces between the refugee tents and trailers.
"Acting aggressively, in many ways, is the mind's way of making sense of what happened before," says Chen, who adds that she has seen behavior change. Many have made progress in a program run by Mercy Corps in a place called Dream Land.
It's in the middle of Zaatari, where kids can feel secure. They play soccer or build sandcastles in soft sand under a large tent that protects them from the sun.
Here, kids hammer on Legos in nearby trailers, while others sit, quietly, watching Tom and Jerry cartoons.
"The fact that they can sit there for an hour of Tom and Jerry is quite remarkable" says Chen, calling it a sign of healing.
But for some, the terrible memories can still become a trigger in daily life.
"The misunderstanding about trauma is that it is an event we have been unable to deal with in the past," she explains. In severe cases of PTSD, she says, "it is the person's inability to engage with the present that is the problem."
There have been some children who sneak into Dream Land in the middle of the night, she says.
"There was a little boy who would come at 3 a.m.," she says. "He would hide in the corner of the tent and shake. The stress that he was expressing was too much in his own little mind. He was unable to sleep. So, this is where he came to find refuge."
And that was a small success, that he had found a safe place.
FILE -This June 4, 2013 file photo shows Aurora theater shooting suspect James Holmes in court in Centennial, Colo. Prosecutors and defense attorneys in the Colorado theater shooting case are battling over what evidence can be admitted during Holmes’ murder trial, all in an attempt to build up or tear down the case that he was insane. On Thursday, Oct. 17, 2013 they are scheduled to argue over statements Holmes made to police after he was arrested after the July 2012 shootings and taken to a police station. (AP Photo/The Denver Post, Andy Cross, Pool, File)
CENTENNIAL, Colo. (AP) — Attorneys in the Colorado theater shootings are debating whether defendant James Holmes' bank and phone records should be used as evidence in his trial.
The arguments at a pretrial hearing Monday were part of a larger battle over any evidence that might strengthen or weaken Holmes' claim that he was insane at the time of the shootings.
Twelve people died and 70 were injured in the 2012 attack on a suburban Denver theater.
Holmes pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity to multiple counts of murder and attempted murder.
Prosecutors, who are seeking the death penalty, want to use any evidence they can find that might show Holmes planned the attack and knew it was a crime.
The defense argues the bank and phone records were obtained with flawed warrants.
In an extensive joint interview with the Financial Times, HTC CEO Peter Chou and Chairwoman Cher Wang offered some fresh insight into the troubled smartphone maker's future plans — including hints at entries into new product categories.
The pair confirmed that Wang would be stepping up her day-to-day duties at the company, and taking on some of Chou's "sales, marketing and supplier relationships" duties, allowing him to focus on "innovation" and the product portfolio. The move will see the HTC chairwoman working six days a week at the company, as opposed to two previously, the FT reports, as HTC aims to work its way out of its current slump.
As far as future products are concerned, the HTC bosses hinted at a return to the tablet market, as well as a possible foray into the world of wearables. Chou reportedly mentions that HTC worked on a smartwatch-type device with Microsoft "several years ago," but dismissed the current crop of wearables: “It has to meet a need, otherwise if it’s just a gimmick or concept, it’s not for people’s day-to-day lives. That is an opportunity for us.” Nevertheless, he describes wearables as "a critical segment for us," adding “it matches what we do today as a mobile experience overall. That is one area we are excited about.”
| |
By Kirsti Knolle
FRANKFURT (Reuters) - Brazilian author Luiz Ruffato grew up penniless, slept on the floor of a bus station for a month and shocks his fellow countrymen when he says that's still the way it is despite Brazil becoming an economic powerhouse.
"When you walk through the streets of Brazil, you will see what you read in my books," Ruffato, the son of an illiterate washerwoman and a popcorn seller, told Reuters in an interview at the Frankfurt Book Fair.
Ruffato gave the fair's opening speech last week which instead of praising Brazil and its achievements dwelt upon many of the themes that the 52-year-old addresses in his novels.
His themes are the consequences of rapid industrialization, social deprivation and the problems faced by women and homosexuals in his country.
In his early and still most famous work "There Were Many Horses", published in 2001, he describes the chaos, violence, misery and decadence of mega-city Sao Paulo.
"We are still a country in which not everyone has the right to homes, education, healthcare and recreation. They are rather privileges for only a few," he said in his keynote speech that shocked even some of his supporters.
"We are a paradox country," he said.
Ruffato's words were in sharp contrast to the Brazilian government's official message of rapid economic development and opportunity for all. His work scarcely dwells on the clichés of modern Brazil - its beach culture, carnivals and caipirinha cocktails. His reality is different.
"Brazilian society raises a number of perspectives and mine is one of them," he told Reuters following his keynote address, which earned him a standing ovation.
"Normally I don't drink but tonight I have to," he said with a smile, surrounded by people and visibly trying to shake off his nervousness.
Ruffato knows all too well what he is talking about. Coming from a small town in the state of Minas Gerais in eastern Brazil, he was lucky to receive an education.
That only happened when the director of a private school noticed Ruffato selling popcorn with his father and took him under his wing.
Later, Ruffato moved to Sao Paulo and slept at a bus station for about a month until he received his first pay check and could afford to pay for a bed in a boarding house.
OUTRAGE
Ruffato said he does not believe Brazilians' outrage at their government has subsided yet following a wave of nationwide protests that rocked Brazil in June, because the inciting factors remain.
Just as Brazil hosted the Confederations Cup, a dry run for next year's World Cup soccer tournament, more than a million people took to the streets.
They were livid about corruption, poor public services and billions of dollars of public money being spent on the World Cup and the 2016 Olympics, which are also to be held in Brazil.
Their patience ran out when the government raised the cost of tickets for public buses. The protests that followed were the biggest in Brazil since the end of military dictatorship during the late 80s.
"The outrage is still there, but it hasn't yet developed into a real movement," Ruffato said. "The potential that everything starts from scratch is there."
According to Ruffato, 10 percent of Brazil's white population controls 75 percent of its wealth. About 46,000 of Brazil's 200 million people own half the land. And a third of adults are illiterate or nearly so.
"The American phenomenon that you can achieve anything if you only work hard doesn't exist in Brazil," Ruffato said. "I am a big exception."
(Editing by Michael Roddy and Tom Pfeiffer)
A feel-good drama anchored by Eugene Domingo's starring turn and a narrative which advocates women's triumph against chauvinist odds.
Tokyo International Film Festival
Jun Robles Lana
2013 marks the 30th anniversary of an event which heralds the beginning of the end of the Ferdinand Marcos dictatorship in the Philippines: the assassination of the tyrant's most vocal opponent, Benigno Aquino, on the tarmac of Manila's airport on Aug. 21, 1983 would eventually snowball into a massive political movement which led to Marcos' ouster in 1986 and the return of democracy to the Southeast Asian nation.
In this context, Jun Robles Lana's latest film could be seen as a metaphor for this episode in Philippine history: by speaking of the political emancipation of a meek widow, Barber's Tales – which was set in 1975, with Marcos' political sway very much present in the village the story unfolds in – could be seen as mirroring the rise of Corazon Aquino, who would transform from being Benigno Aquino's "plain housewife" into the leading figure of the anti-Marcos movement, before finally succeeding the tyrant as president.
Philippine audiences would certainly be able to detect the parallels between history and Lana's story – the power of funereal and religious parades, for example, or how those in power would frame their opponents with deaths they caused, as Marcos tried to finger communist rebels as masterminding Benigno Aquino's killing. But just as Lav Diaz's recent festival hit North, the End of History, Lana's film – which premiered in competition at the Tokyo International Film Festival, where Diaz's film would also be shown – goes beyond the lone historic event with an audacious attempt in actually exposing the commonly-shared traits which has led to the tragedy and calamity that follows.
While Diaz's film explores the conservative ideology that could give rise to cynical power-grabbers, Lana's Barber's Tales uses the spiritual awakening of a village barber's subservient spouse to condemn patriarchy – a way of thinking which props up the behavior of corrupted politicians and thuggish husbands, but also well-meaning revolutionaries fighting for a good cause. It's a universal theme which would engage with audiences beyond the Philippines, and Lana's linear and conventional spin to the story – driven by melodrama of co-incidences, and the showing of women's solidarity through mainstream humor, complete with quite a few jokes about the male genitalia – would certainly give Barber's Tales as much festival traction as Lana's previous film Bwakaw.
And Lana could very well thank his lead actress Eugene Domingo for all that, as the veteran's poised performance is what anchors the film just as it sometimes veers dangerously close to comic-soap territory. Rather than drawing out the transformation of her character, Marilou, with broad strokes, her delivery is very controlled and somewhat internal.
She began the film living completely as the shadow and slave of her barber husband Jose, attending to his every whim – making him food, ironing his shirts, heating his bath water – and also forced to tolerate his patronizing bullying attitude and his nocturnal ventures in town. Even as she takes over the business when he dies – a task encouraged by the local pastor Arturo (Eddie Garcia, the actor-director who flourished in Bwakaw)and grows into her work as a better haircutter than his spouse, the change is slight and so incremental, even as she has to contend with the mayhem around her, as she plays the matriarch who cares for the other troubled women in the village – such as Susan (Gladys Reyes), who was pressurized into sex and continuous childbirth – while also beginning to care for the young rebel fighters in the area.
Domingo's performance subtle turn as Marilou has a reason, as her docile veneer could serve to jolt the audience with the one explosive act at the film's finale when she finally gets to confront the local corrupted mayor (and Marcos flunky) Alberto Bartolome (Nonie Buencamino) for one last time for all the hurt and grief he brought to everyone in his realm, from his own long-suffering wife Cecilia (Iza Cazaldo) – whom Marilou has befriended – to all the people he ruled with much duress.
Barber's Tales is a story about sisterhood; Domingo's turn is suitably supported by engaging performances from, for example, Shamaine Buencamino – who plays Tess, the single middle-aged woman whose role as a sage among confused wives is thrown into disarray when her nephew decided to join the anti-government insurrection. Their resilience against the odds speaks volumes about the chauvinistic universe they were placed under – not just from Alberto and his cronies, but even in a milder way from the rebels to which Marilou and Tess could only care for (serving food to them while they plot their ambushes) and fret about.
Given the period nature of the film – it was set in the countryside in the 1970s, as far away from Bwakaw's contemporary, urban settings as it can be – the production design could somehow be found a bit wanting, with the sets resembling something more out of a TV series than the cinematic epic Lana might need for the story. And while audacious in content, Barber's Tales is certainly mainstream in style, with a plot heavy on coincidences (Jose's husband's favourite prostitute also happens to be the sister of the rebel fighter Marilou saved – an event which brought about a reconciliation between wife and mistress) and camerawork and editing which relies on conventional close-ups and shots/countershots.
Still, Barber's Tales provides enough of a harbinger of things to come: as the film ends, Susan's voiceover relays the rumors surrounding Marilou's fate after she has left town: these takes on her life – she might have gone on to become a maid; she might have gone insane – relays the many realities facing Filipino women in decades to come. Lana's "real" ending for her character is much more optimistic – but perhaps it's in this that Barber's Tales will thrive, as Marilou and sisters continue their struggle to find the light in their lives.
Competition, Tokyo International Film Festival
Production Company: Apt Entertainment and Octobert Fain Films
Director: Jun Robles Lana
Producer: Ferdinand Lapuz
Executive Producers: Michael B. Tuviera, Joselito C Oconer, Ramel L. David, Perci Intalan and Jun Robles Lana
Cast: Eugene Domingo, Eddie Garcia, Iza Cazaldo, Gladys Reyes
Screenwriter: Jun Robles Lana, on a story by Peter Ong Lim, Elmer Gatchalian, Benedict Mique and Jun Robles Lana
Director of Cinematography: Carlo Mendoza
Production Designer: Chito Sumera
Editor: Lawrence Ang
Music: Ryan Cayabyab
International Sales: Ignatius Films Canada
In Tagalog
120 minutes
A feel-good drama anchored by Eugene Domingo's starring turn and a narrative which advocates women's triumph against chauvinist odds.
Tokyo International Film Festival
Jun Robles Lana
2013 marks the 30th anniversary of an event which heralds the beginning of the end of the Ferdinand Marcos dictatorship in the Philippines: the assassination of the tyrant's most vocal opponent, Benigno Aquino, on the tarmac of Manila's airport on Aug. 21, 1983 would eventually snowball into a massive political movement which led to Marcos' ouster in 1986 and the return of democracy to the Southeast Asian nation.
In this context, Jun Robles Lana's latest film could be seen as a metaphor for this episode in Philippine history: by speaking of the political emancipation of a meek widow, Barber's Tales – which was set in 1975, with Marcos' political sway very much present in the village the story unfolds in – could be seen as mirroring the rise of Corazon Aquino, who would transform from being Benigno Aquino's "plain housewife" into the leading figure of the anti-Marcos movement, before finally succeeding the tyrant as president.
Philippine audiences would certainly be able to detect the parallels between history and Lana's story – the power of funereal and religious parades, for example, or how those in power would frame their opponents with deaths they caused, as Marcos tried to finger communist rebels as masterminding Benigno Aquino's killing. But just as Lav Diaz's recent festival hit North, the End of History, Lana's film – which premiered in competition at the Tokyo International Film Festival, where Diaz's film would also be shown – goes beyond the lone historic event with an audacious attempt in actually exposing the commonly-shared traits which has led to the tragedy and calamity that follows.
While Diaz's film explores the conservative ideology that could give rise to cynical power-grabbers, Lana's Barber's Tales uses the spiritual awakening of a village barber's subservient spouse to condemn patriarchy – a way of thinking which props up the behavior of corrupted politicians and thuggish husbands, but also well-meaning revolutionaries fighting for a good cause. It's a universal theme which would engage with audiences beyond the Philippines, and Lana's linear and conventional spin to the story – driven by melodrama of co-incidences, and the showing of women's solidarity through mainstream humor, complete with quite a few jokes about the male genitalia – would certainly give Barber's Tales as much festival traction as Lana's previous film Bwakaw.
And Lana could very well thank his lead actress Eugene Domingo for all that, as the veteran's poised performance is what anchors the film just as it sometimes veers dangerously close to comic-soap territory. Rather than drawing out the transformation of her character, Marilou, with broad strokes, her delivery is very controlled and somewhat internal.
She began the film living completely as the shadow and slave of her barber husband Jose, attending to his every whim – making him food, ironing his shirts, heating his bath water – and also forced to tolerate his patronizing bullying attitude and his nocturnal ventures in town. Even as she takes over the business when he dies – a task encouraged by the local pastor Arturo (Eddie Garcia, the actor-director who flourished in Bwakaw)and grows into her work as a better haircutter than his spouse, the change is slight and so incremental, even as she has to contend with the mayhem around her, as she plays the matriarch who cares for the other troubled women in the village – such as Susan (Gladys Reyes), who was pressurized into sex and continuous childbirth – while also beginning to care for the young rebel fighters in the area.
Domingo's performance subtle turn as Marilou has a reason, as her docile veneer could serve to jolt the audience with the one explosive act at the film's finale when she finally gets to confront the local corrupted mayor (and Marcos flunky) Alberto Bartolome (Nonie Buencamino) for one last time for all the hurt and grief he brought to everyone in his realm, from his own long-suffering wife Cecilia (Iza Cazaldo) – whom Marilou has befriended – to all the people he ruled with much duress.
Barber's Tales is a story about sisterhood; Domingo's turn is suitably supported by engaging performances from, for example, Shamaine Buencamino – who plays Tess, the single middle-aged woman whose role as a sage among confused wives is thrown into disarray when her nephew decided to join the anti-government insurrection. Their resilience against the odds speaks volumes about the chauvinistic universe they were placed under – not just from Alberto and his cronies, but even in a milder way from the rebels to which Marilou and Tess could only care for (serving food to them while they plot their ambushes) and fret about.
Given the period nature of the film – it was set in the countryside in the 1970s, as far away from Bwakaw's contemporary, urban settings as it can be – the production design could somehow be found a bit wanting, with the sets resembling something more out of a TV series than the cinematic epic Lana might need for the story. And while audacious in content, Barber's Tales is certainly mainstream in style, with a plot heavy on coincidences (Jose's husband's favourite prostitute also happens to be the sister of the rebel fighter Marilou saved – an event which brought about a reconciliation between wife and mistress) and camerawork and editing which relies on conventional close-ups and shots/countershots.
Still, Barber's Tales provides enough of a harbinger of things to come: as the film ends, Susan's voiceover relays the rumors surrounding Marilou's fate after she has left town: these takes on her life – she might have gone on to become a maid; she might have gone insane – relays the many realities facing Filipino women in decades to come. Lana's "real" ending for her character is much more optimistic – but perhaps it's in this that Barber's Tales will thrive, as Marilou and sisters continue their struggle to find the light in their lives.
Competition, Tokyo International Film Festival
Production Company: Apt Entertainment and Octobert Fain Films
Director: Jun Robles Lana
Producer: Ferdinand Lapuz
Executive Producers: Michael B. Tuviera, Joselito C Oconer, Ramel L. David, Perci Intalan and Jun Robles Lana
Cast: Eugene Domingo, Eddie Garcia, Iza Cazaldo, Gladys Reyes
Screenwriter: Jun Robles Lana, on a story by Peter Ong Lim, Elmer Gatchalian, Benedict Mique and Jun Robles Lana
Director of Cinematography: Carlo Mendoza
Production Designer: Chito Sumera
Editor: Lawrence Ang
Music: Ryan Cayabyab
International Sales: Ignatius Films Canada
In Tagalog
120 minutes
London (AFP) - Britain's Prince George, the son of Prince William and his wife Catherine, is to be christened on Wednesday in a private family ceremony far removed from the global media circus that surrounded his birth.
The Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby, the head of the world's Anglicans, will perform the christening at the Chapel Royal in St James's Palace in London, Kensington Palace said.
George -- who as third in line to the British throne is a future Supreme Governor of the Church of England and "Defender of the Faith" -- was born on July 22 to the royal couple with the title of Duke and Duchess of Cambridge.
Guests are expected to include Queen Elizabeth II, the young prince's great-grandmother, and William's father Prince Charles, although royal officials have only said that "close members of both families" will attend the baptism.
The choice of the Chapel Royal reflects William and Kate's attempts to keep a low profile, as most senior British royals in recent history have been christened at Buckingham Palace, the queen's official residence.
Kensington Palace, the couple's official residence, said it was a "personal decision" to use the chapel for the service.
Kate's parents Michael and Carole Middleton, who have played a key role in supporting the young parents, and her siblings Pippa and James are also expected to be there.
The royal family has said that photographs will be released after the service which will reportedly show the queen with three future monarchs: Princes Charles, William and George.
The names of godparents will be released nearer the ceremony although it is rumoured that William's brother Prince Harry and Pippa Middleton will be among them.
There has also been speculation that William's close friends Hugh van Cutsem and Thomas van Straubenzee are in the running.
William, Kate and George have largely stayed out of the limelight since their only public appearance together, when they faced hundreds of reporters as they left a London hospital following the boy's birth.
They spent two weeks with the Middletons at their home in a village west of London, and William and Kate have made only a handful of public appearances since then.
The only sighting of George has been in a picture of him with William, Kate and the couple's dog Lupo which Michael Middleton took in the family's back garden.
The choice of christening venue is in keeping with their desire to stay low-key.
William's cousin Princess Beatrice is the last well known royal baby to be christened at St James's Palace, in December 1988. William, Charles and the queen were all christened at Buckingham Palace.
The Chapel Royal was also where the coffin of William's mother Diana, Princess of Wales, lay before the funeral following her death in a car crash in Paris in 1997 while being chased by paparazzi.
George will be christened in a replica of the lace and satin christening gown made for Queen Victoria's eldest daughter, Victoria, the Princess Royal, in 1841.
The first royal baby to wear the replica was James, the son of the queen's youngest son Prince Edward and his wife Sophie, at his christening in 2008.
British photographer Jason Bell, who has previously taken portraits of celebrities including former Beatle Paul McCartney, actor Johnny Depp and footballer David Beckham, was set to take the picture of the christening, The Sunday Times newspaper reported.
A picture of the queen with Charles, William and George would echo the one taken in 1894 during the christening of the future Edward VIII, showing the royal baby with his father, later George V, grandfather, the future Edward VII, and great grandmother, Queen Victoria.
The christening is an essential ceremony for the young prince, as all British monarchs must be full confirmed members of the Church of England, the mother church of the world's nearly 80 million Anglicans.
Christenings, or baptisms, are a Christian rite of admission to the religion.
A Christening in the Church of England involves a new baby having holy water poured on its head -- the baby is not fully immersed. It is then signed with the cross and godparents and parents make promises on behalf of the child.
Of course Zac Efron's famous friends are going to celebrate his big 26th birthday with him!
The actor hasn't exactly had an easy year, but things are certainly looking up for him these days.
After an apparent addiction issue, Zac was able to celebrate his birthday this weekend. And he wasn't alone in the celebration because we hear Robert Pattinson and Joe Jonas joined him!
Hmmm, think there's something to Joe hanging with rehabbed Zac after drugs rumors hit the boy bander this week?? We're not sure about that potential link, but we do know the birthday boy probably had a pretty fun night.
The guys reportedly had a low-key night out at a West Hollywood hotel where they were joined by Zac's That Awkward Moment costar Michael B. Jordan. And it sure sounds like Zefron really is single because we hear the party was strictly a guys' night out!
But we've got to wonder, where was our invite???
CLICK HERE to celebrate Zac's birthday by looking back at some of his sexiest moments ever!
[Images via PNP/FayesVision/Judy Eddy/WENN.]
Tags: birthday, celebration, friends, gifs, hollywood, joe jonas, party, party poppin', rehab, robert pattinson, west hollywood, zac efron, zefron
“At some level, it is still contrarian,” Accel Partners’ Andrew Braccia admits about leading a $40 million fourth round of funding in Vox Media, the publisher of hundreds of major league sports fan blogs as well as tech/culture site The Verge and gaming site Polygon. Coming on top of $30 million in previous rounds, the Washington, DC-based company will have the most venture backing of any high-end content creator when the round is finalized in the coming weeks. There are precious few other examples on this scale. Viral-oriented Buzzfeed has raised nearly $50 million in total. Politically-focused Huffington Post had reached $37 million before Aol (TechCrunch’s parent company) bought it. Silicon Valley investors, at least, are still not very optimistic about startups that put content first. But Braccia has been leading venture rounds in Vox since its first in 2008. What does he like? Vox’s long-term strategy, which it has been building out for a decade. It was founded in 2003 by Markos Moulitsas and others from The Daily Kos, his namesake political commentary blog. That site had grown into a pillar of the progressive blogosphere in that turbulent political era because it focused on big issues and let readers publish their own posts. But instead of expanding into other parts of the political world, the founders stepped back and wondered how the model might apply more broadly. The answer they found was sports. Co-founder and sports writer Tyler Bleszinski decided to focus on a personal passion, Oakland baseball, and launched Athletics Nation. Readers loved it, and from there the company slowly built out a content management system, more sports sites, the start of an ads business, and eventually attracted a former Aol executive, Jim Bankoff, as an advisor. Braccia, who is known in these parts for finding unusual, big-time deals (Braintree, Lynda.com and 99Designs are some fresh examples), first met the company through Bankoff when Vox had around 75 sites. He quickly got the big idea, he tells me today, as he’d already been a long-time reader of two of the sports sites, McCovey Chronicles for the S.F. Giants baseball team and Golden State of Mind for the Golden State Warriors basketball team. “Building a media company is not as well understood in Silicon Valley as building a software company, or building other types of companies that scale differently based on network effects, virality, or whatever it might look like,” he explains. “You haveSource: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/J2JDCrUGARA/
Now that Microsoft is finally ready to welcome Windows 8.1 into the world, it seems fitting for a major new app to join the fray. Yep, an official Facebook app has at last arrived for the Microsoft operating system, and it seems to have all the trimmings of what you would normally expect out of the ...By Lesley Wroughton
LONDON (Reuters) - If it's Saturday, it must be Paris. Or Kabul. Or perhaps Bali, Kuala Lumpur or London.
At the end of a grueling 13-day trip to Southeast Asia, Europe and Afghanistan, John Kerry is already building a reputation for globe-trotting to rival that of predecessor Hillary Clinton, who was one of the most-traveled U.S. secretaries of state.
Clinton launched into her role as the top U.S. diplomat after the disappointment of losing the Democratic presidential nomination in 2008, piling up huge numbers of air miles as the face of the new administration of President Barack Obama.
In her first year in the job, she traveled 206,000 miles to 44 countries on official business, according to State Department figures.
Kerry already has surpassed that figure, flying 213,028 miles since only February to 34 countries over 107 days as a surge in talks over Syria's civil war and renewed Middle East peace negotiations helped take him the equivalent of 8 1/2 times around the world.
Part of the heavy travel load comes with the job. But much of it is pure Kerry, whose penchant for what aides describe as "personal diplomacy" is all about face-to-face encounters with foreign leaders.
The 69-year-old former senator and 2004 Democratic U.S. presidential nominee made an unannounced visit to Kabul last week for one-on-one talks with President Hamid Karzai after scrapping plans to visit the Philippines due to a typhoon.
"He decided that making this trip, spending the time, rolling up his sleeves and doing personal diplomacy, which you all know he enjoys doing, was important," a senior State Department official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said en route to Kabul.
Kerry stayed way longer in the Afghan capital than planned, extending his discussions on Saturday from 9:30 a.m. until the sun was setting over the presidential palace. He canceled a dinner appointment 3,500 miles away in Paris with the Saudi foreign minister to discuss Syria and Egypt.
The personal touch seemed to work with Karzai. The pair reached a preliminary deal that would keep some U.S. forces in Afghanistan beyond a 2014 deadline.
Needing to get out of Kabul to begin his next journey, Kerry cut short a news conference with Karzai announcing the draft agreement after what amounted to almost 24 hours of talks over two days.
"I have to get on the plane," Kerry told the news conference as an aide tapped his watch to signal to the secretary it was time to leave. "And I apologize because we would like to stay longer," he added.
With the Paris dinner scrubbed, Kerry headed instead to London for lunch with European Union representative Catherine Ashton on Sunday and a meeting on Monday with the U.N. special envoy to Syria, Lakhdar Brahimi, before returning to Washington on Monday night.
In the eight months since he succeeded Clinton, Kerry has repeatedly juggled priorities amid a virtually non-stop travel schedule that has left many around him often exasperated and exhausted.
If he keeps up his current pace, Kerry might also eclipse Condoleezza Rice, who chalked up 214,000 miles in her first year as secretary of state in 2005 while the Iraq insurgency was raging.
By the time Clinton left office this year, she had overtaken Madeleine Albright's record of most countries visited by a U.S. secretary of state.
Kerry has some way to go to catch up with Clinton's overall travel total. The former secretary of state ran up a total of 956,523 miles, visiting 214 countries between 2009 and 2012, according to State Department data.
(Additional reporting by Arshad Mohammed; Editing by Alistair Bell and Will Dunham)
Sales momentum increased significantly over the past summer.
The Aspen-Snowmass Village market has been trending upward in both single-family homes and condos this year. A surge in condominium sales has ignited the combined market: Condo unit sales in the third quarter (76) are up 65 percent over the same quarter in 2012 (46); condo dollar sales in the third quarter ($109 million) are up 80 percent over third quarter 2012 ($60 million).
In downtown Aspen, condo dollar sales are the strongest of the past six years, as median prices have declined 19 percent year-to-date this year. In Snowmass Village, condo sales are up 460 percent in the third quarter (25) over the same quarter last year (5). Viceroy Condo Hotel units are driving sales, creating a positive ripple effect for the entire Snowmass condo market.
“Increased condo activity is likely due to a number of factors: the release of pent-up demand as the condo market had virtually shut down for the past two to four years; buyers’ recognition that prices are not likely to fall further and that one should purchase now; first-time Aspen buyer interest; and an overall improved lending environment,” wrote Tim Estin, broker associate at Aspen Snowmass Sotheby’s and author of The Estin Report.
For Aspen single-family homes, unit sales were up 11 percent: 30 homes sold in the third quarter over 27 the same quarter the year before; dollar sales were down 5 percent, to $145 million in the third quarter versus $153 million in the same quarter the year before. Year-to-date unit sales were up 4 percent: 75 homes this year versus the same period in 2012; dollar sales were down 16 percent from $355 million in 2013 versus $422 million in 2012.
Listing inventory for the combined Aspen-Snowmass Village market decreased 14 percent in the third quarter and is down 6 percent year to date compared to the same periods last year. Vacant lot unit sales for the combined Aspen-Snowmass Village market in the third quarter surged 200 percent over the same quarter in 2012 with 12 this past quarter versus four during the same quarter last year, but remain even at 24 lot sales each year to date.
“Anecdotal evidence suggests building activity is increasing, available contractors are harder to find, and construction costs are on the rise,” Estin said. “There is a lack of new-built units, and developer/builders are scrambling to locate quality lots at still-recession period prices ... if available.”
By Jana J. Pruet
DALLAS (Reuters) - Jury deliberations begin on Wednesday to decide whether Dallas Mavericks basketball team owner Mark Cuban engaged in insider trading when he sold his stake in an Internet search firm in June, 2004.
Cuban, 55, estimated by Forbes magazine to have a net worth of $2.5 billion, is accused by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission of trading on non-public information when he sold his 600,000 shares - worth $7.9 million - and avoided a $750,000 loss in Internet search company Mamma.com Inc.
Cuban, who rose to prominence before the dot-com crash by selling his company, Broadcast.com, in 1999 to Yahoo Inc for $5.7 billion, has said he did nothing wrong when he sold his 6.3 percent stake in Mamma.com.
Prosecutors argued on Tuesday that Cuban sold his stake soon after learning from Mamma.com Chief Executive Guy Faure that the Montreal-based company was planning a private placement that would dilute his holdings in the company.
Mamma.com shares dropped 9.3 percent on the morning after the offering was announced. By that time, Cuban had already sold his shares.
The SEC is seeking to recoup Cuban's gains and impose fines if the jury rules against Cuban in the civil trial in federal court in Dallas.
"Mr. Cuban knew about information that other investors didn't and he sold before losing a dime," SEC lawyer Jan Folena said in her closing statement.
In addition to his ownership of a professional basketball team, flamboyant billionaire Cuban is one of the stars of the popular television show "Shark Tank" which features financiers including Cuban analyzing and deciding whether to invest in new products presented by entrepreneurs.
Cuban testified during the two-week trial that there were many reasons for selling his shares, including the private placement and Mamma.com's possible association with the late Irving Kott, who Cuban suspected of being a stock swindler.
Cuban's defense lawyers said in closing arguments that investors had been approached to participate in the private placement well before Cuban learned of the deal. This shopping of the deal to potential investors meant that it was already public and there could be no insider trading on the information.
Defense lawyer Thomas Melsheimer likened the situation to students supposedly cheating on a test.
"This is not the case of Mr. Cuban getting the answers before the test. It's like the teacher passing out the answers long before the test," Melsheimer said.
The SEC brought the civil lawsuit against Cuban in November 2008. A judge dismissed the suit in 2009 but an appeals court revived the case the following year. The jury consists of nine members.
The case is SEC v. Cuban, U.S. District Court, Northern District of Texas, No. 08-02050.
(Editing by Greg McCune and Edwina Gibbs)
Illustration and text by Sara Levine/T.S Spookytooth
In some of the best children’s books, dandelions turn into stars, sharks and radishes merge, and pancakes fall from the sky. No one would confuse these magical tales for descriptions of nature. Small children can differentiate between “the real world and the imaginary world,” as psychologist Alison Gopnik has written. They just “don’t see any particular reason for preferring to live in the real one.”
Children’s nuanced understanding of the not-real surely extends to the towering heap of books that feature dinosaurs as playmates who fill buckets of sand or bake chocolate-chip cookies. The imaginative play of these books may be no different to kids than radishsharks and llama dramas.
But as a parent, friendly dinos never steal my heart. I associate them, just a little, with old creationist images of animals frolicking near the garden of Eden, which carried the message that dinosaurs and man, both created by God on the sixth day, co-existed on the Earth until after the flood. (Never mind the evidence that dinosaurs went extinct millions of years before humans appeared.) The founder of the Creation Museum in Kentucky calls dinosaurs “missionary lizards,” and that phrase echoes in my head when I see all those goofy illustrations of dinosaurs in sunglasses and hats.
I’ve been longing for another kind of picture book: one that appeals to young children’s wildest imagination in service of real evolutionary thinking. Such a book could certainly include dinosaur skeletons or fossils. But Bone by Bone, by veterinarian and professor Sara Levine, fills the niche to near perfection by relying on dogs, rabbits, bats, whales, and humans. Levine plays with differences in their skeletons to groom kids for grand scientific concepts.
Bone by Bone asks kids to imagine what their bodies would look like if they had different configurations of bones, like extra vertebrae, longer limbs, or fewer fingers. “What if your vertebrae didn’t stop at your rear end? What if they kept going?” Levine writes, as a boy peers over his shoulder at the spinal column. “You’d have a tail!”
“What kind of animal would you be if your leg bones were much, much longer than your arm bones?” she wonders, as a girl in pink sneakers rises so tall her face disappears from the page. “A rabbit or a kangaroo!” she says, later adding a pike and a hare. “These animals need strong hind leg bones for jumping.” Levine’s questions and answers are delightfully simple for the scientific heft they carry.
With the lightest possible touch, Levine introduces the idea that bones in different vertebrates are related and that they morph over time. She starts with vertebrae, skulls and ribs. But other structures bear strong kinships in these animals, too. The bone in the center of a horse’s hoof, for instance, is related to a human finger. (“What would happen if your middle fingers and the middle toes were so thick that they supported your whole body?”) The bones that radiate out through a bat’s wing are linked to those in a human hand. (“A web of skin connects the bones to make wings so that a bat can fly.”) This is different from the wings of a bird or an insect; with bats, it’s almost as if they’re swimming through air.
Illustration and text by Sara Levine/T.S Spookytooth
Of course, human hands did not shape-shift into bats’ wings, or vice versa. Both derive from a common ancestral structure, which means they share an evolutionary past. Homology, as this kind of relatedness is called, is among “the first and in many ways the best evidence for evolution,” says Josh Rosenau of the National Center for Science Education. Comparing bones also paves the way for comparing genes and molecules, for grasping evolution at the next level of sophistication. Indeed, it’s hard to look at the bat wings and human hands as presented here without lighting up, at least a little, with these ideas. So many smart writers focus on preparing young kids to read or understand numbers. Why not do more to ready them for the big ideas of science? Why not pave the way for evolution? (This is easier to do with older kids, with books like The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate and Why Don’t Your Eyelashes Grow?)
Courtesy Lerner Publishing Group
The whimsical illustrations in Bone by Bone, by T.S Spookytooth, also speak to imagination in its native tongue. The boys’ and girls’ bodies stretch and morph, and one little boy collapses into a puddle of mud with a baseball cap on top: “Could you be an animal if you didn’t have any bones at all?” the text asks. Answer: Yes! Just check out the starfish, the beetle, and the clam on the next pages. No didactic preaching here. Still other big ideas flash by wordlessly, like a vestigial hipbone in a whale. Vestigial structures, in case your child asks, also provide evidence of evolution, suggesting ways in which structures that were perhaps once useful no longer are.
Maybe it’s a shame that evolution skeptics are so busy with textbooks in Texas right now. If they had time, they might take exception to Bone by Bone, generating the kind of attention that could turn it into a best-seller. The book really ought to needle them: It prepares young minds for evolution without ever using the word, appealing to kids just starting out in school. If you’re a parent who thinks science matters, you’ll go for the provocation.
Sal Russo of the Tea Party Express speaks at the National Press Club in 2011. Russo predicts the Tea Party will be re-energized for the 2014 midterm elections.
Sal Russo of the Tea Party Express speaks at the National Press Club in 2011. Russo predicts the Tea Party will be re-energized for the 2014 midterm elections.
It's been a tough week for the Tea Party and its supporters in Congress. The Affordable Care Act survived the Capitol Hill standoff largely untouched. President Obama and the Democrats stared them down and won. And fights with establishment Republicans revealed the depth of division within the GOP.
Public opinion polls show support for the Tea Party has fallen dramatically — to its lowest point ever. But Tea Party activists say that the movement isn't going away.
Sal Russo of the Tea Party Express, one of largest such groups in the nation, was philosophical about what many say was a losing battle to begin with.
"You fight every fight, you know, ideally to win," he says. "But sometimes, you know you have a long shot at it, but it's worth getting in the ring and giving it a shot, and that's what we did."
Russo also predicts that you'll see a re-energized and motivated Tea Party in the year leading up to 2014's midterm elections.
"I don't think you're ever going to repeat the huge wave of 2010, but I think it's going to be stronger than 2012," he says. "I think people are ginned up and saying, 'Look, we can't just keep spending money like drunken sailors.' "
Asked about falling public support for the Tea Party, Russo says polls go up and down.
But Tom Zawistowski, who heads the Portage County Tea Party group in Ohio, says such polls aren't to be believed because of the way the president, the Democrats and the media portray them.
Tom Zawistowski of the Portage County Tea Party in Ohio says his group is now focused on local elections next month.
Tom Zawistowski of the Portage County Tea Party in Ohio says his group is now focused on local elections next month.
"We don't have horns — you know, we're not from another planet," he says. "We're just like all the other people listening to your show. And we have our own life experiences and we see things in a certain way."
When asked what comes next for them, he points to elections coming up on Nov. 5. And he's talking 2013, not 2014.
"We're engaged with school boards, and we're out interviewing school board candidates, and we're talking to township trustees and city council members," he says. "Those are important people. They serve us as much as the guys in D.C., if not more so."
A major force behind the Tea Party has been the Washington, D.C.-based organization FreedomWorks. Matt Kibbe, the group's CEO, said on C-SPAN on Friday that it's the Republican Party — not the Tea Party — that needs to learn from this week's events in Washington.
"Everything's more democratized," he says. "And Republicans should come to terms with that. They still want to control things from the top down, and if they do that, there will absolutely be a split. But my prediction would be that we take over the Republican Party, and they go the way of the Whigs."
The Whig Party, of course, dissolved in the mid-1800s.
But there are also plenty of questions ahead for the Tea Party: Will it be able to recruit good candidates? Will it be able to raise money as it has? And how will the events of this week affect how general-election voters view the organization?
According to data from Consumer Intelligence Research Partners, 64 percent of all iPhone sales in September were iPhone 5S units.
Apple's iPhone 5S is more than twice as popular as the company's iPhone 5C, according to a new report.
During September, the iPhone 5S accounted for 64 percent of all Apple smartphone sales, easily topping the iPhone 5C's 27 percent share, according to data obtained by All Things Digital from research firm Consumer Intelligence Research Partners (CIRP). Just 9 percent of customers bought the iPhone 4S last month.
Despite its lead in September, the iPhone 5S might not always be such a popular choice among consumers, CIRP co-founder Josh Lowitz told All Things Digital in an interview published on Monday. Historically, the latest and greatest iPhone handsets perform well among early adopters, but as time goes on, more consumers enter the market and take the opportunity to save some cash on lower-end products.
That is essentially the scenario that played out last year, according to CIRP. During October 2012, the iPhone 5 scored 68 percent of all Apple smartphone sales, easily outpacing the 23 percent share for the iPhone 4S and the iPhone 4's 9 percent sales share. Soon after, however, Apple's legacy products started to close that gap.
In the round-up: Nigel Mansell[1] believes the car weight limits to be imposed on cars from next season are ‘disgraceful’.
Your daily digest of F1 news, views, features and more.
Nigel Mansell: F1 weight limits for 2014 ‘disgraceful’ (BBC)[2]
“In years gone by, we didn’t have traction control or power steering – you had to be a strong driver and there were a lot of strong drivers. If you had this weight limit, they wouldn’t have been able to drive cars many years ago – or they would have driven with great difficulty.”
McLaren defends Sergio Perez’s performance (Autosport)[3]
Martin Whitmarsh: “I think Checo was racing well too. Where we were, he should have able to get seventh or eighth. Considering where we are at the moment, I think the last two or three races he has raced very well indeed.”
Grosjean’s Confidence High For Indian GP (SPEED)[4]
Grosjean: “I’m feeling really good with the car, my confidence is getting higher with every race and I’m very happy with the team. So, I’ll keep working hard to improve the areas that need improving, and we’ll keep pushing for top results right to the end of the season.”
Lotus: Second in the championship ‘very attainable’ (F1.com)[5]
Eric Boullier: “Of course, we all know that anything can happen in this sport, but second place would be an amazing result so we’ll push as hard as we can and you never know what might happen.”
Maldonado exit opens Williams door for Massa (GrandPrix.com)[6]
“Pastor Maldonado’s exit at Williams could pave the way for Felipe Massa, the Brazilian newspaper O Estado de S.Paulo is reporting. Correspondent Livio Oricchio claims talks between Venezuelan Maldonado’s management and sponsors, and bosses of the Grove based team, are taking place now.”
The future of Formula 1’s strategy (Autosport+)[7]
“On Monday, most of Formula 1′s great and good will congregate at Sapphire House, situated in Churchill Way, just off the A233 on the perimeter of Biggin Hill Airport.”
Photos show there is progress being made on New Jersey Formula One circuit (Autoweek)[8]
“Check out these pictures, uploaded to the image sharing site Imgur today. The poster said they are from two to three weeks ago.”
Indian Grand Prix: The story behind the trophy (NDTV)[9]
“The trophy comprises aspects of sports, technology, glamour, entertainment and youth all rolled into one masterpiece. It displays elements of both modern and traditional India.”
Honda have given F1 fans a sample of how their 2015 V6 turbo engine will sound[10]. But reader bebilou[11] is more interested in how the new engines will sound up close.
Not too bad, wait and s… hear :-)
Anyway, it’s impossible to listen a sample on the internet and compare it with the real sound: and when I say ‘real’, I mean on the track, with the car 10m from you.
Anyone who went on location to a F1 Grand Prix knows what I mean: it’s like comparing the sound of thunder on your TV and when the thunder strikes the ground 100m from you. There is no comparison.
I’m quite confident the turbo engines will be impressive to listen ‘live’, like the V8 are today. Different, but still impressive.
bebilou[12]
Reviewing the entrants for this year’s Macau Formula 3 Grand Prix[13].
Happy birthday to Daykind and Estesark!
If you want a birthday shout-out tell us when yours is by emailling me[14], using Twitter[15] or adding to the list here[16].
Lewis Hamilton[17] dominated the Chinese Grand Prix five years ago today, putting him on course for the world championship.
The only driver who could keep him from the crown was Ferrari’s Felipe Massa[18], who was elevated into second place when team mate Kimi Raikkonen let him past. Raikkonen will return to Ferrari next year alongside Fernando Alonso.
