CANNES, France (AP) ? A French-Cambodian film, "The Missing Picture," which explores the bloody history of Pol Pot's dictatorship in late 1970s Cambodia, has won the "Un Certain Regard" prize at the Cannes Film Festival.
To rousing applause, director Rithy Panh collected the award at a ceremony Saturday night, expressing his gratitude to be able "to have the freedom to do the films I want to do."
The "Un Certain Regard" accolade, presented one day before the Palme d'Or, is often seen to reward up-and-coming filmmakers and works that transmit original messages and aesthetics.
Panh's film, based on his nightmarish memoir "The Elimination," documents his own family's experience under the heavy-handed Communist Party's Khmer Rouge that resulted in the death of his parents and sisters.
May 24, 2013 ? Researchers at the University of Alicante have patented a new device that allows more efficiently to cultivate microalgae and can be used as raw material for biofuel or for other valuable substances in the agri-food or pharmaceutical industry.
The Research Group in Polymer Processing and Pyrolysis at the University of Alicante is the team that has designed and developed this device, consisting of a photobioreactor, easily scalable to larger production, which has attracted the interest of both Spanish and foreign firms in the sector of biotechnology.
The director of the research group, Antonio Marcilla Gomis, explained that the novelty of this photobioreactor compared to those existing is that it allows mass production, less cleaning and maintenance operations, better use of CO2 and better light transfer to cultivation.
During the last decade, growing concerns about oil depletion and global warming have prompted wide research into fuel production from biomass.
This is because biofuels can provide environmental improvements in reducing greenhouse gases, which would not be achieved with the use of oil.
Algae can provide many advantages, because they breed quickly, do not require agricultural land and not even need clean or fresh water to grow, but more importantly they produce an oil that can be converted into biodiesel fuel type, as Marcilla Gomis states.
The design of this novel technology aims to overcome any difficulties or problems that have been presented over the years with the use of other similar cropping systems.
"The subject on the cultivation of microalgae is having a major boom in terms of research in the last fifteen years as an alternative energy to oil," he said.
However, as Marcilla Gomis clarified, the cost of the production of microalgae for energy "is still far from what would be a profitable process comparable to oil."
"This does not mean that in a few years it may be so," this researcher expressed, who underlined that U.S. and Asia multinational firms are interested in a position in this field.
For example, as he reveals, in the U.S. there is an ongoing project, strategically aimed at precisely the achievement of non-oil fuel as an alternative energy source to supply the military and civil transport.
Apart from biomass to produce biofuels, microalgae can be used to achieve other substances of great industrial value in various sectors, such as food, pharmaceuticals or cosmetics.
Depending on the crop species, they can get antibiotics, polyunsaturated fatty acids, enzymes, proteins, vitamins, triglycerides or antioxidants.
At present, there is no similar photobioreactor in the market, and therefore, it is thought of as "a powerful potential technology for international marketing."
Some long time readers may remember that I used to work for a shoe company. I used to be on the Naturalizer Product Development team right after college, which was such a fun job. One of my own little projects while I was there was to start blogger reviews of our shoes. I was interested in getting into marketing, and of course loved blogs, and so arranged to have a few fashion bloggers try and giveaway a pair of shoes.
Sidewalk Ready was one of our favorites.
Later that year my company started outsourcing a lot of their marketing, which is part of the reason I left. There weren?t going to be many positions I was interested in.
FAST FORWARD TWO YEARS, A FEW MONTHS AGO:
I get an email from a PR agency asking if I want to participate in Naya and Naturalizer?s blogger review program.
I ABOUT DIED.
My program! My baby project! I just thought it was so funny that it had come full circle.
Anyway, I emailed the girl back explaining the funny situation and said that I?d love to! She said I could choose a pair of shoes from either Naturalizer?s spring line, or Naya?s. Naya is part of Naturalizer, but is it?s eco-friendly, romantic, higher-end line.
I tried on bunches of pairs of Naya when I worked there, but never bought any myself. Most are just a wee bit out of my price range because of the high quality, hand finished, eco-friendly leather. They are all very feminine, extremely comfortable, and have fine details that our other lines skipped over to reduce cost. These are really well made shoes.
So now I have my very own pair of Naya shoes, and I LOVE THEM.
The Helena.
(Fun fact: Shoe names are all based on the first letter. You design the sole (or ?bottom?) of the shoe, and give it a letter. Then all ?uppers? ?- the top ?of the shoe ? you put on that sole have to start with that letter. We?d call the Helena an ?H bottom? and might have Helena, Helga, Hillary, and Hightop all on the same type of ?sole. I loved naming shoes:))
These are a style I wouldn?t normally splurge on, just because it?s not quite as classic as I usually go for. However I adore the boho look and the pale leathers. They really work as a neutral and I?ve been wearing them to death.
And the COMFORT. Pretty remarkable. Not a single growing pain with these shoes. They were immediately cushy ? like walking on air.
I have worn them non stop since I received them. They are my new go-to shoe when I don?t want to wear just cheap-o flip flops. I now slightly regret never spending a little more money on summer sandals before because these just feel a little more special that the other Target sandals I live in during the summer
I adore them. Even if they don?t photograph well. Or rather, I don?t photograph them well.
Naya is sold at lots of Nordstrom stores, but also in Naturalizer stores and online. ?You can find a store on their website. They also have a blog!?
I highly recommend these shoes, as well as checking out the other Naturalizer and Naya styles. Thank you, Naya!
Disclosure: I received these sandals for free from Naturalizer/Brown Shoe Company, but all opinions are my own.?
Make video chatting a little easier with Glide, an app that lets you to make video calls to other users. If they're not available, you can send video messages rather than texts. Following that is SlideCar Ride, an app that helps you find a nearby car and driver when you need a ride and save on taxi services. Finally, Men's Room Mayhem is a Flight Control-like management game in which you need to direct patrons around a men's room.
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Celebrate Memorial Day and summer while reading from a list of great magazines, thanks to Zinio?s recent Guest Post.
What?s it about? Video chatting can be cool, but it's not always convenient to get both people on the same line. Glide helps with that issue with video messages that don't necessarily have to be live.
What?s cool? Glide describes itself as a ?video walkie talkie,? and that's a pretty good analogy, really. You can make live video chat calls to other users if you want to, but that's not always possible or convenient. To help, Glide gives you the ability to shoot video messages and send them, basically giving you an asynchronous video chat capability. You also don't need to save the video messages on your phone ? you stream them instantly. Just keep in mind that Glide is currently in beta, which means it might still have some bugs.
Who?s it for? Anyone interested in video chatting but finds it's not always convenient should check out Glide's video messaging features.
What?s it like? Grab Skype or Viber for more video calling and messaging.
What?s it about? SideCar is designed to help people who need a ride find someone willing to drive, making it cheaper and potentially more useful than traditional taxis.
What?s cool? You can order a taxi from your Android device, but SideCar offers a slightly different experience, matching riders with vetted drivers from the SideCar community. The result is potentially a better riding experience that would cost you less than if you booked a traditional taxi. SideCar provides a live map of where the car is that's on its way to you when you've ordered one, and it takes cash out of the equation by allowing you to conduct your transactions through the app. Its latest update improves a number of features, squashing bugs and helping you with your location data to make finding a ride easier.
Who?s it for? Users who need rides to get around and might like to save some money should try SideCar ? just be sure it's supported in your city, because it's not everywhere.
What?s it like? If you'd rather get where you're going with a taxi service, Taxi Magic makes the process extremely easy.
What?s it about? Management-slash-puzzler Men's Room Mayhem requires players to direct various men to the right urinals.
What?s cool? As men enter a restroom in Men's Room Mayhem, you need to help them get to where they need to go ? and let them ?unpack their liquids? ? without running into other patrons of the restroom. Where you send each of the patrons is important, as well, because you'll gain a bonus for good planning and for keeping a urinal's worth of separation between two people. The game gets hectic in a hurry as more and more patrons arrive in the restroom, each with different characteristics you'll have to deal with in assigning them where to go.
Who?s it for? Fans of arcade titles that require fast reflexes and situational awareness should try Men's Room Mayhem.
What?s it like? The line-controlled directions mechanics of Men's Room Mayhem are similar to Flight Control and Air Control.
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May 23, 2013 ? A University of British Columbia engineer and a team of U.S. researchers have made a breakthrough utilizing spray-on technology that could revolutionize the way optical lenses are made and used.
Kenneth Chau, an assistant professor in the School of Engineering at UBC's Okanagan campus, is a key investigator among colleagues at the National Institute of Standards and Technology in Maryland. Their work -- the development of a flat lens -- is published in the May 23 issue of the journal Nature.
Nearly all lenses -- whether in an eye, a camera, or a microscope -- are presently curved, which limits the aperture, or amount of light that enters.
"The idea of a flat lens goes way back to the 1960s when a Russian physicist came up with the theory," Chau says. "The challenge is that there are no naturally occurring materials to make that type of flat lens. Through trial and error, and years of research, we have come up with a fairly simple recipe for a spray-on material that can act as that flat lens."
The research team has developed a substance that can be affixed to surfaces like a glass slide and turn them into flat lenses for ultraviolet light imaging of biological specimens.
"Curved lenses always have a limited aperture," he explains. "With a flat lens, suddenly you can make lenses with an arbitrary aperture size -- perhaps as big as a football field."
While the spray-on, flat lens represents a significant advancement in technology, it is only an important first step, Chau says.
"This is the closest validation we have of the original flat lens theory," he says. "The recipe, now that we've got it working, is simple and cost-effective. Our next step is to extrapolate this technique further, explore the effect to the fullest, and advance it as far as we can take it."
The technology could change the way imaging devices like cameras and scanners are designed.
Apparently, this is the week to get your two cents in with Obama:
During a speech given at Ohio State University, President Obama had to deal with hecklers, as respect for the position he holds continues to erode in the eyes of those who believe differently. The Commander in Chief had to deal with audience member interruptions one more than one occasion, as one audience member challenged the President to read a book he was holding. The lead video reveals the exchange quite clearly, and Politco.com has also transcribed the exchange:
?Sir, I?m here to speak to these folks. You can hold your own rally. You?re being rude. ? I?m trying to talk to these people? I?ll be happy to read your book. If you want to give me your book, I?ll be happy to read it but don?t interrupt my conversation with these folks. Show me some courtesy. I?ll be happy to take your book, but don?t interrupt everybody else. Alright??
The President then instructed his aides to retrieve the book, and while no one outside of that particular circle will ever truly know what happens to the book (or the hecklers), it appears as if they obliged. As for the additional hecklers, they are unhappy with what?s going on with the Keystone XL project, which Politco describes as:
Obama?s visit to a state [Oklahoma] where he lost all 77 counties four years ago will be to tout TransCanada?s plans to build the southern portion of the Keystone XL that would be intended to relieve a surplus of oil stored here in Cushing down to Texas refineries.
Considering the recent outcry, some may be surprised to find Obama?s approval ratings remain steady.
The President was also heckled during a press conference when he was discussing Guantanamo.
The BBC also has additional footage (non-embeddable) where the President discusses the concepts of the First Amendment with the female heckler, who has been identified as Medea Benjamin an activist and founder of Code Pink, an organization that is firmly against war.
The federal appeals court in Denver is set to hear arguments Thursday on whether the Obama health-care law can compel business owners to violate 'sincerely held religious beliefs.'
By Warren Richey,?Staff writer / May 23, 2013
President Obama and Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius leave a White House press briefing last year after the president announced the revamp of his contraception policy requiring religious institutions to fully pay for birth control.The legal challenges over religious freedom and the birth control coverage requirement in Obama?s health-care overhaul appear to be moving toward the US Supreme Court.
Pablo Martinez Monsivais/AP/File
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A federal appeals court in Denver is set to hear argument on Thursday in a lawsuit charging that the Obama administration?s requirement that employers provide contraceptive services in all mandated health plans violates religious liberty.
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The full 10th US Circuit Court of Appeals has scheduled an hour-long argument session to allow lawyers for the family-owned Hobby Lobby Stores to argue their case that the contraception mandate violates sincerely held religious beliefs of the company owners.
The owners, the Green family, are evangelical Christians. The company already provides their 13,000 employees with health-care coverage, but it does not include certain kinds of birth control methods that are offensive to the Green?s religious beliefs. They particularly object to the provision of the so-called morning after pill, which they believe can be abortion-inducing.
The case is one of 59 lawsuits challenging the contraception mandate that are pending across the county, and one of a handful to reach the appellate level. Legal analysts expect potential future appeals to arrive at the US Supreme Court later this year.
Specifically at issue is whether the courts should issue a preliminary injunction blocking enforcement of President Obama?s health-care reform law pending a full airing of the underlying religious liberty issue.
Appeals courts have split on the question, with three granting an injunction and three others refusing to block the new law.
The legal dispute is developing into a major confrontation pitting the scope of an individual?s ability to practice religious freedom against the Obama administration?s power to order employers to facilitate reproductive freedom for their female employees.?
Government lawyers defend the health-care regulations, saying that they do not violate the Religious Freedom Restoration Act or constitutional guarantees of freedom to follow one?s religion without government interference.
What?s it about? Video chatting can be cool, but it's not always convenient to get both people on the same line. Glide helps with that issue with video messages that don't necessarily have to be live.
What?s it about? SideCar is designed to help people who need a ride find someone willing to drive, making it cheaper and potentially more useful than traditional taxis.
What?s it about? Management-slash-puzzler Men's Room Mayhem requires players to direct various men to the right urinals.