Was meeting with the big boss of Satelight at their offices yesterday in Asagaya - they be the folks who produced the latest Macross title "Macross Frontier" and a load of other anime.
A familiar face walked in during our meeting - t'was Shoji Kawamori - the man who brought us the original Macross movie (Original Story / Director / Story Composition / Mecha Design). He also brought us Macross Frontier which many of you will be more familiar with.

Had a very interesting chat about this n that before having the customary photo-while-holding-valkyrie.

A long list of titles that Shoji-san worked on copy n pasted below from Anime News Network. Another list of his work that includes non anime work listed at his official site.

Ani-Kuri 15 (special) : Director (ep 4)
Anyamaru Tantei Kiruminzuu (TV) : Original creator
Aquarion (movie) : Director, Screenplay, Original creator
Aquarion (OAV) : Director, Series Composition, Original creator
Aquarion (TV) : Director, Series Composition, Screenplay, Storyboard (eps 1, 13, 26), Original creator, Aquarion Design, Key Animation (eps 1, 26)
Aquarion Evol (TV) : Original creator
Arjuna (TV) : Director, Series Composition, Script, Storyboard, Original creator, Planning
Basquash! (TV) : Original creator, Project Director
Blue Submarine No.6 (OAV) : Mechanical design
Cowboy Bebop (TV) : Script (ep 18), Stage Setting Cooperation
Crusher Joe: The Movie : Mechanical design
Crusher Joe: The OVA's : Mechanical design
(The) Daichis - Earth Defence Family (TV) : Script (eps 1-6, 11-13), Original creator, Mechanical design, Creature Design, Series Concept
Dangaioh (OAV) : Mecha design, Key Animation
Engage Planet Kiss Dum (TV) : Mechanical design
Escaflowne: The Movie : Original creator, Animation
Eureka Seven (TV) : Main Mechanical Design
Eureka Seven - good night, sleep tight, young lovers (movie) : Main Mecha Design
Future GPX Cyber Formula (TV) : Mechanical design
Future GPX Cyber Formula 11 (OAV) : Machine Design
Future GPX Cyber Formula Saga (OAV) : Machine Design
Future GPX Cyber Formula Sin (OAV) : Machine Design (Studio Nue)
Future GPX Cyber Formula Zero (OAV) : Machine Design
Ghost in the Shell (movie) : Mechanical design
Glass Fleet (TV) : Mechanical design
HITOMI - The Vision of Escaflowne (manga) : Original creator
Kishin Taisen Gigantic Formula (TV) : Mechanical design (Eunova-VIII)
Macross 7 (TV) : Mechanical design, Mechanical Specifications, Story Concept, Supervision
Macross 7 Encore (OAV) : Mechanical design, Story Concept
Macross 7 the Movie: The Galaxy's Calling Me! : Mechanical design
Macross Dynamite 7 (OAV) : Original creator, Mecha design, Story Concept
Macross Frontier (manga) : Original creator
Macross Frontier (TV) : Chief Director, Storyboard (eps 1-2), Original creator, Story Composition, Theme Song Lyrics ("SMS Shoutai no Uta"), Valkyrie Design
Macross Frontier ~Itsuwari no Utahime~ (movie) : Director, Screenplay, Original creator, Valkyrie Design
Macross Frontier ~Sayonara no Tsubasa~ (movie) : Director, Original creator
Macross Plus (OAV) : Chief Director, Storyboard, Original creator, Mechanical design
Macross Plus Movie Edition : Chief Director, Storyboard, Original creator, Mechanical design
Macross XX (OAV Promo) : Original creator, Mechanical design
Macross Zero (OAV) : Director, Storyboard, Original creator, Mechanical design, Story Concept
Mobile Suit Gundam 0083: Stardust Memory (OAV) : Mechanical design
Mobile Suit Gundam 0083: The Last Blitz of Zeon (movie) : Mechanical design
Noein - to your other self (TV) : Storyboard (ep 20)
Outlaw Star (TV) : Mechanical design
Patlabor 2: The Movie : Mechanical design
Patlabor WXIII (movie 3) : Mechanical design
Patlabor: The Movie : Mechanical Design Cooperation
RahXephon (TV) : Storyboard (ep 9)
Shanghai Dragon (movie) : Director, Script, Mechanical design
Sheryl ~Kiss in the Galaxy~ (manga) : Original story
Spring and Chaos (movie) : Director, Screenplay
(The) Super Dimension Fortress Macross (TV) : Mechanical design
(The) Super Dimension Fortress Macross II: Lovers, Again (OAV) : Original Mechanical Design
(The) Super Dimension Fortress Macross: Do You Remember Love? (movie) : Chief Director, Director, Original story, Mechanical design, Mechanical Design Cooperation, Story Supervisor
(The) Super Dimension Fortress Macross: Flash Back 2012 (OAV) : Director, Mechanical design
Talking Head (hybrid movie) : Mecha design
Techno Police 21C (movie) : Action Choreography Assistance
Toshi Gordian (TV) : Mechanical design
Tosho Daimos (TV) : Guest Mechanical Design
Transformers (U.S. TV) : Original Mechanical Design
Transformers: Scramble City (OAV) : Original Mechanical Design
Transformers: The Movie (U.S.) : Original Mechanical Design
Ulysses 31 (TV) : Mechanical design
(The) Vision of Escaflowne (manga) : Original creator
(The) Vision of Escaflowne (TV) : Script (ep 1), Screenplay, Storyboard (ep 20), Original creator, Story Editor, Supervision

Growing up in the UK, one of the first Japanese titles I watched as a kid was "Gatcha Man" which was called "G-Force." I had no idea that it was of Japanese produce - not that it mattered back then anyway.
It wasn't until I got hold of a copy of Super Dimension Fortress Macross on VHS when I learned how awesome Japanese animation was. Macross had a captivating story, awesome mecha designs and lovely 2D girlies.

At that period in life however, it *did* matter that I knew that Macross was of Japanese produce which lead me to seek and discover more anime titles and learn more about Japanese culture too. Back then there were no Internets and the only way to have pictures of the girls (Minmay and Misa) was to take photos of the TV! Ah the good ol days.

Macross has really influenced my life a lot and was pleased to be able to get acquainted with the man behind it all. Hardly spoke a word of Japanese when I discovered Macross which was also a time where I was wondering what on earth to do in life.
Then after many moons, making an opportunity to live and work in Japan and acquire anime companies as clients *and* meeting Kawamori-san was like reaching a goal I guess.

I also met his manager who had an interesting story - he was working for a figure magazine and he approached Satelight saying that he was a big fan of Kawamori-san and that he wanted to be his manager ^^;

No dream is too big.

If there was an anime title that had a large influence impact on your life, which title would it be and why? Not particularly your fave title but something that really meant something to you. Maybe the first anime title you watched?
There is a poll embedded in this article.

Aquarion mecha guarding the door at the lobby.
BTW, cant remember if I asked before (tingling feeling that I have) but which is your most fave Macross title?
There is a poll embedded in this article.

Photo courtesy of Today's Senior Network

As the only major studio film released on Friday, it's no wonder that the middling Resident Evil: Afterlife topped the box office this weekend. The tired zombie flick brought in $27.7M to easily smash the rest of the competition. The resilient Takers was a distant second, but is proving to be a solid hit for Screen Gems ($6.1M | $48.1M). Last week's champ, The American, slipped to third ($5.8M | $26.7M) but was still able to top Machete ($4.2M | $20.8M). The sad Going the Distance rounded out the top 5 ($3.8M | $14M).

Will Ferrell's The Other Guys continues to print money ($3.6M | $112.6M) and just managed to edge The Last Exorcism ($3.4M | $38.1M) and The Expendables ($3.2M | $98.4M). The super Inception ($3M | $282.4M) and the un-super Eat Pray Love ($2.9M | $74.6M) rounded out the top 10. In limited release, The Romantics had a great start ($22,000 per theater), as did Ahead of Time ($11,700). River Phoenix's suicidal I'm Still Here was okay ($5,500) while Bran Nue Dae went nowhere ($1,681).

___________________

On a personal note, this is my last column as the film editor for LAist. In the last few years, I've written over 700 articles on this site and am very proud of at least 20 of them. It's been a thrilling few years here at LAist, and I would like to sincerely thank everyone on the staff for all of their hard work and consideration. Everyone has always been happy to help me out with any issue or request. That's rare, I think, and should be noted.

Rather than end on a phony or sad note, I'll end with a vulgar one since that was often the most enjoyable part of the job. Click here for hot, nude babes. Be well, everybody.

Dear Ricky,

Congratulations on putting an end to years of speculation with your coming out announcement. We are happy to have you and you are a fine addition to the team. I am saddened that you were made to feel that you couldn’t be open and honest about your life AND have a successful career, but now as you begin livin’ la vida honesta (the honest life), we all hope you find peace and renewed success.

Whether you like it or not, you are now one of the most visible openly gay men in the world and your words and actions will be many people’s only exposure to the LGBT community, so I have a few requests of you.

First, in your big announcement on your Web site, your exact words were “I am a fortunate homosexual.” I am interested in hearing your thinking process in formulating that sentence, because to many in the American LGBT community, the word “homosexual” is quite uncouth.

The GLAAD Media Reference Guide succinctly sums up the main harms of the word: “Because of the clinical history of the word 'homosexual,' it has been adopted by anti-gay extremists to suggest that lesbians and gay men are somehow diseased or psychologically/emotionally disordered.”

Andrés Duque at Blabbeando explains that “homosexual” does not have the same negative connotations in Latin America that it does in the United States, which makes sense, but it is still important that you not use the word when addressing an English speaking audience.

Next, we are in need of an anthem. For years the gay community has had to search for love songs with ambiguous pronouns, and while some gay artists like Rufus Wainwright have produced love songs with same gender pronouns, we are still in search of that epic gay ballad we so desperately need. In fact we hope you get back into the studio right now and start building a collection of music that we can be proud of and can relate to -– or else we will continue to have to convert “She Bangs” to “He Bangs” in karaoke performances across the country.

I know you have been afraid of your career being destroyed by your big gay announcement, but I actually think your decision to be open and honest will bring you back to the top of the game. We will do our best to support you -– and according to all of the stereotypes, the gays have an obscene amount of disposable income.

Lastly, please go have fun and enjoy your out and proud life. I hope you find it extremely liberating to not have to play the “deny without denying” game. Your sons are lucky to have a father who is being open, honest and real.

Photo credit: Spin Cycle

No more carrying around a ton of heavy books just to get in touch with some the greatest minds of all time. Kim Chi Studios presents their Get Wise: Dangerous Quotes edition iPhone app. Prepare to be taken to the Zen garden of Quote Halls! 25,000+ quotes and 2,300+ Authors for just 99 cents. [...]

[continue reading...]

Bioshock 2
Developer: 2K/Digital Extremes/Arkane Studios
Platforms: Playstation 3 | Xbox 360 | PC
Publisher: 2K
ESRB: M
Release Date: February 9, 2010

Welcome back to Rapture, the Objectivist dystopia where one of the best stories in video game history takes place. Every since Bioshock changed the way people viewed FPS games, fans have anxiously awaited the sequel. The wait is over, and patience has paid off for those who wanted more.

Bioshock 2 takes place 8 years after the events of the first game. Industrialist Andrew Ryan, the founder of Rapture, is dead, as is his arch-nemesis Frank Fontaine, whose scheming brings about a civil war that caused the city's infrastructure to collapse. In the time since the war ended, the remaining citizens have continued their decent into complete madness, made worse by the complete isolation and continued abuse of the gene-altering drug known as ADAM. ADAM grants users special abilities, but can easily be abused, resulting in a loss of sanity.

The story begins two years prior to the events of the first game, with the player as a “Big Daddy” one of the super-strong brainwashed warriors decked out in a scuba suit/battle armor. As a mindless soldier, the player only watches as they slowly lurch through Rapture guarding a “Little Sister,” a genetically modified and brainwashed child tasked with extracting ADAM from dead bodies throughout the city. While defending the girl from “splicers,” ADAM addicts whose minds have been ravaged by prolonged abuse, you are interrupted by Dr. Sophia Lamb, a psychiatrist causing a stir within Rapture. It turns out your “little sister” is Eleanor Lamb, Sophia's daughter. Wanting her daughter back, Dr. Lamb uses mind control to force you to kill you yourself [...]

Always ahead of the curve, even 20 years ago Apple envisioned computers as a source of personal entertainment—a mobile device that could capture images, play music, and serve as a platform for viewing catalogs and magazines. In a recent Fast Company article, Smart Design co-founder Tom Dair takes a look back to 1989 when Apple challenged his company and a couple others to develop concepts for a tablet device.

With only 30 days to complete the project, the Smart Design team got busy imagining various uses for the tablet. The prototype included features such as a high-quality lens for directly capturing and working with images, a guitar chord touch screen that allowed users to strum along with music played on built-in speakers, as well as a bevy of solutions for carrying and protecting the rectangular aluminum machine.

Possibilities for the tablet seemed limitless—Smart even imagined taking it to the moon. Now working on how publications will be viewed on the new iPad, the renowned design studio continues to experiment with the future of technology.

Guillotine a profité de la venue de Ryan McGinness à Madrid pour s’entretenir avec lui sur son œuvre, son inspiration et ses nombreux projets. L’artiste new-yorkais, nous explique l’originalité du concept de son Studio Franchise (voir ici) et nous décrit avec précisions quelques-unes de ses superbes toiles. Un grand merci à David Salaices et Alex [...]

Smooth Criminal -~ Mixed Reality Dance Tribute * *Avatars in Second Life™ dancing in realtime with Michael's tour video** Music by Michael Jackson

Filmed & edited at Muse Isle Productions dance studio ~ in Second Life™ by JenzZa Misfit / vRhythm Express ~

SLURLs to the Muse Isle Connection island hot spots:
[...]

SAN SEBASTIAN, 30 (EUROPA PRESS)

El Centro Superior de Música del País Vasco, Musikene, elevará a 75 la oferta de plazas para el próximo curso 2010/2011, cifra que se podrá ampliar, una vez proyectado el nuevo plan de estudios y establecido el ajuste presupuestario. Del mismo modo, esa oferta tendrá en cuenta la demanda de especialidades, según informó el Departamento vasco de Cultura.

Este es uno de los puntos acordados esta tarde en la reunión del Patronato de Musikene, que también decidió encargar a los arquitectos del proyecto originario del edificio que albergará el Centro Musikene que adecuen dicho proyecto a las nuevas necesidades planteadas. El Centro cuenta actualmente con 3.900 metros cuadrados y, una vez construido el edificio en Ibaeta (San Sebastián), contará con 11.000 metros cuadrados.

El Tribunal Vasco de Cuentas Públicas está a punto de finalizar un informe de fiscalización sobre la Fundación Musikene sobre el periodo que finaliza a fecha 31 de diciembre de 2006, y ha comenzado las averiguaciones para la emisión de otro informe que abarcará, en principio, el año 2009.

Por otro lado, seguidos los procesos selectivos hechos públicos en el BOPV, y cumpliendo con los principios de igualdad, mérito y capacidad, se ha acordado contratar como Jefe de Gestión Económica a Carmelo Labirua-Iturburo Aberasturi; como Director Académico a Juan Carlos Pérez Gómez y como Director de Estudios Orquestales a Pierre Cao.

Del mismo modo, y con carácter transitorio y temporal, se acordó contratar a un despacho de abogados para la reordenación jurídica de los empleados de Musikene, así como para la determinación de las condiciones de trabajo.

Otra decisión del Patronato es requerir de la Coordinadora y del nuevo equipo que presente un proyecto de reforma del actual Reglamento Orgánico de Musikene, el cual está parcialmente en suspenso, en aquellas partes que contradecían los cambios de estructura acordados por el Patronato.

En la próxima reunión del Patronato se procederá a la constitución del Consejo Asesor de la Fundación; órgano creado en los Estatutos de Musikene (año 2001) pero que nunca se ha llegado a constituir. En él se contará con personalidades de reconocido prestigio en el mundo de la música y de las artes por su representatividad en instituciones relacionadas con los objetivos de la Fundación.

NUEVA YORK, 30 (EUROPA PRESS)

El presidente de Estados Unidos, Barack Obama, firmó este martes las últimas modificaciones introducidas en la reforma sanitaria y que contemplan una revisión en el actual sistema de ayudas al estudio, de tal forma que el Gobierno federal pasa a ser el primer suministrador de este tipo de préstamos.

Tras el solemne acto celebrado para la primera rúbrica, el pasado 23 de marzo, Obama escogió en esta ocasión una universidad del estado de Virginia. Concluyó con su firma una semana de discusiones después de que los senadores republicanos lograsen devolver dos provisiones de la reforma a la Cámara de Representantes alegando problemas procedimentales menores.

"Finalmente estamos haciendo que nuestro sistema de ayudas al estudio funcionen para los estudiantes y las familias", destacó Obama, quien celebra esta "significativa" reforma de la asistencia a la educación superior.

Las modificaciones incluidas ponen fin al actual programa de ayudas a bancos y otras instituciones financieras para que faciliten dinero a los estudiantes, de tal forma que el Gobierno federal omite a los intermediarios y pasa a convertirse en el principal benefactor. En este sentido, a partir del próximo 1 de julio todos los nuevos préstamos federales al estudio serán directos y dependientes del Departamento de Educación, aunque sean en algunos casos gestionados y recogidos por compañías privadas.

El presidente norteamericano destacó que la eliminación de los intermediarios permitirá un ahorro de "68.000 millones de dólares en los próximos años", según informó la cadena ABC. "Eso es dinero real", incidió.

"No estoy del lado de los bancos y de la industria financiera en esta lucha. No es esa la razón por la que vengo de Washington. Estamos con vosotros, con los estudiantes, y juntos finalmente ganaremos la batalla", destacó en su discurso, para el que fue presentado por la mujer del vicepresidente Joe Biden, Jill Biden.

Además, la nueva normativa amplía el programa Pell Grant para estudiantes de bajos ingresos, con el objetivo de revitalizar comunidades estudiantiles e incrementar el apoyo para las instituciones que ayudan a las minorías y a los tradicionales centros de mayoría negra.

Actualmente, se calcula que casi la mitad de todos los estudiantes universitarios reciben algún tipo de ayuda federal y en torno a 8,5 millones de personas se benefician de las ayudas Pell Grant.

MADRID, 30 (EUROPA PRESS)

Más de cien países participarán este miércoles, en la sede de la ONU en Nueva York en una conferencia de donantes para ayudar a Haití tras el terremoto del pasado 12 de enero cuyo objetivo, según Naciones Unidas, será llegar a los 8.100 millones de euros, el dinero que se va a necesitar durante los próximos diez años. Según una encuesta realizada por la ONG Oxfam, los haitianos dicen que sus principales necesidades son el empleo, la educación y la vivienda.

El secretario general de la ONU, Ban Ki Moon, dio ayer, lunes, la cifra objetivo de 11.500 millones de dólares (unos 8.100 millones de euros) y dijo que el reto para los donantes que asisten al encuentro de mañana, en el que participarán autoridades como el presidente haitiano, René Préval, o la secretaria de Estado de Estados Unidos, Hillary Clinton, "no es reconstruir, sino construir mejor para crear un nuevo Haití".

Según un plan que aún tiene que detallarse, la Comisión Interina para la Reconstrucción de Haití canalizaría unos 4.000 millones de dólares (2.980 millones de euros) en proyectos y programas específicos durante el próximo año y medio, mientras que los fondos restantes se distribuirían a lo largo de toda la década. Según Ban, esta asistencia debe estar "bien empleada" y "bien coordinada" y debe desarrollarse paralelamente a la ayuda de emergencia.

La ONU estima que los daños materiales causados por el terremoto ascienden a 7.000 millones de dólares (5.220 millones de euros), más del 120% del PIB de Haití, que ya era el país más pobre de América antes del seísmo.

Ban apostó por que se genere un nuevo clima entre el Gobierno y la sociedad haitianos que pase por reforzar la presencia de la mujer en la esfera pública, otorgar nuevas oportunidades para los avances económicos y celebrar elecciones libres con el apoyo de la ONU. Esto último debería producirse, según el secretario general, antes de que concluya 2010.

Este nuevo contrato social, afirmó, "requiere de un compromiso de buena gobernanza, transparencia y responsabilidad mutua" tanto entre el Gobierno y su población como entre los sectores público y privado y entre Haití y la comunidad internacional.

La ONU ha proporcionado tiendas y lonas a un millón de personas, alrededor del 75 por ciento de las que necesitaban refugio, y distribuirá en torno a 300.000 más durante las próximas semanas. En materia de seguridad, Ban destacó que la misión de paz de la ONU en Haití (MINUSTAH) trabaja para evitar que mujeres y niños sufran abusos sexuales en los campos de desplazados.

PARTICIPACIÓN DE ESPAÑA

La vicepresidenta primera del Gobierno español, María Teresa Fernández de la Vega, participará mañana en la conferencia de donantes, que está copresidida por Brasil, Canadá, la Unión Europea, Francia y España, los principales donantes.

El Gobierno español no ha concretado aún el importe que ofrecerá y argumenta que depende en parte del reparto de tareas que se haga durante la reunión. Eso sí, fuentes de Cooperación esperan que a España se le asignen, fundamentalmente, trabajos de agua, saneamiento e infraestructura hidráulica porque es un campo donde ya tiene experiencia.

La UE ofrecerá en torno a 1.200 millones de euros, anunció este martes Maja Kocijancic, portavoz de la Alta Representante de la UE para Asuntos Exteriores y Política de Seguridad y vicepresidenta de la Comisión Europea, Catherine Ashton, aunque dijo que la cifra puede variar ya que aún se están "comprobando" los compromisos anunciados por cada Estado miembro.

Ashton afirmó en una nota el compromiso europeo para seguir apoyando económicamente a Haití a largo plazo y contribuir a que la población "se recupere de la tragedia y emerja fortalecida para encarar un futuro mejor".

EMPLEO, EDUCACIÓN Y VIVIENDA

Casi tres meses después del devastador terremoto que dejó unos 220.000 muertos y afectó directamente a 1,5 millones de personas, de las cuales 1,3 millones siguen viviendo en refugios provisionales en Puerto Príncipe, sus habitantes consideran que sus principales necesidades son el empleo, la educación y la vivienda, según una encuesta realizada por la ONG Oxfam.

Según esta encuesta, realizada entre 1.700 haitianos, el 26% cree que lo más urgente es el empleo, seguido por el 22% que pide escuelas. Sorprendentemente, la vivienda sólo preocupa al 10% de los consultados.

El sondeo, realizado entre ciudadanos de diferentes edades, grupos socioeconómicos, estatus y procedencia los pasados 9 y 12 de marzo en Puerto Príncipe, Pétion-Ville, Delmas, Carrefour y Léogâne, también pone de manifiesto la confianza de los haitianos en la capacidad de su Gobierno para liderar la reconstrucción, aunque apuestan por una combinación de fuerzas entre el Ejecutivo y la sociedad civil del país y con los gobiernos extranjeros.

A pesar de las críticas a la respuesta humanitaria, el 60% de los encuestados considera positivo el trabajo y la distribución de la ayuda por parte de las ONG internacionales y alrededor del 70% aprueba la labor de los gobiernos extranjeros.

La portavoz de Intermón Oxfam (sección española de Oxfam), Lara Contreras, concluyó que los haitianos "no están esperando caridad", sino que "quieren tomar las riendas y empezar a trabajar en la reconstrucción de su país", por lo que "asegurar empleos para ellos debe ser la máxima preocupación tanto en la conferencia de Nueva York como en los próximos meses".

En su informe 'La oportunidad del siglo para cambiar', Oxfam considera que la fortaleza del Gobierno de Haití será esencial para que todos los niveles de la sociedad haitiana puedan participar en el proceso de reconstrucción.

LA VOZ DE LOS MENORES

Seis de las principales ONG internacionales --Save the Children, Plan International, Aldeas Infantiles SOS, World Vision International, Oxfam y el Fondo de Naciones Unidas para la Infancia (UNICEF)-- afirmaron que la de Haití es una "situación de emergencia de la infancia" y defendieron que se tengan en cuenta las opiniones de los niños y jóvenes sobre el futuro de su país.

En general, los niños y jóvenes no toman parte en el proceso de evaluación de necesidades después de un desastre. Sin embargo, dado que la mitad de la población haitiana es menor de 18 años, es fundamental garantizar que la reconstrucción del país logre marcar una diferencia positiva en las vidas de los jóvenes, señaló Plan.

En una encuesta a más de 1.000 menores de este país caribeño realizada conjuntamente por Plan y UNICEF, los niños haitianos indicaron que su principal deseo es volver a la escuela y poder retomar su educación. Otra prioridad en su lista es la necesidad de contar con mejores viviendas y servicios de agua, salud y transporte.

Casi uno de cada catorce niños de la isla muere antes de cumplir los cinco años, y muchos de los que sobreviven sufren malnutrición. Además, antes del seísmo, casi la mitad de los niños haitianos no cursaba estudios primarios y sólo el 18 por ciento de los chicos y el 21 por ciento de las chicas realizaban estudios secundarios.

La inmensa mayoría de los más de un millón de niños de las zonas afectadas por el seísmo ya vivían en circunstancias vulnerables antes del 12 de enero, y ahora se enfrentan a riesgos aún mayores debido a que han perdido a sus familias, están separados de ellas, han tenido que desplazarse o sufren malnutrición, enfermedades, traumas psicológicos o abusos.

SAN SEBASTIAN, 30 (EUROPA PRESS)

El Centro Superior de Música del País Vasco, Musikene, elevará a 75 la oferta de plazas para el próximo curso 2010/2011, cifra que se podrá ampliar, una vez proyectado el nuevo plan de estudios y establecido el ajuste presupuestario. Del mismo modo, esa oferta tendrá en cuenta la demanda de especialidades, según informó el Departamento vasco de Cultura.

Este es uno de los puntos acordados esta tarde en la reunión del Patronato de Musikene, que también decidió encargar a los arquitectos del proyecto originario del edificio que albergará el Centro Musikene que adecuen dicho proyecto a las nuevas necesidades planteadas. El Centro cuenta actualmente con 3.900 metros cuadrados y, una vez construido el edificio en Ibaeta (San Sebastián), contará con 11.000 metros cuadrados.

El Tribunal Vasco de Cuentas Públicas está a punto de finalizar un informe de fiscalización sobre la Fundación Musikene sobre el periodo que finaliza a fecha 31 de diciembre de 2006, y ha comenzado las averiguaciones para la emisión de otro informe que abarcará, en principio, el año 2009.

Por otro lado, seguidos los procesos selectivos hechos públicos en el BOPV, y cumpliendo con los principios de igualdad, mérito y capacidad, se ha acordado contratar como Jefe de Gestión Económica a Carmelo Labirua-Iturburo Aberasturi; como Director Académico a Juan Carlos Pérez Gómez y como Director de Estudios Orquestales a Pierre Cao.

Del mismo modo, y con carácter transitorio y temporal, se acordó contratar a un despacho de abogados para la reordenación jurídica de los empleados de Musikene, así como para la determinación de las condiciones de trabajo.

Otra decisión del Patronato es requerir de la Coordinadora y del nuevo equipo que presente un proyecto de reforma del actual Reglamento Orgánico de Musikene, el cual está parcialmente en suspenso, en aquellas partes que contradecían los cambios de estructura acordados por el Patronato.

En la próxima reunión del Patronato se procederá a la constitución del Consejo Asesor de la Fundación; órgano creado en los Estatutos de Musikene (año 2001) pero que nunca se ha llegado a constituir. En él se contará con personalidades de reconocido prestigio en el mundo de la música y de las artes por su representatividad en instituciones relacionadas con los objetivos de la Fundación.

(Esta noticia sustituye a la anterior sobre el mismo tema por un error en el segundo titular. Disculpen las molestias)

Valencia.- La EMT recibe una calificación de notable en una encuesta de satisfacción de los clientes

Las líneas 8, 35, 18, 73 y la nocturna N6 reducen su valoración aunque en ningún caso obtienen una nota menor de 6

VALENCIA, 30 (EUROPA PRESS)

La Empresa Municipal de Transportes de Valencia (EMT) ha obtenido una calificación media de un 7,30 en la encuesta que ha realizado la emrpesa GFK-EMER entre 7.500 usuarios para medir el Índice de Satisfacción del Cliente (ISC), especialmente en aquellos atributos que regulan la norma europea UNE-EN 13.816, según informó el Ayuntamiento en un comunicado. Ésta es la mejor puntuación obtenida desde el año 2001 y supera en nota a las principales empresas de transporte público urbano de España.

El presidente de la EMT, Alfonso Novo, destacó en la presentación de la encuesta que la satisfacción del usuario es "la medida proporcional de lo que la empresa hace, y en este caso, se va en buen camino". Según estos resultados, dos de cada tres valencianos consideran que EMT ha mejorado "considerablemente" en los dos últimos años, hecho que Novo consideró como "un motivo importante de satisfacción que nos empuja a no bajar la guardia".

Durán felicitó a la EMT "dado que en el sector del transporte público es difícil que el ISC se sitúe por encima del 7". Al respecto, Novo destacó que "conocer el sentir y la opinión de quienes diariamente utilizan el transporte público permite a EMT Valencia dirigir siempre su camino hacia la mejora y la innovación en pro de los ciudadanos, y en este caso, nos anima a seguir trabajando en la misma línea evolutiva, que bien han sabido identificar los usuarios".

El perfil demográfico generalizado del usuario medio del autobús urbano se corresponde con el perfil de mujer, de edad mediana (en torno a los 39 años), de base cultural media. La frecuencia ponderada de viaje es diaria, mientras que los principales motivos para viajar en transporte público continúan siendo razones de trabajo y de estudio, mientras que los viajes de ocio han disminuido "de forma considerable dada la actual situación de crisis económica".

Entre las novedades implantadas por la entidad en este tiempo, los usuarios destacan la expansión de los paneles electrónicos en paradas, el uso de combustibles ecológicos en toda la flota de EMT, la implantación del Sistema Móbilis como una nueva forma de viajar en transporte público y la certificación de calidad en 25 líneas de la entidad reconocida por AENOR con la norma UNE-EN 13816. Por su parte, los "puntos de venta" y los "movimientos bruscos" del autobús son los extremos "más frágiles" que, según la valoración del viajero, deben tener una mayor atención por parte de la entidad.

En lo que respecta a la valoración de las líneas, respecto al último ISC de 2006, 15 han visto aumentadas su valoración "de forma significativa", como es el caso de las circulares 89 y 90, y las líneas 12, 26, 28 y la nocturna N1, entre otras. Por su parte, otras cinco líneas han visto como ha disminuido su evaluación como son las líneas 8, 35, 18, 73 y la nocturna N6. Sin embargo, en "ninguno de estos casos la puntuación obtenida es inferior a una nota de 6".

Aún así, el presidente de la entidad señaló que se trabajará "duro" sobre estas cinco líneas, que señaló que "pueden haber visto mermada su puntuación debido a algunas afecciones por obras".

Walnut Street Theatre in Philadelphia continues its Independence Studio on 3 season March 30-April 18 with Travels with My Aunt, Giles Havergal's Olivier Award-winning adaptation of the Graham Greene novel.

As yet another EMI chief executive ends up on the editing room floor the major corporate labels continue to blame piracy for their problems. But illegal copying is an interesting gauge of demand. In many cities in Morocco 100% of the CDs on sale are pirated, and you won't find any copies of the latest offerings from teenage Chinese pianists or barely post-teenage celebrity conductors among them. But significantly there is an awful lot of counterfeit ECM product available. Which, as the CD inlay seen above shows, does bring a different kind of problem.

As books have been devoted to the graphic art of ECM it is worth dwelling for a moment on the graphic art of piracy. It must be assumed that the illegal copy of Ustad Fateh Ali Khan and Jan Garbarek's Ragas and Sagas seen above predated the availability of cheap image scanners as the pirated copy has new artwork replacing the ECM original seen below.


On the pirated version below, Herbert Maeder's typically atmospheric photo, presumably of one of Pakistan's many mountain ranges, has gone. Its replacement mimics the shadows in the foreground and peaks in the background using a fjord backed by mountains. A cheap copy or a flash of creative insight? Well ... saxophonist Jan Garbarek does come from Norway, and the CD was recorded in Rainbow Studios in Oslo, Norway in May 1990. And Norway is of course the country of fjords. The major corporate labels have a lot to learn from the pirates.


I have started a fighting fund which accepts PayPal donations in case the the following lands me in trouble with the RIAA. The pirated version of Ragas and Sagas was bought from the store seen below, the synchronistically named Bob Music in the souk in Essaouira, Morocco. Yes I know piracy is bad. But give me five minutes in Bob Music to five hours in the corporately bland HMV stores in the UK. If you want a kora from Mali or an oud from Morocco Bob's emporium of musical delights is the place to go, and I am quite happy to add his shop to my list of best record stores in the world. I should hasten to add that Bob Music also has some very interesting non-pirated CDs, including Platinium Music transfers of classic 1970s recordings from sufi influenced Moroccan protest band Jil Jilala, more on them soon.


Piracy is not new. Back in 2005 I wrote about early music piracy.
Hear an excerpt from Sagas and Ragas here. Bob Music is at 3, Rue Youssef Ben Tachafine, Essaouira, phone (212) 0668 252695, email bob_music2000 at hotmail.fr With thanks to non-aligned blogger Antoine Leboyer for the EMI story heads up. I was going to say the lower photo is (c) On An Overgrown Path 2010 but I had better keep quiet on that subject. Do please do report broken links, missing images and errors to - overgrownpath at hotmail dot co dot uk

The Turin Shroud goes on display for the first time in 10 years next month, and the city is bracing itself for the crowds. Just as well there's a new breed of B&Bs; offering distinctive digs at affordable prices

Turin is a grand, imposing city with a good selection of equally imposing, and expensive, hotels. But when this former capital of Italy was the venue for the Winter Olympic Games in 2006, a host of fun, reasonably priced B&Bs; sprung up to cope with the influx of tourists.

New ones are still opening up today, offering a chance to stay with enthusiastic locals in distinctive apartments, where the room rate usually includes breakfast, free internet and insider tips by the owners to bars and restaurants you won't find in the guidebooks.

Which is just as well, because the city is expecting around two million visitors over the next couple of months when the Shroud of Turin goes on display to the public for the first time in 10 years from 10 April to 23 May. Already there have been more than one million online reservations to secure just a few minutes to see the 14ft-long piece of linen that many Christians believe is Jesus Christ's burial shroud in its bulletproof, climate-controlled case in Guarino Guarini's Chapel of the Holy Shroud in the baroque Duomo di San Giovanni.

Most of the B&Bs; are ideally placed in the historic centre, where Turin's sights are within easy walking distance. (All quoted prices are for a double room with breakfast unless otherwise specified.)

1. Aprile

The long walk up four flights of stairs is well rewarded when you walk into this romantic B&B.; Right under the roof, each room has sloping ceilings with dark wooden beams. A shady terrace filled with plants runs round the four sides of an interior courtyard, overlooked by the Romanesque belltower of the Consolata Basilica. The bubbly owner, Cristina, lives alongside, and invariably invites guests in for an evening aperitivo. Instead of preparing breakfast herself, she has arranged for guests to go downstairs to the Neo Head Cafe, a beautiful bar, set in a tiny baroque chapel, which serves delicious hot chocolate, fresh pastries and croissants, and where everything you order is already included in the room rate.

• Via delle Orfane 19; aprile.to.it; +39 (0)11 4360114. €90 (£80).

2. Foresteria degli Artisti

This has to be the best deal in Turin, and has to be reserved well in advance, as there is only one room. This is not just a room, though, but a charming apartment under the rooftops of a beautifully restored 1900s apartment building. Apart from the wood-beamed bedroom, guests have their own cosy lounge with a music system and TV (but no internet), plus a fully equipped kitchen. Owner, Signora Anna, often prepares an aperitivo in the early evening for her guests; her daughter has just opened a second B&B;, Il Due, five minutes' walk away, which is covered by the same website. The Artisti is in the Borgo del Fumo neighbourhood, an old industrial quarter that still has a host of artisan ateliers, antique stores, vintage clothes boutiques and artists' studios.

• Via Artisti 15; foresteriadegliartisti.it; +39 (0)11 837785. €90.

3. Carlo Alberto

A perfectly located B&B;, just a few minutes walk from Turin's landmark Museo Egizio, whose collection of mummies and priceless artefacts is second only to the Egyptian Museum's in Cairo. The hotel takes its name from Via Carlo Alberto, lined with chic boutiques, and the owner is also named Carlo. The highlight is breakfast, where a long table is filled with tasty brioches and pastries freshly baked by a pasticceria downstairs, three different cakes, fresh fruits and traditional foccacia bread. The rooms are comfortable, and guests have the use of a grand salon decorated with antiques and plush sofas. Excellent value for money.

• Via Carlo Alberto 41; carloalberto-torino.it; +39 (0)11 8600056. €80.

4. Vitamina M

Opened last January, this is Turin's first design B&B;, furnished in a cool, minimalist style. The decor is essentially cool white, contrasted with striking red-and-black design objects, such as a 1920s bicycle, a stylish Olivetti typewriter and a 1960s electric guitar exhibited on the wall. The rooms are spacious, and there's an even bigger living room, complete with an expansive library and piano. The price is a little steep, especially as the apartment is situated four floors up with no lift, and the building looks pretty run down from the outside. But then this is very much a neighbourhood in transition, with a new influx of arty bohemians renovating houses and opening galleries, studios, hip bars and restaurants.

• Via Belfiore 10; vitaminam.com; +39 347 1526130. €100.

5. Alla Buona Stella

Signora Roberta discovered the British hospitality of a traditional B&B; on holiday with her family. Then, when the winter Olympics came to Turin, she decided to quit her job and transform her large apartment into a tasteful three-room B&B.; Well placed in Turin's old city centre, the Quadrilatero Romano, it's located is on the top floor of a grand mansion. Guests can relax in a comfortable lounge where breakfast is served, and although the signora normally prepares breakfast all'Italiana with brioches and her home-baked cakes, she also prepares a selection of locally produced Piedmont salami, smoked ham and cheeses on request.

• Via del Carmine 10; allabuonastella.it; +39 (0)11 19710823. €100.

6. La Casa di Flora

Situated in a chic residential neighbourhood, the Casa di Flora is a stunning art nouveau house transformed by its young owner, Maurizio, into a four-room B&B; with a self-contained suite. The Liberty style extends from the wrought-iron staircase and red patine walls to period furniture in the bedrooms. Guests have the use of a fully equipped kitchen, should you want to avoid eating out every night. The Casa di Flora is just outside the city centre, about 20 minutes' walk from Turin's main sights, but it's right on a central bus line and tickets only cost €1. Two bathrooms for four rooms isn't ideal, either, but the young clientele don't seem to mind much, and considering everything else, the price really is a bargain.

• Via le Chiuse 85; lacasadiflora.it; +39 (0)11 4733456. €60.

7. Terres d'Aventures

There is a slight Mission: Impossible feel about this very chic B&B;, with a perfect location in the heart of the old town centre. Guests are given precise instructions how to enter without even having to meet the owner: a door code lets you into the palazzo, and then your own personalised key code gives access to the B&B; itself. Terres d'Aventures is a split-level designer apartment divided into two cool independent suites with a shared living room and kitchen. In summer, guests have access to a private terrazza solarium that is perfect for an early evening aperitivo. In the morning, a friendly housekeeper comes in to prepare the breakfast and then make up the rooms. Difficult to find a more stylish address to stay in Turin.

• Via Santa Maria 1; suitestorino.it; +39 340 7014125. €100.

8. Saluzzo Paesana 1718

Though it looks relatively anonymous from the outside, the Saluzzo Paesana is actually one of Turin's grandest and best-preserved palaces, dating back nearly 300 years. This elegant B&B; on the second floor is a surprising mix of ancient frescoes and palatial high ceilings furnished with exotic Asian art. Guests have use of a spacious living room with views over the imposing Piazza di Savoia, where there are a host of traditional Torinese cafes and hip bars. The price is a little high, especially as breakfast is not included, but it is worth splashing out for the private bathroom, as it has a hydromassage bath.

• Via del Carmine 1; saluzzopaesana.com; +39 (0)11 4407252. €80 for a shared bathroom, €115 for a private one; breakfast not included.

9. La Piazzetta

The Piazzetta is an old-fashioned bed-and-breakfast, where a friendly Turin family – Fabrizio, Monica, their two daughters and Birba the cat – rent one room of their sprawling apartment. They welcome guests genuinely, as one of the family, and like nothing more than to act as unofficial guides to local restaurants and bars. Don't expect a luxury stay, but the bedroom with attached bathroom and small balcony is more than adequate and the breakfast is copious. The house looks over the pretty Largo Saluzzo square, and this is a funky part of Torino to explore, with great trattorie specialising in traditional Piedmontese cuisine and wine bars stocked with barolo, barbera and barbaresco vintages from the nearby vineyards of the Langhe.

• Largo Saluzzo 36. bblapiazzetta.com; +39 (0)11 6503490. €70.

10. L'Orso Poeta

Housed in what was once an opulent aristocrat's mansion on the corner of the Po river, with splendid views over Turin's Parco del Valentino, the Orso Poeta – the Teddy Bear Poet – is a delightful oasis. Signora Nicoletta lives in the adjoining apartment and has two rooms for rent, decorated in soft pastel colours and antique furniture, with a breakfast room that doubles as a salon. For its location, and because the signora spoils her guests, this is a favourite haunt of actors and singers performing in Turin. Although it is a little expensive, it's worth the price: it's close to all the main sights, as well as the waterfront murazzi on the Po nearby, which are alive at the weekend with late-night bars, clubs and live bands.

• Corso Vittorio Emanuele II. orsopoeta-bed-and-breakfast.it; +39 (0)11 5178996. €110.

• The Shroud of Turin is on exhibition from 10 April - 23 May in the Chapel of the Holy Shroud in the Duomo di San Giovanni. Reservations can be made online.

Update 3: The migration is complete. Read the announcement here and the new PStudio how-to.

Update 2: Unfortunately, the migration is not still complete. I've successfully moved about 220 projects. There are about 30 to go. These 30 are the ones that have more complicated SVN histories that prevent them from being moved cleanly. I'll be working on those tomorrow.

I'm extending the maintenance window until tomorrow at 11pm. I'll update you again at that time.

Update: The migration is not complete, so I'm extending the maintenance window until tomorrow at 6pm. I'll update you again at that time.

Greetings from Atlassian!

I wanted to let everyone know that we plan to launch a new service for the Atlassian Developer Network in the next few days: Plugins Studio.

Plugins Studio will be a dedicated instance of JIRA Studio just for plugin developers. JIRA Studio provides the full set of Atlassian development tools:

• issue-tracking in JIRA
• wiki collaboration in Confluence
• source-code management through Fisheye and Subversion
• code review in Crucible and
• continuous integration in Bamboo

All of this is provided as a free hosted service. No need for you to worry about backups, upgrades or maintaining the development tools.

Plugins Studio (a.k.a. PStudio) will allow us to offer this full project infrastructure for any Atlassian plugin that wants one. PStudio will be available for open-source plugins provided by the community, plugins written by Atlassians, and even commercial plugins (contact me for details). PStudio will keep all of the crucial data about your plugins in one place, in an easily accessible and consistent format.

One of the major goals of this project is to successfully migrate as much of the existing plugin project data as possible. This has turned out to be quite a challenge, but we're finally ready to make the move.

For that reason, we're going to be locking down Atlassian's Developer SVN and Developer JIRA while we perform the migration. You won't be able to check-in or modify anything in these systems while things are locked down. You should still be able to browse JIRA or check out from SVN, however.

The lockdown may last as long as three days. I'm hoping that by scheduling this close the Christmas holiday, it will come at time of low activity. But please be prepared for an extended outage.

Once the migration is complete, there are several steps that you'll need to take:

• You should examine your project and make sure all the data was migrated. If we missed anyone (and we very well might) don't panic - just let us know and we should be able to bring your project over individually.
• Your code in subversion will have moved, so you'll need to do a fresh checkout.
• You'll need to update any URLs in your code (for example, in the POM file) to point to the new locations.
  We will be copying content from http://confluence.atlassian.com (CAC) to the new Studio instance, and you'll need to review and clean up that content (fixing URLs, primarily).
• You'll need to make sure that your collaborators are members of your project-group, so that they can continue contributing. (Or alternately, open up your project to everyone if you choose.)
• You need to look at the data in http://plugins.atlassian.com (PAC), and update any URLs to point to PStudio. (We'll try to do this automatically, but you should check and update manually any we miss.)

We'll send out another email when the automated portion of the migration is complete, and remind you to perform these steps.

Our maintenance window for this change will start today (12/17) at 11am PST and continue until 6pm PST the following day (12/18). If we have to extend the maintenance period beyond that, we will let you know by posting on the blog.

Thanks for your patience and assistance as we make the move!

Cheers,
Jonathan and the Atlassian Team

Submitted by Ed Gala, vice president, Global Experiential Marketing For those of you who are not familiar with it, the Xerox Rochester International Jazz Festival is one of the top events of its kind and makes for some of the best nine days in Rochester, N.Y. It attracts over 130,000 music lovers with over 250 concerts featuring artists from over 18 countries—including the likes of Gladys Knight, Herbie Hancock and Jeff Beck among others. 2010 is year two of Xerox’s title sponsorship, and we’re excited to continue supporting some of the activities we debuted last year such as collectable guitar picks printed on the Xerox iGen4™ Press, customized photos and more. These types of applications put us in touch with the festival’s audience while demonstrating our products and services — our way of showcasing our brand and our commitment to the Rochester community. Xerox is also spearheading a cool, pre-festival component called “Jazz Star: The Search for a New Sensation.” Not only will this new event highlight up-and-coming jazz talent, but it will also support Biz Kid$ Real, a program that teaches fundamental business development skills to city youth. So you can make some sweet noise, find your fame and support a good cause all at the same time. Join the Jazz Star competition by uploading a snazzy audition video to http://www.rochesterjazzstar.com/. The public will vote. The judges will weigh in. And the winner will take the stage at this year’s Xerox Rochester International Jazz Festival, plus walk away with$2,000 cash and a slick demo recorded at a professional studio. When we started our association with the jazz festival, we knew it would be a powerful partnership. What we didn't know was just how much it would resonate with our clients and how much closer it would bring us to our community. We hosted not hundreds, but thousands of people at our hospitality tent. We've found new ways to deepen our relationship with fellow sponsors like the City of Rochester, and we've seen a bigger than expected boost in our local brand visibility. To find out more, visit www.xerox.com/jazzfest. [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RiC2I_-_T6k[/youtube]

La ciencia ha entrado en una nueva dimensión y parece hoy un paso más cerca de empezar a entender el "big bang" originario; o al menos cuenta con una herramienta sin precedentes para el futuro estudio de la física, tras el éxito de un experimento físico inigualado llevado a cabo en el Centro Europeo de Investigaciones Nucleares (CERN). Los científicos creen que lo sucedido en el subsuelo de la frontera franco-suiza, replicando condiciones posiblemente similares a las del "big bang" ha trasladado en el tiempo el estudio de la física a 13.700 millones de años atrás, cuando debió de empezar el u...

Guaynabo.- El reguetonero puertorriqueño Baby Rasta regresó a casa después de pasar casi un mes en un hospital a causa de las heridas provocadas por los disparos que recibió cuando salía de un estudio de grabación.

"Me siento súper bien. Estar parado (de pie) es un milagro de Dios. Lo que pasó aquella noche no es para que estuviera vivo. Estoy más que agradecido de Dios de estar de nuevo de pie", señaló hoy Baby Rasta en entrevista con Efe en Guaynabo, ciudad aledaña a San Juan.

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CIUDAD REAL, 25 (EUROPA PRESS)

El Centro de Estudios Jurídicos Empresariales (CEJE) se incorporó hoy formalmente al patrimonio de la Universidad de Castilla-La Mancha (UCLM) en el campus de Ciudad Real, en virtud del acuerdo firmado entre el presidente de la Diputación, Nemesio de Lara, y el rector de la UCLM, Ernesto Martínez-Ataz.

La Diputación cumple de este modo, a través de la presidencia de la institución provincial, tras ser debidamente mandatada, el acuerdo que fue adoptado por unanimidad el pasado 5 de marzo en el transcurso de una sesión plenaria que se celebró con carácter ordinario.

En concreto, el Pleno aprobó trasmitir a la Universidad de Castilla-La Mancha, con carácter gratuito y sin contraprestación, los derechos y titularidades que sobre la edificación del Centro de Estudios Jurídico Empresariales ostenta la Diputación de Ciudad Real.

La transmisión se ha instrumentado mediante escritura pública, en la que consta la declaración de obra nueva terminada por la Corporación provincial. Y también se adjunta la copia del expediente administrativo, que recoge y justifica las razones de la cesión de los derechos.

Tanto De Lara como Martínez Ataz mostraron su satisfacción porque el proceso que se inició en su día haya culminado con éxito.

Our friends over at Unigine Corp love to push the bounds of graphics realism in their Unigine Engine, which continues to be one of the most advanced commercial game engines, and right now is certainly the most advanced game engine for Linux. While there are not many game studios actually shipping products based on Unigine's technology right now, Unigine Corp is known for producing a couple technology demos and working with us on the Phoronix Test Suite. Their Unigine Sanctuary benchmark was phenomenal, their Unigine Tropics benchmark was even better yet and set a new Linux OpenGL precedent, and now Unigine Heaven takes it unbelievably further.

La Comisión Nacional de los Derechos Humanos (CNDH) inició una queja por el asesinato de los dos estudiantes del Instituto Tecnológico y de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey (ITESM) en la capital de Nuevo León; visitadores adjuntos ya recaban información, revelaron funcionarios del organismo. En el Senado se guardó un minuto de silencio en memoria de los alumnos fallecidos.

I served with writer-director Somkiat Vituranich (สมเกียรติ วิทุรานิช) on the short-film competition jury at the 2007 Bangkok International Film Festival. I was pretty thrilled to meet the man who had penned the screenplay to Ai-Fak (The Judgement), an engaging and compelling social drama.

Based on the book by Chart Korbjitti, it's one of my all-time favorites. Just wish it were available on English-subtitled DVD so I could watch it again. And so does Somkiat, who lamented the moves by the Thai studios to leave the English subs off their DVDs, meaning a serious and good movie like Ai-Fak simply won't be seen by many people outside Thailand because it isn't horror or martial-arts action.

Back in 2007, Somkiat had just finished co-directing the talking-dog comedy-drama Ma-Mha 4 Ka Krub (Mid-Road Gang) and told me he was working on a romantic drama.

"No talking dogs?"

"No talking dogs," he said.

I had no idea at the time he'd been working on the romantic drama that was to be October Sonata (Ruk Tee Ror Koi) for 10 years.

But he finally got to make it. Released in December by NGR and M Pictures, the tale of star-crossed romance and bitter class conflict in 1970s Thailand performed modestly at the box office, but it's been the toast of this year's movie-awards season, with Somkiet picking up screenwriter and/or director honors from the Starpics Awards and the Bangkok Critics Assembly. It is one of the leading nominees for the industry's top honor, the Subhanahongsa Awards, which will be given out on Sunday.

Ahead of the awards ceremony, CNNGo Bangkok continues its contributions to Asian Film Week with a profile of Somkiat. Here's a snip:

I submitted the script for 'October Sonata' to almost every major production company but they all rejected it because it was too serious,” says Somkiat. “I spent the next 10 years struggling to be a filmmaker, or you could say it was 10 years of begging for a second chance to direct a film, but every door was closed to me.”

Now go read the whole thing.

L’ultimo passo ci aiuta a compierlo, fino a domenica, «Libri come», la Festa del Libro e della Lettura che debutta a Roma al Parco della Musica. L’ultimo passo verso dove? Verso la desacralizzazione del libro e, insieme, dell’autore. Perché, in una penisola dove ogni campanile ha il suo festival letterario (nella fantasia degli assessori al turismo hanno oggi soppiantato i premi), «Libri come» - promosso da Musica per Roma, su un’idea di Marino Sinibaldi - tenta una formula sui generis: portare i frequentatori dentro l’officina del libro, esplorandola a 360°. Di sopra, nelle sale Sinopoli, Petrassi, Teatro Studio, gli scrittori racconteranno come ideano e scrivono, nel garage, di sotto (solo metaforicamente, perché nel complesso in realtà il garage sovrasta le celebri «casse armoniche» di Renzo Piano), i visitatori potranno avvicinarsi all’intera filiera del libro.

Boris Pahor, Antonio Tabucchi, Aharon Appelfeld, Gianrico Carofiglio, Fabio Volo, Wu Ming, Dario Fo, Irvine Welsh, Abraham Yeoshua, Andrea Camilleri, Chico Buarque, Slavoj Žižek sono il drappello di nomi che apriranno il proprio laboratorio interiore. Un drappello eterogeneo abbastanza da «acchiappare» il pubblico più vario. D’altronde a loro si aggiungono Moccia, esca per i «teens», gli esordienti, o ex tali, D’Avenia, Frascella, Lagioia, Venezia, Vinci, amo per chi ha un romanzo nel cassetto, ma anche blogger come Zoro, poeti come Antonella Anedda o Joumana Haddad, giallisti come Carlotto e Carrisi, firme tra libro e film come Stephen Frears e Margaret Mazzantini, storici come Anna Foa e Angelo D’Orsi. Nel garage, diviso per officine, avverrà un po’ di tutto, per bambini, adolescenti e adulti: laboratorio di giornalismo per i più piccoli, incontri su grafica, prezzo del libro, biblioteche, fabbrica di best-seller, e-book, copertine, scuole di scrittura, copyleft. Nonché semplici presentazioni, con Ermanno Cavazzoni, Paola Barbato, Serge Quadruppani, Sebastiano Mondadori, Oliviero Beha, Matteo Nucci, Christian Frascella, Edoardo Albinati, Emanuele Trevi, Alessandra Appiano, Adriana Asti, Koen Peters, Antonio Pennacchi, Antonio Pascale, Herman Koch. O scrittori che presentano colleghi: Ugo Riccarelli presenta José Ovejero, Brunella Schisa Tracy Chevalier, Milena Agus Eleonora Sottili...

Dicevamo che «Libri come» compie un ultimo passo. Dopo gli anni ‘80 in cui gli scrittori hanno dovuto cominciare a vendere la propria immagine oltreché le proprie opere, dopo i ‘90 e questo primo scorcio dei Duemila, in cui, come icone pop, si sono mostrati ai festival, oggi eccoli qui senza palcoscenico, come artigiani della penna (in parte a questo ci ha già abituato Festivaletteratura a Mantova). In più, al centro di un garage dove ogni trucco del fabbricar libri e venderli si disvela... Nasceranno però, da «Libri come», più nuovi lettori (di cui c’è un gran bisogno) o nuovi scrittori che non leggono? Intanto, un merito l’iniziativa romana ce l’ha. Oggi alle 16, Sala Petrassi, con René de Ceccatty, biografo, si torna a parlare di Alberto Moravia, morto vent’anni fa e diventato un autore fantasma.

Tessa Lindow shows off some of the specialty creations at her newly opened Frosted Cake Shop. "The challenge for me," she says, "is to make cakes that don't look like cakes."

Baker Tessa Lindow wants you to have your cake – and smile at it too.

The owner of the newly opened Frosted Cake Shop will make ordinary desserts.

But her preference? "Crazy cakes," quirky creations that are as much kitsch art as confection.

"People sometimes are hesitant to cut into them because they don't want to ruin them," the 25-year-old says.

Recent products of her oven: cakes shaped like hearts and livers for patients who were undergoing transplants, and one that looked exactly like a Lay's potato chips bag.

"That was for a memorial service," Lindow says of the Lay's cake. "It was (the deceased's) favorite food."

The owner of a local dance studio had her make a cake resembling a tap shoe. Another customer wanted one that looked like a hamburger.

The Sacramento native got her training in offbeat baking working for chefs in Chicago and New York – after graduating from UC Davis with a degree in communications.

She returned here two years ago and started baking part time out of the Old Soul midtown kitchen. Then this month she opened her own place at 1820 29th St. in a complex that also houses a Temple coffee shop.

She's among a very few local bakers specializing in novelty cakes – a growing national phenomenon with the popularity of cable TV shows like "Ace of Cakes" and "Cake Boss."

Among Lindow's local competitors: Lien Sanchez of the Crazy Cake Co. in Davis.

Lindow probably speaks for them all when she says her job is as much sculpting as baking.

"The challenge for me," she says, "is to make cakes that don't look like cakes."

Holding pattern

It doesn't look like east Sac's Good Eats restaurant is opening any time soon.

The already-delayed debut is being set back further by last week's closure of a related business in Arizona.

The Scottsdale, Ariz., store – opened by Good Eats co-founder Michael Teel in late 2008 – just couldn't make it in a community hit with high unemployment compounded by a highly seasonal economy.

The closure is "a very sad situation," says Julie Rollofson, who is Good Eats' CEO. She is married to Teel, who stepped away from Good Eats' operations after taking over the CEO post at Raley's earlier this year.

Rollofson says she's spending most of her time now "winding down" the Arizona operation instead of gearing up for an opening of the first Sacramento Good Eats at the former Andiamo restaurant site at 3145 Folsom Blvd.

The Sacramento bistro/gourmet grocery was set to open in mid-2009. Then January of this year. Then April.

The new likely opening date?

"I don't know," Rollofson says.

Paint the town

What happened to that mural on the former Rick's Uptown Market at 17th Street and Capitol Avenue?

Crews fixing up the building for future tenant Grocery Outlet last week cut away the bottom half of the artwork depicting a store produce section while leaving untouched a companion mural.

Grocery Outlet spokeswoman Melissa Porter says the damage was unavoidable "due to asbestos and lead paint abatement."

Public art activist James Cooper – whose group commissioned both murals – has a different perspective. He says the painting could have been saved with more thoughtful planning.

In any case, this story should have a happy ending.

Porter says the grocery chain is committed to restoring both murals on the building's exterior, calling them "a neighborhood treasure."

A request for a proposal for the restoration work will be issued soon, she says. The grocery is likely to open in July.

"Frontline" executive producer David Fanning says it's time for sweeping change in public broadcasting, beginning with deep partnerships with local Web start-ups and an ambitious new approach to revenue.

Fanning used the occasion of a career award from Harvard's Shorenstein Center Tuesday night to outline what he called "a public media transformation."

He urged a focus on enterprise journalism delivered on new platforms like the iPad that he said will enable extraordinary experiences of news generated by the multimedia collaborative he proposed.

Fanning called for a new national "Public Journalism Fund" supported by foundations, individuals and public money that would "go out and simply get together the best journalists we can hire."

Fanning acknowledged that "this reinvention is a political challenge of the highest order," adding, "At the heart of this big idea is more public funding."

In remarks at Harvard's Kennedy School of Government, Fanning elaborated on ideas he raised a year ago, and joined others who have called for increased government funding for journalism.

The goal, he said, would be to "open up a new public media space online -- to publish in the space between radio and television, but to use programs in both media to drive attention back to those online and print stories."

Noting some highlights across his nearly four decades in public television, Fanning said, "I could never have created 'Frontline' anywhere else."

He said Boston's public station, WGBH, "gave me a home for it, CPB [Corporation for Public Broadcasting], PBS [Public Broadcasting Service] and the stations have funded it, but it's really the idea and mission of public broadcasting that has sustained it.

"I believe deeply in that idea, but it needs re-invigoration."

Fanning, who received the Goldsmith Career Award for Excellence in Journalism, cited finalists for the Goldsmith Prize for Investigative Reporting as an example of the kind of increased collaboration he said will be required for public broadcasting to thrive.

The investigation of fatal shootings by police and white vigilantes in New Orleans, "Law and Disorder" was produced by a team that included journalists from the Nation magazine, ProPublica, The New Orleans Times-Picayune and "Frontline."

(I was among five judges who selected "Law and Disorder" and five other finalists. This post is based on Fanning's prepared text and my notes from contest-related events Tuesday night and Wednesday morning.)

"I'm not alone in believing that we should reinvent public broadcasting around a mission for journalism," Fanning told a gathering honoring the winners. "Radio has already shown the way; television now has to step up and do a lot more. Together, they could become formidable."

The heart of Fanning's proposal involves integration of established public broadcasting outlets with what he termed "some of the new local online journalism start-ups."

		RELATED
		Full text of David Fanning's Goldsmith lecture Goldsmith Honorees Offer Tips on Investigative Journalism Public TV, Radio Stations to Increase Local Investigative Coverage as Columbia Report Advised

He said public broadcasters should "offer space in our buildings -- all those bricks and mortar built over years of capital campaigns -- and start recruiting a new media generation, with their great new HD cameras, their laptop editing, and their Web-savvy... Open up those studios, and begin practicing journalism on air and online."

Des années après une première tentative, le jeu vidéo culte va-t-il finalement devenir un film ? 1983 : Spy hunter fait un malheur sur les bornes des salles d'arcade. Le jeu vidéo sera remis au goût du jour avec l'arrivée des consoles next-gen, de la PS2 à la game cube. On est alors en 2000, cette seconde jeunesse donne l'idée d'un film chez Universal. Qui passera entre les mains de plusieurs acteurs et réalisateurs, jusqu'à avoir failli se tourner sous la direction de John Woo , avec The Rock en agent gouvernemental envoyé dans une mission ultra-périlleuse. Tout le monde claquera la porte en 2006 . Universal voyant ses droits arriver à expiration, au moment où Paul W.S. Anderson s'apprêtait à relancer le film. Juillet 2009 : Warner Bros. devient un des co-propriétaires de Midway, le studio de jeu ou a été créé Spy Hunter. L'idée initiale (et saugrenue) était de porter Space Invaders , l'un des tous premiers hits historique du jeu vidéo à l'écran, avant de s'apercevoir des autres titres inclus dans le catalogue de Midway. Warner a déjà mis un scénariste, Chad St John, sur le coup.

MAKATI CONDO near Ayala & Buendia Studio & 1-Br for RENT Php 7,475 up BRAND NEW 1. Trixie Tower 3148 Visita St, Brgy Sta. Cruz, Makati City 2. Tim Building 3290 Zapote St, Brgy Sta. Cruz, Makati City & 3. Macy Mansion (Open Dec'09) 4131 Ponte St, Brgy Sta. Cruz, Makati City ALL 3 Buildings near Ayala corner Buendia Ave. (8 mins walk) 4. Osmena Manor (Opening Dec '09) 2416 S. Osmena St, Rizal Village, Brgy Poblacion, Makati City Behind Makati Cityhall, 2 mins walk Makati Ave, 10 mins walk to Buendia & Makati Central Business District *** FOR RENT *** Apartment-Condos Studio & 1-Br Units Php 7,475/month & Up BRAND NEW! NOW OPEN for IMMEDIATE OCCUPANCY!!! Contact: Office: (02) 896-33-65 / 897-08-60 / 896-4925 Sun Cell: (0922) 896-33-65 & (0922) 888-0558 Click here for more pictures: http://www.makatiapartments.com/ email: homebex@MakatiApartments.com Centrally Located. Just 1 Jeepney Ride to: 1. Ayala Ave (Legaspi & Salcedo Villages) - Central Business District 2. Buendia (Sen Gil Puyat Ave) – Makati Central Business District 3. Ayala Center - Glorietta & Greenbelt Malls 4. Makati Avenue (Century City, A. Venue, P. Burgos) & Mandaluyong-Makati Bridge 5. Makati City Hall 6. Rockwell Center & Power Plant Mall 7. Guadalupe Commercial Center 8. Makati Cinema Square 9. EDSA-MRT (Pasong Tamo & Guadalupe Stations) 10. Del Pan & Leon Guinto (Manila) 11. Fort Bonifacio (Via Kalayaan & Lawton Ave Stops) 12. Pasay-Libertad

Sanidad intensificará en las fiestas de Semana Santa y Pascua la campaña de prevención de consumo de alcohol en zonas de ocio

VALENCIA, 25 (EUROPA PRESS)

La edad de inicio de consumo de alcohol en las chicas de 14 a 20 años es por primera vez más baja que los chicos, aunque sin embargo posteriormente su comportamiento es más responsable, beben de forma menos abusiva y están mucho más concienciadas de no conducir ebrias que sus compañeros.

Esta es la principal conclusión del estudio psicosocial sobre el consumo de drogas que ha realizado Controla Club en 2009 a partir de 5.447 encuestas y que hoy prestaron el conseller de Sanidad, Manuel Cervera, el presidente de la ONG, Vicent Pizcuela, y la directora general de Drogodependencias, Sofía Tomás.

En concreto, las chicas se inician en el consumo de alcohol a los 13,76 años frente a los 13,84 de sus compañeros en el grupo de edad de 14 a 20 años. Pizcuela atribuyó esta cambio a que si consumir alcohol formaba parte de los roles de conducta masculinos al incorporar conductas trasgresoras y de riesgo "la lucha por la igualdad y el afán de reconocimiento del colectivo femenino ha ido modificando estas pautas de conducta".

No obstante, Pizcuela destacó que "afortunadamente" la "sensatez" de las mujeres también se aprecia en estas conductas y a pesar de probar el alcohol más pronto que los hombre "paradójicamente" este temprano inicio no va unido, como en el caso de los chicos, a un mayor consumo habitual, ni a una menor percepción del riesgo.

De hecho, la valoración media de los problemas percibidos en los hombre es de 6,5 sobre una escala de 10 y en las mujeres asciende a 7,05. De igual modo, ocurre con la adopción de pautas de conductas de reducción de riesgos de forma que los valores medios asignados a todas las conductas preventivas ofrecen puntuaciones de un 20 por ciento superior a las de los hombres. Así, la convicción de no conducir bajo los efectos del alcohol alcanzan la puntuación récord de 9,7 sobre 10 en el caso de las mujeres de entre 21 y 26 años.

De hecho, estos roles tradicionales se observan también respecto al grupo social en el que se producen los primeros consumos. Así, el 14,1% de los jóvenes realizan su primer consumo n familia frente a sólo un 6,3% de las mujeres. No obstante, el inicio de la bebida se da mayoritariamente en los adolescentes entre amigos, en un 79,9% en el caso de las chicas, que cae al 64,9% en los chicos por este inicio familiar.

Por su parte, respecto al lugar, el primer consumo para el 37,4% de las chicas de 14 a 20 años fue en zonas de botellón, seguido de los locales de ocio con un 18,5%, mientras que en los chicos las zonas de botellón también ocupan el primer lugar con el 25,1% de los casos al igual que las casas particulares también con un 25,1%.

A este respecto, la directora general de Drogodependencias, Sofía Tomás, recalcó que la venta de alcohol a menores está "absolutamente prohibida", pero explicó este acceso en las chicas en los locales de ocio a que suelen ir acompañadas de chicos más mayores.

NUEVA CAMPAÑA

Por su parte, el conseller de Sanidad, Manuel Cervera, destacó que en estas fiestas de Semana Santa y Pascua se va intensificar la campaña de prevención del consumo de alcohol en las zonas de ocio de los jóvenes que se desarrollan durante todo el año.

Como novedad, este año se adaptará el mensaje al lenguaje de las redes sociales You Tube, MySpace, Facebook, Tuenti y Twitter. En ellos se difundirá un Decálogo de consejos prácticos sobre el buen uso de las redes sociales. Además, se convoca para los jóvenes de entre 16 y 35 años la 10 edición de los premios ControlArte y que esta año también se difundirán los videos a través de as redes sociales e Internet. El premios a los trabajos más visitados se entregará en la Campus party de valencia el próximo verano.

El pasado año, apuntó, esta campaña llegó a un total de 93.000 jóvenes valencianos de entre 16 y 35 años en diferentes zonas de ocio, como conciertos festivales y discotecas.

GIJÓN, 25 (EUROPA PRESS)

Los Directores de algunos de los más importantes encuentros literarios internacionales participarán de la primera edición del Festival de la Palabra de Puerto Rico, del 4 al 9 de mayo, en el Viejo San Juan. Entre ellos estarán Paco Ignacio Taibo, director de la Semana Negra y Luis Sepúlveda director del Salón del Libro Iberoamericano.

Según la organización, estos Festivales representan un gran impulso a la industria cultural y con ella, a la economía, difusión y producción editorial y literaria de esos países.

El principal propósito del Festival es acercar la lectura y los libros a la inmensa mayoría de los puertorriqueños. Eso sólo puede redundar en beneficio de todos", afirmó Mayra Santos Febres, Directora Ejecutiva del evento.

En la inauguración del evento, se presentará una vídeo conferencia del escritor portugués y premio nobel den literatura, José Saramago, en exclusiva para el Festival de la Palabra. "Contaremos, también, con unaimpresionante exposición de retratos de escritores por Daniel Mordzinski, que es uno de los mejores fotógrafos de nuestro tiempo", explicó por su parte, el escritor español, José Manuel Fajardo, Director de Programación del Festival.

Fajardo recalcó que "este es un encuentro de escritores organizado por escritores. Se nutre de la solidaridad de autores latinoamericanos, europeos y estadounidenses, que han apostado por Puerto Rico como lugar de encuentro".

Al Festival asistirán 64 escritores internacionales y más de un centenar de autores puertorriqueños, que participarán en debates, conferencias y lecturas de poesía. Las actividades tendrán lugar en el Museo de Arte de Puerto Rico, Cuartel de Ballajá, Café del Totem y el Centro de Estudios Avanzados y del Caribe, entre otros.

Se incluirá un pabellón de la palabra interactiva, donde se analizará la relación de las nuevas tecnologías con la creación literaria y el periodismo cultural o ciudadano, tanto impreso como digital.

París, 24 de marzo. Hasta 90 por ciento de las galaxias del universo alejado habrían escapado a nuestros telescopios, según un estudio publicado este miércoles, que deja entrever la posibilidad de desvelar el pasado del cosmos.

Tessa Lindow shows off some of the specialty creations at her newly opened Frosted Cake Shop. "The challenge for me," she says, "is to make cakes that don't look like cakes."

Baker Tessa Lindow wants you to have your cake – and smile at it too.

The owner of the newly opened Frosted Cake Shop will make ordinary desserts.

But her preference? "Crazy cakes," quirky creations that are as much kitsch art as confection.

"People sometimes are hesitant to cut into them because they don't want to ruin them," the 25-year-old says.

Recent products of her oven: cakes shaped like hearts and livers for patients who were undergoing transplants, and one that looked exactly like a Lay's potato chips bag.

"That was for a memorial service," Lindow says of the Lay's cake. "It was (the deceased's) favorite food."

The owner of a local dance studio had her make a cake resembling a tap shoe. Another customer wanted one that looked like a hamburger.

The Sacramento native got her training in offbeat baking working for chefs in Chicago and New York – after graduating from UC Davis with a degree in communications.

She returned here two years ago and started baking part time out of the Old Soul midtown kitchen. Then this month she opened her own place at 1820 29th St. in a complex that also houses a Temple coffee shop.

She's among a very few local bakers specializing in novelty cakes – a growing national phenomenon with the popularity of cable TV shows like "Ace of Cakes" and "Cake Boss."

Among Lindow's local competitors: Lien Sanchez of the Crazy Cake Co. in Davis.

Lindow probably speaks for them all when she says her job is as much sculpting as baking.

"The challenge for me," she says, "is to make cakes that don't look like cakes."

Holding pattern

It doesn't look like east Sac's Good Eats restaurant is opening any time soon.

The already-delayed debut is being set back further by last week's closure of a related business in Arizona.

The Scottsdale, Ariz., store – opened by Good Eats co-founder Michael Teel in late 2008 – just couldn't make it in a community hit with high unemployment compounded by a highly seasonal economy.

The closure is "a very sad situation," says Julie Rollofson, who is Good Eats' CEO. She is married to Teel, who stepped away from Good Eats' operations after taking over the CEO post at Raley's earlier this year.

Rollofson says she's spending most of her time now "winding down" the Arizona operation instead of gearing up for an opening of the first Sacramento Good Eats at the former Andiamo restaurant site at 3145 Folsom Blvd.

The Sacramento bistro/gourmet grocery was set to open in mid-2009. Then January of this year. Then April.

The new likely opening date?

"I don't know," Rollofson says.

Paint the town

What happened to that mural on the former Rick's Uptown Market at 17th Street and Capitol Avenue?

Crews fixing up the building for future tenant Grocery Outlet last week cut away the bottom half of the artwork depicting a store produce section while leaving untouched a companion mural.

Grocery Outlet spokeswoman Melissa Porter says the damage was unavoidable "due to asbestos and lead paint abatement."

Public art activist James Cooper – whose group commissioned both murals – has a different perspective. He says the painting could have been saved with more thoughtful planning.

In any case, this story should have a happy ending.

Porter says the grocery chain is committed to restoring both murals on the building's exterior, calling them "a neighborhood treasure."

A request for a proposal for the restoration work will be issued soon, she says. The grocery is likely to open in July.

In this Issue: Nokola, Tim Heuer, Christian Schormann, Brad Abrams, David Kelley, Phil Middlemiss, Michael Klucher, Brandon Watson, Kunal Chowdhury, Jacek Ciereszko, and Unni.

Shoutouts:

Michael Klucher has a short post up For Love of the Game (Development)…, where he's looking for some input from the developer community.

Shawn Hargreaves has a link post up of all the Windows Phone MIX10 presentations

Chris Cavanagh has a Soft-Body Physics for Windows Phone 7 post up that goes along with one he did 1-1/2 years ago!

Jeff Weber posted An Open Letter To Microsoft Regarding The Silverlight Game Development Community

Pete Brown posted his MIX10 Recap ... lots of information, and discussion of what he was up to ... I liked the Trivia app Pete... glad to hear that was yours :)

---

I've changed my mind and added a WP7 tag to SilverlightCream. I'll straighten out all the Mobile plus Silverlight links to point at the WP7 tab hopefully tonight.

From SilverlightCream.com:

EasyPainter Source Pack 3: Adorners, Mouse Cursors and Frames

Nokola has been busy with EasyPainter adding in Custom, Extensible Mouse Cursors and Customizable Adorners with extensible adorner frames, and best of all... all with source code!

Simulate Geo Location in Silverlight Windows Phone 7 emulator

Among the things we don't have in our WP7 emulators is Geo Location... Tim Heuer comes to the rescue with a simulator for it... too cool, Tim!

Blend 4: About Path Layout, Part II

Christian Schormann is back with Part 2 of his tutorial sequence on the new Path Layout. Really good info and definitely cool presentations of the control.

Silverlight 4 + RIA Services - Ready for Business: Exposing OData Services

Brad Abrams continues his series with a post on exposing OData services. This looks like a great tutorial on the topic... will probably resolve some questions I've been having :)

No Silverlight and Preloader Experience(ish) - in 10 seconds...

David Kelley exposes the code he uses on his site, designed to be friendly to Silverlight and non-Silverlight users alike.

Merged Dictionaries of Style Resources and Blend

Phil Middlemiss has a nice article up on Merged Dictionaries and using multiple resource dictionaries that the app chooses, but also be compatible with Prism and Blend while not eating your system resources out of house and home.

XNA Game Studio and Windows Phone Emulator Compatibility

Michael Klucher has a definitive post up about getting your XNA and system up-to-speed for WP7... a must-read if you've been running any of the other XNA drops.

Windows Phone 7 301 Redirect Bug

Brandon Watson reports a 301 Redirect bug on WP7 ... see the code and how he got it, then follow along as he explains all the debug paths he took and what the resolution (?) really is :)

Silverlight 4: How to use the new Printing API?

Kunal Chowdhury has a tutorial up on printing with Silverlight 4 RC... from the project layout to printing and then printing a smaller section... all good

Printing problem in Silverlight 4.0 RC - loading images in code behind

Jacek Ciereszko also is writing about printing, and in his case he had problems with loading an image dynamically and printing it... plus he provides a solution to the 'blank page' problem.

ToolboxExampleAttribute - a new extension point in Blend 4 (and a few other extensibility related changes)

Unni has an article up about Expression Blend 4's new ToolboxExampleAttribute which allow you to have multiple examples of the same type resulting in different XAML produced.

Stay in the 'Light!

---

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Join me @ SilverlightCream | Phoenix Silverlight User Group

Technorati Tags: Silverlight    Silverlight 3    Silverlight 4    Windows Phone    MIX10

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Top stories on MediaGuardian.co.uk

China's internet generation breaks the silence
Google may have gone but the country's 400m internet users are finding ever more creative ways of evading censorship

Telegraph Mdia Group lifted by land sale and print deals
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This week's featured media jobs

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For more jobs, career advice and workplace news visit guardianjobs.co.uk

Today's headlines

The Guardian

Leading scientists complain to PCC over inaccurate newspaper report of Sunday Times on global warming. P11
China's web generation pursues freedom denied by mainstream media. P24
Timothy Garton Ash on finding rules for a global village beyond China. P31
Obituary: US photojournalist Charles Moore. P36
Irish journalist David Cronin on the day he tried to arrest Tony Blair. G2 P3

The Independent

Avatar director James Cameron in fight with Fox News. P13
GMG chief executive Carolyn McCall to join easyJet. P24
China's reaction on Google. P28
Editorial on Google facing China. P36
Question & Debate about Google leaving China. P40
Katy Guest on Sophie Dahl's show. P41
Obituary: US TV actor Davy Crockett. P42
INM sees advertising revenues stabilise in second half. P46
GMG begins search for new chief executive. P48

Daily Telegraph

Telegraph wins six prizes at British Press Awards. P2
Sir Ian McKellen criticises BBC for abolishing plays in favour of reality TV. P3
Oprah Winfrey settles defamation legal battle. P18
Matt Warman on voters creating a new kind of politics on the web. P30
Life On Mars' Philip Glenister on how PC rules are ruining TV. P34
Independent sale near after parent company reported pre-tax loss of £27.7m. Business P10

The Times

Oprah Winfrey settles defamation legal battle. P40
GMG chief executive Carolyn McCall to join easyJet. P47
INM says sale of Independent to Alexander Lebedev is imminent. P51

Financial Times

Twitter and blogs put analysis in the hand of the people. P4
China Unicom to drop Google search on phones using Android. P27
YouGov embraces social websites. P28
Bejing appears uncertain how to react on Google. P32
David Pilling on Google. P35
Data traffic outstrips mobile voice calls. P41
Hopes of advertising rebound push ITV shares. P52

Wall Street Journal Europe

Google co-founder Brin's China decision was moved by his Soviet memories. P3
John Bolton comments Google. P14
GMG chief executive Carolyn McCall to join easyJet. P23
INM says sale of Independent to Alexander Lebedev is imminent. P25

Daily Mail

Two British Press Awards for the Daily Mail. P2
Jamie Oliver on David Letterman show. P38

Daily Express

News at Ten's Mark Austin has a dig at people who forget microphones are turned on in studio. P17
Interview with actor and presenter Nadia Sawalha. P40-41

The Sun

BBC may delay The Apprentice if there is a hung parliament. P13
Facebook claims The X Factor final day on 13 December was one of the happiest days of last year. P13
Kelvin MacKenzie attacks BBC flying Anne Robinson to Glasgow to record The Weakest Link. P15
Profile of Louie Spence of Sky1's Pineapple Dance Studios. P32-33
Coverage of BBC1's Over the Rainbow. TV Biz P1
Dancing on Ice Coverage. TV Biz P2-3
Woman billed as royal on BBC show Undercover Princesses criticised by Ugandan royal family. TV Biz P3
Alexa Chung and Henry Holland to host new series of Frock Me on Channel 4's T4. TV Biz P4

Daily Mirror

Actor Norris Cole 'fell asleep' during filming of Blanche's funeral in Coronation Street. P3
Dancing on Ice coverage. P3
Chris Evans pulling in 8% more listeners on Radio 2 than Terry Wogan. P11
Sophie Dahl's BBC2 cooking show loses out to Channel 4's Supersize v Superskinny. P35

Daily Star

Woman billed as royal on BBC show Undercover Princesses criticised by Ugandan royal family. P17
Dancing on Ice coverage. P39
Gavin and Stacey's Joanna Page to host Sky1's My Pet Shame
Katy Brand to get ITV2 series. P39

And finally ...

Countdown co-presenter Rachel Riley was left cringing on Tuesday's show after the F-word popped up on the letters board, report the Sun and Star. Host Jeff Stelling gave a wry smile when he noticed that the letters U, D, F, C, K, and E spelled out a six-letter version of the swearword. The contestants saved the show from viewer complaints by opting for the five-letter words 'Faced' and 'Caged' instead. Meanwhile, the dictionary team picked the six-letter 'Dockage' and the seven-letter 'Dogface'. The Sun P37, Daily Star P24

Also on MediaGuardian.co.uk today

Budget confirms broadband tax
Chancellor reaffirms 50p a month levy on landlines to support superfast broadband, and offers tax relief to video games industry

Instapaper's plans for Apple's iPad
Developer Marco Arment has revealed details of the Instapaper iPad app

Independent deal due 'within 24 hours'
Independent News & Media promises analysts 'very positive news flow' over prospect of papers' sale to Alexander Lebedev

Gowalla battles Foursquare
Applications are competing to be the location tool of choice on iPhone and elsewhere

GMG's Carolyn McCall confirmed as easyJet chief
Executive to leave Guardian group after 24 years to lead airline

ASA criticises Lenny Henry ad
The Premier Inn advert parodying The Shining was mistakenly broadcast during children's television programmes

M&S; launches Dannii Minogue ads
Multimillion-pound campaign for womenswear and lingerie also features singer VV Brown and model Ana Beatriz Barros

Freesat claims millionth customer
The digital satellite service says 400,000 customers have defected from BSkyB

Ricky Gervais show gets second HBO series
The animated television series has been recommissioned by HBO, with the first series starting in the UK in April

Media Talk podcast
BBC internet chief Erik Huggers describes the corporation's slimmed-down website. Plus, Michael Wolff on Rupert Murdoch's paywall plans

In an effort to promote her new album, R&B singer Monica took over BET’s 106 & Park Monday (Mar 22) and co-hosted the show with Terrence J. Monica’s 6th studio album Still Standing is in stores now! Check out a few pics of Mo on 106 & Park below (courtesy of the homie FreddyO) and continue [...]

Are you ready to leverage your software development skill set, years of industry experience and people skills to make a dramatic impact and embrace the excitement of the high-tech startup culture

Do you enjoy being a technical evangelist, seek an environment where every day is a new challenge - where you can showcase all of your talents An environment where you are customer facing and able to be the liaison with the client

Our clientis currently looking for aSoftware Consultantto continue growth into the North American markets. This is a home office based role with travel requirements. You will be responsible for contributing to the sales process by providing customers with technical expertise to demonstrate the value of products. You will own the technical needs oftheir sales prospects and customers, and will be providing design advice and technical guidance to theirSales Team and clients in the application ofcompany products.

With 600+ customers globally, and a culture of success,ourclient islooking for the best who wish to grow with the company.

Requirements:


Excellent communication skills in order to interface with developers, sales people, purchasers, and C level customers.

Ability to showcase the software products in a customer Proof of Concept environment - which is tailored to the interests and requirements of the prospect

Demonstrated ability to use your development skills to create and present technical demonstrations to potential customers

Ability to provide feedback and guidance to the other teams within the organization to enhance and improve future product direction.

Willing to travel 50-60%

A developer with a desire and ability to put yourself out there

Demonstrated ability to show potential customers the ROI of development tools through providing design and technical guidance

Strong Customer service skills


Minimum Education and Experience:



University degree in Computer Science or Electrical Engineering, or equivalent

6+ years experience combining both software development and sales engineering

US Citizen Active Security Clearance for Military/Aerospace accounts desired


Specialized Skills you must have:



Experience with C, C++, Java and C languages

Experience with the Windows and Linux operating systems

Experience with Visual Studio, Eclipse or similar IDEa€ s


Other skills that we would like to see:



Experience with Unix shells and scripting, AWK, Perl and Python

Experience with SQL

General Build Knowledge

Experience with Defect Tracking Systems

Experience with Source Control Systems

150K Location: Boston, MA

GIJÓN, 25 (EUROPA PRESS)

Los Directores de algunos de los más importantes encuentros literarios internacionales participarán de la primera edición del Festival de la Palabra de Puerto Rico, del 4 al 9 de mayo, en el Viejo San Juan. Entre ellos estarán Paco Ignacio Taibo, director de la Semana Negra y Luis Sepúlveda director del Salón del Libro Iberoamericano.

Según la organización, estos Festivales representan un gran impulso a la industria cultural y con ella, a la economía, difusión y producción editorial y literaria de esos países.

El principal propósito del Festival es acercar la lectura y los libros a la inmensa mayoría de los puertorriqueños. Eso sólo puede redundar en beneficio de todos", afirmó Mayra Santos Febres, Directora Ejecutiva del evento.

En la inauguración del evento, se presentará una vídeo conferencia del escritor portugués y premio nobel den literatura, José Saramago, en exclusiva para el Festival de la Palabra. "Contaremos, también, con unaimpresionante exposición de retratos de escritores por Daniel Mordzinski, que es uno de los mejores fotógrafos de nuestro tiempo", explicó por su parte, el escritor español, José Manuel Fajardo, Director de Programación del Festival.

Fajardo recalcó que "este es un encuentro de escritores organizado por escritores. Se nutre de la solidaridad de autores latinoamericanos, europeos y estadounidenses, que han apostado por Puerto Rico como lugar de encuentro".

Al Festival asistirán 64 escritores internacionales y más de un centenar de autores puertorriqueños, que participarán en debates, conferencias y lecturas de poesía. Las actividades tendrán lugar en el Museo de Arte de Puerto Rico, Cuartel de Ballajá, Café del Totem y el Centro de Estudios Avanzados y del Caribe, entre otros.

Se incluirá un pabellón de la palabra interactiva, donde se analizará la relación de las nuevas tecnologías con la creación literaria y el periodismo cultural o ciudadano, tanto impreso como digital.

This was Alice's 3rd week at the box office and she still outdid all the new releases, giving Tim Burton's 3D fantasy $265.4 million to date. Here's the top five:

1. Alice in Wonderland: $34.2 million
2 . Diary of a Wimpy Kid: $22.1 million
3. The Bounty Hunter: $20.7 million
4. Repo Men: $6.1 million
5. Green Zone: $6.1 million

Two new releases this week. An action comedy for the family and an R-rated comedy.

Hot Tub Time Machine
What's It All About: After a hard night of drinking in a ski resort hot tub, four friends find themselves waking up in 1986.
Why It Might Do Well: During one half-hour period on comedy central last night I saw at least five promo spots for this one, so they're definitely getting the word out. You've also got John Cusack in the lead and the trailer suggests this could be a fun flick. And while it's WAY too early to be definitive, with eight reviews counted rottentomatoes.com gives it a 100% Fresh rating.
Why It Might Not Do Well: Some people react badly to all that chlorine.
Number of Theaters: 2,750
Prediction: $24 million

How to Train Your Dragon
What's It All About: 3D animated family action comedy in which a young viking named Hiccup learns that dragons aren't the horrible creatures his people have always imagined them to be.
Why It Might Do Well: People seem to love the 3D, and this is from the studio that gave us Shrek and Kung Fu Panda. Also, like Hot Tub Time Machine, it gets a 100% Fresh rating at Rottentomatoes.com, although only 13 reviews are in at the moment.
Why It Might Not Do Well: A dragon ate my schnauzer Gertrude and I'm not ready to forgive.
Number of Theaters: 3,000
Prediction: $52 million

Filed under: Action, Animation, Comedy, Box Office

Continue reading Box Office: Got Time For Dragons on a Train?

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There will likely never be a more enjoyable documentary about Disney animators than Frank and Ollie, Theodore Thomas' 1995 film about two very close members of the famed Nine Old Men. As far as informative chronicles go, however, the new film Waking Sleeping Beauty is at least a fascinating continuation of the studio's history and is every bit as captivating as its more recent predecessor and concurring account, The Pixar Story. Whether you're one of those hardcore Disneyphiles or merely a passive or nostalgic fan of the brand like myself, it's an engrossing and entertaining journey back to a significant moment in the company's past.

Waking Sleeping Beauty interestingly enough begins exactly as The Pixar Story does, with a home movie shot by animator Randy Cartwright as he tours the animation building in 1980 (introduction to a young, pouty Tim Burton gets an easy laugh). But while the earlier film quickly leaves the Disney lot with the firing of John Lasseter and the formation of Pixar, Waking Sleeping Beauty tells us what happened to the struggling department left behind. Specifically we're given a peek at the Mouse House between 1984 and 1994, the decade of the Disney Animation renaissance (which arguably ended when Pixar released its first feature, Toy Story, through Disney in 1995, thereby re-converging these parallel film histories).

Filed under: Animation, Classics, Documentary, Music & Musicals, Disney, Family Films, Columns, Cinematical Indie

Continue reading Doc Talk: 'Waking Sleeping Beauty'

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Over the next what ever time it takes I am endeavouring to visit and video 1001 sheds in Australia… I feel confident that there are at least that many sheds in my local area.. but as We are also planning the Torque Workcentre World Tour for April… now don’t get all excited … this tour will start in Northern New South Wales here in Australia [mainly along the north coast …...and continue north into the Queensland towns of Bundaberg and Maryborough.. stopping of at Maleny. If all goes well then maybe central Queensland.. This will be the trial period prior to taking the tour on the road to lands far away. I now I keep telling you that the USA will be getting a visit from me… it is getting closer to being a reality…

Back to the 1001 … should not take too long to get enough footage of sheds and workshops to keep you all happy for a few months.

Well for my first foray into filming on location… I chose my mate Ken… from Kenscraft in Scarborough, Queensland… He lives about 30 minutes away..

This morning I packed my new camera and headed off to catch up with Ken and shoot a few minutes of the Studio where he creates his magnificent Wedding Wishing Wells…

For those who want more info… check out

Kenscraft.

Now for the premiere of the first episode of the new series… 1001 Aussie Sheds.

I apologise for the banging in the background… Michael was doing some work on Ken’s trailer…

Hopefully by the time I get to number 1001 I may actually know what the heck I am doing.

Hope you enjoy… but if you don’t ….stiff.

An open letter to Piyush Mishra

Dear Piyush

For years now I have resisted the impulse to react to your statements in the media and to your friends, some of whom have conveyed those to me. The lies that you have been circulating about your role in the screenplay of the ‘The Legend of Bhagat Singh’ have outraged my family, my friends and unit members of the film, all of whom have exhorted me at various stages to hit back at you and publicise the truth. But, believe me, even the thought of responding to your wild statements felt indecorous and cheap. So I preferred to maintain a dignified silence, quite content in the truth. And, of course, since you too knew the truth, I was quite sure that you would get over your false frustration and move on in life.

However, that was not to be, I realise. Firstly, I’m told that my silence is being construed as something akin to an admission of guilt. And secondly, after reading your recent statement in PFC, I am genuinely angry. Maybe even you’ve interpreted my silence as some kind of weakness, and have decided to go overboard now by actually claiming that you wrote the entire screenplay! It is really a pity when creative people, who should be concentrating on realising their artistic dreams, expend themselves in such dirty games. You leave me no choice now. Hence, loathe as I am to do this, I am going to publicly clarify my position and state the entire truth – as I AND you know it. This is the only way I can defend myself against your attempts to defame and slander me.

So, here goes: I was professionally engaged to write the script of ‘The Legend of Bhagat Singh’ in August 2000. Since it involved a lot of research, the first draft of the step-outline (‘screenplay’ in film industry terminology) was ready only on March 22, 2001. The first draft of the full script with all the dialogue in English was narrated to the director, Rajkumar Santoshi in June 2001. After a couple of more drafts, the director and I were looking at the placement of songs at TIPS’ insistence, when I remembered that Sanjay Upadhyay had recommended that I meet you since you had not only written a play on Bhagat Singh but were also a talented lyricist.

Despite the fact that the director was feeling uncertain about hiring a lyricist from theatre at that stage, I strongly recommended your name emphasising that you were supposed to be a leftist and would immediately relate to our script, heavy in politics as it was. So, I called you (this must have been sometime in July-August 2001). You responded with interest and were immediately flown down.

I received you at your hotel and brought you home for lunch, where I cued you into the entire background of the project blow-by-blow, clearly mentioning that more than one draft of the entire script with dialogue in English was already done. When I asked to see your play you were reluctant to show it to me (and which till date, neither I nor Raj Santoshi nor anyone from the unit, I suspect, has seen), but you did talk about how you had gone about constructing it. In the ensuing discussion, Sagar (the film’s researcher) was highly amused when you said that you had created an imaginary ‘Judas’ in Bhagat Singh’s group and sounded unaware that there were actually two traitors in that group, viz. Jaigopal and Hans Raj Vohra.

Anyway, you sang two songs from your play, explaining how it was structured like a ballad of Bhagat Singh’s love story, where his ‘beloved’ waited across the river for him or something to that effect. Then I narrated the entire script to you in Sagar’s presence and indicated the kind of song-situations that we were looking at.

That evening I took you to Raj’s office to take your inclusion forward. Raj asked me to give you the printout of the full draft of the script, which I immediately did.

A couple of days later, Raj asked me what I thought of engaging you as a dialogue writer. I agreed immediately.

And then began the fun and games. A month later, Raj called me over to his house to listen to ‘the script’. I was baffled, ‘Which script?’ Well, apparently you had worked on a version of the Bhagat Singh script. I was obviously upset by this, but swallowed that and heard out the narration of the script for the film whose script I had already written! My frank comment was that it was filmy and unnecessarily melodramatic. To me it was clear that it didn’t work at all. Despite Raj agreeing with me on that, I left the meeting disappointed at the fact that an alternative version was written without my knowledge, after my script had already been approved. (If you are unable to comprehend this frustration, ask Anurag Kashyap. At the Screenwriters Conference 2006, he had expressed his anguish at a similar thing happening to him after he submitted the original of the ‘Jhoom Barabar Jhoom’ script.)

However, another fortnight later, I was again called for a meeting to listen to yet another version of the script. I heard it, and found it to be worse than the previous one. And while Raj once again agreed with my opinion, I raised the question of propriety. If the director was unhappy with my script, then he should tell me so and I will rework it. And if even that doesn’t measure up to his expectations, by all means I shall give a no-objection letter (as per my contract) for him to engage any other writer. Raj reiterated before everyone, including you, that he was indeed very happy with my script, but it’s just that he was trying out some other flavours for it.

When you began arguing that I was prejudiced about your version, only because I didn’t like you, I courteously dismissed the insinuation. (Actually, half of your comment was correct. It is true that I was beginning to regret bringing you into this project if your way was to work on my script behind my back. In my book, and in the book of every self-respecting writer, this is totally unacceptable behaviour. Rank unethical. And if you’re working in the film industry, I’d advise you to keep this rule firmly in mind: Do not tamper with someone else’s script, no matter who asks you to, unless the original writer agrees that it is okay for you to do so. And, take that in writing.)

But, that didn’t stop you from complaining to all and sundry in the unit that I was trying to edge you out using my friendship with the director. That was rich. If I stop someone from surreptitiously muscling into my script, I’m regarded as the culprit! Rich, indeed. However, it reached a point where almost everyone in the unit was complaining to me about you spreading these malicious tales around. Even senior people, who I’ve never heard utter a negative comment about anyone, were showing their embarrassment to me by exclaiming that instead of being grateful to me for strongly backing you for this project, you were busy trying to push me out. Not that I expected gratitude from anyone, but I certainly could do without the betrayal. So, I finally called for a tripartite meeting between Raj, you and myself.

You must remember that meeting; it was in November 2001, in Raj’s office. (Actually, maybe you don’t – because if you did, you wouldn’t persist in spreading these rumours all over again.) There, in front of the director, I openly accused you of trying to hijack my script, of being an opportunist, of trying to ride on the back of my work by trying to take it away from me. And all you did was stutter your innocence saying that you had no idea that I had already written the script! And that you thought that actually you were brought to Mumbai to write the script!! Even Raj’s mouth fell open. This was getting curiouser by the minute. What on earth was my phone call to you about, in that case? I asked you what you thought I was doing in this project all this while. You said that I was Raj’s friend and hence was hanging around! The absurd drama reached a crazy stage where you claimed that I never narrated the script to you at my house, and that I never gave you the file of the complete draft, registered with FWA, at Raj’s office the day you landed! Wow! (Much later, I was told by an AD that that same file was subsequently recovered from your room, causing much amusement among the senior members of the unit.)

At that meeting I made it unambiguously clear that if the film was to be based on my script, then I was frankly uncomfortable with your involvement in any aspect of its writing, as by then I understandably didn’t trust you. And if my script wasn’t wanted, then I’d happily walk out with it. You’ll remember that Raj clarified that the film would be based only on my script. Given that, he had two questions: Would I accept you as the Hindi dialogue writer? And, would it be okay if we took the 3-4 scenes from your play which you had narrated to him? I asked if the Hindi dialogue would be adapted from the English version that I had written. Raj confirmed that. In which case, I was okay, provided of course that I received joint credit for the dialogue, and provided that I had the final say on the entire script before it reached the director. Secondly, if these scenes were used from your play, there would obviously be no screenplay credit to either you or to your play. The producer would pay you for the usage of those scenes, and we’d credit the play in the ‘grateful acknowledgements’. While you agreed with the second point, you were much aggrieved about sharing credit for dialogue. Believe me, ordinarily I would’ve given in easily if a co-writer was pleading so much, but so pissed off was I with your hijacking tactics that I refused to. Moreover, I was justified as I had already written out several drafts with every single line of dialogue, in English.

This you may not know, but the next day Raj requested me to please allow you exclusive credit for the Hindi dialogue. As the dialogue assistant, Mr. Ashok Rawat put it, there was ‘masti’ in your ‘kalam’, which was quite appealing. I couldn’t deny that either, as I had by then seen that indeed you were good with the rhythms of dialogue. To honour Raj’s request, I agreed to withdraw my name and promised that you would receive exclusive credit for the Hindi dialogue. So, the agreed upon credits were: Screenplay by Anjum Rajabali, Hindi dialogue by Piyush Mishra, English dialogue by Anjum Rajabali (this for the scenes of Britishers). There would be no further tinkering with that. To make matters transparent, the next day when you came to my office with Mr. Rawat to work on the dialogue, I confirmed with you that you were perfectly okay with that.

Now, the fun and games increased. By the time the shooting of the film began around January 21 2001, I was told that the Hindi dialogue had been written for only about five scenes fully, and that they would be done as the film progressed. Fair enough. And then, barely a few days into the shoot, you summarily disappeared! Just like that. An AD said that you had flown away to Chennai. Much to the director, the producer and everyone else’s chagrin.

Raj pulled me back into doing the Hindi dialogue then. When I took stock, to my horror Mr. Rawat informed me that there were less than 13 scenes (out of a total of 107), who’s dialogue was written out completely by you! Well, my command over Hindi being what it was then, especially with political terminology thrown in, I sat with a dictionary and cranked out about 55 scenes of Hindi dialogue, with Mr. Rawat’s very supportive help over the next three weeks. Raj and Ranjit Kapoor then rewrote those and also wrote out the dialogue for the rest of the scenes, as the film progressed.

That in sum total was the scripting work that went into the script of ‘The Legend of Bhagat Singh’.

Now, for the last twist in the tale. This again you do not know, but after the film was completed and the director, the producer and I reviewed it at the editing studio, Raj was understandably upset that the bulk of the Hindi dialogue work was in fact done by me, himself and Ranjeet Kapoor. So, he wanted our names to be included in the Hindi dialogue credit. I emphatically disagreed. Much as I saw that his grievance was justified, we had given you our word and, and no matter how you had behaved subsequently, for me that word was non-negotiable. (You’ll notice that Raj graciously agreed to have Ranjeet and his names in ‘Additional Dialogue’. I refused even that.)

And yet, after the film was released, you went into overdrive telling everyone how it was your script and also that it was based on your play, insinuating clearly that I had actually stolen or plagiarised your work and passed it off as my own. I ignored all that. Even reacting to your baseless and bizarre charges seemed to me like offering some dignity to them. Which I was not prepared to do.

Subsequently, a few of your friends casually conveyed to me that you were going around saying all this. And to the best of my ability I gave them the truth. And, with one of them, I sent you an offer: Choose the forum or platform that you want, as public or as private as you wish, bring on as many witnesses and evidence as you wish. I shall be there to publicly take on your charges and reveal the truth. I don’t know if that message reached you. All I do know is that you’re going on with your ignoble carping to all and sundry and to the media about this, but once haven’t had the guts to confront me personally, accuse me, charge me, write to me, or in any way seek redressal of your grievance from me. I can only assume that you seemed to believe that if you repeated your lie 800 times here and there, somehow it would convert into the truth.

And now, regardless of all that I have revealed above and regardless of all my grievances about your behaviour, as a person who deeply cares about writers’ rights, I would still advise you that, if you genuinely believe that an injustice has been done to you and that I have stolen your work, please make a formal complaint to the Disputes Settlement Committee of the Film Writers Association. Believe me, that is an entirely fair and courageous body, which doesn’t care about who the accused is. They will impartially investigate your charges, investigate all the evidence thoroughly including your files, and all the 530 files in my Bhagat Singh script folder, and they’ll compare the final film with all the drafts that I’ve written (including the first step-outline of March 2001), and they’ll do the same with whatever versions of your script that you claim you wrote, and they’ll also compare your play with the final film, if need be call the director, producer and any other relevant witnesses, and finally call me to submit my defense, if need be.

And, if you feel that they may be biased because I’m a member of the Executive Committee of FWA (absurd as that insinuation sounds to me), then I’d advise you to go to a court of law. I will myself urge the court to do all the investigations mentioned above, at the very least. Moreover, my experience tells me that judges are very sensitive to creative people’s complaints now and hence there is no reason why you should not get justice.

And finally, regardless of whether you follow my above-mentioned advice or not, I want you to treat this entire statement of mine not just as a reply to your allegations but also as a caution that if you still persist in making these allegations, I shall be forced to explore other avenues, including legal ones, to prevent you from doing so. Enough is enough. As you ought to be aware, in this film industry, reputation of one’s integrity is very important. I care for mine deeply and with pride. No writer, barring none, can accuse me of having wronged him/her in any way. And, hence I shall no longer have you slander my reputation baselessly, more so since I am trying to fight hard and uncompromisingly for the cause of writers on precisely such counts as theft of credit. So, do take me very seriously on this.

Anjum Rajabali

There are worse places to be in solitary confinement, and at least I can be laid back when it comes to the dress code.

I started with a corset from Ingenue. It’s beautifully detailed featuring a jacquard panel to the centre, hook fastened to the front. The sides are satin, elegantly ribbed to pinch in to the body, with a loosely laced opening behind, drawn to a neat bow to close. If you’re very finicky, you may notice the stomach seam isn’t exact in places, but it’s not something to cause any concern and can be eliminated depending on the layers worn. It’s a beautiful piece that has featured highly on the feeds since it’s release for a reason and can certainly recommend it as a standalone as much as for layering.

The bodice is beautiful but needed a little dressing down for this look. I slipped on a cropped sweater from a Celestial Studios set; it’s a simple tank with a ribbed hemline to the base and a nice stretch detail across the front: the entire outfit is pretty inexpensive and very wearable, although it doesn’t come on all layers so do check that out before you purchase if you’re intending to layer. To add some colour, I also slipped on a little sweater from Luck Inc that I simply adore – the fatpack gives you a huge variety of colours to choose from and it’s definitely looks good under or over anything else you’re styling with.

I probably bought these chinos from Zaara a year ago, but they’re still a firm favourite as they’re so well made. Everything from the side stitching to the cuff sculpts is immaculate, which made me feel a tiny bit guilty for covering them up with this pretty waist wrap I found at IZUMIYA. Tied over the hip with a badge and chain detail on the other side, this patterned shawl falls asymetrically with tassle fringe edging all around. In honesty it has its faults – the texture on the lower is a little washed out and the seams aren’t exact, but a pack of these in various colours will hardly make a mark on your Linden balance so I can’t think you’ll be too disappointed with your purchase.

The shoes are Belles from Shiny Things, buckled slingbacks with a significant platform base that allows for a high but substancial heel. I love these shoes for their shape, the straps, sides and heels have a lovely gloss that catches the eye: the toe shine isn’t quite right to my mind, so I would recommend trying on the in store demos.

A chain necklace from Flavor! Designs accessorised, the choker style draped to the throat with thinner gemmed chains to create a garland around the circled ankh pendant.

The hair is one of the current releases from Truth. Sienna is a sultry style, the long fringe obscuring the right eye from most angles. The locks flow down over the shoulders, wispy with soft movement through the layers, the remaining hair piled high on the head and pinned in a half ponytail falling thick down the back.

Outfit:
Sweater: Celestial Studios, Uptown Sweater – Shadow (part of a set)
Corset: Ingenue, Angelique – Noir
Undertop: Luck Inc, Cashmere Top Longsleeve – Pink
Trousers: [...]

ZAMORA, 25 (EUROPA PRESS)

El Centro Cultural La Alhóndiga de Zamora acoge hoy el acto de clausura de las jornadas conmemorativas del XXV Aniversario de la Oficina Municipal de Información al Consumidor (OMIC), en cuyo transcurso los asistentes recibirán como obsequio un teclado de ordenador con lector de DNI electrónico.

El acto incluye una conferencia sobre la 'Regulación de las comunicaciones electrónicas y su impacto sobre los usuarios', a cargo de Sandra Carmona, de la Dirección de Estudios y Estadísticas de la Comisión Nacional de Telecomunicaciones, que tendrá lugar a las 19.30 horas en el salón de actos de dicho centro, según informaron a Europa Press fuentes municipales.

Precisamente, los contratos sobre servicios de comunicaciones, especialmente telefonía móvil y fija y conexiones a Internet, son los que acaparan el mayor número de consultas en la OMIC y los que generan más reclamaciones a las empresas suministradoras.

A lo largo de las jornadas conmemorativas del 25 aniversario de la OMIC, que se desarrollan desde el pasado día 4 de marzo, se han abordado otros asuntos de interés para los consumidores y usuarios como la nueva regulación del suministro eléctrico y de gas natural, los pros y los contras de la energía nuclear como alternativa energética o la evolución de la sociedad en relación con el consumo en nuestra ciudad durante los últimos 25 años, desde la creación de la Oficina Municipal de Información al Consumidor.

SALAMANCA, 25 (EUROPA PRESS)

La Cámara de Comercio e Industria de Salamanca acogerá hoy a las 10.00 horas, un desayuno informativo sobre el programa PIPEnet 2.0, que pretende fomentar la internacionalización de las pequeñas y medianas empresas españolas.

En este encuentro participará el consultor de Barrabés Internet, Manuel Laborda. Durante su intervención informará sobre los beneficios que pueden obtener las empresas que diseñen su modelo de negocio internacional, apoyándose en las Nuevas Tecnologías y en las nuevas tendencias de negocio que ofrece la web 2.0.

Las empresas de la provincia que participan en el programa de PIPE, dirigido a ayudarles en la elaboración de un Plan de Internacionalización, cuentan además con la posibilidad de acceder a una serie de servicios y programas específicos con los que incrementar las posibilidades de "éxito" de su proceso de internacionalización.

PIPEnet 2.0 ofrece a las pequeñas y medianas empresas un servicio de consultoría personalizado, con el que se pretende proporcionar las herramientas tecnológicas más adecuadas a su modelo de negocio internacional, que les permitan ahorrar en costes, incrementar sus ingresos y mejorar su eficiencia.

La participación en PIPEnet 2.0 incluye también la entrega de un estudio final a cada empresa, así como el servicio de asistencia técnica posterior, recordó la Cámara de Comercio de Salamanca.

Las empresas asistentes a este desayuno podrán también podrán concertar una reunión de trabajo individual, con Barrabés Internet, "empresa pionera y líder en el sector, con contrastada experiencia de negocios en la red", que será la encargada de realizar la consultoría personalizada y la asistencia técnica posterior.

Madrid.- La actriz y Embajadora de Buena Voluntad de UNIFEM Nicole Kidman asegura en un mensaje audiovisual que se emitirá en el V Encuentro de Mujeres por un Mundo Mejor, que España se encuentra "a la cabeza", tanto en el ámbito interno como en el internacional, de la lucha contra la violencia machista.

Kidman agradece al Gobierno español que le haya invitado al encuentro que se celebrará en Valencia los próximos 27 y 28 de marzo y aunque no podrá asistir transmite "un mensaje de aliento" como Embajadora de UNIFEM y se muestra "orgullosa" de poder ofrecer su colaboración en cualquier momento y lugar.

Manifiesta que el encuentro de Valencia es "oportuno", ya que reúne a líderes mundiales para tratar la desigualdad "y para hacer causa común para erradicarla", al tiempo que confía en que éste sea exitoso.

La actriz australiana subraya que la desigualdad es lo que impide a las mujeres disfrutar de los Derechos Humanos, lo que, en su opinión, imposibilita a las niñas acudir a la escuela o proseguir sus estudios.

Para Kidman este problema "alimenta la violencia" contra ellas y las mujeres, y de hecho apunta que seis de cada diez sufrirán violencia de género.

En el mensaje, la intérprete confía en que algún día "nuestros hijos gocen de igualdad de oportunidades y sean juzgados por su carácter, contratados por su talento, valorados por sus cualidades y bienvenidos en todas partes".

Por último, Nicole Kidman insta a "echar abajo las barreras que constriñen a niñas y a mujeres".

(Ammán, Jordania). Mientras los tres gobiernos -Israel, Autoridad Nacional Palestina y Jordania- analizan la posibilidad de traer agua desde el mar Rojo -a 177 kilómetros- para rellenar el mar Muerto y abastecer de agua desalinizada a jordanos y palestinos, la población ve el proyecto no sólo como una solución a la escasez de agua sino como un símbolo de paz y cooperación.

Si bien el proyecto ha estado sobre la mesa durante décadas, es ahora cuando todas las partes involucradas parecen habérselo tomado realmente en serio, principalmente debido a la creciente crisis hídrica. Actualmente se están realizando estudios de factibilidad en los que se han invertido 15 millones de dólares (11,20 millones de euros).

Sin embargo, a medida que el proyecto cobra fuerza, los grupos medioambientales expresan su preocupación. Sostienen que las motivaciones políticas podrían obligar a los gobiernos a pasar por alto otras opciones menos arriesgadas.

“Es un tema demasiado político y la política no deja ver otras opciones que también podrían ser factibles”, afirma Avner Adin, profesor de la Universidad Hebrea de Jerusalén y experto en suelos y recursos hídricos. Mientras describe el atractivo político del proyecto, Adin añade que “será un gran logro para el rey jordano y su Gobierno ya que llevarán agua al país. Desde la perspectiva israelí, un proyecto como éste podría ayudar a avanzar en el proceso de paz en la región y demostraría un enfoque humanitario de parte de Israel”, sostiene.

Aunque aún no se decide la opción ganadora, la mayoría concuerda en que la situación está llegando a un estado crítico que requiere medidas cuanto antes. El Mar Muerto pierde agua con tanta rapidez que los complejos hoteleros de la zona tienen que invertir dinero permanentemente para ajustarse al retroceso de las aguas.

En sólo 20 años, el Mar Muerto ha perdido 30 metros y sigue bajando a un ritmo de un metro por año. Es lo suficientemente profundo como para no desaparecer por completo, pero si no se hace nada, algunos expertos creen que podría secarse de aquí a 50 años.

Por otra parte, Jordania afronta una severa crisis de abastecimiento de agua. Es el cuarto país del mundo con menos agua per cápita y un 92 por ciento de su superficie es de tipo desértica.

Israel tiene problemas similares, pero sus autoridades han decidido reforzar las plantas de desalinización en la costa mediterránea para cubrir la demanda de agua. Los defensores de la gran tubería del “Mar Rojo al Mar Muerto” sostienen que ésta resolvería ambos problemas.

Adnan Al-Zoubi, portavoz del Ministerio de Agua y Riego de Jordania, señala que incluso esperan que las constructoras e inmobiliarias aprovechen el proyecto para crear nuevas urbanizaciones en la zona, conocida como Wadi Araba, actualmente con escasa población. “Podemos hacer cualquier cosa en [Wadi Araba], convertirla en una región agrícola, en una zona turística o de servicios médicos”, afirma Al-Zoubi, quien incluso se imagina hoteles con piscinas. “Si se lleva a cabo el proyecto, traerá paz [a Oriente Medio]”.

Los grupos medioambientales advierten que las autoridades no han tenido en cuenta algunos temas cruciales debido al fervor que ha despertado el proyecto. Por ejemplo, la salinidad del Mar Muerto es diez veces mayor que la del Mar Rojo. En la actualidad se están estudiando las posibles consecuencias de mezclar estos dos tipos de aguas.

Existe la preocupación de que el agua del Mar Rojo flote como una capa por encima de la del Mar Muerto y aporte nuevas bacterias. La extracción de agua del Mar Rojo podría aumentar en medio grado centígrado la temperatura del golfo de Aqaba, lo que tendría serias consecuencias para la vida acuática.

Además, la zona de Wadi Araba es altamente sísmica. La ruptura de la tubería en caso de terremoto podría filtrar el agua salada hacia la capa freática que existe entre ambos mares. “No estamos en contra de este proyecto”, afirma Abdel Rahman Sultan, subdirector de la oficina jordana de la organización ecologista Friends of the Earth en Oriente Medio. “Están preparando el proyecto sin la información suficiente y sin una justificación suficiente”.

Sultan indica que debido a la situación de escasez de agua en Jordania, el país probablemente tenga que comenzar a desalinizar el agua de mar en un futuro cercano. Su preocupación es que se ha dado demasiado énfasis a la tubería del Mar Rojo al Mar Muerto antes de explorar otras opciones.

Los tres gobiernos insisten en que los estudios de factibilidad en curso analizan precisamente todas las opciones posibles. El Banco Mundial ha coordinado la financiación de estos estudios y si bien aporta recursos para otras opciones, reconoce que la alternativa de llevar agua de un mar al otro es la preferida.

Mark Millar, a lay preacher, has shot to Hollywood fame with his comic book characters

Mark Millar still has the air of a man who needs to pinch himself to appreciate his good fortune. After 20 years of rupturing the boundaries of taste and decency, the enfant terrible of the comic world has finally hit paydirt. Millar's stellar levels of bad language and violence may not raise eyebrows in the geeky world of comic novels, but when transferred to the big screen in Kick-Ass, they have generated the sort of publicity certain to ensure the film's success.

"Anything goes in the comic world, so sometimes you forget the sensibilities of the mainstream," says Millar. "But even I chuckled to myself at that line, because I knew it would cause a huge amount of fuss if it ever hit the big wide world. Sure enough . . ."

He is referring to the line delivered by Chloë Grace Moretz, aged 13, who plays 11-year-old child vigilante Hit-Girl in the Glaswegian's latest superhero offering. "OK, you cunts, let's see what you can do now!" The fact that the c-word was suggested by Moretz's mother, on set to help her daughter through filming, has done little to mitigate the moral outrage – which was further stoked by the presence of Jonathan Ross's wife, Jane Goldman, on the screenwriting credits.

"Look," says Millar, "we tried everything – we even came over all British and tried, 'OK, you wanker.' Nothing had the force of the line that we used; it was just right, it worked."

Millar, himself a father of young girls, is as amused as he is unrepentant. The film, he says, would be a roaring success even without the line. "After the post-premiere party, [director] Matthew Vaughn and I were congratulating ourselves, and then I stopped and said, 'We haven't sold a single ticket yet.' But in a funny way that doesn't matter – I always knew Kick-Ass would be a successful film, even when it was being turned down by studio after studio and we were being told it was rubbish."

On the page, Millar's outlandish plotlines have made him the art form's most powerful influence since Spider-Man's legendary co-creator Stan Lee. In the flesh, this garrulous lay preacher is explaining how he squares his devout Catholic faith with his fascination for gory violence one minute, and the next musing on working-class Glasgow's love affair with Americana, or his reaction when a recent bout of flu was misdiagnosed as cancer.

But mostly, Marvel Comics's chief writer talks with wide-eyed wonderment about celebrity. Hollywood's rediscovery of the power of comic books has propelled him to the apex of popular culture – beginning in 2008 with Wanted, a larcenously amoral tale starring Angelina Jolie, Morgan Freeman and James McAvoy, which took $350m (£235m) at the box office.

Millar's steep upward trajectory has continued this year with Kick-Ass, which he describes as "a hymn to neo-conservatism", and he says there's plenty more to come. He is, though, determined to get out before he is 45, the point at which he believes the creative juices dry up.

"I had no misgivings about making the jump from comics to the mainstream," he says. "Lots of people in comics want it to be their little world, where only people who are genuinely into it are allowed. But I've never got what's cool about nobody looking at your stuff. The only people with an interest in being snooty about the mainstream are those people who can't reach it."

Hailing from Coatbridge, one of Scotland's most deprived communities, the fact that Millar gets to accompany unlikely architecture nerd Brad Pitt on his annual tour of Glasgow in homage to Charles Rennie Mackintosh is a source of wonder to the writer. So too was his recent appearance at the Oscars, where he found himself courted by A-list stars keen to take parts in his future films.

"One of my pals is absolutely average-looking but he always seemed to have absolutely beautiful girlfriends," Millar says. "He said that if it becomes known that you have really good-looking girlfriends, then you attract good-looking girls. It's like a club, and it's the same with the movies: Angelina really liked Wanted, so Brad wanted to come on board to produce Kick-Ass."

Not that the process of transforming Millar's graphic novels into celluloid creations has been easy. Initially, he was just happy to be involved, but then he looked at the cast for Wanted. He had never heard of McAvoy or Kazakh director Timur Bekmambetov, and "had just seen Borat, so presumed Bekmambetov must be cheap Russian labour". He looked at the credits of the producers and screenwriters – "not just The Fast And The Furious but the crap sequel 2 Fast 2 Furious, plus Legally Blonde" – and freaked out. "I thought it was going to be totally, embarrassingly rubbish," he laughs. "Fortunately, they conspired to make it brilliant."

Intoxicated, Millar thought he'd take a lead role in Kick-Ass. "I was executive producer of Wanted, which meant being involved in a couple of phone calls – 'Q: Do you want Angelina Jolie involved? A: Yes' – and I got paid a big chunk of cash for that. But with Kick-Ass, I've been shocked at how much work is involved. I was in on all of the casting: we looked at hundreds of people. Then there was drafting the script, the costumes, the sets and the filming – 14 weeks, doing 14-hour days."

The script was a particular problem. Millar, used to autonomy, was shocked at the accommodations he had to make. "I don't really do happy endings, so there's a huge difference between Kick-Ass the movie and Kick-Ass the comic," he says. "In the movie Matthew [Vaughn] really wanted the lead to get the girl, whereas in the comic, this guy is a loser and pretends to be gay because the girl works in a shelter and is really right-on. She just wants to be best friends, he wants to have sex with her, and in the comic when he confesses she tells him to fuck off. In the movie, Matthew has them having sex."

Like virtually every storyline in Millar's career, the baseline for Kick-Ass comes from his own experience. He's never pretended to be gay, but as a teenager he did convince a girl he fancied that he was as obsessed with Dynasty as she was, studying videos of the Colbys to complete the facade. Millar is convinced his success is down to his upbringing: his mother died when he was 14 and his father four years later, so he had to drop out of university to bring up his brother. Money was so tight that "the cat ate one day and we ate the next". Writing was an economic imperative.

Glasgow also gave him the cultural antennae to be successful. The city is built on the same grid system as New York ("there's more than an element of Gotham to Glasgow; it feels like a more modestly budgeted version of New York, only far more violent"), and west coast Scots have a fascination with the US that provokes a special bond: "I feel a kinship with American kids – I like what they like because it's what I like too. The collapse of the US economy is a godsend: what's terrible for the world is great for writing. The last eight years in particular have been good to me," he says, in a reference to George Bush.

There is a moral core to Millar's populism, as you'd expect from someone who cites Jesus and Tony Benn as heroes. The battle between good and evil are constant themes, as is redemption. But so too is an eye-watering level of violence. "It's cathartic," he says. "Besides, you need movement in a film, and to see superheroes pounding each other or picking up a car and whacking someone with it is visually exciting."

Although he has thought about moving to the US, Millar remains rooted in Coatbridge, the "Little Vatican" that has shaped him. Now in his last year as Marvel's chief writer, he has commissioned a largely Scottish group of friends and comic aficionados – Frankie Boyle, Muriel Gray, Ian Rankin, Armando Iannucci, Jonathan Ross and Russell Davies – to pen graphic novels for him.

"Glasgow's the perfect education – it's given me a unique life experience compared to everyone in the New York publishing industry and Hollywood. Every single person in Hollywood looks the same: the writers are all skinny, bald guys with glasses, who hang out in coffee shops all day."

• Kick-Ass is out on general release on Wednesday 31 March.

So, this week, a man of color helmed the passing of one of the most influential pieces of legislatio