« September 2013 | Main | November 2013 »
October 18, 2013
Miss Universe 2013
Photo Update: Gabriela Isler, Miss Universe Venezuela 2013, is crowned Miss Universe 2013, onstage at the conclusion of MISS UNIVERSE 2013 Pageant from Crocus City Hall in Moscow, Russia on November 9, 2013. Narrowed down from top 16, the top 10 comprised India, Dominican Republic, Venezuela, Ecuador, Ukraine, USA, Brazil, Great Britain, Philippines and Spain. Top 5 finalists included Ecuador, Brazil, Spain, Philippines, and Venezuela. Photo © Miss Universe Organization L.P., LLLP. Photographer: Darren Decker.
Photo Update: Manasi Moghe, Miss India 2013, walks the runway at the Tony Ward Fashion Show on October 26, 2013 during Mercedes Benz Fashion Week in Moscow, Russia. Tune in to the NBC Telecast at 9:00 PM ET from Crocus City Hall in Moscow, Russia on November 9, 2013 to see who will win the title of Miss Universe 2013. Photo © Miss Universe Organization L.P., LLLP. Photographer: Frank L. Szelwach.
Photo Update: Manasi Moghe, Miss India 2013, is photographed by fashion photographer Fadil Berisha in the 2014 YAMAMAY FOR MISS UNIVERSE swimwear collection accessorized with faux fur. Tune in to the NBC Telecast at 9:00 PM ET from Crocus City Hall in Moscow, Russia on November 9, 2013 to see who will win the title of Miss Universe 2013. Photo © Miss Universe Organization L.P., LLLP. Photographer: Fadil Berisha.
Photo: Miss USA 2013, Erin Brady, Donald J. Trump, and Miss Universe 2012, Olivia Culpo announce the location of the 2013 MISS UNIVERSE Pageant. The event will be held at Crocus City Hall in Moscow, Russia on November 9, 2013. Photo © Miss Universe Organization L.P., LLLP. Photographer: Patrick Prather.
NEW YORK, NY - October 17, 2013 - NBC, Donald J. Trump, and Paula M. Shugart, president of the Miss Universe Organization, announced today that Thomas Roberts and Mel B will host the 62nd Annual Miss Universe Competition airing Saturday, Nov. 9 from Crocus City Hall in Moscow.
This will be the first time in the pageant’s 62-year history that the competition will be held in Russia. The MISS UNIVERSE telecast is broadcast in approximately 190 countries and an estimated 1 billion viewers worldwide are expected to tune in. Contestants will be judged in three categories: swimsuit, evening gown and interview as they vie for the coveted title of Miss Universe 2013.
2013 MISS UNIVERSE COMPETITION CONTESTANTS LIST
COUNTRY — NAME
• Angola — Vaumara Rebelo
• Argentina — Brenda Gonzalez
• Aruba — Stefanie Guillen
• Australia — Olivia Wells
• Austria — Doris Hofmann
• Azerbaijan — Aysel Manafova
• Bahamas — Lexi Wilson
• Belgium — Noemie Happart
• Bolivia — Alexia Viruez
• Botswana — Tsaone Macheng
• Brazil — Jakelyne Oliveira
• British Virgin Islands — Sharie De Castro
• Bulgaria — Veneta Krasteva
• Canada — Riza Santos
• Chile — Maria Jesus Matthei
• China — Ye Jin
• Colombia — Lucia Aldana
• Costa Rica — Fabiana Granados
• Croatia — Melita Fabecic
• Curacao — Eline de Pool
• Czech Republic — Gabriela Kratochvílova
• Denmark — Cecilia Iftikhar
• Dominican Republic — Yaritza Reyes
• Ecuador — Constanza Baez
• El Salvador — Alba Delgado
• Estonia — Kristina Karjalainen
• Ethiopia — Maheder Tigabe
• Finland — Lotta Hintsa
• France — Hinarani de Longeaux
• Gabon — Jennifer Ondo
• Germany — Anne Julia Hagen
• Georgia — Janet Kerdikoshvili
• Ghana — Hanniel Jamin
• Great Britain — Amy Willerton
• Greece — Anastasia Sidiropoulou
• Guam — Alixes Scott
• Guatemala — Paulette Samayoa
• Guyana — Katherina Roshana Khan
• Haiti — Mondiana Pierre
• Honduras — Diana Schoutsen
• Hungary — Rebeka Karpati
• India — Manasi Moghe
• Indonesia — Whulandary
• Israel — Titi Yitayish Ayenew
• Italy — Luna Voce
• Jamaica — Kerrie Baylis
• Japan — Yukimi Matsuo
• Kazakhstan — Aygerim Kozhakanova
• Korea — Yumi Kim
• Lebanon — Karin El Ghraoui
• Lithuania — Simona Burbaite
• Malaysia — Carey Ng
• Mauritius — Diya Beeltah
• Mexico — Cynthia Duque
• Myanmar — Moe Set Wine
• Namibia — Paulina Malulu
• Netherlands — Stephanie Tency
• New Zealand — Holly Cassidy
• Nicaragua — Nastassja Bolivar
• Nigeria — Stephanie Okwu
• Norway — Mari Ekelof
• Panama — Carolina Brid
• Paraguay — Guadalupe Talavera
• Peru — Cindy Meja Santa Maria
• Philippines — Ariella Arida
• Poland — Paulina Krupinska
• Puerto Rico — Monic Perez
• Romania — Roxana Andrei
• Russia — Elmira Abdrazakova
• Serbia — Ana Vrcelj
• Singapore — Shi Lim
• Slovakia Republic — Jeanette Borhyova
• Slovenia — Nina Durdevic
• South Africa — Marilyn Ramos
• Spain — Patricia Rodriguez
• Sri Lanka — Amanda Ratnayake
• Sweden — Alexandra Friberg
• Switzerland — Dominique Rinderknecht
• Tanzania — Betty Boniface Omara
• Thailand — Chalita Yaemwannang
• Trinidad and Tobago — Catherine Miller
• Turkey — Berrin Keklikler
• Turks and Caicos — Snwazna Adams
• Ukraine — Olga Storozhenko
• Uruguay — Micaela Orsi Jorcin
• USA — Erin Brady
• Venezuela — Maria Gabriela Isler
• Vietnam —Truong Thi May
|GlobalGiants.Com|
Edited & Posted by the Editor | 4:27 AM | View the original post
October 15, 2013
Land Rover Completes World’s First Hybrid Expedition Along Silk Trail From Solihull, UK, To Mumbai, India
Photos: Three Range Rover Diesel Hybrid prototypes have completed the ultimate engineering sign-off test by traversing 13 countries over 53 days from Solihull, UK, to Mumbai, India.
Mumbai, India. October 14, 2013 — Three Range Rover Diesel Hybrid prototypes have completed the ultimate engineering sign-off test by traversing 13 countries over 53 days from Solihull, UK, to Mumbai, India. The world’s first ever hybrid expedition along the Silk Trail and one of the boldest driving adventures ever pursued by Land Rover.
Hostile conditions on the route included asphalt roads riddled with vast and deep potholes, dusty desert trails in 43°C heat and numerous miles of mud and gravel tracks and cattle trails. In addition, river crossings, passes clinging to the edges of mountains partly blocked by rock falls, the thin air of extremely high altitudes and the dense and erratic traffic of Chinese and Indian roads all added to the test of man and machine.
The Silk Trail 2013 expedition was the final validation test for the Range Rover Hybrid before it is signed-off for production. From the home of the Legend in Solihull, UK, it blazed a trail through France, Belgium, Germany, Poland, Ukraine, Russia, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, China (including Tibet), Nepal and India. For much of this distance the expedition followed the legendary Silk Road trading routes that first connected Asia with Europe more than 2,500 years ago. Overnight halts were made in hotels, hostels and tents at many of the same staging posts visited all those years ago by Silk Road merchants, missionaries and mercenaries.
Where the north and south Silk Roads split, near the remote city of Kashgar in north-western China, the expedition pioneered a mountainous route never previously completed by a vehicle from outside the country and never previously seen in its entirety by any westerner - the Xinjiang-Tibet highway, which put the new Range Rover Hybrid through its paces at heights of over 5,300 metres above sea level.
Seven consecutive days were spent at altitudes between 11,000 and 17,648 feet (3,350 and 5,379 metres). At such great heights, oxygen content in the air is reduced from the 21 percent found at sea-level to as little as 10 percent, making movement more difficult for humans and internal combustion engines. The Range Rovers continued to make good progress, benefitting from the electric motor’s instant torque at 0 rpm and despite being laden with heavy loads including luggage, camping gear, food, medical equipment, and aerodynamically-unfriendly roof-racks carrying spare wheels, tyres and jerry cans of fuel.
Negotiating tracks so sticky with mud that they were impassable to other types of vehicle, the Range Rover hybrid’s engine combination - with a 35kW electric motor supporting the TDV6 3.0 litre turbo-diesel engine - returned excellent fuel consumption for a vehicle so spacious and powerful. Throughout the epic journey the Range Rover Hybrids typically returned 36 to 37 mpg.
Land Rover development engineers closely monitored data loggers fitted to each car, sending back more than 300 gigabytes of detailed technical records to their engineering team at Gaydon in the UK. The purpose of the expedition was not to test the reliability of mechanical components, which are already proven, but to fine-tune the calibration of engine and transmission software to ensure perfectly seamless performance in all terrains and extreme temperatures and altitudes. Technical setbacks reflected the roughness of the road surfaces: 15 punctures among the expedition’s three Range Rover Hybrid and four support vehicles, four wheels damaged by deep potholes, and four windscreens cracked by stones thrown-up on loose surfaces.
Peter Richings, Jaguar Land Rover Hybrids and Electrification Director who took part in the final leg from Jaipur to Mumbai commented: “The world’s first diesel hybrid expedition along the Silk Trail pioneered an ambitious route across Europe and Asia that would have been impassable to most other types of vehicle - but no matter how hostile the conditions, the Range Rover Hybrid prototypes took it all in their stride.
“In developing the hybrid-powered Range Rover, our objective was to gain hybrid’s fuel economy and carbon emissions advantages without compromising the Range Rover’s go-anywhere capabilities, its cabin space or its refinement. The success of this remarkable expedition clearly demonstrates we have achieved that.”
|GlobalGiants.Com|
Edited & Posted by the Editor | 4:11 AM | View the original post
October 10, 2013
VOLKSWAGEN ANNOUNCES LAUNCH OF XL1, "THE WORLD’S MOST EFFICIENT PRODUCTION CAR"
The Volkswagen XL1, “the most fuel-efficient and aerodynamic production car in the world”, made its U.S. debut at the 23rd Annual Society of Environmental Journalists Conference at the Chattanooga Convention Center.
The XL1 offers an estimated European combined fuel consumption rating of 261 mpg and can cover up to 32 miles as a zero-emissions vehicle in all-electric mode. The XL1 also has a top speed of 99 mph and can accelerate from 0 to 62 mph in 12.7 seconds.
“The XL1 offers a glimpse into Volkswagen’s present and future eco-mobility capabilities, and highlights the ultimate successes of ‘Thinking Blue’,” said Oliver Schmidt, General Manager of the Engineering and Environmental Office (EEO), Volkswagen Group of America, Inc. “Volkswagen is proud to debut this ultra-fuel-efficient vehicle before the Society of Environmental Journalists, a group that shares in our commitment to environmental stewardship.”
“The XL1 is an automotive standout that follows pure sports-car design principles: light weight (1753 pounds), exceptional aerodynamics (Cd 0.19), and a low center of gravity. This super-efficient Volkswagen has the ability to cruise down the road at a constant 62 mph while using just 8.4 PS (6.2kW) horsepower. In all-electric mode, the XL1 requires less than 0.1 kWh to cover more than a kilometer,” the company explained. “The XL1 will look spectacular going down the highway — a car of the future, built for today.”
|GlobalGiants.Com|
Edited & Posted by the Editor | 11:35 AM | View the original post
October 8, 2013
76 COUNTRIES IN COMPETITION FOR 2013 FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM OSCAR
Photo: The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences celebrates the year 1912 and its developmental contributions to motion pictures with a program of selected films in “A Century Ago: The Films of 1912” at the San Rafael Film Center in San Rafael, CA. Photo © Matt Petit/Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
BEVERLY HILLS, CA - A record 76 countries have submitted films for consideration in the Foreign Language Film category for the 86th Academy Awards. Moldova and Saudi Arabia are first-time entrants; Montenegro is submitting for the first time as an independent country.
The 2013 submissions are:
• Afghanistan, “Wajma - An Afghan Love Story,” Barmak Akram, director;
• Albania, “Agon,” Robert Budina, director;
• Argentina, “The German Doctor,” Lucía Puenzo, director;
• Australia, “The Rocket,” Kim Mordaunt, director;
• Austria, “The Wall,” Julian Pölsler, director;
• Azerbaijan, “Steppe Man,” Shamil Aliyev, director;
• Bangladesh, “Television,” Mostofa Sarwar Farooki, director;
• Belgium, “The Broken Circle Breakdown,” Felix van Groeningen, director;
• Bosnia and Herzegovina, “An Episode in the Life of an Iron Picker,” Danis Tanovic, director;
• Brazil, “Neighboring Sounds,” Kleber Mendonça Filho, director;
• Bulgaria, “The Color of the Chameleon,” Emil Hristov, director;
• Cambodia, “The Missing Picture,” Rithy Panh, director;
• Canada, “Gabrielle,” Louise Archambault, director;
• Chad, “GriGris,” Mahamat-Saleh Haroun, director;
• Chile, “Gloria,” Sebastián Lelio, director;
• China, “Back to 1942,” Feng Xiaogang, director;
• Colombia, “La Playa DC,” Juan Andrés Arango, director;
• Croatia, “Halima’s Path,” Arsen Anton Ostojic, director;
• Czech Republic, “The Don Juans,” Jiri Menzel, director;
• Denmark, “The Hunt,” Thomas Vinterberg, director;
• Dominican Republic, “Quien Manda?” Ronni Castillo, director;
• Ecuador, “The Porcelain Horse,” Javier Andrade, director;
• Egypt, “Winter of Discontent,” Ibrahim El Batout, director;
• Estonia, “Free Range,” Veiko Ounpuu, director;
• Finland, “Disciple,” Ulrika Bengts, director;
• France, “Renoir,” Gilles Bourdos, director;
• Georgia, “In Bloom,” Nana Ekvtimishvili and Simon Gross, directors;
• Germany, “Two Lives,” Georg Maas, director;
• Greece, “Boy Eating the Bird’s Food,” Ektoras Lygizos, director;
• Hong Kong, “The Grandmaster,” Wong Kar-wai, director;
• Hungary, “The Notebook,” Janos Szasz, director;
• Iceland, “Of Horses and Men,” Benedikt Erlingsson, director;
• India, “The Good Road,” Gyan Correa, director;
• Indonesia, “Sang Kiai,” Rako Prijanto, director;
• Iran, “The Past,” Asghar Farhadi, director;
• Israel, “Bethlehem,” Yuval Adler, director;
• Italy, “The Great Beauty,” Paolo Sorrentino, director;
• Japan, “The Great Passage,” Ishii Yuya, director;
• Kazakhstan, “Shal,” Yermek Tursunov, director;
• Latvia, “Mother, I Love You,” Janis Nords, director;
• Lebanon, “Blind Intersections,” Lara Saba, director;
• Lithuania, “Conversations on Serious Topics,” Giedre Beinoriute, director;
• Luxembourg, “Blind Spot,” Christophe Wagner, director;
• Mexico, “Heli,” Amat Escalante, director;
• Moldova, “All God’s Children,” Adrian Popovici, director;
• Montenegro, “Ace of Spades - Bad Destiny,” Drasko Djurovic, director;
• Morocco, “Horses of God,” Nabil Ayouch, director;
• Nepal, “Soongava: Dance of the Orchids,” Subarna Thapa, director;
• Netherlands, “Borgman,” Alex van Warmerdam, director;
• New Zealand, “White Lies,” Dana Rotberg, director;
• Norway, “I Am Yours,” Iram Haq, director;
• Pakistan, “Zinda Bhaag,” Meenu Gaur and Farjad Nabi, directors;
• Palestine, “Omar,” Hany Abu-Assad, director;
• Peru, “The Cleaner,” Adrian Saba, director;
• Philippines, “Transit,” Hannah Espia, director;
• Poland, “Walesa. Man of Hope,” Andrzej Wajda, director;
• Portugal, “Lines of Wellington,” Valeria Sarmiento, director;
• Romania, “Child’s Pose,” Calin Peter Netzer, director;
• Russia, “Stalingrad,” Fedor Bondarchuk, director;
• Saudi Arabia, “Wadjda,” Haifaa Al Mansour, director;
• Serbia, “Circles,” Srdan Golubovic, director;
• Singapore, “Ilo Ilo,” Anthony Chen, director;
• Slovak Republic, “My Dog Killer,” Mira Fornay, director;
• Slovenia, “Class Enemy,” Rok Bicek, director;
• South Africa, “Four Corners,” Ian Gabriel, director;
• South Korea, “Juvenile Offender,” Kang Yi-kwan, director;
• Spain, “15 Years Plus a Day,” Gracia Querejeta, director;
• Sweden, “Eat Sleep Die,” Gabriela Pichler, director;
• Switzerland, “More than Honey,” Markus Imhoof, director;
• Taiwan, “Soul,” Chung Mong-Hong, director;
• Thailand, “Countdown,” Nattawut Poonpiriya, director;
• Turkey, “The Butterfly’s Dream,” Yilmaz Erdogan, director;
• Ukraine, “Paradjanov,” Serge Avedikian and Olena Fetisova, directors;
• United Kingdom, “Metro Manila,” Sean Ellis, director;
• Uruguay, “Anina,” Alfredo Soderguit, director;
• Venezuela, “Breach in the Silence,” Luis Alejandro Rodríguez and Andrés Eduardo Rodríguez, directors.
The 86th Academy Awards nominations will be announced live on Thursday, January 16, 2014, at 5:30 a.m. PT in the Academy’s Samuel Goldwyn Theater.
Academy Awards for outstanding film achievements of 2013 will be presented on Oscar Sunday, March 2, 2014, at the Dolby Theatre at Hollywood & Highland Center and televised live on the ABC Television Network. The presentation also will be televised live in more than 225 countries and territories worldwide.
|GlobalGiants.Com|
Edited & Posted by the Editor | 2:03 AM | View the original post
October 5, 2013
Longines presents DolceVita - The Italian way of life
Photo: A model from the Longines DolceVita collection. This quartz watch in steel is set with 32 diamonds (0.269 carat, Top Wesselton VVS) whose sparkle emphasises the rectangular form and harmonious proportions of the case. The white dial features ten indices, an Arabic numeral 12 and silvered hands that indicate the hours and minutes, with a small second at 6 o’clock. This elegant, contemporary model is mounted on a steel bracelet. Water-resistant to 3 bar (30 metres).
Photo: Chi Ling Lin, Longines Ambassador of Elegance, wearing a Longines DolceVita.
Photo: Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Longines Ambassador of Elegance, wearing a Longines DolceVita.
According to Longines, its DolceVita collection represents “the charm of the Italian way of life - la DolceVita”.
The models in this Longines collection feature a rectangular case and are available in four different sizes with a multitude of different features. Models are available in steel, yellow gold or steel and rose gold, and all are fitted with quartz movements. Certain models are set with diamonds.
|GlobalGiants.Com|
Edited & Posted by the Editor | 10:14 AM | View the original post
October 2, 2013
IBM Teams With Leading Universities to Advance Research in Cognitive Systems
Photo: On February 20, 2013, IBM inaugurated its IBM THINK exhibit at INNOVENTIONS West at Epcot at Walt Disney World Resort. The exhibit shows visitors how technology and systematic inquiry lead to progress and innovation. Shown here is Lee Green, IBM VP Strategic Design and Brand Experience, who designed the exhibit. (Credit: IBM/Ralph Appelbaum Associates).
Photo: Student presenter at the IBM Watson Case Competition hosted at USC (Credit: IBM/Ralph Cheung).
YORKTOWN HEIGHTS, N.Y., Oct. 2, 2013 — IBM today announced a collaborative research initiative with four leading universities to advance the development and deployment of cognitive computing systems - systems like IBM Watson that can learn, reason and help human experts make complex decisions involving extraordinary volumes of fast-moving data.
Faculty at the four schools — Carnegie Mellon University, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, New York University and Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute — will study enabling technologies and methods for building a new class of systems that better enable people to interact with Big Data in what IBM has identified as a new era of computing.
“IBM has demonstrated with Watson that cognitive computing is real and delivering value today,” said Zachary Lemnios, vice president of strategy for IBM Research. “It is already starting to transform the ways clients navigate big data and is creating new insights in healthcare, how research can be conducted and how companies can support their customers. But much additional research is needed to identify the systems, architectures and process technologies to support a new computing model that enables systems and people to work together across any domain of expertise.”
The research initiative was announced at a colloquium held at the Thomas J. Watson Research Center attended by nearly 200 leading academics, IBM clients and IBM researchers to begin a dialog that deepens the understanding of cognitive systems and identifies additional areas of research to pursue. These initial university collaborators will help lay the foundation for a Cognitive Systems Institute that IBM envisions will comprise universities, research institutes and IBM clients.
The initial research topics for exploration announced today are:
MIT - How socio-technical tools and applications can boost the collective performance of moderate-sized groups of humans engaged in collaborative tasks such as decision making.
RPI - How advances in processing power, data availability, and algorithmic techniques can enable the practical application of a variety of artificial intelligence techniques.
CMU - How systems should be architected to support intelligent, natural interaction with all kinds of information in support of complex human tasks.
NYU - How deep learning is impacting many areas of science where automated pattern recognition is essential.
“I believe that cognitive systems technologies will make it possible to connect people and computers in new ways so that—collectively—they can act more intelligently than any person, group, or computer has ever done before,” said Thomas Malone, Director of the MIT Center for Collective Intelligence and the Patrick J. McGovern Professor of Management, MIT Sloan School of Management. “I am excited to be working with IBM and these other universities to understand better how to harness these new forms of collective intelligence.”
“With the explosion of information and the advances in semantic data tools, we are excited to participate in this collaboration to bring the best of human and computing capabilities together in this new era of cognitive systems,” said Selmer Bringsjord, Professor and Head of the Department of Cognitive Science at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.
“The cost-effective creation of cognitive systems for complex analytic tasks will require fundamental advances in the rapid construction, optimization, and constant adaptation of large ensembles of analytic components. Personalized information agents will rapidly adapt and optimize their task performance based on direct interaction with the end user. I am excited that CMU will be teaming with IBM, MIT, RPI and NYU to explore the future of software architecture for cognitive systems,” said Eric Nyberg, Professor at the Language Technologies Institute at Carnegie Mellon University.
“NYU’s research into neural networks has the potential to revolutionize how we think about machines and the role they play in our everyday lives. NYU has a long history of helping create some of the work’s most important technological breakthroughs, so we are honored to be among the universities collaborating on this research initiative into cognitive computing systems,” said Paul Horn, Senior Vice Provost for Research at New York University. “As a research university at the forefront of technology and innovation, we look forward to working with IBM and our fellow institutions to promote basic research into the next era of computing.”
|GlobalGiants.Com|
“If I have done the public any service, it is due to my patient thought.”
— Isaac Newton.
Edited & Posted by the Editor | 1:10 PM | View the original post
