Roger Ebert finds his voice.

Starting in late 2006, Roger Ebert could not talk, eat, or drink because of his battle against thyroid and salivary cancer.. but now with a little help from modern technology and his own history of outspoken criticisms and praises, Ebert's unmatched legacy of words about film now allows the man to continue to speak as much as he wants: "After I lost my speaking voice, everybody thought they had this brilliant idea. 'Hey! Why don't you just take your voice from your old shows and put it on a computer?' Sounded good to me."

It seems like Roger Ebert is back to his old self again with an eye-opening article in Esquire Magazine that reveals his new jawless frame, and a more recent visit on Oprah where he will show off his new technological partner in crime, as he does here to his wife of 18 years, Chaz:

Continue following Roger Ebert's journey through his official website or on his more updated blog, and I'm sure we will see that man that has done so much for film at the 82nd Annual Academy Awards this Sunday at 8|5pm.

Friends Around the World :: Nicaragua

Nicaragua is the largest country in Central America and is bordered by Honduras to the north and Costa Rica to the south. The first attempt to conquer what is now known as Nicaragua was by the Spaniard Gil González Dávila, whose Central American exploits began with his arrival in Panama in January 1520.

Nicaragua became a part of the Mexican Empire and then gained its independence as a part of the United Provinces of Central America in 1821 and as an independent republic in its own right in 1838. The strip of the Caribbean coast known as the Mosquito Coast was claimed by the United Kingdom and its predecessors as a protectorate from 1655 to 1850; this was delegated to Honduras in 1859 and transferred to Nicaragua in 1860, though it remained autonomous until 1894.

In 1961 Carlos Fonseca and two others founded the Sandinista National Liberation Front (FSLN). Upon assuming office in 1981, U.S. President Ronald Reagan condemned the FSLN for joining with Cuba in supporting Marxist revolutionary movements in other Latin American countries such as El Salvador.

Daniel Ortega is the current (83rd) President of Nicaragua, but he previously served as the 79th President, between 10 January 1985 and 25 April 1990. For much of his life, he has been a leader in the FSLN.

These pictures come from the beautiful coastal community of San Juan Del Sur:

All of the photographs above are courtesy of our friend K. Dwulit.