KRARAN

Miss Winsconsin is Miss America 2012

Starwin — Sun, 15 Jan 2012 21:17:50 +0000

This it is. Wisconsin born Laura Kaeppeler is Miss America 2012. “In that moment I didn’t know what to think,” Kaeppeler says. “It was all kind of a blur.”

Apart from the enviable crown,Kaeppeler, 23, wins a $50,000 scholarship and represent the Miss America pageant for the next year. This was the 91st anniversary of the pageant

Question and Answers round are always tricky and this time too, it was a googly. The question was whether Miss America should make her political party publicly known. Claiming politicians need to be the representative of the the masses, she replied, “Miss America needs to represent all.”

The gorgeous Laura Kaeppeler performed operatic vocals as her talent, and looked striking in a white bikini and black beaded evening gown during the competition at Las Vegas’s Planet Hollywood Resort and Casino. Miss America 2012 Laura Kaeppeler is the second woman from Wisconsin to grace the title. She said that her onus is now to finish her education, complete her law school and wants to guide children of imprisoned adults.

Miss America Laura Kaeppeler pictures

Miss America 2012 Laura Kaeppeler video

Facebook IPO

Starwin — Sun, 01 Jan 2012 13:49:31 +0000

Facebook is going to be the first social media site to list its own IPO. The second most popular website after Google, with it strong-hold of 800 million users, is considering a flotation in New York that would raise $10bn (£6.5bn) and value the company at $100bn. This will make Facebook IPO, steamroll the largest initial public offering (IPO) by an internet company in history

The question is if Facebook “do a Google” – largely shunning the Wall Street banking group and create a retail offer via an auction? If the numbers reach their target, Mark Zuckerberg will be one of the world’s richest men and Facebook’s 3000 people will command immense wealth.

Cynics however think that though the valuation is impressive, an IPO may pose serious risks for Facebook that has helped more than a billion people communicate with their friends, family and acquaintances.

“Facebook cannot succeed at becoming the world’s main communication platform and produce the short-term results that Wall Street wants,” says David Kirkpatrick, the author of a history of the company called The Facebook Effect.

Facebook has to disclose its financial results by the end of April to abide by the US regulation necessitating any company with more than 500 shareholders to do so. The flotation contains a hope among people that the company is able to start the IPO without any glitches.

Facebook isn’t yet known to have chosen advices, and David Ebersman, the chief financial officer is said to have drafted the S-1 registration form, a critical document usually released by banks, that also works as a disclosure form for regulators and a marketing catalog for the company selling shares.

Lise Buyer, who helped Google organize its IPO and who now gives advice to companies going public on their equation with banks, says, “There’s a tendency in the aggregate for Silicon Valley to be sceptical and cynical about Wall Street. A banker’s seal of approval can help persuade an investor but if you’re Facebook you don’t need that.”

Facebook’s forte is its users and the revenues that may reach $4 billion this year. It is believed that Facebook may sell share by auction as did Google in 2004.

Partly, the concept is to open the sale up to retail investors and sell the shares at a price that is equivalent to true demand, rather than initiating a first day surge for those investors – or who are clients of the bank – who can buy the shares at the IPO. Sheryl Sandberg, Facebook’s chief operating officer, may well be meeting the Wall Street bankers at the end of the month at her tirp to the World Economic Forum.

Facebook IPO, analyst say, should take lessons from how Zynga, who are known for their games Farmville and Cityville that are played on Facebook, did their flotation. They ended their first day below 5pc and are yet to reach the $10 mark they sold for. Some experts think that Zynga actually sold too many shares, it sold 15pc of its stock, at twice the amount offered by Linked- In in May 2011. Linked-In stocks are now at 40pc more than the $45 they were first sold for.

If the share price of Facebook lags months down the line, it is going to be tough to have a follow-offering, when people sell some shares. To avoid a repeat of Zyngna fiasco, it is expected an IPO to value Facebook at closer to $85bn.

“Hype is a big issue around the internet and social media companies,” said Dan Hanson, a managing director at BlackRock. “My starting premise is that the numbers should tell the story. I’m more sceptical on IPOs, because there’s not much history with the companies.”

Sheryl Sandberg, Facebook’s Chief Operating Office says, “We need to be around and thriving when Mark is old. Look at consumer goods giant Procter & Gamble a company that has existed for decades, this is the role-model that Facebook should emulate.”

Kirkpatrick believes that Facebook will be valued at $200bn by the stock market within a couple of years, but is wary about people trying to look at it as the next Google and avoid the next Yahoo! in the rapidly changing internet age.”Would I gamble that Facebook is going to be around in 100 years?” asks Kirkpatrick. “It’s not the sort of company you can make projections about for more than five years out.”

In 2012, Facebook awakens to a new challenge – to balance the demands of new owners (shareholders) along with its strong base of 800m users.

New Year’s Eve Ball Drop

Starwin — Sun, 01 Jan 2012 13:40:04 +0000

A million strong reveler crowd cheered amidst a confetti filled celebration in New York Times Square to welcome 2012, there were glittering display of fireworks and star-studded celebrations as the new year ushered in.

In New York, thousands of people gathered at the crossroads to witness the famous ‘ball drop’ with more than 30,0000 light descending at midnight. Lady Gaga, Mayor Michael Bloomberg, and the iconic Dick Clark led the crowd in the final-minute countdown of the popular crystal-paneled ball drop. The crystal ball on top of Times Square weighs The 11,875-pound (5,386 kg), 12-foot (3.7 m).

December 31, 2011 was the 40^th anniversary of Dick Clark’s New Year Rockin’ Eve. Even though the ‘youngest teenager in the US’ was marred by a stroke that has affected his speech and mobility, the 82 year old is ever enthusiastic. Regis Philbin took over the hosting in the beginning but Ryan Seacrest who is known to the heir apparent with the title : Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve with Ryan Seacrest.

Mayan Calendar 2012 Predictions – End of the World ?

Starwin — Sun, 01 Jan 2012 13:18:53 +0000

Many people believe that December 21, 2012 is the end of the world as we know, thanks to the Mayan Calendar prediction. Warnings and apocalypse claims are found in websites, tourist promotions, bookstore shelves and what have you! There is now a new term floating around called 2012ology.

We have walked the lane before, last year too. In 2011,we had religious preacher Harold Camping taking May and October as doomsday months but nothing happened. However 2012 has a special doomsday ring to it, the reference here are the Mayans , a breed of extinct intelligent civilization that once thrived in the tropical forests of Central America. The disaster flick 2012 had a tag-line First, the Mayan calendar predicted it. . . . Now, science has confirmed it.” Though there was nothing close to the Mayans in the movie.

The thing to note is that the ancient Mayans never predicted the end of the world in 2012, not has it been confirmed by science.

The Mayans who were present during circa D. 250 to 900, are known for producing impressive amounts of marvelous artworks, amazing works in architecture and hieroglyphic texts. They were not known to be interested in apocalypse. More than preoccupying about foretelling the end of the world, the Mayans were interested in recreation, which was a prominent part of their ritual tales and myths.

The Maya looked at time as a complex set of infinite cycles, not a clock inching toward doomsday. One of these cycles is termed as the Maya Long Count, which consist of 5,000years. In our calendrical system, this begins in August 3114 B.C. and is due to end on Dec. 21, 2012 — or, in Maya numerology, 13.0.0.0.0. However, there is nothing to suggest that this date Is the last day of the world. It is nothing more than the rounding up of a number like it did in the case of Y2K in the year 2000.

Just like that date 13.0.0.0.0, the Mayan civilization also has a carved stone plaque from the Mexican site of Tortuguero, which predicted a gloomy event — the “descent” of a deity linked to the underworld, in the year 1996. This led to a myriad set of interpretations online talking about Maya prophecy till epigraphers, people who study the glyphs , investigated the plaque properly.

The agreement today is that this piece of text is actually about a future memorial of that date, when the local ruler will impersonate or represent that deity. It is definitely not a doomsday prophecy but a bold claim that the seventh-century building once marked by the plaque will still be standing in 2012. Doom-sayers however believe that it means nothing but the world ending in 2012.

People who believe that the world will end in December 21, 2012 also say that there is a cosmic map in the form of a carving made in Izapa, Mexico, 2300 years ago; which shows a macaw, a caiman and a well-dressed man. 2012ologists say this is the chart indicating the future of the galaxy, which shows galactic alignment in 2012. Astronomers however say that this galactic realignment talk holds no ground. Also Izapa was a pre-Maya city, where there is no recorded mention of dates.

If these approaches show that December 21, 2012 is not the end of the world, why are people still talking about it as the time when the world calls it quits ? This is due to our belief in ancient wisdom and mythology that may not be proven. The mysteriousness of a prophecy has an element of conformation to it. This is the reason why ‘Da Vinci Code’ sold like hot cakes, people watch Youtube videos about the end and people like Harold Camping getting second and third chances.

Even in Western Civilization, there are lot of teachings in art-work that talk about the world’s end. Did you know that Joachim of Fiore predicted that the world would end in 1260. Many Europeans had listened, with fear in their hearts as they waited for the end of the world with bated breath. William Miller in Vermont picked 1843 and 1844 as the last years of the world. Harold Camping as we know, was gung-ho about the world’s end in 2011.

There have been herculean leaps in science, technology and outlook in life But science for all its credit, has not been able to replace religion, they actually have a symbiotic relationship. No matter how many answers science gives, there are religious aspects that crop up as a natural stemming out of facts. Global warming dangers spell the end of the world. So do Mayan predictions; actually believing in the end of not is a matter of faith.

Jenny Mccarthy kiss on New Year’s Eve

Starwin — Sun, 01 Jan 2012 13:13:14 +0000

Jenny McGarthy kissed an NYPD officer at the stroke of mid-night on BC’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve. It is a long-standing tradition for many, particularly in Times Square, to ring in the new year by sealing a kiss with a loved one or significant other or perhaps someone who has charmed her or him throughout the night. Jenny seemed to have found her special mate in the form of an NYPD police officer who stood near her.

Jenny had to do a bit of explaining about the kiss for which she said, : “I just happened to be standing with that hot cop… nice to meet you! “ Meanwhile, the lucky NYPD officer can’t believe his luck and is rating Jenny McGarthy kiss as a perfect 10..or should it be ‘purrfect 10’ ?

Katy Perry to divorce Russell Brand

Starwin — Sun, 01 Jan 2012 13:05:30 +0000

They met at MTV Music Awards in 2009 and then in 2010, Katy Perry and Russell Brand married in India. The marriage lasted 14 months till Russell called off marriage citing irreconcilable differences” in papers filed at a Los Angeles court. “Sadly, Katy and I are ending our marriage. I’ll always adore her and I know we’ll remain friends,” Brand said in a statement.

“I am married to Katy perpetually. Until death do us part was the pledge. I am still alive, “ was the famous line of Russell in the Ellen Show earlier this month.

However last Christmas, both Katy Perry and Russsell showed up separately and were photgographed without their wedding rings. A friend on the basis of anonymity said that Russell had taken this step because Katy Perry was not keen on starting family and put her career ahead of raising kids.

Random Questions to ask your friends

Starwin — Mon, 12 Dec 2011 13:12:26 +0000

Questions open the door to stimulating conversations. Your friends love you more when you are able to strike an interesting conversation; people are drawn to your charm when you get them to talk about themselves.

There can be many types of friends, there are some really close ones with whom you can share and ask anything that you want, with ‘just friends’ you may have to ask questions that are stimulating, entertaining but not painfully inquisitive and personal. Here are some random questions that you can ask your friends

What is the best part of your work?
Who is your favorite historical character and why?
Does God Exist?
Debate on a topic that holds interest in these days. For instance, what do you think of the new _ video?
Do you agree with last week’s baseball game result? Do you think the referee played fair?
Who is the hottest woman in the world according to you? To girls –Which guy is your kind of guy?
What qualities do you like in an ideal male? To girls- What qualities do you admire in a guy?
What do you dislike in a guy/girl?
If you were a vegetable, what would you be?
What quote motivates you the most?
Who is your favorite actor?
Which was the most embrassing moment of your life?
Which was the last book you read?
What do you like/dislike in Facebook?
Have you travelled to?
What is your favorite food?
Who is your favorite cartoon character?
Is _over-rated?
Did you have a crush on your teacher? Who was your first crush?
Do you miss the 90s?

Funny Google Tricks

Starwin — Mon, 12 Dec 2011 12:20:53 +0000

Check out these funny Google tricks

Most of these funny Google tricks need Google instant enabled. So just go to Google.com/preferences and then play along :

1. Enter “Google Gravity” in the search bar. Hit “I’m feeling lucky” (if you have Google Instant enabled, it’s on the right hand side of the suggested searches). Then watch your world fall down.

2. Simply search for the word “askew.” Please do not tilt your head.

3. The Google doodle enjoy it at google.com/pacman.

4. Set your iGoogle homepage to the beach theme. Wait until 3:14am (or if you can’t, just move your clock forward)

5. This one took shape as an easter egg, and became well appreciated that Google included it as a feature in Google Earth. Click on Tools > Enter Flight Simulator, and you’re off and flying around the planet. Bon voyage!

6. Type ‘google l33t’ in search box and click I’m feeling lucky

7. Type ‘ ewmew fudd’ in search box and click I’m feeling lucky.

8. Type ‘ xx-klingon’ in search box and click I’m feeling lucky.

9. Type ‘google loco’ in search box and click I’m feeling lucky. Then try to do some searches too.

10. Type ‘google gothic’ in search box and click I’m feeling lucky. Then try to do some searches too

11. Type ‘ xx-piglatin’ in search box and click I’m feeling lucky.

Things to do when you are bored at home

Starwin — Mon, 12 Dec 2011 12:10:01 +0000

What are the things that you can do when you are bored at home? Here is a list :

Put music in full blast, drop your hair down and dance
Watch funny Youtube videos
Read an interesting story of your favorite author
Watch a movie of your favorite genre
Bake a cake
Write a story, go on it gets interesting with every line
Drink some tea to perk yourself up
Have a refreshing, long bath
Read an inspiring book
Knit or crochet something
Go to your favorite café and chill
Draw out a paper and find out how you’d like to make a million
Sing a song on Karoke mode. Make a video if you want and upload on Youtube or other video sharing sites.
Go to websites that you enjoy, read funny, nasty comments and add your own
Free some hard drive space on your computer
Take some nap
Write a blog post
Clean your room
Try out a new hair style
Experiment with makeup
Learn five new words from a dictionary
Read up five things on Wikipedia
Organize your wardrobe
Call your friend and have fun
Do gardening, weed the garden
Find out how to tone up the problem area in your body
Watch facial yoga and power yoga on youtube
Order a pizza
Learn a phrase in a foreign language
Make a sandwich
Offer to babysit for a friend
Go out and watch the sun go down or the sun go up
Make a mixed CD, create a DVD of your favorite movies or clips
Draw a picture, do painting
Barbecue
Go through a recipe book, try your hand at a new dish
Ride a bike
Camp in your own garden
Go for a drive
Wash your car
Do boating
Visit an art gallery
Organize your books in order
Find out what things you can give you to the scrap dealer
Go through old newspaper articles and magazines and read them over
Manage your money, track your expenses, make a budget
Volunteer for charity
Go through your old emails and read the memorable ones that you’ve starred
Find a topic of interest and seek answers to when , why, how, where of it
Things about your school days, call up an old pal

Things to do in an elevator

Starwin — Mon, 12 Dec 2011 11:50:12 +0000

What are the funny things to do in an elevator? Here are some of them:

1. Stand silent and still in a corner facing the wall without getting off

2. Say ‘Ding’ at each floor

3. Greet everyone and ask him or her to call you ‘aye captain’

4. Make explosive noises whenever someone presses a button

5. Meow or bark occassionally

6. Draw a little circle with a chalk on the floor and say ‘ This is my personal space’.

7. If there is just one person in the lift, tap him or her on the shoulder and say it wasn’t you.

8. Drop an object and when someone bends to pick it up, say ‘Hey it is mine !’

9. Say loudly ‘Hey we won, you weren’t there to watch it happen’.