Favorite Look of the Week:

Saturday, July 13:

Credit:

Getty Images

Emma Watson looked really cool At a Dior dinner in Paris, France wearing black top with black jeans.

Saturday, July 12:

Credit:

GC Images

Taylor Swift looked SO  sporting an edgy and modern suit walking around in New York City. The dramatic all-black style is definitely a different look that we're used to seeing on Taylor, but her fashion risk definitely paid off!


Friday, July 11:

Credit: Courtesy of Hasbro

Austin Mahone looked so cool  on the red carpet meet and greet for the Simon Swipe Presents Austin Mahone Live event at the iHeartRadio Theater in NYC. We love his totally stylish black and white striped hoodie and colorful sneakers!


Wednesday, June 9

Credit: Twitter

Harry Styles looked incredible rocking a turban-like headband and cool white shirt with black stripes in Barcelona, Spain. He made his look even more casual by unbuttoning a bit of his linen shirt (swoon) and rocking aviator sunglasses.

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Israeli air strikes on Gaza

Israeli air strikes on Gaza

Israeli air strikes on Gaza and rocket fire on Israel have continued, on the seventh day of Israel's operation against Palestinian militants.

Palestinian officials say at least 175 people in Gaza have been killed since the offensive began last Tuesday.

Israel says nearly 1,000 rockets have been fired from Gaza in that time. It said it shot down a Palestinian drone near Ashdod on Monday morning.

Thousands of people have fled homes in northern Gaza after an Israeli warning.

Israel has massed thousands of troops on the border, amid speculation of a possible a ground invasion.

An interview being given by the Israeli prime minister was interrupted by an air raid warning system on Sunday

The current wave of violence followed the killing of three Israeli teenagers in June and the suspected revenge killing of a Palestinian teenager in Jerusalem.

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Selena Gomez Responds to Hateful Comment on Instagram

This is not the first time, and we do not think it will be the last time that a celebrity stands up to an online bully.Demi Lovato has done it, Justin Bieber befriended a victim of an online bully and now Selena Gomez is speaking up against her own! 

On one of Selena's recent Instagram post, a bully posted some very hurtful things to the"Come and Get It" singer. After insulting her talent, her looks and also wishing horrible things to happen to her, Selena noticed and took action. Not only did Selena respond to the online bully, she shared her comment with all of her Instagram followers. 

She captioned the photo below, "Honestly, I don't speak up much because it's simply *always* taken out of context. But I don't take bullying well. I have seen too much to not say anything.

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Germany Wins World Cup, Stars Tweet Support For Sport

The final whistle has been blown, and the 2014 FIFA World Cup is officially over. Germany andArgentina fought until the final minute of standard game time, as well as an additional 30 minutes of over time. It was Germany to score the one and only goal of the game, and will be heading home as the champions.

As much as we enjoyed every minutes of the intense game, some of our favorite stars did as well. While most where cheering on their favorite team, and talking about the stress the game was causing them on Twitter, some were bring us the comic relief. Check out some of our favorite World Cup tweets, below

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'Sam & Cat' Has Officially Been Cancelled

'Sam & Cat' Has Officially Been Cancelled

Fans of sam and cat  been worried about the state of Ariana Grande and Jennette McCurdy's hit show ever since Jennette skipped out on the Kids Choice Awards, but Nickelodeon has confirmed that it's official —Sam & Cat is over for good. The final episode will air on July 17th.

Nickelodeon didn't offer any details about the cancellation, merely saying, "We are very proud of the show and its very talented cast and we wish them all the best."

While Jennette hasn't commented on the show's end yet — even though she's been online, posting selfies on Instagram — Ariana wrote a long message on her Facebook and Twitter accounts expressing her gratitude for the show and its creator.

"I will always hold Cat near and dear to my heart and appreciate her help in my personal growth from teenager to adult," Ariana said. "I know she seems like a simple, daft character (and she is) but she played such a huge part in my life."

However, in Ariana's 750-word response, she never once mentions Jennette or her character, which makes us think that there might still be tension between the two costars — Jennette and Ariana currently aren't following each other on Twitter.

She continued, "The guys behind the scenes couldn't have been more pleasant or hard working and I appreciate them for that so much. I can't imagine that there is a more pleasant or professional crew in Hollywood."

Could that be a subtle jab at Jennette's professionalism? Ariana also posted a cryptic tweet about a "spontaneous tweet attack" from an unnamed someone.

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U.S. web companies press demands for net neutrality with FCC

U.S. web companies press demands for net neutrality with FCC

By Alina Selyukh

Reuters 

Major U.S. web companies on Monday urged regulators to restrict the ability of Internet providers including mobile carriers to strike deals for faster delivery of some web traffic and planned a publicity campaign about the government's proposal.

The Internet Association, which represents three dozen web companies such as Google Inc, Netflix Inc and Amazon.com Inc, made their case in a filing with the Federal Communications Commission, which plans to establish new so-called "net neutrality" rules.

The rules guide how Internet service providers (ISPs) manage traffic on their networks, aiming to ensure they do not unfairly limit consumers' access to website and applications.
In January, a court ruling struck down the FCC's previous version of such rules. The agency is now collecting public comments on a proposal that would ban ISPs from blocking users' access to websites or applications but allow some "commercially reasonable" deals between content providers and ISPs to prioritize delivery of some traffic.

In its comments on Monday, the Internet Association criticized the possibility of ISPs charging content providers "for enhanced or prioritized access" and called for equal Internet traffic rules for both wired and wireless networks.

"The Internet is threatened by broadband Internet access providers who would turn the open, best-efforts Internet into a pay-for-priority platform more closely resembling cable television than today's Internet," the group wrote.
The Internet Association argued that allowing technical "reasonable network management" should give ISPs enough flexibility to deal with congested networks, while paid prioritization on non-congested networks is likely to mean faster download speeds for some at the expense of others.

Dozens of tech companies in June called on the FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler to adopt rules that would protect the openness of Internet, but Monday's comments represent a more detailed industry position.
The Internet Association in the next few weeks plans to roll out a campaign about the FCC's proposal and net neutrality, distributing infographics and videos and inviting Internet users to suggest amendments to the FCC's proposed rules through an interactive document viewer on its website, the association's President Michael Beckerman told Reuters.

In particular, the Internet Association's push may spotlight anti-blocking and anti-discrimination rules that in the past applied differently to fixed and wireless Internet traffic.

"We're going to be getting pretty vocal about this issue," Beckerman said. "It doesn't make sense anymore to differentiate the way net neutrality applies to mobile and wireline."

A senior FCC official last month told Reuters the issue will have "big resonance" at the FCC. Wireless carriers argue that stricter rules may hurt how they manage their dynamic shared networks, leading to slower Internet speeds for everyone.

Wheeler on Friday reiterated his plan to reject paid prioritization deals that are struck in bad faith: "If it hurts competition, if it hurts consumers, if it hurts innovation, I'm against it and we're not going to tolerate it."

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iPhone 6 5.5-Inch Model Facing Yield Issues, Launch May be Pushed to 2015: Analyst

iPhone 6 5.5-Inch Model Facing Yield Issues, Launch May be Pushed to 2015: Analyst

NDTV

 Ketan Pratap

It seems nothing is going Apple's way when it comes to the next iPhone's production. A recent report suggested that the company might face component yield issues in an attempt to meet the thin form factor of the iPhone 6.

Now, KGI Securities' analyst Ming-Chi Kuo claims that due to production issues, the launch of the alleged larger iPhone 6 variant, believed to be the 5.5-inch model, may be delayed to next year. He adds that in any case the phone is indeed launched in October, it is likely be available in limited quantities.

MacRumors quotes Kuo who noted, "Production bottlenecks on 4.7-inch iPhone 6 centre on the yield rate of in-cell touch panel and metal casing. As in-cell touch panel becomes larger in size, the edge of the panel may become insensitive to touch. Meanwhile, under new manufacturing process for the iPhone 6 metal casing, colour unevenness is an issue."

Notably, this is not the first case of yield issues reported for the long-rumoured 5.5-inch iPhone 6 variant. Back in May, a report suggested that the use of costly sapphire as a display material, waslimiting the production of the alleged iPhone 6 with 5.5-inch display.

Last week, a report tipped that Apple might introduce a new haptic feedback technology in its next generation iPhone devices, while another leak suggested that the company had almost doubled orders for the iPhone 6 when compared to the iPhone 5.

Earlier this month, a report revealed a September 25 (Thursday) availability date for the alleged 4.7- and 5.5-inch iPhone 6 models, which is not in line with Apple's traditional Friday launch, while also claiming that the name of the larger 5.5-inch iPhone 6 variant will be iPhone Air.

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Your Smartphone Could be Charged by Water Droplets

Your Smartphone Could be Charged by Water Droplets

 Indo Asian News Service

What if humidity in the air can be used to power your smartphones or iPads? With new findings that water droplets can generate small amounts of electricity, this appears possible in near future.

Researchers at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) have discovered that when water droplets spontaneously jump away from superhydrophobic surfaces during condensation, they can gain electric charge in the process.

Apart from charging electronic devices, the new system could also produce clean water.

The device will have a series of interleaved flat metal plates that can be made of cheaper aluminium.

"As water droplets jump, they carry charge from one plate to the other; if the two plates are connected through an external circuit, that charge difference can be harnessed to provide power," said post-doctoral fellow Nenad Miljkovic and Evelyn Wang, an associate professor of mechanical engineering, at MIT.

The system is based on earlier findings by Miljkovic and Wang that droplets on a superhydrophobic surface convert surface energy to kinetic energy as they merge to form larger droplets.

This sometimes causes the droplets to spontaneously jump away, enhancing heat transfer by 30 percent relative to other techniques.

They later found that in that process, the jumping droplets gain a small electric charge.

In a practical device, two arrays of metal plates - like fins on a radiator - would be interleaved so that they are very close but not touching.

"The atmosphere is a huge source of power and all you need is a temperature difference between the air and the device," Miljkovic added.

This will allow the device to produce condensation, just as water condenses from warm, humid air on the outside of a cold glass, he said in a paper published in the journal Applied Physics Letters.

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Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf Website Gets Hacked

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf Website Gets Hacked:

Check below the screenshot taken when PTI’s website was defaced (which has been restored now).

Official website of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf was hacked last night by a Pakistani hacker group that wants to be known as “Muslim Cyber Group”.

PTI’s website remained defaced for several hours showing a message from hackers for Imran Khan that argued that PTI Leader should be more vocal for the people of Gaza.

Defaced page read:

Hacked by W3b_dR1ft3R

Muslim Cyber Army

Hello Dear Imran Khan !!

I Have hacked your website just to ask you some questions and want to suggest you few thing. First of all, being a Muslim we should have pain for other fellow Muslims (Palestinians). Israel is burning them.

Instead of having unity in country your activities are just for fitna and nothing else. Pakistan is in state of war now so lets make it strong so can stand and fight for other Muslims who are burning in Palestine.

Pakistan Zindabad

Long live Palestine

Instead of discussing the defacement message or the stand that Imran Khan has taken for the people of Gaza, the main crux one can make out of this hack is that PTI’s website wasn’t secure and it was defaced by hackers.

Here’s the Zone-H mirror of defaced page:  http://zone-hc.com/archive/mirror/47a5753_insaf.pk_mirror_.html

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Winners and losers of the 2014 World Cup

Winners and losers of the 2014 World Cup

By Michelle Kaufman
The Miami Herald 

RIO DE JANEIRO — The history books will show that Germany won the 2014 World Cup 1-0 in extra time over Argentina, becoming the first European team to win the trophy on South American soil and denying Argentine star Lionel Messi the one achievement that is missing from his incredible resume.
But there were plenty of other winners and losers at this monthlong tournament, starting with host Brazil.
Brazil the host was a winner, defying naysayers who predicted this country might love soccer more than any other, but it did not have the infrastructure or public support to pull off a sporting event of this magnitude. They were wrong. Brazil's World Cup worked and will go down in history as one of the most exciting in recent memory.

Brazil the team, however, ended the tournament in shame. The Jogo Bonito was officially laid to rest in Belo Horizonte last Tuesday, after an embarrassing 7-1 loss to Germany, and the 3-0 loss to Netherlands in the third-place game confirmed that something is very wrong with Brazilian soccer.

Even before poster boy Neymar went out with a back injury, the team was struggling. Its dream was to finally win a World Cup at Maracana. Instead, it had to watch rival Argentina and Germany steal its stage.
Here are some other winners and losers from Brazil 2014:

—Winner: Costa Rica. Who would have imagined when the Ticos were drawn into a group with former World Cup champions England, Italy and Uruguay, that Costa Rica would come out on top? The Ticos reached the quarterfinals, and it was no fluke. Great goalkeeper. Great coach in Jorge Luis Pinto.
—Loser: Spain. The defending World Cup champion, loaded with Barcelona and Real Madrid multimillion-dollar stars, went out in the first round. Tiki-taka didn't work this time.

—Winner: Brazilian pineapple, mango, papaya, bananas and hearts of palm ("palmitas"). The fruits and hearts of palm here are truly delicious, more tasty than I've had anywhere in the world. Also, big thumbs up for "Moqueqa,'" a Brazilian fish/seafood stew made with tomatoes and coconut milk.
—Loser: Carb-free diets. One of the most popular foods here is Pao de Queijo, cheese buns. They are everywhere. At airports, gas stations, street vendors, bakeries, you name it. They're not big on green veggies here. Their side dishes are much more potato- and white rice-heavy, and they love to eat empanada pastries filled with everything you can imagine.

—Winner: CONCACAF goalkeepers. Tim Howard (USA), Guillermo Ochoa (Mexico) and Keyler Navas (Costa Rica) were all outstanding. They kept their teams in games. American fans will always remember Howard's World Cup-record 16 saves against Belgium. He was already known among soccer fans as a truly world-class player, but now casual fans know him, too. As well they should. Bonus: He's a great guy and an inspiration to others afflicted with Tourrette's Syndrome.
—Loser: Cristiano Ronaldo. For all his preening and fantastic resume, the Portuguese star had an unforgettable tournament. In his defense, he was playing through a knee injury, which clearly affected him. But still, expected to see more from him.

—Winner: Brazilian graffiti artists. Everywhere you go in Brazil, particularly in Sao Paulo and Rio, you will encounter fantastic colorful murals painted on walls by graffiti artists. These aren't just any graffiti drawings. They are works of art. Some of the artists have become so famous they are commissioned for big money to paint walls. The most famous are identical twin brothers Otavio and Gutavo Pandolfo, who go by the name "Os Gemeos" (The Twins). Their work is on display on walls in Berlin, Moscow, Lisbon, New York City and in Miami's Wynwood district.

—Loser: Brazilian napkins. They are small. Really small. More like cocktail napkins. And thin. Really thin. Like tissue paper. I found myself grabbing five or six at every meal.

—Winner: ESPN and Univision. Ratings for this World Cup smashed previous records, partly because of the time zone, but also because this tournament was really exciting, American fans have finally joined the world's biggest sports party, and both networks did a good job of broadcasting the excitement back home.
—Loser: Asian soccer. There is intense interest in the sport in Asia and a lot of merchandise sales, but they had four teams here (Japan, South Korea, Iran and Australia), and combined for zero wins.

—Winner: Heine Allemagne. He's the Brazilian inventor of the magic foam spray being used by referees to keep the defensive wall 10 yards away on free kicks. The spray, officially called 9.15 Fair Play (the metric distance of the wall) vanishes in 60 seconds and has reportedly reduced the time of free kicks from 48 seconds to 20. Allemagne comes from a poor background and will likely get rich from the spray if it catches on worldwide. Right now it is used only in Brazil.

—Loser: Luis Suarez. The Uruguayan star is one of the best players in the world and looked fantastic against England. But his habitual biting got him in trouble again. Suarez sank his teeth into the shoulder of Italian defender Giorgio Chiellini, and Suarez was thrown out of the sport for four months.

—Winner: U.S. Soccer. They might not have attacked as much as promised, but the plucky Americans with their never-say-die spirit survived the Group of Death, lost only 1-0 to eventual champion Germany (which beat Portugal 4-0 and Brazil 7-1), and played their hearts out in a Round of 16 thriller against Belgium. Most important of all, they captivated millions of fans back home.
—Winner: Jorge Luis Pinto. The Costa Rican coach gained a world's worth of respect for the job he did with a Ticos team nobody expected to advance. His tactics and leadership were big reasons the Costa Ricans did so well.

—Loser: Chilean fans. We admire them for being so passionate about their team, but invading the Estadio Maracana media center in an attempt to crash into the game without tickets was not a wise idea. The 85 overzealous fans were deported.

—Winners: The World Cup is ultimate audition for players, the place to be noticed by fans and scouts from every continent. Among those who had breakout performances were Divock Origi (Belgium), Xherdan "The Alpine Messi" Shaqiri (Switzerland), Memphis Depay (Netherlands), Matt Besler, Jermaine Jones and DeAndre Yedlin (United States) and Blaise Matuidi (France).

—Loser: Jozy Altidore's hamstring. The American forward had been looking in form of late and was fired up for a big tournament after disappointing season for Sunderland in England. But he strained his hamstring in full stride early in the opening game against Ghana and never got a chance to play again.

—Winner: James Rodriguez. When Colombian star Falcao announced his surgically repaired knee was not recovered in time for the World Cup, Colombian fans (and most soccer experts) figured their tournament hopes were dashed. They were wrong. Rodriguez proved to be a star in his own right, scoring a tournament-leading six goals even though the Cafeteros were eliminated in the quarters.

—Winner, then Loser: Axelle Despiegelaere. The pretty 17-year-old Belgian fan was shown on TV during Belgium's group matches, the photos went viral and cosmetic giant L'Oreal offered a modeling contract. But they yanked it when they saw her Facebook page, which included a photo of her with a gun over a dead animal and the caption: Ready to hunt Americans.

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iOS 8: will Apple's new Message leave users confused?

iOS 8: will Apple's new Message leave users confused?

Charles Arthur

Guardian News 

Apple is taking a calculated risk with its iOS 8 software, due in autumn. It's tweaking the Messages app, normally used to send text messages, with pictures or videos attached if you want, so that it can also send short voice snippets.

Not only that; it's building in Snapchat-like or WhatsApp-like functionality, so that the snippets will auto-delete within a few seconds of the receiver listening to them, as will photos or videos taken via a newly-introduced function in the app.


Why is this a big risk? Because the Messages app is, like the SMS app on any smartphone, the one that on average people use most frequently (even if they don't spend the longest time in it compared to other apps). Tweaking how a popular app or function works is as dangerous as defusing a bomb; get it wrong and you can just be left with wreckage.

The obvious example of messing something up is Microsoft's dramatic change to the interface in Windows 8, which got rid of the Start button, familiar since 1995's Windows 95, in favour of a tile-based interface. While power users delighted in it, the reaction I've repeatedly seen from ordinary users familiar with Windows 7 and its forebears is puzzlement, followed by frustration, and then a search for alternatives And that's just the process for launching apps.

What Apple is doing with Messages isn't so dramatic, but iMessage is a cornerstone of Apple's mobile strategy. Introduced in 2011, it now handles more than 40bn messages a day between the half-billion or so iOS devices (iPhones and iPads, principally). And it only works on and between Apple devices, because of how its security system works – a competitive edge for Apple.

The new functions – record a quick video, take a picture, or record a quick voice message – are being added by the medium of the "long press". Long press on the camera icon (left of the text entry space), and you go to the live camera settings. Long press on the microphone icon (on the right of the text entry space) and you can record and send a quick slice of audio. (Apparently the latter is very popular on apps in China — where "typing a quick note" isn't quick because the character set is more complex than our Roman script.)

Obviously, teens who love iMessage will figure this out within minutes of updating to iOS 8. But I'm more intrigued by the less frequent or eager users, who will probably discover the new features completely by accident, and may wonder what they've done to make it happen. But will they be able to extricate themselves from it if they accidentally fall in? That's the real test of how good the user interface is.
You can see some early screenshots on Apple's website – where you can decide if undoing a long press is easy or not. For photos or videos, it looks as if it might be: a pretty clear "x" suggests you can undo what you're up to.

But with the short voice messages, it's trickier. The microphone icon is in the space that used to say "Send". It's only there if you don't include any text, though; start typing and it vanishes (because you can't send a voice/and/mail message). On that basis, lots of people won't discover it. Apple's probably fine with that.
But if by chance you do press and hold the microphone icon, it starts recording straight away. That's going to puzzle people who didn't really mean to press it. How do you stop it? There's a small "X" in the space to the left of a "play" icon; above that is an "up" arrow. Hit Play? Hit X? Hit "up"?

I suspect the "up" arrow will be hugely tempting for people trying to reverse out of what they perceive to be a wrong turn — to some, it will suggest "get me out of here!" Instead, it will send the recording to the recipient. I foresee that once iOS 8 is in widespread use (on past patterns, less than a month), iPhone users may have to get used to receiving puzzlingly silent voice messages text as its creator fumbles for the right buttons.

Even so, Apple must feel that some puzzlement is a necessary evil in the interests of keeping users on iMessage – and thus the iPhone. The risk to its integrated phone platform comes if its key functions are unbundled so that iPhone owners start using someone else's app for maps, another for messaging, another for browsing. You can already get apps that will do all those on the iPhone, of course, but Apple is counting on retaining users by offering more integrated functionality. The evidence is that people do stick with Apple's defaults. But as apps gain more functions, it can't count on that. Thus Messages, as the iPhone's most-used app, is the essential place to start on a retention campaign. You've been warned, though: expect a few pregnant pauses in the autumn.

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Google's Play Store is getting a big, visually intensive makeover

Google's Play Store is getting a big, visually intensive makeover

Jon Fingas

Engadget 

Many would argue that the Google Play Store for Android is useful in its current form, but pretty? Not so much. However, there are now signs that it's going to be much better-looking -- if not necessarily more functional. 

Android Police has obtained a wealth of screenshots hinting at a big Play Store revamp that borrows more than a few pages from the company's new Material Design handbook. Extra-large artwork is everywhere, and there are now a slew of icons that make it clear what you'll be getting, such as mature content. 

The layout isn't perfect; there's a lot of scrolling, for example, and some of the sharing features appear to be buried at the bottom. With that said, the new storefront is billed as a work in progress with no definite release date. It wouldn't be out of the question to see a few tweaks before the store reaches your mobile device of choice.

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