I didn’t know about her before but, had seen photos of her mixing with other socialites and models. She has a refreshingly ‘intellectual’ style of her own.  She looks like she should be holding a book at all times and her style reflects that. Her name is Jessica Joffe born in German, used to work as a reporter for New York Observer. She is the daughter of intellectuals (her mother is a writer and her father is the publisher/editor of Germany’s Die Zeit), was educated at a progressive British boarding school and has a degree in comparative literature from Stanford. She is working as a model now. The above photos are from German magazine Celebrity.

There is a tremendous amount of hubbub around the D.C. socialites who crashed a White House Party this week.  It seems that Tareq and Michaele Salahi just showed up at the White House, gave the Secret Service their IDs and Social Security numbers so they could be run through quick background checks, and then shook hands with President Obama while enjoying his first (and theirs) State Dinner.

So….what is the problem?

Well, it turns out that they weren’t on the guest list and after she posted numerous photos on her Facebook page, the Secret Service was extremely embarrassed.

Because…..well……um…..this is a head scratcher.

What exactly do you do with uninvited guests?  What do we do with unwanted Customers.

Go ahead and gasp, but we all know that we have all had Customers that we don’t want.

They may be the ones that complain about every little thing.  They could be the ones that are never satisfied.  Perhaps they are the ones that take up all of your time (hello, Mr. Pareto!)

Whatever the case is, what do you do with them?

Do you kill them with kindness?  Do you lavish attention on them and work tirelessly to make them happy? Or do you tell them to go away, as did Southwest Airlines co-founder and former CEO Herb Kelleher when a long-complaining Customer once threatened to leave?

Whatever the case, I would suggest that you find out what they want and then determine if it is reasonable and can be achieved.  Do they feel like they are not getting enough TLC?  Is our product simply flawed and they are unhappy?  Or are they perpetual complainers and we may have to actually fire them (a la Herb).

However, I would not suggest arresting them…especially if it takes a week to figure out exactly if what they did was wrong.

I’d love to hear your stories about Customers that you wished would go away…and your thoughts on the D.C. Party Crashers.  By the way, in case the White House is interested, I am still available to consult as the Customer Service Czar!

Thanks for reading,

Brandon

Pero no en la esquina que acostumbra, ni tampoco en su faceta de actriz porno o de zorra, no, esta vez la Paris nos intenta vender sus articulos para la belleza, ya saben esos que segun ella te hacen igualita a ella, bitch please!, como si la bitch esta usara esas cosas tan baratas, pobres de todas las adolescentes gordas y sin autoestima que quieren ser igual de taradas y zorras que ella…

click para agrandar

I don’t know how it happened. At some point I went from thinking that socialites only existed in movies and New York City, to literally reading about Toronto “socialite” Ainsley Kerr every friggin time I check my email.

First it was this piece from Eye Weekly, which isn’t necessary to read because I can sum it up in a few sentences: A blogger who seems to write less for the purpose of writing and more for the purpose of stirring shit up so people will write about her, penned a catty dis to Kerr which caused a bit of a brawl on the comments board. I’m not even sure why the article was published in the first place, or why I linked to it above, because it’s seems to me like it’s a case of petty jealousy directed  from one wanna-be socialite who is a journalist towards one wanna-be journalist who is a socialite.

Then there was my Toro newsletter which always includes photo shoots of well known women (well, well known for Canadian standards). Who was that woman this time? None other than Kerr (one of the photos is above), in a rather uninspiring and sometimes awkward spread. Yes she is attractive, yes she is a socialite (as ridiculous as that title is), but I don’t think she is as worthy, talent wise, as some of Toro’s other female photo subjects.

Then literally just a few minutes ago I checked my twitter feed and clicked on a link from a new blog that I was beginning to respect and enjoy and guess who I saw? Yup, Kerr again. Now, at least this post seemed more to mock than to celebrate Kerr’s ability to be attractive and rich at the same time (not an easy task, it’s like rubbing your stomach and patting your head at the same time), but the fact is, the more we write about it, the more we legitimize the whole idea that just because people come from money it’s enough to make us look up to them. Which actually brings me to this, where I ask you to forget everything I just wrote. And next time someone asks you if Toronto has any of it’s own socialites, just laugh and say “what? I thought they only existed in movies and New York City.”

Trust me, it’s better for us all.

Como siempre cuando hay buenas primeras partes, siempre debe haber una segunda, asi que ya llegó lo que esperaban, la Segunda Reunión Six Flags, viene renovada con más personas y personajes, qué tal eh? No se lo esperaban.

La cita es el 6 de diciembre.

Hora: 10 am.

Lugar: Entrada Six Flags México (más especificos en la bandera mexicana)

Foto de la reunión pasada.

Ya tengo a varias personas confirmadas. Empezaremos a hacer lista, la semana que viene costeo y publico precios y promociones. La hora y el lugar para quedarnos de ver es tentativo si quieren que nos veamos en alguna estación del metro (como sucedió la vez pasada) podemos volverlo a hacer.

Cualquier duda o sugerencia en este su bló de confianza o al correo: manguito@nippix.org

Manhattan has many girls about town who grace the covers of social pages and blogs, but one such lady has taken Manhattan by storm and ruffled the feathers of the Upper East Side prim and proper.

Born Evelyn Byrd Bell, “Byrdie” has proven herself as both a socialite and talented actress and now has followed the ranks of Hearst and Hilton by signing with Ford Models. Her fierce beauty and effortless downtown style have got people looking, and now there is no turning back. There is one blaring difference, however, between Byrdie and the majority of NYC “society” – Byrdie is actually a societal figure. Born into an amazingly long line of Evelyn Byrd’s – dating back to the daughter of Colonel William Byrd II, the founder of Richmond, Virginia – Byrdie is shaking up the social world and putting some blue blood back into the mix of Manhattan mutts.

The Byrd women were historically known for their unprecedented beauty, and our Brydie is following suit. I don’t know whether it’s her bed head hair or day after eye makeup, but something about her makes me want to light up a Virgina Slim (it’s only fitting to honor her roots), drink some champagne and have some good old reckless fun.

Take a look at our Bell of the ball in action…

In Elie Saab

In Nina Ricci

Epitomizing downtown chic

Once upon a time in a land not too far away was a girl who grew up from humble beginnings. Her parents weren’t royalty or socialites. They didn’t have a large corporation or fancy connections, but this little girl knew that one day she would be just as privileged as all the fancy people she saw on the society pages.

Early on this girl decided that she would find some way to experience and understand the world in which these socialites lived. With her determination, creativity and intelligence she quickly realized that the easiest and most cost-effective way to meet her future peers was to volunteer at these galas and parties.

She toiled hours and hours working various volunteer gigs not only to familiarize herself and understand the causes which they supported, but to also get to know the social scene which others seemed to so easily take for granted. The dresses, the galas, and the parties were all part of normal life for others, but for this girl it was a signal of something better.

After years of volunteering and being below the social radar a fairy board member took notice of the girl and befriended her. She introduced her to all the right people and helped groom her in the ways of this new and exciting world. The girl had come across numerous board members of various charities before but so few, if any, were willing to take a stranger, especially one with no connections under their wing. It seemed as if they wanted to keep these positions solely for their inner circle.

The two floated from event to event working the rooms and meeting new people, but if the girl did have to work an event she enjoyed didn’t mind because she was able to meet the amazing people behind the scenes of these events. It didn’t matter if she had to spend the entire evening checking in guest. She learned that all you needed to have a good time was a positive attitude, a great big smile, and being open to put yourself out there and meet new people.

One day, after the girl had been stretching herself thin just to make a dent in the privileged world, the fairy board member decided that it was time to try and transform the girl from a volunteer to a real-live Board member. Now some may say that there are plenty of board positions for various non-profits but this was for the prestigious San Francisco Opera BRAVO! Club. This organization has a history and glamour about it that one would only dream of being privileged enough to be bestowed a position.

The girl diligently continued to volunteer all in hopes of transforming. Then after years of persistence, determination, optimism, and hard work it finally happened. The girl was called and formally told that she had been selected to join the BRAVO! Board.

The End? I don’t think so…

Yup that’s right after years of constant volunteering I’ve finally made it on a non-profit board. So moral of the story keep up that persistence and determination you never know how long it may take or where it will take you, but keep it up and one day…eventually…good things will happen.

Now for some they may think that my goal is a small one but for me it’s more of a symbolic thing. It’s a marker that shows I can move up and there are bigger and better things just waiting for me. Now I may have to work twice as much just to get some opportunities that others simply have laid out before them, but if that means that I don’t have to take the safe (a.k.a not me) route (i.e become a nurse to please my parents) and I can use my brain and creativity to prove that I won’t be struggling and poor forever then that’s the way it’s just going to have to be.

So here’s to fairytales happening and good opportunities yet to come.

This sweater reminds me of all the extremely stylish matrons of world renown who are the woman behind the man.  Jackie Onassis, Brooke Astor, etc.  They were larger than life women with class and pride.  I found this sweater by Chantkare and for the first time in my second life, I want to put on white hair, talk about botox, and dress like my life depended upon it.

Manhattan Power Wife

My story for this character is a first wife; there for her man when he was just a lowly stock trader.  He is now a titan of industry, but resentful of all that she has done for him.  To assert his fledgling identity, he has been sleeping with a young model and like that it is out with the older, and in with the teenybopper.

But hell have no fury like a woman scorned.  She has hired the best divorce attorneys and hawked all her priceless jewelry to pay for them.  She still dresses like a queen, but her throne is in danger.  To show her husband, and the world, that a wife isn’t so easily dismissed, she has gallivanted and strutted her way into half his fortune and his company.  They might not be man and wife, but he’ll be pleasing her until his dying day.  Women like this always have the last laugh.  It’s catty and empowering.  I love it.

What the bitch is wearing all the way to the bank:

*League* Skin Pale -Misty- Golden Glow Dark Bald BT

fri. – Jules – Melancholy White

ROLE OPTIC SG-53 Eternity

p.c; Vintage Black Earrings

CHANTKARE- Paula SWEATER DRESS  IVORY

Zaara : Vanisri wrapped necklace *amythest-silver*

fri. – Wide Waist.Belt (Bright.Lime)

::: B@R ::: Emanuela Purple

M * A * ii * K * I Long Legging Pearl

Maitreya Neyya * Violet Leather

Although Kanye recently broke up with Amber to focus on his post Taylor Swift music, I must go on record and say that this woman is so beautiful I would meal of her body! MADNESS! That being said, am I the only one who wants to see shorty with some hair?  Here are some pics of her out with her friends recently.

Hoy les ofrecemos -en edición de lunes-:

Semanita de pedas, pedas y pedas

Que onda mis viejos y viejas, hoy amanecí crudísimo, aunque anoche nomás nos tomamos una cubita mi cada vez más sorprendente novia y yo, como quiera que sea se me juntaron todas las desveladas, pedas y crudas de la semana pasada y aqui estoy todo madreado pero no hay pedo, tengan sus domingueras!!

El PajOn y su primo.

Y es que a mi pueblito querido llego mi primo, procedente de los US y como buen primo de este lado del arroyo me di a la tarea de ponerme pedo con él, con ellos y con ellas… las noches se hicieron días, cheve tras cheve, botellas tras botella. Aqui una probadita de los estragos:

Y ya no les escribo más porque tengo que ir a curarme la panza.. gracias primo, buen viaje y hasta pronto. FIN

Primo Del PajOn: Ni madres!! Pon el otro video!!

PajOn: Mmm.. No primo, ese no!

Primo del PajOn: Que lo pongas!!! …o revelo tus secretillos.

PajOn: Ok ok..

EL PAJON SE ESTRENA COMO CANTANTE

Lo que hace la peda

¿Cómo que si pelo un chango a mordidas no? O ya mínimo pa’ cantar en el transporte público…jajaja Dejen sus comentarios!!

todos quieren ser gatos jazz!

What is Sorry, Darlin you ask? One part silly fun, a dose of class, and of course a heaping spoonful of pure, unadulturated authenticity (being who you are without ANY reservations). You know, just being the best superwoman you can be. Atlanta-socialite Ariana Nicole was obviously my first pick for Darlin of the Month for November.

The interview took place on the Octane patio, where we discovered that salted bagels are delicious, and especially with the veggie cream cheese! (I also had yummy coffee from the french press!)

Ariana, you were my first choice because, on top of all the hotness you possess… a Georgia Tech student and also on the dance team! That is seriously a quite the workload I’m sure! What are you studying?

International Affairs and Psychology.. it has to do with a lot of business and politics.

Wow, that’s quite a major! I always read your tweets about Calculus and think how awesome it is that you are taking such challenging courses. As a lady, I’ll say it’s hard to find girls with smarts like that! And what’s this about dance team?? I must know more!

Yeah! It’s great! I love the girls and the games. It’s so much fun getting all dolled up, wearing glitter, being a girl…. and it’s great because it’s senior year and we get to travel.

Awesome. Another reason I wanted to interview you is because we are kindred spirits. These days with all the nightlife ambiguous-ness, a lot of us resort to social-networking sites to keep up with each other. I noticed we both seem to enjoy quotes, books, and the like. Any books, or authors you’d like to suggest?

Oh! I’m so excited! I just purchased all of the Douglas Adams Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy! So definitely that.  A few authors I read are Chuck Palahniuk, Oscar Wilde, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, and I absolutely LOVE all Bukowski poetry. I think he’s hilarious.

Who would you say is a hero/icon to you… you know like Ava Gardner for example ?

OH ME TOO! I love Ava. You should read “Love is Nothing”… It’s incredible. She was glamorous … I read that book in two days! I’ll let you borrow it!

Oh my gosh of course! Oh and I HAVE to ask … favorite band?

Definitely Radiohead. The Bends is my favorite album. Their music is timeless. I love how every album is so completely different.

Alright. Everyone has a nerdy side. Kiss n’ tell girl!

Ok… This is really… ha.. really embarrassing. I am obsessed with RPG games. Ultima Online for example.

Ha. It’s alright.. I was very addicted to Farm Town for a while.. I don’t think you can top that.

It was so much fun interviewing Ariana! Darlin of the Month is going to be a new edition to our blog entries! We’ll be on the look out for any other extraordinary superwomen out there in the ATL!

-Gina Marie (the artist formerly known as isthissoma)

Paris was spotted last night arriving to LAX from Las Vegas. Paris was paid a few thousand bucks to host a millionaire private party in Las Vegas on Wednesday night! It’s no lie that Paris likes to partay but is Paris partying too much with her nose that she had to get a new one? Hum…

Source: X17

the image of jean shrimpton was shot by david bailey in 1962. giving you vintage fashion model, shrimton graduated from the lucie clayton modeling school at the age of 17, in 1960.  she re-emerges on the cover of british vogue’s beauty supplement for december. her resume includes posing for revlon, covers for vogue in both 1962 & 1963. shrimpton’s social resume includes being engaged to the man who shot this image, david bailey, as well as rolling stones front man, mick jagger. i think its dope they opted for a vintage cover.

Internet-based communication is changing so quickly these days that there seems to be an endless stream of beta releases. Yesterday, Simon wrote about some of the latest browser betas; let’s look at a few products and services for interacting with social networks, Twitter and instant messaging.

I don’t generally like living on the bleeding edge, but some betas are very usable, and I’ve already incorporated them into my daily workflow. Others look promising, but are not stable or are lacking too many features right now. But all of the following are worth trying, and watching as they develop. We’ll review them more thoroughly as they mature.

Adium is my favorite IM client for the Mac OS (s aapl). Its latest beta supports all of the instant messaging protocols, and also has rudimentary support for Twitter and Facebook Chat. Unfortunately, the latter is not working as I write this, although a fix is expected shortly.

VoxOx is an ambitious program combining IM; social networks (Facebook, MySpace and Twitter); SMS texting; faxing; private email; file sharing; video conversations; and voice connections. As I wrote a few days ago, it is very rough around the edges now, and desperately needs improved tools for managing contacts.

Imo.im is a web-based multi-system instant messaging client with some intriguing features, like shared whiteboards. This service is listed as being in alpha, so we can assume that it has considerable development ahead of it.

Brizzly is a web-based service that looks a lot like Twitter’s own web interface, but with improvements. It supports multiple Twitter accounts and has recently added Facebook support. The multiple accounts aren’t as well integrated as I would like, but I assume that will come.

Tweetminer is another web-based service that includes support for multiple Twitter accounts, tweet scheduling, and RSS feeds. Its interface is attractive, but features are minimal at the moment. There are also Adobe AIR or Fluid-based desktop versions, for those who prefer standalone apps.

Socialite (formerly EventBox, which Imran wrote about here) has just released beta 2, which seemingly broke support for Facebook updates. When this issue is fixed, Socialite could become my favorite, as it combines support for Facebook, Facebook Pages, multiple Twitter accounts, RSS feeds and Google Reader in one attractive interface.

Seesmic Desktop is another Twitter and Facebook program which has worked well for me, but it shares with many Adobe AIR programs some ugly screen fonts and a propensity for using large amounts of memory. Seesmic also has a promising web version, but so far, it lacks support for multiple Twitter accounts, and for Facebook.

Nambu only does Twitter, but does it very well, in what I think is the most attractive interface of any program of its type. I can choose three different layouts, and switch between them easily. Nambu’s development is very rapid, with a new beta released every couple of days.

I find the popular Tweetdeck to be totally unreadable and unusable, due to its AIR interface. I wish Adobe (s adbe) would make AIR on the Mac look as good as the native OS X fonts and windows.

There are lots more betas out there, of course. What beta software and services do you use?

Image credit: Stock.xchng user OmirOnia

Por los medios y caminos más insospechados es que llegué a estar con esta niña excepcional. La conocí en un lugar lleno de frikis como nosotros, de hecho en una convención de tales seres peculiares. Por entonces y en parte como una extensión de mi hobby (o por compromiso con los amigos), estaba ayudando a vender los comics hechos por el grupo a la algo indecisa horda de fans que se reunió en una convención. Verla llegar, entrar en buena plática y sentirme absorbido por su simpatía fueron una misma cosa, que extendimos por bastantes minutos en los que sentí que tenía que volver a verla. De ahí que le pedí su correo por si quería seguir platicando de cualquier cosa después. Se llama Viridiana, pero todos le decimos Viri.

Así sucedió, sus pláticas fueron siempre interesantes y bienintacionadas, y hace un año volví a verla por algunos minutos tras una obra del grupo teatral que era otra de sus grandes aficiones. Le pasé un disco con cosas selectas para ver, leer y escuchar, como un agradecimiento y, honestamente, para mostrar mi interés en volvernos a ver. Por entonces yo tenía en la cabeza muchas cosas que ordenar y cambios que realizar, pero para cuando se asentó el polvo de esa muy necesaria revolución interna, las cosas se dieron para volver a vernos en otra convención. Reconectamos perfecto y la invité a salir formalmente.

Ahora, han de comprender un error honesto de mi parte. Por un lado, soy terriblemente malo para calcular a la vista la edad de las personas a menos que sea muy evidente. Digamos que mi margen de error puede ser de alrededor de 5 o 6 años por arriba o por debajo de la edad real de una persona. Así que en verdad pensé que Viri tenía unos 22 o 23 años. Afortunadamente, ella también me calculó mal, y para cuando ya estábamos saliendo con miras a algo más, pensó que yo tendría unos 24 o 26 años, no 31. De pronto no pensé que fuera tanto, hasta que me dijo que tenía 17. Oh, sí.

Seguimos saliendo, Viri cumplió los 18 y le dije bien claras mis intenciones por si quería no continuar, pero nos estábamos llevando muy bien, como siempre. Justo antes de irme a la Legendaria Fiesta Nippixera, yo estaba seguro que todo saldría bien aunque tuviera que esperar un tiempo. Regresando salimos una vez más, nos dijimos las cosas bien y de frente, y el resto de la historia me pone en la posición feliz y orgullosa de compartir con ustedes que hoy cumplo 6 meses con ella. Todo un rácord, si tenemos en cuenta que nadie me había aguantado más de 4 meses (una chava incluso me duró media hora, jeje). Y no podría estar más feliz en esta relación armoniosa y fascinante a la vez como ninguna antes.

Así que felicítenme, o aconséjenla, o declárennos dementes a ambos. Las cosas seguirán bien hasta donde puedo ver el futuro, y es todo un honor hacerlos partícipes de mi buena fortuna. Y no olviden tomarse un trago a nuestra salud y felicidad. Les dejo un favorito de ambos, Ergo Proxy (luego les cuento, rivaliza con Evangelion). ¡Salud!

-

The Cobalt Blue Dress

Female fashion hits another home run with this one. Blue is the color of 2 of our planet’s greatest features, the ocean and the sky. Why not place this color on our next greatest gift — the woman. Alright, maybe I got a little too poetic with that one, but the point is that the blue dress is a legit female fashion item.

And not just any blue — it has to be deep … indigo … cobalt. The idea is to achieve the effect of a moving jewel when you (the girl) walks in the room. Blue, especially one so striking, is often thought to be best left on the bodies of 17 year old homecoming queens — and that myth needs to end. I know for a fact my head would turn (and turn) if I saw a dark-haired, slender figure draped in a blue, strapless, A-line ensemble confidently sway by me. There’s no way to not notice it. The deep blue dress gets the stamp of approval from the Fashionisto!

Also, blue is my favorite color.

Between Rihanna and Kim Kardashian, it’s tough to pick which one is my favorite … dress, of course (*ahem*).

——-

Gap 1969 Jeans

Alright, Fashionisto has been reserved for female fashion since I decided to start it. Then it, randomly (aka obviously), struck me, “I’m a guy … I also wear clothes … why not highlight male fashion, too?” And here we are.

The Gap 1969 Jeans are without doubt my top pick among jeans that exist today. They’re amazing. Minimalistic and versatile, the 1969 can work for the indi-pop kid, the hip-hop jamming skateboarder, or the business class weekend warrior — doesn’t matter what you do/are, they work.

I got my first pair about 2 years ago, and still have them, actually. Where other jeans start wearing down and fading out, the 1969 remains strong. And not to mention, the fit. They legitimately feel good, especially my fit of choice, the Authentic. This fit is a seamless merging of skinny fit, straight leg, and classic — also it has a button fly, which really makes you feel like you’re doing something fashionable.

1969 Jeans are made for girls too, of course, but this is the guys sections, so I’ll worry about the ladies later, for that. Also, I’ve never worn a pair of ladies jeans, so I can’t speak on how well they fit … well, I’ve never worn a dress either, but I still review those … look, never mind, the point is I’ll go over the 1969 for girls on another day.

Guys, get your hands on a pair of these, and you’ll find it’s the only brand you purchase from now on — trust the Fashionisto!

They’d definitely look good with Humanzee.

_Reverend Zombie 12.25

Humanzee … is that you?

Katherine Keating recently experienced some rough treatment at the hands of a photographer while attending an A-List function. Tracy Spicer writes eloquently that by attending such a function as a guest, there is a transaction involved. Ms Keating complained about the incident. It has been suggested that extenuating circumstances may have caused her to forget the implied transaction between A-Listers and publicists.

Maybe she was annoyed by the media attention to her Amy Winehouse get-up. Perhaps she was channelling Amy Winehouse a bit too much. It really doesn’t matter. Had she complained to the media directly, as Katherine Keating, rather than running to her father to fix things, this all would have been a paragraph in the social columns.

Instead a former prime minister, infamous for his belittling, gutter-mouthed, parliamentary privilege protected insults, has called for the privacy laws to be changed. Thirteen years after voters told him to take his bat and go home, he continues to berate those he views as opponents.

In SMH articles he is happy to attack all and sundry, employing near libelous comments filled with vitriol and gutter-sniping, yet now is unable to accept that the worm may have turned. His own daughter is on the receiving end, and ex-PM Keating is demanding a rewrite of the law.

Of course he is.

What father wouldn’t?

Well, perhaps some well-known fathers may suggest that trading on the family name while making a fool of yourself is doing both a disservice to the family and to yourself. Other lesser known fathers may simply say, ‘wake up to yourself.’

Either way, Katherine was courting disaster by behaving badly in a public arena to which she had been invited. While this is about celebrities and their right to privacy, it’s also about acceptable behaviour by a young woman who happens to be the daughter of an ex prime minister. She was invited as the daughter of an ex PM. On that night she was beholden to two transactions. As an A-lister, there was the expected acquiescence to photos. More importantly, as the daughter of an ex prime minister there was the expected behaviour befitting someone who is dining out on the family name.

On both counts she failed.

All the way back in April, I took a look at the explosion of twitter applications for OS X, after realizing that my then client of choice, twhirl, was essentially end-of-lifed after being acquired by Seesmic. After much exploration, I found EventBox, which was in beta and combined twitter with RSS feeds, Facebook and a bunch of other services. Unlike many of the other social networking clients out there, EventBox had a very Mac-like UI, and while short on some features, did a lot of things really well.

So I paid my $15 and used EventBox to manage my Facebook and Twitter feeds, and after NetNewsWire acquired ads, migrated my RSS feeds to Google Reader, which was supported by EventBox. So with one app, I could manage several things all at once. EventBox had a small development team that was pretty responsive, and while not associated with a large, trendy fan base like Seesmic Desktop, was a cool app nonetheless. Recently, EventBox development forked into a separate beta called Multibox, that had a lot of future features intended for EventBox. It lacked some functionality, though, like smart folders and even Facebook integration, so I kept using my EventBox beta, which served my purposes and held the promise of a lot of new functionality and even an iPhone app. I was a happy, nerdy social networker

Well, all that’s down the toilet.

Several weeks ago, EventBox was acquired by RealMac Software. I thought “Great-now they’ll have resources to bring new functionality to EventBox in a more rapid timeframe.” Boy, was I misguided. First, they renamed the app “Socialite” (note to RealMac Software: if you’re trying to build awareness of a new application whose user base is still pretty small compared with the big apps like TweetDeck and Seesmic Desktop, don’t change the name).

Then they released a beta today that broke most of everything.

First I noticed that my Google Reader items, after being marked as Read, reverted to Unread after the service was refreshed. Then I quit Socialite to see if that would help, only to find that after restarting, the main window was not there unless I went into the menu bar and selected it. The Preferences item was grayed out, and a host of bugs ensued. I took the advice of RealMac and rebuilt the various services like Twitter and Facebook, and at least the prefs and window behaved as normal. But then I found that threads were no longer functional, whereas they had worked fine in previous EventBox betas. And Facebook keeps trying to update and fails. And yes, the Google Reader unread items bug is still present.

Realizing that one of my most-used applications no longer works, I went back and tried Seesmic Desktop, and while the interface is, to put it mildly, suboptimal, it works. Even better, it has a lot of functionality that isn’t found in Socialite/EventBox, and probably never will. Seesmic Desktop doesn’t do RSS, but I went back to NetNewsWire, and that works fine as always. I just have to ignore the ads, which is no big deal.

Back to Socialite. It’s a shame that RealMac killed it with this beta. I’m willing to wait it out and see if things improve, but I’d like to see new features, not bug fixes just to get me back to where I was before today. True, I could revert to the last beta of EventBox, but why bother when I have stability and added functionality, albeit with two applications rather than one?

In terms of social networking apps, I use Echofon (neé Twitterfon-what’s with all these social networking applications changing names all of a sudden? Geez…) on my iPhone, but could be convinced to use TweetDeck if I also cared to use it on my MacBook Pro, which I don’t, mainly because its layout is even worse than Seesmic’s. I’d be interested in seeing Seesmic’s forthcoming iPhone app, especially if it enabled syncing. EventBox was planning an iPhone app in the future, but that effort seems kinda dead for the foreseeable future. Which is a shame.

I’d love to have a single application that did twitter/FB/RSS and synced with my iPhone. But that isn’t the case so far. I paid for Twitterfon (now Echofon) and am pretty happy with that. I paid for EventBox (now Socialite) and am no longer happy with that. Seesmic is free, at least for now, and I can put up with the bad UI given that it works pretty well.

So this has been counterintuitive. I thought that a larger company acquiring a small application development team would be a recipe for success from a user perspective. It isn’t, at least in this case. I remember many, many years ago when Symantec acquired the makers of MacTools Pro. MTP was a really great system repair utility, perhaps the best ever. Symantec killed it after buying it. Norton Utilities for the Mac never approached the usability and versatility of MTP. In the case of RealMac buying the manufacturer of EventBox, it’s even worse, since the damned software doesn’t work. And who charges for a beta anyway? Paying for it sorta made sense at the time because it sounded like a 1.0 release was really on the horizon, and I could save a little money over the price when the official release came out. In retrospect, that was stupid. And it’s insane that the original developers (The Cosmic Machine) and now RealMac charged and continue to charge. I’d like a refund, although I doubt that will ever be in the cards. I’ll probably never ever pay for a beta, even as much as I like to support small software developers.

Sigh…back to checking my RSS feeds, Facebook and Twitter feeds. It’s an experience.

we will be collaborating with elivo for an elite kids club which will simply be called elivo kids.we will be producing tote bags for and also bright vibrant tees for kids! Do drop by and check out these super awesome filled fun! elivo will also have a site up soon.we will keep you updated!

Gold Foil Dress

Female fashion has the incredible ability to attract attention — due in no small part to the fact that females are wearing the clothes. Aside from this minor detail (haha) the clothes women wear are generally bolder, cut lower, and more dynamic than male fashion. I believe the natural qualities of anything are best put to use when they’re presented boldly, and if core features of female fashion are brightness and visibility, why not accentuate this?

This is why I greatly enjoy the gold foil (or lamé) dress. The concept is to be clearly seen, without completely crossing the “PLEASE, look at me!!” line. Fall is the season of yellows, oranges, and browns, and this dress offers the ability to combine the muted colors of the season with a flair of visual interest — and there you have contrast, a critical element of good art and design.

The time of relegating gold, silver, and sequin fabrics to the stage, or Cirque de Soleil has passed! Wear them and make your life an attraction! Be forewarned though — this dress is not in season at every point in the year, nor is it even in style every year. But hey, fashion is your own, so if you wish to wear a gold foil bikini in the middle of August, in a season where polka dots are all the rage, who am I (or anyone else, for that matter) to stop you?

And, here it is in action ..

All these ladies are puttin’ it together right .. and lest any of us forget how (ridiculously) fine Kim Kardashian is:

Alright, went off on a Kardashian tangent there, but the point is … the gold foil dress is LEGIT!

——-

Hatake Kakashi

I’m doin’ my thing yesterday, y’know, enjoying life and building toward the future, when I get a text message from a good friend of mine, Fraggle — “Yo dawg when you gonna blog about hatake kakashi?!!?? He’s my favorite” … I have zero problem with that, and I love having my friends involved in anything I’m doing, so here we are!

This man is raw. Another major character in the Naruto manga/anime series, Hatake Kakashi reigns as one of the most naturally gifted, hard working, and … well … cool ninjas in the entire series. Before I was acquainted with the raw heroism and power of Jiraiya, or the ferocious intelligence of Shikamaru, Kakashi was undoubtedly my favorite character, as well.

His lineage is just as incredible as his natural and trained ability. He’s the son of Hatake Sakumo (the genius shinobi known as ‘Konoha’s White Fang’), the student of Namikaze Minato (the 4th Hokage, and unbelievably strong), and the sensei of Uzumaki Naruto (the freakin main character of the series — obviously powerful). Surrounded by rawness.

Not to mention he possesses the Sharingan … aka the god mode of the Naruto universe. Raikiri!? Try and stand against if you want. Kamui!!?? It starts to become clear why most ninja start shaking when they realize their facing ‘Kakashi of the Sharingan’.

So yeah, he’s buck. Oh, and not to mention, he has an interest in girly, slightly pornographic, romance novels — authored by none other than Jiraiya, himself. A complete charcter, in my book!

The “romantic” novel, in question^

_Reverend Zombie 14.00

Humanzee … is that you?

Be Sure to Save the Dave for the Joint Southern California and San Francisco Bay Area Educational Conference to be Held on Jan. 22, 23, and 24 at the Embassy Suites in Burlingame.  

The classes will offer timely information, hands-on participation, and a chance to further your knowledge in many aspects of the image industry.   

Highlights of “A Collage of Learning” include: 

• Carla Mathis, AICI CIM, presenting “Psychology of Style”
• Mimi Dorsey, AICI CIP, presenting “Your Style Passport: Providing Image Services for Travelers”
• Helena Chen, AICI CIP, presenting “Are You Having a Fit About Fit? Understanding Line, Design, and Fit”
• Joseph Rosenfeld, AICI CIP, presenting “Neckwear Knowledge: Tying it Together”
• Gillian Armour, AICI CIP, presenting “How to Become and E-Socialite”

Stay tuned for more information about these image education packed trainings and three more surprise speakers to be announced soon. 

The rate for the 3 day education conference is $395

The Embassy Suites discounted room rate is $149/night 

Take your business to a higher level! Attend the 2010 AICI Southern California and Bay Area joint education conference. 

Date:
Jan 22, 23, and 24, 2010

Location:
Embassy Suites Burlingame
150 Anza Blvd.
Burlingame, CA 94010
650.342.4600 
(minutes from San Francisco Airport)

Cost:
$395

Muito foda…baseado do cd hormônio da banda americana Green Day , é da mesma equipe do sucesso Spring Awakening