The Onion pokes fun at Apple and Apple fanboys in this hilarious video about a fictional new MacBook called the MacBook Wheel - "any file is just a few hundred clicks a way." Take a look:
Korean automaker Hyundai has launched a car plan targeted at those concerned they may lose their jobs but still want to purchase a new car. The program called Hyundai Assurance says that if in the next year you lose your income, they'll let you return the car you bought.
MSN's Smart Spending Blog listed a few of the finer points of the deal. One of the points is that the Hyundai Assurance benefit is worth up to $7,500 and is based on Hyundai's determination of what your vehicle is worth.
The Hyundai Assurance benefit is worth up to $7,500 and is based on Hyundai's determination of what your vehicle is worth "based on the average of your dealer's appraisal and the values from leading industry guides," the company says. That amount is applied to what you owe. You pay the difference if it's more than that.
You have to finance or lease the car to qualify.
The offer is limited to those who involuntarily lose their job, get transferred overseas, become disabled, lose their driver's license due to physical impairment, are self-employed and file for bankruptcy -- or accidentally die.
It's an unusual offer that will at least get many people researching Hyundai cars to see if the offer is something they are interested in. You can read more coverage of Hyundai's Assurance offer here, here, here, here and here.
Rachel Zoe, who does regular shoe and handbag picks for Piperlime, is now also running a contest with the online shoe merchant. The contest called Win a Day in Rachel Zoe's Shoes will fly the grand prize winner and a friend to L.A. to meet Rachel Zoe. The $10,000 prize also includes a three day stay at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel, a $2,000 shopping spree at Rachel Zoe's favorite L.A. spots and a $500 spending spree on the Piperlime website.
Jenny Craig Inc. has announced that Grammy award winner and Oscar-nominated actress Queen Latifah will stay on as a celebrity spokesperson for the company in 2009. In 2008, Queen Latifah successfully losing 20 pounds and dropping 20 cholesterol points through the Jenny Craig program.
In 2008, Queen Latifah helped convey Jenny Craig's core message of weight-loss and the impact it has on one's health. Having lost her great-grandmother to type II diabetes, she understands the impact of illnesses related to weight. By successfully losing 20 pounds and dropping 20 cholesterol points through the Jenny Craig program, she demonstrated that making small lifestyle changes, along with diet and exercise, can reduce the risk of obesity-related illnesses, like diabetes, high cholesterol and heart disease.
Jenny Craig has a series of webisodes and a blog from Queen Latifah here on its website. Kudos to the Queen for looking so fab.
President Elect Obama was just an Illinois state senator when he agreed
to be one of three layman restaurant critics to appear on Amanda Puck's show to discuss their favorite restaurants.
Obama offered up a Hyde Park eatery called Dixie Kitchen. And though the 15-year-old restaurant didn't benefit from any free publicity years ago, it no doubt will wind up on the radar screen of a lot of restaurant patrons when the lost episode finally airs twice on WTTW on Jan. 16, again Jan. 18 and once more at 4 a.m. Jan. 20, the day Obama is sworn in as president.
In case you're wondering, a WTTW spokeswoman couldn't tell us exactly why the "Check, Please!" episode with Obama never aired. But for its belated debut this month, the show's producers have apparently re-edited the episode and added more existing Obama footage to enhance the show's appeal just a bit more.
Here's a small bit of the video. It's hilarious: Barack is just as calm, cool and collected as ever, as he intensely discusses the perils of eating too many Johnny Cakes (fried cornmeal cakes) and not saving room for the amazing peach cobbler. Take a look:
Patrick Swayze talks with Barbara Walters tomorrow night in his first interview since he was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. He says he's going through hell with the treatment, but is determined to be hopeful and positive.
"You can bet that I'm going through hell," Swayze told Barbara Walters in an interview airing on ABC Wednesday night. "And I've only seen the beginning of it."
In his first interview since his grim diagnosis last January, a gaunt Swayze, 56, said he realized his health was faltering late in 2007.
It wasn't until that New Year's Eve, which he celebrated with his wife, Lisa Niemi, that the pain in his stomach became unbearable.
"I tried to have champagne, and it would be like pouring acid on an open wound," Swayze said.
From then on, his health deteriorated at a frightening pace. Devastating bouts of indigestion set in. His weight started to plummet.
"I dropped about 20 pounds in the blink of an eye," Swayze said. "And then when you see it in the mirror, when all of a sudden, you pull your eyes down and the bottom of your eyes go yellow and jaundice sets in - then you know something's wrong."
*****
Because the cancer had spread to his liver, surgery was not an option. So Swayze endured an aggressive course of chemotherapy and took the experimental drug Vatalanib.
His weakened body responded well to the treatments, allowing him to accept a role in the new TV series, "The Beast."
*****
"I don't know what's on the other side," he said. "It tests everything I believe in and that here is something unique in all of us that does not, does not die."
"What winning is to me is not giving up, is no matter what's thrown at me. I can take it, and I can keep going."
His story is a courageous one: we wish him all the best. Barbara Walters Special-Patrick Swayze: The Truthairs Wednesday, January 7, 2009 at 10:00 p.m. Eastern/9:00 Central time on ABC.
Designer children's wear is a growing market, despite the recession. Fashionable tots are in, it seems.
"We continue to have great sell-through and are starting to see [strong] growth in the Web business," said Tracy Edwards, vice president and divisional "merchandise manager at Barneys New York. She cited Phillip Lim Kids, Little Ella Moss, John Galliano and Little Marc Jacobs among leading lines, with downsized versions of designer brands in hot demand.
"Over the last six to 12 months, kids' wear, as you might expect, is outperforming women’s wear, which is outperforming men's wear," stated Richard Chamberlain, a London-based equity analyst at J.P. Morgan.
"Kids' wear is still king," echoed ex-Bonpoint designer and artistic director Domitille Brion. Noting the recent mushrooming of trendy kids' wear brands, Brion, who this spring launched Soeur, a "very Saint-Germain" label targeting 10- to 16-year-olds, sees the fashion-ization of the kids' wear category as inevitable. "There are a lot fewer kids' brands than adult brands so there's space to fill, and there's a whole mini-me [phenomenon] going on where women want to see their kids as extensions of themselves," said the designer-cum-consultant, who is due to open a second Soeur store in Paris' 16th arrondissement.
*****
From the denim to the luxury fields, a range of nontraditional players is among the sector's new kids on the block. These include Acne, Anne Valerie Hash, Clements Ribeiro and Surface to Air, whose first line, Fangs, a medium-priced range comprising organic T-shirts, sweatshirts and jeans illustrated by Gordon Hull, will hit stores this spring. In November, Jean Paul Gaultier unveiled its first children's wear license, signed with Groupe Zannier. The debut collection will hit store's next fall.
Moschino, Choloe and John Galliano are all doing children's lines. Galliano's line is licensed to Diesel and is selling quite well. The Galliano brand is expanding to the Middle East, France, Italy and Eastern Europe. Many status-conscious moms are using their children's outfits to compete, which is kind of silly if you ask us. We think mommy needs a new pair of shoes before toddler needs something from John Galliano. Although if mommy can afford both, more power to her.
People and US Weekly are reporting that actress Alyssa Milano is engaged to Hollywood agent David Bugliari. They have been dating for over a year according to People.
Milano, 36, will marry David Bugliari, an agent at the Creative Arts Agency. The couple have been dating for more than a year.
No further information about their nuptials - including a wedding date - has been announced.
Milano was previously married to Cinjun Tate. The couple split in 1999.
Lately, Alyssa Milano has been seen in a guest starring role on My Name Is Earl. She's also been blogging for Major League Baseball and working on her own sports clothing line for women called Touch. Congratulations Alyssa!
Apple is going to start a new pricing plan for sales of iTunes songs. Most songs cost 99 cents today but under the new plan songs will cost either 66 cents, 99 cents or $1.29. The Wall Street Journalsays the "vast majority" of songs will cost 69 cents under the new pricing model but some sought-after songs may cost $1.29.
Apple has historically priced nearly all its songs at 99 cents each. Under a new pricing plan, songs will cost either 69 cents, 99 cents or $1.29, depending on how desirable they are considered. Apple is likely to sell the "vast majority" of the songs for 69 cents, people familiar with the matter said. But they cautioned that the handful of the most sought-after songs -- which generate the vast majority of sales on the service -- would likely cost $1.29.
It sounds a little vague and we will have to wait and see which songs cost $1.29 and which songs cost 69 cents. If it is the most sough-after songs that cost $1.29 then that could mean iTunes users end up paying more under the new paln. The changes are expected to be announced at Macworld on Tuesday. Apple will also be dropping digital rights management (DRM) on most of the songs it sells on iTunes, which is something Apple CEO Steve Jobs hinted at in 2007.
Alfred Shaheen - the designer credited with being the pioneer for the Hawaiian shirt - died at the end of December at age 86. He's not as well known as many of today's fashion designers but he had a huge influence on Hawaii and on spreading Hawaii's style around the globe. Metro.co.uk says that some of Shaheen's designs sell for over 500 pounds or $735 U.S. You can see photos from his studio and life on the website at alfredshaheen.com. They also sell some vintage Alfred Shaheen clothes on the website. You can read some obits here, here and here. The Guardian'sstory includes a gallery of Shaheen's Hawaiian shirts in films and tv including Elvis Presley's shirt from Blue Hawaii (pictured above).