If you talk to someone who claims to work in Search or is an SEO expert ask them what you can Google to test their skills. What better test of search engine optimization than their name, in my case Eric Friedman.
Recently Google offered free cards promoting your Google Profile in conjunction with iPrint to produce the follow business cards:
Microsoft took the wraps off Bing, the rebranded and rebuilt search engine formerly code-named Kumo, designed to replace Live Search. It's a solid improvement over the previous search product, and it beats Google in important areas. It will help Microsoft gain share in the search business. It's surprisingly competitive with Google.
Superman has been the ultimate favourite with kids all over the world. He has become a household name over the ages. With spider-man and bat-man having done their jobs, its time for the super-cool superman to prove his mettle. ‘Superman returns’ will be releasing on June 30th. The costs by then will be reaching $300 million. Phew! I wonder how many supermen are returning with that much moolah invested. Originally it was $200m with first director McG before Bryan Singer took over. When Bryan took over they had to re-shoot. And now it's anywhere between $290m and $300m.Warner Brothers, the studio producing the film, claims the budget to actually be $204 million, but industry experts say that roughly $255 million has already been spent.
In point of fact it surpasses movies like spider-man, King Kong and titanic where the budget is concerned. Hope this magnum opus venture turns out to be a huge sensation. In any case the ‘superman sensation’ prevails!
1) Air France l'Espace Premiere lounge, Pa
2) American Airlines Flagship Lounge, New York
3) British Airways Concorde Room, London
4) Cathay Pacific The Pier, Hong Kong
5) Emirates Airlines Lounge, New York
6) Lufthansa First-Class Lounge, Frankfurt
7) Qantas First-Class Lounge, Sydney
8) Qatar Airways Premium Terminal, Doha
9) South African Airways Cycad First Class Lounge, Johannesburg
10) Virgin Atlantic Clubhouse, London
Jenna Jameson, the world's most famous porn star, has done a far better job of exploiting herself than any sleazy peddler could hope to do. Since 1993 the onetime blonde (now brunette)bombshell has starred in 50-odd adult movies, selling millions of copies worldwide. Today thousands of members pay $35 a month for access to her Web site, ClubJenna.com, where they can linger over nude pictures of her, download her racy movies and read her lurid diary. Her fans can rent her digital moan as the ringer on their cell phones and buy Jenna sex toys, action figures--and even a piece of herself, molded in soft plastic, anatomically accurate and priced to move at $200.
But here's the weird part:Jenna Jameson hasn't had sex on-camera with a male partner (other than her husband) in seven years; better yet, she hopes to build her thriving business even bigger without ever again having video sex with anyone--male, female or herself. "Ialways wanted to be a star," says Jameson, 31. "I've always embraced my hard-core roots, but becoming a household name was an important thing to me."
She has transcended the sex trade to become a bona fide celebrity, hounded by the tabloids and fervid fans. Her memoir, How to Make Love Like a Porn Star, spent six weeks on the New York Times bestseller list last year. She has appeared 30 times on Howard Stern's radio show, most recently to disclaim a rumor that she was sleeping with Britney Spears, and had a small role in his 1997 film, Private Parts. She shows up on such TV talk shows as The O'Reilly Factor. The A&E network is looking at the just-completed pilot for her hoped-for reality series, and she wants to do a film on her life story.
Her holding company, ClubJenna, will hit revenues of $30 million this year, up 30% in a year; the profits may approach half of that. She owns and operates ClubJenna with her husband, Jay G. Grdina, a producer or director of 900 adult films. "This has developed from an individual star into a porn conglomerate," he says. "Her brand has been developed with the reputation of being the best, and now we are capitalizing on that and monetizing the name." They hope to move into Jenna-branded strip clubs, cosmetics, an apparel line and bejeweled sex toys.
Jameson says she has shot enough new hard-core footage with her husband (who performs under the name "Justin Sterling") to let them release a couple of Jenna flicks each year for a decade. The typical adult release sells 3,000 copies in the first month; a Jenna Jameson sells 50,000 at a retail price of $50 each. Moreover, she has lined up a stable of five new actresses to make films under the ClubJenna label, boosting her production from three films last year to a projected three dozen in 2005. The first release, which debuted late last year and stars Krystal Steal, features Jameson beside her on the cover and includes a tryst between them--and sold 30,000 copies in the first month.
"Not doing my movies doesn't mean retirement," Jameson says in an interview at her plush home in Scottsdale, Ariz. "It means more work--and more money." She pays her new stars a base of $50,000 to $150,000 a year, plus a 3% cut of any sales over the 10,000-copy mark. It is a rare setup in a business that releases 11,500 films a year, racking up $4 billion of a total $15 billion in U.S. sales of sex-related goods. Had Jameson herself gotten a cut of sales of her early films, she now would bring in an extra $750,000 a year.
The duo formed ClubJenna as an Internet porn company in 2000; ClubJenna.com was one of the first adult sites to feature fare beyond explicit picture and video content. Jenna provided diaries, advice on relationships and plastic surgery, even stock tips. They were profitable in their third week, but "Dot-com became dot-bomb pretty quickly," says Grdina, "so we decided to diversify." They began running other porn stars' Web sites and still run them for 16 actors, including all 5 ClubJenna women and Vivid Entertainment starlets Tera Patrick and Briana Banks. Web site management and membership fees make up $12 million, or 40%, of ClubJenna's annual revenue.
Vivid, the world's largest adult film company, with $100million in sales in 2004, distributes and markets ClubJenna films for a 30% cut of sales. The raunchy movies, which often feature bondage and have Jenna canoodling mightily with myriad women, make up one-third of total revenue and are the most profitable part of the business, earning net margins well above 50%. Briana Loves Jenna, co-produced with Vivid, cost $280,000 to make in 2001. It grossed over $1 million in its first year and still sells more than 3,000 copies a month. This month ClubJenna releases Jenna Loves Pain.
Jameson also is in a six-year contract with sex-toy maker Doc Johnson, getting a flat licensing fee plus a cut of sales. Jameson takes an active role in the design and marketing of all her toys, says Ronald Braverman, Doc Johnson's chief executive, who dispels any notion that Grdina controls the business and Jenna is simply a pretty face. "Some people might think Jenna is some blonde bimbo because of her films, but they are wrong," he says. "When we sit down for business meetings, she never leaves the room."
Now she is taking on the ever-growing cell phone market (see FORBES, May 23). Y-Tell, ClubJenna's wireless company, sells Jenna "moan tones," pictures, chat services and games in 50-50 partnerships with 20 carriers around the world. Jenna content is available to 35 million people acrossthe globe, mostly in Europe and South America. Grdina says there have been at least 4 million Jenna-related downloads, though the U.S. market has yet to catch fire.
Now we can imagine why she is the wealthiest of the Porn Stars?
Geologists place the age of the Earth at around 4.5 billion years. Grand Canyon Facts reveal that the oldest rock in the Inner Gorge is nearly 2 billion years old! The limestone that caps the rim of the Grand Canyon is a young 270 million years. The oldest human artifacts date back 12,000 years.
Can you imagine the persistence of the Colorado River to cut a canyon that is 4,000 feet deep for 277 miles, and digs down to 6,000 feet at its deepest and 15 miles at its widest? That's some river! It's hard to imagine how the Grand Canyon was formed by flowing water.
The Grand Canyon Sky Walk opened in March 2007. According to Grand Canyon Facts, it is an amazing feat of architecture, allowing you the feeling of floating over the depths as you look down through the glass-bottomed loop.
# Over 1,500 plant, 355 bird, 89 mammalian, 47 reptile, 9 amphibian, and 17 fish species are found in the park.
I think they are a comfortable and a nice alternative to our regular wardrobe.
They are smart , trendy and comfortable plus Monochrome is in this year so what are you waiting for , go grab one right now............
All About Kat
29 Random Facts
You just can't get enough of Kat, the Queen of Portraits. Well, today is your lucky day, buddy. We sat down with her and collected all the info that hard-core fans would wanna know.
1. Kat Von D stands for Katherine Von Drachenberg (my father is of German descent).
2. I speak fluent Spanish. It is my first language.
3. I dropped out of school, but I do not want to glorify that at all. I faced many, many downfalls.
4. My favorite tattoo artist is Kore Flatmo, who is based in Cincinnati. He tattooed the eyeball on my hand.
5. I am obsessed with photos of downtown L.A.
6. I have a brother and sister. I am close to both of them, and I have tattooed them both.
7. I have a tattoo portrait of my sister on my left arm.
8. I came to America when I was 4. I was born in Mexico.
9. Both of my parents are Argentinean.
10. The first tattoo I ever did was on a 14-year-old friend. It was of a Misfits skull.
11. In 2005, I got a chance to tattoo the Misfits drummer.
12. I love platform heels from the ‘70s.
13. I go to the movies all the time.
14. Favorite movies: The Devil’s Rejects, Zoolander, anything with Will Ferrell, Immortal Beloved, The Last Unicorn, Spinal Tap and Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventures.
15. Music is a huge part of my life. It influences my dress, my work … everything! I like everything from the New York Dolls to Slayer.
16. I love steak.
17. I never wanna have babies.
18. My favorite band is Motley Crüe. Seriously. But my favorite songs are by Beethoven.
19. My favorite Motley Crüe song is "Starry Eyes"; it's why I have stars on my face.
20. I own three pianos. One is in Dallas and the other two are in Hollywood.
21. I wear hair extensions (my hair is about shoulder length).
22. I love heavy metal, everything from glam to power metal.
23. I’m obsessed with Scandinavia, especially Finland. (I love the bands from there. I tattooed a Finnish band named Him and another named Bam Margera.)
24. I love glitter.
25. I own two sphinx cats (the hairless cats). One is named Hollywood and the other is Lebowski (Holly and Leebo).
26. I own a house in Dallas. I go there about once a month to tattoo.
27. I live in Hollywood, right in the center of everything. I can see the Chinese Theater from my apartment. I love L.A. and can’t see myself living anywhere else.
28. I love skateboarding. I skateboard to work all the time.
29. I am obsessed with Beethoven, and I have been playing classical piano since the age of 7. I love that Beethoven was a hopeless romantic, that he left everything he owned to the mysterious immortal beloved.
Just when common people thought fashion world couldn't get any weirder, along come -- the bikini jeans!
Priced at 62 pounds, the eye-catching apparel feature a thong sewn into a pair of supremely low-slung jeans.
Brainchild of Japanese clothing company Sanna's, the booty-cut bottoms were born after a customer said she wanted jeans that sat lower than the hips but did not need to be hoicked up in an unladylike fashion, reports Wales Online.
Designer Sandra Tanimura, who owns a pair of the bikini jeans herself, said: "This was very difficult without the trousers falling down, so I came up with the idea of using the bikini strings."
"They have already taken off in Japan and we believe they will be just as popular in the UK, especially with bold women who like their own bodies."
However, stylist -Wenda James-Rowe said: "They are totally tasteless and terrible -- it's taking things to the extreme."
"If you have a pair of jeans that fall down, just wear a belt. To wear these you would have to be stick thin or you would have big bulges coming out the gaps."
"It's not something I would wear -- maybe they would appeal to really young girls but even if they do, I think the attraction will be short-lived."
Source:MSN
Personally I hate this trend. its quiet cheap, but we cant help as everything sells and for a reason...........
Do you fancy shoes that look like your feet and in addition have hair sticking out of its toes? Well, I don’t. I wonder what prompted Nike to come up with this pair? They are outright ugly, though the concept is somewhat unique and quirky.
You’ve heard of modular furniture, modular kitchen and even modular bathroom but did you know that your shoe would be going modular too? The modular shoe that comes with an abundance of zippers allowing you to turn your footwear into shoes, sandals, flip-flops and many other styles won’t ask you to rush back home to change your footwear with a change in plan. This cool gadget shoe recently went on display in Barcelona and possibly will be hitting the market soon.
With flowers abloom, spelling the arrival of spring, its time to overhaul your wardrobe with the latest fashion trends that are going to dominate the fashion scene this season. Very modish, most of the trends are going to be loved by fashionistas for not being very OTT. Ken Downing, Fashion Director at Neiman Marcus has suggested nine must-haves this season.
Pink he says will be the new black, with the color splashed on shoes, bags, dresses, glares and everything imaginable. Uber practical, unstructured carryalls will add functionality to fashion, he suggests. One shoulder dressing will up the glam quotient of style divas manifolds. For more trendy tips visit Neiman Marcus.
Pop sensation Justin Timberlake has a style quotient that the fashion world has always raved about. The panache with which he carries off queer styles that end up becoming fashion norms has made him top the list of the ten most stylish men in America, compiled by the men’s magazine GQ.
The fashion-forward style icon who has endorsed unusual trends like the fedora hat, the formally informal three-piece, teamed with the sneakers look and the famous skinny tie, has always encouraged men to unconventionally experiment with their looks. His guy-next-door looks reflect in his clothing line - William Rast has helped him reach the fashion icon status, famous for endorsing functional fashion.
Looking forward to more trends from you, Justin!
In our modern, superficial society, nearly all of us ask the question "Am I ugly" at one time or another. While we seek to know "how ugly am I", and hope that the answer makes us feel good about ourselves, the honest truth is that we all are ugly in one sense or another.
It is often postulated that beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Similarly, ugliness is in the eye of everyone else. To a mother, her children-- no matter how ugly-- are beautiful. When emotion is considered into the beautiful/ugly equation, the results are biased and inaccurate.
I dont blame it on us at all. Its a feeling generated by media all over the world where they always project models with hourglass figure and flawless skin as the "Only Beauty" symbols left and the only standards we al have to fight for.
If that was not true soaps like "Ugly Betty" or "Jassi Jaisi Koi Nahin" would not have got success where they actually try to project that not so plastic looking people get ignored and are always bullied.
This media actually only projects The Angelina Jolies and Aishwarya Rais of the world hiding the fact that to maintain this artificial beauty how much health during their FAD Diets and Botox Surgeries they actually compromise.
I agree that looks create a difference but even not all of it can compensate a person's wit , intelligence and warmth.
So people stop worrying about your looks cause its just a "GOD'S GIFT" nothing of anyone's own achievement and no one should boost about it as its sheer luck nothing else..........
Enjoy what God has given us all and BE NATURAL
The Amazon rainforest is the biggest forest in the world and is also the last big space covered with tropical plants and animals. The Amazon forest territory is a tropical rainforest that is located in the north side of the South American continent and is shared by 9 countries: Brazil, Bolivia, Ecuador, Peru, Colombia, Venezuela, Suriname, French Guiana and Guiana. Travel through the forest can be difficult, and a guide or a river tour are the best options to see the natural wonders of the rain forest.
The largest part of is located in Brazil (60%) and covers almost half of that country. The space covered with the forest is 5.5 million square kilometers (3.4 million square miles ). When the Old World explorers reached the Americas they were all looking for gold, silver and gems. The Portuguese explorers that colonized Brazil believed that somewhere in that huge forest they would find the "Eldorado", an entire city made of gold that has an almost intangible value. This hoax came along with the myth that the Eldorado was guarded by the women warrior race of the Amazons.
Expeditions started to go up the Amazon River trying to find the Eldorado. There was a race to find the gold before the Spanish and French arrived, and found it on their own. They never found the Eldorado or the Amazons, but the name was set.
The "Rain" forest is a nickname that describes the humidity that you find in tropical and equatorial forests, but it doesn't rain all the time. Tropical rainforests are always located near the equator, and are very hot. All this heat associated with great portions of water make a lot of evaporation into the air. The forest also helps to retain water in their branches, roots and soil. All of this makes these forests very humid and there's a well defined rainy season that works towards the establishment of this nickname for tropical and equatorial forests.
All this heat, rain and humidity make these forests a very rich ecosystem or habitat for many organisms. A rainforest has trees, like any other forest, but they are very different from the temperate forest you are used to seeing in colder places like in US, Europe and parts of Asia. There are 120 foot trees, thousands of different species of plants, and all sort of rainforest animals including the red eyed tree frog, insects, birds, reptiles, amphibians and mammals. The rainforest canopy is home to thousands of animal species. The bio diversity one can experience here is unparalleled. And the most amazing part is that all this apparent chaos is actually a very balanced system, a product of million of years of evolution and natural selection.
But the forest is not only populated by animals and plants, there are many humans there too. The Indians are part of the equilibrium that existed there for thousands of years. The indigenous tribes of the forest live off the land as their ancestors have for thousands of years. The other humans, not native, have settled there for different reasons, but are always looking for opportunities in this unexplored land. Sometimes (usually) this has a negative impact over the forest. The idea of learn how to live from the forest by the forest is something that is not easy, but not impossible either. There are many examples of sustainable use. This type of information needs to become more popular, as deforestation is becoming a danger to the existence of the forest. While logging and forest clearing may be profitable in the short run, in the long run it is a danger to the amazon. It is also a danger the growing eco tourism that is a major attraction to the Amazon for tourists.
Amazonia is a huge and very complex place where nature created a unique set of biological and geological cycles, hardly seen in other places, and where mankind developed different cultures, languages, and art. The mysteries and awe around the Amazon jungle is something we should know and need to protect. There are several programs where on can buy an acre to save the land from harm.
Yo, I am back to my favourite topic Bangalore.
But this time its just to tell you the places you must visit in the city.
I am trying to segregate it according to the tastes and preferences so please help yourself.
Best Pubs:
Purple Haze, Kormangala is the must visit if you really are among the ones who love head banging and can actually sing along with the crowd at the highest of your pitches. Cheap, Amazing and Lively(particularly at Fridays).this is the best place to be anyday.
Styx,MG Road is another good and decent option.
Tavern At The Inn is a fun and different place to be with decent ambiance and crowd.
Stones, Indiranagar for the ones who can have just Draught Beer and good retro jazz and soft rock as their Supper.
The Blue Bar, Race Course Road is one expensive and truly once in a blue moon option when you have earned and saved decent for one special evening.
The HARD ROCK CAFE, MG Road: Its the father of all Pubs and we all know that. It needs no explanation
Lounges:
The Couch, MG Road is the best with not creating a big hole in your pocket and with a decent young crowd.
The Vaayu,Brigade Road is the value for money for all .
Ivy-The Unwind Island, is the place to be with friends but only when u have whole lotsa time.
Maya-The Lounge, MG Road is one decent option with some of the best Music.
Polo Club, Oberoi is one amazing and a must visit place.
Places for Romantic Dinner:
Take 5, 100 ft Road Indiranagar: Its my favo place as it has got the best ambiance to get cozy with your lady love and nice crowd everytime I was there.
The 13th Floor , MG Road: Only if you get the terris table this place is one of the best places for a Candle Light Dinner.
Indijoe Resto Pub, Airport Road : This place is not very cozy but surely serves the Best food in town with lovely interiors for a change.
I-Bar, Version- 2.01, The Park Hotel: Been there and loved it , Amazing is the word to describe it.
Sutra, The Ashoka is one stylish place but only good at Sunday Nights.
Coffee Houses:
CC DAy , 100 ft Road Indiranagar.
Barista, MG Road.
Mochas, Levelle Road.
The Coffee Shop, The Taj MG ROAD
There's one at UB City mall to which serves decent coffee but is usually crowded.
1498 AD - The Coffee Shop at The Atria Hotel is a must place to be if you have loads of time and money.
Hope you will thank me after visiting these places. Enjoy..........
Engine
Type 998cc, liquid-cooled 4-stroke DOHC 16 valves (titanium valves)
Bore x Stroke 78.0mm X 52.2mm
Compression Ratio 12.7:1
Fuel Delivery Fuel Injection with YCC-T and YCC-I
Ignition TCI: Transistor Controlled Ignition
Transmission 6-speed w/multi-plate slipper clutch
Final Drive #530 O-ring chain
ALL NEW FOR 2009
*In the supersport liter class, there’s always lots of talk about power. You expect that. What you wouldn’t have expected – until now – is a radically superior way to deliver that power. Introducing the 2009 YZF-R1, the first ever production motorcycle with a crossplane crankshaft. Crossplane technology, first pioneered in MotoGP racing with the M1, puts each connecting rod 90° from the next, with an uneven firing interval of 270°- 180°- 90°- 180°.
*YCC-T (Yamaha Chip Controlled Throttle) is MotoGP inspired fly-by-wire technology used to deliver instant throttle response. YCC-I is Yamaha Chip Controlled Intake which is a variable intake system that broadens the spread of power. The fuel injection system provides optimum air/fuel mixtures for maximum power and smooth throttle response.
*The R1 features Yamaha D-MODE (or drive mode) with rider-selectable throttle control maps to program YCC-T performance characteristics for riding conditions. The standard map is designed for optimum overall performance. The “A” mode lets the rider enjoy sportier engine response in the low- to mid-speed range, and the “B” mode offers response that is somewhat less sharp response for riding situations that require especially sensitive throttle operation. Switching maps is as easy as pushing a button on the handlebar switch.
*In keeping with this machine’s exceptional cornering ability and crisp handling, the all new aluminum frame has been designed to offer exceptional rigidity balance. The rear frame is now lightweight CF die-cast magnesium, contributing the optimum mass centralization. Suspension includes new SOQI front forks which use one of the tricks developed for our winning MotoGP bikes: independent damping.
*Slipper-type back torque-limiting clutch greatly facilitates braking/downshifting from high speed.
*The new SOQI rear shock both high and low speed compression damping plus an easy-to-use screw adjustment for preload. This unit also adopts a pillow-ball-type joint for exceptional shock absorption, road hold feeling, and damper response. To achieve maximum performance, a new bottom linkage is used to work with the rest of the chassis refinements for brilliant, crisp handling characteristics.
Factory racers get machines tailored to their preferences. Welcome to the club. R1 has adjustable footrests, with a 15mm height and 3mm front-to-rear adjustment.
Some of the most effective one's:
"Excuse me, is this seat taken?"
"Would you like to dance?"
"Can I interest you in a glass of…?"
"Do you come here often? I could use your opinion about something…"
"Excuse me; can you help me with…?"
"Don’t you find this place…?"
"You look like you might be interested in some great conversation."
"Would you like an escort to your…"
"Wow! I really like that (insert item of clothing or fragrance) you’re wearing."
"I just thought you should know that you have a really nice…"
"Hey girl, you look so good, I'd marry your brother just to get in your family."
"Do you know what'd look good on you? Me."
"If I could rearrange the alphabet, I'd put U and I together."
"Please help the homeless. Take me home with you..."
"You are a 9.999. Well, you'd be a perfect 10 if you were with me."
"You're good at mathematics, right? Would you say 69 was a perfect square?"
"If beauty were time, you'd be eternity."
"Something tells me you're sweet. Can I have a sample?"
"Do you believe in love at first sight... or should I walk by you again?"
"Is it hot in here, or is it just you?"
"I don't dance. But I'd love to hold you while you do."
"There's so much to say but your eyes keep interrupting me."
"Clothes aren't sexy. Women are"
"Please be patient - this is my first time."
"You can't be real. May I pinch you to see if I'm dreaming?"
Get acquainted with the Top Luxury Brands:
Here's a Crash Course
Versace
Armani
Gucci
Chanel
Prada
Calvin Klein
Dolce Gabbana
Fendi
Hugo Boss
Christian Dior
Ralph Lauren
Valentino
Hermes
Moschino
Giorgio Armani
Donna Karan
DKNY
Tommy Hilfiger
Louis Vuitton
Escada
Givenchy
Tiffany
Elizabeth Arden
Carolina Herrera
Cartier
Salvatore Ferragamo
Vivienne Westwood
Estee Lauder
Ferragamo
Roberto Cavalli
Liz Claiborne
Diesel
Adidas
Joop
miu miu
Benetton
Gianni Versace
Guess
Pucci
Davidoff
Coach
Aramis
Missoni
Krizia
Vuitton
Kenzo
Probably the most common of the conversations among the Managers across the world, I thought I will contribute my thoughts and learning.
Its been a year being at a B-School I feel a big void between my expectations and what I got at my B-School.
What I observed that they wont tell you:
-> What exactly are the profiles related to all the Specializations we all go through?
-> How can you covert your passion into a Career?
-> Why you should opt for a specialization and why not follow your friends just to be with them or rather i would say in reality with your Girlfriends/Boyfriends?(I know that's quiet blunt for some of u there)
-> Whats the pros and cons of different profiles and how can you choose them to achieve your personnel goals in life like traveling , operating from home, interacting with people, advisory services etc.
-> They wont tell you that its a BIG BAD WORLD outside your campus and its ready to give you nightmares.
-> They wont even tell you that your Manager is the one who will decide your fate so better be aware and cautious.
-> They wont make you aware that how important Social Networking and Web Sites enabling them are in deciding how you can shape up your career?
-> They would always discourage you to ask questions that are beyond there realm of possibilities and you will ultimately feel that they are right.
-> They may even say that you will be able to crack all interviews with books and newspapers hiding the fact that they only make upto 40% of whats required other than your wit , smartness, communication and etiquettes.
-> They wont tell you that all of us are made for something specific not generic as they orient us for 2 years.
-> That Internet is the best gift to all of us by Mankind and will is the first food for survival in the Corporate world.
-> That the dumbest and weirdest of their batch mates will get the best placements despite of you wondering on what they think and say.
-> That everytime you will encounter a girl scoring the best grades despite of being the most silent creature in the lecture and not even knowing whats her Dream Company's CEO name is?
-> That even the canteen at their campus involves a lot of Management and we are not even aware of it basic operational stuff.
-> Last but not the least they wont tell you how important this BLOG is cause they themselves would not have read this.
Giving you all a lifetime opportunity to go through this Blog time and again so that you are clearer in your goals and motives.
Cheersssssssss.........
In 1931, Austro-Hungarian engineer Ferdinand Porsche started a German company in his own name. It offered car design consulting services, and was not a car manufacturer itself until it produced the Type 64 in 1939. But things got interesting for Porsche long before then.
In 1933, he was approached by none other than Adolf Hitler, who commissioned a car designed for the German masses. Porsche accepted, and the result was the iconic Beetle, manufactured under the Volkswagen (lit. “people’s car”) brand. Today, Porsche’s company is one of the world’s premier luxury car brands, while Volkswagen (VW) is itself the world’s third-largest auto maker after General Motors and Toyota.
Three years ago, Volkswagen found itself fearing a foreign takeover. Porsche, the company, decided to step in and start buying VW stock ostensibly to protect the landmark brand, widely fueling market expectations that it would eventually buy Volkswagen outright. Of course, this isn’t quite what came to pass.
For three years, Porsche kept accumulating VW stock without telling anyone how much it owned. Every time it purchased more, the amount of free-floating VW stock would decrease, driving the stock price up slightly; your basic supply and demand at work. Eventually the share price became high enough that, to outside observers, it wouldn’t have made any sense for Porsche to buy Volkswagen. It would simply have cost too much.
To explain what happened next, I’m going to first tell you about a financial maneuver called shorting.
● ● ●
At any given point, only a certain amount of a publicly traded company’s stock is floating freely in the market. The rest is held in various portfolios, funds, and investment vehicles. Now, everyone’s familiar with the basic idea behind the stock market: you buy stock when it costs little, and you sell it when it costs a lot, profiting on the difference.
But that assumes a company’s value is going to increase. What if, instead of betting a company will go up, you want to make money betting the company will go down? You can — by selling stock you don’t own.
Say you borrow a certain amount of stock from someone who already owns it. You pay a fixed fee for borrowing the stock, and you sign a contract saying you will return exactly the same amount of stock you took after some amount of time. So, you might borrow a thousand shares of Apple stock from me (I don’t actually own any, but play along), pay me $100 for the privilege, and sign an obligation to return my stock in 3 months. At the time, Apple stock is worth $10 per share.
After you borrow the stock, you immediately sell it. At $10 a share, you get $10,000. Two and a half months later, another rumor about Steve Jobs’ health sends AAPL crashing to only $6 per share for a few hours, so you buy a thousand shares, costing you $6,000. You give me back those shares. Because you successfully bet the company would go down in value, you earned $4,000 minus the borrowing fee. This is called short-selling or shorting the stock, and the downside is obvious: if your bet was wrong, you would have lost money buying back the shares that you have to return to your lender.
● ● ●
Now things get kinky.
When Volkswagen’s share price exceeded the point where it made sense for Porsche to buy the company, a number of hedge funds realized that Volkswagen shares have nowhere to go but down. With Porsche out of the picture, there was simply no reason for VW to keep going up, and the funds were willing to bet on it. So they shorted huge amounts of VW stock, borrowing it from existing owners and selling it into circulation, waiting for the price drop they considered inevitable.
Porsche anticipated exactly this situation and promptly bought up much of these borrowed VW shares that the funds were selling. Do you see where this is going? Analysts did. According to The Economist, Adam Jonas from Morgan Stanley warned clients not to play “billionaire’s poker” against Porsche. Porsche denied any foul play, saying it wasn’t doing anything unusual.
But then, last October 26th, they stepped forward and bared their portfolio: through a combination of stock and options, they owned 75% of Volkswagen, which is almost all the company’s circulating stock. (The remainder is tied up in funds that cannot easily release it.)
To put it mildly, the numbers scared the living hell out of the hedge funds: if they didn’t immediately buy back the Volkswagen stock they were shorting, there might not be any left to buy later, and it isn’t their stock — they have to return it to someone. If their only option is thus to buy the VW stock from Porsche, then the miracle of supply and demand will hit again, and Porsche can ask for whatever price it wants per VW share — twenty times their value, a hundred times their value — because there’s no other place to buy. They’re the only game in town.
And that, my friends, is called a short squeeze.
● ● ●
Porsche’s ownership disclosure sent the hedge funds on such a flurry of purchases for any Volkswagen stock still in circulation that the VW share price jumped from below €200 to over €1000 at one point on October 28th, making Volkswagen for a brief time the world’s most valuable company by market cap.
On paper, Porsche made between €30-40 billion in the affair. Once all is said and done, the actual profit is closer to some €6-12 billion. To put those numbers in perspective, Porsche’s revenue for the whole year of 2006 was a bit over €7 billion.
Porsche’s move took three years of careful maneuvering. It was darkly brilliant, a wealth transfer ingeniously conceived like few we’ve ever seen. Betting the right way, Porsche roiled the financial markets and took the hedge funds for a fortune.
I know I am starting a big debate here as i know i will offend a lot of people here.
But do you really think that Rock Music is alive anymore?
I myself hear all the contemporary music like JT,Jay-Z,Linking Park,Rihana etc but I confess that where I find peace is with Pink Floyd and Metallica.
I remember the times when i was in school then MTV and Music was something different as its today. I remember people listening to Eagles and AC/DC and thats what i grew with.
Nowdays what people call Rock Music is something produced out of thousands of Microprocessors across the world using different wave frequencies with the help of electricity.
Where is that acoustics of Dueling Guitars and that Music which used to trig millions for that insane Headbanging?
Rock music, is barely alive. Bands that once ruled the charts are gone. Guns n Roses, Metallica and Korn are no longer selling out arenas or compact disk racks.
What teenagers today define Rock is nothing which matches the music of 80's and 90's. Tell me where can you find know a song like "Comfortably Numb" or "Turn the page"?
There was a time when people used to go crazy as soon as Aerosmith touched the Stadium with 50000 fans just trying to catch a glimpse of the man with Long hair,Leather Pants, Sweat all over the body, Skinny Ass and insane passion with the best pitch to address all his lovers.
Well, here's a question: WHERE IS THE ORIGINALITY??? The only original new band I have heard is the Arctic Monkeys and they are from Britain! The problem with American music is that bands aren't willing to take chances! The last time that happened was when Nirvana, Pearl Jam and Soundgarden suddenly burst onto the scene and destroyed 80's rock in general. It was a move that had to be done for the sake of music. That's just what American bands do…they take something that was original and turn it into something stale.
The last good bands I heard producing a nice Rock Music were Coldplay and Radiohead.
Still they are not par excellence as there ancestors.
Since living in Bangalore gave me a chance to be at the Best Rock Pubs in India like Purple Haze and Stones I have a small hope left that at least some of the people still are aware whats called a True Rock Music and I hope the Fraternity will keep it alive and contribute to it.
The rebellious, loud and obnoxious rock music that so many love will be continue and live.
I hope the generations to come will still respect the Mettalica and Pink Floyd as we do and will pass on the legacy........
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
