Elizabeth Reaser : The Ex List

The last time we saw Elizabeth Reaser, she was having a nervous breakdown on Grey's Anatomy, which had been preceded by a disfiguring accident, a bout of amnesia, facial reconstruction and, finally, a love affair gone awry.

The Ex List an adaptation of a hit Israeli show, it stars Elizabeth Reaser as Bella, a woman who gets two disturbing messages from a psychic: that if she doesn't marry in the next year, she never will; and that the man she is supposed to marry is someone she's already met and passed on. Bella's goal thus becomes working through her relationship history to find the guy she shouldn't have let get away. Like many new series, the premise seems a mite thin on its face, but Reaser is charming enough and that gives The Ex List a shot at catching on.

O.J. Simpson Found Guilty!

On Friday, Hall of Fame running back/murderer O.J. Simpson was found guilty of kidnapping, armed robbery and 10 other charges that could land him in jail for the rest of his life.

Last year, Simpson slashed his way into the headlines for his role in gathering up five men and leading an assault on a Las Vegas hotel room where they seized several pieces of memorabilia that Simpson claimed was stolen from him.

Prosecutors say that two of the men were armed with guns (not knives capable of decapitating a woman and a man). Simpson showed little emotion as he was handcuffed and escorted from the courtroom after the verdict was read. It was almost as though Simpson had been desensitized by some brutal, blood and utterly macabre spectacle at some point in his past.

For now, Simpson will sit on the razor's edge as he waits for his sentencing date on December 5th. And while some believe that the reading of the verdict cut deeply, it is safe to say that the sentencing process is going to go straight for the jugular.

Only time will tell if Simpson will cry bloody murder when the sentence is handed down or if tear will flow as if gushing from an artery.

The family of Nicole Brown Simpson, the murdered ex-wife of O.J. Simpson, issued a statement Saturday, a day after the former gridiron star was found guilty of 12 criminal charges related to a Sept. 2007 armed-robbery incident in a Las Vegas casino-hotel room.

"Our family would like to thank everyone across the country for their thoughts and prayers as we work through many mixed emotions," said the Brown family. "Our focus is on the children Sydney and Justin, whom we deeply love and cherish, and ask for the understanding of privacy at this time."

Daughter Sydney, 22, and son Justin, 20, are the children of O.J. and Nicole Simpson, who were married from 1985 to 1992.

In 1995 Simpson, now 61, was acquitted of the murders of his ex-wife and her friend, Ronald Goldman. Later, a civil jury held him liable for the killings in a wrongful-death lawsuit.

Is Usher's "Trading Places" Video Disrespectful To His Wife?

A couple weeks ago, MediaTakeOut alleged that the love scenes in Usher's new video "Trading Places" were so steamy that some of his staffers were upset, claiming that the newly married man had taken it too far.

An unnamed source reportedly described Usher's kisses with the video vixen as "disrespectful" to Tameka Foster, the superstar's wife and mother of his baby boy. Foster is rumored to be pregnant with the couple's second child.

After watching the video directed by Chris Robinson, I'm now clear about what prompted the controversy.

The song lyrics advocate intimate role reversal. Usher is telling his woman that he wants her to take charge romantically.

The video offers endless examples.

Usher and the leading lady enjoy extended romps on a bed, leather sofa and stair case. There is so little clothing worn in the video that there was no need for a stylist or wardrobe budget.

Usher described the video as "very hot, very forward thinking." "This is kinda wishful thinking for all men," he told MTV, "to have a woman finally take control and compliment us the way we compliment them, whether it is taking us out to dinner or opening up the door."

I wonder if Tameka felt disrespected. I doubt it. I would expect that a woman married to a man whose career is based on the appeal of his six-pack would not be fazed by this part of the job.

This song and video will help bring some attention to Usher's Here I Stand, released in April. The album had been deemed a dud, despite making a solid debut with more than 400,000 album sales.

I bet when Usher performs this song on tour he'll bring a female fan on stage at each venue. His 15-date One Night Stand tour kicks off on November 2 in Atlantic City and wraps on November 25 in Dallas.

The adult subject matter will also give Usher a break from the comparisons to Chris Brown, the young new R&B teen pop dancing machine who stole Usher's formula.

Investing Mistakes to Avoid

Along the way, you may make a few investing mistakes, however there are big mistakes that you absolutely must avoid if you are to be a successful investor. For instance, the biggest investing mistake that you could ever make is to not invest at all, or to put off investing until later. Make your money work for you – even if all you can spare is $20 a week to invest!

While not investing at all or putting off investing until later are big mistakes, investing before you are in the financial position to do so is another big mistake. Get your current financial situation in order first, and then start investing. Get your credit cleaned up, pay off high interest loans and credit cards, and put at least three months of living expenses in savings. Once this is done, you are ready to start letting your money work for you.

Don’t invest to get rich quick. That is the riskiest type of investing that there is, and you will more than likely lose. If it was easy, everyone would be doing it! Instead, invest for the long term, and have the patience to weather the storms and allow your money to grow. Only invest for the short term when you know you will need the money in a short amount of time, and then stick with safe investments, such as certificates of deposit.

Don’t put all of your eggs into one basket. Scatter it around various types of investments for the best returns. Also, don’t move your money around too much. Let it ride. Pick your investments carefully, invest your money, and allow it to grow – don’t panic if the stock drops a few dollars. If the stock is a stable stock, it will go back up.

A common mistake that a lot of people make is thinking that their investments in collectibles will really pay off. Again, if this were true, everyone would do it. Don’t count on your Coke collection or your book collection to pay for your retirement years! Count on investments made with cold hard cash instead.

Investing Basics – What Are Your Investment Goals

When it comes to investing, many first time investors want to jump right in with both feet. Unfortunately, very few of those investors are successful. Investing in anything requires some degree of skill. It is important to remember that few investments are a sure thing – there is the risk of losing your money!

Before you jump right in, it is better to not only find out more about investing and how it all works, but also to determine what your goals are. What do you hope to achieve with your investments? Will you be funding a college education? Buying a home? Retiring? Before you invest a single penny, really think about what you hope to achieve with that investment. Knowing what your goal is will help you make smarter investment decisions along the way!

Too often, people invest money with dreams of becoming rich overnight. This is possible – but it is also rare. It is usually a very bad idea to start investing with hopes of becoming rich overnight. It is safer to invest your money in such a way that it will grow slowly over time, and be used for retirement or a child’s education. However, if your investment goal is to get rich quick, you should learn as much about high-yield, short term investing as you possibly can before you invest.

You should strongly consider talking to a financial planner before making any investments. Your financial planner can help you determine what type of investing you must do to reach the financial goals that you have set. He or she can give you realistic information as to what kind of returns you can expect and how long it will take to reach your specific goals.

Again, remember that investing requires more than calling a broker and telling them that you want to buy stocks or bonds. It takes a certain amount of research and knowledge about the market if you hope to invest successfully.

How to Ask Someone Out on a Date

No more hesitations, this is the moment you have been dreaming of and only you could push it to reality. But, how could you have that dream date? Of course, you have to start from the top. And, that is to ask the person you are interested out on a date. Well, how could you invite a person out? Do you need to be aggressive? Do you need to play safe? Tips to ask someone out would surely be a great help for you.

The following are simple but very essential tips you could lean on in times that you seem to find it hard asking a person for a date. For men, these tips are really great help for you invite that person in your mind.

• Know the right reason or reasons for asking a person out. When you know your purpose, it would surely have the idea of how to express it in a medium that you are most comfortable with.
• What if the person says no? Save that part of you and prepare to whatever the answer of the other person is. Do not take the “no” so heavily. Learn the beauty of grace in such times.
• In order to say well the words you want to express, you may try to do some practicing in order for you to get conditioned of how to say such lines you needed to tell the person you want to be with.
• Be sure that you have the most important details you have for the date in mind. The person might say “yes” and you just do not know where to go, that would be a real “turn off”. As much as possible, be ready with ideas.
• See to it that you know how to answer whenever the person asks you why you are asking her out. You do not have to be a very huge flatterer but you have to make sure that you make the person feel good. This way of showing how much thoughtful you are.
• Never pressure a person to go out with you. This is not healthy and it would even branch out to negative outcomes. Remember not to pressure a person to tell you why it is a “no”.
• Do not stand people up. This means that when you ask a person out, you mean it and you do not leave her just expecting for nothing at all.
• If the person says no, do not be bitter about it. You just have to move on and never treat the person unwell.
• Having some beer just to boost your confidence is a no. It may just push you to worse situations. You have to be naturally confident.
• The more, the merrier but not for a first date. When you are out to ask a person for a date, do not do it when she is with a circle of friends.

These are really useful tips and you have to take note of them, they would surely help you out in maximizing the time you spend with that special person.

A Guide To Skydiving

Skydiving, as the word implies, is an activity in which you’ll be literally diving down from the sky with some safety measures, of course. It’s done from an airplane or a helicopter which takes off from a drop zone, which is like a small airbase.

A Bird’s Eye View Of Skydiving

If you’re planning to do this breathtaking activity, then you should be prepared to know that skydivers would usually exit their airplane at the height of 4000 metres or 13,000 feet. After doing so, you would have to do a freefall for a period of time and then you could open your parachute to slow down your descent until you reach a safe and slow landing speed.

Generally, the chute should be fully inflated by the height of around 2,500 ft. In fact it is part of the law that skydivers should jump with two chutes. One would be the main chute and the other would be the reserve, just in case the main parachute would fail.

Once your parachute is in its full inflation, you now have the ability to control your speed and direction using your chute’s steering lines. With that, technical manoeuvres could be executed by experienced skydivers giving them the ability to land with great accuracy. In fact, there are even some competitions held on being able to land in a specific spot with the most precision and style.

Other than bundling yourself out of the plane, opening a parachute and floating your way down to Earth, skydiving also have some specialization areas, and here are some of them.

Formation Skydiving: Creating Art While You Fall

During the freefall period of the jump, some experienced skydivers would combine to create and hold different formations before they breaking off and open up their parachutes and float down to earth as normal skydiving does. In fact, the world record for this kind of skydiving is actually a 400 man dive. The formation was maintained for 4.25 seconds from the altitude of 25,000 ft. in Udon Thai, Thailand.

Freestyle Skydiving: A Solo Performance

This kind of diving can be a very entertaining one. It is where the skydiver would perform some acrobatic manoeuvres and stunts, such as rolls, tumbles and graceful formations by himself throughout the freefall period and before he opens his parachute. Freestyle dives would also need the participation of another skydiver.

The second diver on the other hand would not do any kind of stunts. However, he would be the one to film his partners’ performance through a camera that is mounted on his helmet. This kind of dive is actually a registered competitive sport that was declared in 1996 by the FAI.

Free Flying: Do It Your Way

This is considered to be the art of controlling your body and having the ability to move through different static positions while you are in the freefall period of your jump, before you open your parachute. If you’ll be doing dives like this, you would have to do some manoeuvres like Sit Flying, Back Flying, and Head Down. These would allow you to have more control on your speed and trajectory. You also have to do some exit rolls or tumbles at the end of your freefall stage so that you can safely deploy your parachute by the time you reach the right altitude.

Why are cellular phones a NO in public places?

Mobile phones are great invention. They have attributed to the advancement of our communications in these modern times but on the other side, they have caused a lot of negative effects especially for the public. Yes, mobile phones have been a cause of public hassles. The misuse of this device could really be a headache for many.

Have you encountered this scene: you are in a public bus; an extremely loud ringing tone destroys the moment? Then, an extremely loud voice started to be like a chatterbox… you could hear even the most private conversations… without any pinch of discreet manner from the user. Why are these people doing such?

According to the Weekly Gripe (www.weeklygripe.co.uk), “Some people naturally speak louder when they are on the phone, and sometimes if there is a bad signal they will often repeat what they have said several times. Perhaps one of the main reasons we resent people using a mobile in close proximity to us is because we only ever hear half the conversation. It doesn’t make sense. We are naturally curious and like a puzzle with half the pieces missing we frustrated by being unable to see the complete picture.”

Indeed, No matter how we deny, we could not ignore listening to mobile phone conversations of others in a bus, a train, in the mall or any public place for that matter. Yes, listening and not hearing. Therefore, it is on purpose. This scene makes you annoyed, right?

Another one, you are down with all your appetite- eating lunch at your desk since you have a very short lunch break. In the middle of it, you just stop right off the bat because of a phone ringing somewhere. Is it not so disruptive? We are supposed to turn our mobile phones in a silent mode when we are at work; we are in a public place…

Ringing tones are cool and they are at any rate, a form of self expression. On the other hand, they are not something to show-off. There is always a time for everything.

As a form of good manners and right conduct, show that you have respect for others and you understand what real freedom is. Treat your mobile phone as an extension of your self- use it with the right amount of privacy. You just do not know how many people you get annoyed because of your improper use of the device called- cellular phone.

Nokia Bows Touchscreen 5800 XpressMusic

As its name implies, the Nokia 5800 XpressMusic is more about tunes than productivity, so don't expect out-of-the-box support for BlackBerry or Exchange servers (although this being a Symbian phone, there's nothing stopping third parties from filling the void). Instead, the 5800 comes with stereo speakers, support for stereo Bluetooth headsets, a 3.5mm headset jack (which doubles as a TV-out port), and up to 16GB of microSD memeory expansion for your tunes.

Armed with a roomy touch display, stereo speakers, and—eventually—a year's worth of free music, Nokia's long-awaited touchscreen phone (formerly known as "The Tube") will make its debut in London today. Can it compete with the iPhone and T-Mobile's Google-powered G1?

First, let's cover the specs: Measuring 4.4 by 2 by 0.6 inches, the 3G- and Wi-Fi-enabled 5800 (set for global release by the end of the year, but not in North America until the "early part" of 2009) is more or less the same size as the iPhone 3G and the G1, although at 3.8 ounces, it's significantly lighter than both of its touchscreen competitors (the iPhone is about 4.8 ounces, while the G1 weighs in at a hefty 5.6 ounces).

So, how's the 5800's 3.2-inch touchscreeen? I haven't had a chance to try it in person, but the Symbian-powered display looks (from the press images, at least) reasonably sleek—somewhere between the clunkier interface on the G1 and the iPhone's eye-popping UI. No multitouch (so no "pinch"-type gestures), mind you, but the 5800 has an accelerometer that lets you turn the phone sideways for a virtual, landscape-oriented QWERTY keypad. You'll also be able to enter text using a half-size, portrait QWERTY keypad (with a stylus, if you like), T9 text prediction, or handwriting recognition.

Nokia promises a couple of key one-touch interface features, including a "Contacts Bar" that gives you quick access to your "favorite" four contacts, along with a "Media Bar" that'll let you tap into your music, videos, and images. Not bad, although I'd also like to see a status/alerts toolbar like the G1's.

The 5800 will also support Nokia's much-touted "Comes with Music" service, which will let you download all the free tunes you can stand—but just for 12 months, with a helping of DRM on the side. (CNET has details on all the restrictions right here.) Also, keep in mind that the cost of all those "free" tunes will be passed along via an inflated price tag for upcoming "Comes with Music" handsets (the Nokia N95 and 5310 XpressMusic phones will also be getting "Comes with Music" support), although Nokia reps didn't have details on how big the surcharge will be. Still, the music catalog looks to be pretty solid, with all four of the major labels (as well as some indies) signed on.

Back to the 5800 itself: The phone also comes with a 3.2MP camera, complete with Carl Zeiss optics, a dual LED flash, and video recording (up to 30fps). GPS and Nokia Maps are included for navigation. Sorry, gamers—no N-Gage support on the 5800, at least for now.

Nokia hasn't released U.S. pricing details—or carriers, if any—for the 5800 yet. (Since the 5800 is a GSM handset, it'll only work with GSM-based carriers such as AT&T and T-Mobile.) In Europe, however, the phone (minus "Comes with Music," for now) will sell for 279 euros, or about US$385—not bad, considering the sky-high price tag of Nokia's N-series beauties.

How does the Nokia 5800 XpressMusic stack up with the iPhone and the G1? Well, hard to say until I see the phone itself in action—and especially whether the 5800's touch interface measures up to the two touch heavyweights.

My initial impression? I'm a bit underwhelmed, frankly; it's almost as if Nokia is wading cautiosly into the touchscreen pool with the 5800. What I'm really waiting for is a full-on, touchscreen Nseries handset, complete with a revamped interface designed specifically for touch. In any case, I'm reserving any final judgement until I get an actual unit in for review. (Update: Gizmodo just published a quick hands-on report, and so far, the touchscreen sounds pretty lackluster: "On the prototype we played with briefly, it's much harder to get touches to register, and far less accurate than the iPhone's capacitive screens. The 5800 packs a built-in stylus for this reason—you'll be using it a lot." Ouch.)

So, what's your take? Like what you see? Disappointed? Fire away!

Are You Blogging For Fun Or To Make Money?

Many people think that since blogging is very easy and fun, one can make money with the blog without any effort.

Although it is true that anyone who is hard working and determined to succeed in making money online can earn a good income through blogging, many bloggers fail to achieve this.

Many people who are starting in internet marketing think that in order to make a lot of money on the internet through blogging, all they need to do is to set up a blog, add content to it on a regular basis and start to get money! You will need to do more than this if you want to make money with your blog.

Outlined below are the key steps that you will need to follow to successfully make money with your blog.

1. Advertise on Your Blog. Adding Google Adsense on your blog is one of the easiest ways to make money with your blog. All you will need to do is to get a Google Adsense account, and Google will place adverts that relate to your blog topic. If your blog visitors visit any of these adverts on your blog, you can earn some money.

2. Create your own products for selling or offer some services. You can sell your own products or services on your blog. By blogging regularly, your blog get indexed on search engines, which drives traffic to your blog. The more traffic you have, the more sales you make. It is important that you use your keywords in your blogs. By adding keywords and phrases that relate to your niche to your blog posts, you increase your site's ranking on search engines, which will drive traffic to your blog where people will buy your products or services.

3. Selling affiliate products is one of the best ways to make your blog profitable. All you need to do is to pick the affiliate products or programs that relate to your niche and add your affiliate links on your blog. By selling affiliate products on your blog, you can earn commissions of about 30%-70% on each product you sell on your website.

Although blogging is quite easy, you need to follow the tips outlined above so that you can start to make some money.

How to Clean your Diamonds

Through our day to day movements our diamonds get smudged and soiled. Even when we are not wearing them, they collect dust. Lotions, soaps, our natural skin oils, can cause film and grime on diamonds and inhibit their brilliance.

Want to keep that Brilliance and Shine?
Diamonds require cleaning so that maximum amounts of light can refract fiery brilliance. Remember that all it takes is a few minutes and a little care to keep that diamond as fiery as the day you first saw it.

You can use an small soft brush such as an eyebrow or lip stick brush and soap and water to clean your jewelry. Simply make a bowl of warm sudsy water with a mild detergent and place your pieces in the mixture. Then brush the diamonds with the soft bristles of the brush while they are in the suds. You will need to make certain that you rinse them clear of the suds after cleaning them. You can use a small kitchen strainer such as a tea strainer to contain them while rinsing under warm water. Use a lint free cloth, or a jewelry polish cloth to pat them dry.

If your diamonds are in need of a stronger cleansing, you may want to soak them for 30 minutes in a solution of half and half water and ammonia. Once they have soaked for 30 minutes, remove them and gently brush the mountings with a small brush. Then replace the pieces to the solution and swish them around in the mixture before removing them to rinse and pat dry.

If you find your self too busy to be mixing soaps and ammonias, many department stores sell liquid jewelry cleaners. Most are kits, with everything you need included. You need to read the labels to determine the one that is right for your diamonds and other jewelry. Read the complete directions and follow all the precautions.

And if you find yourself more the “high-tech type”, even in your diamond cleaning routine, there are multiple ultrasonic cleansers on the market. These machines use high-frequency to create a cleaning motion. All machines are not the same, so please read the instructions before using.

Only you can choose the cleaning method right for you. But, it is essential to keep your jewelry clean to keep it brilliant and sparkling. Between cleaning, try not to touch your clean diamonds with your fingers or handle your jewelry by its edges. This will help maintain its shine and brilliance for longer periods.