Woman seeks "Jessica Alba" makeover to win back lover

By Royston Chan

SHANGHAI - A Chinese woman is seeking extensive plastic surgery to look like U.S. actress Jessica Alba, mainly because she hopes to win back her boyfriend who she said always wished she looked more like the Hollywood star.

The 21-year-old, who would only give her name as Xiaoqing, said she was devastated after she broke up with her lover, an ardent fan of the actress who has starred in hit movies such as "Fantastic Four" and "Into the Blue."

Xiaoqing, who works at an Internet firm in Shanghai, said that during their 18-month-long relationship, her 28-year-old boyfriend had been obsessed with Alba, adorning their apartment with her photographs and talking about her constantly.

She said that while her boyfriend had not forced her to look like Alba, he always hinted that the wanted her to resemble his favorite star and even bought her a blonde wig to wear.

A month ago, Xiaoqing left her boyfriend, whom she did not name, because his Alba obsession became too much for her. But now she says she can't get over the break-up and wants him back.

"When I broke up with my boyfriend, I was very sad," she told Reuters at the Shanghai Time Plastic Surgery Hospital which has agreed to help her fulfill her wish.

"My friends... kept consoling me but it did not work, so they suggested I do plastic surgery to look like her ."

The hospital said Xiaoqing would need multiple surgeries to alter her eyes and nose so that they would resemble Alba's. They also agreed to do it for free to showcase their surgery skills.

Hospital director Jiang Shan said he had personally spoken to Xiaoqing and advised her to think seriously about the procedure.

"If she wants to look much better than she does now, for example if she wants her skin to look smoother and her overall facial facade to look more beautiful, I think we are able to help her fulfill her wishes," Jiang said.

"But if she wants to totally look like Jessica Alba, I would think she is still not confident of herself and that she needs to solve this problem psychologically."

Shortly after the break-up, Xiaoqing posted a comment on a local web forum asking for help to win her boyfriend back.

She said that despite the many bloggers who advised her against having cosmetic surgery, she was keen on it.

"As a member of the younger generation in this country, I have a choice to decide what I want in life," she said.

"I have never been able to let him go. If in the end he still does not accept me after I undergo the plastic surgeries, I will give up. I will then choose to let go, start afresh and live life by myself," she added.

Xiaoqing said she would speak to her mother, who lives in Hubei province, while visiting home during the annual lunar new year holiday before making a final decision.

The hospital said it was not unusual for young women such as Xiaoqing to undergo cosmetic surgery to look like celebrities.

The government estimates billions of yuan are spent each year by Chinese on plastic surgery, which is seen by many as a way to boost job or marriage prospects in a highly competitive society.

Source: Yahoo News

I have this to say...


Thanks to Alex for the reminder on how stupid ppl can be sometimes...

Wedding Fail

Wedding disaster: throwing of bride's bouquet causes plane to crash
An Italian wedding ended in disaster when the throwing of the bride's bouquet caused a plane to crash.

Published: 3:44PM BST 14 Jul 2009

In a twist on the traditional throwing of the bouquet, a couple hired a small aeroplane to fly past their guests at Montioni park in Suvereto, near Livorno in western Tuscany, and drop the bride's bouquet to a line of women standing below, according to a report in Corriere della Sera.

But as the plane flew over the crowd on Saturday, the flowers were sucked back into the engine, causing it to catch fire and explode.

The small plane plunged into a field next to a hostel below. One passenger on the plane was seriously injured, but the pilot, Luciano Nannelli, and about 50 people who had been in the hostel escaped unscathed.

Isidoro Pensieri, the 44-year-old passenger on the aeroplane, was responsible for throwing the wedding bouquet. But after she threw it, the bunch of flowers was apparently sucked into one of the engines.

Miss Pensieri suffered "facial and cranial trauma" and multiple fractures to both legs. She was being treated in hospital in Pisa.

Posted by DoctorPringles @ HWZ

Link

Gundam Completed!!

Now i shall steal de Gundam n take over the world!! MUAHAHAHA

Source pictures from

Punynari

Dannychoo

Life-Size Gundam Model Update

The Crotch is complete !! now he can pee !! oh wait... tt sounded wrong.. -_-

anyway after the legs are done, finally they fixed up the crotch area, cant wait for the rest !! having some gundamgasm here by the way :D

Source: Kotaku

16 Genuine Cyborg Technologies

"Just how much of the human body can you replace or augment: seemingly everything apart from the tadpole like remnants of the brain and spinal chord.

Bionic eyes, ears, hearts, lungs, kidneys, livers, hands, feets, legs, arms and skin are now real science rather than concept designs. For this list, we have gathered together as many real devices including commercially available products rather than concept designs or imagery that appeal based on gimmick value. The one exception is the tooth and ear cellphone implant which is feasible today.

An interesting idea is how the notion of a cyborg might change (often imagined as fusion of mechanical and electronic technology with human biology), since many of these devices use technology that is itself principally biological, such as stem cell lines in the bioreactor liver or artificial skin."

Click the link for the videos of all 16
Oobject

Life Size Gundam update

Remember the news where japan is gonna build a life size gundam to celebrate it's 30th? Woo hoo! legs are up! once the body's up we can take over the world!!

Some info
"Part of the "Mobile Suit Gundam 30th Anniversary Project," the structure in Odaiba's Shiokaze Park will stay up for only two months and be built from fiberglass-reinforced plastic over a steel frame and coated in a layer of awesomeoness. Fifty points on the Gundam statue will emit light, and mist will shoot out of 14 different points on the statue. The 1/1 scale Gundam will boast a moveable head."

Source
Kotaku

Dog protects injured mother dog on highway

About 300 stray dogs deported to an isolated island to fend for themselves

About 300 stray dogs were rounded up
by Pulau Ketam residents and deported
to an isolated island to fend for themselves.

Over half of them are already dead and the
remaining ones may not live long. A rescue
mission is being mounted and your help is needed.

Read the story here
Updates here

Maybe we should deport the villagers there too when we find them a nuisance  

Drunken pals order and eat 100-patty hamburger

8 drunk friends went over to a burger joint called In-N-Out which lets u order any no. of beef patties u like in a burger and they ordered a 100patties burger

Talk abt crazy! lolz...

The 100 burger patty

After the meal

here's a quote taken from the blog

Here are a couple of interesting stats to summarize the experience:

* Total calories: 19490 calories
* Total eaters 8 (2 girls and one guy who already ate dinner and only ate 6 patties)
* Most patties eaten by one person : I think I ate about 20. I think Nalin ate about 20 as well (including the raw ones)
* Time to finish : less then 2 hours
* Number of people who barfed : 1 (way to go Elena!)

Check out the full story here!
What Up Willy!

Hey Alex, wanna do sth as crazy as them? LOLZ.. juz kidding.. !!

Architect Selgas Cano’s Hidden Forest Office

Read all abt it here
Hidden Forest Office

Thanks to alex for the link!

Do u see a car?

A design student made a battered old Skoda "disappear" by painting it to merge with the surrounding car park.

Sara Watson, who is studying drawing at the University of Central Lancashire (Uclan), took three weeks to transform the car's appearance.
She created the illusion in the car park outside her studio at Uclan's Hanover Building in Preston.

The car is now being used for advertising by the local recycling firm that donated the vehicle.

'Just amazing'
Ms Watson, a second year student, said: "I was experimenting with the whole concept of illusion but needed something a bit more physical to make a real impact."
She was given the Skoda Fabia from the breaker's yard at local firm Recycling Lives.
Owner Steve Jackson described her work as "amazing".

"When I first saw the photos I was convinced it was something which had been done on the computer," said Mr Jackson.

"But when you look more closely you see the effort and attention to detail she has put into it. It is just amazing."

Source: BBC

You lean something new everyday

Wilhelm scream

The Wilhelm scream is a repeatedly used film and television stock sound effect first used in 1951 for the film Distant Drums. The effect gained new popularity (its use often becoming an in-joke) after it was used in Star Wars and several other blockbuster films as well as television programs and video games.

The Wilhelm scream has become a well-known cinematic sound cliché, and is claimed to have been used in over 140 films, as well as every episode of Primeval.

Read the rest here
Wiki

You learn something new e-v-e-r-y-d-a-y :D

Comparison with Analog TV n HD TV

With the recent release of FF XIII demo n FF VII ACC, Intermezzo has done a comparison on how it looks like on Analog Tv n HD Tv

The Analog Tv is a US$200 model 14-inch Sony WEGA from the year 2000. Connected to the PS3 with composite cables.

The HD Tv is a US$4,000 50-inch Pioneer plasma panel from 2006. Connected to the PS3 with composite cables.

Plasma

Analog

Analog n Plasma

For FF VII ACC, the following setups was used,

Blu-ray Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children Complete on a 50-inch HD TV

Blu-ray FFVII: ACC on a 14-inch analog TV

DVD Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children on a 14-inch analog TV


Compare n see for urselves ba~

Links
Kotaku
Intermezzo

12 quick tips for boosting your happiness at work

1. Check for eyestrain by putting your hand to your forehead in a salute. If your eyes feel relieved, your work space is too bright.

2. Sit up straight with your shoulders down — every time I adjust my sitting position, I instantly feel more energetic and cheerier.

3. Get a phone headset. I resisted for a long time, because it looks so preposterous, but it’s really much more comfortable. Also, it lets me pace while I talk on the phone, which also looks preposterous, but is energizing.

4. Don’t keep candy on your desk. Studies show that people are much more likely to snack when a treat is within easy reach, and a handful of M&Ms each day could mean a weight gain of five pounds by year’s end.

5. Never say “yes” on the phone; instead, say, “I’ll get back to you.” When you’re actually speaking to someone, the desire to be accommodating is very strong, and can lead you to say “yes” without enough consideration. Along the same lines…

6. When deciding whether to say “yes,” imagine that you’re accepting a job that you’ll have to do next week. Don’t agree to something just because it seems so far off that it doesn’t seem onerous.

7. Don’t let yourself get too hungry. My husband goes without eating for hours and hours at a time, so once, trying to be helpful, I bought him a big bag of granola to keep in his desk. He ate the whole bag in one day and ended up sick as a dog. Lesson: eat regularly.

8. Take care of difficult calls, tasks, or emails as quickly as possible. Procrastinating makes them harder; getting them done gives a big boost of relieved energy.

9. If you’re feeling overwhelmed, think hard about how you spend your time. Be honest. How much time do you spend surfing the internet, looking for things you’ve misplaced, or doing a task that’s really someone else’s job? Also…

10. Let yourself stay ignorant of things you don’t need to know.

11. Go outside at least once a day, and if possible, take a walk. The sunlight and activity is good for your focus, mood, and retention of information.

12. Say “Good morning” to everyone. Social contact is cheering, and if you feel that you’re on good terms with all the people in your office, you’ll be happier each day.
Also, it’s polite.

Source

DIY, No-Electricity Lighting from 2-Liter Bottles

Taken from LifeHacker

Got a shed or garage you like to tinker in during the day and want to save a little cash on the cost of lighting it? Polish off your a few two-liters and let's DIY.

The video examines how a village in Brazil gets cheap lighting with a simple, smart water bottle hack. It's a pretty inspiring watch, and you can't help but love the trash can demonstration. At the risk of pointing out the obvious, this will, of course, only work when you've got daylight, but you can always switch to electricity after dark. I'll go out on a limb and say this may not be practical for lighting your whole home, but this green idea seems perfect for lighting your garage or work shed on the cheap. For more discussion of the finer points of the ins and outs of this DIY (including whether or not it's actually worth anything), check out the comments on Make's post.

Make

Thanks to vincent for the link !

Italy dig unearths female 'vampire' in Venice

By ARIEL DAVID,Associated Press Writer AP 

Saturday, March 14

ROME - An archaeological dig near Venice has unearthed the 16th-century remains of a woman with a brick stuck between her jaws _ evidence, experts say, that she was believed to be a vampire. The unusual burial is thought to be the result of an ancient vampire-slaying ritual. It suggests the legend of the mythical bloodsucking creatures was tied to medieval ignorance of how diseases spread and what happens to bodies after death, experts said.

The well-preserved skeleton was found in 2006 on the Lazzaretto Nuovo island, north of the lagoon city, amid other corpses buried in a mass grave during an epidemic of plague that hit Venice in 1576.

"Vampires don't exist, but studies show people at the time believed they did," said Matteo Borrini, a forensic archaeologist and anthropologist at Florence University who studied the case over the last two years. "For the first time we have found evidence of an exorcism against a vampire."

Medieval texts show the belief in vampires was fueled by the disturbing appearance of decomposing bodies, Borrini told The Associated Press by telephone.

During epidemics, mass graves were often reopened to bury fresh corpses and diggers would chance upon older bodies that were bloated, with blood seeping out of their mouth and with an inexplicable hole in the shroud used to cover their face.

"These characteristics are all tied to the decomposition of bodies," Borrini said. "But they saw a fat, dead person, full of blood and with a hole in the shroud, so they would say: 'This guy is alive, he's drinking blood and eating his shroud.'"

Modern forensic science shows the bloating is caused by a buildup of gases, while fluid seeping from the mouth is pushed up by decomposing organs, Borrini said. The shroud would have been consumed by bacteria found in the mouth area, he said.

At the time however, what passed for scientific texts taught that "shroud-eaters" were vampires who fed on the cloth and cast a spell that would spread the plague in order to increase their ranks.

To kill the undead creatures, the stake-in-the-heart method popularized by later literature was not enough: A stone or brick had to be forced into the vampire's mouth so that it would starve to death, Borrini said.

That's what is believed to have happened to the woman found on the Lazzaretto island, which was used as a quarantine zone by Venice. Aged around 60, she died of the plague during the epidemic that also claimed the life of the painter Titian.

Much later, someone jammed the brick into her mouth when the grave was reopened. Borrini said that marks and breaks left by blunt instruments on several among more than 100 skeletons found by the archaeologists show that the grave was reused in a later epidemic.

Such a reconstruction of events is plausible, as is the link to the superstitions about "shroud-eaters," said Piero Mannucci, the vice president of the Italian Society of Anthropology and Ethnology.

"Maybe a priest or a gravedigger put the brick in her mouth, which is what was normally done in such cases," Mannucci said.

The anthropologist, who did not take part in Borrini's research, said that at a time when bacteria were unknown, such superstitions were a way for the terrified population to explain the waves of plague epidemics that killed millions during the Middle Ages. Jews were also often accused of spreading the disease.

Borrini said the discovery shows that vampires in popular culture were originally quite different from the elegant, aristocratic blood-drinker depicted in Bram Stoker's 1897 novel "Dracula" and in countless Hollywood revisitations.

"The real vampire of tradition was different," he said. "It was just a decomposing body."

Source: Italy dig unearths female 'vampire' in Venice

Japan Getting "Life-Sized" Standing Gundam

Taken from Kotaku

Finally! To celebrate the 30th anniversary of the Gundam anime/manga/toy/video game franchise, an 18-meter-tall (59-foot-tall) "life size" Gundam statue will be built in Tokyo this July.

Part of the "Mobile Suit Gundam 30th Anniversary Project," the structure in Odaiba's Shiokaze Park will stay up for only two months and be built from fiberglass-reinforced plastic over a steel frame and coated in a layer of awesomeoness. Fifty points on the Gundam statue will emit light, and mist will shoot out of 14 different points on the statue. The 1/1 scale Gundam will boast a moveable head.

This is the largest Gundam statue ever constructed in Japan. In the 1990s, a 33-foot-tall LM312V04 Victory Gundam was constructed. There is also a fan-made 23-foot-tall 1/3 scale MSZ-006 Zeta Gundam in Japan. Though, this isn't the first time a life-sized Gundam has been created.

Back in 2007, a 1/1 scale Gundam was built for Fuji-Q Highland amusement park at the foot of Mt. Fuji; however, this statue did not stand upright and was built lying down on the floor.

Staring this July, it will be possible to view the 59-foot-tall Gundam free of charge. No kidding, some folks will just look out their window.

wah dan.. this is wat i call Gundamgasm... !!

Thanks to Juan n Vincent for the link

Source: Kotaku

50 Amazing Examples of Tilt-Shift Photography

What is Tilt-Shift Photography?

Tilt-shift photography is a creative and unique type of photography in which the camera is manipulated so that a life-sized location or subject looks like a miniature-scale model.

here are some examples

looks like toys rite? but actually it's real life pictures :)

check out the rest of the pictures here

50 Beautiful Examples Of Tilt-Shift Photography

here's another video using tilt shift photography i found on youtube

Thanks to vincent for the link~!

Taiwan to end conscription

TAIPEI - Taiwan will phase out its decades-old military conscription policy over the next five years, the defence minister said on Monday, amid warming ties with China.

Currently all men aged over 20 are required to do one year's military service.

But Defence Minister Chen Chao-min told reporters that the structure of Taiwan's military manpower will undergo a dramatic change over the next few years.

'From 2011, the number of conscripts will be reduced by at least 10 percent each year, to be replaced by professional soldiers,' Mr Chen said.

'That is to say, eventually, conscript measures will come to an end by 2014.' Critics have argued that the island's armed forces have struggled to enhance their defence capabilities because conscripts are unable to become proficient in high-tech weaponry in their short military service.

However, the new proposals sparked concerns over whether the defence ministry would be able to recruit sufficiently qualified professional soldiers at a monthly salary of NT$35,000 (S$1,550).

The plan to phase out conscription was a campaign pledge of President Ma Ying-jeou during the 2008 election.

The number of service personnel in Taiwan stands at around 275,000, down from a peak of 600,000 during the Cold War.

Taiwan's relatively large army is a legacy of decades of tensions with China, which has regarded the island as part of its territory awaiting reunification since the two sides split at the end of a civil war in 1949.

However, ties between Taiwan and China have improved dramatically since Mr Ma's Kuomintang party took office last May promising to boost cross-strait trade and tourism. -- AFP

Hmm... when our turn? haha

Error on previous post

HAHA turns out the millionaire post was a fake !!

here's the post i made 

here's the post tt says it's fake

Origins:   One typical humorous use that has followed the advent of digital editing software is the alteration or fabrication of screenshots from TV game shows to make it appear that

contestants have missed ridiculously easy questions, provided absurdly inappropriate responses, or scrawled untelevisibly obscene answers. The e-mailed item reproduced above represents an example of the first such category, detailing the saga of a contestant on the popular Who Wants to Be a Millionaire game show purportedly stumped by a question asking her to choose the largest object from a set including a peanut, an elephant, the moon, and a tennis ball. Having used up all three of her lifelines — first eliminating "peanut" and "tennis ball" as possible correct answers, then asking a friend and polling the audience to choose between the remaining choices of an elephant and the moon — one Kathy Evans of Idaho supposedly decided to ignore all common sense and advice and opt for "elephant" as the correct answer.

Of course, the "evidence" provided with the story in the form of a screenshot is a bit of digital trickery. It's an altered version of a frame showing Fiona Wheeler, a contestant on the UK version of the show, attempting to answer a slightly more difficult question:

(Ms. Wheeler actually did quite well on the program, earning £32,000 for her efforts.)

Thanks to vincent for checking it out for me!