Domino's plans pizza on the Moon

Domino's Japanese arm has proposed a branch on Earth's nearest galactic neighbour is the latest escalation in a pizza publicity war.Rival chain Pizza Hut set the bar high in 2001 by delivering a pizza to astronauts orbiting the Earth in the International Space Station, but Domino's fought back last year in a series of events to mark the 25th anniversary of its arrival in Japan.

In December, the company paid one person Y2.5 million (£20,046) to work for one hour delivering pizzas.
The competition has been taken beyond the stratosphere now, however, with construction firm Maeda Corp coming up with a plan for a dome-shaped concrete Domino's restaurant on the surface of the moon.
The company estimates the entire project will cost Y1.67 trillion - some £13.4 billion - of which Y560 billion (£4.5 billion) will be required to transport 70 tons of construction materials and pizza-making equipment to the moon aboard 15 rockets.

Keen to make the most of local resources, Domino's said it will keep costs down by using mineral deposits on the moon to make the concrete, which is likely to cost around Y194 billion (£1.5 billion).
An artist's impression of the restaurant anticipates a two-storey dome with a diameter of around 26 metres and a basement level constructed of steel plating and an area to prepare pizzas. Staff would be required to live on the premises.

"We started thinking about this project last year, although we have not yet determined when the restaurant might open," Tomohide Matsunaga, a spokesman for Domino's, told The Daily Telegraph. The company also expects to be able to offer delivery services.
"In the future, we anticipate there will be many people living on the moon, astronauts who are working there and, in the future, citizens of the moon," he said.

Low mortgage rates driving a boom in Florida home loans

Record low interest rates and bargain home prices are creating a mini-boom in Florida mortgages, a new national survey shows.Florida accounted for more than one out of every five home loans added in the nation from April to June, according to the most recent survey of U.S. lenders from the Mortgage Bankers Association.

Lenders reported adding 34,250 more loans for Florida homes in the second quarter of the year than between January and March, according to the survey. During the same period, there were 121,342 more loans nationwide than in the first quarter of the year. No statistics are available for how many mortgages were in South Florida.

Jay Brinkman, the association's chief economist, said the survey shows that the Florida housing market is stabilizing after it became the country's top spot for foreclosures. It also indicates fewer Floridians are missing house payments, he added. In fact, the Sunshine State's delinquency rate peaked nearly two years ago in late 2009 and continued to decline.

"I think this is the biggest sign of improvement in Florida,'' said Brinkman.He noted the survey is a snapshot of the nation's mortgage trends and that it may not include all loans. "While we attempt to track them all down,'' he said, "it often takes more than one count to do so.''

The declining rate of delinquent loans is bolstering some South Florida lenders' confidence. Rich Helber, CEO and president of Tropical Financial Credit Union of South Florida, is one.
"There is a lot more stability," said Helber, referring to his company's mortgages. "We don't have the charge offs, the loan losses, we did a year ago.''

There's also "no longer a free fall of home prices," added Helber, whose firm has 10 outlets in Broward, Palm Beach and Miami-Dade counties, 55,000 members and $600 million in assets.He said his credit union has loosened mortgage requirements and doesn't automatically reject applicants who have high debt, as long as they have a good history of paying their bills. Mortgage applicants may not need to make a 20 percent down payment if they have a credit score of 650 or above, he added.

More home buyers have been attracted to falling mortgage rates in the second quarter, said Claudine Claus, president of Home Financing Center in Coral Gables. Her company saw loans jump 20 percent during that period.

source: dfferenct news site on internet

WTC & its cancer link!

Firefighters who worked at Ground Zero are 19% more likely to have cancer than their colleagues who did not work at the site, according to newly published research that could pave the way for government payments to those suffering from some types of cancer.

The research marks the first substantive findings on the difficult question of whether working at the World Trade Center site increased cancer risk. For years, firefighters, police officers and construction workers have argued that there is overwhelming anecdotal evidence that work at Ground Zero caused cancer, while researchers continue to caution that it will take 20 or 40 years to prove such a link.

Published in the Sept. 3 issue of the Lancet, the research led by Dr. David Prezant, the head doctor for the New York Fire Department, concludes that an association between World Trade Center exposure and cancer is "biologically plausible'' due to findings of "a modest excess of cancer in exposed firefighters.''

"This is not an epidemic but an increased risk," Dr. Prezant said in a conference call with reporters Thursday. He added that, at minimum, the study is a reminder for first responders and others to heed doctors' advice on tumor screenings and to participate in cancer monitoring programs.


Advocates for Ground Zero responders and New York lawmakers will try to use the study to try to convince officials overseeing a new Sept. 11 health program to pay compensation to people who developed cancer after exposure to the site. The program's current rules do not allow for payment for cancer, but the rules can be revised.

Kenny Specht, a 43-year-old retired firefighter who was diagnosed with thyroid cancer in 2007 after having worked at Ground Zero, said the study should force administrators of the compensation fund to immediately qualify those firefighters who have developed cancer.



source : http://online.wsj.com

Kim's wedding is big business for the Kardashians!

Kim Kardashian and New Jersey Nets forward Kris Humphries kiss on the red carpet of the Kardashian Kollection Launch Party on Wednesday, Aug. 17.

Call it wholly monetized matrimony. Kim Kardashian and Kris Humphries are set to be married Saturday in a lavish, made-for-TV celebration of love, devotion and product-placement.

The reality-TV bombshell and her pro-basketball boyfriend will wed at a canyon estate in the tony seaside town of Montecito, near Santa Barbara, Calif. The exact location of the black-tie ceremony has been kept secret, but everything else about the extravaganza — the dress designer, the cake maker, the stationer, the gift registry, the Kardashian-brand perfume — has been touted 'til death do us part on celebrity websites, entertainment shows and Kardashian's own blog and Twitter pages. The bridesmaids are even wearing green.

Still, "there are so many surprises!" Kim Kardashian gushed at a party to celebrate the launch of her new Sears clothing line, Kardashian Kollection, mere days before the nuptials. "I think it's just going to be so much fun. I'm really looking forward to the wedding."

Kardashian went on to extoll the deep love and compatibility she and Humphries share. "We have a really good balancing system," she said, before working it back to the clothing line. "Like our personalities — he lets me chill and he gives me my space when I need to design and approve the shoes and the clothes and everything. We just have a good connection."

The marriage will be Kardashian's second and Humphries' first. (She was previously married to music producer Damon Thomas from 2000 to 2004.)

Much has been made of the Kardashian-Humphries wedding invitations, which were decorated with black crystals and arrived in silver boxes. Guests were asked to wear black and white and to keep ceremony details confidential. Even more has been made of the couple's wedding registry at Geary's of Beverly Hills, which totals $172,000 and includes such items as a $1,650 coffee pot and two $1,250 sterling silver vegetable spoons.

Entertainment media have breathlessly reported every available detail on the pending nuptials. And when Kardashian's sisters revealed at Wednesday's launch event that the bridal party will be wearing green, they said it as if dropping a national secret.

Mom Kris Jenner was coy even about her dress, saying only that "it's beautiful" — which would be fitting, of course, for the royal reality-TV wedding of the year, with some speculating its price tag could reach $10 million.

But such expense will surely be offset by the bouquet of wedding deals now in place.

The ceremony and everything leading up to it will be featured in a two-part special on E!, the same network that airs "Keeping Up with the Kardashians" and its spinoffs, "Khloe & Lamar," "Kourtney and Khloe Take Miami" and "Kourtney and Kim Take New York."

The special won't air for two months, though, prompting Online card company someecards.com to offer a greeting that reads: "Here's hoping Kim Kardashian's marriage lasts until her wedding special airs in October."

Then there's the magazine exclusive (reportedly with People) that will feature photos and details about the nuptials and the sure-to-be-star-studded guest list. And don't forget Kim Kardashian's Love, a limited-edition perfume that is being sold for $100 a bottle to commemorate the occasion.

Kardashian also constantly updates her five million monthly website visitors and more than nine million Twitter followers about her progress with her pre-wedding workouts (with celebrity trainer Gunnar Peterson), her dress fittings (with designer Vera Wang), and her invitation designer (Lehr & Black).

"She's certainly not the first (celebrity) to capitalize on her wedding and photos and the press to get everything paid for and more," said marketing expert Ryan Schinman, chief of Platinum Rye Entertainment. "It's the first that feels a little commercial. But from what everyone sees, she's very much in love, as long as her fiancé doesn't mind one of the most special moments in their lives being followed and shared with the rest of the world."

Red Hot Victoria Justice at 2011 Do Something Awards

18 year-old Victoria Justice attended the 2011 Do Something Awards held at Palladium in Hollywood yesterday and she rocked the blue carpet in a bright red dress that showed off her thin figure.

Actress Jessica Alba in Lucky Magazine

Jessica Alba is featured in Lucky Magazine this month (though the photo-shoot clearly took place many months ago) and she has quite a few interesting revelations. It seems that Jessica, whose figure is highly admired on our site, confessed that ‘it sucks’ to diet, starve and work out.

Post-partum girdle: “I wear a girdle around my tummy from the moment I give birth until it doesn’t feel loosely goosey anymore—that takes a good two to three months. It’s spandex with Velcro.”No maternity clothes? “I generally don’t wear many maternity clothes…but I am wearing maternity pantyhose, because I can’t fit into the other ones.”

On her meal plan to shape up after the baby: “I have a hard time with portion control, so I have 1,200 calorie meals delivered. But I also work out, so basically I’m starving—it sucks. I drink a lot of water.”On her post-baby workout: “Working out everyday for even just 45 minutes is good for my mental state. But getting dressed and actually doing it is the worst. It’s hard to get motivated.”


On why she likes to be distracted at the gym: “In the gym, I have like five things to distract me: TV, iPod, magazines. Working partners are good, too, so you can chat and not just drown in your own misery. Sorry, does that sound bad? I just hate working out.”

Skype for iPad Released!

Finally all of you Skype lovers out there can bring Skype to the fullest with the Skype for iPad app released just today on Apple’s App Store, available for download now for free. This version of Skype is built specifically for iPad, able to call, video call, on instant message anyone back and forth using Skype’s easiest to use interface yet! Skype Credit will work as well, allowing users to call mobile devices as well as landlines for what Skype Software notes are “really low rates.” You can join Skype from your iPad or sign straight into your account, whichever applies to you.



If a user already has a Skype account, their Skype contacts will already be synced when they first sign in on the iPad app. If instead they’ve got a Skype account with no contacts (or if they’ve got any amount of contacts, of course,) they can add new contacts with a few taps of the screen. One touch call, video call, or messaging is set up instantly, and moving through recent calls and instant messages in one’s Skype for iPad history is simple as well. This version of Skype works over Wi-Fi or 3G connections and is able to connect with the following devices: Skype on iPhone, iPod touch, iPad, PC, Mac, and Skype on TVs. With such a large list we’ve got to also assume that this connection will work to and from Android devices – we’ll get back to you on that one.

Users using Skype for iPad will be able to utilize both their front and back-facing cameras, showing off their face or whatever they’re taking a look at in front of them. Skype for iPad enjoys “near CD quality” (SILK) sound, and instant messages do indeed include emoticons (welcome back to 1996!) Pay features include “Pay As You Go with Skype Credit” and subscription services via monthly payments, the former being great for occasional users, the latter made for heavier talkers.


What’s required for this version if Skype? You’ll need an iPad, first of all, then you’ll need version 4.0 of iOS or higher. For front and back video chat, you’ll of course need an iPad 2 as the first iPad features no such camera combo – on the other hand, should you download the regular version of Skype for your non-iPad Apple device, you can still receive video should you have no camera- this including the first generation iPad and the iPod touch 3rd Generation. Go get it now!

Update: Skype has pulled the app for now – those lucky enough to have downloaded the app in the short bit it was up should not be surprised if issues arise. Skype tweeted: