Central Perk

sâmbătă, 20 august 2011

Damn Cool Pics

International Photography Award Winners 2011

Posted: 19 Aug 2011 09:15 PM PDT

The International Photography Award winners and finalists have been announced and as usual, they're downright impressive. The IPAs are sponsored by the Lucie Foundation , whose mission is to discover innovative photography, honor great photographers, and promote photography in general. This year, they received 8,000 submissions. A whopping 70 jurors judged these submissions. Here are 41 of some of the best winning photos.

"5th Ave. Fix"
Lorin Crosby

"Five Minutes in Santa Fe"
Michael Crouser

"Burning Peak"
Rafael Rojas

" Magic World"
Name: Adam Balcerek, Poland

"Noorderlicht, Spitsbergen, Norway"
Philip Harvey

"A Night in Tahrir Square"
Jacopo Quaranta

"Friends"
Joanna Borowiec

"Nouakchott opus incertum"
Philippe Bernard

"Afghan Heroin: Not for Export"
Thomas Stanworth

"Gatorade Natural"
Brian Kuhlmann

"Our Oceans Aren't The Only Ones In Danger"
Adam Taylor

"Agent Orange"
Ed Kashi

"Go, My Beauty"
Gordon Welters

"Pastoral Scene"
Nikolas Despiniadis

"Black River"
Michael Mullady

"Guantanamo: If the Light Goes Out"
Edmund Clark

"Pure Blood"
Ximena Etchart

"Buddies"
Serhat Demiroglu

"Gulf Oil Spill"
Daniel Beltra

"Remote Control"
Claudio Allia

"Chicago"
Ball & Albanese

"Heinz"
Maurice Heesen

"Strange Things Are Smoking"
Karen Divine

"Cold Places"
Sue Flood

"Innocence"
Claudio Allia

"Surplus"
Michael Krebs

"Desertic City"
Joanne Pouzenc

"Tibetan Monastery Kitchens"
Marrigje De Maar

"Docklands"
Rafal Krol

"Under Water Lilies"
William Scully

"Drough and Flooding Rains"
Melissa Powell

"Let Them Eat Cake"
John Wright

"Warsaw Chopin Airport"
Kacper Kowalski

"Langstrand"
Ulrike Klumpp

"Where Ships Were Born"
Paul Alexander Knox

"ELEMENTARZ"
Karolina Karlic

"Wild Card (1)"
Russ Lamoureux

"Geezz"
Lennette Newell

"Yangtze - The Long River"
Nadav Kander

"Nazi Americana"
Julie Platner

"Our Oceans Aren't The Only Ones In Danger"
Adam Taylor

Kurt Cobain's Daughter is All Grown Up

Posted: 19 Aug 2011 03:19 PM PDT

Kurt Cobain and Courtney Love's daughter turns 19 next week and in this new photoshoot, Frances Bean Cobain is looking gorgeous than ever!

Designer and photographer Hedi Slimane posted these photographs of Frances on his website, showing her in glorious black and white. By the way, I do not condone smoking, but this picture is just too cool!

Weekly Address: Putting Country Ahead of Party

Your Daily Snapshot for
Saturday, August 20, 2011

Weekly Address: Putting Country Ahead of Party

From a farm in the Midwest, President Obama talks about the determination and integrity of the American people and calls on Congress to put aside their differences to grow the economy.

Watch the video

Weekly Wrap Up

This week most of the action took place far away from the West Wing, as the President and many of his senior advisors hit the road to talk with Americans in rural towns and communities in Minnesota, Iowa and Illinois.

Rural Road Trip: From August 15-18, President Obama traveled through the Midwest, meeting with Americans in rural towns and communities in Minnesota, Iowa and Illinois. The purpose of his trip, dubbed the Economic Rural Tour 2011, was to have conversations with people from different walks of life about what is happening in our country right now. The President was there to talk, but also to listen. His message at the end of his trip? There’s nothing wrong with our country that can’t be fixed.

Summer Tour: The President was not the only member of the Administration on the road this week. In fact, this summer there are more than 100 events being held across the country in support of the White House’s Rural Economic Council, which this week released a Jobs and Economic Security report. The Council held a Rural Economic Forum in Iowa, where the President announced several new initiatives to help create jobs and grow the economy in rural communities.

VP in Asia: Vice President Joe Biden logged even more miles than the President this week, as he headed to China for the first stop on his three country trip through Asia. In addition to meeting with Chinese leaders in Beijing, the VP also attended a U.S.-China business roundtable and chatted with locals at a snack shop in the city. You can follow his travels live on Twitter – #VPin Asia.

Historic Appointments, Historic Delays: The President’s nominations for federal judges embody an unprecedented commitment to expanding the racial, gender and experiential diversity of the men and women who enforce our laws and deliver justice. Unfortunately, the delays these nominees are encountering on Capitol Hill are equally unprecedented. Check out this infographic to understand what this means for Americans seeking justice.

Immigration Update: The Department of Homeland Security announced a new strategy that focuses immigration resources in a way that puts public safety and national security first. Cecilia Muñoz, Deputy Assistant to the President and Director of Intergovernmental Affairs, held Office Hours via Twitter to explain the change and what it means.

Super Bowl Champs in the House: On August 12, the Green Bay Packers paid a visit to the President, where he congratulated the team on their championship season. Team members took a tour of the White House and gave a shout out to the First Lady, whose work with Let’s Move inspires their own Fit Kids program, which helps educate Wisconsin children about good health and smart eating habits.

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Seth's Blog : Twice as much doesn't always mean twice as much

Twice as much doesn't always mean twice as much

How expensive do you think it is for a fast food chain to switch to sea salt on its french fries? Even if we assert that sea salt costs twice as much as the competitor (dirt salt?), it's easy to see that the impact on the cost of making each order of fries is tiny, since salt is probably 1% of the cost of the item.

That means that upgrading a high-leverage component of your product might not have any real impact on your costs. It just feels that way to the purchasing department.

On the other side of the 'twice' coin, you might discover that you're falling behind the competition. So you spend twice as much on ads, or twice as much time on social media, or devote twice as many of your resources to a problem.

The challenge, of course, is that twice as much of your time or money is irrelevant. Who cares where you started? The correct comparison is to what the competition is investing, and how well.