Thai Airline Recruits Transsexual Flight Attendants

A break through is made by the president of the first Thai airline. This airline is to hire transsexuals as flight attendants. It was said on yesterday, furthermore he said the airline will become "pioneer" and predicted other carriers would follow his lead.

Fledgling airline PC Air has already recruited six crew of the "third sex" and boss Peter Chan said recruitment, driven by a belief in equal rights, would continue.

"I think these people can have many careers, not just in the entertainment business, and many of them have a dream to be an air hostess. I just made their dream come true," he said.

Thailand has one of the largest transsexual populations in the world and its surgeons have pioneered ever cheaper and quicker sex change techniques for those opting to go under the scalpel. But the airline does not require applicants to have gone through a surgical procedure, merely that they meet job criteria, including language skills and good service

Successor to Sony's PlayStation Portable machine coming soon

The popularity of smart phones including the iPhone is a potential threat to game machine makers as more people play games, watch video, send e-mail and chat on cell phones. People are also using other portable devices such as Apple's iPod and iPad to play games.

Sony's new machine, successor to its PlayStation Portable machine known as NGP for short, comes packed with motion sensor and GPS location technology so that gamers can tilt and sway the machine to play golf games, kill monsters and experience other "virtual realities," said Kazuo Hirai, who heads Sony Corp.'s gaming section.

It has a touch panel in the front and touch pads in the back to allow players to tap on the machine to move images, in addition to the usual buttons and switches.

Also provided is a third-generation wireless connection plus the already available WiFi, allowing for more social networking and downloads. Its five-inch screen is OLED — a different technology from liquid-crystal display — for good color and image quality about four times better than the current PSP.

Valentine's Day Gifts Banned: No Love?

The February 14 celebration named after a Christian saint is not officially banned but hardliners have repeatedly warned about the corruptive spread of Western values. Under Iran's Islamic law, unmarried couples are not allowed to mingle.

May be for that reason, Iran has banned the production of Valentine's Day gifts and any promotion of the day celebrating romantic love to combat what it sees as a spread of Western culture, Iranian media reported.

The printing works owners' union issued an instruction on the ban, imposed by Iranian authorities, covering gifts such as cards, boxes with the symbols of hearts and red roses.

Source @

Portman Naked for Miss Dior Cherie

Under the new campaign Portman also will star in TV commercial for Dior. Video was directed by Sofia Coppola, who in 2010 won the top prize in Venice Film Festival – Golden Lion – a picture of “Somewhere.”

Portman’s skinny figure is the center of attention in a new Christian Dior ad for its perfume Miss Dior Cherie. The actress, who trained hard for the ballerina role in “Black Swan“, is topless and covers her breasts with both hands while giving a sexy look over her shoulder.

Portman was announced as the new face and body of the brand in a press conference held in December last year. This is the first cosmetics endorsement deal for Portman. A number of journalists gathering at Chelsea Piers’ Pier 59 were given a sneak peek of her first print ad.

Cool New Gadgets in 2011

Here are the myriad enticing devices we’ve heard about recently, from the Consumer Electronics Show and elsewhere, a list of very covetable products that are promised to be coming soon.

Verizon's iPhone

Verizon Wireless announced it will offer its version of the iPhone 4 in early February of this year. One cool feature Verizon has added is that the phone will feature free hotspot capability for up to five devices—meaning laptops, tablets, and other mobile devices will be able to get online through the Verizon iPhone, no cord required.

Vizio's "passive" 3D TV

3D TV in the market these days most of them are bulky with costly glasses. Now you can have the good news: Vizio is offering the industry's first "passive" 3D TV models, which use the kind of inexpensive, lightweight 3D glasses you get in movie theaters.

Sony's HD camcorders with built-in projectors

Sony unveiled three very intriguing high-def camcorders: Each includes a tiny projector embedded on the back of the flip-out LCD, which Sony says will be able to project a 60-inch diagonal image onto any flat surface. The camcorders include other nice features: The PJ50V (which includes a 220GB hard drive) and the PJ30V (32GB of Flash memory) each has a 12x optical zoom lens and includes a built-in GPS receiver for geo-tagging content.

Olympus's Tough cameras

Olympus introduced the TG-310 and TG-610, the latest additions to the company’s waterproof, freeze-proof, and shockproof line of cameras. Both cameras feature a 14-megapixel sensor, dual-image stabilization, and HDMI connections and can record 720p resolution high-def video.

AT&T Motorola's 4G phone

Motorola Atrix 4G, an Android 2.2 phone that features a 1GHz dual-core processor will be the world's most powerful phone. It will run on the network’s fast HSPA+ network. The Atrix has a high-resolution HD display and includes a revolutionary, super-thin laptop dock for which ATRIX 4G is the "engine."

Nintendo's 3D portable gaming

Nintendo 3DS: No glasses are required to view its 3D display. The graphics were clear, and the 3D effects added a new dimension—pun intended—to the gameplay. A slider on the 3DS lets you lessen the 3D effect, all the way down to 2D. Two cameras on the back of the system let you take 3D photos. You can import your Mii characters from your Nintendo Wii system, or automatically create new ones by taking a photo of yourself with the built-in camera. Cool isn't it?

Asus's first of four tablet computers

Asus started this year show with a bang, launching four tablets. The first one to ship will be the Eee Slate EP121, the largest tablet we've seen, at 12.1 inches. It will use an Intel Core i5 processor and run Windows 7 Home Premium. The widescreen display is a capacitive touchscreen that's LED-backlit and has a resolution of 1280 by 800. You can choose between 32GB and 64GB of SSD storage and up to 4GB of memory.

Tips to Stay Safe at Facebook

Here's some advice from Sileo, who wrote the "Facebook Safety Survival Guide," about protecting online privacy on all social-networking sites:

• Never post your exact date and place of birth. It's invaluable information to identity thieves, particularly when the two are bundled together.

• Never post your address, phone number or email address. This is plum information to scammers and marketers who are looking for nuggets of your identity.

• Control who can see your personal information. Many social-networking sites have privacy features, but they change often. Know what they are, stay on top of them and restrict your page to your real friends, not friends of friends or someone you met in a bar.

• Limit information about your activities. If you must brag about a trip or a fabulous party, do it after the fact.

• Remember that what you post is public and permanent. Don't put up embarrassing photos that you wouldn't show your grandmother. Don't complain about your job or your boss. Don't say something to or about someone that you wouldn't say to his face. Don't threaten others.

• Know the four types of Facebook users: friends, outsiders, businesses and enemies.

• You should know exactly who wants to be your friend or is asking you to link into their network. Some people will befriend your friends to get to you or your company.

• Be wary of seemingly harmless quizzes. When someone invites you to take a survey, say, "10 Things Others Don't Know About You" or "My Favorite Things," it may be designed to harvest your data. The name of the street you grew up on or your favorite vacation spot could be clues to your passwords.

• Before you share any information anywhere online about yourself or your workplace, ask this question: What would the consequences be if this information fell into the hands of my boss, competitor or people who don't like me?

Skater Johnny Weir: I am Gay!

Johnny Weir puts an end to all the speculation on his orientation with a little help from his book, “Welcome to My World.” In it, he clearly states that he’s gay and explains why he took so long in coming out.

To promote the book, Weir has already offered a few excerpts for publication to the print issue of People magazine, together with a brief interview, AfterElton writes.

Not only does he come out, but he also takes the time to explain in detail why he chose to keep people guessing for so long: in the end, it should be him that always comes first, he says.

“Welcome to My World” also includes less than pleasant memories about the times when he was mistaken for a girl as he was growing up, the relentless bullying and name-calling, and the pressure from the media in recent years to come out.

“With people killing themselves and being scared into the closet, I hope that even just one person can gain strength from my story,” Weir writes in the book.

He also speaks of pressure from blogs in the community, meant to out him forcibly. They “couldn’t figure out why I was such a jerk that I wouldn’t talk it,” he says.

New Fuller Lips of Kim Kardashian

Doctors (who have not treated or even met Kim) have repeatedly warned her that she was doing herself no favors with so much Botox and little nip and tucks here and there, because she was still young and was becoming too “plastic.”

Either Kim is not reading the papers or she simply doesn’t care, because she just debuted a new set of lips the other day, as the Daily Mail can confirm.

The reality star was pictured outside her home without makeup on (a rare occurrence for Kim) and what looked like fuller lips.

Celebrity bloggers have also pointed out the striking similarity between Kim and her sister Kourtney, which has prompted jokes of how they must be using the same doctor who’s trying to make them look identical.

“The reality star was spotted leaving her Beverly Hills home on Thursday, sporting even fuller lips than she had had the previous week,” the Daily Mail says.

Piracy concerns over Apple's new Mac download store

Several groups claim to have found security flaws in the company's new Mac App Store, which launched on Thursday. The new service allows people to find and download approved applications to their Apple computers.

However pirates suggest that the loopholes mean many pieces of paid-for software are vulnerable to unauthorised copying. Apple chief executive Steve Jobs had hailed the launch as "innovative", but the company has yet to respond to the claims.

While Mac users have been able to purchase and install programs on their computers for many years, the Californian technology giant hopes the new system can emulate the success of its music and mobile download services.

The store has more than 1,000 programs for download, including best sellers such as Angry Birds.

Power Balance bracelets: provide no scientific edge

Power Balance bracelet, the popular performance accessory worn by athletes including Drew Brees, Kevin Durant and Kobe Bryant, provide no scientific edge, the company confessed this week.

The California-based company was forced to admit the lack of evidence supporting its claims of natural power after coming to an agreement with the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, the Associated Press reported.

Athletes who wore the bands insisted they provided a boost. Science said otherwise.

The bracelets, first released in 2007, were embedded with holograms and supposedly designed to interact with the energy flow of a body. They sold for $29.95 and were worn by athletes and celebrities like Shaquille O'Neal, David Beckham and Robert De Niro.

Why even bother making the claim that the bracelet gave power? Why not dance around the issue and refuse to make a definitive statement about them? Issue vague comments about natural energies and positive karma (like a hippie selling a crystal at a Phish show) and let fans of the product do the rest of the promotion by word of mouth.

Just like lucky socks, those titanium necklaces worn by baseball players or that $5 putter you bought from a sale rack at a pro shop, the only benefit derived from the Power Balance bracelet is the idea that it makes you better. Belief is a powerful thing; just watch a basketball player during a hot shooting streak or a golfer with the yips. Deep down we all know wearing the same sweatshirt on NFL Sunday doesn't change the outcome of our favorite team's game, but we wear it anyway, just in case.

Overtaking IE, Firefox Is Now the Most Popular Browser in Europe

Firefox has something to celebrate in the new year, according to data from StatCounter, it is now the most popular browser across all of Europe, surpassing Internet Explorer in aggregate market share.

Firefox has long been one of the most popular browsers in many European countries, it has long passed IE in Germany for example, but it is now the biggest on the whole continent.

Firefox was preferred by 38.11 percent of internet users in December 2010, according to the data, while Internet Explorer was used by only 37.52 percent. But, Firefox's market share is actually smaller than it was a year ago, it had 40.8 percent in December 2009, so it's a bit strange that it managed to overtake IE.

Mozilla has Google Chrome to thank for this, while Google's browser has been taking away some market share from Firefox, it's done a lot more damage to IE's. In the past year, Chrome has tripled its market share in Europe, going from 5.06 percent to 14.58 percent, mostly by getting people to switch from Internet Explorer.

Sony And Google To Launch PlayStation Phone Soon

Sony hopes to take on Apple's iPhone, Research in Motion's BlackBerry and Nokia devices by offering the first smartphone that is based on a portable game console, with a set of controls that allows very advanced gaming.

Sony's long-rumoured PlayStation Portable smartphone is set to be launched in North America and Europe as early as the first half of 2011, according to a Japanese newspaper report.

The device would likely be based on Sony's handheld PSP Go game console, would be made by Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications and run Google's Android operating system, said the Asahi Shimbun's English edition, citing unnamed sources.

The PSP Go, launched in November 2009, already features software downloads through a wireless connection, allowing players to also browse the internet, watch movies, play music and read books and comics. The new PlayStation handset would similarly work with Sony's online media platform, the company's answer to Apple's iTunes.