newsbuzzonlive: April 2013

Tuesday 30 April 2013

Go Inside The Plant Where Boeing Builds The World's Best-Selling Airliner

RENTON BOEING 737 LINE 1 FULL SHOT TO DAY 1 TO 4 1 copy

On April 24 and 25, American Airlines's Boeing 777-300 had its Grand Opening / Coming Out Party with a two-day delivery flight event that we were fortunate enough to be invited on.

Our “AAdventure” began with a trip to Boeing’s Renton plant. Renton, southeast of Seattle, is a real treat, as it is not open for public tours and photography is generally prohibited.

This is the most prolific airliner plant in history, and one key to American’s fleet renewal plan. At a relatively compact 278 hemmed-in acres, Renton — the exclusive final assembly home of the world’s best selling airliner, the Boeing 737 — lives in the shadow of its larger sibling plant in Everett.

But in terms of importance to airlines and the Boeing Company, Renton plays second fiddle to no one.

Editor's Note: You can read more about Chris' tour of the 737 and 777 factory here, and about the aircraft delivery here. American Airlines paid for Chris' hotel.

Pavitra Rishta: Will Gautami Kapoor be better than Ankita Lokhande?

After going through several names, Ekta Kapoor has finally decided to cast Ram Kapoor’s real life wife as Archana in Zee TV’s popular show

Ever since Sushant Singh Rajput quit Pavitra Rishta, Ankita Lokhande has been deliberating whether or not to quit the daily soap. Obviously, the production house doesn’t want their favourite bahu to leave, but how long can they really hold on to her.

Balaji Telefilms agreed to give the actor a break by putting her character in coma. Ankita was free to spend some quality time with her fiancé. But now that Ankita is on a holiday, she doesn’t really want to come back – and we understand. Besides taking a break, the other reason why Ankita doesn’t want to return to the show is because PV is probably gearing up for another big leap. If Ankita comes back, she will have to play an aged grandmother this time – and that’s just not acceptable to the actor.

So after several auditions and consultations, Ekta has finally zeroed in on Gautami Kapoor, who was last seen in Karan Johar’s Student of the Year. If rumours are to be believed, Gautami has given her nod for the show and is keen to play Archana.

Private Women’s-Only Club Opens in London

Private clubs are not only for men anymore—although these aren’t the cigar-filled rooms of men’s folklore. Instead, swanky women’s-only clubs are popping up that promise to “take the stress out of everyday life,” like London’s posh new Grace Belgravia—the first private club for women. According to one of the club’s owners, Grace Belgravia is dedicated to “nurturing and empowering women”—for an $8,000-plus annual membership fee. The club includes a spa, gym, restaurant, lounge, food-delivery service, a celebrity hairstylist, and a medical center headed by the apothecary to the queen. It’s just one of the private women’s-only clubs that have been cropping up worldwide, including a “women’s business club” called the Sorority in London.

Are Juice Cleanses Encouraging Eating Disorders?

Calories are the enemy—or at least that’s what our fat-shaming culture has taught us. We’ve come to acknowledge that eating disorders like anorexia and bulimia are bad, but with the recent phenomena of “juicing” going on in the past decade, it seems like extreme compulsive behavior and caloric restriction is OK so long as its in the form of something “green.” Jezebel’s Jenna Sauers breaks down a recent Marie Claire article that cites “juicing” as a gateway to eating disorders like anorexia and bulimia. While Sauers doesn’t think juicing is that extreme, she does take issue with the dangers of rejecting solid foods entirely and consuming all of one’s calories and (not all of) one’s nutrients in the form of liquid veggies:

I think juice, though high in sugar, can be a part of a balanced diet. It's a "sometimes food." But I get uneasy whenever a friend tells me—and this happens with increasing frequency—that juice is all she's consuming. Talk about "toxins" and "cleansing" and "good" and "bad” foods just seems unwholesome—just another way of talking about elimination and control.

The Outsider’s Guide to the 2013 Tony Nominations

Tom Hanks was on Broadway? What’s a “Kinky Boot”? What anyone living outside of New York City needs to know about this year’s Broadway kudofest.

People within the tiny microcosm of culture that is the Broadway theatre district were breathless with excitement this morning over the announcement of the 2013 Tony Award nominations. But unless you were among the 12 million tourists who purchased tickets to a Broadway show in the past year—and coughed up the $120-a-pop to see a one-woman show on the Virgin Mary instead of Phantom of the Opera or Wicked for the fifth time—you’re unlikely to have any clue as to who the contenders are, or whether the shows were any good.

Guide to the Tony Awards 2013 — Joan Marcus (3); AP

That’s where we step in, offering up this Outsider’s Guide to this year’s Tony nominees, featuring clips from those splashy musicals you may have missed, word on the buzz over who will win, and, most gleefully, which Hollywood big shots were left off the list.

Best Musical

Bring It On: The Musical

Yes, a musical based on the campy high-school cheerleading flick starring Kirsten Dunst and Eliza Dushku—spirit fingers!—is now a Tony Award nominee. But the few who caught the show’s short run—it only ran for five months—may have left disappointed that catty exchanges like “She put the ‘itch’ in bitch…she put the ‘whore’ in horrifying” were missing. The film’s darkly comic plot was essentially scrapped in the peppy, Glee-like stage version. Andy Blankenbuehler’s high-flying, acrobatic choreography, on display above, scored the musical its sole other nod.

A Christmas Story: The Musical

This year’s Best Musical nominations certainly adhere to the credence: there are no new ideas. All four contenders are based on movies. The most tourist-baity of the group is A Christmas Story: The Musical, adapted from the “You’ll shoot your eye out” film that plays on loop on TBS each Christmas Eve. On Broadway for just six weeks this winter, the musical is the theatre producer’s dream: a cheap production that can be revived seasonally each year with a guaranteed audience of New York Christmastime gawkers chomping at the bit to purchase tickets.

Kinky Boots

There are four nominees in this category, but only two real contenders: Matilda andKinky Boots, which led all shows with 13 nominations, including mentions for its three stars Billy Porter, Stark Sands, and Annaleigh Ashford. It’s certainly the most idiosyncratic nominee—Cyndi Lauper composed the music and lyrics, and it’s based on the 2005 film about a drag queen who helps rescue a man’s shoe factory by convincing him to manufacture thigh-high, high-heeled boots strong enough for men. Reviews were overwhelmingly positive for the show, especially for Lauper’s infectious numbers and Porter’s sassy lead performance as Lola, nee Simon.

Margaret Thatcher's Hairstyle Craze

Never mind "The Rachel." Now, everyone's rushing to get the Maggie bouffant.

Margaret Thatcher, 2010 — Former British Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher waves to the press at her home after leaving Cromwell Hospital on November 1, 2010 in London, England. (Dan Kitwood/Getty)

First came news that Margaret Thatcher’s death had instigated an uptick in the sales of her favorite handbag. And now the same thing is happening with her signature pillowy, bouffant hairstyle, reports The Daily Mail. Hairstylist Maximiliano Centini told the paper “We have now done the style for over 100 women, it is a surge.”

The hairstyle’s draw has a lot to do with Thatcher’s own personal style. Long revered for her ability to appear both feminine and powerful, Thatcher’s personal taste paved the aesthetic way for contemporary politicians like Hillary Clinton. It’s appropriate, then, that actress Flora Raffles MacLaughlin (one of Centini’s patrons to recently receive the style) thinks her new ‘do “is the perfect mix of feminine style with a hint of masculine power. I think for a modern woman that is now an ideal balance. When my other model and actress friends saw it they were immediately intrigued. I have been turning a lot of heads.”

Alec Baldwin’s Daughter Ireland Baldwin In Open Letter: Don’t Call Me Fat

Alec Baldwin and Kim Basinger’s 17-year-old daughter, Ireland, has just launched her modeling career – and is already being called fat. Now, she lashes back

130430-ireland-baldwin-fashion-tease — The 17-year-old stunner (who’s the daughter of Alec Baldwin and Kim Basinger) has just burst onto the modeling scene – and she’s already been called fat. On Monday, Baldwin took to Tumblr to lash back at critics who tell her "I am too fat to model, how I am not model material, how I am an unattractive girl, how I am too tall, etc."

"What I don’t fully understand, is what is the good in commenting on a photo of a 17 year old girl and calling her fat, ugly, etc? Is that helping you in some way?" she asks in the lengthy post.

The 6' 2" blonde recently signed on with both Two Management and IMG Models, and earlier this month appeared in a New York Post swimsuit spread. She’s also recently addressed similar body-image issues. "My booty is 5'10 and 115 lbs alone," Baldwin jokingly tweeted on Friday. "This whole modeling world is brand new to me. I'm only 17, and I need to evolve into my own," she wrote, along with: "So while all of you are commenting on how ugly I am and how fat all the time, keep in mind that I haven't been doing this for very long!"

Feds Rethinking Tsarnaev Charges

It may not be long before the country hears more from Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, the surviving suspect in the Boston Marathon bombings. Preliminary talks have been under way “for the past few days” to strike a deal that would allow him to avoid the death penalty if he resumes providing information to investigators, government sources told CNN. But lawyers on both sides are far from reaching a clean agreement, and a Justice Department official said it was inaccurate to suggest they were negotiating a penalty. The news comes with the appointment of a prominent American defense lawyer, Judy Clarke, who is known for successfully helping some of the country’s most high-profile criminals avoid the death penalty.

Sequester Story Crashes After Congress Ends Airport Furloughs

Budget cuts were back in the headlines until Congress caved on airport furloughs after outrage over flight delays. Now the media has lost interest again—likely for good, says Howard Kurtz.

But after that New Year’s Day compromise that involved a hike for the richest taxpayers, the sequester—$85 billion in automatic budget cuts that were once deemed so drastic as to be unthinkable—went into effect on March 1. And promptly vanished from the media radar.

That is, until delays started mounting at the nation’s airports and Congress panicked. Lawmakers practically broke the sound barrier in racing to pass legislation giving the FAA authority to shift money and end the furloughs of air traffic controllers.

That story instantly gained altitude for several reasons. The stampede to undo just one small part of the sequester that directly affected members of Congress, who fly home every weekend, was irresistible. The tide of public anger at the stupidity of the situation packed an additional wallop (and it’s not hard to send an Action News reporter to the local airport and find ticked-off customers facing two-hour delays).

DID Super Moms auditions starting soon in Mumbai!

After Patna, Kolkata, Jammu, Delhi and Bengaluru, the Dance India Dance Super Moms auditions finally come to Mumbai

DID Super Moms is Dance India Dance’s upcoming reality show on Zee TV. And it will kickstart its Mumbai round of auditions at Ryan International School, Vaastu Park, Next to Evershine Nagar, Off Link Road, Malad West, Mumbai, on May 4 between 9am and 2pm.

So all you super talented mommies, gear up to put on your dancing shoes and show up at the audition venue. DID Super Moms is the new ‘ hatke’ concept that has never been explored before – except for a few episodes of Boogie Woogie. Mothers who have the zeal for dancing and couldn’t pursue their dreams due to marriage or kids or whatever can now shake their legs and show off what they’ve got.

DID is known for seeking out exceptional talent from across the country. So we can’t wait to see what this new show is going to bring to the table….errr….dance floor, but it certainly will be a treat to watch out for. What do you think, BollywoodLifers?

Bombay Talkies gets a thumbs up from Bollywood!

Actor Konkana Sen Sharma couldn’t stop her tears when she watched Bombay Talkies, while for Riteish Deshmukh it was a “wonderful cinematic experience”. The film gets the thumbs up from the film fraternity who feel that it is a must watch. A special project to mark 100 years of Indian cinema, the anthology film Bombay Talkies brings on the screen four different stories put together by directors Zoya Akhtar, Karan Johar, Anurag Kashyap and Dibakar Banerjee, respectively.

There was a special screening of the film Monday before its commercial release on Friday, May 3, and it seems to have appealed to the celebrity audience. The celebs took to Twitter to praise the movie. Here is what they have to say:

Ayushmann Khurrana: Finally saw ‘Bombay Talkies’. (I) felt very big while being a very small part of Indian cinema.

Riteish Deshmukh: ‘Bombay Talkies’ will shock you, entertain you, enthrall you. Zoya, Anurag, Dibakar and Karan – thank you for this wonderful cinematic experience.

Konkona Sen Sharma: Laughed and cried while watching ‘Bombay Talkies’. Four fine, sensitive films and super performances.

IPL 2013: What do Shilpa Shetty and Raj Kundra talk about during the matches?

The two lovebirds seem to have a lot of fun cheering for their team together

Shilpa Shetty and Raj Kundra, who have recently been accused of a Rs 8 lakh fraud by the director of a cricket academy, have had a lot to cheer about during Indian Premier League (IPL) 2013.

Their team Rajasthan Royals is currently on the third position in the points table and is likely to make it to the semifinals. What’s more, their son Viaan made his debut at the IPL in a little designer RR jersey. And the cricket season ensures the couple is spending lots of time together, as they cheer for their team from the stands. We came upon some very cute and fun pictures of the duo during the IPL 2013 matches, and here’s what we think they have been thinking and talking about all this while. Click on!

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EXCLUSIVES Redington starts distributing Amazon’s Kindle devices in India

Redington has received stocks of some Amazon Kindle devices, which it will start distributing in India. Earlier there were reports of Amazon tying up with Redington for distributing its Kindle e-book readers and tablets, which we have now been able to reconfirm. The agreement was signed a couple of months ago, our source tells us. Redington also distributes Apple’s products in India including iPhones and iPads as well as BlackBerry smartphones. Amazon had earlier tied up with Tata’s retail chain Croma to launch its Kindles in India.

Multiple sources have confirmed to BGR India that the distributor has received stocks of a few models of its Kindle e-readers. Amazon also plans to launch its Kindle Fire and Kindle Fire HD Android tablets in India via its tie-up with Redington. The exact launch date or the pricing of Amazon’s Kindle line-up is not known at the moment but this will ensure wider availability of Kindles across retail stores in the coming weeks.

Fly launches Android smartphones and a tablet in India priced between Rs 4,500-Rs 13,499

Fly Mobiles has launched 3 Android phones and an Android tablet in India today— the F51, the F45s, the F40 and the 8-inch F8s tablet. The phones are available from Rs 4,500 to Rs 12,500 while the tablet is priced at Rs 13,499.

Starting off with the F8s, which is the company’s first Android tablet. The tablet supports 3G, features an 8-inch tablet and runs on the Android 4.1 Jelly Bean. It is priced at Rs 13,499.

Fly’s flagship phone, the F45s, flaunts a 4.5-inch display and runs on Android 4.1 Jelly Bean while the others are F51 runs on Andrid Ice Cream Sandwich followed by the entry-level F40 which runs on Android 2.3 Gingerbread. The F45s is priced at Rs 12,500, the F51 at Rs 7,790 and the F40 at Rs 4,500.

In addition to the above devices, Fly also plans to launch the F50s this weekend. In terms of specifications, the Dual-SIM F50s will feature a 5-inch WVGA display, 1GHz dual-core Qualcomm Snapdragon processor, 8-megapixel rear camera, 2-megapixel camera at the front, expandable memory up to 32GB, 2,000mAH battery and run on Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich.

Intex i-Buddy Connect 3G launched for Rs 9,990, features a 7-inch display, 3G voice calling and Educlass software for students

After introducing the i-Buddy Connect tablet last August, Intex has today launched the i-Buddy Connect 3G. The 7-inch tablet with pre-loaded education apps like Educlass is available for Rs 9,990.

Talking of specifications, the i-Buddy Connect 3G runs on Android 4.0.4 Ice Cream Sandwich and sports a 7-inch display. Other features on the tablet are a 1GHz dual-core processor, 1GB of RAM, 3-megapixel rear camera, 1.3-megapixel at the front, 4GB of internal memory which can be expanded up to 32GB and a 3,500mAH battery.

On the connectivity front the tablet supports 3G and can accommodate two SIM cards that allow users to make voice calls. The i-Buddy Connect 3G also comes pre-loaded with apps like Nimbuzz, Skype, Facebook, Yahoo Messenger, GChat. For students, the tablet also has an Educlass app that contains NCERT text books from class 1- 12 and other interactive educational content.

Google celebrates Labour day with a doodle

It is Labour Day and Google is at it again with a doodle that pays tribute to workers around the world. The doodle comprises of the word ‘Google’ on top which various characters are performing jobs. The characters are metaphors for the work force of the world whose contributions are being celebrated on the day.

For those who don’t know, the idea behind Labour Day is for employers to recognize the work done by their employees in the past year to contribute to their success. It is also a day when the workers rest, hence usually it is an off day.

May 1st is a national holiday in more than 80 countries and is unofficially celebrated in many more countries. Labour Day is also known as May Day in many parts of the world. In some countries it is not celebrated on May 1st. For instance in Canada it is celebrated on December 1st and in Australia on October 1st.

Google releases Glass how-to video

Google Announces Nexus Tablet At Its Developers Conference I/O

While Google has released its much awaited wearable computing product Glass to a limited number of early adopters who purchased the Explorer edition of the product at Google I/O last year, the product remains quite mysterious to most. Many who are yet to experience the product in real life also wonder how the product works and for that Google has posted a Glass how-to video, that show cases the start-up process and some of the basic features of the product in its current stage.

The video gives a nice overview of how the device works. For instance, it shows users how to swipe the touchpad that sits right next to the temple to access new information. Additionally, there is an overview of the Glass cards system.

North Korea Is Building A Huge Theme Park With Replicas Of Big Ben And The Eiffel Tower

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North Koreans are to be given a taste of London life with a replica of Big Ben reportedly being erected in the country's capital.

Pyongyang's take on Augustus Pugin's iconic clock tower will feature in a theme park that is planned to open this year, the Associated Press reported on Monday.

The "miniature world" park, which will also boast a replica of Paris' Eiffel Tower, is reportedly part of a construction boom that began in the capital in 2010.

Last year, North Korea 's leader Kim Jong-un vowed to bring to an end decades of austerity and hardship with the slogan: "No More Belt-Tightening."

The Associated Press, which is the only western news organisation allowed to operate permanently inside the secretive state, reported that Pyongyang's "transformation" had seen its downtown areas spruced up with "glossy construction" including "department stores, restaurants and high-rise apartments." At the centre of this construction frenzy is Changjon street, in downtown Pyongyang, where a brand-new supermarket trades in Hershey's Kisses, Coca-Cola and Doritos.

Silicon Valley Tech Gods Are So Excited About Their Google Glasses They Can't Stop Talking About Them

Entrepreneur Loic LeMeur (LeWeb, Seesmic) just got Google's new computerized glasses, Google Glass.

To say Loic is stoked would be an understatement.

In the last 12 hours, Loic has been frantically posting pictures of himself and his sons wearing the glasses, as well as a stream of pictures that he has been taking with them.

In the tech world, at least, Google Glass seems to be capturing all the excitement, buzz, and imagination that Apple's iPhone and iPad once did. It will be interesting to see whether Apple's next product, thought to be an iWatch or iTV (when it finally comes out), can do the same thing. In the meantime, Google has stolen Apple's thunder.

Here are Mr. Lemeur's Glass self-portraits on Instagram.

(Note the clip-on shades in the second picture. This, in my opinion, is the start of what will make Google glasses go mainstream... additional miniaturization that makes it hard to tell that someone is wearing computerized glasses).

And, for good measure, here's a picture of tech guru Robert Scoble wearing his own Google Glass in the shower. After wearing them for two weeks, Scoble says he's never taking them off.

Google+/Robert Scoble

And Marc Andreessen: