Alexander McQueen Savage Beauty

One of the most influential designers in all Fashion History , Alexander McQueen, the late British fashion designer, has joined Leonardo da Vinci and Pablo Picasso in the ranks of the most popular artists in the New York Metropolitan Museum of Art's 140-year history.

"I use things that people want to hide in their heads. War, religion, sex: things we all think about but don't bring to the forefront. But I do and I force them to watch it" Alexander McQueen

Savage Beauty, a retrospective of designs by McQueen, attracted 661,509 visitors in three months before closing on Sunday, the museum announced on Tuesday.Thousands of New Yorkers queued for hours around several blocks last Saturday and Sunday evenings, desperate to make it into the final late-night showings of the exhibition, which was extended by a week.

Its attendance figures made it the Met's eighth-most popular on record. It joined da Vinci's Mona Lisa (1963) and a Picasso retrospective from last year in the all-time top 10.

"The show was an elegant tribute to the designer's artistry," said Thomas Campbell, the museum's director. "We are proud to have shared it with such a broad audience, eager to experience the breadth of his genius." More than 17,000 of the attendees visited during Mondays with McQueen – eight special events held on the one day the museum is typically closed, and new membership sign-ups doubled during the run. The museum also sold 100,000 copies of the exhibition catalogue, which was priced at $45 (£28).

McQueen, the son of a taxi driver, was raised in a council flat in east London. He rose from an apprenticeship on Savile Row to become one of the fashion world's most celebrated figures. He killed himself in his London home in February 2010.

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Credit :Telegraph 
 Computer-Viruses-Are-A-Hot-Topic

Computer Viruses Are A Hot Topic

No matter who you talk to, everyone has either had a computer virus or knows of someone who has gone through the agony of trying to get rid of the problem. Computer viruses are a hot topic that seem to affect everyone who owns a computer system, whether at work or at home. The companies that produce software programs that catch and delete these computer viruses are constantly updating their databases for virus types and definitions so that they can better protect your system against all the newest viruses. Creating virus protection programs is a multi-billion dollar business that is growing more and more everyday. The number of viruses being created and uploaded to the Internet is growing at an astounding rate of a new one every eighteen seconds! This definitely keeps the virus protection companies on their toes with research and development.

Because these viruses copy themselves to any computer system they come in contact with, the spread of viruses throughout a computer network or the Internet is a very fast and deadly thing to happen to your computer. Because computer viruses are a hot topic, they routinely are the subject of magazine articles and forum topics online. While some viruses do nothing more than frustrate you with pop-up ads or other messages, others are completely malicious and set out from the start to destroy the files and operating systems of your computer.

Of the 53,000 viruses that have been identified and classed, more than 80 percent of them have been classed as malicious and capable of harming your computer system or data files. These computer viruses behave in much the same way as biological viruses by contaminating any computer systems they come in contact with. These self-executing programs are generally very small and work at damaging the way your computer works or by damaging or completely removing key system files.

When computer viruses are a hot topic, more and more people find out about the destructive power of these programs. In this way a great many people find out about virus protection programs and rush out to get the newest protection programs or they ensure that their computer virus protection is up to date. Many magazine and news articles about computer viruses have the effect of sometimes panicking people into believing that their computers are at risk. Having a good anti-virus program and current updates is one of the best ways to protect your computer system against virus attacks.

This must also be coupled with good file habits such as scanning all downloaded files with the anti-virus program before opening them. It is always a good idea to take the time to ensure that the file you thought you were downloading is indeed the file you have. For instance, a file that labels itself as a movie file and is less than one megabyte in size is not a movie file. Movie files are generally nearly a thousand times that size and therefore, the file you have downloaded is most likely not a movie file and may in fact be a computer virus.

Computer viruses are a hot topic at the office when a virus attack manages to get past protection protocols put in place by the network administrators. All it takes is one person allowing some executable files they have been sent to open and start replicating itself through the network of computers to make life Hell for that company. Virus attacks can cripple office systems very quickly resulting in lost revenue and consumer confidence which can affect the way that stocks in that company are traded resulting in even further financial losses. That is why it is so important for larger businesses to have comprehensive computer virus protection programs in place.

These virus programs are much more detailed and powerful than the anti-virus programs that many consumers have protecting their computer systems. Because the fallout from a virus attack is much more financially damaging to a large corporation, the virus protection program needs to be much more robust and capable of protecting multiple systems within the corporation. Computer viruses are a hot topic among businesses simply because of the way that they can affect the company financially.

We Love Domenico Dolce & Stefano Gabbana | Esquire UK september 2011

Amazing Editorial and Interview for the fashion Legends Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana. 

Photographed  by Terry Richardson

Fashion

Finding-Affordable-Hard-Drives
One thing is for sure, the hard drive is something that no computer can be without. In fact, when you are looking to upgrade your computer or buy a new one you should use the hard drive as one of the most important considerations to follow. There are all types of affordable hard drives to choose from though. These will help to not only give your computer a place for its data to be stored but they will be useful in that you will not have to spend more money than you need to.

The first thing to consider when finding affordable hard drives is the capacity of the hard drive. While larger hard drives have become the way to go for some computers these days the more affordable hard drives are going to be the ones that have lower levels of data capacity. A hard drive that fits 250GB of data will certainly cost less than that of an 800GB hard drive.

Another thing to consider for the affordable hard drive is the USB capability. Some hard drives will only be able to be used inside of the computer. Some of them can be read through a USB connection. This has turned into one of the most convenient methods of data storage on the market. Groups like Western Digital and Seagate have been making these, but it should be noted that the most affordable hard drives in this range are ones with lower capacity levels.

Affordable hard drives will still have great data transfer rates also. Inner zone transfer rates for one of these cost efficient hard drives will be at around fifty megabytes a second and close to a hundred megabytes in a second for data at the outer zone.

There are various different places where you can find affordable hard drives. For instance, a typical computer hardware store will have new hard drives available for sale at different price levels so you can find one that will be in the range that you are willing to spend it on.

Some independent computer hardware stores will have refurbished hard drives for sale. These have already been used but are cleaned up and restored so that they will work just like new. Even the higher end hard drives may be available in refurbished quality. This will mean that you can save a great amount of money on top quality products.

An outlet store will also have affordable hard drives. This is because these hard drives are sold individually to people who are looking to customize their computers. In addition, with no middleman involved money will be saved because of the small transfer costs. You can find an outlet store in your area through your local phone book.

Online sites can be useful too. TigerDirect.com, which is the website for the Tiger Direct Outlet Store, has many of these affordable hard drives. SuperWarehouse.com has plenty of hard drives and special deals for sale too. PCNation.com has more hard drives and arranges its hard drives by capacity size. Of course, those are some of the more credible sites to visit. Remember, some online stores may not be protected or secure like these three are.

A hard drive is something that you should use for your computer. By using the considerations of the hard drive in terms of the size, you want and by looking at various different stores, you can find affordable hard drives that your computer can use without you having to spend more money than you want to.

We Love Cristóbal Balenciaga Museum | Getaria Spain

THE work of Spanish fashion designer Cristóbal Balenciaga has been honoured with a new museum dedicated to his life and great legacy, located in the designer's hometown of the medieval port town Getaria. His grave overlooks the town, and now also overlooks the votive space built in homage to one of the key fashion figures of the 20th and 21st Centuries.

The €30 million Cristóbal Balenciaga Museoa showcases Balenciaga's grand style in the form of dresses exhibited like precious artworks, with one of the six display areas given over entirely to bridal gowns. Not least of these is a mink-trimmed ivory-silk dress with a 20-foot train, the wedding attire of Queen Fabiola of Belgium - a Spanish aristocrat before marrying King Baudouin I of Belgium in 1960.

The opening of the museum last week was attended by the height of Spanish society - with Queen Sofia of Spain amongst the glamorous invitees, some of whom had donated dresses to the collection. Spanish-born Estrella Archs, Emanuel Ungaro's former head designer, summed up the strength of feeling that led to the project.

"Balenciaga is the essence of Spain," she told the International Herald Tribune. "There is a side that is very rustic and a side that is very sophisticated about Spain. His work was sophisticated and very pure - his modernity was about being very simple, with a very Spanish modesty and pride."

photo Credit :Buro

How to go about earning an Extra Income

Extra Income means an income that you can earn apart from the regular income coming in from employment or normal work. This earning can be used to payoff your outstanding debts or build up a capital account or spend it on luxuries that you could only think about before. Everyone seems to want a second income but no one wants to work a second job, so the extra income is normally seen as a windfall.

When we compare income levels in different countries, it is evident that the average income per person is less than $15,000 a year--in other words, where many people are near the breadline -- Extra Income really does make people happier and improves their lifestyle.

But countries which have average income above the normal subsistence level of approximately $15,000 a year, happiness seems to be income independent. For example, an average American ranks richer than an average Indian or an Austrian, but also less happy.

Why does this happen? People always look at their income relatively with some norm or the other and the norm keeps rising all the time.  And this norm is what increases the spending, more or less in direct proportion to the income. Two things drive up the norm with which people compare their incomes. One is the income that they themselves have experienced -- which habituates them to higher standards of living. And the other is the income that their colleagues or neighbors get, and which they try to outdo.

The extra income options available today are targeted to generate employment and are targeted specifically at people who can use their skills that are lying dormant to make some more money for themselves. To achieve a moderate success in generating an extra income one should be aware of their strengths and weaknesses. This would greatly help in selection of a most suitable way to generate extra income.

The selection process consists of logical steps. Firstly one should ask themselves of an honest opinion of their strengths, what they excel at? What do people around them keep complimenting or criticizing them on?, are they perfectionists?, For example, if you are a  computer literate you could help your neighborhood in upgrades, repairs or installation of software.

The extra income can also be augmented by doing extra seasonal chores like raking leaves in the fall or clearing snow in winters. These are just a few ideas, but making an extra income augmented with self analysis will take away the need for a second job.

Today the internet and the general market have a lot of ideas for generating extra income. Network marketing in general market terms has been successful to some extent. Internet offers something similar that says affiliate marketing. The internet also offers a host of other options like writing, advertising and simple technical non-technical jobs which can highly augment your regular income. The extra income that can be earned form these opportunities depends on how good your skills in the field of your selection.