9 Actors You Didn’t Know Were in Star Wars Movies

From: http://www.movieline.com/
by Louis Virtel

The crowded backdrops of Star Wars movies aren’t just populated by Frank Oz puppets, interns, and robots in Rick Baker makeup: There are genuine stars (and famous directors) running around there! We’ve pinpointed nine folks who made cameos in Star Wars films, and I’m willing to bet you couldn’t catch most of these players upon first viewing. Sofia Coppola is practically hiding.

1. Keira Knightley
Movie: The Phantom Menace
Role: Sabe, the decoy queen
Hired thanks to her resemblance to Natalie Portman, future Oscar nominee Knightley played Amidala’s doppelganger decoy and bodyguard. It’s the kind of fronting that could drive a woman mad. Talk about A Dangerous Method.

2. Rose Byrne
Movie: Attack of the Clones
Role: Dormé
Long before she sneered and scoffed at Kristen Wiig in Bridesmaids, Damages star Rose Byrne wasn’t so cocky as Padmé Amidala’s handmaiden Dormé. That expressionless mug served her well in Patty Hewes’s firm.

3. Joel Edgerton
Movie: Attack of the Clones, Revenge of the Sith
Role: Owen Lars
As Anakin Skywalker’s stepbrother Owen, Edgerton eventually takes custody of Luke Skywalker in Revenge of the Sith. He’s killed by stormtroopers in A New Hope, but it’s clear that Owen here has the fire of an Animal Kingdom/Warrior alum. Joel Edgerton is the brother of Ewan McGregor’s stunt double Nash Edgerton, and coincidentally, Owen Lars is named as Obi-Wan Kenobi’s brother in the novelization of Return of the Jedi.

4. Marton Csokas
Movie: Attack of the Clones
Role: Poggle the Lesser
Looks like Celebron from The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King has a sexy past with other fantastical franchises. In Attack of the Clones, Csokas voices Poggle the Lesser, the separatist Archduke of Geonosis who is gunned down by Darth Vader on Mustafar. Wouldn’t be surprised if the same thing happened to him in The Debt.

5. Keisha Castle-Hughes
Movie: Revenge of the Sith
Role: Queen Apailana of Naboo
Soon after the august New Zealand actress scored an Oscar nomination for her unforgettable work in Whale Rider, she played a forgettable queen in Revenge of the Sith’s funeral scene. Looking kind of Thai for a Kiwi!

6. Sofia Coppola
Movie: The Phantom Menace
Role: Saché
The oldest of Amidala’s five handmaidens, Saché donned a red-orange robe and stared off like a downtrodden protagonist in a Sofia Coppola movie.

7. John Ratzenberger
Movie: The Empire Strikes Back
Role: Major Bren Derlin
A few years prior to landing Cheers, the Pixar mainstay bundled up to play the deck officer Bren Derlin in The Empire Strikes Back. Even when he’s starring in a sci-fi classic, you just want to hand him a stein.

8. Joe Johnston
Movie: Star Wars
Role: Stormtrooper
In an additional insert scene shot for the original Star Wars, the Captain America: The First Avenger director (and Oscar-winner for Best Visual Effects on Raiders of the Lost Ark) stands out on the Death Star surface looking over at the captured Millennium Falcon. Still a fetching costume to this day.

9. George Lucas
Movie: Revenge of the Sith
Role: Baron Papanoida
The blue-skinned Baron Papanoida, who lingers outside Palpatine’s private box at the Galaxies Opera House, is your austere auteur, Mr. George Lucas! He’s glowering like Orson Welles in The Muppet Movie, but I’m sure he’s having a fine time.

12 Surprising Reasons to Eat More Blueberries

By: Michelle Schoffro Cook
From: http://www.care2.com/

1. Catechins found in blueberries activate fat-burning genes in abdominal fat cells to assist with weight loss, and belly fat loss in particular. According to research at Tufts University, regularly ingesting catechins increases abdominal fat loss by 77 percent and double total weight loss.

2. They contain a group of natural phytonutrients (plant nutrient) called proanthocyanidins which have a unique ability to protect both the watery and fatty parts of the brain against damage from some environmental toxins.

3. Blueberries are one of the richest sources of proanthocyanidins. These phytonutrients decrease free radicals levels that are linked to aging (yes wrinkling!) and disease.

4. In animal studies, those given an extract of blueberries had less motor skill decline and performed better on memory tests than animals not given the blueberries. Researchers conclude that compounds in blueberries may reverse some age-related memory loss and motor skill decline.

5. Blueberries are packed with vitamins C, E, riboflavin, niacin, and folate.

6. They are a rich source of the phytonutrients ellagic acid. Ellagic acid has proven anticancer and genetic-material-protection capabilities. It also encourages a healthy rate of apoptosis—how the body seeks out and destroys harmful or damaged cells, like cancer cells.

7. Because they contain plentiful amounts of the phytonutrient quercetin, they may reduce the likelihood and severity of allergies.

8. Blueberries contain minerals like iron, magnesium, manganese, and potassium.

9. Blueberries contain salicylic acid—the natural version of aspirin. Salicylic acid is known to thin the blood and reduce pain.

10. Blueberries are excellent anti-inflammatory agents. They increase the amounts of compounds called heat-shock proteins that decrease as people age. When heat shock proteins decrease the result is inflammation and damage, particularly in the brain. Research shows that by eating blueberries regularly, inflammation lessens.

11. They increase the production of feel-good dopamine. Dopamine is a natural neurotransmitter (brain messenger) that tends to be low in Parkinson’s.

12. They just taste great. Ok, this is no surprise but it’s a great reason to eat blueberries anyway.

Adapted from The Life Force Diet by Michelle Schoffro Cook.

The Most Amazing And Absurd Places For Rent

Morgan Brennan, Forbes Staff

From: http://www.forbes.com/

I cover real estate, writing about everything from trends in the housing markets to ultra high-end luxury property listings to quantitative lists of the best and worst cities across America. Real estate is in my blood thanks to a broker for a mom and a property developer/landlord for a dad. I have had a front row seat for the real estate market's inflation and subsequent crash over the past decade, these days watching my dad struggle to find tenants and my mom struggle to sell underwater homes. I have been both a homeowner and a renter in the New York area and can't decide which one I prefer. You can also catch me debating economic topics and throwing out stock picks as a regular guest on the 'Forbes on Fox' show on Fox News every Saturday morning. Before taking on the real estate beat, I worked as an Anchor/Reporter in Forbes Video, interviewing everyone from the Jonas Brothers to new IMF chief Christine Lagarde to eBay billionaire Pierre Omidyar. These days I shoot videos of crazy homes. I graduated from New York University in 2009 with a BA in Anthropology and prior to that I worked in the other end of media as a recording artist with Sony. If you have tips, story ideas or listings to submit for consideration, email me at mbrennan@forbes.com.

You could shack up in a dank apartment or chain hotel room when your job or your family vacation beckons you abroad. But if money is no object, you might consider a more adventurous choice of lodging like, say, an old Boeing 727. In Manuel Antonio, Cost Rica you can rent one for $400 per night or $11,872 per month through Airbnb.com, a San Francisco, CA-based online vacation home rental site.

What does a two bedroom suite carved out of a commercial jetliner entail? For starters an ocean view from a plane balanced on a 50 foot pedestal that’s accessible by a case of spiraling rock staircase. Interiors are paneled in teak wood and both air-conditioned bedrooms boast private baths. A wood deck sits on top of the plane’s right wing, offering views of the local birds and the monkeys.

Move up Move down

Manuel Antonio’s Boeing-turned-apartment is one of many amazing, unusual and strange abodes for rent right now. Airbnb.com, known for its assortment of daily and weekly travel rentals, recently added a “sublet” section to their smorgasbord of listings, which represent vacation housing options in 19,000 cities across 190 countries. The sublet section represents rooms, apartments and homes available for 30–day or longer stays. We asked the company to round up the funkiest, quirkiest places for rent on their site.

Europe has a smattering of centuries-old citadels up for grabs, including a 14-bedroom medieval castle nestled in the hills of Umbria in Italy. The stone stronghold with its vaulted ceilings and hand-painted frescoes, could be your knightly domain for $2,057 (after Airbnb tacks on its processing fees) and up to $61,058 – roughly the price of a posh three bedroom condo rental in New York City – per month.

“People have gotten really creative with what they post…we’re seeing tree houses, castles, water villas in Malaysia” says Joe Gebbia, the co-founder and chief product officer of Airbnb.com, comparing the site’s real estate-centered open marketplace model to that of goods-centered eBay’s. “We actually have so many igloos on the site right now that we had to create an ‘igloos’ category and there are so many boats on the site that we had to create a category for that too.”

One such igloo complex tunnels under the grounds of a ski resort in Krvavec, Slovenia. The Igloo Village Krvavec is built and rebuilt from snow every year. Furniture is adorned in cushy animal furs, which are needed given the chilly 32 degrees to 40 degrees Fahrenheit range inside the icy digs. A night here will cost up to $189 and if you feel so inclined to tough out a month of without heat, $5,610.

Airbnb enables property owners to freely post their listings on the site, extracting a fee when that listing successfully rents out. Renters book properties online with a credit card. If it’s a sublet, that rental payment is extracted and held by the tech startup until the tenant officially moves in. The credit card is automatically charged on the first of every month for the duration of a sublet agreement. It’s strictly up to the landlord and the prospective renter to decide whether they trust each other enough to do business together. Gebbia says Airbnb is trying to make that vetting process easier with user profiles, a reference section (like eBay’s “feedback” reviews section), and new around-the-clock concierge service, tools newly beefed up after the online rental company came under fire for its handling of a user whose home was ransacked this summer by a renter found through the website.

Despite the recent negative attention, Airbnb, founded in 2008, is valued at over $1 billion thanks to hundreds of millions in venture capital funding and Gebbia says the company grew over 800% in 2010. He expects sublets to become an even bigger piece of the company, noting that rapidly growing organic demand on the site for monthly rentals was the catalyst for launching the new sublet section. Igloos and airplanes are just a few of the different types of properties fueling the growth. So far the longest rental through Airbnb is scheduled for 10 months and the most expensive is a Paris, France home fetching $46,000 a month.

Airbnb is not the only company peddling properties for short-term rent. Homeaway, a publicly traded company based in Austin, TX, boasts more than 260,000 vacation rentals on its website, available for one night stays, weeks and in some cases monthly sublets. The company proffers some zany homes for rent as well, like a conch seashell-shaped house in Isla Mujeres, Mexico and a converted railway car in Montana.

Even fashion e-commerce site Gilt Group created a spinoff travel site called Jetsetter. Jetsetter predominantly offers hotel deals but recently it launched a “homes” section to the site. The section offers Groupon-esque flash sales for vacation home rentals. It also presents celebrity homes available for short-term rent like the $2,600 per night Palm Springs, CA home custom built for Frank Sinatra in 1947.

New Mario Kart 7 footage

MasterCard engages the senses with mobile payment tech

By Ryan Kim
From http://gigaom.com/

MasterCard is working on a number of fronts to bring mobile payments to the market, partnering with Google on Google Wallet and throwing support behind Isis, the carrier-led NFC joint venture. But it’s got some interesting ideas of its own on how to spur mobile payments, shopping and interaction with a mobile phone.

The credit card company showed off a handful of projects Thursday that highlighted how it can leverage mobile phones to encourage shopping using a variety of technologies, from QR codes and NFC to audio signals motion control. The projects are all part of a larger platform, called QkR for now, that is being incubated in MasterCard Labs and is close to being deployed in the coming months.

When consumers use a QkR app that contains their credit card credentials, they’ll be able to scan QR codes right off a home shopping network-like show. After scanning the code when they see an item they’d like to buy, the app will let them check out and buy the product immediately. MasterCard also showed off an NFC table coaster that allows people to buy products without getting up and scanning the QR code. Instead, the NFC reader recognizes what product is being shown on TV and initiates a transaction when a user taps their phone on the coaster.

Another implementation involves audio scanning. Similar to the work that IntoNow and Shazam and others are doing, MasterCard can embed high and low frequency signals into TV commercials. When a user opens up their app and presses a button to listen, the app will recognize the signal and pull up relevant content based on the commercial. So a MasterCard commercial featuring the New York Yankees will pull Yankees gear for sale. The system uses high-frequency signals, which can work in loud settings and also can utilize low frequencies, which is how most scanning technologies work.

In a restaurant setting, users can scan a QR code or tap an NFC sticker to pull up discounts and coupons. And when they get to their table, they can do the same thing to pull up a menu, where they can order remotely and have their dishes delivered to their table. MasterCard said it’s talking to a lot of restaurants about this technology, which many businesses feel could be useful in improving efficiency. Users can also pay for their bills right from the app, which can also be a nice way to get in and out quickly.

And finally, MasterCard showed off how QkR can work in conjunction with the Xbox Kinect motion control system. Users can wave their hands to engage the system and conduct a transaction for a product by just moving their hands to get through a check-out process. I’m not sure how many people need to conduct a transaction using gestures, but MasterCard is showing how you can utilize other technologies to facilitate purchases. And it’s further playing off the idea that people will be able to make more purchases right from their couch.

Again, none of this is on the market, but an announcement could be coming in the next few weeks, I’m told. Since MasterCard is already a payments company, it makes sense for it to build apps and services that can speed people to the point of purchasing something. By using existing and emerging technologies and leveraging the mobile phone, MasterCard is trying to remove the barriers that might prevent or hinder people from buying things.

This is going to ultimately change the way we interact with the world. Our TV shows will likely be dotted with prompts to audio scan with an app. Stores will all come with NFC stations where people can check-in, get discounts and see what’s on sale. Restaurants may start to do away with waiters coming to take our order and instead let customers get their food order going by using their phones.

MasterCard can win if it becomes the conduit for all these transactions and encourages people to open up their digital wallets more often. But overall, the MasterCard technology shows that there are still a lot of ways in which we can tap smartphones and other technology to get transactions going.

Light from a water bottle could brighten millions of poor homes (w/ video)

From: http://www.physorg.com/

Screenshot of a solar bottle bulb from the video below.
Image credit: Isang Litrong Liwanag

As simple as it sounds, a one-liter plastic bottle filled with purified water and some bleach could serve as a light bulb for some of the millions of people who live without electricity. Originally developed by MIT students, the "solar bottle bulb" is now being distributed by the MyShelter Foundation to homes throughout the Philippines. The foundation’s goal is to use this alternative source of daylight to brighten one million homes in the country by 2012.

In order to make the water bottles "light up," holes are cut in the metal roofs of homes and a bottle is placed and sealed into each hole so that its lower half emerges from the ceiling. The clear water disperses the light in all directions through refraction, which can provide a luminosity that is equivalent to a 55-watt electric light bulb, according to the MyShelter Foundation. The bleach prevents mold growth so that the bulbs can last for up to five years.

Although the solar bottle bulb only works during the day, it can meet the needs of many of the people in Manila, Philippines, and other cities, where the homes are so close together that very little sunlight can enter through the windows. As a result, the homes are dark even during the day.

Residents describe the difference that the solar bottle bulb has made. Video credit: Isang Litrong Liwanag

The solar bottle bulbs’ advantages include sustainability and safety; compared with candles or faulty electrical connections, they aren’t a fire hazard. The bulbs are also inexpensive to make and install, and of course have no operating costs while in use.

The MyShelter Foundation is promoting the solar bottle bulbs as the Isang Litrong Liwanag ("A Liter of Light") project. In Manila, the city government paid for the bulbs while the foundation is training residents on how to make and install them.

via: Treehugger
© 2011 PhysOrg.com

Honey Badger The Most BAD ASS Animal on the planet!!!!

Honey Badger Don't Give a s**t!

Ikea Store Builds A Playroom For Men Where Wives Can Drop Their Husbands While They Go Shop

By Sarah Firshein

From: http://articles.businessinsider.com/

An Ikea store in Sydney, Australia, has either set retail shopping forward by three decades or set gender equality back by three decades—you decide: they're testing out Manland, which is, as one local newscaster describes it, "basically a creche for husbands and boyfriends with short retail attention spans, a place to hang out while their wives and girlfriends run the aisles of Ikea."

Think ultimate man-cave stuff such as video games, foosball tables, free hot dogs, pinball machines, and oddly enough, no books. (Apparently reading is not encouraged in Manland!) As with Ikea's childcare creche, women dropping off their husbands and boyfriends are given a buzzer. "After 30 minutes, the buzzer goes off, it reminds you that you have to come pick up your man or else, you know, we may have to all the authorities," explains one Ikea sales associate.

Clearly there are a number of loopholes in this whole program, not the least being the fact that it overlooks gay couples. And secondly, when is 30 minutes ever enough time to successfully navigate an Ikea.

This post originally appeared at Curbed.

Public Transportation Etiquette

From: http://imgur.com/

imgur.com

Gordon Ramsay's dwarf porn double Percy Foster dies in badger den

From: PerthNow

Gordon Ramsay's dwarf doppelganger Percy Foster (inset) has been found dead in a badger's den. Source: PerthNow

A DWARF porn star who was Gordon Ramsay's double has been found dead in the most bizarre of circumstances, according to UK tabloid The Sunday Sport.

Percy Foster's 107 centimetre (3'6") body was discovered in a badger's den in Wales.

The report says the 35-year-old was found, "deep in an underground chamber by Ministry of Agriculture experts ahead of a planned badger-gassing program."

Investigators have not ruled out the possibility of suicide, according to the report.

In a recent interview Foster spoke of his excitement about his growing career as Ramsay's double.

"Porn lookalikes get more money than normal actors. Dwarf lookalikes are as rare as hen's teeth and so can command top dollar.

"I've already ordered a new BMW and a diamond-encrusted Soda Stream," he said.

VH1 Airing Rare Nirvana Concert Next Friday Night

byAndrew Martin

from: http://www.prefixmag.com/

The celebrations surrounding the 20th anniversary of Nirvana's Nevermind will continue next Friday, Sept. 23. VH1 plans on airing a rare, hour-long concert by the seminal grunge outfit on its own network, VH1 Classic, and Palladia. The broadcast starts at 11 p.m. EST/PST, which means you might be a few drinks in once it begins. That's not the worst case scenario, of course, but just make sure you don't get too rowdy.

The concert footage stems from a gig at Seattle's Paramount Theater on Halloween in 1991. It apparently includes performances of "Breed" and "Polly" along with their renowned cover of the Vaselines' "Jesus Doesn't Want Me For a Sunbeam" and, my personal favorite, "Aneurysm." If you happen to miss the televised viewing of the show, you can still catch it on DVD and Blu-ray when Nirvana: Live at the Paramount is released on Sept. 27.

You can watch a trailer for the DVD below.

[Rolling Stone]

Star Wars Talk to Your Kids PSA

Uploaded by asylumchannel on Nov 17, 2010

Star Wars fan dads discuss how they will talk to their kids about Star Wars.

Windows 8 Hands-On Video Preview, Blindingly Fast Boot-Ups

by Dave Altavilla

There has been no shortage of buzz and chatter about the Windows 8 Developer Preview that Microsoft let fly during their BUILD Developer's conference this week. What's even more interesting is that they made their new beta baby available for public download as well. So we wasted no time in installing the pre-release software on one of our Intel Core i5-based notebooks here in the HH Lab. We came away impressed at the current state of the new operating system, however, there is little question that Win 8 is a radical departure from previous versions of Windows. In fact, it could be easily said that Windows 8 isn't really "Windows" at all.

You be the judge on that but to be sure, Microsoft is developing their new OS from the ground up to offer a whole lot more than some short-sighted opinions have judge it to be. Windows Phone 7 for the desktop? No, not in our opinion. There's little question that Microsoft is placing a monumental bet on touch interfaces in the future but even with a keyboard and mouse at the helm, it's easy to see there's a whole lot more going on under the hood of Win 8.

And performance? Well, just watch at least the first 30 seconds of our video walk-through of Windows 8 and see for yourself. If boot times are any indication of Microsoft's performance targets, we think speed freaks and performance enthusiasts might be in for a nice surprise as well. Fire up the video reel and kick back. Then peruse the screen shot gallery below. Of course, be sure to check out our BUILD conference preview of Windows 8 as well. Enjoy.



Windows 8 Screen Shot Gallery - Click images for high res



Metro and The Classic Desktop



Performance Monitor, IE10 and Gallery of Memories


Paint and RSS Headlines


Control Panel


Near Me and Sharing via Social Networks

NOPE: Official Ojai Valley Taxidermy TV Commercial

CHUCK TESTA!

Uploaded by ojaivalleytaxidermy on Aug 14, 2011

http://www.ojaitaxidermy.com
Commercial created by YouTube sensations Rhett and Link as part of "commercial kings"
http://www.ifc.com/rhett-link/episodes/taxidermy-comedy.php

A Complete Guide To The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air's Sneakers

complex.com

Now this is a story all about how/this kid got flipped-turned upside down/and take a few minutes just sit right there/as we take you through the sneaker guide of The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air.

When it comes to sneakers, most people are checking to see what’s hot in the streets right now. Sometimes it’s nice to get a little nostalgic (Yeah the Seinfeld piece was major) and no show was more on point with style in the early '90s then The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. When the project kicked off in 1990, Will Smith was already established as a music artist thanks to everyone’s favorite summer anthem, and proved his personality and wit as well. Naturally acting was the next move, and with backing from Quincy Jones he was ready to cross over to iconic status which he had cemented by the time the show last aired on May 20, 1996 and he moved on to blockbuster films. After sifting through 56 hours of footage, we have a complete guide of what our man Will rocked throughout the series — definitely worth peeping or you can hit us with this.

Click on the gallery to see A Complete Guide To The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air’s Sneakers.

Click Here to Start the Story »

Van Damme Friday - Van Damme films in Romania - Six Bullets

In this film, the Hollywood star plays a mercenary, an expert on kidnappings.

The character who plays her daughter is engaged to save a former martial arts fighter. The film is called "Six Bullets" and recorded in studios Media Pro.

The actor also starred in other films made in Romania.