Rihanna and Gucci Unite For UNICEF

Gucci and Rihanna love children. In collaboration with the United Nation's Children's Fund, UNICEF, Gucci has enlisted music sensation Rihanna to spearhead the label's first ad campaign with the nonprofit organization."I felt a musician and a beautiful woman was the perfect icon for this campaign" said Gucci's creative director, Frida Giannini.Dubbed, "Tattoo Heart," the ads will feature Rihanna donning Gucci's special-edition products all incorporating a tattoo-style heart designed for UNICEF. "We've come a long way from Miss Bisou to Gucci," said the 20-year-old singer. "It's an honor to represent Gucci."Keep your eyes peeled for the first round of ads set to debut in December magazines. Twenty-five percent of sales will be donated to the UNICEF organization.

Note: Rihanna also talked about adding clothing design to her repertoire stating,"I love fashion, so it's only natural for me to want to create my own line." We'll keep you posted on that one.

Jesse Who, said What, and Why!?!?

HOW much player-hate can fester in one man's heart?
Apparently, quite a lot if you're the Windy City's World-Class Windbag.
Jesse Jackson has spent his entire life in love with the microphone. He knows them intimately.
He's such an aficionado of the mike that Detroit's beloved late mayor, Coleman Young, dismissed one of Jackson's failed vanity bids for the presidency by noting that "all he's ever run is his mouth."
Jackson's claim to have been caught unbeknownst by a "hot mike" slurring and threatening Barack Obama is complete hogwash.
Somewhere, deep down, he wanted the world - and Obama - to know how much he wants to "cut his nuts out."
Veterinarians and doctors talk about cutting nuts "off." Only a thug or a gangster cuts a man's nuts "out."
And Jackson knows better than most the vicious symbolism of castration and its blood-soaked link to lynchings in the Old South.
Nor is this the first time Jackson bared his anger. Last year, when Obama wasn't sufficiently politicizing the beating prosecution of six black teens in Louisiana known as the "Jena Six," Jackson said Obama was "acting white."
What accounts for Jackson's latest animosity toward the Democratic nominee? He said it's because Obama was "talking down to black folks."
In a Father's Day speech, Obama told black churchgoers that a father's responsibility "doesn't just end at conception."
"What makes you a man is not the ability to have a child - any fool can have a child," Obama said. "It's the courage to raise a child that makes you a father."
Maybe this struck a little too close to home for the Rev. Jackson, who just a few years ago finally owned up to fathering a child outside of his marriage even as he was busy counseling President Bill Clinton on his dalliances with a White House intern.
Perhaps the real reason for Jackson's hatred is that Obama has shown that unifying and uplifting campaigns succeed in American politics where the divisive failed campaigns waged by Jackson become history's footnotes.
And this is where Obama comes out ahead once all the dust settles.
By publicly accepting Jackson's apology, Obama floated above the whole sordid mess.
For everyone watching - especially those blue-collar white voters who were so elusive for him in the primary - this is a powerful reminder that Obama is not cut from the same cloth as the militant race-baiter Jesse Jackson and his ilk.

Charles Hurt is The Post's Washington Bureau chief. churt@nypost.com

Forget the new iPhone... Look out for the Mac Tablet...

This laptop doesn't need a keyboard and very practical for business professionals, artists, and techonology leaders.It features a 13.3 inch widescreen LCD that will enable one to inscribe on the screen with true pen and Handwriting recognition. This laptop will hit the market with all essential features such as internal CD/DVD combo drive, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi capabilities and Global Positioning System.

http://www.appleinsider.com/articles/07/01/11/unofficial_mac_tablet_draws_record_crowd_at_macworld_high_res_photos.html

This will be the envy of Christmas shopper everywhere!!!

No He Can't !?!?

Sen. Barack Obama is making it clear that an African-American U.S. senatorial candidate from Georgia has crossed the line by linking the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee to his campaign. In recent days, Vernon Jones, the DeKalb County CEO, released a campaign flier showing him and Obama smiling together; the caption reads: “Yes We Can.” But the Illinois senator is screaming, “No He Can’t!” Obama, speaking to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution Tuesday, said, “I do not endorse him; I have not endorsed him. He put my picture on his literature, without asking me. Now I will tell you in the southside of Chicago, and I’m assuming here in Georgia, those kinds of things aren’t uncommon. It’s a little less common to do when you’re a U.S. Senate candidate when presumably the scrutiny is a little higher.” Jones, who says he wasn’t trying to trick anybody, mailed thousands of the leaflets, the Journal-Constitution reports. The photo appears to be of himself standing next to Obama in front of a campaign crowd, the newspaper says, while the photo was really a digital compilation of two or more images. “I think he may have come to an event of ours a while back,” Obama said. “The reason I think I may have met him is I know somebody told me as I was shaking his hand that he had taken pride in voting for George Bush twice.” Still, Jones’ spokeswoman says that her candidate is a strong supporter of Obama. “Vernon Jones is a conservative Democrat who holds views consistent with mainstream Georgians, and like Vernon Jones, Sen. Barack Obama kicked off his Georgia campaign in Cobb County,” Jones said Tuesday. He has called the flier a campaign “keepsake piece,” noting that he has been asked to autograph it at campaign stops everywhere. Jones is battling fellow Democrats Dale Cardwell, a former WSB television reporter; Atlanta businessman Rand Knight; former state legislator Jim Martin; and retired businessman Josh Lanier of Statesboro in July 15 primary. They are vying to challenge incumbent Republican U.S. Sen. Saxby Chambliss and Libertarian Allen Buckley in the November general election. Jones says that “for Sen. Obama to win Georgia, he will need conservative Democrats like myself.” Do you agree with Jones?

TV One to cover Democratic convention -- but not Republican

TCA PRESS TOUR -- Given Barack Obama's historic run for the Oval Office, African American-themed cable network TV One plans to break from its usual entertainment programming to provide extensive coverage of the Democratic National Convention in August.
"This is a huge deal for TV One as it is for the African American community," said Johnathan Rodgers, president and CEO of TV One, a channel in about 40 million homes. "African Americans have fallen in love with Barack Obama’s family, his candidacy … we will be covering the democratic convention all the time."
But John McCain shouldn’t expect the same treatment. The network doesn’t plan any coverage of the Republican convention.
"We are not a news organization," said Rodgers, speaking at the opening session of the semi-annual Television Critics Association press tour in Beverly Hills. "We are a television network designed to celebrate African American achievement."
“My audience is 93% black,” Rogers added. “I serve my audience.”
TV One does have a Republican pundit as part of its convention coverage, comedian Sheryl Underwood. But she’s also voting for Obama.
When critics pressed a panel of TV One’s convention pundits about whether African American republicans will feel slighted, Underwood said, “I speak for all eight of us -- we are not slighted.”
As a cable network, TV One is likely exempt from any equal time access rules. Federal Communications Commission rules state that broadcast networks are required to give equal time to presidential candidates. In 2007, when “Law & Order” actor Fred Thompson entered the race for the Republican nomination, NBC pulled episodes that featured him, but cable network TNT did not pull “L&O” repeats.

-----> After reading I was left with the thought of what if networks with predominantly White demographics (CNN, Fox, etc) didnt cover Obama??? Just a thought..

Wanna Get Rich... Turn off the big city lights...

NEW YORK (Reuters Life!) - If you want to get rich leave New York City, Washington DC or Los Angeles and head to Plano, Texas, Aurora, Colorado or Omaha, Nebraska where wages are high and life is good, a new survey showed.A poll that ranked 69 U.S. cities with populations of more than 250,000 people showed the best places to build personal wealth and raise a family were in cities where some of the nation’s largest companies are headquartered.The No. 1 city, Plano, is the ninth largest metropolis in Texas and home to corporate headquarters including soft drink company Dr Pepper Snapple Group, PepsiCo’s snack foods company Frito-Lay and movie theater company Cinemark.“The city has a reputation as one of the best places in the country for employers to do business and for families to live and work. Plano has a nationally acclaimed public education system and well-educated, diverse residents,” Salary.com, a pay and performance web site that conducted the survey, said.Aurora, the third most populous city in Colorado, came in second, according to the survey which said its economy is booming and it is a business leader in key growth industries such as biotechnology, aerospace and high technology.Nebraska’s largest city Omaha, home to famed U.S. investor Warren Buffett, nabbed third place. Buffett, who is the richest man in the world according to Forbes magazine, is often called the “Sage of Omaha” for his successful investments.“With diversification in several industries including banking, insurance, telecommunications, architecture/construction, and transpiration, Omaha’s economy has grown dramatically since the 1990’s,” Salary.com explained.New York City came in last, behind Washington DC and Los Angeles.“These cities do have some of the highest average wages in the country, but when it comes time to stretching your dollar and accumulating a nest egg for the future, it is difficult to do in these cities,” Salary.com said.The survey measured the relative value of earnings, cost of living and unemployment rates, along with diversity of industry, education level of the cities’ population, proximity to post secondary institutions, percent of population below poverty level and median travel time to work.

The Seven Deadly Sins Of Social Media

Social media like Facebook, Flickr, and Delicious has been around for a couple of years now and companies are starting to dip a tentative toe into the water. While such courage should be applauded, serious missteps have occurred that embarrass the offending company.
And it is not the courageous steps that have been embarrassing, but the sheer level of assholery with which companies have partaken their social media experiments. Because social media is all about sharing, collaboration, and communication, it is little surprise that folks expressed outrage at the heavy-handed or downright immoral dealings of the companies outlined below.
In this post, I will list five of the deadly sins as outlined by Joseph Jaffe’s speech at the ANA’s Integrated Media Conference and then offer two additional sins of my own.
From Joseph Jaffe:
Faking (Sprint): The phone company released ads in which the CEO offered an email address, giving the opportunity for communication. Instead, a corporate shill auto-responder emails back.
Manipulating (Sony): The maker of the PSP created a fake blog and attempted to manipulate the conversation. They ended up garnering a deserved “golden poop” award.

Controlling (T-Mobile): The phone company sent cease and desist letters to a popular blog for using a color they claim to have trademarked. The blogosphere revolted and T-mobile missed a chance to meaningfully engage with its customers.

Dominating (Target): A blogger was ignored by the retail giant because they felt she didn’t have the clout of traditional media outlets. After the blogger gained more and more attention, Target claimed that their continued silence was based on a lack of adequate staff.

Avoiding (Starbucks): The coffee giant already felt a squeeze from its consumer base, but avoided a fan’s desire to visit every store was passed on. The only response to the fan was one of suspicion.
In these cases, the sin is not that the company was just stupid (though there’s no shortage of that). The sin is that they failed to engage at a pivotal moment with an active community that supported them with their checkbooks. They refused to join the conversation and felt the ramifications.

Here are my two nominations to round out the deadly sins of social media:
Greediness (AP): The Associated Press recently pushed for restrictions on the amount of their content bloggers could cite. In the era of Google juice, link love, and a wealth of online information, the AP chose the path of restriction, as though this greediness would result in keeping all of the information under their roof. It took only 24 hours for the back-peddling to begin and it now appears that they will wisely drop the call for restrictions. They had the opportunity to engage their readership, even empower the bloggers and other outlets who were distributing their content free of charge, but they trotted out the lawyers instead.

Cowardice (Dunkin’ Donuts and Heinz): Dunkin’ Donuts pulled a series of ads after political partisans attacked spokeswoman Rachael Ray’s scarf for looking like a terrorist’s (yes, you read that correctly - a terrorist scarf). Likewise, Heinz pulled an ad deemed by the small-minded to be “unsuitable for children” because the on-running joke throughout the ad ends with two men kissing (cripes, the explanation sounds racier than the actual spot). Instead of giving their customers some credit or engaging in a conversation about the merits of their arguments (or the absurdity of their opponent’s), both companies caved. A conversation was passed up in favor of tucking tail and running.
These examples did not emerge from the company’s social media outreach per se, but they do speak to elements in a new social media economy. When companies are scared to engage their customers, it is a bad sign. All of these examples - Jaffe’s and mine - are based around fear.