26 September 2014

Who's in the news? Hacked Celebrities (Follow Up)

Follow these Stories on Twitter & Facebook
Since The Fappening a few weeks ago and the response it was thought life would return to normal but it seems the hacker is back with even more photo's, this time with a new batch of celebrities to taunt.

New Celebrities


The second batch of photo's include Jennifer Lawrence again but also include actress Vanessa Hudgens and US soccer player Hope Solo and singer Avril Lavigne along with photo's of Amber Heard and Rhinna with many more listed. An understandably upset Gabrielle Union addressed the issue calling the hackers "vultures" victimizing women and children.

It's believed the new wave of photo's are from the original hack a few weeks ago and not a new security breach. Since the leak some of those affected have taken legal action against Apple and are trying to turn it into a class action lawsuit with the help from others affected by the hack.

Emma Watson


After Emma Watson's speech on feminism at the UN headquarters, and the new #HeForShe campaign, the supposed hackers claimed they would post nude photo's of Emma on a website for expressing her feminist views. Since then it has emerged that the threat and website was a publicity stunt to shut down the 4chan website where the original leaked celebrity photo's were found.


19 September 2014

Nation's Facing Decisions, War and Destruction

Follow these Stories on Twitter & Facebook
The week saw nation's in various forms of evolution taking on the new world, from Scotland deciding it's independence to ISIS' merciless march towards to an Islamic state and Ebola destroying any hope of humanity surviving at all.

Scotland


Scotland decided this week against becoming a separate country with 55% voting no in the referendum. The week had been filled with various campaigns on both sides with celebrities being brought in to sway the masses with the queen commenting on the mater.

The polls opened on Thursday with counting running through the night. With many questions unanswered over things like currency going forward, would Scotland join the European Union and NATO and what would the United Kingdom be called if Scotland goes it's own way, rU.K. (rest of the United Kingdom) was one option.

ISIS


The attempt by ISIS to create a caliphate (an Islamic state led by a supreme religious and political leader) was hampered by the US joining forces with Arab nations and other European groups after the recent beheading of a British citizen David Haines.

While the US stated it would assist in air strikes but there would be no boots on the ground instead the US would supply Syrian rebels with arms. The US' approach was criticized by Iranian President Hassan Rouhani who claimed the US was taking on ISIS "without any sacrifice".

Counter terrorism raids took place in Australia after threats of an attack in Australia emerged. Australia has been outspoken against ISIS and are also sending troops for possible use against ISIS.

Ebola


The disease which has already killed thousands of people had new forces to contend with when the US announced it will be sending 3000 troops to West Africa to use military muscle to battle the outbreak.

Sierra Leone implemented a 3 day shut down in hopes of slowing the infection. Meanwhile Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf fired 10 government officials who were "out of the country without an excuse" during the Ebola crisis. Saudi Arabia took steps to began testing 3 million Haj pilgrims traveling from infected areas.

The fight against Ebola became even more worrisome after it was discovered that case workers could become infected while taking off their protective suits along with the fear of being attacked by locals who had killed journalists and doctors in the region.

12 September 2014

New York Bustling with Beautiful People

Follow these Stories on Twitter & Facebook
The start of September brought the beautiful people to New York City kicking off the fashion week season with designers and celebrities vying for attention.

Designers


It was a classic affair with all the usual suspects showing their wares to the throngs gathered for the spectacle of Fashion Week. Kicking off in early September Rebecca Minkoff started with a cute Seventies pastel palette later incorporating technology asking attendees to wear Ray Ban designed 3D glasses for her final few looks.

Rebecca Taylor brought a bohemian vibe with paisley prints and gauzy fabrics. Alexander Wang was all about sneakers while Diane von Furstenberg proved she was the master dress maker and DKNY's "New York Nation" theme aimed to celebrate New York "color, culture and creativity."

Derek Lam aimed for a simple "update on American sportswear" with Donna Karan looking to the street art movement for inspiration. Carolina Herrera sprung into spring with a garden palette of pink, iris blue, purple and yellow while Tommy Hilfiger aimed for the music festival look with a Sixties and Seventies music scene inspired collection.

Oscar de la Renta's beautiful spring collection reflected optimism and light contrasted by Rag & Bone doing something different with a collection that consisted of predominately black, white, and earthy fabrics. Marc by Marc Jacobs jumped on the darker side with a more punk rock theme.

Hugo Boss' Jason Wu went with the house source material of Teutonic tailoring with Calvin Klein aiming for a more minimal and sophisticated look with some downtown elegance. Ralph Lauren brought things back to earth with khaki pieces, from safari jackets to cargo pants.

Cross Overs


With entertainment and fashion often colliding it's no surprise then that a few celebrities have crossed over to the world of design showing their talents. Gwen Stefani called her L.A.M.B spring collection "The New Nomad" with vibrant, ikat-print bohemian dresses and a cool black caftan with white tassels. Serena Williams not only made it in the US Tennis Open but also her first fashion debut.

Victoria Beckham brought staple items with polish and commercial appeal. Victoria said she would be roping in her handsome hubby and boys to help in her shop. Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen showed there talents designing pieces that mix masculine and feminine elements with a laid back and polished vibe.


Celebrities


It wouldn't be complete if there weren't a few well to do celeb's picking up ideas for their red carpet moments. Rihanna, seated a few seats away from Nicki Minaj, grabbed attention front row at Alexander Wang while Kate Bosworth and Zoe Saldan took front row seats at Boss Women spring/summer 2015 runway and Baz Luhrmann and Martha Stewart sat front row at Marc Jacobs show.

While you would expect Nicki Minaj and Kate Upton to attend the September "Icons" issue of Harper's Bazaar party I don't think many expected Lady Gaga's dog to be there. Cara Delevingne didn't enjoy herself as much with a member of the paparazzi acting inappropriately "stroking his ass".

And finally while the Clintons took the opportunity to push for a good cause with plush baby elephants on the seats at the Oscar de la Renta show some just wanted attention with Justin Bieber being booed after he decided to strip down to his underwear at the Fashion Rocks event in Brooklyn.

6 September 2014

Who's in the news? Hacked Celebrities

Follow these Stories on Twitter & Facebook
This week saw the release of hundreds of private photo's of various female celebrities supposedly hacked from iCloud accounts and posted online.

The event dubbed "The Fappening" began on Monday with images slowly released by an anonymous hacker who requested bitcoin as payment for their release.

Who Was Affected


Academy Award winner Jennifer Lawrence and Model Kate Upton took prime spot featuring in the initial images released. But soon Victoria Justice, Rhianna, Ariana Grande and more would join the list.

While Miss Lawrence and others admitted the images were real some celebrities denied the authenticity of the images. Later some of the celebrities who originally denied the authenticity (Victoria Justice), have since admitted that they are real.

Response And Investigation


The celebrities involved have taken the issue to the FBI who are investigating the hack while the hacker responsible for publishing the images is on the run. Apple set up a team on their side to investigate how the photo's were obtained. It has since been confirmed it was not a breach of Apple's iCloud but instead a targeted attack on specific accounts.

Besides the breach and theft of personal documents certain images were of a then underage McKayla Maroney classifying the images as child pornography. And if it wasn't bad enough trying to remove some of the images has been made more difficult for Miss Lawrence who has been in a legal battle with a porn site who claim she did not own the copyright of the images, as they were not taken by her, and is refusing to remove the images.

And lastly members of Reddit donated $6000 to a prostate cancer charity after viewing the leaked images which was returned as the charity did not condone the manner in which the funds were raised.