Abercrombie & Fitch Plummeting Sales

After the recent outrage on social media networks over Abercrombie and Fitch‘s opinionated CEO, it seems that the company’s sales dropped by 17% in the first quarter of the year.

The decline in the sales occured after the release of the company’s CEO, Mike Jeffries, previous interviews where he stated that his bran is for “cool, good-looking people.” This resulted in a massive rage against the company that was augmented by activits protesting in the shops.

Consequently, Jeffries had to issue two apologies, in hope to increase the sales.

What do you think about A&F? Will you still buy their clothes?

 

Latest Siri vs Google Now Comic

So it not new the battle between Apple and Google.

This time, the debate is over Apple’s digital assistant, and maybe the best out there, Siri, and Google Now, produced by the gigantic Google.

The guys behind “The Joy of Tech“, who always entertain us with hilarious comic strips, presented a new funny comic after Google Now came face to afce with Siri on iOS devices.

The comic strip is very simply, but entertainingly beautiful. The first part, out of four, shows Siri telling the user that he should take an umbrella with him, while Google Now is instructing him not to since it will not rain today. In the end, the man leaves the house without an umbrella, after following Google Now’s advice.

The result, the man baking in the heat of the sun, and Siri taking advantage of this situation to gloat!

This comic underscores the fact that many people use both apps and receive contradictory information. Yet, most people prefer to use one of the apps more frequently. Very few people ask both apps and comapre between the information they provide.

So which app do you use, and how frequently?

Grapefruit-Oatmeal Quick Bread

I am sure you missed our “Healthy Daily Recipe”.

Now we are back with some delicious food on our list. So let’s start with this mouth-watering bread!!

Ingredients:

• 4 eggs
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 1 cup milk
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil or melted butter
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/3 cup grapefruit marmalade
• 1/4 cup chopped Candied Grapefruit Peel*
• 2 tablespoons finely shredded grapefruit peel (from 1 large grapefruit)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1 cup regular rolled oats
• 1/2 cup toasted chopped pecans (optional)

Icing: 

• 1 cup powdered sugar
• 4 teaspoons pink grapefruit juice concentrate
• 1/4 teaspoon finely shredded grapefruit peel
• 1 to 2 teaspoons water or milk
• 1 tablespoon toasted chopped pecans (optional)
• Grapefruit Butter**

Directions

Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease bottom and sides of  loaf pans. Line bottoms of pans with waxed paper or parchment paper; set aside.

In medium bowl lightly beat eggs. Add buttermilk, milk, vegetable oil, granulated sugar, brown sugar, grapefruit marmalade, Candied Grapefruit Peel, shredded grapefruit peel, and vanilla. Whisk to combine.

In large bowl combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and nutmeg; make well in center. Add egg mixture to center of flour well. Stir just until moistened. Stir in oats and 1/2 cup pecans. Divide batter evenly between prepared pans.

Bake 25 minutes; turn to rotate pans. Continue to bake 15 to 20 minutes more or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pans on wire rack 15 minutes; remove from pans. Cool completely on wire rack.

For Icing, in small bowl combine powdered sugar, juice concentrate, grapefruit peel, and enough water to make drizzling consistency. Pour glaze over cooled bread, then sprinkle with 1 tablespoon toasted pecans. Serve with Grapefruit Butter**. Makes 28 servings (2 loaves).

*Candied Grapefruit Peel: 
Using sharp knife, score peel of one grapefruit lengthwise in four pieces. Remove peel, keeping it intact. Reserve fruit for another use. Slice each piece of peel diagonally in 1/3-inch wide slices. Place peel in medium saucepan with enough water to cover. Bring to boil; boil 1 minute. Drain; repeat 3 times to cook bitterness out of peel. Drain again. Combine 2 cups water and 2 cups sugar in saucepan. Bring to boil, stirring to dissolve sugar. Add peel. Reduce heat and simmer over low heat for 1-1/2 hours or until peel appears translucent. Drain again. In medium bowl toss peel with 1 cup sugar. Remove peel; let stand on wire rack to dry. Toss again in sugar if peel appears wet. Makes about 1 cup.

**Grapefruit Butter: 
In small bowl combine 1/2 cup softened butter and 1/3 cup grapefruit marmalade.  Serve butter chilled or softened to room temperature.

Try it and tell me how it will taste

Google X Phone Images Leaked Online

Definitely Google caused a huge fuzz in the tech world after it decided to pay $12.5 billion to buy Motorola Mobility. Since then, rumors about a glorious X phone, that might be accompanied by an X tablet later on, have been around for some time.

Few days ago, evleaks leaked several images for the X phone. And last March, a Tunisian blog published a series of images for an unspecified Motorola device. But no one believed the images; however, after the leaked images by evleaks, many are thinking that it might truly be the X phone.

If we take a look at the phone, we can see the curved rear shell (which is very similar to HTC One). Besides, it looks similar to the current Samsung line of mobile phones.

Several experts guessed the X phone to bear a 4.7-inch display, and a resolution not less than 1080p. This in addition to 32 GB of storage, 2 GB RAM, and 4.2 Jelly Bean.

We will be waiting for this anticipated device.

Facebook Buys Parse

With its acquisition of Parse, Facebook has gone a long way toward filling its mobile-shaped hole.

“Today we’re making it even easier to build mobile apps with Facebook Platform by announcing that we have entered into an agreement to acquire Parse, a cloud-based platform that provides scalable cross-platform services and tools for developers,” wrote Douglas Purdy, Facebook’s director of product management, on the Facebook Developer Blog.

The Wall Street Journal has reported that the deal was for $85 million in a stock and cash transaction.

Parse doesn’t provide a mobile operating system per se, but it does give Facebook developers a framework that will let them more tightly integrate their apps with the Facebook platform. It will also let them create an app that works the same on other mobile platforms as it does on Facebook.

This opens up news levels of integration — and monetization — for Facebook and its business customers.

For its part, Parse was reportedly being wooed by many suitors. It chose Facebook, according to Parse CEO Ilya Sukhar, because the two companies and their missions are a good fit.

“Combining forces with a partner like Facebook makes a lot of sense,” wrote Sukhar in a blog post. “In a short amount of time, we’ve built up a core technology and a great community of developers. Bringing that to Facebook allows us to work with their incredible talent and resources to build the ideal platform for developers.”

Does Facebook’s acquisition of Parse raise the social network’s mobile profile? What more does it have to do to provide a truly valuable mobile experience — for users and for business customers?

Adapted from Google News

Full explanation of Blue Eyes by Within Temptation (Afghani Girl and Islam)

Among all the bands I usually listen to, Within Temptation has been a favorite.

They have true music and the band spends a lot of time working for a single album, from the lyrics to the music and the cover pictures.

In a previous post, I mentioned that the members of the band are pagans. For all those who are not familiar with pagans, or with stereotypes against pagans, I have to clarify that paganism is not devil worshipping. Pagans consider nature as their mother, their God. And this is very clear from Within Temptation’s first albums “Mother Earth” with very paganism-obvious songs as “Ice Queen” and “Never Ending Story”.

Today, I will not be writing about their believes or principles. Instead, I want to shed light on a curios song for them. Its name is “Blue Eyes”.

Here are the lyrics for the song:

“Blue eyes just smile to the world
Full of dreams and with fascination
Too soon she saw that her hands were chained and pulled without any freedom
It’s always the same, the fear no way out
I cannot break it
I can take it no more

It’s burning me up inside
Lost all my tears, can’t cry
No reason, no meaning
Just hatred
No matter how hard I try
You fear the beast inside
It’s growing, it’s waiting
Just to hurt you

This heart was hurt by the light and
I see your world that tries to deny us
Now everything that I love has died or has been shattered to pieces
It’s always the same, they fear no way out
I cannot break it
I can take it no more

It’s burning me up inside
Lost all my tears, can’t cry
No reason, no meaning
Just hatred
No matter how hard I try
You fear the beast inside
It’s growing, it’s waiting
Just to hurt you

Just to hurt you
Just to hurt you

Can’t you see their eyes, what lies inside
They’ve given up, they no longer shine
Too soon they close with one last cry
Before they turn to white

Just to hurt you

It’s burning me up inside
Lost all my tears, can’t cry
No reason, no meaning
Just hatred
No matter how hard I try
You fear the beast inside
It’s growing, it’s waiting
Just to hurt you

Just to hurt you.”

For the first time you read the lyrics, you will assume that the song is about love, peace, pain, and innocence.

But what if I tell you that there is a “sheikh” chanting an Islamic quote in the beginning. Does it make any sense to you? No! It does not.

Now let’s try to find out the true meaning of the song.

As a first step, I want you to look at the below image.

Actually, this is the picture for an Afghani girl in 1984 captured by the photograoher Steve McCurry and it made it to National Geographic’s cover picture. The picture summarizes all the pain, hope, and despair that people suffered during the war between the Russians and Talban in Afghanistan.

The girl has blue eyes, doesn’t she?

So now go back to the song and try to join all the points together. Does it make sense now?

The song talks about her life, and all the pain she had passed through. It also tackles the fears that the muslim extremists have from women. How they perceive women as lower creatures and beasts that should be always tamed and kept in captivity.

“No reason, no meaning
Just hatred
No matter how hard I try
You fear the beast inside
It’s growing, it’s waiting
Just to hurt you”

Do you want to see how the girl looks now? Here is another recent picture for her!

Finally, I want to share with you another picture that I came across on Facebook last few days ago. It also tells how the situation is in Afghanistan after the extremists have ruled.

I guess it is self-explanatory.

In the end, I believe each religion has its own dark ages. Will Islam’s dark ages take us to the end of everything?

Only time will show.

NASA To Capture A 500-Ton Asteroid

Did we just enter into the new era of asteroid hunting?

It seems yes!!

On Friday, Senator Bill Nelson stated that NASA is planning to develop a spaceship to lasso a small asteroid and park it next to the moon so that astronauts and scientists can explore it.

The asteroid is 500-tons and 25 feet in length. It will be captured in 2019, and in 2021, a group of four astronauts will start spacewalking exploration.

Interestingly, Sen.  Nelson declared on Friday that the President Barak Obama will allocate more than $100 million to accelerate the project by finding a better small sized asteroid.

This is will be the first time man attempts to manipulate space objects at a grand scale like this one, and it will something great for NASA to achieve in this century.

However, finding the right asteroid with the right size and the right time to pass by earth is not that easy.

For all those of you who are worried about the damage that the asteroid might cause to Earth, I assure you that a 25-foot asteroid will burn up completely in case it entered Earth’s atmosphere.

Other than the interesting scientific explorations that NASA will achieve by studying the asteroid, such a project will help NASA nudge away any dangerous asteroid heading to Earth any time in the future.

So let us wait and see what will happen. Personally, I am very excited for this project!