"It's a slip and not a fall."

The difference between a great person and an average person is how they react to setbacks. Having a few set backs this week made this post really hit home.

Abraham Lincoln

Probably the greatest example of persistence is Abraham Lincoln. If you want to learn about somebody who didn't quit, look no further.
Born into poverty, Lincoln was faced with defeat throughout his life. He lost eight elections, twice failed in business and suffered a nervous breakdown.

He could have quit many times - but he didn't and because he didn't quit, he became one of the greatest presidents in the history of our country.

Lincoln was a champion and he never gave up. Here is a sketch of Lincoln's road to the White House:

1816 His family was force out of their home.
He had to work to support them.
1818 His mother died.
1831 Failed in business
1832 Ran for state legislature - lost
1832 Also lost his job - wanted to go to law school but couldn't get in.
1833 Borrowed some money from a friend to begin a business and by the end of the year he was bankrupt. He spend the next 17 years of his life paying off his debt.
1834 Ran for state legislature again - won.
1835 Was engaged to be married, sweetheart died and his heart was broken. 1836 Had a total nervous breakdown and was in bed for six months.
1838 Sought to become speaker of the state legislature - defeated. 1840 Sought to become elector - defeated.
1843 Ran for Congress - lost.
1846 Ran for Congress again - this time he won - went to Washington and did a good job.
1848 Ran for re-election to Congress - lost.
1849 Sought the job of land officer in his home state - rejected.
1854 Ran for Senate of the United States - lost.
1856 Sought the Vice-Presidential nomination at his party's national convention - got less than 100 votes.
1858 Ran for U.S. Senate again - again he lost.
1860 Elected president of the United States.

The path was worn and slippery. My foot slipped from under me, knocking the other out of the way, but I recovered and said to myself, "It's a slip and not a fall."

VMAs bring MTV's biggest audience in the network's history.

With 12.4 million viewers tuning in, the 2011 Video Music Awards scored MTV's biggest audience in the network's history.

MTV released its ratings from Nielsen Media on Monday, celebrating its total audience and its record setting ratings in the target 12- to 34-year-old demographic. The VMAS delivered a 10.8 rating with 8.5 million P12-34 viewers, making it MTV's most-watched telecast of all time in the demo.

VMAs: FULL WINNERS LIST | MTV VMAs 2011 Main Page

The VMAs topped the previous record of 11.95 viewers in 2002. Demo viewership was up 8 percent from 2010 and overall tune-in was up 9 percent. MTV says the VMAs is the No. 1 non-sports cable telecast of 2011 in terms of total viewers.

The VMA pre-show ranked as the best on record in 12-34 and total viewers, pulling 5.2 million P12-34 viewers and 7.3 million total.

Online, MTV Digital saw its highest VMA day ever on Sunday, with 2 million unique visitors visiting the site. The site received more than 10 million page views Sunday, up 18 percent from 2010.

13 VMA Moments You Didn't See on TV

MTV's mobile site reached its highest day in history with more than 2.7 million mobile views, a spike of more than 50 percent from last year.

Originally post on: billboard.com

Steve Jobs Resigns as Apple CEO

PRESS RELEASE: Letter from Steve Jobs

August 24, 2011–To the Apple Board of Directors and the Apple Community:

I have always said if there ever came a day when I could no longer meet my duties and expectations as Apple’s CEO, I would be the first to let you know. Unfortunately, that day has come.

I hereby resign as CEO of Apple. I would like to serve, if the Board sees fit, as Chairman of the Board, director and Apple employee.

As far as my successor goes, I strongly recommend that we execute our succession plan and name Tim Cook as CEO of Apple.

I believe Apple’s brightest and most innovative days are ahead of it. And I look forward to watching and contributing to its success in a new role.

I have made some of the best friends of my life at Apple, and I thank you all for the many years of being able to work alongside you.

It's Busta Busta and Travis Barker

UFC Announces Tv Deal With Fox

UFC & FOX PACK PERFECT PUNCH

FOX SPORTS MEDIA GROUP REACHES MULTI-YEAR, MULTI-MEDIA RIGHTS AGREEMENT WITH ULTIMATE FIGHTING CHAMPIONSHIP

FOX to Broadcast Four Fights Annually Beginning November 2011

The Ultimate Fighter, Featuring a New Format, Moves to FX

Today, Ultimate Fighting Championship® (UFC), the world’s leading mixed martial arts organization and No. 1 Pay-Per-View event provider in the world, finds its perfect media match in FOX, the No. 1 television network in the country. FOX Sports Media Group, the umbrella entity representing FOX Networks Group’s wide array of sports platforms, has reached a multi-year, multi-media rights agreement with Zuffa, LLC, owner of the UFC brand.

The landmark agreement, which puts UFC on par with many of the country’s professional sports organizations, delivers four live events in prime time or late night each year to the FOX broadcast network, home to the country’s biggest sports events, including the Super Bowl, World Series and Daytona 500. The first live event airs Saturday, Nov. 12 at 9:00 PM ET/6:00 PM PT. Additional programming on multiple FOX networks launches January 2012 and includes live fights, pre and post shows, countdown shows, UFC Unleashed, UFC Primetime, the UFC Knockout series, Best of Pride, weigh-in specials, and much more original content from extensive Zuffa archives. The agreement also provides for developing robust mobile and authenticated online offerings to exploit a vast array of digital platform rights.

In spring 2012, THE ULTIMATE FIGHTER, UFC's signature weekly reality show moves to FX, FOX's general entertainment cable network now in more than 99 million homes. With the move to FX, the show will feature a newly-designed format. FX is also set to televise another four-to six-live UFC events annually, with a mixture of additional events and programs heading to FSMG cable networks including FUEL TV.

“We’re excited to be part of the FOX family,” says Dana White, UFC President. “The UFC is finally where it belongs on the number one network in the country and aligned with the most prestigious sports properties in the world. I’ve always said that the UFC will be the biggest sport in the world and with this relationship it will become a reality.”

“My brother Frank, Dana and I always believed that our passion for the sport of Mixed Martial Arts would help us to build the UFC into a successful global brand and ultimately make it one of the premier sports properties in the world,” said Lorenzo Fertitta, Chairman and CEO of the UFC. “The partnership with FOX is a major step in making this a reality and also builds on the great relationship that we already have established with FOX in Latin America, Australia and Europe.”

“Mixed martial arts is not only the fastest growing sport in the world, but also the world’s most exciting form of man-to-man competition, and the UFC is the world’s premier MMA organization,” said FSMG President & Co-COO Eric Shanks. “Since FOX Sports is America’s No. 1 sports network and FOX is America’s No. 1 network for young adults, the UFC on FOX is a perfect match.”

“UFC’s growth over the past decade is nothing short of phenomenal and it has become one of the marquee sports in this country,” said John Landgraf, President and General Manager, FX Networks. “There is a reason for its rising popularity. It features some of the greatest athletes in the world, and we believe it will be a terrific addition to our schedule and look forward to our relationship.”

Founded in 1993, UFC has been on a meteoric rise since 2001 when it was acquired by Zuffa, LLC, owned by Lorenzo Fertitta, Frank Fertitta III and Dana White. UFC’S first brush with FOX Sports goes back to June 2002, when Fox Sports Net carried UFC’s first non-pay-per-view event on basic cable television, and delivered what was then its largest audience to date. Through cooperation with state athletic commissions, consistent rules were established and refined for competition through officiating, judging, the addition of weight divisions, length of rounds and better equipment. Combined with an unyielding devotion to fighter safety, the UFC has vaulted to mainstream status in the minds of US sports fans attracting major sponsors such as Bud Light, Dodge and Harley Davidson.

UFC has displayed tremendous growth in digital and social media consumption. Unique visitors to UFC.com tripled between 2006 and 2010 (2.1 million to 6.3 million), and UFC established local web sites in 10 countries and Latin America. Using a unique blend of incentives, promotions and original content, including live bouts, UFC has seen its number of Facebook friends increase from 800,000 in 2009 to 6.1 million at present, outpacing the NFL, MLB and the NHL. UFC currently ranks second to the NBA in social media followers among the major sports organizations. Additionally, UFC President Dana White regularly interacts with over 1.5 million fans that follow him on Twitter.

Mixed martial arts skews much younger than more established US sports, which ranged from age 43 for Super Bowl XLIV to 61 for horse racing’s Triple Crown in 2010. Thus far, the median age for UFC on Spike in 2011 is 36 and 56% of UFC fans fall into the adult 18-34 demographic. Live UFC programming performs extremely well in the advertiser attractive, hard-to-reach male 18-34 demographic, with live event programing averaging a 1.53 rating, making it a top-20 cable show this year.

The New Lamborghini That Batman Will Rock

The highly anticipated successor to the Murcielago is finally spotted on the streets of USA, and recently in Florida for it’s debut. The Aventador has been making headlines everywhere as the new Lamborghini that Batman will rock in the upcoming Dark Knight series and also as potentially the most advanced and beautiful Lamborghini to ever grace the streets. This particular version features their Nero Nemesis matte finish and looks very promising as it seems Lamborghini has already started with creative colors for this new beast. Enjoy these pictures of the most formidable supercar Lamborghini has ever made…

Originally posted on Secret Entourage

Louboutin loses to YSL in battle of red soles

A fight by fancy French footwear king Christian Louboutin for the exclusive right to put red soleson shoes got kicked out of court Wednesday in a victory for rival Yves Saint Laurent.

The legal battle in a New York court pitted two fashion leaders in a bitter contest for what Louboutin said was the soul of its extravagantly expensive shoes -- the signature scarlet outsole.

In federal court, US District Judge Victor Marrero ruled that Louboutin -- even if widely recognized for its trailblazing use of red under the shoe -- could not stop competitors like YSL from doing the same thing.

"Because in the fashion industry color serves ornamental and aesthetic functions vital to robust competition, the court finds that Louboutin is unlikely to be able to prove that its red outsole brand is entitled to trademark protection," said Marrero, who revealed himself as an ardent admirer of the sexy slip-ons.

The million-dollar suit for "trademark infringement, unfair competition and false designation of origin" was filed in April in New York claiming that a series of YSL shoes would mislead consumers familiar with Louboutin's scarlet soles.

An attorney for Louboutin told AFP he was "profoundly disappointed."

"Even though the judge agreed that Louboutin's red sole mark was famous and well known, he appears to have concluded 'sua sponte' that in the fashion industry one ought not be able to use a single color as a trademark," Harley Lewin added.

"We are currently evaluating all alternatives."

Louboutin's glam footwear was featured on the consumer-worshipping television series "Sex and the City" and sells about 240,000 pairs each year in the United States alone, with revenues of about $135 million.

A pair typically costs hundreds of dollars, but can sell for far more, with the Maggie Leopard-Toe Pump, complete with red-lacquered under soles, listed at $1,095 in the Neiman Marcus department store.

Peppering his ruling with references to sources as diverse as pop star Jennifer Lopez and poet Walt Whitman, Marrero acknowledged Christian Louboutin's "bright idea."

Louboutin's "bold divergence from the worn path paid its dividends," he said.

The judge even waxed lyrically about the sheer appeal of the shoes.

"When Hollywood starlets cross red carpets and high fashion models strut runways and heads turn and eyes drop to the celebrities' feet, lacquered red outsoles on high-heeled, black shoes flaunt a glamorous statement that pops out at once," he wrote.

But allowing the color red to be trademarked was a step too far -- even for shoes that good, ruled Marrero.

"Awarding one participant in the designer shoe market a monopoly on the color red would impermissibly hinder competition among other participants. YSL has various reasons for seeking to use red on its outsoles."

YSL's spat with Louboutin was over four shoes from the fashion house's 2011 Cruise collection: the Tribute, Tribtoo, Palais and Woodstock models. They all have red outsoles.

However, YSL says it has featured red soles all the way back to the 1970s.

As for Christian Louboutin's claim to a breakthrough in fashion design, YSL is scornful.

The idea for red soles was "copied from King Louis XIV's red-heeled dancing shoes or Dorothy's famous ruby slippers in 'The Wizard of Oz,'" Judge Marrero quoted YSL as saying.

Who's the Richest Rapper? Jay-Z, Kanye West or...

We know Kanye West and a lot of his fellow bling-boasting hip-hop stars are living the good life. But just how good is it?

Forbes' list-o-mania continues with its unveiling of 2011's Hip-Hop Cash Kings, compiled according to how much the rappers banked over the past 12 months from album sales, touring, merchandise deals, business ventures, etc.

Despite all the sturm und drang that drags him down from time to time, Kanye, of course, made the list. Where does he rank, however, next to his latest collaborator, Jay-Z; old-timers like Dr. Dre and Birdman; or relative youngsters like Lil Wayne?

Sure enough, the Carter rules.

Jay-Z (aka Shawn Carter) leads all comers once again with $37 million in earnings since last August. A majority of the dough is proceeds from his Blueprint 3 tour, but the onetime retiree owes plenty to his 40/40 luxury-sportsbar chain, an interest in the New Jersey Nets and other investments. And it's nice to have that $150 million, 10-year deal with concert-promoting behemoth Live Nation to fall back on, as well.

Nipping at his heels, however, is fellow mogul Sean "Diddy" Combs, who raked in a neat $35 million from his Bad Boy record label, his Sean John clothing line and his lucrative Ciroc vodka deal.

West may have landed at No. 3, but he's a ways down there at "only" $16 million, the slacker just coasting along on his critically adored platinum album My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy.

But the next 12 months are shaping up to be even more massive for the rapper-producer-gaffemaker, his long-awaited collaboration with Jay-Z, Watch the Throne, having just dropped this week. Best Buy forked over quite a bit of bread to be the only brick-and-mortar retailer selling the deluxe version of the album until Aug. 23.

The rest of the top 10 had similar years, revenue-wise, with Cash Money honcho Bryan "Birdman" Williams tying Lil Wayne for the next two spots with $15 million, showing that tha Carter isn't doing too bad, either.

Eminem, Snoop Dog and Dr. Dre are holding fast with $14 million; Akon scraped together $13 million and Christopher "Ludacris" Bridges earned most of his $12 million from his Tag body spray and Trojan endorsements, as well as scene-stealing roles in Fast Five, No Strings Attached and the upcoming New Years Eve.

Ludacris also raps from time to time, and he expects his eighth studio album, Ludaversal, will be out in early 2012.
Read more: http://www.eonline.com/news/whos_richest_rapper_jay-z_kanye_west/257094#ixzz1UkrNQGJD

Hacker Group Anonymous Vows To Destroy Facebook On November 5

Hacktivist group Anonymous, which has been responsible for cyber-attacks on the Pentagon, News Corp, and others, has vowed to destroy Facebook on November 5th (which should ring a bell).

Citing privacy concerns and the difficulty involved in deleting a Facebook account, Anonymous hopes to "kill Facebook," the "medium of communication [we] all so dearly adore."

This isn't the first time Anonymous has spoken out against social networks.

After Google removed Anonymous' Gmail and Google+ accounts, Anonymous pledged to create its own social network, called AnonPlus.

The full text of the announcement, made on YouTube and reported by Village Voice, is below:

Operation Facebook

DATE: November 5, 2011.


TARGET: https://facebook.com

Press:
Twitter : https://twitter.com/OP_Facebook
http://piratepad.net/YCPcpwrl09
Irc.Anonops.Li #OpFaceBook
Message:

Attention citizens of the world,

We wish to get your attention, hoping you heed the warnings as follows:
Your medium of communication you all so dearly adore will be destroyed. If you are a willing hacktivist or a guy who just wants to protect the freedom of information then join the cause and kill facebook for the sake of your own privacy.

Facebook has been selling information to government agencies and giving clandestine access to information security firms so that they can spy on people from all around the world. Some of these so-called whitehat infosec firms are working for authoritarian governments, such as those of Egypt and Syria.

Everything you do on Facebook stays on Facebook regardless of your "privacy" settings, and deleting your account is impossible, even if you "delete" your account, all your personal info stays on Facebook and can be recovered at any time. Changing the privacy settings to make your Facebook account more "private" is also a delusion. Facebook knows more about you than your family. http://www.physorg.com/news170614271.htmlhttp://itgrunts.com/2010/10/07/facebook-steals-numbers-and-data-from-your-iph....

You cannot hide from the reality in which you, the people of the internet, live in. Facebook is the opposite of the Antisec cause. You are not safe from them nor from any government. One day you will look back on this and realise what we have done here is right, you will thank the rulers of the internet, we are not harming you but saving you.

The riots are underway. It is not a battle over the future of privacy and publicity. It is a battle for choice and informed consent. It's unfolding because people are being raped, tickled, molested, and confused into doing things where they don't understand the consequences. Facebook keeps saying that it gives users choices, but that is completely false. It gives users the illusion of and hides the details away from them "for their own good" while they then make millions off of you. When a service is "free," it really means they're making money off of you and your information.

Think for a while and prepare for a day that will go down in history. November 5 2011, #opfacebook . Engaged.

This is our world now. We exist without nationality, without religious bias. We have the right to not be surveilled, not be stalked, and not be used for profit. We have the right to not live as slaves.

We are anonymous
We are legion
We do not forgive
We do not forget
Expect us

Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/anonymous-facebook-2011-8#ixzz1UaDs1WKj

Exclusive: Jay-Z Buys Billionaire Boys Club

On the eve of the release of Watch the Throne, his highly anticipated album with Kanye West, Jay-Z's adding more to his plate. GQ has learned that as of today, Jay-Z's fashion house, Rocawear, owns the licensing to manufacture and distribute Billionaire Boys Club. Sources say that Jay-Z and Pharrell, the current face and force behind BBC, will work as a tandem—utilizing Jay-Z's business prowess and Pharrell's creativity. Hypebeast, fret not! BBC won't be on the shelves of large department stores simply because it's under the Roc umbrella. But this is the backing that most streetwear brands don't have, which has lead to many shuttering their doors in recent years. For now, this is truly the best of both worlds *cue R. Kelly chorus*.

Read More http://www.gq.com/style/blogs/the-gq-eye/2011/08/exclusive-jay-z-buys-billionaire-boys-club.html#ixzz1TzfYz48D