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Blogger Buzz: Guest post: Discover amazing products and earn money with OpenSky This is a guest post by John Caplan, founder and CEO of  OpenSky .  OpenSky allows bloggers, including all Blogger users, to discover unique products and sell those on their blogs. As we are interested in helping our users find various ways to monetize their blogs, we’ve asked John to introduce OpenSky for our users. -- The Blogger team  For most of you, writing a blog is about sharing your passion in a way that connects you with others. That’s why Blogger was created -- to help people have their own voice on the web to share that passion. We at   OpenSky   want to empower you to share even more with the people who read your blog. We do this by helping you discover great products and giving you the ability to share those products on your blog. Not only will you deepen your relationships with your readers, but you’ll also earn money from every sale. Most everyone who reads your blog probably loves di

It was Battle of the Beards '11 (not to be confused with a pot luck at the Scientology Celebrity Centre) at the Palm Springs International Film Festival last night when  Jakey Gyllenhaal  and  Ben Affleck  stomped on the carpet with half faces full of follicles. Ben Affleck is like a dusty blue tin of Royal Dansk cookies to me. He's totally the Royal Dansk of men. Something that looks sort of sweet on the outside and is always around, but I never pull out from the back of my kitchen cabinet to peck at even when I start to get the " I NEED SOMETHING WITH CORN SYRUP IN IT!!! " shakes. But even though Ben's beard looks like a vine of nostril hairs has jumped out of his nose and taken over his chin, it works on him. Like Oreo frosting on a butter cookie. Ben still doesn't have this, though. And neither does Jakey, the dude who usually works and wears a beard LIKE NO OTHER. We should really all bow down for the field of snow-covered baby's breath covering the 

When Shakira and Antonio de la Rua told all of us to gather in the " nice " living room and sit in a row on the sofa, we knew something serious was going to go down. But when they carried the armchairs from the dining room and sat in front of us, we knew something serious SERIOUS was going down. Then Shakira pulled out a letter the two co-wrote during one of their therapy sessions and calmly told us that after 11 years together, they quietly split last summer. We might have noticed that Antonio hasn't been around lately. Shakira made excuses like, " Oh, he's working late and is going to sleep on the sofa in his office. " But the truth is, Antonio moved out! They still love us very much and we can visit Antonio at his new apartment any time we want. And then Shakira softly read the letter (via Shakira's blog ): Dear Friends, During our almost 11 years together we have loved each other deeply, taken care of each other and stood by one anot

Certainly Shatrugan Sinha must have exclaimed "Khamoosh!" when he found out that his baggage was lost in transit while he returned from Pakistan. The actor-politician, who went on a goodwill mission to Pakistan with fellow-parliamentarians Yashwant Sinha and Mani Shankar Aiyer last week, lost his entire baggage on his flight from Lahore to Delhi. Even though he lost all his winter clothes what pinched Shotgun more was the gifts he had received from friends and well wishers across the border that were lost with baggage. Even Yashwant Sinha lost his baggage in transit within Pakistan but it was found eventually. Even though the loss of baggage irked Shotgun he was extremely happy about the goodwill mission he undertook to Pakistan. His message to them was to stop investing in bullets and only then would onion and lentil prices will go down on both sides of the borders also the cross terrorism is an issue that must be addressed.

The Deol family, busy promoting their latest film was plunged into mourning when comic actor Vivek Shauq who has featured in several films with the Deols, passed away of a heart attack on Monday. Just 48 years old Vivek, best remembered as Sunny Deol's bum-chum in Gadar , came to a sudden end on Monday morning. Bobby Deol with whom Vivek worked in a number of films was too distraught to speak. Sunny who worked with Vivek in Maa Tujhe Salaam, Indian, Champion and Gadar said, "This has come as a complete shock out of nowhere. We were so looking forward to the release of our film Yamla Pagla Deewana . This tragedy has clouded our excitement completely." Sunny seemed unaware of details of Vivek's death. However, Raj Babbar's son Aarya Babbar who has worked closely with Vivek said, "He died of a heart attack all of a sudden. I had met him about 20 days ago when he had come to see my mother's (Nadira Babbar) show. He was absolutely fine

Ever since Shah Rukh Khan and Karan Johar launched their new venture STUDENT OF THE YEAR last week, industry people and even those on social networking websites are busy speculating the plotline of the film. Rumours are rife that the film, which stars three newcomers in the lead, is the present-day version of Karan's own KUCH KUCH HOTA HAI and Aditya Chopra's MOHABBATEIN. But Karan rubbishes the rumours, "Not at all! There's no KUCH KUCH HOTA HAI or MOHABBATEIN in this one. Not a moment, not a dialogue, not a scene. It's a completely new script." There's talk that SRK will enact a significant role in the film, although the news is being kept under wraps. "Shah Rukh has undertaken the biggest responsibility of producing the film with Dharma [Karan's production house]. It was very magnanimous of Shah Rukh to step forward to produce the film with newcomers. If we don't do it, who will? As far as Shah Rukh's screen a

* Rumours are rife that Rohan Sippy's DUM MAARO DUM, starring Abhishek Bachchan in the lead, may be pushed ahead by a few weeks. Although the Sippys and Fox have locked the release date of the film [22 April] and even the first promo of the film is ready to be unveiled, the reason for its postponement is because Abhishek will have a release [GAME] a month earlier [on 18 March] and a sufficient gap between the two films is being contemplated. However, a spokesperson from Fox has denied the news. * Industry sources state that the distribution rights of Shirish Kunder's JOKER have been acquired by UTV, but the price of the film, starring Akshay Kumar, will be decided at the time of release. However, the news about the price is completely untrue, since a source from UTV tells us that the price is reasonable and most sensible and has already been decided. * The veteran actor is planning to stage a comeback - as a producer. Reportedly, he is planning a series of proj

Call him trippy, a mad man, a geek, a psycho, a loner, call him all this and Chandan Roy Sanyal will show you the middle finger. For most of the people who know him and for the ones who don't, let me tell you that the 'stuart little' actor is one of India's most explosive talents we have in our industry. And so what if Vishal Bhardwaj's Kaminey showed you just a glimpse of it, there's more to come 2011 and 2012. Chandu, as I'd love to call him, is all set for his 2011 release F.A.L.T.U and is gearing up to start his new year with Deepa Mehta's Midnights Children to be shot in Sri Lanka. A fan of Deepa Mehta movies ever since his college days, Chandan is an actor who's like to dip his fingers in everything coming his way, that includes his dream - Broadway Theatre. And when you meet the actor in his Andheri residence over a mug of beer, you'd wish he is still wearing the pirate teeth - gold and platinum and twinkling. In many ways

Pizza Hut has launched a campaign for its new range of Tuscani Singles - signature hand stretched thin crust pizzas which come with gourmet toppings inspired by Tuscan cuisine. The TVC has been created by JWT. WATCH the TVC (story continues below) In the TVC, the chef fondly gives a final touch of garnish to the Italian inspired Tuscani Singles pizza while breaking into the classic Italian song ‘O Sole Mio’, which gets passed on to the server and the customers, resulting in them singing it as well. Speaking about the campaign, Anup Jain, director - marketing, Yum! Restaurants India - Pizza Hut said, “As a brand, Pizza Hut has been undertaking various initiatives to enhance its casual dining positioning. The Italian-inspired new range of Tuscani Singles is another step in that direction. Our new ad highlights the Italian spirit which is the inspiration for Tuscani Singles - thin crust pizza with gourmet toppings

Aidem Ventures today announced the appointment of  M. Suku as executive vice president. Suku is an industry veteran with over 25 years of experience in business development, contract negotiaton and strategic planning, buying and media assessment.  He has worked with companies like Lintas, Colgate, JWT, Ogilvy, Unilever (Secondment) ABCL, Eenadu & Group M.  At Group M, as National Director, he set up Broadmind (Now GroupM ESP) from scratch into a significant contribution of entrepreneurs, revenues, profits & awards. "We are extremely excited about Suku’s appointment. At Aidem he will be a part of the core Management team. His extensive knowledge and experience in the industry will strengthen Aidem’s business expansion strategy” said Raj Nayak, Managing Director, Aidem ventures, adding, "This appointment continues Aidem’s drive to provide its clients with experienced industry personal to support their projects." Prior to this

Starcom MediaVest Group (SMG) has announced the launch of LiquidThread in Asia Pacific. The newly formed unit is geared to create and sequence content across every screen. It is not yet known who will be heading the unit in the region but we understand that the person who will head the unit in Asia Pacific will also head the unit in India. LiquidThread was launched in the US in April 2009. Speaking on the launch, Laura Desmond, global CEO, SMG said, "LiquidThread sits at the intersection of human truth, digital and content. As a Human Experience Company, it is incumbent upon us to make content more easily accessible and readily available, acknowledging and embracing the fact that it will be picked up, played with, iterated, built upon and passed along. These are the terms that consumers have set, and the reality that we respect." LiquidThread is a step towards content development for SMG. The aim

2011 is here, which means the ICC World Cup is just a month away. So with this being the first Monday of the year, our first MMGB is dedicated to the cricket fans in our nation. Watch the theme song for the World Cup, composed by Shankar-Ehsaan and Loy here.

PepsiCo India has announced the appointement of Salman Khan as the brand ambassador for its beverage brand Mountain Dew. This is the first time that a brand ambassador has been appointed for the brand. Speaking about the association, Deepika Warrier, marketing director, Pepsico Beverages said, “Mountain Dew is strongly anchored in the relevant consumer insight of ‘Darr Ke Aage Jeet Hai’. Salman Khan embodies this philosophy and he has strong national appeal. We look forward to the partnership and are confident that it will be mutually rewarding.” "I love the high-action imagery of Mountain Dew and more importantly the fact that it's not mindless action but there is a message at its core DARR KE AAGE JEET HAI.  I have spent time with the Mountain Dew team and I eagerly look forward to working with them”, said, Salman Khan. The Mountain Dew brand has been promoted with the attributes of challenge,

At WATBlog, we have covered many stories on how the whole 3G episode is shaping up in India. Despite many speculations and announcements, only Tata DoCoMo and Reliance (and not to miss out the state owned BSNL and MTNL) have been able to start the 3G service. Other providers see it coming soon. 3G Today For instance Aircel has plans to roll out the much awaited service within 45-60 days in all of the 13 circles where it has spectrum, provided government has no objections on it. And guess what; the company is eyeing collaborating with other competitors to offer the service in other areas where it has got no license, even before it starts the same in its own licensed areas. It’s the more the merrier proposition for now. For those uninitiated, Aircel is a joint venture between Apollo Hospitals and Maxis Communications, a Malaysia based company. Operators are being denied licences for video calling services, as a part of 3G, by the Department of Telecom, Government of India consid

Zynga seems to be doing well, very well! It opened its office in India in February 2010, clearly underlining India’s importance in its long term plans. It has come a long way since the whole Indian Flag on Farmville issue. But the Indian Internet Space is very tricky. Monetization is always and challenge. And even when users are willing to pay – more often than not – they don’t really have too many easy options to use. Convenience is the key! The social gaming company looks like it is ready to solve a part of the problem at least. According an article on mydigitalfc – The Financial Chronicle – it is all set to introduce a new set of payment options to Indian users. Game cards, Internet banking and premium SMSes. For those unaware, Game cards are essentially prepaid cards that users can buy and then utilize for payments. Prepaid cards have done exceptionally well in India, and are being utilized for a number of things – mobile phones, DTH, gaming currency etc. ‘Premium SM

Gone are the days when thousands of job seekers made a beeline of employment exchanges to register themselves for job vacancies in the government departments. In a move to lessen the burden on job seekers, Haryana government has introduced e-registration process that will certainly cater to such people. According to Mahendra Pratap Singh, Minister, Labour and Employment, “ All the services of the department, such as registration of job seekers and employers looking to fill vacancies, vocational or career guidance, disbursement of unemployment allowance and employment market information have been made available to the public online through its website www.hrex.org .” The website would facilitate job seekers to register their names. Once that is done, they would be required to submit the attested copies of their testimonials to the concerned employment exchange so as to get them verified. Also,unfortunately those who have already registered manually would be required to do so

For Indian App makers, minting money globally has never been such an easy thing to implement. With the plethora of requirement of apps & related software globally, India is turning out to be the place where some good apps are being made & sold globally. You might not be one of those who would be wondering about how to make money through apps. The apps have started ranging from smart phones to tablets; to anything which can be sold in the global technology market. For example, Smartphones are the best way in which one can ponder over the idea of how work has been created into play. And yeah, BlackBerry is the among the best & for most of us, the unchallenged leader in the smartphone category. It has been reported that some unknown yet significant app contributors are working for RIM , which are helping the company successfully test & launch these apps & get recognition globally. Indirectly, “ Creation of Apps ” is turning out to be the mantra for software

In November, we wrote about Apalya’s deal with Discovery Networks that saw 5 apps come to Apalya’s Mobile TV platform. Now it has partnered with Multi Screen Media (MSM) to bring Sony Entertainment Television and SAB TV to its mobile TV application – MiMobi.TV. There is also a possibility that MSM may bring out its own Mobile TV apps in the future. Nitesh Kripalani, Sony Entertainment Network VP Business Development & Digital/Syndication, said “Partnering with Apalya for SET and Sab has given us an innovative way to leverage technology to not only reach out to our existing viewers, but also gives us the platform to cater to a larger mobile audience.” Apalya’s MiMobi.TV reaches 4 million subscribers and it offers content from more than 100 TV channels and is available across most mobile operators. It even offers on demand content. This move is in keeping with the trend among Indian Channels who are openly embracing digital platforms and using them aggressively for dist