Ghana's Foreign Reserve Fall to $4.2 billion

Ghana’s international reserves in gross terms now stands at $4.2 billion as at the end of August 2012, the Bank of Ghana has said. The reserves fell from $4.3 billion as at June 8, 2012 and from $5.4 billion in December 2011. Compared to last year August 2011, the reserves were $4.5 billion. 

“Gross International Reserves was $4.2 billion at the end of August 2012, compared to $4.5 billion in August 2011,” acting Central Bank Governor Dr Kofi Wampah told a press conference in Accra.

Dr Wampah adds “This was equivalent to 2.4 months of import cover.”

Story by: 
MyJoyOnline.com Business Section

The Sunshine Award

There's this awesome new friend I made very recently. Her name is  ღღČяїstinEεїз  and she owns a really cool blog called My Poetic Isolation. She posts about random things on this blog, including photography and fashion.

 Her posts are very inspirational and I know anyone would see the light that shines through her words. Thanks,  ღღČяїstinEεїз



A Sunshine Blog Award is a prize that is awarded to "bloggers who positively and creatively inspire others in the blogosphere."

The Rules:

(1) Include the award logo in a post or on your blog page

(2) Answer 10 questions about yourself. These are below

(3) Nominate 10 - 12 other fabulous bloggers

(4) Link your nominees to this post and comment on their blogs, letting them know about the award

(5) Share the love and link the person who nominated you.

Questions:

1.What would you most like to change about yourself?

   - Nothing at all

2. What is your theme song?

- For now its Rachel Platten's Work of Art

3.One part of your life memory, action, etc. that you wish you could surgically remove from your brain?

 - None

4. What generation do you wish you had been apart of?

- 90's

5. What was your favorite childhood toy?

- I didn't have a lot of toys while growing up so I wouldn't remember. But I had this flute I loved. We spent at least an hour together and I never saw the flute again. Till today, I think I want a flute to replace the lost one now.

6.What's your favorite housecleaning chore?

- Ironing! 

7. Do you Tweet?

- Yes, I'm still learning to but I do

8. Any goals?

- To be the best blogger and fashion designer of all time

9. Do you really drink margaritas all the time?

- No

10. What is the ugliest car you've ever driven and were embarrassed to be seen in?

- I've never driven a car. I don't know how to anyway.

I nominate these lovely bloggers for the Sunshine Award:

Fashion is art. Life is Fashion

La X Sacha's Wardrobe

modishYou

Walk in Your Own Shoes

My everyday style

Thought of PAPS

The Creation of Beauty is Art.

Wandering Heart

Frontrow

Ma Chic Vie

Bad News For Super-Models: Computer-Generated Fashion Models Better Than Real Thing; Fashion Questions of the Day

Here is an easy prediction: 

"Price of fashion models in advertisements is going to collapse, if indeed the industry survives at all."

Why should retailers pay for fashion models when an advertising department can generate models with the perfect height, weight, breast size, nationality, and complexion for whatever designs they want to promote?

This is Bad News for Super-Models!

MarketWatch describes the setup in 5 computer-generated sales pitches

To save on cost - and perhaps assembly time - Swedish retailing giant IKEA created computer-generated images of its furniture for the new catalogue, rather than hiring a photographer. By next year, a quarter of the scenes depicted in IKEA's print and online advertising will be digitally drawn rather than photographed.

The Wall Street Journal reported last week. In fact, IKEA says it is able to better depict its products with computer images than actual photography.

IKEA is not alone. Hollywood filmmakers increasingly create characters - and not just special effects - with CGI animation. And some fashion lines are finding that it's less expensive to create the perfect specimen digitally than to track down America's Next Top Model. These computer-generated realities may be cheaper, more appealing and more versatile than the genuine articles.

Some other related ideas discussed by the MarketWatch article also include simulated driving of cars, movie special efects, and 3-D dream homes.

Special effects are nothing new. New car models come out only once a year. And I believe most people want real images of homes, not simulated models.

In contrast, clothing changes four times a year with each season and also varies by weight, height, size, nationality, skin color, age, etc. Now the question of the day is:

"Do I care if the person wearing a sweater in a printed image is generated or real? Why would I? How would I know in the first place?"

Supermodels on the magazine covers may or may not go away due to importance of name recognition but every modeling job on down is likely to be eliminated over time.

Virtual models simply have too many advantages for real models to compete effectively. This in turn will pressure wages of even the super-models.

"These days, if you're looking for a career, fashion modelling is not a good choice anymore... We've got to look elsewhere, girls because now the machines are taking our jobs!" 

Courtesy:

Mike Shedlock, Mish

Think you've got a bad job? Indian 'sewer diver' paid just £3.50 a day (plus a bottle of booze) to unclog Delhi's drains

If you think your job is the pits then spare a thought for Devi Lal.

The 'sewer diver' from Delhi, India, is paid a measly £3.50 a day to wallow in filth unclogging the city's drains. Devi, 43, is provided with a bottle of bootleg booze to dull his senses before he begins his odious chore.

Dirty job: Devi Lal, a sewer diver from Delhi is paid a measly £3.50 a day to unclog the city's filthy drains

Scandalously the city does not bother to provide protective clothing so Devi and his colleagues are forced to spend hours a day in the filthy water in just their underwear.

According to Harnam Singh, the chairman of the Delhi Safai Karamchari Commision, (Delhi cleaners commission) almost 70 per cent of the manual scavengers die on the job. An estimated 61 sewer divers have died in last six months alone.

Scandalously City bosses do not provide protective clothing and Devi, 43,  works in just a pair of pants

Wallowing in filth: Devi Lal, 43, works to unclog blocked drains in Delhi, India

Even though India banned the practise in 1993, government agencies still use thousands of people like Dev to clean drains through out India

Even though India banned the practice in 1993, government agencies still use thousands of manual scavengers to clean drains through out India. India is one of the fastest growing economies in the world. But poverty remains widespread with an estimated 42.5 per cent of the children suffering from malnutrition. According to 2010 data from the United Nations Development Programme, an estimated 37.2 per cent of Indians live below the national poverty line with 68.7 per cent surviving on less than $2 a day. Earlier this week Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh announced his country will be spending £52 million on a space mission to Mars.

Tragic: An estimated 61 sewer divers have died in last six months alone

Story by Daniel Miller, Daily Mail

"Well, I think this is the most depressing job ever... It's no wonder that he gets a bottle of booze (alcohol) as part of his payment."

The British-designed flatpack HOUSE that clicks together without the need for nails or concrete (beat that Ikea!)

It's the ultimate flatpack to challenge even the keenest DIY enthusiast - a kit of wooden pieces that can be clicked together without nails or concrete to create an entire two-bedroom house.

And if you ever felt like just packing up and moving away - you could do with this home. Architects created this flat-pack 1,250-square-foot 'property' that can be simply slotted together. London-based architecture specialist Facit Homes partnered up with a pair of Danish architects to make the impressive villa - which took just six weeks to build.

The ultimate DIY project: The flat pack house can be quickly assembled

Unique! The lightweight home can snap together like Lego blocks

     

The easy to assemble home is an environmentally friendly alternative to building a new house

The parts were produced in a rapid-prototyping machine, Fast Code Design website reported. The Villa Asserbo was built using huge blocks of Nordic plywood blocks that had been specifically cut to fit together - similar to a 3D puzzle. It is named after the small Danish town 50 kilometers outside of Copenhagen, where the house now stands.

The revolutionary 'snap together' technique aims to wipe out environmentally unfriendly practices that are energy extensive and use valuable resources. Frederik Agdrup who designed the house with his colleague Nicholas Bjørnda told Fast Code Design that each lightweight piece needed only two men to carry it and they did not need to use cranes, which made the process far more friendly to the environment.

      

Stylish: The building in Denmark manages to still have a sense of style, despite being a flatpack home

     

The pieces are all numbered for ease of use and took only six weeks to put together

Friend to the earth: The home, which has every single detail inside of it planned, can be recycled

Perhaps the greatest benefit of having a 'flat pack house' is that it can be taken apart, recycled the plot return to its initial state, as it does not have concrete foundations but sits on wooden stands. The blocks are pieced together, with handy numbers so builders know where to slot them, and create a vast, sturdy space. 

Facit Homes describe themselves as bespoke architects who aim to make homes for sustainable living with digital fabrication. The building is designed on computer in pieces with the minutest of details taken into account. They plan every practical part of the home, including orientation, material quantities, and even the position of individual plug sockets on their program. Then they cut all of the parts from lightweight materials, number them, and then they snap together like Lego blocks.

Story by Anna Edwards, Daily Mail

"Wish we had houses that are built so fast in these parts of the world."

'I do miss him': Rihanna opens up to Oprah about the memories she can't shake of ex-boyfriend Chris Brown

Last week we learned that Rihanna 'was more concerned about' her 'best friend' Chris Brown after the singer's vicious attack on her three years ago. And in another newly-released teaser of the 24-year-old star's upcoming interview with Oprah Winfrey, the singer admits that she still 'misses' her ex. The Barbadian pop star revealed: 'I'm reminded by a lot of things. A lot of good memories we had.'

Scroll down for video

One-on-one: In the just-released teaser for Rihanna's August 19 interview with Oprah Winfrey, she admits that she 'misses' Chris Brown and describes her ideal man

'By the slightest things; hotel rooms, tour venues, any little thing, music, songs, and I do miss him at times.' In the clip, shot for Oprah's Next Chapter, the 58-year-old presenter revealed the Umbrella singer 'talks a lot, a lot, a lot about you know who, Mr. Chris Brown.'

Vehicular confession: The 24-year-old singer has a lot of good memories of Brown and she revealed, 'I do miss him at times' on Oprah's upcoming Next Chapter special

Still fixated: In the clip, the 58-year-old presenter revealed the Umbrella singer 'talks a lot, a lot, a lot about you know who, Mr. Chris Brown'

Rihanna's turbulent two-year relationship with the recent Grammy winner ended after he assaulted her the eve of the 2009 Grammy Awards; and Brown was sentenced to five years probation and six months of community labour.

Brown and his lawyer Mark Geragos are currently fighting a $16million lawsuit filed by Entertainment Enterprises this week alleging that the hip-hop star and Drake caused the W.i.P. bar brawl which left several injured in June. It is believed the violent row erupted over the artists' alleged relationships with Rihanna.

Maturing: The Talk That Talk star said her ideal man will value her, but admitted that 'They can only know my worth if I know my worth'

Partner in crime: Rihanna lightened the somber mood by adding that she wants 'fun times' and 'laughs' saying, 'I have everything else, all I want is a partner in crime to enjoy it with me'

Cry for help: Rihanna admitted she 'felt protective' of Chris Brown following the 2009 assault

The Talk That Talk star is also said to have dated Shia LaBeouf, Josh Hartnett, and Los Angeles Dodgers star Matt Kemp, but she shared with Oprah the qualities she's yet to find in her ideal man.

'If I had it my way I want a man that loves me, cherishes me, values me, but they have to know my value in order to value me,' she said.

'They have to know my worth and they can only know my worth if I know my worth. I want them to respect me.'

Rihanna continued: 'But I want fun times! I want fun, fun times. I want laughs. I want laughs more than everything. I have everything else, all I want is a partner in crime to enjoy it with me.'

In the previously-released preview of the highly-anticipated interview, the chart-topper admitted that she had 'felt protective' of Brown following the 2009 beating.

'I lost my best friend. Like, everything I knew switched - switched overnight,' she tearfully said of the 'embarrassing' incident. 'Who’s gonna help him? Nobody’s gonna say he needs help. Everybody’s gonna say he’s a monster without looking at the source. I was more concerned about him.' Speaking to camera in the preview, Oprah said: 'I went there with my own ideas about who she was from watching her videos and listening to her music.

'I thought she was gonna be kind of a bada**, a kind of hard edged, rocker, pop woman. Nothing could have been farther from the truth.'

     

'I lost my best friend': In the previously-released clip, Rihanna was seen breaking down as she defended the hip-hop star and said she 'was more concerned about him' after the brutal attack

Spilling her guts: While producers are saving the rest of the juicy details for this Sunday's episode, Rihanna managed to 'shock' the talk show queen

While producers are saving the rest of the juicy details for the actual episode, Rihanna managed to shock the talk show queen.

Oprah exclaims: 'I would have never thought that. You just shocked me.' In brief segments from the one-to-one on the sofa, Rihanna admitted: 'I am super duper terrified of the pedestal that comes with fame... It's amazing how lonely you can feel.' Rihanna's interview with Oprah is scheduled to air August 19 on OWN. 

      

Hometown girl: Rihanna hit the beach last week to shoot a campaign as the Face Of Barbados as part of a three-year contract with their Tourist Authority to promote her home island

Story by Cassie Carpenter, Daily Mail.

Made you look! These 'hyper-realistic' paintings that look like photographs make the mind boggle

With their sharp lines, clear colours and distinct shapes, these images look like the work of a gifted photographer. But look closer - a lot closer - and you might do a double-take. Because these are actually oil paintings by Spanish fine artist Pedro Campos.

Long legs! The attention to detail on this painting - from the curve of the legs to the shadow on the wall, is breathtaking

Incredible: Everything from the reflection of the tin to the crumpled bag makes this picture worth studying in depth

Good enough to eat! The meticulous attention to detail makes this clear bag of fruit look like it's a photographic image

This sweetie jar is a treat for the eyes and looks so real it could be a treat for the tastebuds

Mr Campos makes his stunning 'hyperealistic' creations using just a canvas, oil paint and paint brushes. And the outstanding results has galleries and the public left reeling with astonishment.

Concentrating on every day subjects, the artist's bright pieces are striking, glossy and have a sharp attention to detail. Mr Campos' attention to the tiniest of details - from the curve of an ankle, to the shadow on a wall, to the shine of a plastic bag, gives his creations a truly magical, realistic effect.

Mind and eye-boggling: Mr Campos even manages to capture even the soft shine of the strawberries, right down to the soft folds of the plastic bag

The shading on all of the parts and the metallic finish of the chrome components are unbelievably good

How does he do it?! The Madrid-based artist used to decorate nightclubs

The artist chooses to focus on everyday subjects to make his pictures even more interesting

Mr Campos' artistic foundations began in nightclubs - he started decorating bars and restaurants when he was younger, and also worked for advertising  agencies as an illustrator. He studied art restoration in Madrid, working on furnishings, paintings and sculpture. But from 30 he finally began oil painting and developed a portfolio as a fine artist. The clarity of his work is in high demand.

He is represented by the Plus One Gallery in Pimlico, Central London.

Beep beep: Even the faint reflections of the books are painted in the glossy surface

This could be a photograph of the real thing as Mr Campos even includes the reflection of the window frames

Work of art: The artist honed his skills studying art restoration, and now can produce these works that mimic life beautifully

Caught on canvas: This luscious-looking bag of fruit brings the subject alive with the astonishing realistic look

Like looking into a mirror: The artist turns his talents to this mind-bending picture - it's enough to make you dizzy thinking about it

Story by Anna Edwards, Daily Mail

Africa Fashion Week London 2012 Comes Alive!

The Fashion Designers of Africa have done it again. They have have recently beegan to score high marks in a trade that used to be dorminated by their Europian and America counterparts, include other giant territories. It never used to be the case... But now the African's have become masters of the trade.

In today's fashion shows,  an incomplete mark is hung over the event, unless an Africa touch is felt. Even in the absence of African designers, there will definitely be an African print in some Top designers' collection.

All year, the opportunities to attend such high-class shows are gradually becoming easily accessible to Africa's fashion designers. This has been put in place to help the fashion industry in Africa and gives them a very rare access to a network of other Top designers in the business, not to mention the fame that they will receive globally.

The Africa Fashion Week is one of such shows and has brought together the spice of African fashion designers to London. Held this month, the Africa Fashion Week London 2012 brought together a crack core of who rules the fashion and design world in the continent and beyond. The venue, Spitalfields Market in Central London, has been the place to be so far this month. In their numbers, they came, saw and conquered a dream that just took off in August last year. The reviews have been great; and almost every designer, young and old who took part have had their fair share of fame and glory. With some 50 designers and some 100 models on show, the event lived up to its hype, delivering a class-act piece that has already set the tone for how next year’s event will look like.

During the two-day period, The Spitalfields saw the likes of 10,000 different people who came to witness a unique ambience for rich display of Fashion, Art, Music and Food. Designers Green Mamba, Uber Africa Collective, Kemunto Collection, Keto Couture, Afro Fanatic, Remi Lagos Collection, Rouch By Ronke, Adebayo Jones, Adaora’s Collections, Ella and Gabby among other big names proved their worth, and succeeded in getting almost everybody interested in what the ideals of the AFWL stand for, to come along pretty well.

“We are absolutely delighted to attract the support of such established names in the industry as well as emerging designers. Africa Fashion Week not only provides a platform form African and African-inspired designers but also one that brings together established and emerging talents,” 

  ~ Ronke Ademiluyi, founder and CEO of Africa Fashion Week London

The show was attended by thousands of fashion enthusiasts. This year, as part of growing the event, market stalls representing the various African cultures, were opened to the public, who had a jolly time scanning through some of the best details available for sale.

The Africa Fashion Week London (AFWL) is a “collaborative fashion exhibition, highlighting the industry’s premier African prints and designers”. It aims to be the single, biggest African event in the UK, as well as the premier fashion week for African and black inspired fashion from all over the world.

The AFWL “is at the fore front of capturing the surge of the African inspired trends in the fashion industry,” and is “open to designers of all nationalities, who are inspired by Africa in their designs”.

“This fashion week is not just open to African designers but any designers that feel they have a twist of Africa in their designs or consider they have something to offer to Africa.” 

~ the Organizers, AFWL.

The organizers say the two day event “celebrates the work of African inspired designers in the United Kingdom, and also dedicates its efforts to promoting and supporting inspiring talents”.
It is touted to be the UK's biggest Fashion Week outside of the mainstream London Fashion Weeks.

It features Catwalk shows and an exhibition that is attended by designers, high street stores, buyers/stockist and press from all over the world. The AFWL is open to all members of the public. The maiden edition attracted some 4,700 visitors, and featured over 54 designers.

"This is a great opportunity for Africans!"

Courtesy:

Obed Boafo, MSN Africa