Arcadie blog

Indian model vows to strip for WCup win

Women in India are encouraged to dress modestly at all times, but a brasher side to modern life has been exposed after a popular model vowed to strip naked if the nation wins the cricket World Cup.

Poonam Pandey, 20, who features in a best-selling Indian swimwear calendar, said she wanted to provide an incentive to players by promising them she would bare all -- though whether her offer will be welcomed is not known.

"I'm a cricket fanatic and I'm a diehard supporter of my nation. India needs a lot of support and this is my way of supporting the team," she told several newspapers on Wednesday.

Asked by reporters if she was pulling of a publicity stunt, she replied: "Absolutely not. I'm confident of my body and I'm doing this to excite our boys to play better."

Pandey received widespread media attention for her pledge, with the Times of India illustrating its story with a colour photograph of her wearing a skimpy bikini.

"Pray for Todays Match that the Boys Play well and make us Proud," she said on her Twitter page ahead of India's crunch semi-final game against Pakistan.

Her offer echoes that of Larissa Riquelme, a model who attracted global fame by pledging to run naked through the streets of Paraguay's capital Asuncion if her country won the 2010 football World Cup.

Paraguay were knocked out by Spain in the quarter-finals and she instead posed nude in front of her national flag.

Mac OS X Maverick Leaving Apple

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Bertrand Serlet, the senior vice president of Mac Software Engineering and the man behind much of what we know as Mac OS X, is leaving Apple.

According to a , Serlet says he wants to "focus less on products and more on science." Serlet has been at Apple since 1997. Before Apple, Serlet worked with Steve Jobs at NeXT and played a key role in developing NeXTSTEP, the predecessor for Mac OS X. Serlet has overseen the releases of Mac OS X Tiger, Leopard and Snow Leopard.

Serlet's successor is Craig Federighi. Federighi is currently the vice president of Mac Software Engineering and will now report directly to Steve Jobs. In a statement, Serlet says, "Craig has done a great job managing the Mac OS team for the past two years, Lion is a great release and the transition should be seamless."

As , it's difficult to overstate the influence Serlet has had on the modern Mac OS ecosystem. Serlet has literally been helping shape Mac OS X since the beginning -- from overseeing the OS structure to helping define the Cocoa libraries.

That work has evolved from powering high-end workstations (NeXTcubes and others) to desktops and laptops and now devices such as the iPhone, iPad and Apple TV.

Image courtesy of Apple Inc.

Sheryl Swoopes returns to WNBA with Tulsa Shock

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Sheryl Swoopes never hid her disappointment with how her first go-around in the WNBA ended.

The three-time MVP couldn't hide her excitement and appreciation for the second chance she received when signing with the Tulsa Shock on Wednesday.

"The only reason why I'm doing it is because I still love the game," Swoopes said during a conference call with reporters. "To be given an opportunity to come back and kind of leave on the right note, or just to be a part of it again, is something I'm excited about."

Swoopes, who turned 40 last week, returns after a two-year hiatus to the league she was a founding member of and once dominated. She helped lead Houston to the league's first four championships from 1997-2000 and won her last MVP in 2005.

Her last season in the league was in 2008 with Seattle. The Storm released her after she played while recovering from back problems that plagued her the previous year in Houston.

Swoopes continued playing overseas in Greece after that, frustrated that no other WNBA team would give her a chance when she felt she could still play.

Swoopes said Wednesday she has put any hard feelings toward the league behind her, and she's physically ready to help a Tulsa team that finished a league-worst 6-28 last season. She averaged 15.8 points, 5.0 rebounds, 3.3 assists and 2.2 steals per game in her 11 seasons.

"Even at my age, I can honestly say physically my body feels better than it's probably felt in the last two or three years I played in the WNBA," Swoopes said. " If I personally felt like I couldn't do it, I wouldn't be putting myself in this position.

"So there's not a doubt in my mind that I still can compete on this level."

Nolan Richardson, Tulsa's coach and general manager, declined to say how much Swoopes would earn. He said the Shock considered signing Swoopes last season but the roster was already full.

Richardson said assistant coach Teresa Edwards, a former Olympic teammate of Swoopes, approached him about the possibility of signing the former MVP this offseason.

Swoopes decided to make the trip from her home in Houston to Tulsa last month for a workout under Richardson after Edwards called to gauge her interest in making a comeback. The workout included full-court and shooting drills as well as defensive work and Richardson came away impressed.

"Anybody who can work out for 20 minutes for me, that's a hell of a job," Richardson said. " That was enough for her to convince me that she can do it and she really wants to.

"I feel that she's dedicated enough to try to make a comeback. That's what it's all about to me, her getting her body ready to make a comeback."

The Shock made waves last season by signing former Olympic sprinter Marion Jones to a contract and re-signed her this offseason.

Richardson said he didn't promise Swoopes anything regarding playing time, though he does expect her to serve as a mentor for the Shock's younger plays. Swoopes was perfectly fine with that.

"For me, honestly, it's not about individual accomplishments, individual awards," Swoopes said. "It's about what I've got to do and how I can contribute to the team."

That said, Swoopes isn't above proving any doubters wrong that she can still contribute.

"I like to see people doubt me," she said.

Dr. Suresh Koneru Offers the Crisalix© e-Stetix©, the First 3-D Simulator for Plastic Surgery Consultation

Dr. Koneru (Advanced Concepts in Plastic Surgery) is first in Texas to offer this ground-breaking e-simulator to patients in San Antonio and South Central Texas

San Antonio, TX (PRWEB) February 17, 2011

In order to better serve his plastic surgery patients receiving breast implants,is the first physician in Texas to use a new software program from Crisalix - the e-Stetix 3-D simulator. Developed by engineers in Switzerland, e-Stetix is the first Web-based 3-D physical simulator for breast implant procedures. Dr. Koneru, who also has an electrical engineering background, will offer e-Stetix as part of the initial patient consultation for breast augmentation at his practice -of San Antonio, Texas.

e-Stetix is the first simulator for breast enlargement surgeries using thebody’s actual physical properties. Using just a few digital pictures from a regular digital camera and the patient’s body measurements, e-Stetix is able to generate a 3-D simulation of the patient’s body and then simulate the results of a breast augmentation procedure by selecting implants from a standard database. All the simulations are calculated instantaneously, giving the patient results in less than 10 seconds.

“This innovative simulation technique takes traditional ‘before and after’ photos to a new level,” said Dr. Koneru. “Now my patients have the capability to actually see what their body will look like with different types and sizes of implants and make better decisions based on realistic 3-D images of their own body before and after surgery.”

Traditionally, 3-D imaging systems have required large elaborate camera systems and required patients to remain uncomfortably still.With the e-Stetix simulator, Dr. Koneru is able to take 3 simple photographs in his San Antonio plastic surgery office and upload the photos securely to Switzerland.There the 3-D reconstruction is accomplished and then the surgical simulation can begin from Dr. Koneru’s office in San Antonio.

Dr. Suresh Koneru treats patients in San Antonio, Austin, Houston and other cities in Central and South Texas. He offers consultation and surgical procedures for breast implants, breast augmentation, breast lifts, breast reduction and breast reconstruction..Advanced Concepts in Plastic Surgery also offers services for body contouring and other cosmetic surgeries.

For more information about e-Stetix, or to schedule a personal consultation, please call 210-499-5900 or visit .

About Dr. Koneru is a Board Certified Plastic Surgeon who has been in private practice in San Antonio since 1996. He is fully trained in all aspects of modern plastic and reconstructive surgery, including cosmetic surgery of the face and body, breast surgery (including breast reconstruction, breast augmentation, breast lift, and breast reduction), suction-assisted lipectomy (liposuction), non-invasive fat reduction and lifting procedures, body contouring (tummy tuck, belt lipectomy, post massive weight loss surgery), and laser procedures.

Licensed in Texas, Dr. Koneru is Board Certified in Plastic Surgery and is the immediate Past President of the San Antonio International Society of Plastic Surgeons. He has been named one of Texas Monthly’s SuperDoctors, Scene in S.A. Monthly’s Top Doctors, and one of America’s Top Plastic Surgeon by Consumers’ Research Council of America.

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Suresh KoneruAdvanced Concepts in Plastic Surgery210-359-6644Email Information

Napoli, Liverpool held to draws in Europa League

PARIS (AFP) – Serie A title-chasers Napoli will travel to Spanish opponents Villarreal next week with their Europa League hopes in the balance after they were held 0-0 in their last 32 first-leg clash.

It will not be the ideal scenario for the former Italian champions -- playing in only their second European campaign in 16 years -- as days later they face Serie A leaders AC Milan in a match pivotal to their title hopes.

There was no winning return to European competition for Liverpool manager Kenny Dalglish, meanwhile, as the Scottish legend -- who replaced Roy Hodgson at the helm -- had to make do with a workmanlike 0-0 draw at Czech side Sparta Prague.

"There's a lot of value coming out of the game," said Dalglish.

"It was not a classic. The onus is on the home team to put pressure on us and they did not really do that. On the night, 0-0 was probably fair enough."

Spain's two-time UEFA Cup winners Sevilla have it all to do in the second leg after they lost 2-1 at home to Portuguese league leaders FC Porto.

Freddie Kanoute had levelled for the Spanish side mid-way through the second half, only for Colombian Fredy Guarin to score a late winner.

An 89th-minute equaliser from Peguy Luyindula saw French title contenders Paris Saint-Germain emerge from the away leg of their tie against Belarusian champions BATE Borisov with a creditable 2-2 draw.

Amid temperatures that touched -17 degrees Celsius, BATE looked to have won the match when they made it 2-1 late on with a goal from recent midfield signing Mikhail Gordeichuk.

PSG's Turkish striker Mevlut Erding had equalised in the first half after the French side had gone behind to a goal from Brazilian striker Bressan.

"We have to congratulate the players, who came back twice from a goal down," said PSG coach Antoine Kombouare.

"But we have to finish the job off at home in a week."

PSG's title rivals Lille also drew 2-2 but they will be kicking themselves as they led 2-0 going into the final 10 minutes before PSV Eindhoven struck twice in two minutes through Wilfred Bouma and Ola Toivonen.

Elsewhere, there were convincing away wins for Dynamo Kiev and Ajax.

The former beat Turkish side Besiktas 4-1, with veteran Andriy Shevchenko on target, while the hosts' goalscorer, Ricardo Quaresma, blotted his copybook by being sent off at the final whistle.

Ajax eased to a 3-0 win at Belgian rivals Anderlecht, with second-half goals from teenage midfielder Christian Eriksen and Moroccan striker Mounir El Hamdaoui sealing victory after Belgian defender Toby Alderweireld had given them the lead in the opening period.

Bundesliga high-flyers Bayer Leverkusen can also take their foot off the pedal for next week's second leg in Germany as they ran out easy 4-0 winners over Ukrainian outfit Metalist Kharkiv, with Sidney Sam grabbing a late brace.

The early kick-off had seen Dutch champions FC Twente carry on the good form from their tough Champions League group with a fine 2-0 win away at Russian side Rubin Kazan.

The hosts will have cursed the fact they had been forced to play the home leg in Moscow because their pitch in Kazan -- where they have not lost in two Champions League group campaigns -- was not in a fit state.

Luuk de Jong and captain Peter Wisgerhof were the goalscorers, de Jong heading in the opener in the 77th minute and skipper Wisgerhof snaffling up a rebound after de Jong had seen a shot saved two minutes from time.