Friday, February 15, 2013

Tia Mowry Lends a Hand to Dress for Success, Dishes Mommy Advice to Kate MIddleton and Kim Kardashian

If anyone knows about dressing for success, it's Tia Mowry, who we've watched grow from a spunky teen on Sister, Sister in the nineties to a glam wife and mom on her Style reality show Tia & Tamera and BET's The Game. So it was the perfect union when Tia stepped out to help the not-for-profit Dress for Success revitalize the looks (and spirits!) of many of the organization's Los Angeles-area clients with an evening of makeovers at hip West Hollywood makeup studio Blushington.

If you're unfamiliar with Dress for Success, they provide disadvantaged women with the tools and support necessary to gain employment and have financial stability. With the help of Puffs, who are currently donating $1 for every "virtual kiss" sent through their Facebook page (if you haven't sent one yet, go there now), Tia offered up her own advice for looking and feeling great. Since Blushington only has the capacity to hold so many people, we asked the hard-working mama to share some of her words of wisdom with us to share with you. She also has a few pearls for moms-to-be Kim Kardashian and Kate Middleton. We're listening...

EXCLUSIVE: CORY HARDRICT DISHES ON WORKING WITH AMANDA SEYFRIED, WIFE TIA MOWRY AND HIS GUILTY PLEASURES

OK!: How did you get involved with Dress for Success?

Tia Mowry: Dress for Success is an organization I’ve been a fan of for a very long time. I’ve already done several events for them and I’m a huge advocate for it. I think it’s amazing how they work with women who may be homeless or have some sort of disadvantage. They bring them under their wings and support them and guide them and give them proper attire and teach them career development tools. When I first heard Puffs was collaborating and working with Dress for Success on this Kisses program it was a no-brainer for me.

OK!: We hear you gave out the inaugural kiss for the campaign, how was that?

TM: It was so much fun. The event was amazing. Puffs was actually providing makeup tips and makeovers to many of the women who are a part of the organization. So just to be able to sit there and talk to these women and share my stories with them and have them share their stories with me … there were two women in particular who were both from a homeless shelter and they were getting their makeup done and they felt beautiful, so that was amazing. But what was more amazing was telling everybody what Puffs is doing for the Dress for Success organization. On their Facebook page, every virtual kiss you send to someone with a lovely little note on it, they’ll donate a dollar to the Dress for Success organization. If 100,000 people can send out kisses, that’s $100,000 that’s being donated to such an amazing organization. They’re helping women put their best face forward and feel more confident and beautiful with themselves.

RED CARPET CONFIDENTIAL: TIA MOWRY HELPS TWIN TAMERA SHRINK BELLY AFTER BABY

OK!: What are some simple and affordable ways women can look polished and pulled together?

TM: I always say this, invest in a proper blazer. Blazers, they don’t have to be expensive. It’s just finding that right cut for you. When you invest in a blazer, you already look professional and pulled together. You can throw it together with flats, you can throw it together with a skirt, you can even put it on with a dress and you look very professional, very put together. That’s definitely one of my go-tos if I’m having a meeting, whether it’s with a network or I’m going out on an audition, I always throw on a really nice blazer. I have tons of them in my closet at various price points. Also, look fresh-faced. You don’t want to put on too much makeup where you don’t really know who you are anymore! I always like to throw on some mascara with a nice, bright lip and a little bit of blush. And there you have it – you look nice, fresh-faced and pulled together.

OK!: As a busy mom, what’s the one part of your pre-baby beauty routine that you still try to find time for?

TM: Facials, definitely, definitely facials. I used to get facials done before my child and now that’s something I definitely work into my schedule because, at the end of the day, you have to take care of yourself, especially as a woman. You still want to feel and look your best and feel beautiful. Something I haven’t kept up with that’s really hard for me are manicures and pedicures. I don’t even want to tell you how often I get them because that would be embarrassing. I think it’s really hard because I’m washing dishes and I’m giving my baby a bath every night so I know they’re not going to hold up so what’s the point in spending money on them? I make excuses for myself like, “Open toed shoes are not in style now!”

RED CARPET CONFIDENTIAL: TIA MOWRY-HARDRICT BONDS WITH TWIN TAMERA ABOUT BREASTFEEDING

OK!: We're super excited about Kim Kardashian and Kate Middleton each expecting babies this summer, what advice would you love to pass on to them? What’s something you wish someone had told you?

TM: Oh my gosh. Nothing is perfect. I would definitely give them that. When you’re a new mom you want everything to run smoothly. You always want them to be on this perfect schedule but children are not machines. They are these little, tiny humans. Not everything is going to be perfect. One day he or she will sleep throughout the night. The next day that won’t happen, but that’s okay. Not everything has to fall into place. Another thing is – definitely, definitely sleep when the baby sleeps. People would tell me that all the time but it wasn’t until I started to feel like a walking zombie that I started to think, “They’re right!” If you don’t sleep when the baby sleeps you’re not going to be happy, you’re not going to be functional as a good mom. Put the dishes aside, let the clothes pile up and let the house be a mess for a minute. Also, don’t rush into trying to get your body back. Who are you in competition with? Take your time! And that’s exactly what I did. I took my time. I’m happy. I’m fine. I was there for my child and I didn’t feel like I had to be at the gym every single day.

OK!: What advice do you have for them regarding being pregnant in the spotlight?

TM: I did have my go to's when I was pregnant. I think Kim Kardashian is doing it well, as well as Kate Middleton. She looks so beautiful. She’s keeping it classy but still shining with her personality. Even though you’re pregnant it doesn’t mean your style has to suffer. A blazer is a great piece to add as a pregnant woman. You don’t have to close it! Vanessa Minnillo did this really well while she was pregnant. If she was wearing a flowy bohemian dress she would put a colorful blazer on top of it. When you’re pregnant you wear a lot of high-waisted dressesso adding a colorful, bright blazer to that is great. A lot of pregnant women turn to black to try to slim them. Honey, pop some color and embrace that belly! Wear that tight dress that accentuates the belly. Don’t try to hide it. You only have this belly for a little bit. It may seem like a while but you miss it when it’s gone. You do.

What do you think of Tia's mommy advice? Let us know in the comments below, or tweet us @OKMagazine.

Tia Mowry Lends a Hand to Dress for Success, Dishes Mommy Advice to Kate and Kim

Photo credit:

courtesy of Puffs

Tia Mowry Lends a Hand to Dress for Success, Dishes Mommy Advice to Kate MIddleton and Kim Kardashian

EXCLUSIVE: CORY HARDRICT DISHES ON WORKING WITH AMANDA SEYFRIED, WIFE TIA MOWRY AND HIS GUILTY PLEASURES

OK!: How did you get involved with Dress for Success?

OK!: We hear you gave out the inaugural kiss for the campaign, how was that?

RED CARPET CONFIDENTIAL: TIA MOWRY HELPS TWIN TAMERA SHRINK BELLY AFTER BABY

OK!: What are some simple and affordable ways women can look polished and pulled together?

OK!: As a busy mom, what’s the one part of your pre-baby beauty routine that you still try to find time for?

RED CARPET CONFIDENTIAL: TIA MOWRY-HARDRICT BONDS WITH TWIN TAMERA ABOUT BREASTFEEDING

OK!: We're super excited about Kim Kardashian and Kate Middleton each expecting babies this summer, what advice would you love to pass on to them? What’s something you wish someone had told you?

OK!: What advice do you have for them regarding being pregnant in the spotlight?

What do you think of Tia's mommy advice? Let us know in the comments below, or tweet us @OKMagazine.

Photo credit:

courtesy of Puffs

Motorsports: Holden's new Commodore ready to go racing in V8 Supercars [w/video]

Filed under: Motorsports, Sedan, Videos, Holden, Australia, Racing

This is the new Holden Commodore dressed up for duty as a V8 Supercar. Revealed two days after the VF sedan broke cover, the Holden Racing Team unleashed the racing version on Facebook and YouTube (click the image above to enlarge). This one does away with the black and gold introductory livery but keeps the Holden lions.

And get ready for this weekend, when the standard Commodore sedan - not the Calais trim - gets revealed, as well as the Chevrolet SS and the Mercedes-Benz E-Class V8 Supercar from Erebus. While you wait, check out the video below to see the Commodore V8SC on the track.

Continue reading Holden's new Commodore ready to go racing in V8 Supercars [w/video]

Holden's new Commodore ready to go racing in V8 Supercars [w/video] originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 15 Feb 2013 08:43:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

Y Combinator-Backed FlightCar Launches Its ‘Airbnb For Airport Car Rentals’ Service At SFO

Airport car rentals are a $10 billion business. But until recently, most travelers were stuck with poor customer service and high rates from the incumbent rental car agencies. Y Combinator-backed startup FlightCar wants to offer a much cheaper alternative to those companies in airports around the country, and it’s starting in San Francisco.

FlightCar provides a peer-to-peer marketplace for car rentals at airports, connecting travelers with vehicles at much lower rates than they’d find if they went through one of the incumbent rental car agencies. It’s able to do that because it is renting out cars that would have otherwise been left in long-term parking.

It’s not that different from existing peer-to-peer rental services, except that it specializes in multi-day rentals at airports, whereas companies like RelayRides, Getaround, and Wheelz are focused on short-term rentals in cities. The service has first launched at San Francisco International Airport, with plans to expand to other airports in the future.

For car owners, allowing their vehicles to be rented is not just a way to save on parking, but also to potentially make some money while they’re out of town. While travelers would typically pay about $18 a day to keep their car in Long Term Parking, FlightCar lets users keep their car at the company’s lot — provided that they are willing to let the startup rent out their cars while they’re gone.

FlightCar provides a valet service when travelers are at the airport and ready to drop their cars off. It also brings the car to them when they’ve arrived back in their place of origin.

Cars must have been made since 1999 and have less than 150,000 miles to be listed on the site. The startup pays the owners of luxury and larger cars $10 gas cards for each day the car is rented.

To set travelers at ease, FlightCar has a $1 million liability policy with collision and theft coverage while they’re gone. There’s also the added bonus that FlightCar cleans the vehicles both before they’ve been rented and afterward.

During its initial trial, FlightCar was seeking to partner with airport parking lot owners to keep its cars. But for the SFO launch, it’s decided instead to open on its own lot and shuttle rental cars back and forth.

The service soft-launched at SFO on February 5, and the company is looking to increase inventory. In just a few weeks, the company has already rented more than 100 cars, without heavy investment in marketing the service.

FlightCar is part of the most recent Y Combinator class, and SV Angel has also invested. The company was founded by Shri Ganesham, Rujul Zaparde, and Kevin Petrovic. The three originally incubated the idea through Cincinatti-based startup accelerator The Brandery, before the team was accepted to YC.

Google Rated The Best Place To Intern In 2013, Followed By Qualcomm, Microsoft, Intel And Cisco

For student jobseekers, in these challenging economic conditions, internships still rank as one of the best ways to prevent yourself from joining the growing ranks of the overeducated and underemployed. In fact, A recent study by the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE) found that interning in college not only increases your chance of landing a job, but actually keeping it, too.

The report reveals that 63 percent of paid interns received “at least one job offer upon graduation” in 2012, compared to the 36 percent of grads who had no internship experience. In turn, 75 percent of employees that were hired out of internships were retained after a year, compared to 60 percent for those who didn’t. So, with students now beginning to prepare and apply for summer internship opportunities, online jobs and career community, Glassdoor, has taken a look at the companies that are rated highest among those whose opinion counts the most: Current and former interns.

The report, which the company says is based entirely on intern feedback, highlights the 20 companies that know how to treat their interns right (and are currently hiring), along with those who rank the highest in interview difficulty, and, of course more importantly, in compensation.

For the second year in a row, the highest rated internship program in the country will be found in Mountain View at the Googleplex. This seems fitting given that Google happens to be the setting for The Internship — the appropriately-named buddy movie starring Vince Vaughn and Owen Wilson (and Google) that’s due out this summer. Vaughn and Wilson play middle-aged salesman who, after being laid off, find themselves as Google interns. Lots of Google Glass and self-driving car jokes ensue.

The fact that Google now ranks as the best place to intern for the second year in a row might help to explain its (somewhat surprising) “enthusiastic” support of the buddy comedy, along with not only its willingness to participate in the making of the film, but to even do its part in promotion. If you’ve got it, flaunt it, I guess?

But let’s not let Google hog all the limelight. Glassdoor’s rankings of the top 20 internship programs include companies from several industries, seven of which were technology companies. Google took first, improving its ranking from 4.3 (out of a possible 5 points) to 4.6. Qualcomm ranked second among tech companies with a 4.2 rating, followed by Microsoft (4.2), Intel (4.1), Cisco (4.0), IBM (3.9) and Amazon at 3.9.

And which company offers the highest intern pay? For the second year running, Microsoft’s research internship program outranked Google, paying the highest average monthly base pay out all the companies in the report at $7,050/month — up from $6,746 last year. Google’s Software Engineer Internship ranked second at $6,462/month, followed by Microsoft again with its “Software Engineer In Test Internship” at $5,951/month.

Granted this seems to be somewhat at odds with Forbes’ recent report on the top three highest paying tech internships, which saw VMWare grab the top ranking at $6,536/month, followed by Facebook in second at $6,056/month and Microsoft in third at $5,936/month. LinkedIn, Adobe, Google, Amazon, NVIDIA, Yahoo and Apple round out the rest of the top ten. The report is also based on Glassdoor’s findings, so we’ll assume that this is shows the average for all of the company’s internships, rather than a particular program.

You can also check out last year’s overall rankings here.

Google and Amazon were ranked as the toughest interviews, followed my Microsoft and Intel. As to some of the questions interns reported being asked during those interviews?

“Who is your hero and why?” — Google Intern Candidate

“How many new cars, on average, are bought in the U.S. each year?” — Microsoft Summer Intern Candidate (Seattle, WA)

“Design a complex car from the ground up.” — Amazon Software Development Engineer Intern Candidate (Seattle, WA)

And, for those looking for a peek inside the pros and cons of the most coveted tech internships, below you’ll find a few responses from former interns.

Google

Pro: “Google treats interns even better than full time employees. All of the employees all the way up to VP personally spend time with you and take your opinion.” — Google Platforms Project Manager Intern (Mountain View, CA)

Con: “Since Google has grown so much, it’s harder to get things done/it takes a really long to push code or get things out there.” — Google Software Engineering Intern (New York, NY)

Qualcomm

Pro: “Each intern is assigned one mentor and one manager so you get a lot of attention. There are team outings, quizzes and the workplace itself is full of energy. Innovative thinking is encouraged and the work load is well balanced.” — Qualcomm Interim Engineering Intern (Bangalore, India)

Con: “Space was kind of cramped during my internship. Did not get an office or cubicle, instead got a desk that was kind of just in the middle of the hallway (think receptionist’s desk).” — Qualcomm Software Engineer Intern (San Diego, CA)

Microsoft

Pro: “Microsoft has a great environment where you are encouraged to learn as much as you can about your field. Knowledgeable and passionate co-workers who always bail you out. You get to learn a lot from your peers.” — Microsoft Intern (Hyderabad, India)

Con: “Sometimes you can feel like a grain of sand on the beach. As a developer, you don’t have a say in the big picture of the company. If that’s important to you, don’t work here; find a start-up.” — Microsoft Software Development Engineer Intern (Redmond, WA)

Intel

Pro: “Intel has a very organized and constructive internship program. They set you up for success and provide many opportunities for future employment. Excellent pay as well.” — Intel BIOS Technical Intern

Con: “Being stuck in a cube all day is a bit of a drag, though to some extent I think it comes with the job of a programmer. In spite of all of the work they were doing to brighten/open things up while I was there, I don’t really feel like the office spaces are any brighter or more cheerful.” — Intel Undergraduate Technical Intern (Hillsboro, OR)

Cisco

Pro: “As an intern, I was given the same freedom and regular employees, I could work from home, arrive and leave work when it was convient for me, and I could wear normal street clothes to work.” — Cisco Software Engineering Intern in Research (Triangle Park, NC)

Con: “Because the teams and company are so large it is hard to get to know who you work with. However, this would be less of an issue if I worked full-time and not just a summer internship.” — Cisco Software Engineer Intern (San Jose, CA)

IBM

Pro: “Pay was really high compared to what I’m supposed to get for being so junior. Nice office, really cool building, and really great people. A flexible schedule, yoga lessons, and gym. The company is really large and you feel like you belong.” — IBM Software Engineer Intern (Ottawa, Ontario)

Con: “Slow work effort, it takes too much time to get anything done.” — IBM Intern (Markham, Ontario)

Amazon

Pro: “Very supportive team mates who helped constantly raise the bar by asking the right questions and putting the foot down at the right time.” — Amazon Software Development Engineer Intern (Seattle, WA)

Con: “Less perks such as free food. Could be nice for some employees who are working late.” Amazon Software Engineer Development Intern (Seattle, WA)

Oh, and just for good measure, here’s the trailer for The Internship. Will it be good or a horrible train wreck? You decide.

Excerpt image c/o CollegeCandy

That Wasn't Superman, It Was a Meteorite Falling in Russia and It Was Captured by Dashcams!

Many have scoffed at the idea of using dashboard-mounted cameras, but that hasn't deterred hundreds of thousands if not millions of drivers from all over Russia from installing one in their vehicle.

If it wasn't for their love of cameras, the world would have missed out on a rare occasion when a meteorite shot across the sky and exploded over the Chelyabinsk region in central Russia on Friday morning.