Daily Archives: July 17, 2013

Entertainment

Chiniqua Pettaway is Crowned Ms. America 2013

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Chiniqua Pettaway Begins Her Journey as 2013 Ms. America®.

Costa Mesa, CA, USA (July 17, 2013) — Chiniqua Pettaway from Houston, Texas was crowned Ms. America® 2013 at the national pageant held Sunday, June 23, 2013 at the Hilton Orange County/Costa Mesa in California.

State and regional titleholders from across the United States competed in four categories including interview, sportswear, evening gown and on-stage question.

Ms. America® 2013, Chiniqua Pettaway walked across the stage to accept the crown marked her first steps on a journey that will take her from spotlight to spotlight representing the American woman 26 years of age and up who are single, divorced, widowed or married.

Ms. Pettaway, a Houston, Texas transplant, is originally from Richmond, Virginia. She is an entrepreneur, model, fitness instructor and community leader. Chiniqua owns and operates six income tax preparation offices in Houston, TX. She is currently working on her master’s degree in Industrial Organizational Psychology and will complete her degree from Argosy University in March 2014.

A philanthropist, Ms. America® 2013, Chiniqua Pettaway is also a philanthropist and is especially passionate about her platform of service “Guard a Heart” a heart health awareness foundation. Guard a Heart’s mission is to fight heart disease with their campaign, “Know your Risk, Save a Life.” Heart conditions are the number-one killer of men and women in America. She enjoys traveling, dancing and mentoring young women through her platform and other community involvement.

As Ms. America® 2013, Pettaway is honored to represent an organization that enriches the lives of women across the country and is passionate about continuing to give back to others through philanthropic endeavors and being the inspiration that helps others achieve their dreams.

Major sponsors of the 2013 Ms. America® Pageant are Hilton Orange County/Costa Mesa, Orrick Herrington & Suitecliff, and OC Celebrity Smiles and Commercial Bank of California.

Ms. America® 2013 first runner-up was Wendi Russo, Ms. Minnesota; second runner-up was Malinda Koncar, Ms. Pennsylvania; third runner-up was Stephanie Mills, Ms. New England; and fourth runner-up was Mai-Lea DeJong, Ms. Arizona.

Ms. America International® 2013, for women 40 years of age and up went to Robin Griffin, Ms. California Coast. Ms. International™ 2013, the “Judges and People’s Choice Award” went to Stacy Smith, Ms. Colorado. This prestigious title must not only represent the pageant but also the Ms. America® fans as well. Stacy Smith was chosen by receiving the most votes online, good luck wish ads and scores from the Judges.

Richard Simon from Houston, Texas founded The Ms. America® Pageant in 1997. The first pageant was held on December 4, 1997 at the Luxor Hotel in Las Vegas. Contestants competed representing their state in the pageant. Susan Jeske from Colorado was crowned the first Ms. America®. Ms. Jeske became the owner of the pageant in 1999.

Video of crowning can be found at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hQ6xchdaDHM

To schedule an appearance for 2013 Ms. America®, please contact the pageant at: MsAmericaPageant@aol.com or call 949.679.8888

2013 SPECIAL AWARDS:

Ms. America International 2013 (40 years of age & up) – Robin Griffin – Ms. California Coast
Ms. International 2013 (Judges and People’s Choice Award) – Stacy Smith, Ms. Colorado
Spirit of America Award – Heidi Burton, Ms. Southwest America
Power of the Crown Award – Malinda Koncar, Ms. Pennsylvania
Crown for a Purpose Award – Mai Lea DeJong, Ms. Arizona
Media Award – Dallas Teague, Ms. Alabama
Woman of Distinction Award – Stacy Smith, Ms. Colorado
Ms. Photogenic Award – Robin Griffin, Ms. California Coast
Ms. Congeniality Award – Carola Akins – Ms. Rocky Mountain States
Community Service Award – Tiffanie Manansala, Ms. New Jersey

About Ms. America Pageant
The Ms. America® Pageant is open to women 26 years of age and up – single, divorced or married who are articulate, interesting, elegant and classy. Pageant competition is based on Fashion wear, Interview, Evening Gown, Sportswear and on-stage question. The Ms. America® Pageant was created to empower women across the nation, celebrate their accomplishments, encourage involvement in community service, to use the “crown for a purpose” to make a difference and to promote, honor and advance the status of women. The Ms. America® Pageant is a registered federal trademark with the USPTO in Washington DC since February 2000 and is one of the top pageant trademarks in the world. Visit http://www.MsAmericaPageant.com for more information. Facebook: http://www.Facebook.com/MsAmericaPageant.

Contact:
Susan Jeske
(949) 679-8888
msamericapageant@aol.com
http://www.msamericapageant.com

Entertainment

Women More Erotically Adventurous Than Men, New Online Survey Shows

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Contrary to common stereotypes, a recent survey of men and women conducted by online dating website SugarDaddyForMe.com shows women are overtaking men in how s*xually adventurous they describe themselves to be.

New York City, NY, USA (July 17, 2013) — Contact: Tom Andrews, 415-507-9962

A new adult dating survey conducted by SugarDaddyForMe.com is revealing women to be the more s*xually adventurous gender in today’s day and age. Breaking free of the common stereotypes of men as the more open gender when it comes to intimacy, surprisingly the women respondents to the survey in many ways expressed more adventurous erotic preferences than the men. More women (16%) than men (13%) described themselves as “kinky”, more women (15%) than men (11%) described their s*xual nature as “wild”, more women (9%) than men (1%) described themselves as “bis*xual”, and more women (11%) than men (9%) said they are “into s*xual role playing”.

Another finding shows more women had their first intimate experience at an earlier age than men. A surprising 85% of the women respondents had their first experience by 18 years of age or younger, compared to just 73% of the men. But the biggest difference was that a full 36% of the women had their first experience between the ages of 15 and 16 while only 26% of the men started that early.

Both sugar babies and sugar daddies are more s*xually active than the average man and woman. According to the dating website results, sugar babies and sugar daddies engage in intercourse:

– 3-6 times per week – 58% (women); 58% (men)
– More than 7 times per week – 24% (women); 19% (men)

When it comes to ‘doing the deed’, 76% of the men responding expect intercourse to be part of any relationship, while only 18% of women have the same expectation. But surprisingly, the men prefer a longer period of foreplay than the women! For example, six times more women than men say that “the shorter the foreplay the better.” Reinforcing this surprising result, more men (38%) than women (21%) say that they prefer foreplay to last between at least 30 minutes to more than an hour. The majority of both genders consider that the optimal amount of foreplay is between 15-30 minutes.

While men’s preference was for longer foreplay than women, it was just the opposite when it came to the amount of time they each prefer intercourse to last. A majority of men (52%) prefer intercourse to last just 30 minutes or less, whereas a large majority of women (65%) would like intercourse to last 30 to 45 minutes, an additional 18% of women prefer at least 45 minutes to an hour of intercourse, and a full 16% of women want intercourse to last more than an hour.

Men were also found to be more s*xually active than women in the last year, and have had more overall partners in the span of their lives. Whereas the majority of women (52%) have had 10 partners or less in their lifetime, only 18% of men had as few as 10 or less s*xual partners in their lifetime. Within the last year, more women (79%) than men (53%) had 3 partners or less, while more men (48%) than women (21%) had 4 or more partners in the last year.

And with other stimulants thrown in the intercourse mix, the online dating website found men surpassed women in their preference for using toys and/or male enhancements, having intimate relationships with multiple people at once and oral stimulation.

About SugarDaddyForMe.com

Online dating website, SugarDaddyForMe.com is the World’s Largest Sugar Daddy Matchmaking, Personals and Dating service with over 4 million members. Since launching in 2005, the website has set the mold for the sugar daddy cultural phenomenon with the goal to bring together successful, generous men and attractive young women that love to be pampered, spoiled and supported. Featured in MTV’s True Life episode “I Am a Sugar Baby”, two episodes of both The Montel Williams Show and The Tyra Banks Show, Good Morning America, The New York Times and numerous other TV shows, publications, documentaries and anthropological studies, SugarDaddyForMe.com is the world’s largest online dating website for sugar daddies and sugar babies looking for mutually rewarding relationships. Website: http://www.sugardaddyforme.com.

Contact:
Rich Gosse
Society of Single Professionals
205 Mark Twain Avenue, San Rafael CA 94903
415-507-9962
richgosse@richgosse.com
http://www.RichGosse.com

Technology

UK National Weather Service Selects XebiaLabs for Application Deployment Services

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XebiaLabs today announced a new customer of its flagship Deployit application release automation platform.

Boston, MA (USA), July 17, 2013 — XebiaLabs ( http://www.xebialabs.com ) today announced a new customer of its flagship Deployit application release automation platform. The Met Office, the National Weather Service of the United Kingdom for 150 years, and recognized as one of the world’s most accurate weather forecasters, will use XebiaLabs solution to increase accuracy, speed and scale for the Met Office’s deployments of new applications and services.

Alan Morbey, Configuration Management Team Leader at the Met Office, said, “With Deployit we have already seen some very encouraging results, with deployment times being substantially reduced.”

Working with XebiaLabs UK partner Cachet Software ( http://www.cachet-software.com ), the Met Office will be able to support continuous delivery of services to millions of customers while reducing the risk of errors and number of resources required to get applications out to users.

Until recently, application release preparations were done manually, meaning each step would be subject to time-consuming checks to ensure it was planned and executed properly.

For the Met Office, XebiaLabs Deployit will ensure more efficient performance and deliver the ability to keep track of deployments and report on deployment results, leading to a substantial improvement in efficiency of the service delivery process.

Employing more than 1,800 people at 60 global locations, the Met Office uses more than 10 million weather observations and a supercomputer to create 3,000 tailored forecasts daily. These briefings are delivered to the general public, Government, businesses, the armed forces, and other organizations. For more information visit http://www.metoffice.gov.uk.

“The Met Office needed a flexible solution that could better scale and support continuous delivery of web-facing services to customers,” said Coert Baart, XebiaLabs CEO. “Working with our partner Cachet, the Met Office can now create an enterprise-class delivery solution automating the development-to-production chain, improve quality and reliably release features to users quickly.”

About XebiaLabs:
With customers such as 3M, Air France-KLM, Duke Energy, Pitney Bowes, and Societe Generale, XebiaLabs is a leading provider of Continuous Delivery Automation focused on helping organizations deliver business value faster and more efficiently. XebiaLabs’ flagship product, Deployit, is the only fully-automated Application Release Automation solution, allowing customers to carry out and scale application deployments across all middleware and cloud environments. Headquartered in the U.S., XebiaLabs has a world-wide network of sales offices and partners. For more information, please visit http://www.xebialabs.com.

Press Contacts:
Heather Moses, VP of Marketing, hmoses@xebialabs.com

Victor Cruz, Principal, MediaPR.net, vcruz@mediapr.net

Press & Media Contact:
Victor Cruz, Principal
MediaPR.net Inc
Essex, MA – USA
+1 (978) 768-6888
vcruz@mediapr.net
http://www.xebialabs.com

Entertainment

Overcoming Fear Simply a Matter of “Faith”

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Author Elizabeth Kail Arnita says everyone has fears to face and her newest book Be Brave Bettina offers a lesson in how to overcome them.

Houston, TX (USA), July 17th, 2013 — Author Elizabeth Kail Arnita says everyone has fears to face and her newest book Be Brave Bettina offers a lesson in how to overcome them. Her character, Bettina, is a caterpillar afraid to become a butterfly. The transformation is a long and seemingly impossible journey.

“Through the encouragement of her new friends, Bettina faces and overcomes the fear that once threatened to keep her from becoming who she was made to be,” Arnita said. “I have firsthand experience with facing a paralyzing fear while struggling to overcome shyness and insecurity,” she said. “But by facing the fear and recognizing that the ‘what ifs’ exist, I have been able to move forward.”

Published through Halo Publishing International, Be Brave Bettina is a story that will help readers recognize that everyone has some level of self doubt, but that each of us also has an inner strength,” said Publisher Lisa Umina.

Arnita said Bettina reflects her reliance on God in all circumstances. “He is always there to offer love and guidance on our journey.” “Be Brave Bettina gives an example of how God will never leave us or forsake us, especially when we are going through difficult times.”

Born and raised near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, the author is the youngest of 12 children. She earned a bachelor’s degree in psychology at the University of Pittsburgh where she met her husband, Shadi. They have four children, reside in McMurray, Pennsylvania and are members of the Bible Chapel. Elizabeth and Shadi founded and manage a non-profit organization that funds and supports children who experience the cruel and harsh reality of poverty. Welcome the Children is assisting youngsters in Kenya and Panama where more than 500 students are given an opportunity to better themselves through nourishment provided for their body, mind and spirit, Arnita explained. Proceeds from Be Brave Bettina and the author’s first book, Baby Come Home, support the efforts of Welcome the Children.

To learn more about the Arnitas’ mission, visit http://www.welcomethechildren.org. To reach the author, e-mail her at e.arnita@welcomethechildren.org or call (724) 969-0891. To order copies of Be Brave Bettina, visit http://www.halopublishing.com.

Press & Media Contact:
Lisa M. Umina, Publisher
Halo Publishing International
AP #726 / P.O. Box 60326
Houston, TX 77205-0326 – USA
877-705-9647
lisa@halopublishing.com

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Art, Entertainment

Houston Area Author releases Blood Yellow, Book Two of the Blood Series

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Ashley Nemer, an author from Houston, Texas has released her second book inside of the Blood Series.

Cypress, TX, July 16, 2013 – Ashley Nemer, an author from Houston, Texas has released her second book inside of the Blood Series. Blood Yellow is an action packed thriller that is an excellent follow-up to last year’s release, Blood Purple. Which won the #3 best Science Fiction book of 2012 by Predators & Editors readers choice poll.

The lines are drawn, and Zayn and Nikole must face each other in a battle of forgiveness and power; each attempting to right their wrongs, each battling their own inner demons.

Haydar and Leigh prepare for war, rounding their men and setting into motion courses that cannot be undone.

The tales will fall in line as the four of them come face to face with each other, and they will watch loved ones perish.

When the dust settles and dawn breaks, who’s going to be left standing and who will be missing? Will Nikole forgive Zayn for his betrayal? Will Leigh and Haydar overcome their differences? Will Adara say yes? Blood Yellow…Because the story has just begun…
Amazon

Predators & Editors Readers Choice – #3 Best Science Fiction book of 2012

In a world we think we know, live other races entirely hidden from the mortal perspective. Creatures of legend, of fable and myth, their very history and nature have allowed them to walk side by side with humans since time immemorial. They are warriors, they are hunters, and they are Algula. Vampire. And in their own midst, a battle is brewing for supremacy, for dominance, that can and will affect all around them. Old hatred never dies and vengeance is a fiery sword that cuts a bloody swath. Amazon

Ashley’s Website www.ashleynemer.com, Ashley’s Email:Ashley@ashleynemer.com

Contact:
Ashley Nemer
Art of Safkhet
18062 FM 529 Suite 188
Cypress, TX 77433
936 662 5231
Ashley@ashleynemer.com
http://www.ashleynemer.com