Minds were blown after fast food chain giant McDonald’s posted an article to its employee site, complete with illustrations, detailing why their food is considered “unhealthy” and why workers should avoid indulging in their food. A post read, “it is hard to eat a healthy diet when you eat at fast-food restaurants often,” adding that large portions make it simple to overeat.

The article explained the challenges of eating healthy at fast food joints, also advising French fry limits. “In general, people with high blood pressure, diabetes, and heart disease must be very careful about choosing fast food because of its high fat, salt, and sugar levels,” the post said, with diagrams of a cheeseburger and fries next to a marine sub sandwich with a salad and water as the healthier alternative.

Under a picture of a hamburger and fries read, “Fast foods are quick, reasonably priced, and readily available alternatives to  home cooking,” reads one post on the site.

For the last few years the fast food heavyweight has tried to distance itself from derogatory reports of the detrimental effects of fast food consumption. It’s added more nutritional choices, including fruits and vegetables and parfaits, with chocolate milk options for Happy Meals and smaller fry portions.

It appears the posts were written by a third party vendor, Adam, and is currently under investigation. The posts were removed earlier this week.

[Photo credits: Mcdonalds.mynurturlife.com]

Serena Williams was honored Wednesday as The Associated Press’ 2013 Female Athlete of the Year for an incredible year in women’s tennis. The 32-year-old Compton, California native took home the AP honor for the third time.

Williams’ drive and determination ensured her place among other women athletes this year such as Brittney Griner, the Number 1 pick in April’s WNBA draft and swimmer Missy Franklin. Yet even being AP athlete two times in 2002 and 2009 doesn’t stop her from reaching for higher heights.

“Whenever I lose, I get more determined, and it gives me something more to work toward. I don’t get complacent, and I realize I need to work harder and I need to do better and I want to do better — or I wouldn’t keep playing this game,” Serena told the Associated Press.

During 2013, Williams held down a 34-match winning streak, the longest winning streak since sister Venus Williams‘ 35-match record in 2005. Serena snagged 11 titles including the French Open and U.S. Open. She earned $12 million in prize money, a record for women’s tennis. WTA Chairman Stacey Allaster has faith that Williams will continue to break more records before she’s finished.

Serena exhibits the kind of friendly competition but sheer will to win even in matches against her sister.

Allaster said. “There’s a little girl, perhaps out there in Compton, who is dreaming of playing on the WTA, and Serena said, ‘We’re waiting for you, and we can’t wait to meet you.’”

Kanye West is currently under fire for using a sample in his “Bounds 2″ track without permission. The lawsuit includes Def Jam, Rhino, Roc-A-Fella Records, and Universal Music Group as defendants for common law copyright infringement.

Ricky Spicer, 56, former lead singer of the Ponderosa Twins Plus One, a group started in 1969 when Spicer was only 12 years old, is suing the outspoken rebel. “Bound”, the original song and the tune in question, was recorded in 1970. “Mr. Spicer’s voice is sampled exactly as he recorded it and his voice, altered by the Defendants, is also heard several times,” the 13-page complaint describes.

Spicer’s vocals is the audible on the track, though modified. His voice is heard throughout the chorus of the track, singing the lyrics, “Bound, bound / Bound to fall in love.” The lawsuit alleges the audio was sampled without his permission, and that he has never received any compensation.

“Bound” isn’t the only sample West used. He also experimented with samples from a 1977 track, “Aeroplane (Reprise)”, by Wee. The repetitive “Uh huh, honey” was sampled from a Brenda Lee 1959 song, “Sweet Nothin’s.”

Every year celebrities attempt to escape the flashing lights of the paparazzi by visiting exotic locales, from Moorea Island to Anguilla. But with today’s technology, the photogs still manage to snap pics of their personal vacations. But the stars’ annoyance can be your gain. Keep clicking to find out how you can vacation like a celebrity in 2014.

[Image: Shutterstock]

In 2013, the words “Stand Your Ground” have become synonymous with vigilante justice and slain Black youths. The statute was originally designed to protect those who have applied deadly force to defend themselves. But in the last year, it has appeared to be more of a get-out-of-jail-free-card, played often against people of color. Take a look back at some of the victims of Stand Your Ground and laws like it.

Qawmane Wilson, a Chicago Rapper Young QC, hired his friends to kill Yolanda Holmes, his mother, for financial gain. Law enforcement arrested Wilson, 24, and friends Eugene Spencer and Loriana Johnson, the driver in the murder of Holmes, an owner of an upscale salon.

Prosecutors said Wilson wanted Holmes, 45, out of the picture to access her bank accounts and life insurance policies. Wilson ordered Spencer, 22, and Johnson, 23, to carry out the September 2012 hit while his mother lay asleep in her apartment with her boyfriend. Holmes died from a gunshot to the head and stab wounds, according to the Chicago Tribune.

Soon after arranging the hit, Wilson took advantage of over $90,000 in bank accounts and two life insurance policies to begin living a life of luxury.

Splattered over his Facebook, YouTube and Instagram accounts are pictures of the rapper with stacks of cash. In one video, the rapper and his “entourage” visit a Chase bank to take out $1,000 which turns into $20,000 – after which he visits a local park to throw money in a crowd. Young QC turns up in many of the images with blunt in head, flashy jewelry, guns, cars and often saying that other rappers “aren’t on his level.” A quick look at his accounts show that his former fans are now showering his page with shock instead of the usual adoration.

Investigators caught on to Wilson’s lifestyle and pieced together clues that resulted in charges of murder and home invasion to be filed this week.

If you’ve looked up hip-hop lyrics on Google before, it is almost guaranteed that you have visited the Rap Genius site. It had been the first choice on the search engine list for every possible rap lyric for some time now. So much so that Billboard wrote an article earlier this month: “How Rap Genius Won The SEO Game”. Ironically, their SEO practices are what brought them down. Google is punishing Rap Genius by rendering them virtually unsearchable.

The vast majority of Rap Genius’ traffic comes from Google, so this is a huge blow to their site. They went from being the the first presented option to being relegated to the middle of the seventh page. Ouch. Even if you type in, for example, “Jay-Z lyrics rap genius” there is no link that will take you to the actual site until the 5th page. That is Google purgatory.

Google is punishing Rap Genius because they were found to be soliciting page links on people’s personal sites in exchange for twitter blasts that would lead traffic to their pages. John Marbach blew the whistle on the operation when he leaked the email from Rap Genius co-owner Mahbod Moghadam where they essentially lay out their SEO fraud. Marbach breaks down their scheme:

RapGenius makes its business off music lyrics. Millions of people search the lyrics to their favorite songs daily. RapGenius wants to be the first result that people click on when people are searching for any lyric.

Their business depends on their search engine ranking position (SERP’s) on Google. Hyperlinks connect the web and determine SERP’s. Thus, the most powerful weapon RapGenius can deploy is a series of powerful hyperlinks. You can see in Mahbod’s email that he is asking for hyperlinks from high-page rank sites (personal blogs) with anchor text that mentions tracks from Bieber’s most recent album.

Furthermore, the 80-20 rule applied to RapGenius’s business indicates that 80% of their traffic comes from only a select 20% of their lyrics database. According to Alexa.com, “Get Lucky” and “Holy Grail” were the top traffic drivers to RapGenius for most of 2013. However, music is highly cyclical, and the traffic from previous winners will eventually fade. Looking forward into 2014, it’s only logical that RapGenius would hope for Bieber’s new songs to refer them enormous traffic.

…

Summary

• RapGenius wants to grow quickly.
• In order to grow quickly, they need to rank well on Google searches for Justin Bieber’s new songs.
• In order to rank well, they need backlinks with anchor text that specifically mention Bieber’s songs.
• They are reaching out to their friends asking for backlinks in exchange for a tweet.

Essentially, they’re trying to trick Google into thinking that they’re getting legitimate links. Google does not take lightly to being bamboozled. Matt Cutts, Google’s head of search, made the final decision on punishment, and some within the tech industry are calling the measure “pretty harsh”. It would seem that many people are snickering about the entire situation because the owners of Rap Genius have a history of being smug assholes.

For their part, Rap Genius is trying desperately to clean up their mess and return to Google’s good graces. They said in a statement to TechCrunch on Wednesday:

“We are working with Google right now to resolve this. They’ve been really great, helping us identify changes we need to make, even on Christmas. We’re working on it as fast as we can, and expect to be back on Google very soon.

It sucks to be off Google for us and for the thousands of our community members who have worked so hard to create what’s often the best search result.

We hope everyone who reads this will take a little time out from their Christmas and head to Rap Genius and sign up so you can contribute your knowledge on your favorite subjects – becoming a member of our community makes the site way more fun. Merry Christmas”

Two of the nation’s biggest package handlers and shippers are under fire for broken promises by giftless, disappointed customers who didn’t receive their Christmas presents on time. Social media simmered over with contempt for the package moguls, with angry consumers expressing furor over customer service.

Delays were blamed on inclement weather throughout the country, soaring online sales and a shorter holiday shopping period, with Thanksgiving so late in November. Online spending skyrocketed 10% this year, with online purchases increasing each year.

“We had a shortened holiday season in terms of shopping: six fewer days and a surge in online demand, particularly accelerated by a surge in mobile devices,” described Mark Mahaney, an online retail analyst. “Mobile accounted to 40 percent of all Internet sales.”

FedEx and UPS has issued apologies, in addition to shipping costs refunds, by calling 1-800-PICK-UPS.  ”UPS apologizes to both shipping and receiving customers who may have delays. We had additional sorting operations at Worldport, the UPS international air hub in Louisville, Ky., on Christmas and are making deliveries and pickups today,” read UPS public apology.

Not all reactions were bad in response to the delayed Christmas spectacle. After “#UPSfail” became a Twitter trending topic, few optimistic tweets were sprinkled through the online chaos. Many posters recommended customers to shop earlier, blaming their procrastination as the reason for late presents.

A Texas man charged with a federal hate crime for a “Knockout Game” attack against a 79-year-old black man is blaming mental health issues.

Conrad Alvin Barrett, 27, of Katy, Texas, attacked the man “because of the man’s race and color” according to videos retrieved from Barrett’s phone.

Barrett’s attorney, George Parnham, told CNN that the court documents do not take into account his client’s mental health. Parnham refused to comment on whether his client participated in the attack. “mental health issues definitely played a part in anything that occurred,” he continued.

Barrett allegedly bragged about playing the knockout game, where participants attack an unsuspecting victim to knock them out while they are unaware of the attack. He then showed video of the November 24 attack to an off-duty investigator and his friend while in a restaurant.

Investigators retrieved other videos from Barrett’s phone that contain racial slurs and talk about working up the courage to play the knockout game. In one video he is heard saying, “the plan is to see if I were to hit a black person, would this be nationally televised?”

According to the investigator and prosecutors, Barrett approaches the victim and asks “How’s it going, man?” He then hit the man, knocking out three teeth and breaking his jaw in three places. Barrett then laughed and yelled “knockout,” before fleeing the scene.

This attack is the latest in a year full of “Knockout attacks” in which participants and victims have suffered major injuries and in one case – death.

Growing up in a single parent household can affect the health of African-American boys, the National Institutes of Health reveals.

Howard University studied 515 African-American males and their living arrangements. Researchers analyzed their blood pressure rates and the incidence of hypertension, extended high blood pressure.

In the study, African-American boys who grew up in a two-parent household had significantly lower blood pressure levels than those who grew up with one parent, regardless of mother or father. Participants who lived in a two-parent household for one to twelve years saw the most positive health outcomes. The study doesn’t mention the genders of the two-parent households.

“Being raised by a single parent really puts kids at a disadvantage in terms of resources that would be available to them,” said Charles Rotimi, Ph.D., co-author of the study. “Our study is not an indictment of single-parent homes. Single parents, however, may struggle more to keep things together, and this may be impacting children in ways that later manifest as adult onset diseases.”

Single parents may struggle with making sure their kids get proper nutrition through optimal diet options. Many single parents may depend on unhealthy food choices like fast food more often than a two-parent household. Diet and obesity are factors that contribute to hypertension.

Hypertension is one of many life-threatening conditions, including heart disease, stroke, and heart attack that impact the African-American community. According to the National Institutes of Health, 39 percent of men and 43 percent of women of African-Americans are affected. More research will be conducted to determine other socioeconomic factors that could contribute to the higher rate.

(Photo credit: Shutterstock)

An Ohio teacher has been suspended without pay and faces possible dismissal after his racist comments to a student.

Gil Voigt, a white science teacher at Fairfield Freshman School, has been accused of telling an African American male student, “We do not need another black president,” after the student expressed that he would like to be president.

The Cincinnati Enquirer reports that the incident occurred on Dec. 3 with other students present, according to papers filed by Assistant Superintendent Roger Martin, who conducted a disciplinary hearing on the matter.

This isn’t Voigt’s first infraction. He received a verbal warning for making an in appropriate racial comment in 2008 and in addition to a verbal warning for improper use of school technology in that same year.

It sounds like this teacher needs to go. If you received a warning for racially insensitive comments before and it’s happening again, you clearly haven’t learned your lesson. What’s sad is that there are probably more incidences of comments like these from him that just haven’t been reported. Comments like that are not isolated occurrences, but indicators of a larger pattern of thinking.

Gerardo Gamboa, a Las Vegas cab driver found and returned a brown bag containing $300,000 to its owner after it was left in his cab.

“I don’t care from $10 to higher. My dignity is not for sale, and that’s the way I am. That’s the way our parents taught us when I was a kid,” Gamboa told CNN affiliate KVVU. “All I wanted to do was just call my dispatcher and return it, and this is the only chance I have to show cab drivers in Las Vegas are not bad people.”

The obviously disappointed loser, was forever grateful and thanked Gamboa after receiving his winnings. The 28 year old poker player’s name has not been released.

The gambler was so devastated at his loss Monday that “he wanted to shoot himself in the head,” a cab company official revealed to KLAS.

“He was grateful. He was very understanding; he wasn’t irritated. To a point he was irritated, but he wasn’t mad or aggressive or anything. Maybe a little more embarrassed than anything. I mean, he left $300,000 in a cab, but he was an awesome guy,” Yellow Checker Star field operations manager Joel Willden told KVVU.

Yellow Check Star awarded Gamboa with a steak dinner for 2, driver of the year honor and a $1,000 reward.

Is it a Christmas miracle? Kanye West vows to “keep his big mouth shut” and here’s the good part — “for six moths at least”!

Embedded in a rant that lasted almost a half hour, Kanye shared that he is trying to view life more positively. So in that vein, he has decided to curb his lengthy diatribes. According to Radar Online, the rapper said during his “Yeezus Tour” stop in Toronto on Dec. 23rd:

“Everything I”m saying that’s not allowed, soak it in right now … This might be the last time y’all hear me talk sh*t for a long time. Might be another like six months. At least. You’re just gonna have to run back the interviews and sh*t if you wanna hear some realness!”

“I’m gonna tell y’all right now, that all of the ideas, what they call the rants the streams of consciousness that I express, I told y’all, save those tapes and everything because I’ve decided to completely focus everything in 2014, on new ideas and on creative outlets. I’m not [going to] ever bring up Nike again, and the only way I’ll bring them up is in a positive light … I’ll never bring up the Grammys again in a negative light, because I actually appreciate the 21 Grammys that I did win.”

“Because I’m not [trying] to be a dude that has all the opportunities in the world and only focuses on the negative, or complains about it, or just gets in some type of zone that just having to turn up all the time and sh*t. So I’m letting you all now that this is the last Yeezus show, and this is the last time you’ll ever hear me say negative about anyone …”

You know when you hear someone make a resolution that, although you’d really like to see them succeed, you’d be willing to stake your life savings that they won’t? Kanye West suffers from the most acute form of diarrhea of the mouth that I have ever encountered in my life. The likelihood of him not saying anything negative about anyone for six months  is one to infinity. However, I wish him luck on his quest.

There’s a new way to help you reach your New Year’s diet resolution: the HAPIfork. It’s is a fork that will light up and vibrate if you attempt to take more than one bite every 10 seconds. Now that’s portion control.

The idea is that if you’re more conscious of how quickly you eat, you will slow down and be less likely to overeat. Hapilabs, the makers of the $100 HAPIfork, say that the device will make well-proportioned meals last twenty minutes.

Wall Street Journal’s Joanna Stern said in her review of the HAPIfork:

During setup, the fork asked me to identify my eating style. Was I a “picker” or a “scooper”? The fork is supposed to use this to recognize movements, but I still had to move the fork to my mouth in very specific way for it to recognize each bite. When I used the tines to stab chicken and broccoli, it registered all my bites, but almost none of my scoops of rice were counted.

While eating I kept one eye on the app’s countdown on my phone. “Great timing!” it blinked when I separated bites by more than 10 seconds.

Hmm…so scoops are the key to circumventing the wrath of the HAPIfork? Sounds like they may have a problem there. A blinking and vibrating fork sounds like a cruel and unusual way to enforce a diet anyway.

Residents of a settlement in Cape Town, South Africa took justice into their own hands when they beat a man to death for allegedly raping a fifteen-year old girl.

The 32-year old suspect was dragged from a bar in Cape Town and beaten with sticks before being stoned to death. The sexual assault had occurred earlier in that same day.

One of the local residents said the people killed him because this was not his first offense.  He told SABCNews.com, ”During the day he raped the girl, he robbed people of their phones. He was always carrying a knife with him. We don’t regret his killing because if we do not react to these incidents, no one would.” 

The girl reportedly needed to be taken away from the area because she has received death threats from the man’s friends and family.

Rapper Eve is the latest celebrity to rock an engagement ring, as her boyfriend of three years, British fashion designer Maximillion Cooper popped the question in December. Cooper, 41, who has four children from a previous marriage, is also the founder of the Gumball 3000 lifestyle brand, which began as an underground car rally, where he and the rap-tress met. A source close to Cooper confirms the engagement to Us Weekly, reporting Cooper proposed in Edinburgh, Scotland on Christmas Day.

This past June the rapper spoke candidly about their relationship with late night talk show host Chelsea Handler.

“I’ve never been the type of person to discriminate,” she revealed. “But I  honestly have to say I never thought I’d be with a white guy ever. But it just  happened. It’s amazing. I’m the first black girl he’s ever been with too.”

The couple has been living in London while the Grammy winner works on new music.

Eve took to her Twitter page to thank her fans as the news leaked.

Thanku 2 everybody 4 your congratulations on our engagement!

No one can say that Geneva S. Thomas hasn’t put in work. The 30-year old style and pop culture journalist and brand strategist has been toiling behind the scenes for years. Armed with a master’s degree in fashion history from NYU’s Gallatin Graduate School, the Detroit native has a list of accomplishments a mile long, including founding Style & Pop Culture Editor at Ebony and Content Manager at Clutch Magazine. Her latest venture is 1530 Agency, a digital agency for beauty, lifestyle and marketing brands that cater to women of color. “My mantra is always ‘Work first, brand later.’ I really just wanted to work and make sure to have that experience and have those connections and now I’m in a space where I’m beginning to define my brand.”

Now, as the youngest cast member of Bravo’s upcoming reality show Blood, Sweat And Heels (premiering January 5^th), Thomas has a great platform to do just that. The series, which also stars Demetria Lucas, Brie Bythewood, Daisy Lewellyn, Melyssa Ford and Mica Hughes, is about up and coming movers and shakers in New York City. Hard work does pay off and Thomas is poised to take center stage and emerge as a media maven.

What is Blood, Sweat And Heels about, in your own words?

The show is about six African-American women who are living and working in New York City. We’re all up and coming. It shows our grind in various industries—from fashion to media and real estate—and it really shows our balancing act. You know, how we balance career with love and life…and we’re all growing our brands and trying to get to the next level.

How did you become a part of the show?

It kind of fell into my lap. I was approached by production…It was definitely a surprise because there are so many girls in the city who are really doing their thing, and for the network and for Leftfield Pictures to believe in me was really—I’m very humbled.

Did you always know you wanted to work in fashion?

I did. I started off as an academic, so I come from an academic background. I was in a PhD program; I really wanted to study fashion on a scholarly level. I just became really interested in fashion history and pop culture. I’ve always really wanted to be a writer or a magazine editor though, so I really just wanted to have that academic background to power my work as a writer.

What did you pursue your PhD in?

I didn’t finish my PhD. I just finished with my master’s because I didn’t want to be a professor. So I just said, “You know what, I’m going to stop at my master’s and just go ahead and launch my career as a writer.” So that’s what I did after NYU—I just went into fashion.

You launched 1530 Agency this year. Tell me what your goals are for the company.

1530 Agency itself is inspired by U.S. Census projections for 2060 that say 15% of women in America will be black and 30% will be Latina. So really, when you look at those numbers and you combine them—there’s power in numbers and we can’t really identify ourselves as a “minority” anymore. Black and brown women are really a huge part of the marketplace! When it comes to spending power and having a voice in the digital space we are the ultimate content creators and really, it’s time for brands to take notice.

And so, what I like to do is to elevate brands in the digital space around really unique and innovative content creation, strategic partnerships, influencer engagement…those are some of our strongest disciplines at 1530 Agency. And it’s a really unique agency in that we are a digital agency by women and for women. There really aren’t a lot of those here in New York City and around the world. Launching this agency is really a big step for me in my career and I’m excited.

What would you say is your biggest accomplishment to date?

Oh my gosh! Um, I would consider my biggest accomplishment to be staying here in New York and keeping at it. New York is a beast. You can’t be a big fish in the pond here. You have to swim with the sharks. In New York, it’s easy to get down and out and to give up. I don’t have any family here or on the east coast at all. So, you know, I’ve really had to develop my own support system with my friends and my mentors.

What is your measure of success?

I think that when you can just wake up in the morning and be excited about what’s to come. That to me is success. I’ve definitely had different jobs and titles where it was really glamorous, but I wasn’t happy. I’m in a space now where I’m really defining my brand. I’m working with brands that empower and inspire me, and I wake up in the morning and I’m excited about that!

So then you’re kind of there right now!

I definitely don’t feel like I have arrived. I just turned thirty and I still have a lot to learn a lot of room for growth. Knowing that and being humbled around that is exciting.

Photo credits: G. Thomas; Alex Martinez/Bravo

Different year, same ole shade! This week in celebrity quotes, Dwyane Wade speaks about his newborn son from a random jump off, Karrine “Superhead” Steffans is not here for your “sad slavery issues,” and Melissa Harris-Perry apologizes to Mitt Romney for jokes about his adopted Black grandson! Plus, NeNe Leakes makes another cast member cry. And Amber Rose said what?! AND I QUOTE …

“I had a time, a part in our break, in our pain and our hurt, a blessing came out of it in my life, having a son that was born healthy. So I’m moving on.”

Dwyane Wade addressing the press concerning his newborn son, who was conceived during a brief separation from fiancée Gabrielle Union, in an interview with the Sun Sentinel.

Source

“People are walking over tables and slapping people. I’m thinking that would never happen to me because there wouldn’t be no more show. It would be over after that. I couldn’t understand that fighting and the cussing.” 

LisaRaye McCoy revealing what would happen if she starred in a certain reality show, in the January 2014 issue of Sister 2 Sister.

Source

“I wish my husband was home….I wld sit on his face rt now He knows how I get when I’m drunk. Talk s**t if you wanna. Im married Ur not. Bye”

Amber Rose sending out sexually explicit messages to her husband Wiz Khalifa and managing to throw some shade towards her unmarried haters, via Twitter.

“The Mexicans keep their lights on 365 days a year!”

Mike Epps wants everyone, especially Mexicans, to take their Christmas lights down after New Year’s Day, via TMZ.

Source

“Everyone with brown skin is not the same and we don’t all have the same history and every African was NOT a slave. Chile.”

Karrine “Superhead” Steffans reminds everyone that she is not African-American and cannot relate to our slave history, via Twitter.

“My goal is that in 2014, the biggest thing of the year will be the wedding between Kieran Romney and North West. Can you imagine Mitt Romney and Kanye West as in-laws?”

Melissa Harris-Perry poking fun at former GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney’s adopted black grandson and how he may someday marry North West, during a round-up on her self-titled MSNBC show. 

Continue reading on UPTOWN

 “I wasn’t judging because I am not perfect, but I do my very best when it comes to my boys. When I judge you, you will know it! Now catch that shade!”

NeNe Leakes defending herself for making friend and “Housewives” co-star Cynthia Bailey cry, as a result of an argument concerning teenage dating, on the reality star’s personal site via Sister 2 Sister.

Source

Smartphone maker Blackberry ends its partnership with Alicia Keys as they move to rebound from a $4.4 billion loss in 2013 by focusing less on consumer products and more on business and government clients.

Alicia Keys was named as a creative director in January 2013 at a big launch for Blackberry 10. In a statement released Thursday, they announced their year long collaboration will end January 31. The company did not say why she was not being asked to return.

Keys was the latest of high profile acts chosen for high level positions, including Lady Gaga for Polaroid and Justin Timberlake for Bud Light. While at Blackberry, she attempted to gain the struggling company new fans. Her Set The World On Fire world tour encouraged fans to submit their pictures for the Keep Moving Project to be used in a music video. Keys oversaw a scholarship program for young women studying science and technology. Also, Blackberry reintroduced BBM to Android and iPhone users. However, little else was seen creatively from the partnership between Keys and Blackberry.

John S. Chen, BlackBerry’s interim chief executive, has not announced whether they will fill the position, instead saying their focus will be on business and government users.

When Naomie Harris co-starred in the James Bond film Skyfall in 2012, she kicked butt as a Bond girl and was the first Black actress to play Miss Moneypenny.  Now, she’s starring in another big screen project and is sure to garner even more attention and credit as Winnie Mandela, opposite Idris Elba in the film Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom. Just this week, the British beauty was awarded with a Best Supporting Actress prize during the 18th Capri-Hollywood Film Festival in Capri, Italy for her role in the film. Naomie is also worthy of accolades for her sense of style. Whenever spotted on the red carpet, she brings understated glamour. If you’re seeking dresses that go from day to night, this week’s “Star Style” celebrity, Naomie Harris, will give you inspiration.

Chantilly lace details on a dress or gown will always give a timeless and chic appearance.

The perfect night-out dress doesn’t have to be a little black dress. Instead, consider something flowing that also has a subtly sexy edge.

Peplum shapes on gowns and dresses are perfect for many figures. The design element adds curves to a lean figure, while accenting those that are already curvy.

Thin women who want to give the illusion of curves should opt for horizontal stripes.

For those who want to rock out, wearing metallic accents may be right up your alley. Simply add a sizzling strappy heel and fun yet simple jewelry pieces.

Invest in a winter white dress because in case you haven’t heard, ladies, this is the new chic.

Vamp up your little black dress collection by adding one in a funky print or with a sassy hemline.

Belts are always en vogue — no matter the shape, color, or style — because add instant attitude to favorite garments.

Newsflash: If you don’t yet own a showstopping dress, then, by all means, get one! But, make sure it’s tastefully sexy with unique design details.

Whether tribal, floral, animal or geometric — invest in a dress with a classic print.

A timeless black and white skirt and top combination is the perfect ticket for any brunch, lunch, or work-related affair.

What could be better for the night other than a sexy, strappy dress? Just make sure the straps don’t highlight your least favorite body parts. The straps should highlight your best features, like Naomie.