Rafael Nadal, New World Number One Male Tennis Player

Rafael Nadal Parera (born June 3, 1986 in Manacor, Majorca) is a Spanish professional tennis player who has been ranked World No. 1 since 18 August 2008.

Nadal has won five Grand Slam singles titles and the 2008 Olympic gold medal. He captured four consecutive French Open from 2005 through 2008 and Wimbledon in 2008. He is the only man other than Bjorn Borg to have won four consecutive French Open titles, one of only three men in the open era who won both the French Open and Wimbledon in the same calendar year, only the second male Spaniard to have won Wimbledon, and the only top-five ranked man to have won an Olympic gold medal in singles.

For much of his career, Nadal has had a rivalry with Roger Federer. He was ranked World No. 2 behind Federer for a record 160 weeks before earning the top spot. Nadal has won 12 of their 18 singles matches, including four of their six Grand Slam finals.

Nadal has been especially successful on clay courts. He has a 22–1 record in clay court tournament finals and is undefeated in over 40 best-of-five-set matches on clay. In each of the last four years, he has won both the French Open and two clay court Master series tournaments. He also owns the longest single-surface winning streak in the open era, having won 81 consecutive matches on clay from April 2005 to May 2007. As a result, some tennis critics and top players already regard him as the greatest clay-court player ever.

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org

The World's Richest Dropouts

Michael Dell enrolled as a biology major at University of Texas but spent more time fiddling with stacks of computer parts in his dorm room than hitting up the library. Instead of studying, he started selling new computers through advertisements in local papers.

It was a lucrative distraction. By the end of his freshman year, Dell was selling about $80,000 a month in computers. With the money rolling in, Dell decided not to return to school.

He dropped out of college at 19 to run the company that would become Dell Inc.

Dell explained his attitude to University of Texas grads at a 2003 commencement address: "Circle the pitfalls and highlight the opportunities. Then build a vision of how it could all be better and work like hell to make it happen."

Sheldon Adelson is another billionaire lacking a degree but possessing plenty of hustle. Adelson enrolled at City College of New York but didn't finish, probably because he was too busy with other ventures.

When he was 12, Adelson borrowed $200 from his uncle to start selling newspapers. He dropped out of college to become a court reporter. He also worked as an ad salesman, a consultant, and a tour-business operator.

That relentless drive led him to his first big windfall. He organized the computer industry trade show Comdex and made handsome profits leasing out exhibition space. He's since jumped into casinos, where he's been adding to his fortune ever since. In Forbes' most recent list of the world's billionaires, he ranked 12th with a net worth of $26 billion.

Bill Gates left Harvard during his junior year to work on a little company he'd started called Microsoft.

He recently testified before Congress on the importance of improving the U.S. education system.

"Too many of our students fail to graduate from high school with the basic skills they will need to succeed in the 21st-century economy, much less prepared for the rigors of college and career," said Gates.

School has other benefits too, like who you meet. In 2000, billionaire Steve Ballmer took over the role of chief executive of Microsoft from Gates. The two lived down the hall from each other while they were both students at Harvard.

Source: www.forbes.com

The Official Mascots of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games

Like the Five Olympic Rings from which they draw their color and inspiration, Fuwa will serve as the Official Mascots of Beijing 2008 Olympic Games, carrying a message of friendship and peace -- and good wishes from China -- to children all over the world.

Designed to express the playful qualities of five little children who form an intimate circle of friends, Fuwa also embody the natural characteristics of four of China's most popular animals -- the Fish, the Panda, the Tibetan Antelope, the Swallow -- and the Olympic Flame.

Each of Fuwa has a rhyming two-syllable name -- a traditional way of expressing affection for children in China. Beibei is the Fish, Jingjing is the Panda, Huanhuan is the Olympic Flame, Yingying is the Tibetan Antelope and Nini is the Swallow.

When you put their names together -- Bei Jing Huan Ying Ni -- they say "Welcome to Beijing," offering a warm invitation that reflects the mission of Fuwa as young ambassadors for the Olympic Games.

Fuwa also embody both the landscape and the dreams and aspirations of people from every part of the vast country of China. In their origins and their headpieces, you can see the five elements of nature -- the sea, forest, fire, earth and sky -- all stylistically rendered in ways that represent the deep traditional influences of Chinese folk art and ornamentation.

Source: http://en.beijing2008.cn

Philippine All-Stars 2008 World Hip Hop Champions

The Philippine All-Stars performance at the 2008 Hip-Hop competition that took place in Las Vegas. Enjoy! =)