A celebrity is a widely-recognized or notable person who commands a high degree of public and media attention. The word stems from the Latin verb "celebrare" but they may not become a celebrity unless public and mass media interest is piqued.
There are degrees of celebrity status which vary based on an individual's region or field of notoriety. While someone might be a celebrity to some people, to others they may be completely unknown.
A global celebrity on the other hand is someone who is known by most people or is a mainstream celebrity. Such celebrities are also known as either a household name or superstar. For example, Virgin Director Richard Branson was notable as a CEO, but he did not become a global celebrity until he attempted to circumnavigate the globe in a hot air balloon and generate publicity for himself. Another high profile categorisation of celebrity status is the A-list, based on the marketability of celebrities.
Generally speaking, a celebrity is someone who seeks media attention and most frequently have extroverted personalities. The desire to be notable is implied by some to be a part of western culture and more specifically the American Dream as a measure of success. Celebrities that shy away from the public eye or keep a very separate private life are called a reluctant celebrity. A notable example is Kurt Cobain. On the other end of the spectrum, those that seek out publicity for themselves are often called a media tart whereas those that use their private life as a vehicle for enhanced celebrity status, sometimes desperately, are referred to as a media whore. Examples of this are fake or planned relationships, reality television appearances, celebrity nudity and in extreme cases, scandal or celebrity sex tape
Some professional activities, by the nature of being high-paid, highly exposed, and difficult to get into, are likely to confer celebrity status. For example, movie stars and television actors with lead roles on prominently scheduled shows are likely to become celebrities. High-ranking politicians, national television reporters, daytime television show hosts, supermodels[2], successful athletes and chart-topping musicians are also likely to become celebrities. A few humanitarian leaders such as Mother Teresa have even achieved fame because of their charitable work. Some people have achieved fame online and thus are Internet celebrities.
While some film and theatre directors, producers, fashion designers, artists, authors, trial lawyers, journalists and Dancers have achieved celebrity status, in general they are less notable than actors of equal professional importance to the business.
Individuals with their own television show (or sections of television shows) often become a celebrity, even when their profession would not normally lead to celebrity status: this can include doctors, chefs, gardeners, and conservationists on shows like Trading Spaces and The Crocodile Hunter. However, fame based on one program may often prove short-lived after a programme is discontinued. In areas of the world where the relevant programme is not being broadcast, a such person is very likely not to be known. In order to reserve themselves the possibility to have a private life, some local celebrities prefer to live in a part of the world where they are rather unknown; thus, an entertainer who is well known in the German-speaking world could chose to live his private life in the U.S. and fly into Germany to perform his shows (as Thomas Gottschalk actually does), and on the other hand, a U.S. celebrity could decide to privately live in Europe.
Another example of celebrity is a family that has notable ancestors or is known nationally (or internationally) for their wealth and/or influence. An example would be the Hilton family.
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A blog (a contraction of the term "Web log") is a Web site, usually maintained by an individual with regular entries of commentary, descriptions of events, or other material such as graphics or video. Entries are commonly displayed in reverse-chronological order. "Blog" can also be used as a verb, meaning to maintain or add content to a blog.
Many blogs provide commentary or news on a particular subject; others function as more personal online diaries. A typical blog combines text, images, and links to other blogs, Web pages, and other media related to its topic. The ability for readers to leave comments in an interactive format is an important part of many blogs. Most blogs are primarily textual, although some focus on art (artlog), photographs (photoblog), sketches (sketchblog), videos (vlog), music (MP3 blog), audio (podcasting), which are part of a wider network of social media. Micro-blogging is another type of blogging, one which consists of blogs with very short posts. As of December 2007, blog search engine Technorati was tracking more than 112 million blogs.[1] With the advent of video blogging, the word blog has taken on an even looser meaning — that of any bit of media wherein the subject expresses his opinion or simply talks about something.
These products created by Google are extensions to software created by other organizations.
These products can be accessed through a browser on a mobile device or a standard desktop web browser such as Firefox.
These products must be downloaded and run from a mobile device.
These products must be accessed via a Web browser.
(For Google Earth, see "Standalone applications")
Applications that have been discontinued by Google, either because of integration with other Google products, or through lack of support.
Let me introduce myself. My name is Valentine. I lived in Rome during the third century. That was long, long ago! At that time, Rome was ruled by an emperor named Claudius. I didn't like Emperor Claudius, and I wasn't the only one! A lot of people shared my feelings.
Claudius wanted to have a big army. He expected men to volunteer to join. Many men just did not want to fight in wars. They did not want to leave their wives and families. As you might have guessed, not many men signed up. This made Claudius furious. So what happened? He had a crazy idea. He thought that if men were not married, they would not mind joining the army. So Claudius decided not to allow any more marriages. Young people thought his new law was cruel. I thought it was preposterous! I certainly wasn't going to support that law!
Did I mention that I was a priest? One of my favorite activities was to marry couples. Even after Emperor Claudius passed his law, I kept on performing marriage ceremonies -- secretly, of course. It was really quite exciting. Imagine a small candlelit room with only the bride and groom and myself. We would whisper the words of the ceremony, listening all the while for the steps of soldiers.
One night, we did hear footsteps. It was scary! Thank goodness the couple I was marrying escaped in time. I was caught. (Not quite as light on my feet as I used to be, I guess.) I was thrown in jail and told that my punishment was death.
I tried to stay cheerful. And do you know what? Wonderful things happened. Many young people came to the jail to visit me. They threw flowers and notes up to my window. They wanted me to know that they, too, believed in love.
One of these young people was the daughter of the prison guard. Her father allowed her to visit me in the cell. Sometimes we would sit and talk for hours. She helped me to keep my spirits up. She agreed that I did the right thing by ignoring the Emperor and going ahead with the secret marriages. On the day I was to die, I left my friend a little note thanking her for her friendship and loyalty. I signed it, "Love from your Valentine."
I believe that note started the custom of exchanging love messages on Valentine's Day. It was written on the day I died, February 14, 269 A.D. Now, every year on this day, people remember. But most importantly, they think about love and friendship. And when they think of Emperor Claudius, they remember how he tried to stand in the way of love, and they laugh -- because they know that love can't be beaten!
