Top 10: Romance Writer, (Past - Present)

Well, the first batch of reader favorites is in, and it demonstrates one thing clearly: that our readers are as determined to get as many books on their top ten lists as they can manage.

The top ten best romance authors, past and present.

1. Jane Austen
Jane Austen (16 December 1775 – 18 July 1817) was an English novelist whose works of romantic fiction, set among the landed gentry, earned her a place as one of the most widely read writers in English literature, her realism and biting social commentary cementing her historical importance among scholars and critics.

2. Charlotte Bronte
Charlotte Brontë (pronounced /ˈbrɒnti/;[1][2] 21 April 1816 – 31 March 1855) was an English novelist and poet, the eldest of the three Brontë sisters, whose novels are English literature standards. She wrote Jane Eyre under the pen name Currer Bell.

3. Madeline Hunter
Madeline Hunter's first book By Arrangement was published in 2000 and she received the award for Waldenbooks Bestselling Debut Author that year.
In 2000 she also received a rare starred review from Publisher's Weekly for her book By Possession. This happened again in 2003 with The Charmer.
She has been nominated four times and has twice won the Romance Writers of America's prestigious RITA award, first in the long historical category for Stealing Heaven in 2003 and then in the historical category for Lessons of Desire in 2008. Fifteen of her books have appeared on the USA Today bestseller list. She has also appeared on the New York Times Bestseller List and the Waldenbooks Paperback Fiction Bestseller List. Romantic Times has awarded four and a half star reviews to fifteen of her books.
Madeline Hunter is a Ph.D. in Art History, and she teaches at the college level. She currently lives in Pennsylvania with her husband and two sons.

4. Kathleen Woodiwiss
Kathleen E. Woodiwiss, née Kathleen Erin Hogg (June 3, 1939 – July 6, 2007), was a U.S. writer, pioneered the historical romance genre with the 1972 publication of her novel The Flame and the Flower.

5. Julie Garwood
Julie Garwood (born in 1946 in Kansas City, Missouri) is an American writer of over twenty-five romance novels in both the historical and suspense subgenres. Over thirty million copies of her books are in print, and she has had at least 15 New York Times Bestsellers. She has also begun writing a novel for young adults under the pseudonym of Emily Chase.
Garwood's novel For the Roses was adapted for the television feature Rose Hill.

6. Terri Brisbin

7. Jude Devereux
Jude Deveraux (born September 20, 1947 in Fairdale, Kentucky as Jude Gilliam) is an American Romance novel author who is well-known for her historical romances. As of 2010, 36 of her novels had been on The New York Times Best Seller list according to Forbes, including among the dozens such titles as 2009's Lavender Morning and Days of Gold. Deveraux, who was described as "a popular romance author" by the New York Times in 2009, appeared as herself in the 1987 romance novelist documentary Where the Heart Roams. In 2009, she was one of four authors who produced works for the debut of Vook, a company which produces "video books" by combining text, video and internet links into a single experience.
Known for her historical romances with storylines centered on strong, capable heroines, Deveraux has written stories set in later time periods, including post-Revolutionary America, nineteenth century Colorado, and nineteenth century New Mexico. She has written several time-travel romances, and her latest novels have had a contemporary setting. Many of her more recent books feature paranormal storylines.
Many of her books follow the Montgomery and Taggert families and contain recurring characters.

8. Linda Castillo

9. Eloisa James
Mary Bly (born 1962) is a tenured associate professor of English Literature at Fordham University who also writes best-selling Regency romance novels under the pen name Eloisa James.
She is the daughter of poet Robert Bly and short-story author Carol Bly.

10. Nora Roberts
Nora Roberts (born Eleanor Marie Robertson, October 10, 1950 in Silver Spring, Maryland, USA), is a bestselling American author of more than 209 romance novels.[1] She writes as J.D. Robb for the "In Death" series, and has also written under the pseudonym Jill March. Additionally, some of her works were published in the UK as Sarah Hardesty.
Nora Roberts was the first author to be inducted into the Romance Writers of America Hall of Fame. As of 2006, her novels had spent a combined 660 weeks on the New York Times Bestseller List, including 100 weeks in the number-one spot. Over 280 million copies of her books are in print, including 12 million copies sold in 2005 alone.

I’ve read a lot of their books. How many have you read?

• Reference/Source: toptentopten.comby rusticoracle
• Reference/Source: wikipedia.org

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2010 Winter Olympics: Top 10 Medal Table

The top ten listed NOCs by number of gold medals are listed below. Canada is the host nation of 2010 Winter Olympics.

Rank	Nation	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	Canada (CAN)	14	7	5	26
2	Germany (GER)	10	13	7	30
3	United States (USA)	9	15	13	37
4	Norway (NOR)	9	8	6	23
5	South Korea (KOR)	6	6	2	14
6	Switzerland (SUI)	6	0	3	9
7	China (CHN)	5	2	4	11
7	Sweden (SWE)	5	2	4	11
9	Austria (AUT)	4	6	6	16
10	Netherlands (NED)	4	1	3	8

The 2010 Winter Olympics, officially the XXI Olympic Winter Games or the 21st Winter Olympics, were a major international multi-sport event held from February 12–28, 2010 in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, with some events held in the suburbs of Richmond, West Vancouver and the University Endowment Lands, and in the resort town of Whistler. Approximately 2,600 athletes from 82 nations participated in 86 events in fifteen disciplines. Both the Olympic and Paralympic Games were being organized by the Vancouver Organizing Committee (VANOC). The 2010 Winter Olympics were the third Olympics hosted by Canada and the first by the province of British Columbia. Previously, Canada hosted the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal, Quebec and the 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary, Alberta.
Following Olympic tradition, then-Vancouver mayor Sam Sullivan received the Olympic flag during the closing ceremony of the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy. The flag was raised on February 28, 2006 in a special ceremony and was on display at Vancouver City Hall until the Olympic opening ceremony. The event was officially opened by Governor General Michaëlle Jean.
For the first time, Canada won gold in an "official" sport at an Olympic Games hosted at home, having failed to do so at both the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal and the 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary (although Canada won a gold medal in the "demonstration-sport" of curling in Calgary).
Canada clinched first overall in gold medal wins on the second to last day of competition and became the first host nation since Norway in 1952 to lead the gold medal count. With 14, Canada broke the record for the most gold medals won at a single Winter Olympics, which was 13, set by the former Soviet Union in 1976 and Norway in 2002. The United States won the most medals in total, their second time doing so at the Winter Olympics, and broke the record for the most medals won at a single Winter Olympics, with 37, which was previously held by Germany in 2002 at 36 medals. Athletes from Slovakia and Belarus won the first Winter Olympic gold medals for their nations.

• Reference/Source: wikipedia.org

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The Beatles: Top 10 Hits

Sergeant Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, Revolver, Hard Day’s Night, Help!, Magical Mystery Tour, The White Album. The list of timeless and revolutionary albums seems almost unreal. How could one band haveso many hits?
I’d probably have trouble picking out the top 10 Beatles albums lent alone songs. So acknowledging that it’s enough of a task just to pick out the top ten hits, there’s no way I can go so far as to rank them.
With that in mind, here’s my list in no particular order. (And please don’t respond with angry emails informing me which Beatles gem I left off the list. I’m aware some hits are going to be left behind in the dust of my all too cursory list.)

1.Twist and Shout
Why it made the list: This pop rock anthem has enough snap, crackle and pop to make a mummy move. Well…that might be stretching it slightly, but it’s certainly catchy.

It’s one of those immediately recognizable songs that sneak into feel good films like Ferris Bueller’s Day Off (think the parade scene when Ferris takes over a float and Ferris’ unsuspecting dad dances in his high-rise office.)

It puts a smile on my face after the first familiar bar, and that alone is reason enough to put it on my list.

2.A Hard Day’s Night
Why it made the list: Come on. Any song that gets an entire movie named after it deserves to make the top list.
But I have to admit, my reasoning for adding it to the list is much stranger than just an appreciation for the Beatle’s ability to cross media mediums. I laugh every time I think of this song because of an old Saturday Night Live “Celebrity Jeopardy” skit. The category is “Words that rhyme with dog.” Alex Trebek (Will Ferrell) asks his celebrity guests to finish this sentence—It’s been a hard day’s night, I should be sleeping like a…this. Sean Connery (Daryl Hammond) quickly buzzes in. Trebek looks hopeful. “Yes, Sean Connery.” “Chinese whore!” Connery seems so sure of his answer, so proud. It’s hysterical, and single-handedly earns A Hard Days’s Night a coveted spot on my list.

3.Help!
Why it made the list: Again, if it engenders a film, it probably deserves to be on the list. At least the song version of Help! wasn’t as atrocious as the film version (don’t hate me hardcore Beatles fans…)

4.Drive My Car
Why it made the list: I’ve always loved this song. My dad used to blast it while we were on family road trips. (My siblings and I cultivated a love for the Beatles this way.) So for the sake of personal nostalgia, on the list it goes.

5.Yesterday
Why it made the list: This song is just plain haunting. There are certain songs that by virtue of their sappy nature and slow rhythm become staples for weddings, graduations, christenings…you name it.

And while Yesterday is admittedly present at many of these milestones, it’s always meaningful and perpetually heartfelt. It’s not sugarcoated, and it doesn’t feel the need to apologize for that. I respect that enough to add it to my list.

6.Eleanor Rigby
Why it made the list: Granted, the line, “Waits at the window, wearing the face that she keeps in a jar by the door” has always intrigued me and is just sufficiently strange enough to secure it on the list.

But the real reason is that I had to play this song in my high school orchestra. After learning a song and playing it for months, one gains a new appreciation for it.

7.I am the Walrus
Why it made the list: Some people say they don’t even listen to the lyrics of a song, and this never ceases to shock me. Lyrics can really make or break a song for me, and in the case of this song, it absolutely makes it (not that the music isn’t phenomenal as well).

This stanza was the clincher:
Yellow matter custard, dripping from a dead dog's eye.
Crabalocker fishwife, pornographic priestess,
Boy, you been a naughty girl you let your Knickers down.
I am the eggman, they are the eggmen, I am the walrus,
goo goo gajoob

Now I don’t pretend to know what that means, but I know I like it.

8.Strawberry Fields Forever
Why it made the list: Somehow this seems like such a definitive Beatles songs I just had to put it on the list. If I didn’t, it would be like having a Bob Dylan Best Of and not including The Times They Are A-Changin’. It just wouldn’t seem right.

9.Come Together
Why it made the list: The constant stops and starts of this song are what make it so classic. The rhythm of the song never lets you get comfortable, and consequently it feels innovative when you listen to it.
Not to mention the creative things they do with lyrics. I particularly like the paralleled lines “He got hair down to his knee” in the fist stanza and “He got feet down below his knee” in the third.

10.Tax Man
Why it made the list: There’s quite a bit of political angst loosely hidden behind its pop music veneer. Don’t tell me you don’t hear a smidgeon of anger in the chorus:

(if you drive a car, car;) - I’ll tax the street;
(if you try to sit, sit;) - I’ll tax your seat;
(if you get too cold, cold;) - I’ll tax the heat;
(if you take a walk, walk;) - I'll tax your feet.

Great music with a message? It had to make the list.

So that’s my top ten. And believe me—this is my list, and I still had to leave off some of my personal favorites. Let the angry emails commence…

• Reference/Source: associatedcontent.com by Liz Herrin, Yahoo! Contributor Network(Sept 20, 2006)

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Top Ten Female Authors of Vampire Books

This is the list of top women who writes about vampires:

Chelsea Quinn Yarbro was born in Berkeley, California. She attended Berkeley schools through high school followed by three years at San Francisco State College (now University). In November 1969 she married Donald Simpson and divorced in February 1982. She has no children.
Writing for over 35 years, Yarbro has worked in a wide variety of genres, from science fiction to westerns, from young adult adventure to historical horror. She is the author of over 70 novels and numerous short stories. She is probably best known for her series of historical horror novels about the vampire Count Saint-Germain. She also has published numerous volumes in a popular series of channeled wisdom from the entity Michael in the Messages from Michael series.
Yarbro's contribution to the horror genre has been recognised in a variety of ways: she was named a Grand Master at the World Horror Convention in 2003, and in 2005 the International Horror Guild named her a "Living Legend". She has also received the Knightly Order of the Brasov Citadel from the Transylvanian Society of Dracula. In 2009 the Horror Writers' Association presented Yarbro with the Bram Stoker Lifetime Achievement Award.[3] Additionally, two of her novels, The Palace (1979) and Ariosto (1980) were nominated for the World Fantasy Award, neither winning.
On average, Yarbro writes three to four books a year, and one or two short stories and/or essays. She writes six hours per day, six days per week except when traveling. Five days a week she spends three to four hours doing research.
Aside from writing, she has worked as a cartographer, has read tarot cards and palms, and has composed music, all of which she continues to do. Over the years she has studied seven different instruments, voice, and musical theory: composition, voice, and piano have continued to be active interests for her. The newsletter, Yclept Yarbro, about her and her writings has been published since 1995 by Lindig Hall Harris.

Freda Warrington is a British author, known for her epic fantasy, vampire and supernatural novels.
Her earliest novels, the Blackbird series, were written and published when she was just finishing her teen years; in the intervening years she has seen numerous stand-alone novels and a trilogy published. (The original Blackbird series has recently been put back into print by Immanion Press.) Four of her novels (Dark Cathedral, Pagan Moon, Dracula the Undead, and The Amber Citadel) have been nominated for the British Fantasy Society's Best Novel award. Dracula the Undead won the Dracula Society's 1997 Children of the Night Award.[1] Her novel, Elfland, won the Romantic Times Reviewers' Choice Award in the Fantasy Novel category for 2009.[2] Warrington has also seen numerous short stories published in anthologies and magazines.
Born in Leicester, Warrington grew up in Leicestershire. After completing high school, she trained at the Loughborough College of Art and Design and afterward held a job at the Medical Illustration Department of Leicester Royal Infirmary. She eventually moved to full-time writing, pursuing a love she had had since childhood. In addition to her writing, Warrington works part-time in the Charnwood Forest.

Tanya Sue Huff (born 1957) is a Canadian fantasy author. Her stories have been published since the late 1980s, including five fantasy series and one science-fiction series. One of these, her Blood Books series, featuring detective Vicki Nelson, was adapted for television under the title Blood Ties.

Anne Rice (born Howard Allen O'Brien; October 4, 1941) is a best-selling American author of gothic, erotic, and religious-themed books from New Orleans, Louisiana. She was married to poet and painter Stan Rice for 41 years until his death from cancer in 2002. Her books have sold nearly 100 million copies, making her one of the most widely read authors in modern history.

Poppy Z. Brite (born Melissa Ann Brite on May 25, 1967 in New Orleans, Louisiana) is an American author. Brite initially achieved notoriety in the gothic horror genre of literature in the early 1990s after publishing a string of successful novels. Brite's recent work has moved into the related genre of dark comedy, of which many are set in the New Orleans restaurant world. Brite's novels are typically standalone books but may feature recurring characters from previous novels and short stories. Much of Brite's work features openly bisexual and gay characters.

Nancy A. Collins (born 10 September 1959) is a United States horror fiction writer best known for her series of vampire novels featuring her character Sonja Blue. Collins has also written for comic books, including the Swamp Thing series, Jason Vs. Leatherface, Predator: Hell Come A Walkin and her own one-shot Dhampire: Stillborn.
Collins was born in McGehee, Arkansas, United States. She lived in New Orleans, Louisiana in the 1980s; after time in New York City and Atlanta, Georgia she settled in Wilmington, North Carolina in the late 2000s.

Patricia N. Elrod is an American novelist specializing in urban fantasy. She's written in the mystery, romance, paranormal, and historical genres with at least one foray into comedic fantasy. Elrod is also an editor, having worked on several collections for Ace Science Fiction, DAW, Benbella Books, and St. Martin's Griffin. She self-published a signed, limited edition novel under her own imprint, Vampwriter Books.
In 2010, she was nominated for the RT Book Reviews Career Achievement Award in Urban Fantasy.

Charlaine Harris (born November 25, 1951) is a New York Times bestselling author who has been writing mysteries for over twenty years. She was born and raised in the Mississippi River Delta area of the United States. She now lives in southern Arkansas with her husband and three children. Though her early works consisted largely of poems about ghosts and, later, teenage angst, she began writing plays when she attended Rhodes College in Memphis, Tennessee. She began to write books a few years later. Her later books have been in the urban fantasy genre.

Stephenie Meyer (born December 24, 1973), née Morgan, is an American author known for her vampire romance series Twilight. The Twilight novels have gained worldwide recognition and sold over 100 million copies globally, with translations into 37 different languages. Meyer is also the author of the adult science-fiction novel The Host.
Meyer was the biggest selling author of both 2008 and 2009, having sold over 29 million books in 2008 alone, with Twilight being the best-selling book of the year. She sold an additional 26.5 million books in 2009, making her the first author to achieve this feat in that year. Meyer was ranked #49 on Time magazine's list of the "100 Most Influential People in 2008", and was also included in the Forbes Celebrity 100 list of the world's most powerful celebrities in 2009, entering at #26. Her annual earnings exceeded $50 million. Also in 2010, Forbes ranked her as the #59 most powerful celebrity with annual earnings of $40 million.

Laurell Kaye Hamilton (born February 19, 1963) is an American fantasy and romance writer. She is the author of two series of stories. Hamilton is known for her New York Times-bestselling Anita Blake series, featuring a professional zombie raiser/supernatural consultant for the police as the protagonist in a world where vampires and werecreatures not only exist, but are citizens with recently protected, if nervously granted, civil rights in the US. The series has 19 novels, several short story collections, and other media tie-ins such as comic books. 6 million copies of Anita Blake novels are printed.[1] Also notable is her Merry Gentry series, an urban fantasy in which the world of fairy interacts with the "real world".

• Reference/Source: wikipedia
• Reference/Source: Vampires by Joules Taylor

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Top 10 "Our Oscar-Winning Guy Movies"

Forget about all those chick-flick movies you had to sit through with your girlfriend, and never mind those tearjerker films that had you pleading for the credits to start. These Oscar-winning movies are purely guy oriented. What makes a movie a guy flick? There are several key factors to look for, but sometimes you just know it when you see it. Whether it's the over-abundance of blood, sex, war, or mobsters, these masculine classics can be enjoyed over and over again.
To narrow down the list of Oscar-winning guy movies, we chose films that won an Oscar for Best Picture. Some of these movies have won other Oscars and other film awards as well. Whether you've seen them a hundred times or haven’t even heard of them (which raises the question: Why not?), here are our picks for the top 10 Oscar-winning guy movies.

No.10 The Godfather
The Godfather is one of the most epic, celebrated and quoted movies of modern times. Based on the novel by Mario Puzo, it was directed by Francis Ford Coppola, and starred Marlon Brando and Al Pacino. Don Vito Corleone epitomizes the famed Italian mobster from the 1970s. The Godfather is one of the most recognizable Oscar-winning guy movies of all time -- a true classic that never gets old.

The Godfather received Academy Awards for Best Picture, Best Actor and Best Writing.

No.9 Braveheart
Mel Gibson’s performance as William Wallace in Braveheart was electrifying, but makes even the hardcore gore fan squeamish. Nothing says “guy movie” like jousting matches with thousands of people on horses using sharp objects, without the convenience of modern medical attention. The blood and guts make this Oscar-winning guy movie one of the best in its genre.

Braveheart was written by Randall Wallace and was a blockbuster success at the box office. It won five Academy Awards, and was nominated for an additional five.

No.8 The Departed
The Departed is a crime thriller, directed by Martin Scorsese. Its famous cast includes Jack Nicholson, Leonardo DiCaprio, Matt Damon, and Mark Wahlberg. The movie takes place in Boston, where Irish mob bosses clash when personalities collide.

Most people don’t know the screenplay is a remake of the 2002 Hong Kong crime thriller Infernal Affairs. This Oscar-winning guy movie took home four Academy Awards including Best Motion Picture of the Year, and was Scorsese’s first Best Achievement in Directing.

No.7 Gladiator
Gladiator stars Russell Crowe, and is directed by Ridley Scott. Crowe portrays Maximus Decimus Meridius of the Roman Empire. He is captured and enslaved, but rises in rank at the gladiator arena to regain his Emperor. One sure test of a "guy movie" is the amount of violence and fighting scenes. Gladiator doesn't disappoint, and does violence and fighting in an epic fashion. Other notable movies directed by Ridley Scott include Black Hawk Down and American Gangster.

Gladiator won five Academy Awards including Best Picture.

No.6 Unforgiven
Unforgiven is a classic Western film, produced and directed by none other than Clint Eastwood. Other notable actors in the Unforgiven roster include Gene Hackman and Morgan Freeman. This Western stands apart from others due to its darker, noir type of influence.

What makes this an Oscar-winning guy movie is the harshness of the Old West, where anything goes and you can take justice into your own hands. We no longer live in this era, however, you can still live it through this movie.

Besides Best Picture, Unforgiven won three other Academy Awards.

No.5 Platoon
Platoon is a film about the Vietnam War. It was written and directed by Oliver Stone and stars Charlie Sheen and Johnny Depp, among others. The story of this Oscar-winning guy movie is told from Stone's experiences on the frontline in the Vietnam War. It happens to be the first of Stone's trilogy, followed by Born on the Fourth of July and Heaven & Earth.

Platoon is often mentioned as the greatest war film ever made, along with Full Metal Jacket. As a guy, this is a must-see if you haven’t already had the chance, and its four Academy Awards including Best Picture are testament to that.

No.4 French Connection
French Connection is a Hollywood crime film directed by William Friedkin. The story is loosely based on the actual French Connection trafficking scheme. The story line follows two New York City police officers trying to intercept a drug shipment on its way from France.

This Oscar-winning guy movie happens to be the first R-rated movie to win an Academy Award for Best Picture, and French Connection won five other awards as well. This fact alone gives it a place on the list, but the action scenes aren’t bad either.

No.3 The Bridge On The River Kwai
The Bridge on the River Kwai is a British 1957 World War II flick. It's by David Lean and based on the novel by French writer Pierre Boulle. This Oscar-winning guy movie is fiction, but it uses the construction of the Burma Railway in 1942 as the historical setting.

American Navy Commander Shears, played by William Holden, is a true American hero. His character resembles Humphrey Bogart, James Dean and Steve McQueen all rolled up into one. The Bridge on the River Kwai garnered seven Academy Award wins in total.

No.2 Rocky
Rocky is a boxing film written by and starring Sylvester Stallone. The film is set on the streets of Philadelphia, and it tells the story of Rocky Balboa, a poor debt collector trying to live the American dream.

The appeal to guys is that Rocky is a true underdog story. Often times, people are dealt a bad hand in life, but then later overcome obstacles to achieve greatness. Rocky reminds us of another movie called Rudy, where football is substituted for boxing -- but it's all heart nonetheless.

Rocky won three Oscars including Best Picture.

No.1 Patton
Patton is a biographical war film about United States General George Patton, and takes place during World War II. It was directed by Franklin J. Schaffner from a script written by Francis Ford Coppola and Edmund North. Coppola and North based their screenplay on war biographies by Ladislas Farago and Omar Bradley.

The music alone in this Oscar-winning guy movie, done by Jerry Goldsmith, exemplifies what a guy flick is all about. Patton won seven Academy Awards, including Best Picture.

• Reference/Source: askmen.com by Ryan Ortega

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Top Ten Business Predictions for 2011

Michael Friedenberg, president and CEO of IDG Enterprise, offers up what he thinks will be the top ten trends in the IT community in 2011.
CIO — It’s the time of year for bold and brazen predictions, so I’m jumping on the bandwagon with my forecast of the Top 10 trends, priorities and events of 2011:

10. Social media will keep dominating the business conversation, following the same evolution e-commerce did as it became e-business. Soon we’ll just call it “social business.”

9. The CIO-CMO relationship will change for the better, growing closer and more collaborative. Instead of confrontational relationships, CIOs and CMOs will find common ground around customer engagement.

8. Cloud will move from an overhyped theory to an adopted practice in mainstream business. Private, public or hybrid clouds, when applied to the right business need, will be game-changing in some industries.

7. Mobile moves aggressively into the data and applications arena as enterprises leverage these devices to empower the workforce, speed decision making and grow top-line revenue.

6. Real-time analytics will define and drive the real-time organization. As analytics is layered onto the megatrends of cloud, mobile and social, its capacity to create real-time businesses becomes closer than it appears.

5. Security breaches will hit an all-time high as data keeps getting pushed beyond the enterprise walls.

4. A battle will break out between IT and the lines of business over who really owns the user interface. Who will own that “last mile” to the customer?

3. CIOs will continue evolving beyond an operational focus, spending more time transforming business processes and setting strategy.

2. Vendor consolidations will cause major support issues at your organizations and IT vendors will need to reinforce and extend their commitments to you.

1. CIO turnover will increase if businesses can’t scale. More of your energies will be spent reducing cycle times and helping your organizations increase revenue instead of cutting costs.
So, what did I miss? What are you seeing that I’m not? I welcome your thoughts, as always, and thank you for being a loyal reader of CIO.
Onward to 2011!

• Reference/Source: cio.com By Michael Friedenberg (Orig. Fri, November 19, 2010)

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10 of the Top 2011 Trends "We Wouldn't Be Caught Dead In"

It's been a fairly low-key year for the fashion industry. Tail hems, pastels and ballet-inspired outfits are big, and more off-beat models with gap-teeth and tattoos are in demand.
No big news so far.
But just because there haven't been any surprises and scandals yet doesn't mean that there isn't a wave of potential trends coming at you. If the fashion police are real, we've got 10 crimes to report.
Coming up are 10 of this year's fashion trends that we wouldn't be caught dead in. From bunny ears to fabrics only surfers should wear, make sure none of these items end up in your closet.

10: Loungerie
Lingerie is hard enough to swing in the bedroom, but when designers start using lingerie-inspired outfits as casualwear, things get impossible. The only people who can get away with wearing underwear on the outside are superheroes and toddlers.

Don't get us wrong, though. We love the lacy mood that the spring and summer shows have been bringing to the table. Lace has a flirty refinement that isn't overly girly, which has been sorely lacking in a year otherwise populated by over-the-top biker outfits and childish rompers. We'd just rather keep the lace for daywear and save lingerie for the bedroom.

9: Jumpsuits and Rompers
We don't see the appeal of one-piece outfits.
Playsuits, jumpsuits and rompers are one-piece ensembles that the fashion world has killed and resurrected more times than Jason Voorhees has come back to life. And guess what's back for 2011?

While jumpsuits supposedly flatter certain body types, we have yet to see anyone pull them off. As far as we're concerned, they combine all the excitement of a pair of overalls with all the practicality of a hazmat suit. Why wouldn't we want to wear a one-piece sack that we have to take off to go to the bathroom? Oh wait, we remember. All those reasons we just said.

8: Neoprene
Anyone who's ever worn a wetsuit knows how flatteringly neoprene shapes you. It's tight and strong, it evens out bulges, and it's at least half the reason why surfers look so fantastic. But there are just two problems with neoprene: It's incredibly hot to wear, and there's literally nothing that skintight neoprene complements besides skintight neoprene.

Since it was designed as an insulator, any part of you that's under neoprene is going to be basted in sweat. And because it sucks you in, neoprene plus any other fabric basically makes normal humans like us look like two different people sewn together. One half is svelte and athletic, the other is really into cinnamon rolls. Hats off to those who can rock it, though.

7: Belt Purses
We feel a little bad about this one, because some of the belt purses we've seen are actually fantastic. There shouldn't be anything wrong with a sleek little clutch affixed to the hip -- and combining a clutch with a belt has that chocolate and peanut butter synchronicity to it.

Unfortunately, we still remember fanny packs. Shutter shades may have been able to make the jump from nerdy '80s reject to crazy hot fashion item (thanks, Kanye!), but it'll be a long time before a belt with a pouch on it can be associated with anything other than dumpy middle-aged tourists at Disney World.

6: Fruit Prints
Keep the garish fruit prints on Gramma's couch.
There's attention-grabbing, and then there's visually assaulting.

This year's fruit prints are strictly the latter, with all the color of an animal print and none of the class. It's a no-win situation. You can either go for density with an ocean of writhing bananas, or a slightly more tasteful citrus and floral print that will make people think you made it out of a tablecloth.

While fruit can be pleasant to look at, the statement it makes on printed fabric ends up being less "pastoral elegance" and more "breakfast buffet."

5: Fruit and Flower Hats for Men
Please don't make your man wear this hat.
Hats are one of the fashion accessories that are routinely touted as being in for men.

Partly it's because hats are undeniably cool, but it's also because what other headwear are you going to have for men? Tiaras? Flowers? Fruit?

Yes, apparently all of the above.

It's been an unusually floral spring for men, and designers trying to push the bounds of masculine headwear have been tilting at some pretty fruit-covered windmills. That flowery elfin vibe we've been seeing on the catwalk clearly needs to remain there. It's one of those things that's going to look great in the spreads but completely outlandish anywhere else.

Embrace at your own peril.

4: Animal Print Bomber Jackets
Fashion is a fickle beast. You never know what's going to be hot one year and cold the next. And though today's iron-clad fashion don'ts may be tomorrow's big-ticket item, animal print anything is a look that's hard to wear well. And while we have to admit that the fashion world is running hot on animal prints at the moment, getting the point across with a bunchy, shapeless bomber jacket just screams cringe-worthy. Who cares if python is the new cheetah? Oh well, at least they're better than real fur.

3: The Overly Comfortable Trend
Leggings are still lurching down the runway.
It's great when a pair of pants both looks great and feels comfortable, but we don't like where some of this is heading.

Jeggings and pajama jeans, we're looking in your direction.

Though they've been around since 2009 or so, fake elastic jeans, with their unstoppable combination of colossally bad taste and endless popularity in the face of widespread ridicule, have earned them a spot on our list. These pants have the marks of tomorrow's trash bins all over them -- cheap, fake, synthetic and ubiquitous. While we wish we could say that they've jumped the shark already, they're certain to be highly visible during 2011.

2: Bunny Ears
Ooh, bunny ears. Why we won't be caught in them should be obvious. Of course, they're not meant to be actual bunny ears -- the designs we've seen look more like a pairs of studded silk radar dishes. Unique and attention-getting they may be, but also goofily impractical and lacking in any substance. This is not fashion, this is a costume. Pass!

1: Biker Chic

Charley Gallay/Getty Images
Actress Lesli Kay combines biker chic with animal prowess.
This year, we're afraid you're going to have to choose between two themes on opposite ends of the spectrum. In one corner, there's ballerina chic: wrap dresses, draping skirts, ballet flats and tufty tutus. In the other, there's biker chic: buckles, studs and black leather everything. Yes, the biker look can be done well -- just see Kate Moss on the cover of LOVE magazine for proof.

But while the biker look may have some legs (wrapped up in thigh-high boots, no less), it doesn't have the versatility of this year's ballet-inspired designs.

Our prediction? Frou-frou beats vroom-vroom.

• Reference/Source: howstuffworks.com by Gallagher Flinn

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