The list, selected by the magazine editors, includes seven courses in the United States and one course each in Scotland, British Columbia, and Dominican Republic. The list is not endorsed by Reuters:

1. The Castle Course, St. Andrews, Scotland (Architect David McLay Kidd) Scotsman David McLay Kidd won the coveted design commission to build a seventh course at St. Andrews and transformed every inch of a derelict 220-acre potato farm on the outskirts of town into the Castle Course. Tumbling, hazard-studded fairways make every tee shot an adventure.

2. The Chase At PGA Golf Club Coyote Springs, Coyote Springs, Nevada (Architect Jack Nicklaus) Situated 50 miles north of Las Vegas, the Chase at Coyote Springs supplies lakes, waterfalls and artful desert buffer zones. Nicklaus tosses in the unexpected with tattered-edge bunkers and intricate contours in and around the greens.

3. Ritz-Carlton Golf Club At Creighton Farms, Aldie, Virginia (Architect Jack Nicklaus) The property is in on terrain laced with wetlands, creeks and ponds. Developers gave Nicklaus several hundred acres of this horse country to transform but his crew left much of it in a natural state. Where the ground was high and dry, he built bunkers, false fronts and lots of undulations.

4. The Club At Tower Ranch, Kelowna, British Columbia (Architect Thomas McBroom) In interior British Columbia as many as 10 courses are opening over a three-year span. The Club at Tower Ranch has broad vistas and bulging hills overlooking Lake Okanagan and the city of Kelowna, a popular summer resort.

5. Tetherow Golf Club, Bend, Oregon (David McLay Kidd) This sporty layout, covering craggy high-desert terrain, merits lavish praise. Tall pines frame some of the holes, but much of the acreage was ravaged by wildfire 15 years ago, leaving open expanses that Kidd used to effect.

6. Sugarloaf Mountain Golf And Town Club, Minneola, Florida (Architects Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw) Sitting in the hilly outback of scrub oak, citrus groves and quiet country roads, the layout features elevation changes of 200 feet or more and enormous tumbling fairways. Tacking up and down pleasant inclines, the holes are beautifully oriented and paced.

7. The Legacy Course At Roco Ki, Punta Cana, Dominican Republic (Architect Nick Fald) This new Faldo course required a midstream re-routing because the tricky island terrain reacted unpredictably to some construction. But Faldo found corridors through upland mangrove.

8. Four Mile Ranch Golf Club, Canon City, Colorado (Architect Jim Engh) Fans of Engh’s work will note many of his trademark elements here, among them high-stakes green complexes and sharply angled doglegs. No traditional bunker can be seen, just noses, hollows and humps but the course is far from hazard-free.

9. Palouse Ridge Golf Club, Pullman, Washington (Architect John F. Harbottle III) This golf course has greens perched high and fairways that heave and tilt like turbulent seas. Wind turns Palouse Ridge into the evergreen state’s version of a blustery British links. Even on calm days, the course is still a handful.

10. Rock Creek Cattle Company, Deer Lodge, Montana (Architect Tom Doak) A prime selling point of this private prairie-links golf course and fishing club near Deer Lodge, Montana, is that the course works its way through evergreen-studded foothills and small natural bowls.

ONE gauge of a player’s leadership qualities is how he sets examples for his teammates.

Purefoods considers itself doubly lucky for having two beacons in Kerby Raymundo and James Yap, the KFC/Accel- PBA Press Corps’ Co-Players of the Week for the period Oct. 27 to Nov. 2.

The rest of the Giants rode on the able shoulders of the dynamic duo in fashioning a thrilling 108-105 overtime win over the Air21 Express in the Philippine Cup’s Halloween presentation last Friday.

The victory, coming on the heels of a more cruising 92-81 triumph over Barangay Ginebra the Sunday before, marked the first time hobbled Purefoods fashioned back-to-back wins in the conference, jacking their win-loss record to 3-4 and barging out of the cellar.

Giants coach Ryan Gregorio knows exactly whom to give the bulk of the credit.

"They were remarkable in our last two wins, especially in our game against Air21," said Gregorio of Raymundo, who scored a career high 37 points, and Yap, who had 31, against the Express.

"We simply rode on their backs with their combined output of 68 points," Gregorio added. "They showed great leadership when we were on the verge of losing."

The Purefoods stars became the first teammates to put together 30-point performances in a single game since San Miguel’s Danny Seigle and Dondon Hontiveros accomplished the feat in a 119-115 win over Red Bull in Game Seven of the 2006-07 Philippine Cup semifinals.

Raymundo dished out his best game since a 31-point game against Talk ‘N Text in the 2006 Philippine Cup and Yap’s was also his best since scattering the same output versus Coca-Cola in the last Fiesta Conference.

Yap’s game, also spiked by nine rebounds and two assists, was made more remarkable by the fact that his status was questionable before the game, hobbled as he is by a bad back and two sore ankles.

Yet he grabbed the loose ball and came through with a big three-point shot at the buzzer as Purefoods completed its 20-second rise from a 91-96 deficit to tie the game at 97, and force overtime.

It was also Yap who pushed the Giants ahead for good in the extension with a layup, before adding two more baskets in an 8-2 binge that virtually iced the dramatic contest that had 11 deadlocks and as many lead changes.

The Giants would not have been even in a position to stay in the game if it were not for Raymundo, who also had 11 rebounds and four assists.

Picking up the cudgels for his injured co-star, Raymundo scattered 29 points in the final half, highlighted by a triple that started their rise from that five-point deficit in the last 20 seconds of regulation.

"Together, they made things happen for us," said Gregorio.

The youthful-looking but grizzled coach knows the road ahead remains rough for his team, especially now that starting point guard Roger Yap remains out with a knee injury. But with his two major players leading the way, Gregorio is confident the task could be overcome.

special credits: pba.com.ph

The "Syunsoku" brand of sneakers has sold over 10 million pairs since being launched in 2003, with sales more than doubling every year.

Total sales almost equal the number of Sony PlayStation Portable units sold in Japan, suggesting that one in every two elementary school kids owns a pair, says manufacturer Achilles Corp.

"After I begun wearing them, I was picked to be a relay runner," says four-year-old Kohei, showing off his pair of red-lined silver Syunsokus, which mean "Nimble Feet" in English.

Kohei’s friend, Kei Yamashita, owns two pairs — one in green and the other in blue.

Behind the Syunsoku boom is cutting-edge technology specially developed to help children run at top speed without losing balance — especially around athletic tracks.

The shoes have asymmetrical soles with more rubber spikes on the right. The design gives runners better stability and grip against centripetal force when running anticlockwise around a track, according to Achilles.

Other features include elastic laces to help with knotting.

Tokyo-based Achilles says it sold 4.5 million pairs of the shoes in the business year ended in March, and sales this year seem even stronger.

"It’s mostly word-of-mouth that’s fueling the sales," says Yutaka Tsubata, a senior manager of Achilles’ product planning development.

"Our product concept was to help fast runners run faster, and to give dreams to those who cannot. It is every kids’ dream to be a hero on sports day."

The company plans to start making an adult line next year.

Toddler Kohei’s mother, Yukie Ota, says she was not convinced the sneakers actually made her son a faster runner.

"But they make him believe that he’s faster than ever… and I guess that’s good enough," she said.

The Puerto Princesa Subterranean River National Park in Palawan province has topped the latest ranking of the nominees vying to become the New7Wonders of  Nature.

As of September 29, the Puerto Princesa treasure climbed to the top spot from 5th place, according to the New7Wonders of Nature Campaign site. 

It dislodged Bangladesh’s Cox’s Bazar, Beach, which slipped to No. 3. 

Aside from the Subterranean River National Park, three of Philipine nominees were also included on the top 11 list.   

These were Bohol’s Chocolate Hills (4th place, up from 11th), Tubbataha Reef off Sulu Sea (5th place, up from 19th), and Legazpi City’s Mayon Volcano (11th place, down from 10th). 

The Department of Tourism urged all Filipinos to continue voting online for the Philippine wonders to ensure that one of the country’s nominees would proceed to the next level in 2009.  

By Jan. 1, 2009, only one national nominee per country, the highest ranked in the voting on Dec. 31, 2008.  will be allowed to proceed, according to New7Wonders Web site. 

"Therefore until the end of 2008, countries with more than one national nominee will be racing to choose the national representative that is allowed to continue into 2009. Nominees shared by more than one country will remain and continue into 2009," the Web site said. 

Online voting for nominees will continue up until July 7, 2009. The New7Wonders of Nature panel of experts will then review the top 77 nominees. 

Among the 77, only 21 nominees will be chosen as finalists. The list finalists will be disclosed on July 21, 2009. The 21 finalists will then be put to popular vote, the Web site added. 

Who loves to eat CHICKEN?       

                Ever since I was a child my favorite food of all time is chicken, I just love it and when it is cooked in different style whether in a special occasion or ordinary event truly chicken dominates the dining table. Apart from the good taste attributes of chicken it also a nutritious food which is high in protein, phosphorus and niacin, and also a good source of iron. The breast is the section with the lowest fat content, in these cholesterol and diet conscious times, it is best to trim chicken of its skin and as much fat as possible. So much for that info, here’s a Chicken recipe that would make you crave for more!!  Bon a petite.

image credits from : www.ew.com

1. Good Is Going Evil, and Evil Is Going Good: Our beloved Peter Petrelli, aka Milo Ventimiglia, revealed: "It’s not clearly defined in this volume who’s bad and who’s necessarily good. I think a lot of people who have been perceived to be bad could possibly be good, and I think a lot of people that are good could possibly be bad." Hmm…Why do the names Sylar and Peter pop to mind?

2. Linderman Is Back and Recruiting Villains: Malcolm McDowell’s mysterious and powerful Linderman, who has the power to heal, returns from the dead this season (Nathan is the first to see him). Malcolm told me, "I work with Cristine Rose, who plays Angela Petrelli, and I work with Brea Grant, who plays Daphne, Miss Speedy. She’s great; I recruit her. Oh, and I work with Robert Forster, who is Arthur Petrelli." Wait a minute, in a flashback or a future scene? That’s a juicy bit to chomp on!

3. Hiro Has His Mind Wiped: In an upcoming episode, Hiro thinks he’s 10, which means Ando has to save the world and babysit at the same time. No dessert until you save the world, little Hiro!

4. Peter and Sylar Will Be Working Together: Milo spilled that there will be unlikely alliances this year as well: "There are moments where Sylar and Peter are surprisingly working together, oddly enough. But these two guys can’t deny who they are at their cores. They are yin to yang." I’m also hearing that HRG will be partnering up with someone you would never expect…

5. Alert Child Services: Sylar’s Going to Have a Baby! According to sources, the creepiest mother-killer around, Sylar, has a son in the future. Apparently his son is "gifted" in many ways, and his first name is Noah, just like HRG. Quite an interesting namesake, don’t you think? Any bets on the baby mama? All I can tell you is that I’m pretty sure she will make a lot of you fans (who may have created a fanpage or two around this possible coupling) very happy.

6. Noah Bennett Is Still a Bad Guy: Don’t worry. Even though HRG has been nicer lately, Jack Coleman assured me, "You’ll see plenty of villainy from HRG this year, I can promise you that." Hmmm…Maybe that has something to do with that Sylar alliance I mentioned earlier?

7. Another Eclipse Is Coming: According to James Kyson Lee, when the series’ iconic eclipse returns, it seems to reverse the power-accelerating effects of the first eclipse. He said, "Hiro’s powers aren’t working, and neither are many other people’s powers. I think we’ll see this phenomenon happens around the world and that everyone is affected by it." I spy a falling fly guy!

8. The Speedster Has a Husband and a Child in the Future: Brea Grant’s Daphne is a mom in the future. Who’s her baby daddy? "Probably with someone you know and love." Pair that with the information that Sylar’s son’s mother is "alive and silver-tongued" and you’ve got a second theory on his baby’s mama. (Still, my money’s on the fan favorite mentioned above.)

9. Maya Changes the World: According to Dania Ramirez, "I think you’re going to finally understand why Maya was even added to the cast. You’ll see how, in Suresh trying to help her, she changes the course of life, for not only him, but also for a lot of other people."

10. The Haitian Has a Family…and Secrets: The fabulous Jimmy-Jean Louis dished, "They’re introducing my brother. And it’s good for the audience because they get a little bit of information about the Haitian."

finally i now have my technorati profile if you want to visit it please do so!!
my Technorati Profile

 

For an affordable 2.1 speaker system that delivers good performance, Creative SBS 2.1 350 speaker system does the job perfectly. Comprising of two satellite speakers and a wood subwoofer, Creative SBS 2.1 350 speaker system gives you high quality audio and deep bass in your music and games. What’s more, its wired remote power/volume control adds the extra touch of convenience just for you! Ideal for your PC, notebook or digital audio player, Creative SBS 2.1 350 speaker system delivers an all-round performance at an amazing value!

I am so HAPPY to receive a gift from my parents.. and i can say that it is one of the best i got so far in my entire life!!! wanna know what it is.? well it is a canon ixus 80 which now i consider my baby!!!

Specs for you

True to the IXUS Tradition
•	Beautifully crafted with smooth sculpted curves and available in 5 chic colors: Blue, Camel, Pink, Silver and Brown.
•	2.5” PureColor II LCD screen with wide viewing angle

Superb Image Quality
•	Powered by Canon’s proprietary advanced DIGIC III Imaging Processor Benefits:
	-	Multiple-face detection
	-	High speed ISO 1600 shooting
	-	Red-eye correction
	-	Low power consumption
•	Lens shift-type Optical Image Stabilizer uses the superior responsiveness of its ceramic ball support system to give you shake-free sharp images.

Crystal Clear People Picture
•	Advanced Face Detection Technology is a complete system that captures perfect people picture.
	-	Multiple Face Detection intellectually detects and priorities faces in the scene to give you stunningly photograph of subjects’ faces with sharpness and the right exposure.
	-	Face Select and Tracking allows users to prioritize an individual’s face from up to 35 detected faces.
	-	AF-point Zoom lets you see your subject’s expression close-up before capturing them in their best smiles.
	-	Face Detection AE cleverly adjusts to the ideal exposure setting for that perfectly lit face.
	-	Face Detection FE captures your main subject in the most flattering light during flash photography.
	-	Face Detection WB (NEW) optimizes white balance for the face under any shooting conditions.
	-	Corrects and eliminates Red-Eye on your subject during flash photography and playback.
	-	Trimming (NEW) lets you zoom in to trim the beautifully captured faces and saved it as a new picture file.

Intelligent Blur Control
•	Hi-ISO Auto with Motion Detection Technology detects if the subject is stationary or moving and automatically adjusts to the optimum ISO levels to compensate.

Chronicles of life
•	New Long Play (LP) Movie function records longer footages with lesser memory consumption.
•	Time Lapse Movie function ideal for shooting slow-moving objects.
•	Sound recorder offers continuous sound recording of up to 2 hours (depending on the amount of free space in memory card and remaining battery life).

Ease of operations
•	Reduce the size of the photographs, which you have just taken instantly with the Resize on Playback.
•	Never miss out now on those precious photographic moments now with the Battery Life Indicator.
•	Enjoy the flexibility of viewing your footages and images upright no matter if you turn your camera horizontally or vertically.

Unlimited Creativity Possibilities
•	Special Scene Mode: Kids & Pets, Indoor, Sunset (NEW), Foliage, Snow, Beach, Fireworks, Aquarium and Underwater.
•	My Colors Mode: Vivid, Neutral, Sepia, Black and White, Positive Firm, Lighter Skin Tone, Darker Skin Tone, Vivid Blue, Vivid Green, Vivid Red & Custom Color* *Adjustment of contrast, sharpness, saturation, red, green, blue, and skin tone are available

Shoot and Print Direct
•	Print up to A2 size directly from Canon direct photo printers and any PictBridge compliant printer without PC.
•	Easy print and transfer of images with just a simple touch of the Print/Share button. Plan what you want to print before you reached home, using the print reservation function.
•	Exif 2.2 compliant for greater color fidelity when printing to EXIF compatible printers.

Connectivity
•	High speed USB 2.0 transfer rate.
•	Direct connectivity and transfer to both Windows (Window 2000 and above) and Mac computers (Mac OSX c10.1.5 and above).

Optional Accessory
•	Waterproof Casing (WP-DC22)
•	High Power Flash HF-DC1