Leonid Stadnyk Tallest man in the World

Leonid Stadnyk (born 1971 in Zhytomyr Oblast, Ukrainian SSR, Soviet Union) is a controversial claimant to the status of the world's tallest living man. He is a certified veterinarian and veterinary surgeon and lives with his mother in the village of Podolyantsi, Ukraine. He claims to be 2.53 meters (8 feet 4 inches) tall, weighs about 200 kg (440 pounds) (April, 2004) but has stopped growing, because the tumor in his pituitary gland which caused him to grow so large has disappeared. He also claims to have the largest palm size recorded, at 31 centimeters (12¼ inches) long. These claims have not been independently verified.

Leonid Stadnyk's excessive growth began after brain surgery when he was 13 years old. He developed a pituitary gland tumor which caused the gland to secrete large amounts of growth hormone, resulting in what doctors describe as acromegalic gigantism.

Although claiming to be the tallest man in the world, he refused to be measured by Guinness World Records.

Guinness commented:

A number of people claim to be tallest, but unless they are measured three times in 24 hours, they cannot be considered for the category. Leonid Stadnyk refuses to be measured by us. We have been told that it is because he doesn't want to court publicity — yet he continues to claim to be the tallest. Unfortunately we can only conclude due to previous experience, that he refuses to be measured officially by us because he is not the height he claims to be.

Guinness currently recognizes Bao Xishun, at 2.361 meters (7 feet 8.95 inches), as the world's tallest living human being.

Most recently, a Pravda news report in Spring 2006 reported that Leonid Stadnyk grew 2 centimeters (about one inch) in the last year, not accounting the time between the original Spring 2004 report and Spring 2005. Therefore Stadnyk would have to be at least 2.56 meters (8 feet 5 inches) and possibly taller. According to Pravda, his health is slowly failing in that he needs to hold on to limbs of trees and the side of his house to walk about. Also a group of Ukraine business people donated a satellite dish and a computer to Stadnyk and now he is on the Internet.

Chris Benoit

Christopher Michael Benoit (IPA: [bə'nwɑ]) (May 21, 1967 – June 24, 2007) was a Canadian professional wrestler who performed in Extreme Championship Wrestling, World Championship Wrestling, and World Wrestling Entertainment. He was regarded as one of the best technical professional wrestlers of his time.
Benoit, his wife Nancy, and their 7-year-old son Daniel were found dead in their Fayetteville, Georgia home on June 25, 2007. Subsequent investigations confirmed that Benoit murdered his wife, then killed his son before hanging himself in the house's weight room.

Benoit idolized the Dynamite Kid growing up, and styled himself after him. This prompted him to be a wrestler, so when he began wrestling, he wrestled as "Dynamite" Chris Benoit, as a tribute to the Dynamite Kid. He also began using the Diving Headbutt and the Snap Suplex, some of the Kid's trademark moves.

It is believed Stu Hart was not the first one who knew about Chris Benoit, but rather Bruce Hart who brought him to the Hart house. After years of strenuous training in the legendary Hart family "Dungeon", Chris Benoit began his career in 1985 in Stu Hart's Stampede Wrestling promotion. His debut match was a tag team match on November 22, 1985 in Calgary, Alberta, where he teamed with "The Remarkable" Rick Patterson against Butch Moffat and Mike Hammer. During his tenure in Stampede, he won several International Tag Team and British Commonwealth titles, and had a lengthy feud with Johnny Smith that lasted for over a year. In 1989, Stampede closed its doors later that year, and with a recommendation from Bad News Allen, Benoit departed for New Japan Pro Wrestling.

Upon arriving in New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW), Benoit spent about a year training in their "New Japan Dojo" with the younger wrestlers to improve his abilities before debuting, wearing a mask and assuming the name The Pegasus Kid. While with NJPW, he came into his own as a performer in matches with luminaries like Jushin Liger, Shinjiro Ohtani, The Black Tiger, and El Samurai.

In 1990, he won his first major championship, the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship, from Jushin Liger. He eventually lost the title (and his mask) back to Liger, forcing him to reinvent himself as Wild Pegasus. He went on to win the Super J Cup Tournament in 1994, defeating Black Tiger, Gedo, and Great Sasuke in the finals, solidifying his status as one of the foremost junior heavyweights in the world.

Benoit eventually left New Japan to compete in Mexico and Germany, where he won a few regional championships including the WWF Light Heavyweight Championship.

After controversy surrounding a US title defense against Booker T, Theodore Long set up a "Best of Seven" series between the two. Booker T won three times in a row, due largely to his wife's interference, and Chris Benoit faced elimination in the series. Benoit won the fourth match to stay alive, but after the match, Booker suffered a legitimate groin injury, and Randy Orton was chosen as a stand-in. Benoit defeated Orton twice by disqualification. However, in the 7th and final match, Orton defeated Benoit with the help of Booker T, Sharmell, and Orlando Jordan, and Booker captured the US title. Benoit feuded with Orton for a short time, only to compete against Booker for the US title. Benoit was given one last chance at the US title at No Way Out 2006 and won it by making Booker submit to the Crippler Crossface, ending the feud. Soon after, Benoit defeated Randy Orton in a No Holds Barred match on Smackdown via Crippler Crossface.

The next week on SmackDown!, Benoit (kayfabe) broke JBL's hand (JBL actually needed surgery to remove a cyst). A match was set up for the two at WrestleMania 22 for Benoit's title, and for the next several weeks, they would attack each other. When it came time for their match, JBL won the match with an illegal cradle to win the title. Benoit used his rematch clause two weeks later in a steel cage match on SmackDown!, but JBL again won with illegal tactics.

Benoit entered the 2006 King Of The Ring tournament, only to be defeated by Finlay in the opening round, after Finlay struck Benoit's neck with a chair and delivered a Celtic Cross. At Judgment Day 2006 Benoit gained some revenge by defeating Finlay with the Crippler Crossface in a grudge match. On the following edition of SmackDown!, Mark Henry attacked Benoit during a match, giving him back and rib injuries. Benoit then announced a sabbatical to heal nagging shoulder injuries. On October 8, Benoit made his return at No Mercy, defeating William Regal by submission in a surprise match. Later that week, he won his fifth United States Championship from Mr. Kennedy also by submission.

Benoit then engaged in a feud with Chavo and Vickie Guerrero. He wanted answers from the Guerreros for their rash behavior towards Rey Mysterio, but was avoided by the two and was eventually assaulted. Benoit retained his United States Championship at Survivor Series 2006 and Armageddon 2006, both times defeating Chavo Guerrero. The feud finally ended after a match with no-disqualification rules in play, which Benoit won to retain his United States title.

After defeating Guerrero, Montel Vontavious Porter (MVP) claimed that he was the best man to hold the US title, so he challenged Benoit for the title at WrestleMania 23, where Benoit retained. Their rivalry continued with similar results again at Backlash. At Judgment Day, however, MVP gained the upperhand and the title in a two-out-of-three falls match.

On the June 11 edition of RAW, Benoit was drafted from SmackDown! to ECW as part of the 2007 WWE Draft, after losing a match to Bobby Lashley. Benoit won his ECW debut match teaming up with CM Punk and defeating Elijah Burke and Marcus Cor Von by disqualfication.

On June 19, 2007, Benoit wrestled his last match, defeating Elijah Burke in a match to determine who would face CM Punk for the vacated ECW World Championship at Vengeance. Benoit missed the weekend house shows, telling WWE officials that his wife and son were vomiting blood due to food poisoning (see below). When he failed to show up for the pay-per-view, viewers were informed that he was unable to compete due to a "family emergency," and that he would be replaced in the title match by Johnny Nitro. Nitro went on to win the match and became ECW Champion.

Sasa Curcic

Last night, the first Serbian VIP Big Brother finished. And the winner is - Sasa Curcic, former football midfielder.

About Sasa Curcic

Aleksandar "Sasa - Djani" Curcic (born February 14, 1972 in Belgrade, Serbia, SFR Yugoslavia) is a former football midfielder. Known for his eccentricity, Curcic played for OFK Beograd (1991-93), Partizan Belgrade (1993-95), Bolton Wanderers (1995-96), Aston Villa (1996-98), Crystal Palace (1998-99), MetroStars (1999), and Motherwell (2000). He also turned out 14 times for the national team of Yugoslavia, and scored one of the most memorable goals in the history of the Premier League whilst with Bolton. Curcic has been known to sport a shaved head and a fu manchu beard sans moustache. Upon his arrival to Major League Soccer in 1999, he declared his intention to become the "Dennis Rodman of MLS". Curcic's stint in the league, however, lasted only nine games. On 16 March 2000, Curcic joined Motherwell. He only made five appearances for the club, before joining Obilic Belgrade in his native Serbia. In an interview on Sky Sports in April 2001, Curcic stated that he had retired from football. On 5th May 2007, Curcic entered the Serbian Celebrity Big Brother house and 3th Jun he won in VIP Big Brother. He won 50.000 euros prize, and after leaving the house, while he was taking the check, he promised he will spend the money together with other VIP Big Brother housemates in next 12 hours.

I have to mention that in the last 29 days, Sasa Curcic wanted to leave the house twice and he barely decided to stay. Unofficial voting results for final was:
Saša: 158.270 votes
Maca: 28.650 votes
Danijel: 18.393 votes
Olja: 5.193 votes

Sasa Curcic about Dennis Rodman, fights, prison, cops

I wasn't leader in fight where Dennis Rodman took part. It was very bloody. I was standing in one part of disco club with top-models Helen Kristensen and Eva Herzigova when some Americans started shouting to us. Little provocation, little drink, little freedom and there you go. It finished with scandal. In prison and newspapers.

I was in prison several times and lucky me - I can meditate. I have an klaustrofobia.

I can't stand US cops. Whole that things are money and business. I prefer European cops. There, they are ten times worse.

Curcic testimonial game

Sasa's former football club - Partizan, will organize testimonial game for him. Sasa Curcic would like to see Sten Kolimor, Albert Nađ, Dragan Ćirić, Lotar Mateus, Mario Stanić, Dragan Stojković Piksi and some other soccer players with him in that team.

Here's video with Sasa Curcic and Lombardo, Jansen, Shipperely and Marcus Bent rip Derby apart to give us our first home win of the 1997/98 season. Crystal Palace vs Derby County.

Article about Sasa in US magazine

Many suggested that Curcic was waived due to his love of the 'illegal drugs'.
Sasa Curcic. He of the bald head, spaghetti beard and Buddest tattoos, is no more. No longer will we see his graceful stride through the stadia of Major League Soccer. No longer will the passion of a swift judo kick to a fallen opponent's skull be featured in soccer highlights.

Oh Sasa how could you! We've heard the stories. We've heard the tales. There's so many of them that it's hard not to believe! They say you spent too much time out ravaging the New York nights, galavanting with lady friends and downing a pint or two... or three. We've heard stories that you failed piss tests. Oh Sasa, how could you?



And off you'll go, back to Europe where you'll forget about all us. All about MLS. But MLS will never forget you. How could it? How could WE?

What were you thinking? That night when you smoked your doob? That afternoon when you bought your crack? That evening when you poked that prostitute? Did you think about us, your fans? Did you think how it would affect us to see you leave? For you knew it would come to that when you got caught. If you got caught. Did you think of it? Or did it not matter.

Maybe, Sasa, you couldn't help yourself. Maybe you just are what you are. Maybe no league can hope to hold you... to fully have you. You are a free spirit, and so goes your life. Never to settle, never to rot. Never to stay too long in one place. And if that is the case, if that is the way it must be, than happy are those who have been given the chance to see you once... twice... thrice... on the field of play.

Goodbye Sasa, and take care. The world seeks to conquer those like yourself. Don't let them. You must fly... fly... fly away on the wings of the freebird

Women steal sperm

Men accusing women of "stealing" their sperm appeared in a pair of 2005 stories, including that of a Chicago doctor who impregnated herself with her doctor-boyfriend's sperm (from oral sex). (He sued her for theft, but an appeals court called the sperm a "gift.") In a less spectacular lawsuit filed in March 2007 in New York City, Quoc Pham charged that girlfriend Neli Petkova had exploited him to father a baby, and that as soon as she was pregnant, she discarded him, publicly terming him sexually inadequate and allegedly announcing that she had met another man, who "could make her cervix orgasmic just by thinking." Pham wants $1 million and visitation rights to the now-3-year-old.

Ian Robert Astbury

Ian Robert Astbury (born May 14, 1962, in Heswall, Cheshire) is an English rock singer and lyricist.
Astbury's career began in 1981, with the gothic rock band Southern Death Cult. At that time, he was going by the name "Ian Lindsay." Southern Death Cult gigged to support its "Moya" single, and secured a slot as an opening act for Bauhaus in 1983. Shortly after that tour, the band split up.
Along with guitarist Billy Duffy bassist Jamie Stewart and drummer Ray Mondo, Ian (now going by the surname "Astbury"), formed a new band, Death Cult and later dropped Death from the name.
The Cult band was one of the most successful British rock bands of the late 1980s and early 1990s. With the 1984 release of their first album Dreamtime, The Cult were the darlings of the Indie post-punk scene, their chart topping "Spiritwalker" single having held at number one for three months. Their second album, Love, evoked memories of 1960s psychedelia such as The Doors, and the Pretty Things. It also featured their now classic hit "She Sells Sanctuary", which introduced them to an international audience. On their third album, Electric, The Cult made a radical transformation to hard rock reminiscent of AC/DC and Aerosmith with the help of Rick Rubin. This further broadened their audience as rock began making a comeback in the late 1980s. Guns N' Roses, who were heavily influenced by Electric, opened for The Cult on their 1987 North American tour, before going on to sell millions of copies of their debut album Appetite for Destruction.
Although The Cult went on to greater heights with their mainstream hit single "Fire Woman," (on the follow up 1989 Sonic Temple album), they began to get criticized by many hardcore fans on artistic merits. Soured on the band's more commercial direction, The Cult were now characterized as pretentious and as having sold out, particularly among their British fan legion. Around this time, Ian Astbury relocated to Los Angeles California. He became friends with The Fuzztones, often jumping up onstage with them at live concerts. One such concert,at Scream in Downtown LA,was recorded and a cover of "The Stooges" song "Down On The Street" was released as a picture disc in the UK on Situation Two Records. It features Ian Astbury on vocals & the "In Heat" era Fuzztones (John Carlucci, Jordan Tarlow, Mike Czekaj & Jason Savall) as his backing band.
The dent in their reputation was amplified by the loss of many Sonic Temple fans, when their next album (Ceremony, 1991) delivered dissapointingly in the wake of an oncoming grunge fad.



In 1994, The Cult returned with their untitled album and a musical change of pace. Gone was much of their overblown rock trappings, replaced instead by Astbury's growing interest in electronica and introspective lyrics. To support the album they set out on tour, but in Brazil, Astbury's creative differences with guitarist Billy Duffy reached their peak, and Astbury walked out on The Cult.
Inspired by his sudden change in direction, Astbury immediately assembled another group of musicians and began writing new songs. He called the group The Holy Barbarians, and in 1996 the band released an album, "Cream". Although the Barbarians were not a commercial success, they were well received by many who had regained respect for Astbury as an artist.
Personal difficulties and a drive for further introspection drove Astbury away from his new group, as he began working on a solo album (eventually released as Spirit/Light/Speed), to mixed reviews and low sales.
In 1999, Ian Astbury and Billy Duffy regrouped The Cult to head one of the most financially successful tours that year. A new contract with Atlantic Records was inked, and in 2001 came the release of Beyond Good And Evil. Early radio success was being had by the single Rise, until the band had a falling out with Atlantic and they killed any and all commercial promotions and radio play for BG&E. The fight with Atlantic was described by Ian as Soul Destroying and a disillusioned Astbury, brought The Cult onto another hiatus in 2002.
Having long been influenced by Jim Morrison, in 2002 Ian Astbury filled his hero's footsteps by becoming lead singer in an updated version of The Doors, with original members Robby Krieger and Ray Manzarek, known as The Doors of the 21st Century, renamed in 2005 to become Riders On The Storm. In 2003, Astbury also performed with surviving members of MC5 at the 100 Club in London, before finally reforming The Cult with Billy Duffy again in 2006, for a series of live dates and rumours of reissues and another greatest hits compilation in the works.
2007 THE CULT will enter the studio to begin pre-production on the group's first album since 2001's "Beyond Good and Evil". A Autumn release is expected. Also planned for release is a DVD of the band's November 13, 2006 concert at Irving Plaza in New York City, tentatively due in April.
THE CULT's current touring lineup includes principals Ian Astbury (vocals) and Billy Duffy (guitar) alongside bassist Chris Wyse, drummer John Tempesta (ex-WHITE ZOMBIE, TESTAMENT, EXODUS, HELMET) and rhythm guitarist Mike Dimkich.

Jack Tramiel - Commodore man

Jack Tramiel is a businessman, famous for founding Commodore International, manufacturer of the Commodore PET, Commodore 64, and Commodore Amiga home computers, and later President and CEO of Atari Corp.
In 1970, Tramiel started work on electronic calculators, and in the early 1970s Commodore became a major supplier of calculators based on a Texas Instruments chip-set. In 1975 TI decided to take over the market, and started producing their own complete calculators which sold at a cost lower than the price of the chip-set alone. This drove most manufacturers out of business, but by this time Commodore had enough of a war chest to survive.
Tramiel started looking for a chip producer to buy, thereby guaranteeing a supply of chips in the future. The obvious solution was MOS Technology, a small company in Pennsylvania that had been set up as a second-source of the TI chips, and was currently struggling with cash-flow problems. MOS was bought in 1976, becoming a part of Commodore.
One of the engineers at MOS was Chuck Peddle, the man who had designed the ground-breaking 6502 chip. Peddle convinced Tramiel that the calculator was a dead-end as a product, that the computer would take over, and that the 6502 was the first in line for success. Peddle showed him a "test system" using the 6502, the KIM-1, and while Tramiel was interested he demanded that Peddle and Tramiel's son Leonard put it into an all-in-one form in time for the COMDEX in six months.
Combining the KIM with a new display driver chip, 4kB of RAM, a version of Microsoft's BASIC programming language, and an all-in-one case including a monitor and cassette tape drive for storage resulted in the PET 2001. At US$599, it became a hit, notably in schools where its tough construction was a major advantage over technically superior machines like the Apple II and Atari 8-bit family, which came out a year later.
Although Peddle left the company in 1980, improvements were made to the platform. In 1980 a new graphics chip with basic color output and a RF modulator for television display produced the Commodore VIC 20, which became a huge seller. In 1982, another new graphics chip, a new state-of-the-art sound chip and 64K of RAM resulted in the Commodore 64 (C64), which was an even more popular and went on to become the best selling home computer in history, with about 22 million units shipped. In 1984, Commodore's sales surpassed US $1 billion.
The success of the C64 was based on a massive manufacturing effort that cost a huge amount of money to set up — borrowed money that should have been easy to pay off in profits on the sales. However, Texas Instruments entered the market, and it appears that Tramiel was so upset about their earlier dealings in the calculator market that he decided to kill them in this one. Publicly declaring "Business is war", he started a price war, with the C64 quickly dropping from US$595 to US$199. While sales continued to skyrocket, profits plummeted, and Commodore's cash flow along with it. It seemed Commodore would soon be in command of a market worth nothing.
By late 1983 Jack and the Board of Directors argued over the direction of the company, which resulted in Jack resigning or being forced out, and several Tramiel loyalists quit Commodore in protest. Jack took a brief hiatus but decided to come back to the computer industry under the claim that he felt no current US computer company was strong enough to compete against the Japanese, who were now moving to enter the US market. So, he formed a new company named Tramel Technologies, Ltd., in order to design and sell a next-generation home computer. (According to Leonard Tramiel, "Our name Tramiel was constantly being mispronounced as 'Tra-meal' and my dad hoped that the other spelling would get people to say 'Tra-mell' (it rhymes with 'done well'). It didn't work."). Several former Commodore employees (including his son Sam and lead Commodore engineer Shiraz Shivji) soon joined him at the new startup, and by March Jack had his new computer design underway.

Michael Dell the founder of Dell Inc

Michael Saul Dell (born February 23, 1965, in Austin, Texas) is the founder and CEO of Dell, Inc. Dell is the son of an orthodontist and grew up in a Jewish family. He went to Herod Elementary. He had his first encounter with a computer at the age of 15 when he broke down a brand new Apple II computer and rebuilt it, just to see if he could. Dell attended Memorial High School in Houston, Texas, where he did not excel scholastically. After graduating high school, he attended the University of Texas at Austin intending to become a physician. While at the university, he started a computer company called PC's Limited in his room in Dobie Center.

The company became successful enough that, with the help of an additional loan from his grandparents, Dell dropped out of college at the age of 19 to run PC's Limited, which later became Dell Computer Corporation, then ultimately Dell, inc. Over time, and despite a number of setbacks (including laptops that caught on fire in 1993, temporarily losing the consumer market to Gateway in the mid 1990s, and others), Dell survived the race to become the most profitable PC manufacturer in the world, with sales of US$49 billion and profits of US$3 billion in 2004. As Dell expanded its product line to more than computers, shareholders voted to rename the corporation Dell, Inc. in 2003. On March 4, 2004, he stepped down as CEO of Dell but stayed as chairman of the board, while Kevin B. Rollins, then president and COO, became president and CEO. On January 31, 2007, Michael Dell was reinstalled as CEO of Dell, replacing Kevin Rollins (who resigned earlier in the day).

Accolades for Dell include: "Entrepreneur of the Year" from Inc. magazine; "Man of the Year" from PC Magazine; "Top CEO in American Business" from Worth Magazine; "CEO of the Year" from Financial World and Industry Week magazines. Dell is famous for his eating prowess, and once ate two dozen boiled eggs in a single sitting, earning him the unofficial title of 'The Egg King of Austin.'

Dell resides in Austin with his wife, Susan, and their four children (ages 10 to 14).

On May 15, 2006, The University of Texas at Austin announced a US$50 million grant from the Michael and Susan Dell Foundation to "bring excellence in children's health and education to Austin". The grant will enable the construction of 3 new facilities at the university. The first is the Dell Pediatric Research Institute which is expected to complement the new Dell Children's Medical Center nearby. The second is a new computer science building on the UT campus named Dell Computer Science Hall. The third is the Michael and Susan Dell Center for Advancement of Healthy Living, which is intended to address issues that affect healthy childhood development.

As of 2007, Forbes estimates Michael Dell's net worth at 15.8 Billion, making him the 30th richest person in the world.

In 1998 Michael Dell founded MSD Capital LP, a private investment firm, to invest in various small companies on Dell's behalf. According to reports, the firm tends to invest in "late stage" investments, rather than early in a company's startup.

Dell had a public war of words with Apple CEO Steve Jobs, starting when Jobs first criticized Dell for making "un-innovative beige boxes". On October 6, 1997, when Dell was asked what he would do if he owned then-troubled Apple Computer, he said "I'd shut it down and give the money back to the shareholders." The feud has since appeared to be over as Dell and Apple reached an agreement for Dell's online store to sell iPods. On January 13, 2006, Apple's market cap surpassed Dell's

In 2000, Forbes magazine named Dell Computer Corporation the third most admired company in the U.S. Furthermore, Michael Dell holds the notable distinction of being the computer industry's longest-tenured chief executive officer.