Last night we learned who Barbara Walters chose as her 10 Most Fascinating People of 2011. She chose some truly fascinating people like Amanda Knox, Pippa Middleton, Jesse Tyler Ferguson & Eric Stonestreet and Steve Jobs. But she also chose some really random people who aren’t as fascinating as they are annoying. The Kardashians? Herman Cain? Really, Barbara Walters? Those people are so random.

We got ahold of 10 more things that Barbara Walters thinks are fascinating (and they are just as random as the people who fascinate her).

initiating the gallery...

Which former ‘ER’ doctor should play Steve Jobs?

Do attractive men write better online profiles?

What’s next for our favorite wizards?

Watch out Suri, another Cruise kid is stealing the spotlight

Dealing with changing social circles

Male dating mistakes that women make

How do you nerd out?

Biggest celebrity shockers

Is plaid still awesome, or overdone?

Um, basically…. this video is ridiculous. If you haven’t seen it, you should.

Yes, Tiki, Steve Jobs has actually died. Moron.

The cosmetic guru of the century (sporting the ugly, unfinished bronzer Bobble-head look) attacks Jobs and the Apple industry for overpricing their products.  While she pays respect to Jesus – who apparently died a million years ago – she asserts that Jobs should have tried harder to emulate the Son of God by donating all of his money to those who needed it.

Our suggestion? Basically, like, build a bridge and get over your bronzer…because it looks like you played Mr. Potato Head with your brown head and your white neck. 

The Occupy Wall Street protests that began in New York City’s financial district have spread across the country, uniting Americans against corporate, greedy interest. Or at least, that’s what we think they’re uniting against. The movement is highly unorganized and without any clear demands. On the one hand, this makes it harder to actually accomplish anything tangible. But on the other, it makes the movement all the more authentic for every person who shows up with handmade, anti-Wall Street poster in hand (such as Penn Badgley…) Protests have spread to every major city, including a notable, 4,000-strong demonstration in Portland, as well as many universities. As for the unavoidable, stupid response from a politician, presidential candidate Herman Cain weighed in: “Don’t blame Wall Street, don’t blame the big banks, if you don’t have a job and you’re not rich, blame yourself!”

The co-founder of Apple, Steve Jobs, died on Wednesday after a years-long battle with pancreatic cancer. But if you have a facebook, twitter, internet connection,or any sort of a life, I’m sure you already knew that. Thousands of people gathered at Apple stores across the world to mourn the death of the innovative visionary, who was responsible for many products that changed the way we interact with each other and the world.  Plus, he’s the guy behind Pixar’s success- so no Jobs, no Finding Nemo. He was 56-years-old.

Amanda Knox, who was convicted of murdering her British roommate four years ago, headed home to Seattle on Tuesday after an Italian Appeals Court overturned the ruling. If you don’t remember when all this first went down, it was a big deal- a Casey-Anthony-Style big deal. Knox was just a 20-year-old, junior in college (scary, right?) when she was convicted of killing her roommate, Meredith Kercher, in a “drug fueled sex game.” Her guilt later came in to doubt, however, when key DNA-evidence that led to her conviction was discredited. What do you next when you’ve suffered such a traumatizing event? Knox’s plans are anyone’s guess, but she’ll undoubtedly make serious bank.

Pic o’ the Week:

Picture: Rex Features

This week, the media discovered Herbert Chavez, a 35-year-old man from the Philippines who has had surgery after surgery since 1998 to transform himself into his favorite cartoon character, Superman. His house is filled to the brim with Superman memorabilia, but I won’t really be impressed until he figures out how to fly.

Last night after work, I signed onto my Macbook and saw the news. The innovator who created the computer I was typing on…had died. Steve Jobs changed the world, and we can all learn a few things from him. Whether you’re a freshman just starting college, or a senior on the verge of graduation, you could probably learn a little from Steve Jobs.

1. Trust your instinct

Jobs once said, “And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.” If your instinct is telling you to be an art history major even though you don’t think you’ll make tons of money, go for it.

2. Take Risks

If Jobs and the rest of Apple never took risks, you probably wouldn’t be playing Angry Birds on your iPhone right now…or be able to FaceTime chat with your parents to tell them you need more money.

3. Be a Genius

Obviously Jobs was a genius. If he weren’t, we wouldn’t have all of these cool Apple products making our lives easier. So hit the books, and start learning. You may do something awesome.

4. Don’t take no for an answer

Another gem from Jobs was, “I’m convinced that about half of what separates the successful entrepreneurs from the non-successful ones is pure perseverance.” So when someone tells you no, beat them up. Just kidding. You should just ignore them.

5. Change the World

Don’t settle. Jobs kept creating products that changed everyone’s lives. Keep trying and you could do something really cool.

After months of bloody fighting, Libyan rebels swept into the capital city Tripoli and claimed victory. The former leader of Libya, Moammar Gadhafi, has finally been defeated after 42 years of tyrannical rule. But… where is the guy? His whereabouts are a total mystery. Even though the rebels couldn’t find him, they did get a look at his possessions: a $130,000 electric Fiat 500, gay porn, an elaborate mermaid couch, and a thick album filled with pictures of his diplomatic crush Condoleeza Rice were found at his place. Gadhafi’s fate isn’t the only thing that’s up in the air — now that Libyan rebels have won, nobody is quite sure what will happen next. Will war break out between the rebels? Will there be enough resources for Libyan citizens? And will Libya become a stable nation? Let’s hope the answer to the last question is yes — Libyans have dealt with enough over the past year.

Steve Jobs resigned from his position as CEO of Apple. Jobs was more than just a CEO for the mega-successful company. He was the face, the brains, and the legend that propelled a small, underestimated start-up into the iPhone, iPad-creating business richer than the U.S. government (which doesn’t sound like much nowadays, but it is). Jobs has been suffering from health issues since 2003 when he was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, but you wouldn’t have known it from the creations he’s released over the past few years. Chief Operating Officer Tim Cook will be taking over, but will Apple still be, you know, Apple without Jobs? I have my doubts.

Astronomers discovered a new planet made largely of diamond. Not even Kim K or Katie Middleton could boast a rock this big — it’s about 34,175 miles in diameter. We won’t be harvesting it for engagement rings any time soon, though. The as-of-yet unnamed planet is about 4,000 light years away. In fact, astronomers aren’t quite sure what outer space’s new bling even looks like yet. Travis Metcalfe at the National Center for Atmospheric Research said that “it’s highly speculative…  [but] if you shine a light on it, I can’t see any reason why it wouldn’t sparkle like a diamond.”

Only days after a rare earthquake rattled East-coasters, Hurricane Irene descended. The 5.8-magnitude earthquake was felt from Georgia to Canada, but there was barely any damage. Unless, of course, you count the damaged pride of us frightened Easterners- Californians loved mocking our freak-out over such a minor quake. The West Coast was definitely not laughing at the other natural disaster that hit the opposite side of the country this week, though. The much-hyped Hurricane Irene caused extensive damage along the coast, and as of last night the death toll was at 20. Here’s hoping that number stays put. Irene makes 2011 the most expensive year of natural disasters. Did someone say global warming?

Pic o’ the Week:

Photo Credit: CNN

A new, $120 million monument honoring Martin Luther King, Jr. was unveiled in Washington, D.C. this weekend. Even though the dedication scheduled for Sunday — 48 years after King’s “I have a dream” speech — was cancelled because of Irene, visitors showed up anyway to see the 30-foot statue. Some critics claim that MLK looks “too white” and “a tad pouty” in the piece. What do you think?

The cast of ‘True Blood’ is here to help your…withdrawals

Random hotties in t-shirts

Steve Jobs has an awesome way of dealing with stupid questions

Charlie Sheen’s allowed back on network TV?!

Staying office-appropriate on scorching hot days

How to make summer last

Ashley takes the boys to Thailand in ‘The Bachelorette’

Kim’s suing the heck out of that football player

•Who’s side are you on for the ‘RH of OC’?

How many times a week a day do you Google yourself? An embarrassing amount, right? Almost as embarrassing as the amount of time I spend diagnosing myself with fatal diseases on WebMD. But when we’re not googling our own name and Facebook stalking our frenemies, we’re googling (and ogling) guys. Like, a lot. So we wanted to do a totally scientific study (please note that we did this research while also doing research on the effects of Four Loko on a professional work day) on the most googled guys on the internet. And we were SHOCKED by the results. Like apparently no one else is as into Barry Manilow as I am. But a lot of people are really into Ne-Yo. Who knew?! Now you do!

Over 120 mobsters were arrested on Thursday in New York City’s biggest Mafia bust in history. If you thought the Mafia was just for the movies or Facebook games, well that’s what they wanted you to think. The gangsters were charged with various accounts of murder, extortion and narcotics trafficking. And, yes, of course, prosecuting the mobsters for the crimes they commit is serious business, but it’s hard not to laugh at the nicknames of some of the men who have been arrested. I can’t really imagine Jello, Vinny Carwash, Marbles, Johnny Lollipop, Lumpy, the Professor, or Tony Bagels being too intimidating, but hey, maybe that was part of their strategy.

Italy’s Prime Minister, Silvio Berlusconi, is deep in the throes of a sex scandal involving charges of prostitution and sex with a minor. The scandal has been brewing for weeks, but it intensified this week when the minor he is charged with having sex with appeared on television. She denied that he ever “laid a finger on her,” even though prosecutors claim extensive wiretaps disprove this claim. Did he, didn’t he… regardless, the guy’s level of sketchiness would never fly for an American politician. One wiretap reveals one of the PM’s agents telling a young woman that she should go out and get a nurse’s outfit for a party that night and wear nothing underneath except white garters. Um…ew? Despite all this, most Italians are standing behind him- polls show increased positive ratings for his party and less than half of Italians believe he should resign.

Steve Jobs is taking a medical leave of absence from his role at Apple. Jobs has become a symbol of the success of Apple over the past decade- he brought us the game-changing and iconic technologies like the iPod, iPhone and iPad. Without him leading the company, many wonder how Apple will fare. There is so much doubt, in fact, that Apple stock lost 15 billion dollars in value the morning after the announcement of his leave was made!  He and his company are tight-lipped about his condition, but this is the third time he has taken leave and some worry this time it could be for good. Jobs has consistently imagined and revealed Apple’s new, groundbreaking products – it’s hard to imagine the company without him.

Author Amy Chua has set off intense debate with her claims that a strict, “extreme parenting” style is the best way to raise children. The controversy started a few weeks ago when the Yale professor published an excerpt from her new memoir, “Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother,” in the Wall Street Journal. She listed some of the things her daughters couldn’t do – no sleepovers, playdates, school plays, grades less than As – and what they had to do – play violin or piano, practice at least two hours a day. Once she even threatened to burn her daughter’s stuffed animals if she didn’t play a piano composition perfectly… scary, huh? Since the essay was published, people just haven’t been able to get over the “Tiger Mother”; numerous opinion pieces, columns and even death threats have been written. I was raised in what she would consider the coddling, overly indulgent Western style, and I think I turned out pretty well…but then again, I wasn’t at the top of all my classes and haven’t played at Carnegie Hall, so she’d probably consider that her point well proven.

Picture of the Week:

Photo courtesy of Associated Press.

President Hu Jintao of China visited the White House last week to discuss relations between the two countries. While the meetings between the two world leaders should have been the focus of the event, it was Michelle Obama’s fashion choice that got world talking. Many, including Oscar de la Renta, disliked the First Lady’s choice of an Alexander McQueen gown, but I think she looks stunning.

Well, close to a month later, I am sad to admit that though I have been entirely satisfied with “Jose” (my delicious techie partner-in-crime), there are some bad qualities about Steve Jobs, Apple and the iPhone that I just can’t ignore. First things first, yes, the reception is entirely sucky. I can’t even hold my phone “correctly” without the bars going down significantly. And even when I have full reception (which is rare, btw) I get so many dropped calls that I don’t even want to call people. My flash is way too bright, making all the photos that I take all night look ghostly and scary. Plus, even though Facetime is awesome (no, seriously, really awesome), it’s so shaky and unreliable on Wi-Fi that unless I’m using it to talk to my friends in other rooms under the same network, it rarely gives me the video chat experience that I had previously envisioned.

Which sorta defeats the purpose, yes?

But still, just like with that bad boy who keeps treating me like crap, I keep making excuses for Steve, Apple and “Jose.” I tell all my friends, “Who makes phone calls nowadays? It’s all about texting!” and “I don’t care if the pictures look funny, Jose’s got an amazing flash!” I just can’t walk away. I know Jose isn’t perfect and that I can’t fix him, but I keep hoping and praying that my love is enough to get us by. That he’ll change, that he’ll become the functional phone I know he can be. 

My friends and family are worried. “Why would you get that phone and stand by it, knowing about all of its defects?” they ask. And I don’t have an excuse. I explain that Jose is my best friend. He keeps me in check and reminds me to turn assignments in on time. He plays music for me when I’m sad, runs with me when I’m angry, but most importantly, he gets me (in the whole ‘I can store a lot of useful apps’ kind of way). So what if he’s not perfect. WHO IS?

So I keep running back. No matter what excuses Steve comes up with and no matter how much I hate not being able to make PHONE CALLS on my PHONE, I forgive Mr. Jobs. When he tells me he’ll fix the reception problem with a software update, I believe him. When he tells me I am holding the phone the wrong way, I punish myself for not thinking ahead. I trust him.  and despite all his shortcomings, he has been good to me.

I want to stop, but I can’t.
Like the jerks we are often attracted to, I still love Steve, Apple and most importantly, Jose.