"A tribute to Steve Irwin"

Steve Irwin , the popular television presenter better known as the 'Crocodile Hunter', has passed away following a marine accident.

The 44-year old was filming an underwater documentary on Monday morning, and police sources in Cairns, north Australia, say he was killed by a stingray barb.

Only the second known Australian fatality from a stingray attack, Irwin seemed to have been stung either through his heart or the left side of his chest, following which he immediately suffered a cardiac arrest. He is survived by wife Terri and their two children, Bindi Sue, 8, and Robert, 3.

Also aiding his global following were his pro-conservation, environmentalist approach and his encyclopaedic knowledge and love of crocodiles.
Australian naturalist and animal-lover Steve Irwin has died after being struck in the chest by a stingray's barb.
Irwin had been filming a documentary on his boat Croc One in Queensland's Great Barrier Reef on the day of his death. Paramedics were unable to save his life.

The 44-year-old was famous around the world for handling dangerous animals, including an anaconda during a TV appearance on the Jay Leno Show.

Mr Irwin's wife Terri was often at his side, to help deal with animals such as the albino Burmese python.

Father-of-two Mr Irwin grew up on his parents' reptile park and became fascinated with animals after receiving a python as a present on his sixth birthday
He was also a passionate conservationist and was pictured with a variety of animals, such as Kimberly the camel in 2003.
There was outrage in 2004 when Mr Irwin held his one-month-old son near a crocodile during a show. He said his children, including daughter Bindi, had to grow up to be "croc savvy".
Mr Irwin, who handled dangerous animals such as the taipan snake, turned a small reptile park in Queensland into Australia Zoo. It has now become a major wildlife centre.
And Mr Irwin emphasised his dedication to saving endangered species by creating the Steve Irwin Conservation Foundation.

Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said he was "fond" of Mr Irwin and "very, very appreciative" of his work in promoting Australia overseas.

rIcHaRd bRaNsOn......

Richard Branson is a flamboyant British entrepreneur with a seemingly insatiable appetite for starting new businesses. His internationally recognized brand "Virgin" is splashed across everything from credit cards, to airlines and music "megastores". Richard Branson was born on July 18, 1950. His entrepreneurial ways began early when he was publishing a student magazine at just 16 years. Branson did not go on to graduate school but in 1970 the now famous Virgin brand had its beginnings in the form of a discount records mail order venture that he and his friend Nik Powell worked on.

Branson started his first record business after he traveled across the English Channel and purchased crates of "cut-out" records from a record discounter. He sold the records out of the boot of his car to retail outlets in London. He continued selling cut-outs through a record mail order business in 1970. Trading under the name "Virgin" he sold records for considerably less than the "High Street" outlets, especially the chain W. H. Smith. The name "Virgin" was suggested by one of Branson's early employees, who suggested the name because they were all new at business.

Branson eventually started a record shop in Oxford Street in London and, shortly after, launched the record label Virgin Records with Nik Powell. Branson earned enough money from his record store to buy a country estate, in which he installed a recording studio. He leased out studio time to fledgling artists, including multi-instrumentalist Mike Oldfield. In 1971, Branson was arrested and charged for selling records in Virgin stores that had been declared export stock. He settled out-of-court with UK Customs and Excise with an agreement to repay the unpaid tax and fines. Branson's mother Eve re-mortgaged the family home to help pay the settlement.

In 1992, to keep his airline company afloat, Branson sold the Virgin label to EMI for $1 billion. Branson says that he wept when the sale was completed since the record business had been the genesis of the Virgin Empire. He later formed V2 Records to re-enter the music business. This was later sold to Zavvi, which has since closed all stores permanently. A 1998 attempt at an around-the-world balloon flight by Branson, Fossett, and Lindstrand ends in the Pacific Ocean on 25 December 1998.

Richard Branson made several world record-breaking attempts after 1985, when in the spirit of the Blue Riband he attempted the fastest Atlantic Ocean crossing. His first attempt in the "Virgin Atlantic Challenger" led to the boat capsizing in British waters and a rescue by RAF helicopter, which received wide media coverage. Some newspapers called for Branson to reimburse the government for the rescue cost. In 1986, in his "Virgin Atlantic Challenger II", with sailing expert Daniel McCarthy, he beat the record by two hours. A year later his hot air balloon "Virgin Atlantic Flyer" crossed the Atlantic. This was the largest balloon at 2.3 million cubic feet (65,000 m³), and the first hot-air balloon crossing the Atlantic. It reached 130 miles per hour (209 km/h).

In January 1991, Branson crossed the Pacific from Japan to Arctic Canada, 6,700 miles (10,800 km), in a balloon of 2,600,000 cubic feet (74,000 m3). This broke the record, with a speed of 245 miles per hour (394 km/h). In March 2004, Branson set a record by travelling from Dover to Calais in a Gibbs Aquada, in 1 hour, 40 minutes, and 6 seconds, the fastest crossing of the English Channel in an amphibious vehicle. Branson has guest starred, usually playing himself, on several television shows, including Friends, Baywatch, Birds of a Feather, Only Fools and Horses. Branson also appears in a cameo early in XTC's "Generals and Majors" video.
He was also the star of a reality television show on Fox called The Rebel Billionaire: Branson's Quest for the Best (2004), in which sixteen contestants were tested for their entrepreneurship and sense of adventure. His high public profile often leaves him open as a figure of satire—the 2000 AD series Zenith features a parody of Branson as a super villain, as the comic's publisher and favoured distributor and the Virgin group were in competition at the time.

He has a cameo appearance in several films: Around the World in 80 Days (2004), where he played a hot-air balloon operator; Superman Returns, where he was credited as a 'Shuttle Engineer' and appeared alongside his son, Sam, with a Virgin Galactic-style commercial suborbital shuttle at the centre of his storyline. He also has a cameo in the James Bond film Casino Royale. Here, he is seen as a passenger going through Miami Airport security check-in and being frisked – several Virgin Atlantic planes appear soon after. British Airways edited out Branson's cameo. In March 2008 he made a small appearance in a budget Bollywood action film alongside Neha Dhupia. Branson caused a stir in the Indian media as he turned Dhupia upside down on a stage.

StEvE JoBs

Steve Jobs is the co-founder and CEO of Apple and Pixar.

“Innovation distinguishes between a leader and a follower.” -Steve Jobs

Steve Jobs regularly makes most rosters of the rich and powerful. It is surprising for a guy who takes home an annual salary of U.S. $1. The reasons why he is on all power lists are; Apple, Next, iPod and Pixar. Jobs is also known as the one man who could have upstaged Bill Gates. But Jobs was as excited about innovation as Bill Gates was interested in making money.

Steve Jobs was born in Green Bay, Wisconsin to Joanne Simpson and an Egyptian Arab father. Paul and Clara Jobs of Mountain View, Santa Clara County, California then adopted him. The writer Mona Simpson is Jobs’ biological sister. In 1972, Jobs graduated from Homestead High School in Cupertino, California and enrolled in Reed College in Portland, Oregon. One semester later he had dropped out. But instead of going back home he hung around college and took up the study of philosophy and foreign cultures.

Steve Jobs had a deep-seated interest in technology so he took up a job at Atari Inc. which was a leading manufacturer of video games. He struck a friendship with fellow designer Steve Wozniak and attended meetings of the “Homebrew Computer Club” with him. Wozniak and Jobs developed a system with a toy whistle available in the Cap’n Crunch cereal box to make it possible to make free long distance telephone calls. They called off the amateur venture after someone told them of the possible legal consequences.

After saving up some money Steve Jobs took off for India in the search of enlightenment with his friend Dan Kottke. Once he returned he convinced Wozniak to quit his job at Hewlett Packard and join him in his venture that concerned personal computers. They sold items like a scientific calculator to raise the seed capital.
In 1976, Jobs, then 21, and Wozniak, 26, founded Apple Computer Co. in the Jobs family garage. The first personal computer was sold for $666.66. By 1980, Apple had already released three improved versions of the personal computer. It had a wildly successful IPO, which made both founders millionaires many times over. Steve Jobs had managed to rope in John Scully of Pepsi to head the marketing function in Apple.
A tiff with the Apple board and John Scully led to the resignation of Steve Jobs. As soon as he resigned he immersed himself in his brand new venture. Steve Jobs decided that he wanted to change the hardware industry. The company was called NeXTStep and the new machine was called NeXT Computer. He ploughed in more than U.S. $250 million into the company. The machine was a commercial washout but it did help in object-oriented programming, PostScript, and magneto-optical devices. Tim Berners-Lee developed the original World Wide Web system at CERN on a NeXT machine. Bitterly disappointed with NeXTStep, Jobs accepted the offer that Apple made him.
Steve Jobs also started Pixar Inc., which has gone on to produce animated movies such as Toy Story (1995); A Bug’s Life (1998); Toy Story 2 (1999); Monsters, Inc. (2001); Finding Nemo (2003); and The Incredibles (2004). This venture has made him one of the most sought after men in Hollywood.

Post Pixar, Steve Jobs wanted another round of revolutionizing to do. This time it was the music industry. He introduced the iPod in 2003. Later he came up with iTunes, which was a digital jukebox. A million and a half iPods later, the music industry still does not know whether this invention will save it or destroy it. Apple has a great advertising track record and its ‘Rip, Mix, Burn’ campaign was another feather in its cap. Now the industry uses a Mac to make the music and an iPod to store it.

Steve Jobs lives with his wife, Laurene Powell and their three children in Silicon Valley. He also has a daughter, Lisa Jobs from a previous relationship. In 2004, there was a cancerous tumor in his pancreas, which was successfully operated upon.

Milestones

Steve Jobs — Named one of Time Magazine's top 25 most influential people on the web
Steve Jobs added a position as Founder at Pixar.
Steve Jobs added a position as CEO at Apple.
Steve Jobs added a position as Founder at NeXT.