Kate Beckinsale and the road to Underworld stardom

Kate Beckinsale has a hit with Underworld: Awakening. The latest Underworld movie opened at No. 1 and made an estimated $25 million in its first weekend. Beckinsale starred in the first two installations and her return for Underworld 4 in 2012 is seen as a key reason for the film’s success at the box office. How did Beckinsale — who plays the catsuit-wearing, Lycan-slaying vampire Selene in the Underworld series — go from a modest British actress to a global box office draw? ENGLISH:

Lana Del Rey’s Born to Die eviscerated by critics

Lana Del Rey’s new album Born to Die has been panned by Pitchfork, Billboard, Spin and Stereogum. Video Games, voted best song of 2011 by the Guardian’s critics, was the first we heard of Lana Del Rey, but subsequent performances, including an appearance on Saturday Night Live, have been terrible. Her performance on SNL was so bad NBC anchor and indie rock fan Brian Williams wrote an email to Gawker calling her a “Brooklyn hippster [sic]” and her performance “one of the worst outings in SNL history.” Juliette Lewis also tweeted negatively about her performance. Del Rey fans say her songs are good and she simply needs more time to come into her own. Critics…

Tuesday Weather Girl: Mia

The first 31 days of 2012 have passed in a blink of an eye!! Enjoy the last Kunoichi dance by Mia. See you next month! Check out behind-the-scenes photos of the girls and the rest of the new, improved Weather Girls on their Facebook page. Watch more Weather Girls forecasts for the US and Taiwan on Next TV.

Twitter to censor tweets on a country-by-country basis

Twitter has unveiled plans to censor tweets on a country-by-country basis, drawing criticism from free-speech advocates a year after it was praised by Internet Freedom advocates for allowing Egyptian dissidents to continue tweeting after the Internet was blocked during the Arab Spring. Twitter says its country-specific censorship is meant to replace its previous system, when tweets that were taken down disappeared completely. Twitter will now censor some tweets in certain countries, but posts will remain visible elsewhere in the world. Twitter says it will be transparent about when and why tweets are censored. Twitter will post information on censored tweets, such as government requests that tweets be removed, at chillingeffects.org. Many Twitter users, however, are…

Widower falls for hot chic with ‘extra stick’

This 30-ish hot chic was originally a dude. She drove this New Taipei City man (the victim) crazy. She took his money and much more. The victim told Apple Daily he met this “chic” in an online chat room in February last year . The two of them got along really well. The “chic” asked to move in with the victim. The two of them went to a motel later on, and that’s how he discovered the “chic” had a penis. The “chic” confessed that when “she” took too many hormones, it made “her” want to get a sex change.

Nagging in marriage a leading cause of divorce

A Wall Street Journal article claims nagging is a leading cause of divorce, and could be just as damaging to a marriage as adultery. Research conducted by University of Denver professor and Center for Marital and Family Studies co-director Howard Markman suggests that couples who engage in constant nagging often fight about the nagging itself and don’t work to resolve the underlying issue. Negative communication patterns account for 20% of wedded couples’ overall dissatisfaction in their first five years of marriage. The article goes on to place much of the blame on women, as they tend to feel a greater responsibility to see that things get done around the house. However, men aren’t totally innocent….

Monday Weather Girl: Dara

When Dara is around, Mondays are no longer blue! Follow Ninja Dara with her moves, then she’s going to tell you all about the weather. Check out behind-the-scenes photos of the girls and the rest of the new, improved Weather Girls on their Facebook page. Watch more Weather Girls forecasts for the US and Taiwan on Next TV.

Nintendo bets on Wii U to reverse profit slide

Mama Mia, Mario! Nintendo is competing with the Xbox, PlayStation 3 and Angry Birds and its earnings are down! The Wii used to be the hottest game system in town, but Nintendo’s new 3DS has not been such a hit. Recently, the 3DS dropped in price from $250 to $169, cutting into Nintendo’s profits. Even worse, there have been reports that the 3D game system makes gamers dizzy and nauseous. Not fun times. The company has been in slumps before. The Gamecube was ridiculed for being a kid’s game system before the company turned it around with the Wii. Now Nintendo is resting its hopes on the Wii U controller, which looks like a tablet….