Los Angeles (E! Online) - Apropos of its only in L.A. plotline, Anthony Pellicanos trial could turn out to be a star-studded affair.
Chris Rock, Sylvester Stallone, Gary Shandling, Farrah Fawcett, Keith Carradine, Die Hard director John McTiernan and multiple studio executives and high-profile lawyers have made the list of potential prosecution witnesses made public on Wednesday.
A jury has been seated and opening statements are expected to kick off Thursday in Pellicanos trial on federal wiretapping and racketeering charges charges, with the former Hollywood dirt digger-upper planning to act as his own attorney.
Paramount Pictures chief executive Brad Grey, Universal Studios president Ron Meyer, erstwhile top talent agent Michael Ovitz and celebrity attorney Bert Fields are also among the 127 people who could be called to testify.
Rock has been identified as a former client of Pellicanos, having hired the private investigator to look into a paternity suit filed against him by model Monika Zsibrita in 1999.
The comedian admitted to employing Pellicano based on the detectives previously excellent reputation, but he maintains he was unaware of the P.I.s allegedly unscrupulous tactics, which per authorities accounts have included planting illegal wiretaps and utilizing insider contacts to comb trough the Los Angeles Police Departments confidential criminal database.
Stallone, Shandling and Carradine, meanwhile, have allegedly been on the receiving end of Pellicanos brand of hardball, targeted while the investigator was under the employ of others.
Carradine sued Pellicano in March 2006, accusing him of illicit eavesdropping while working for his ex-wife, Sandra Will Carradine, during their nasty divorce battle in the late 1990s, charging the duo were romantically involved at the time.
McTiernan remains free on $50,000 bail while he appeals his four-month prison sentence for lying to federal investigators in connection with their pursuit of Pellicano.
The filmmaker, one of 13 people charged in connection with Pellicanos alleged activities, originally claimed to have no knowledge of the private eyes illegal doings, but authorities later learned he had hired Pellicano specifically to listen in on a business associates conversations.
Thursday, March 6, 2008
Rocker Scott Weiland pleads innocent in drug case (Reuters)
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - U.S. rocker Scott Weiland pleaded innocent on Wednesday to driving under the influence of drugs, a charge stemming from his November arrest on a Los Angeles freeway onramp.
The 40-year-old singer for the band Velvet Revolver was not in court but entered his plea to the misdemeanor charge through a defense attorney.
Weiland is free on 40,000 bail and was due back in court for a pretrial hearing on April 4.
If convicted he faces up to one year in jail because he has a prior conviction for driving under the influence, a spokesman for the Los Angeles City Attorneys Office said.
Weiland, who first gained fame as lead singer for Stone Temple Pilots, was stopped by police on November 21 while driving onto the Hollywood Freeway. He was taken into custody after refusing to take a sobriety test.
(Reporting by Dan Whitcomb; Editing by Bob Tourtellotte and Xavier Briand)
The 40-year-old singer for the band Velvet Revolver was not in court but entered his plea to the misdemeanor charge through a defense attorney.
Weiland is free on 40,000 bail and was due back in court for a pretrial hearing on April 4.
If convicted he faces up to one year in jail because he has a prior conviction for driving under the influence, a spokesman for the Los Angeles City Attorneys Office said.
Weiland, who first gained fame as lead singer for Stone Temple Pilots, was stopped by police on November 21 while driving onto the Hollywood Freeway. He was taken into custody after refusing to take a sobriety test.
(Reporting by Dan Whitcomb; Editing by Bob Tourtellotte and Xavier Briand)
Dell's Ruggedized Laptop Features Simplicity (NewsFactor)
Road warriors who are tough on notebooks have reason to rejoice. On Tuesday, Dell unveiled its first fully ruggedized laptop, the Latitude XFR D630. Selling for $3,899, the system promises extreme durability without compromising performance. The target audience is government and commercial users.
"The Latitude XFR D630 represents a tectonic shift toward simplicity in the ruggedized laptop space," said Brett McAnally, director of the Dell Product Group. "We are taking a multidimensional approach that focuses on simplified deployment, service and durability without sacrificing performance. Major competitors focus their efforts on rugged only."
RUGGED SPECS
For all the market-speak, the XFR D630 does offer some rugged specs. The laptop meets MIL-STD 810F standards from the Department of Defense for products that operate in extreme temperatures, moisture and altitude. It has shock-isolated mounting to help protect the hard drive, LCD screen and core electronic elements, and a sealed keyboard designed to withstand driving rain and dust.
A patent-pending thermal management system allows the laptop to use the latest technology and deliver up to four times better graphics performance than the Panasonic ToughBook CF-30, the company said. Dell also claims the XFR D630 offers five times more data durability than leading competitors with solid-state drives. Batteries, Dell said, charge at least 30 minutes faster than competitors.
AN EXTREME NICHE
The ruggedized laptop market is, quite literally, one of extremes, according to Charles King, principal analyst at Pund-IT. Military users take these machines into the field, where they are used for everything from managing encrypted communications to directing troop movements to targeting heavy weapons fire. Commercial users may bring them to construction, desert and subpolar oil fields, and on highways and at sea.
"Such diverse usage might suggest that a similarly diverse group of vendors would inhabit the ruggedized laptop market, but that assumption would be incorrect," King said. "Developing and delivering laptops that can withstand extreme conditions is an expensive proposition reflected in the high entry cost of these products."
Indeed, the rugged laptop market has few competitors. Panasonic has the Toughbook, General Dynamics offers the Tadpole, and specialists like GETAC and Symbol offer rugged notebooks models. But the high cost of the machines in comparison to commercial notebooks and the high price of maintenance and support has made this a specialized market.
DELIVERING ON SIMPLICITY PROMISE
"Since these products are built to take a beating, they do, with all too predictably painful results. How do users, often in remote locations with service techs nowhere in sight, return broken systems for maintenance as many vendors demand? Quite simply, at high cost," King said. "That is a fundamental issue Dell aims to correct with the new Latitude XFR D630."
Sharing common images and components with the companys current Latitude laptops should make repairs simpler and cheaper than many other systems, King said, and the special "butterfly" mechanisms are designed to simplify on-field repair and replacement of components.
Still, most analysts arent betting Dell will reap large revenue streams from ruggedized laptops. The XFR D630, however, clearly reflects Dells overarching Simplify IT strategy and allows the company to present a more fully end-to-end solution set to its private and public-sector customers, King said.
"Delivering laptops that can and do go wherever employees must, no matter what the demands, could also help Dells Latitude XFR D630 become a veritable Humvee of laptops, making it synonymous with environmentally extreme computing," King added.
"The Latitude XFR D630 represents a tectonic shift toward simplicity in the ruggedized laptop space," said Brett McAnally, director of the Dell Product Group. "We are taking a multidimensional approach that focuses on simplified deployment, service and durability without sacrificing performance. Major competitors focus their efforts on rugged only."
RUGGED SPECS
For all the market-speak, the XFR D630 does offer some rugged specs. The laptop meets MIL-STD 810F standards from the Department of Defense for products that operate in extreme temperatures, moisture and altitude. It has shock-isolated mounting to help protect the hard drive, LCD screen and core electronic elements, and a sealed keyboard designed to withstand driving rain and dust.
A patent-pending thermal management system allows the laptop to use the latest technology and deliver up to four times better graphics performance than the Panasonic ToughBook CF-30, the company said. Dell also claims the XFR D630 offers five times more data durability than leading competitors with solid-state drives. Batteries, Dell said, charge at least 30 minutes faster than competitors.
AN EXTREME NICHE
The ruggedized laptop market is, quite literally, one of extremes, according to Charles King, principal analyst at Pund-IT. Military users take these machines into the field, where they are used for everything from managing encrypted communications to directing troop movements to targeting heavy weapons fire. Commercial users may bring them to construction, desert and subpolar oil fields, and on highways and at sea.
"Such diverse usage might suggest that a similarly diverse group of vendors would inhabit the ruggedized laptop market, but that assumption would be incorrect," King said. "Developing and delivering laptops that can withstand extreme conditions is an expensive proposition reflected in the high entry cost of these products."
Indeed, the rugged laptop market has few competitors. Panasonic has the Toughbook, General Dynamics offers the Tadpole, and specialists like GETAC and Symbol offer rugged notebooks models. But the high cost of the machines in comparison to commercial notebooks and the high price of maintenance and support has made this a specialized market.
DELIVERING ON SIMPLICITY PROMISE
"Since these products are built to take a beating, they do, with all too predictably painful results. How do users, often in remote locations with service techs nowhere in sight, return broken systems for maintenance as many vendors demand? Quite simply, at high cost," King said. "That is a fundamental issue Dell aims to correct with the new Latitude XFR D630."
Sharing common images and components with the companys current Latitude laptops should make repairs simpler and cheaper than many other systems, King said, and the special "butterfly" mechanisms are designed to simplify on-field repair and replacement of components.
Still, most analysts arent betting Dell will reap large revenue streams from ruggedized laptops. The XFR D630, however, clearly reflects Dells overarching Simplify IT strategy and allows the company to present a more fully end-to-end solution set to its private and public-sector customers, King said.
"Delivering laptops that can and do go wherever employees must, no matter what the demands, could also help Dells Latitude XFR D630 become a veritable Humvee of laptops, making it synonymous with environmentally extreme computing," King added.
Chinese actress Bai Ling fined 200 dollars in shoplifting case (AFP)
LOS ANGELES (AFP) - Chinese-born Hollywood actress Bai Ling, arrested last month on suspicion of shoplifting, pleaded guilty Wednesday to disturbing the peace and was ordered to pay a 200 dollar fine, officials said.
The starlet was detained by an employee in a magazine shop in Los Angeles International Airport February 13 and booked by police on suspicion of shoplifting two magazines and a pack of batteries worth 16 dollars, police said.
Ling has featured in numerous films including "The Crow," "Wild Wild West," and "Anna and the King," and in the television series "Lost."
The starlet was detained by an employee in a magazine shop in Los Angeles International Airport February 13 and booked by police on suspicion of shoplifting two magazines and a pack of batteries worth 16 dollars, police said.
Ling has featured in numerous films including "The Crow," "Wild Wild West," and "Anna and the King," and in the television series "Lost."
Wednesday, March 5, 2008
CeBIT tech fair presents gadgets both hot and weird (AFP)
HANOVER, Germany (AFP) - If swimming goggles with an in-built underwater camera, a bamboo laptop or a pink crocodile PC case is your thing then Germanys CeBIT IT fair is for you.
The technology fair, with 5,500 exhibitors the worlds biggest, opened its doors to the public in Hanover on Tuesday and runs to March 9, allowing thousands of visitors to check out the hottest and also the weirdest gadgets.
A chilly wind was blowing across the vast exhibition centre, but when summer comes Liquid Image thinks its yellow goggles with an in-built digital camera are just the accessory.
On the top of the range model, which sells for 129 euros, the 5.0 megapixel camera and 16 megabite memory allows you to take up to 29 photos or 53 seconds of video up to a depth of 30 metres (100 feet), the firm says.
Also on show for eyeware was a pair of sunglasses from Chinese firm Xonix not only with an in-built camera but also with an MP3 player, while another from Taiwans Inter Brands includes music and bluetooth so you can use it as a phone.
But forget the glasses -- in the 21st century you cant be seen toting your laptop around in anything other than a pink, fake crocodile skin case, or so French firm Sweetcover would have you believe.
Their cases, which also come in other more traditional colours and materials including real leather, retail for around 70 euros (105 dollars) in Paris boutiques and soon elsewhere, the firms founder and president Raphael Taieb told AFP.
Not only will you avoid getting hot knees, he says, but the covers high-tech design, which incorporates 70 different fabrics, ensures the computer will not overheat -- something which other luxury goods makers have failed to achieve with their prototypes, Taieb claims.
The cases will protect your laptop and turn it into a "subtle and seductive" piece of hardware, the company says. It has straps to keep the computer in place, is open at the sides and has holes in the back for cables.
Other bling-bling novelties included a Giorgio Armani mobile phone from Samsung and a Lamborghini laptop complete with the Italian sportscar makers badge and partly made of leather -- yours to take home for 2,999 euros (4,561 dollars) with an aerodynamic mouse with yellow go-faster stripes.
Its maker Asus was also showing off computers made partly out of bamboo --- to give it an eco-friendly style, a salesman at the Taiwanese firms stand said. It has not yet decided whether to launch them on the market, however.
On the sillier side, Californian firm Ugobe presented a small, robotic dinosaur dubbed Pleo similar to Sonys AIBO robotic dog that has to be looked after and nurtured like a Tamagotchi.
Pleo can be programmed via a USB cable connected to your computer or with a memory card slotted into its underbelly so it can learn new tricks like barking at intruders or performing a leaf tug-of-war with another Pleo or its owner.
The green and brown pet, which retails for around 300 euros in Europe, is babylike when young and coos and purrs with pleasure when tickled under the chin. But it also gets hungry and can have mood swings, just like humans.
It is based on the Camarasaurus, a late-Jurassic North American herbivore, 20 metres (66 feet) long in adulthood. Members of the online Pleo community can even create their own tricks to upload.
And if you want to keep an eye on your sleeping baby -- or to make sure Pleo isnt bothering the cat downstairs -- Chinas RDI was presenting a teddy bear with a hidden camera in its left eye.
The technology fair, with 5,500 exhibitors the worlds biggest, opened its doors to the public in Hanover on Tuesday and runs to March 9, allowing thousands of visitors to check out the hottest and also the weirdest gadgets.
A chilly wind was blowing across the vast exhibition centre, but when summer comes Liquid Image thinks its yellow goggles with an in-built digital camera are just the accessory.
On the top of the range model, which sells for 129 euros, the 5.0 megapixel camera and 16 megabite memory allows you to take up to 29 photos or 53 seconds of video up to a depth of 30 metres (100 feet), the firm says.
Also on show for eyeware was a pair of sunglasses from Chinese firm Xonix not only with an in-built camera but also with an MP3 player, while another from Taiwans Inter Brands includes music and bluetooth so you can use it as a phone.
But forget the glasses -- in the 21st century you cant be seen toting your laptop around in anything other than a pink, fake crocodile skin case, or so French firm Sweetcover would have you believe.
Their cases, which also come in other more traditional colours and materials including real leather, retail for around 70 euros (105 dollars) in Paris boutiques and soon elsewhere, the firms founder and president Raphael Taieb told AFP.
Not only will you avoid getting hot knees, he says, but the covers high-tech design, which incorporates 70 different fabrics, ensures the computer will not overheat -- something which other luxury goods makers have failed to achieve with their prototypes, Taieb claims.
The cases will protect your laptop and turn it into a "subtle and seductive" piece of hardware, the company says. It has straps to keep the computer in place, is open at the sides and has holes in the back for cables.
Other bling-bling novelties included a Giorgio Armani mobile phone from Samsung and a Lamborghini laptop complete with the Italian sportscar makers badge and partly made of leather -- yours to take home for 2,999 euros (4,561 dollars) with an aerodynamic mouse with yellow go-faster stripes.
Its maker Asus was also showing off computers made partly out of bamboo --- to give it an eco-friendly style, a salesman at the Taiwanese firms stand said. It has not yet decided whether to launch them on the market, however.
On the sillier side, Californian firm Ugobe presented a small, robotic dinosaur dubbed Pleo similar to Sonys AIBO robotic dog that has to be looked after and nurtured like a Tamagotchi.
Pleo can be programmed via a USB cable connected to your computer or with a memory card slotted into its underbelly so it can learn new tricks like barking at intruders or performing a leaf tug-of-war with another Pleo or its owner.
The green and brown pet, which retails for around 300 euros in Europe, is babylike when young and coos and purrs with pleasure when tickled under the chin. But it also gets hungry and can have mood swings, just like humans.
It is based on the Camarasaurus, a late-Jurassic North American herbivore, 20 metres (66 feet) long in adulthood. Members of the online Pleo community can even create their own tricks to upload.
And if you want to keep an eye on your sleeping baby -- or to make sure Pleo isnt bothering the cat downstairs -- Chinas RDI was presenting a teddy bear with a hidden camera in its left eye.
Scott Weiland pleads in DUI case (AP)
LOS ANGELES - Scott Weiland has pleaded not guilty to driving under the influence of drugs when he crashed his car in November. An attorney entered the plea Wednesday for the Stone Temple Pilots and Velvet Revolver singer, who was not required to appear in court for his arraignment because of the misdemeanor count.
A pretrial hearing was set for April 4.
Weiland was arrested Nov. 21 after he crashed his car on a state highway. The rocker, who had a prior DUI conviction in 2004, could face eight days to a year in jail and a $1,000 fine if convicted, prosecutors have said.
A pretrial hearing was set for April 4.
Weiland was arrested Nov. 21 after he crashed his car on a state highway. The rocker, who had a prior DUI conviction in 2004, could face eight days to a year in jail and a $1,000 fine if convicted, prosecutors have said.
Actress Bai Ling pleads guilty to disturbing peace (Reuters)
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Chinese-born actress Bai Ling, arrested last month on suspicion of shoplifting at Los Angeles International Airport, pleaded guilty on Wednesday to disturbing the peace.
The 37-year-old actress, who has appeared in such films as "The Crow" and "Red Corner," faces a fine of several hundred dollars in the case, a spokesman for the Los Angeles City Attorneys Office said.
She was arrested at the airport on February 13 and booked on suspicion of shoplifting after a gift shop employee accused her of stealing two magazines and a pack of batteries.
Born in Chengdu, China, she appeared in Chinese films before moving to the United States in the 1990s and landing her first major Hollywood film role in "The Crow." She is often credited for her performances as Ling Bai.
The actress has since had roles in numerous Hollywood movies such as "Red Corner," "Anna and the King" and "Lords of Dogtown." She recently appeared on the U.S. television series "Lost."
(Reporting by Dan Whitcomb; Editing by Bob Tourtellotte and Xavier Briand)
The 37-year-old actress, who has appeared in such films as "The Crow" and "Red Corner," faces a fine of several hundred dollars in the case, a spokesman for the Los Angeles City Attorneys Office said.
She was arrested at the airport on February 13 and booked on suspicion of shoplifting after a gift shop employee accused her of stealing two magazines and a pack of batteries.
Born in Chengdu, China, she appeared in Chinese films before moving to the United States in the 1990s and landing her first major Hollywood film role in "The Crow." She is often credited for her performances as Ling Bai.
The actress has since had roles in numerous Hollywood movies such as "Red Corner," "Anna and the King" and "Lords of Dogtown." She recently appeared on the U.S. television series "Lost."
(Reporting by Dan Whitcomb; Editing by Bob Tourtellotte and Xavier Briand)
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