Celebrity Hot Gossip

Chris Rock, Sly Stallone Tapped for PellicanoTestimony (E! Online)

2008-03-06T22:30:00.001-08:00

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.

Rocker Scott Weiland pleads innocent in drug case (Reuters)

2008-03-06T02:29:00.001-08:00

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)

Dell's Ruggedized Laptop Features Simplicity (NewsFactor)

2008-03-06T00:30:00.003-08:00

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.

Chinese actress Bai Ling fined 200 dollars in shoplifting case (AFP)

2008-03-06T00:30:00.001-08:00

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."

CeBIT tech fair presents gadgets both hot and weird (AFP)

2008-03-05T23:30:00.005-08:00

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.

Scott Weiland pleads in DUI case (AP)

2008-03-05T23:30:00.003-08:00

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.

Actress Bai Ling pleads guilty to disturbing peace (Reuters)

2008-03-05T23:30:00.001-08:00

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)

Swiss bank drops Wikileaks lawsuit (AP)

2008-03-05T22:30:00.015-08:00

SAN FRANCISCO - A Swiss bank quietly dropped its lawsuit against renegade Web site Wikileaks.org on Wednesday, days after a judge reversed his order to disable the site for posting confidential bank documents.

In court papers, Bank Julius Baer didn't give a reason for dropping the suit and reserved the right to refile it later. Bank lawyer William Briggs didn't return a telephone call seeking comment.

Last month, U.S. District Judge Jeffrey White ordered the Web site shut down after Bank Julius Baer sued Wikileaks and the San Mateo company Dynadot. The bank argued it was trying to halt "the unlawful dissemination of stolen bank records and personal account information of its customers."

Dynadot, which provided the site's U.S. domain name, agreed to disable Wikileaks in exchange for the bank removing it from the lawsuit.

The judge's order, however, backfired for Bank Julius Baer because it only led to bank's information being spread further across the Internet. Several other Web sites posted the same material out of solidarity with Wikileaks, and Wikileaks posted the documents on "mirror" Web sites it owns outside the U.S.

After enduring criticism from free speech advocates and media organizations, including The Associated Press, White reversed himself on Friday and ruled the Web site could reopen and continue to post the documents until the lawsuit was resolved.

Wikileaks, which bills itself as an activist organization that urges the posting of leaked government and corporate documents to expose corruption, wasn't represented at that hearing. White, however, said he agreed with the dozen lawyers representing the critics that his initial ruling probably violated free speech laws.

The Wikileaks site claims to have posted 1.2 million leaked government and corporate documents that it says expose unethical behavior, including a 2003 operation manual for the U.S. prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

__

On the Net:

Wikileaks: http://www.wikileaks.org/wiki/Wikileaks

Apple hints at enterprise future for iPhone (InfoWorld)

2008-03-05T22:30:00.013-08:00

San Francisco - Apple hinted that the iPhone might become more useful to business workers during a discussion hosted by Morgan Stanley on Wednesday.

"Tomorrow were going to talk a bit about the iPhone in the enterprise at our event on campus," said Peter Oppenheimer, CFO of Apple, via a webcast of the Morgan Stanley Technology Conference. "We believe the iPhone is great for all parts of the market, including the enterprise."

Apple has scheduled an event on Thursday for developers, during which it will talk about the software road map of the iPhone, including details about the software development kit for the device and enterprise use, he said. The SDK will allow developers to create applications for the iPhone. Since Apple launched the iPhone last year, it has been closed to third-party developers.

In addition to opening up the iPhone to developers, he suggested that other changes may be on the horizon. While the company has created revenue-sharing agreements with operators so that Apple earns ongoing revenue as users pay for their mobile subscriptions, that model may not apply everywhere into the future, Oppenheimer said. "Were off to a great start, but were learning, and were not wedded to any one particular way to go to market," he said. "Our objective is to drive scale and take market share."

This year, Apple expects to offer the iPhone in additional European countries and enter markets in Asia, he said.

The company sold 4 million iPhones in the first 200 days that it was on the market, Oppenheimer said. Users of those phones are all over the world, even in countries where Apple isnt selling iPhones. Thats an indication of the high demand for iPhones, Oppenheimer said.

Even though Apple ties the iPhone to a particular operators network, users have discovered ways to unlock the phone so that they can use it on the network of their choosing. "We believe its occurring at a significant rate, its just hard to estimate," Oppenheimer said. "We believe the unlocking is occurring because of unprecedented demand for the iPhone.... We view this as a positive indicator of future demand and interest in the iPhone."

In the fourth quarter of 2007, more iPhones were sold than Windows Mobile devices in the U.S., according to recent research from Canalys. Among smartphones, only Research In Motions BlackBerry devices sold more than iPhones in the U.S. during the quarter.

Ozzie: Microsoft needs Yahoo for Web, advertising plan (InfoWorld)

2008-03-05T22:30:00.011-08:00

San Francisco - Microsoft Chief Software Architect Ray Ozzie attempted to clarify Microsofts Web-based advertising and services strategy and lay a case for why buying Yahoo is integral to that plan on Wednesday.

In his keynote at the MIX 08 conference in Las Vegas, Ozzie said Microsoft realizes that having a vibrant and relevant portfolio of Web-based services and content, as well as innovative options for commerce and building communications, is essential to develop a "highly engaged, well-targetable audience" for advertising. When it comes to the Web, advertising is the primary way Microsoft will monetize its investments there, he said.

Microsoft is doing all it can "to use the resources we have to ensure there is a vibrant advertising ecosystem," Ozzie said. "If you wonder why were so interested in Yahoo and its creative people and properties, I hope this makes it a little bit clearer."

Microsoft has been steadily building a wider portfolio of services and content over the past few years to drive its advertising strategy to compete with Google, meeting with little success.

In an attempt to give the strategy a major shot in the arm, Microsoft last month offered to purchase Yahoo, the struggling number-two player in online advertising, for $44.6 billion. Yahoos board rejected the bid, but Microsoft seems determined to buy the company, even if it has to be a hostile takeover. Still, even if the deal happens, its unclear whether it will do much to help either company compete with Google.

Ozzie acknowledged that Microsoft has been working on its Web-based advertising plan for several years, both through acquisitions of companies such as aQuantive and its investment in Live services, but that 2008 will be the year the strategy "finally comes to light."

Ozzie, who seemed more self-assured about his increasingly visible role as Microsofts technology visionary during his keynote on Wednesday, also revealed the most detail to date about how the Web is transforming all of Microsofts products. The company in the past few weeks has made a series of announcements that expands its software-plus-services strategy to make more of its traditionally packaged software available as services for both consumers and business customers.

Earlier this week, the company expanded its hosted offerings for businesses by allowing them to use its e-mail software Exchange Server as a hosted service, as well as Office SharePoint Server 2007, a content management and collaboration tool, and Office Live Meeting, for audio and video conferencing over the Web.

Microsoft will continue this year to reveal more facets of its strategy to "drive the reconceptualization of our software to embrace this world of services," Ozzie said. Microsoft sees the Web as a hub that must be a "mesh" connecting all of its products and is approaching this with four goals in mind: To use the Web throughout its products to connect devices, entertainment, business, and development.

"All of our software will be significantly refactored to reach a level of symmetry" between software used on premise, software as a service, and services in the cloud, Ozzie said.

For example, on the business side, Microsoft plans to use a new service called Office Live Workspace to be the "central hub of our productivity strategy" for individuals, he said. Office Live Workspace lets users access and share Office documents online. On the business side, Microsofts Office SharePoint Server will fit the same role, Ozzie added.

Microsoft also will give developers more ability to develop services in the cloud. During his keynote, Ozzie unveiled a beta of SQL Server Data Services, a set of database services that "bring[s] the benefits of SQL Server for developers into the cloud," he said.

Spears' father retains control of estate (AP)

2008-03-05T22:30:00.009-08:00

LOS ANGELES - A court commissioner ruled Wednesday that Britney Spears' father will retain control of the troubled pop star's finances and estate for another five months.

Superior Court Commissioner Reva Goetz extended Jamie Spears' control until July 31, said court spokesman Alan Parachini. Parachini wasn't immediately able to provide more information.

James Spears was named co-conservator of the pop star's estate after she was hospitalized twice in January. His temporary authority to handle her affairs was to expire March 10.

In the year leading up to the hospitalizations, Spears had been caught on camera by paparazzi engaging in increasingly bizarre behavior. She shaved her head, beat a vehicle with an umbrella, wore skirts sans underwear and left her car on a busy thoroughfare after getting a flat tire.

The strange outbursts and hospitalizations contributed to the 26-year-old losing custody of her young sons, Jayden James, 1, and Sean Preston, 2. Ex-husband Kevin Federline continues to have full custody.

Spears was allowed brief visits with the boys beginning in late February after not seeing them for nearly two months. That happened after Spears and Federline "agreed to a modification of the court's order" that had stripped Spears of her visitation rights, according to Federline attorney Mark Vincent Kaplan.

Spears' parents came to Los Angeles around the time of her second hospitalization. They pushed to restore visitation rights with the boys.

Bai Ling fined for disturbing peace (Reuters)

2008-03-05T22:30:00.007-08:00

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Actress Bai Ling, arrested last month on suspicion of shoplifting at Los Angeles International Airport, was fined 200 on Wednesday after pleading guilty to disturbing the peace.

The 37-year-old actress, who has appeared in such films as "The Crow" and "Red Corner," was also ordered by a judge to pay several hundred dollars in fees, including court costs, 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 worth a total of 16.

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."

The actress, who is sometimes credited for her performances as Ling Bai, has since had roles in 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 Peter Cooney)

Costner settles movie lawsuit (AP)

2008-03-05T22:30:00.005-08:00

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Kevin Costner has wrapped up his latest role -- plaintiff in a lawsuit. Costner, 53, has settled his 2 1/2-year-old lawsuit that claimed Ascendant Pictures broke an oral agreement to pay him $8 million to star in a romantic comedy called "Taming Ben Taylor."

Details of the settlement were not made public.

The movie, about a divorced man who refuses to sell his failing vineyard to a neighboring golf course, was never made.

Notice of the settlement of Costner's suit and a cross-complaint filed by the Beverly Hills production company were contained in court documents filed Monday by Costner's attorney, William A. Bossen.

The cross-complaint alleged fraud and was filed against Creative Artists Agency, the talent agency that represented Costner. Winner of the director and best-picture Oscars for 1990's "Dances With Wolves," Costner also has starred in "Bull Durham," "Waterworld," "Tin Cup," "JFK" and "Field of Dreams."

Bossen confirmed Wednesday that the case was settled recently but declined to provide further details.

A call to Robert N. Treiman, who represented Ascendant Pictures, was not immediately returned.

Warren Buffett topples Bill Gates as world's richest (AFP)

2008-03-05T22:30:00.003-08:00

NEW YORK (AFP) - US financier Warren Buffett has overtaken Bill Gates as the worlds richest man, according to Forbes annual billionaires list, which this year saw Russia, China and India making increasing inroads.

Buffett, the 77-year-old chief of the Berkshire Hathaway holding company, saw his wealth jump from 52 billion dollars last year to 62 billion, pushing Microsoft co-founder Gates into third position after 13 years at the top.

Mexicos telecom mogul Carlos Slim Helu grabbed second place with a tidy nest egg of 60 billion dollars, up from 49 billion last year.

Buffett, who announced in 2006 he was giving the majority of his fortune to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, saw his wealth spike mostly due to the rising value of his Berkshire Hathaway stock.

"The amazing thing about Buffett going to the top of the list is that he did it at a time when he was giving away his money," said Steve Forbes, the magazines editor in chief.

In total, this years list sees 1,125 people around the world making the billionaires list, up from 946 last year. Their total net worth stands at 4.4 trillion dollars, up from 3.5 trillion dollars in 2007.

"This past year was an amazing one around the world in terms of the global economy and its reflected on this list," said Forbes, adding that the number of billionaires had almost doubled in the past four years.

"The reason for this explosion in wealth is that were in the midst of a phenomenal global gloom," he added.

By nationality, the United States still easily led the rankings with 469 billionaires up from 415 last year, but Russia replaced Germany as the second placed country with 87 billionaires.

Third-placed India saw the number of its super-rich jump to 53 entries on the list -- four of them in the top 10 -- although China and Hong Kong if taken together would overtake it, with 42 and 26 billionaires respectively.

Japan, although still the second largest economy in the world, saw its number of billionaires trailing at 24 -- overtaken by Turkey, which this year saw its number of tycoons on the list jump from 22 in 2007 to 35.

Surprisingly, Buffett and Gates were the only Americans in the top 10, alongside one Mexican (second-placed Slim) four Indians (placed fourth, fifth, sixth and eighth), a Swede (seventh), a Russian (ninth) and a German (10th.)

Among the biggest losers were Starbucks chief Howard Schultz, whose stock dragged him off the list all together, and Spanish property billionaire Enrique Banuelos, whose wealth plunged from 7.7 billion dollars in 2007 to 1.3 billion.

The average age fell by one year to 61, helped by an influx of younger Russians and Chinese, 50 of them under 40, while the number of women grew to 99, up from 87 last year, but only 10 percent of them were self-made.

The richest woman in the world was Frances Liliane Bettencourt, of cosmetics company LOreal with a personal fortune of 22.9 billion dollars, partly helped by the weak US dollar, which has fallen notably against the euro.

"Most countries outside of the US have benefited from the currency fluctuations," said Forbes senior editor Luisa Kroll. "Its definitely helped boost the numbers outside of the US."

The fortunes were assessed as a snapshot on February 11, meaning that places on the list had likely changed since then, owing to fluctuations on the foreign exchange and stock markets.

There was also good news for gold diggers. "There are 110 single men on the list," said Forbes. "Forty-seven women are also unhitched right now."

Patrick Swayze reportedly diagnosed with cancer (Reuters)

2008-03-05T22:30:00.001-08:00

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Patrick Swayze, the dancer and star of such hit films as "Dirty Dancing" and "Ghost," has been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, published reports said on Wednesday.

Swayze, 55, was diagnosed with cancer more than a month ago, the New York Post reported on its Web site, citing a representative for the actor.

The Post story follows similar reports in the tabloid press. Swayzes spokeswoman declined to comment to Reuters. No further details were available.

Swayze, 55, is best known for his role as dance instructor Johnny Castle opposite Jennifer Greys character, infatuated teenager Frances "Baby" Houseman, in the 1987 movie musical "Dirty Dancing."

The film, which centers on an unlikely romance between the pair at a 1960s resort in the Catskills of New York, defied expectations to become a massive hit, earning both actors Golden Globe Award nominations.

Swayze performed the song "Shes Like the Wind" for the movies soundtrack and his signature line, "Nobody puts Baby in the corner," has become a pop culture staple

"Dirty Dancing," which also featured the Oscar-winning song "(Ive Had) The Time of My Life" -- remains widely popular two decades later and is replayed almost constantly on TV in the United States.

Swayze went on to star alongside Demi Moore in the 1990 tear-jerker romance "Ghost," which also became a huge box office hit and was nominated for an Academy Award for best picture.

The Texas-born Swayze, whose dancer-choreographer mother owned a Houston ballet studio, began performing at an early age and got his start in show business as a dancer and on the stage before landing film and TV roles in Hollywood.

(Editing by Bob Tourtellotte and Sandra Maler)

TiVo beats analysts' estimates (AP)

2008-03-05T21:36:00.009-08:00

SAN JOSE, Calif. - TiVo Inc. beat analysts' estimates Wednesday with a fourth-quarter loss of $6.4 million as expenses fell and sales of older-model units were better than expected.

The maker of digital video recorders said it lost $6.4 million, or 6 cents per share, in the quarter that ended Jan. 31, compared with a quarterly loss of $19.5 million, or 20 cents per share, the year before.

Analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial forecast a fourth-quarter loss of 11 cents per share on revenue of $59.3 million.

The Alviso, Calif.-based company has never had a profitable quarter, but Chief Executive Tom Rogers assured investors on Wednesday that it would continue to narrow the gap toward profitability as it creates partnerships with cable and satellite TV providers.

Cox Communications Inc. announced Wednesday it is launching a trial in New England markets of set-top boxes that run TiVo's DVR technology.

That follows a rollout of the same technology this quarter by Comcast Corp.

TiVo's stock rose 32 cents, or 3.91 percent, to $8.46 in after-hours trading Wednesday.

Quarterly revenue fell to $74.1 million, down 3.6 percent from $76.9 million during the year ago period, as service and hardware revenue slipped. Annual revenue rose to $272.7 million, up 5.3 percent from $258.9 million in fiscal 2007.

For the year, TiVo lost $31.4 million, or 32 cents per share. That's 34 percent less than in fiscal 2007, when the company lost $47.7 million, or 53 cents per share. Analysts had forecast, on average, an annual loss of $232 million in revenue, or 37 cents per share, for fiscal 2008.

The company said it sold more standard-definition set-top boxes than expected and provided fewer subsidies on its $299 high-definition products in the fourth quarter.

In the current quarter, TiVo expects revenues in the range of $53 million to $55 million and a net loss between $1 million and $3 million.

Yahoo tries to delay Microsoft showdown (AP)

2008-03-05T21:36:00.007-08:00

SAN FRANCISCO - Slumping Internet pioneer Yahoo Inc. on Wednesday postponed a key deadline in a looming battle with spurned suitor Microsoft Corp., hoping to gain more wiggle room as it tries to escape a takeover.

The Sunnyvale-based company's maneuver means that March 14 is no longer the deadline for Microsoft to nominate a slate of candidates to replace Yahoo's current board -- the 10 directors who rejected the world's largest software maker's initial takeover offer of $44.6 billion.

Microsoft had already signaled it was prepared to oust the board if Yahoo didn't come to the negotiating table before March 14.

Yahoo hasn't offered a new nominating deadline. It will be set once Yahoo announces the date of its annual shareholders meeting. Microsoft will have up to 10 days after the public notice to nominate directors and begin what's known as a "proxy" battle.

"Our objective here is to enable our board to continue to explore all of its strategic alternatives for maximizing value for stockholders without the distraction of a proxy contest," Yahoo Chief Executive Jerry Yang and Chairman Roy Bostock wrote in an e-mail sent to the company's employees.

Microsoft didn't immediately respond to requests for comment.

Yahoo could wait a few more months before announcing its annual meeting, which can be held as late as July 12 this year. But Yahoo is more likely to set the date within the next week or two, according to a person familiar with the company's thinking. The person wasn't authorized to speak publicly.

"We believe we are making progress clarifying the many options available to us," Yang and Bostock wrote. "... Management and the board are both speaking with -- and listening carefully to -- our stockholders. This ongoing dialogue has provided us with helpful feedback."

Other options Yahoo is considering include possible alliances with Time Warner Inc.'s AOL and News Corp.'s MySpace.com, according to the person knowledgeable about the about the negotiations.

The decision to delay the date for nominating alternate directors shouldn't be interpreted as a sign that Yahoo is confident the potential deals with AOL or MySpace.com will trump Microsoft's bid, this person said.

Most analysts still expect Microsoft to wind up buying Yahoo, possibly by raising its initial bid of $31 per share.

Microsoft has insisted its current offer is fair, but analysts believe the Redmond, Wash.-based company might be willing to up the ante to $34 or $35 per share to avoid a showdown that could alienate many of the Yahoo employees whose cooperation will be needed to make the proposed marriage pay off.

"Yahoo becoming part of Microsoft is inevitable," Gartner Inc. analyst Allen Weiner said. "I believe they are on an edge of a cliff and there is no turning back."

Without providing specifics, Yahoo contends it's worth more than $45 billion despite a two-year streak of declining profits that hammered the company's stock. When it was announced Feb. 1, Microsoft's initial bid was 62 percent above Yahoo's market value.

The offer's value has since dropped because half the payment would be made in Microsoft stock, which has fallen 14 percent.

Microsoft's shares rose 53 cents to close at $28.12 Wednesday. That left the value of its offer at roughly $40 billion, or $28.87 per share. Yahoo shares gained 61 cents to close at $28.67.

If the Microsoft bid weren't still on the table, Yahoo's stock price probably would plunge well below $20.

Besides being dragged down by the company's own slump, Yahoo's stock also could be hurt by intensifying concerns about how well the online advertising market will fare in the lackluster U.S. economy.

The economic worries have contributed to a 21 percent decline in Internet search and advertising leader Google Inc.'s stock price since Microsoft pounced on Yahoo. If investors punished Yahoo similarly, its stock price might plummet to $15.

Yahoo is trying to work out possible combinations with either AOL or MySpace.com to boost the value of its franchise. The company also considered hiring Google to sell ads on Yahoo's heavily trafficked Web site, but regulatory issues have complicated those talks.

An alliance with MySpace.com looked like Yahoo's most likely escape route a couple weeks ago, but negotiations have recently heated up with Time Warner about a possible combination with AOL, according to the person familiar with the talks.

But AOL's popularity has been waning for years, making a combination with Yahoo significantly less compelling than it would have been a decade ago, Weiner said.

About 69 percent of Yahoo's stock is owned by shareholders with stakes in Microsoft, too, according to a research note published Wednesday by UBS analyst Benjamin Schachter. After concluding most of the shareholders with dual stakes in the two companies would support a higher Microsoft bid, Schachter predicted Yahoo will be sold for $34 per share.

Lauper, O'Donnell headline `True Colors' (AP)

2008-03-05T21:36:00.005-08:00

NEW YORK - Cyndi Lauper will take her "True Colors" tour back on the road this summer.

Lauper, whose tour last year promoted gay rights, will open the second go-round in Boston on May 31 alongside fellow headliners Rosie O'Donnell and the B-52s, it was announced Wednesday.

Carson Kressley ("Queer Eye for the Straight Guy") will host the 24-city event, which winds down in Morrison, Colo., on July 5.

"The tour is a nonstop five-hour music party with a message," Lauper, 54, said. "This year, the party only gets bigger and our message to the fans is to get out and vote in November."

Guest artists such as Joan Jett and the Blackhearts, Regina Spektor, the Indigo Girls and Wanda Sykes will perform at various cities throughout the tour.

___

On the Net:

http://www.truecolorstour.com/

Swayze being treated for cancer (AP)

2008-03-05T21:36:00.003-08:00

LOS ANGELES - Patrick Swayze is being treated for pancreatic cancer but is doing well enough to continue working, his representative said Wednesday.

The "Dirty Dancing" actor has a very limited amount of disease and appears to be responding well to treatment, according to Dr. George Fisher, Swayze's physician. Fisher's prognosis was included in a statement released Wednesday by Swayze's representative, Annett Wolf.

"Patrick is continuing his normal schedule during this time, which includes working on upcoming projects," the statement said.

It also said earlier reports that Swayze had a matter of weeks to live were exaggerated. "All of the reports stating the timeframe of his prognosis and his physical side effects are absolutely untrue. We are considerably more optimistic."

Swayze, 55, has two films in the works: the movie "Powder Blue," and a television movie titled "The Beast," according to the Web site imdb.com. Both are scheduled for release this year.

Miley Cyrus? Fashion Sense

2008-03-05T21:36:00.001-08:00

Wednesday, March 05, 2008

MILEY CYRUS' FASHION SENSE

Dressed in a fashionable purple ensemble with a pair of snazzy cowboy boots, Miley Cyrus made a quick stop at the Coffee Bean in Toluca Lake before heading off to a studio in Los Angeles on Wednesday (March 5).

Besides keeping busy with her music, the Hannah Montana star recently spoke of her desire to give her co-star father, Billy Ray Cyrus, a "much-needed" makeover.

Miley tells, "There's a certain time where dad's got, we call it the 'Clint Eastwood Pajama look'. It's so horrible, it's the worst. And a really ugly hat with a bow. Oh, it's so bad."

"(I only have to check him) when that outfit, the Clint Eastwood Pajama look, comes out," the Disney tween queen jokes.

Gossip Girls

Enjoy the pictures of Miley out in Toluca Lake (March 5).

Apple falls short of rental-movie target (AP)

2008-03-05T20:30:00.017-08:00

NEW YORK - Apple Inc. has fallen substantially short of its target of having 1,000 movies available for rent on its Apple TV set-top box by the end of February, and is blaming studios for the discrepancy.

A complete count of the number of movies available on the box on Wednesday was elusive, but appeared to be between 400 and 500. A menu option that showed all movies at once has been removed, and some movies can be found only by searching for words in the title.

Apple Chief Executive Steve Jobs told shareholders at the annual meeting Tuesday that he's "not happy" with the shortfall, according to the San Jose Mercury News.

Jobs said it's taking movie studios more time than expected to get approval from various rights holders, the paper reported.

Apple spokesman Tom Neumayr on Wednesday said the company hopes to have 1,000 movies available "soon."

When Apple launched the device last year, it did not connect directly to the Internet, but could play movies and music from the user's computer. A software update in the middle of February gave users the ability to rent movies from Apple's iTunes Store without going through a computer.

Apple was closer to meeting another of its stated goals: 100 high-definition movies available on Apple TV. On Wednesday, 98 were offered.

ITunes had a slow start in offering music as well. It started out with 200,000 songs in 2003 and now has 6 million.

Apple TV boxes start at $229.

A competing Internet set-top box from Vudu Inc. that launched last fall has roughly 5,000 movies available. That box sells for $295.

___

On the Net:

http://www.apple.com/appletv

Review: Stylish unit turns vinyl digital (AP)

2008-03-05T20:30:00.015-08:00

SAN FRANCISCO - Most people gave up on their vinyl music collection two decades ago, when compact discs all but nudged LPs off store shelves for good.

If you held onto any favorites, DJ equipment maker Numark Inc. is looking to breathe new life into them with a USB-equipped turntable. It can pipe the tunes of yesteryear into your computer, where you can store them in digital form -- or load them onto a media player and take them on the road.

The Numark TTX USB ($399) is a sturdy, DJ quality turntable with well-fashioned components and nice styling. Nothing about this unit threatens to date it visually, and that's important if you're considering showcasing a turntable alongside some other home theater devices.

Numark was not the first company to market with a USB-equipped turntable. ION Audio also makes USB turntables, and theirs start at $99. But the heavy-duty build of the Numark unit was more impressive to me.

And it's always possible to skip such devices altogether and pipe the sound from your old, non-USB turntable into a computer. You can feed the audio signal into a USB-equipped mixer or use an add-on like Creative Technology Ltd.'s Sound Blaster PC cards with traditional left and right phono inputs.

The on-board USB connection just made the process easier for me. Numark is selling ease-of-use and top notch physical components with the TTX USB unit.

The Numark includes the software needed to import music from 33s and 45s to a computer hard drive. Once you plug the USB cable from the turntable into the computer and launch the application, it's as simple as pressing record and lowering the needle down onto the album surface.

Of course this is a real-time affair: There are no shortcuts to ripping vinyl to a digital file. If you want to convert 50 minutes of album music into MP3 format, it takes 50 minutes of recording plus a few minutes for the conversion and encoding, in contrast to the few minutes it takes to burn a CD with files already in digital form.

I invited a friend and her albums over for a Sunday afternoon of vinyl ripping. She brought a mish mash of good 1980s music, bad 1980s music and a few nicely remastered jazz albums to keep things respectable. Like me, she had kept her LPs, waiting for an opportunity like this to reinvent them in digital form.

The Numark unit faithfully replicated the music, along with the occasional crackle and hiss of a weathered album. The files were encoded as MP3s at 160 kilobits per second, slightly better than the default 128 kbps in most CD ripping programs.

The EZ Vinyl Converter program automatically puts the resulting MP3 files into an iTunes music folder, if you have iTunes installed.

There is software to remove or at least soften the cracks and hisses that can be heard on aging vinyl albums. Audacity can do a decent job and the software is free to download. Audio Cleaning Lab from Magix ($39.99) also has many tools for sprucing up sounds transferred from vinyl to digital format.

The tricky part came when I wanted to insert the track titles. One method was to lift the tone arm after the end of a song, effectively pausing the process and clicking "next" on the application, an action that took us to a screen to insert the track info. Doing that for a select number of album tracks was tedious. On some tracks I forgot and ended up with two songs in one MP3 file.

It's was easy enough to open those mistake MP3s in audio editing software, using the aforementioned Audacity program, and split the file in half to create two MP3s, one for each actual song.

___

On the Net:

http://www.numark.com

Facebook founder is world's youngest billionaire (AFP)

2008-03-05T20:30:00.013-08:00

NEW YORK (AFP) - Mark Zuckerberg, the 23-year-old founder of social networking site Facebook, is the youngest ever self-made billionaire, according to an annual list published by Forbes magazine.

"He is the youngest billionaire in the world right now and we also believe he is the youngest self-made billionaire in history," said the magazines Associate Editor Matthew Miller, unveiling this years super-rich list.

The magazine put the former Harvard students personal wealth at 1.5 billion dollars, based on what it said was a conservative valuation of five billion dollars for Facebook and Zuckerbergs estimated 30 percent stake.

It played down speculation that the site could be worth as much as 15 billion dollars, which was based on Microsoft paying 240 million dollars for a 1.6 percent stake in the company last year.

"Would it really fetch that much today? Some analysts -- and a few Facebook investors -- doubt it," the magazine said. It said it based its valuation on Facebooks estimated annual sales of 150 million dollars.

Swayze projects continue despite cancer (AP)

2008-03-05T20:30:00.011-08:00

LOS ANGELES - Patrick Swayze's doctor is "optimistic" about his prognosis for battling pancreatic cancer, and the "Dirty Dancing" actor's upcoming cable pilot is still in contention to become a series.

With the writer's strike over, the A only five percent of patients live more than five years after being diagnosed.

"Patrick has a very limited amount of disease and he appears to be responding well to treatment thus far," Swayze's physician Dr. George Fisher said in a statement released by Wolf. "All of the reports stating the timeframe of his prognosis and his physical side effects are absolutely untrue. We are considerably more optimistic."

Wolf said Swayze, 55, shot "The Beast" pilot last December and isn't currently working on any new projects. A&E issued a statement Wednesday stating "The Beast" was still in contention to become one of the network's new original drama series and wished Swayze a speedy recovery.

___

On the Net:

http://www.aetv.com/

"Dirty Dancing" star Patrick Swayze has cancer (Reuters)

2008-03-05T20:30:00.009-08:00

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Actor and dancer Patrick Swayze, star of such hit films as "Dirty Dancing" and "Ghost," has been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer but is responding well to treatment, his publicist said on Wednesday.

The 55-year-old performer was working during his treatments, publicist Annett Wolf said, dismissing reports in the tabloid media that portrayed him in grave condition with only weeks to live.

Wolf issued a written statement from his physician, Dr. George Fisher that said: "Patrick has a very limited amount of disease and he appears to be responding well to treatment."

"All of the reports stating the timeframe of his prognosis and his physical side effects are absolutely untrue," Fisher said in the statement. "We are considerably more optimistic."

Wolf said Swayze deeply appreciated the "outpouring of support and concern" he has received from the public.

Though Swayze has had dozens of film, TV and stage roles, he is best known for starring as dance instructor Johnny Castle opposite Jennifer Greys character, infatuated teenager Frances "Baby" Houseman, in "Dirty Dancing."

The film, which centers on an unlikely romance between the pair at a 1960s resort in the Catskills of New York, defied expectations to become a massive hit, earning both actors Golden Globe Award nominations.

Swayze performed the song "Shes Like the Wind" for the movies soundtrack and his signature line, "Nobody puts Baby in the corner," has become a pop culture staple.

"Dirty Dancing," which also featured the Oscar-winning song "(Ive Had) The Time of My Life" -- remains widely popular two decades later and is replayed almost constantly on TV in the United States.

Swayze went on to star alongside Demi Moore in the 1990 tear-jerker romance "Ghost," which also became a huge box office hit and was nominated for an Academy Award for best picture.

The Texas-born Swayze, whose dancer-choreographer mother owned a Houston ballet studio, began performing at an early age and got his start in show business as a dancer and on the stage before landing film and TV roles in Hollywood.

(Editing by Bob Tourtellotte and Sandra Maler)

Swayze treated for pancreatic cancer (AP)

2008-03-05T20:30:00.007-08:00

LOS ANGELES - Patrick Swayze is being treated for pancreatic cancer but is doing well enough to continue working, his representative said Wednesday. The "Dirty Dancing" actor has a very limited amount of disease and appears to be responding well to treatment, according to Dr. George Fisher, Swayze's physician.

Fisher's prognosis was included in a statement released Wednesday by Swayze's representative, Annett Wolf.

"Patrick is continuing his normal schedule during this time, which includes working on upcoming projects," the statement said.

It also said earlier reports that Swayze had a matter of weeks to live were exaggerated. "All of the reports stating the timeframe of his prognosis and his physical side effects are absolutely untrue. We are considerably more optimistic."

Swayze, 55, has two films in the works: the movie "Powder Blue," and a television movie titled "The Beast," according to the Web site imdb.com. Both are scheduled for release this year.

Warren Buffet tops Bill Gates as world's richest (AFP)

2008-03-05T20:30:00.005-08:00

Nicole Kidman?s Baby Bump Exposed!

2008-03-05T20:30:00.003-08:00

Wednesday, March 05, 2008

NICOLE KIDMAN'S BABY BUMP EXPOSED!

Continuing to put forth great efforts to stay in shape during her pregnancy, actress Nicole Kidman was back out for walk with her trainer in Los Angeles on Wednesday (March 5).

According to a witness, "At one point, Nicole stopped and lifted up her shirt showing off her pregnant stomach. Nic's trainer then helped her put something under her shirt before they took off together on a walk around the neighborhood."

As previously reported by Gossip Girls, the 40-year-old Australian screen icon recently spoke to press about how excited she is about her newly emerging, more curvaceous figure.

"I'm so happy. I can't ask for anything more except big boobs. I've wanted Marilyn Monroe curves all my life," she said.

Gossip Girls

Enjoy the pictures of Nicole showing off her baby bump (March 5).

Britney Spears is a Hit with Little Dancers

2008-03-05T20:30:00.001-08:00

Wednesday, March 05, 2008

BRITNEY SPEARS IS A HIT WITH LITTLE DANCERS

If her pop music career ever goes up in flames (or has it?) Britney Spears may have a blossoming career as a kid's dance instructor.

She's been spending tons of time at Millennium Dance Studios in West Hollywood, and when she's not working out herself, she's been helping to teach the children that come there for lessons.

One five-year-old, Elissa Bouganim, who has taken three classes with the "Gimme More" singer, told press, "I like Britney. Today, first we were dancing slow, and then faster and faster ... Then we did the fish-move and lots of other fun things. Britney is nice. I want to dance with Britney all the time because it's so much fun."

And Elissa's mother seems to agree. "It's just amazing to watch Britney with the kids. Elissa won't stop dancing now, that's all she wants to do. Britney has really inspired her."

Celebrity Gossip

Enjoy the pictures of Britney out at Millenium on Tuesday (March 4).

TiVo beats analysts' estimates (AP)

2008-03-05T18:30:00.023-08:00

Controller Provides a Realistic Touching Experience (NewsFactor)

2008-03-05T18:30:00.021-08:00

The motion-sensing and "bump" feedback of Nintendos Wii video game is only a baby step compared to a magnetic-levitation device developed at Carnegie Mellon University. Most haptic, or touch, feedback interfaces use motors and mechanical linkages to provide a sense of touching or pushback. But Ralph Hollis, a research professor at the universitys Robotics Institute, uses a single moving element that offers rapid responses to movements.

FEELING TEXTURES

The result, according to the university, is a "highly realistic experience." Instead of just the bump that Wii gamers feel, users of the Hollis device can discern textures, hard contacts, and even small changes in position.

Rob Conway, a project manager at Carnegie Mellons Center for Technology Transfer, said removing friction, backlash and sticking means the user "feels only the artificial environment in complete accuracy down to the micro scale."

A single lightweight bowl-shaped device, called a flotor, is embedded with six coils of wire. When electric current is sent through the coils, the flotor floats over the coil magnets and the user holds a control handle attached to the flotor.

The handle can be used like a computer mouse, but in three dimensions with up/down, side to side, back/forth, yaw, pitch and roll. Optical sensors measure the flotors movement, which are reflected in its corresponding virtual object on the screen.

MOST REALISTIC SENSE OF TOUCH

Hollis said that "this device provides the most realistic sense of touch of any haptic interface in the world today." The device was first constructed as a prototype in 1997, but now, with the aid of a $300,000 National Science Foundation grant, its performance has improved and its cost is lower.

Ten devices have been built and six have been distributed to other researchers in the U.S. and Canada. The researchers, at Harvard, Stanford, Purdue, Cornell, the University of Utah and the University of British Columbia, are all members of the Magnetic Levitation Haptic Consortium.

Carnegie Mellon said that, while haptic interfaces are beginning to appear in gaming systems and remote operations, there have been few opportunities for researchers to experiment with advanced magnetic-levitation devices. In addition to the continuing research, a spin-off company has been started to commercialize its use.

Richard Shim, an analyst with industry research firm IDC, pointed out that touch feedback could definitely have a broad appeal, since we "live in a touchable world." Some people have considered haptic feedback to be a gimmick, he said, but "clearly its not." He noted that, while there are many obvious applications in gaming or training, there might be some in business as well -- such as "feeling" a graph to emphasize a point.

Apple to reveal iPhone blueprint for outside developers (AFP)

2008-03-05T18:30:00.019-08:00

SAN FRANCISCO (AFP) - Apple on Thursday is to unveil a "software roadmap" for outside developers interested in making programs for its hip, hot iPhones.

In trademark enigmatic style, Apple provided scant detail regarding what it plans to debut at an invitation-only event at its headquarters in Cupertino, California.

"Please join us to learn about the iPhone software roadmap, including the iPhone SDK (software developer kit) and some exciting new enterprise features," an invitation reads.

Apple is apparently following through on a promise its iconic chief executive Steve Jobs made in October to open the zealously guarded inner workings of iPhones to computer programs made by outsiders.

Gartner analyst Van Baker expects Apple to skew opportunities in favor of large, established developers and be wary of letting maverick software savants play unfettered with iPhone software.

"I think Apple is going to keep a pretty tight rein on this because the last thing they want is some fly-by-night guy writing an iPhone program that breaks it," Baker told AFP.

Apple is expected to make iPhones more compatible with business applications, such as receiving email "pushed" from company servers, in a move that would challenge BlackBerry devices made by Research In Motion.

Apple wants to let developers tinker with iPhone software while simultaneously protecting against viruses and other malicious code.

Jobs is on record saying he expects iPhones to be "a highly visible target" for malevolent software wizards.

Applications made for iPhones should also work on the new iPod Touch, which is essentially an iPhone without the mobile phone feature.

Jobs said Apple might take a lesson from Nokia, which is not allowing outside applications onto some of their new mobile telephone models unless the software has a "digital signature" from a known developer.

Hackers began prying open iPhones to insert custom applications, and break the exclusive service tie between the devices and telecom giant AT&T, shortly after the mobile phones made their US debut in June of last year.

Jobs said in February that Apple has sold more than four million iPhones, touch-screen mobile devices combining telephone, video, music, and Internet connectivity.

More FBI privacy violations confirmed (AP)

2008-03-05T18:30:00.017-08:00

WASHINGTON - The FBI acknowledged Wednesday it improperly accessed Americans' telephone records, credit reports and Internet traffic in 2006, the fourth straight year of privacy abuses resulting from investigations aimed at tracking terrorists and spies.

The breach occurred before the FBI enacted broad new reforms in March 2007 to prevent future lapses, FBI Director Robert Mueller said. And it was caused, in part, by banks, telecommunication companies and other private businesses giving the FBI more personal client data than was requested.

Testifying at a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing, Mueller raised the issue of the FBI's controversial use of so-called national security letters in reference to an upcoming report on the topic by the Justice Department's inspector general.

An audit by the inspector general last year found the FBI demanded personal records without official authorization or otherwise collected more data than allowed in dozens of cases between 2003 and 2005. Additionally, last year's audit found that the FBI had underreported to Congress how many national security letters were requested by more than 4,600.

The new audit, which examines use of national security letters issued in 2006, "will identify issues similar to those in the report issued last March," Mueller told senators. The privacy abuse "predates the reforms we now have in place," he said.

"We are committed to ensuring that we not only get this right, but maintain the vital trust of the American people," Mueller said. He offered no additional details about the upcoming audit.

National security letters, as outlined in the USA Patriot Act, are administrative subpoenas used in suspected terrorism and espionage cases. They allow the FBI to require telephone companies, Internet service providers, banks, credit bureaus and other businesses to produce highly personal records about their customers or subscribers without a judge's approval.

Last year's audit by Justice Department Inspector General Glenn A. Fine, issued March 9, 2007, blamed agent error and shoddy record-keeping for the bulk of the problems and did not find any indication of criminal misconduct. Fine's latest report is expected to be released as early as next week.

Several Justice Department and FBI officials familiar with the upcoming 2006 findings have said privately the new audit will show national security letters were used incorrectly at a similar rate as during the previous three years.

The number of national security letters issued by the FBI skyrocketed in the years after the Patriot Act became law in 2001, according to last year's report. Fine's annual review is required by Congress, over the objections of the Bush administration.

In 2005, for example, Fine's office found more than 1,000 violations within 19,000 FBI requests to obtain 47,000 records. Each letter issued may contain several requests.

In contrast to the strong concerns expressed by Congress and civil liberties groups after last year's inspector general's report was issued, Mueller's disclosure drew no criticism from senators during just over two hours of testimony Wednesday.

Speaking before the FBI chief, Senate Judiciary Chairman Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., urged Mueller to be more vigilant in correcting what he called "widespread illegal and improper use of national security letters."

"Everybody wants to stop terrorists. But we also, though, as Americans, we believe in our privacy rights and we want those protected," Leahy said. "There has to be a better chain of command for this. You cannot just have an FBI agent who decides he'd like to obtain Americans' records, bank records or anything else and do it just because they want to."

Following last year's audit, the Justice Department enacted guidelines that sternly reminded FBI agents to carefully follow the rules governing national security letters. The new rules caution agents to review all data before it is transferred into FBI databases to make sure that only the information specifically requested is used.

Fine's upcoming report also credits the FBI with putting the additional checks in place to make sure privacy rights aren't violated, according to a Justice official familiar with its findings.

Critics seized on Mueller's testimony as proof that a judge should sign off on the national security letters before they are issued.

"The credibility factor shows there needs to be outside oversight," said former FBI agent Michael German, now a national security adviser for the American Civil Liberties Union. He also cast doubt on the FBI's reforms.

"There were guidelines before, and there were laws before, and the FBI violated those laws," German said. "And the idea that new guidelines would make a difference, I think cuts against rationality."

___

On the Net:

FBI: http://www.fbi.gov/

Justice Department inspector general: http://www.usdoj.gov/oig/index.html

Senate Judiciary Committee: http://judiciary.senate.gov/

Yahoo tries to delay Microsoft showdown (AP)

2008-03-05T18:30:00.015-08:00

Ala. city eyes developing-world laptops (AP)

2008-03-05T18:30:00.013-08:00

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - If $200 laptop computers are good for kids in Peru and Mongolia, why not Alabama?

Birmingham's City Council has approved a $3.5 million plan to provide schoolchildren with 15,000 computers produced by the nonprofit One Laptop Per Child Foundation, which aims to spread laptops to poor children in developing countries.

The foundation says the deal marks the first time a U.S. city has agreed to buy the machines, which also are headed to such countries as Rwanda, Thailand, Brazil and Mexico in addition to Peru and Mongolia.

Birmingham's school board still must agree to the deal, and some members have reservations. They want more evidence that computers designed for the African bush or the mountains of South America would be a good fit for an American city.

Reviews of the foundation's green-and-white "XO" laptops have been mixed, with praise for their simplicity, ruggedness and low price but complaints that U.S. children may be turned off by the machines' particular configuration. The user interface is built on the Linux operating system rather than the more familiar Windows.

In hopes of getting past such objections, the City Council agreed to spend $3 million buying machines from Cambridge, Mass.-based One Laptop Per Child and to give schools $500,000 to sort out technical issues. A laptop will be available for every child in grades 1 through 8.

Mayor Larry Langford, who pushed for bringing XOs to Birmingham and hopes to see them distributed by the fall, said the machines will give many inner-city children their first access to a computer.

About 80 percent of the system's 28,000 students are poor enough to qualify for free or reduced-price lunches, and the schools are dealing with declining enrollment and funding shortages. The board recently voted to close 16 of its 65 schools.

Birmingham school board member Virginia S. Volker likes the idea of laptops for students. But she said Langford didn't think through the plan before committing millions of tax dollars to pay for the machines. Birmingham schools lack wireless networks needed to get the laptops online, she said, and the system doesn't have enough technology workers to train teachers, much less students, on the computers.

"Thinking of public money, I am very reluctant to make a commitment on this until we are sure we can afford it," Volker said.

___

On the Net:

City of Birmingham: http://www.informationbirmingham.com

One Laptop Per Child Foundation: http://laptop.org

Actor Patrick Swayze is diagnosed with cancer: report (AFP)

2008-03-05T18:30:00.011-08:00

LOS ANGELES (AFP) - American actor Patrick Swayze, best known for his roles in the movies "Dirty Dancing" and "Ghost," has been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, People magazine reported on Wednesday.

"Patrick has a very limited amount of disease and he appears to be responding well to treatment thus far," Swayzes doctor, Patrick George, was quoted as saying.

"All of the reports stating the time frame of his prognosis and his physical side effects are absolutely untrue. We are considerably more optimistic."

George appeared to be responding to rumors that began circulating on the Internet early Wednesday, alleging that the 55-year-old actor was in serious condition and had just weeks to live.

Swayzes representative said the actor, who was voted Sexiest Man Alive by People magazine in 1991, was "continuing his normal schedule during this time, which includes working on upcoming projects."

The popular leading hunk appeared in a slew of movies in the 1980s and 1990s, including "Youngblood," "Red Dawn," "Road House" and "Point Break."

Swayze Battling Cancer (E! Online)

2008-03-05T18:30:00.009-08:00

Los Angeles (E! Online) - Patrick Swayze is undergoing treatment for pancreatic cancer but does not have just weeks to live, the actors reps and doctor said Wednesday.

Patrick has a very limited amount of disease and he appears to be responding well to treatment so far, Dr. George Fisher, Swayzes personal physician, said in a statement. All of the reports stating the timeframe of his prognosis and his physical side effects are absolutely untrue.

Fishers remarks were in rebuttal to the National Enquirer, which broke the news of Swayzes illness on its website and said the Dirty Dancing star had recently dropped 20 pounds and been given only five weeks to live.

Patrick is continuing his normal schedule during this time, the actors reps said, which includes working on upcoming projects.

Speaking to E! News, Swayzes mother, dancer and choreographer Patsy Swayze, echoed the optimism of the stars doctor.

I dont really want to talk about it, but I know hes sick, Patsy Swayze said. But he has great doctors and a great prognosis, and thats all I can say.

Swayze, 55, was recently cast as a gay cheerleading instructor in Fired Up, a big-screen comedy that began shooting last month.

As recently as Monday, Swayze was spotted running an errand at a Simi Valley, California, dance studio. An employee there told E! News the actor looked good and not at all as if hed lost a lot of weight.

Producer Bobby Schwartz, who worked with Swayze last summer on the as yet unreleased indie drama Powder Blue, likewise vouched for the stars fitness on that set.

When we were shooting, the guy looked very young, very healthy, very energetic, Schwartz told E! News.

Swayze is best known for a string of hits in the 1980s and 1990s that included Ghost, Point Break, Road House and the career-changer, Dirty Dancing, in which he played Catskills bad boy Johnny Castle.

--Additional reporting by Whitney English

(Originally published Mar. 5, 2008 at 2:04 p.m. PT.)

Earl Plans a Paris Trip (E! Online)

2008-03-05T18:30:00.007-08:00

Los Angeles (E! Online) - Earl Hickey is about to meet the (socia)lite of his life.

Paris Hilton will make an appearance as herself when My Name Is Earl returns to NBC with new episodes next month for the first time since the writers strike shut down production on dozens of scripted series.

According to NBC, the former Simple Life star will show up in a fevered dream Jason Lees Earl has while unconscious during an hourlong episode titled I Wont Die with a Little Help from My Friends, slated to air Apr. 3.

When we wrote the role of Paris Hilton in the script, we werent exactly sure who to go with for the role, series creator and executive producer Greg Garcia said. But after an exhausting search, we finally settled on a relatively unknown actress by the name of Paris Hilton.

I cant wait to see what she does with the role and I cant wait for America to discover her.

Ha, ha.

Hilton probably wouldnt mind being rediscovered, however, especially considering the dismal response to her last onscreen foray, the Razzie-ready The Hottie and the Nottie, which attracted (if that is the correct word) $28,000 worth of business at the box office last month.

The hotel heiress successfully parlayed her persona into five seasons of The Simple Life, but her fictional turns havent done much for her acting cred.

Her film and TV roles playing someone other than Paris Hilton include the horror remake House of Wax, The O.C., Las Vegas, George Lopez, Veronica Mars and American Dreams. Shell have yet another chance to prove herself in the upcoming feature Repo! The Genetic Opera, a musical sci-fi flick that recently wrapped production.

Angelina Jolie: Back in NYC

2008-03-05T18:30:00.005-08:00

Wednesday, March 05, 2008

ANGELINA JOLIE: BACK IN NYC

She's one half of the globetrotting duo Brangelina, and Angelina Jolie found herself back in New York City yesterday taking care of business.

The "Mr. and Mrs. Smith" actress was spotted by the paparazzi as she left an office building in Manhattan. And according to the New York City Mayor's Office of Film, Theater and Broadcasting, Ang will be chilling out in the Big Apple this month to finish up her latest film "Wanted."

The pregnant actress is said to be having a few complications on the home front, though, due to the impending wedding with Brad Pitt. It seems they can't agree on their upcoming nuptials.

Rumor has it Jolie wants a small, private ceremony in France, while her "Fight Club" man is gunning for a big ol' bash in the Big Easy, New Orleans. "They ended up going to separate bedrooms and slamming doors. Angelina was so frustrated, she was crying."

Celebrity Gossip

Enjoy the pictures of Angelina out in NYC (March 4).

Kate Hudson Jets Out of Miami

2008-03-05T18:30:00.003-08:00

Wednesday, March 05, 2008

KATE HUDSON JETS OUT OF MIAMI

When most of us fly, we have to wait in long security lines and cram into tiny coach-class seats. But for celebrities like Kate Hudson, only private airports with custom jets will do.

The "Almost Famous" babe was spotted on her way out of Miami, Florida via a private airport yesterday. And after her amazing week there, she's gotta be sad to go.

Earlier this week, Hudson made a splash as her directorial debut "Cutlass" wowed audiences at the 24th Annual Miami International Film Festival.

Throughout her week, Kate was constantly spotted hanging out by the pool with her son Ryder, and witnesses couldn't get enough of the "Fool's Gold" star.

One onlooker told press, "Kate looked in fantastic shape and has a bum many women would kill for. All credit to Goldie," referring to her mother, Goldie Hawn.

Celebrity Gossip

Enjoy the pictures of Kate at the airport in Miami (March 4).

Eva Mendes: On the Mend

2008-03-05T18:30:00.001-08:00

Wednesday, March 05, 2008

EVA MENDES: ON THE MEND

She shocked Hollywood when she suddenly checked into the Cirque Lodge (LiLo's favorite place) last month. And now Eva Mendes appears to be moving on with her life, addiction-free and feeling great.

The "We Own the Night" actress was spotted arriving at LAX airport yesterday on her way to catch a flight. She looked positively perky in a casual blue dress with designs around the hemline and cuffs, a pair of sunglasses, and a pair of tan boots.

As of late, Eva has been happy to pose for the paparazzi, and yesterday was no exception. It seems that rehab helped her to be a little more carefree and laid back.

Mendes even took time out of her busy schedule to meet and greet fans, and even sign a few autographs. Perhaps more celebrities should pay a visit to the Cirque Lodge!

Gossip Girls

Enjoy the pictures of Eva at LAX Airport (March 4).

TiVo narrows 4Q loss on lower costs (AP)

2008-03-05T17:30:00.011-08:00

ALVISO, Calif. - Digital video recorder company TiVo Inc. says it narrowed its fourth-quarter loss as expenses fell and sales of older-model units were better than expected.

The Alviso, Calif., maker of software for digital video recorders says it lost $6.4 million, or 6 cents per share, compared with a loss of $19.5 million, or 20 cents per share, in the same quarter the year before.

The performance was better than the loss of 11 cents per share predicted by analysts polled by Thomson Financial.

Revenue fell to $74.1 million from $76.9 million, as service and hardware revenue slipped.

TiVo cut the cost of its hardware revenue by nearly half to $23.9 million during the quarter, according to the company. Total cost of revenue sank to $33 million from $59.5 million, allowing the company to improve its gross margin.

Study: Cell phone now most vital device (AP)

2008-03-05T17:30:00.009-08:00

NEW YORK - Americans have become more dependent on their cell phones than conventional phones.

For the first time, Americans say they would have more trouble giving up a cell phone than a traditional phone, the Pew Internet and American Life Project said in a report Wednesday. Less than two years earlier, respondents still considered their landlines the most crucial technology.

"The preferences have flipped," said John Horrigan, author of the new Pew report. "During that timeframe, people have gotten new devices that have more capabilities. People have more experience using cell phones for text messaging and other information tools. That has helped pushed cell phones as `go to' devices."

The new survey found that 58 percent of cell phone users have sent or received text messages, an increase from 41 percent in April 2006.

On a typical day, 31 percent of cell phone owners use text messaging and 15 percent use the devices' camera features. About 8 percent use the phone to play games and a similar percentage use it for e-mail.

According to Pew, the cell phone is the technological tool its users would have most difficulty giving up, followed by the Internet and television. Landline phones ranked fourth in the latest survey, just above e-mail.

In April 2006, the landline phone topped the list, followed by television, cell phones and the Internet.

Pew also found increased dependency on the BlackBerry and similar devices for wireless e-mail. Thirty-six percent of such users say they would have trouble giving that up, compared with 22 percent in 2006 and 6 percent in 2002.

The latest study of 2,054 adults was conducted Oct. 24 to Dec. 2 and has a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 2 percentage points, higher for subgroups. The random phone survey reached out to both landline and cell phone owners.

___

On the Net: http://pewinternet.org

Patrick Swayze diagnosed with cancer (Reuters)

2008-03-05T17:30:00.007-08:00

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Patrick Swayze, the dancer and starring actor of such hit films as "Dirty Dancing" and "Ghost," has been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, published reports said on Wednesday.

Swayze, 55, was diagnosed with cancer more than a month ago, the New York Post reported on its Web site, citing a representative for the actor.

"Patrick has a very limited amount of disease, and he appears to be responding well to treatment thus far.

"All of the reports stating the timeframe of his prognosis and his physical side effects are absolutely untrue," Swayzes physician, Dr. George Fisher, said in a statement released to the celebrity Web site TMZ.com by the actors publicist.

Several media reports said the actor was in grave condition with only weeks to live, but the statement on TMZ.com said Swayze was continuing his normal schedule and that he appreciated the "outpouring of concern" from the public.

Swayzes spokeswoman declined to comment to Reuters, and no further details were available.

Swayze is best known for his role as dance instructor Johnny Castle opposite Jennifer Greys character, infatuated teenager Frances "Baby" Houseman, in the 1987 movie musical "Dirty Dancing."

The film, which centers on an unlikely romance between the pair at a 1960s resort in the Catskills of New York, defied expectations to become a massive hit and earned both actors Golden Globe Award nominations.

Swayze performed the song "Shes Like the Wind" for the movies soundtrack, and his signature line, "Nobody puts Baby in the corner," has become a pop culture staple

"Dirty Dancing," which also featured the Oscar-winning song "(Ive Had) The Time of My Life" -- remains widely popular two decades later and is replayed almost constantly on TV in the United States.

Swayze went on to star alongside Demi Moore in the 1990 tear-jerker romance "Ghost," which also became a huge box office hit and was nominated for an Academy Award for best picture.

The Texas-born Swayze, whose dancer-choreographer mother owned a Houston ballet studio, began performing at an early age and got his start in show business as a dancer and on the stage before landing film and TV roles in Hollywood.

Reuters/Nielsen

Avril's Happy Branding (E! Online)

2008-03-05T17:30:00.005-08:00

Los Angeles (E! Online) - Avril Lavigne is looking to launch the best damn brand.

The 23-year-old pop star has partnered with manufacturer Jerry Leigh to be the face of Abbey Dawn, a new juniors lifestyle brand, featuring jewelry and apparel inspired by Lavignes personal style.

I actually am the designer, Lavigne told USA Today of the venture. Whats really important to me is that everything fits well and is well-made, so I try everything on and approve it all.

The singer said the Abbey Dawn line would include a lot of hot pinks and blacks and stars and purple and zebra. Basically, everything I wear.

The line will be sold exclusively at Kohls, with the first collection launching in July, just in time for back-to-school shopping.

Our partnership with Avril Lavigne allows us to be true brand builders, and we are proud to welcome Abbey Dawn into our family, Jerry Leigh president Andrew Leigh said in a statement. We look forward to working with Kohls on this launch and believe it will be a retail success.

The Abbey Dawn collection takes its name from Avril Lavignes childhood nickname. Items will be priced between $24 and $48, with inventory to be refreshed every 60 days.

Apart from her new retail collaboration, the Canadian chanteuse kicked off her Best Damn Tour Wednesday in support of her latest album, 2007s The Best Damn Thing.

Lavigne has also been the subject of pregnancy rumors lately, with rampant speculation existing that she and hubby Deryck Whibley will be hearing the pitter-patter of little rocker feet in the near future.

When asked about the baby gossip by Access Hollywood on Tuesday, Lavigne played it coy.

I dont know. Youll have to ask my reps, she replied, laughing. Maybe!

Keillor puts St. Paul house on market (AP)

2008-03-05T17:30:00.003-08:00

ST. PAUL, Minn. - Humorist Garrison Keillor put his historic St. Paul home up for sale, a few weeks after a dispute with his neighbor over her building plans ended up in court.

The host of public radio's "A Prairie Home Companion" is asking $1.65 million for the seven-bedroom, five-bath home, according to its listing on Realtor.com.

In January, Keillor and his wife sued next-door neighbor Lori Anderson to stop her from building a two-story garage-and-studio addition to her house. Keillor's lawsuit said the project would "obstruct the access of light and air" to his property.

The lawsuit was settled through mediation about a week later. The terms were not made public.

Real estate agent Mary Hardy told the Star Tribune of Minneapolis that the dispute isn't why Keillor is selling the house. She said he wanted a house with an airy, first-floor studio where he can work, and to that end he's made an offer for a nearby house with 4,000 square feet more space and a larger lot on a bluff.

That house's listing price is no longer public, but its taxable value was listed at just under $1.6 million.

Keillor had not commented on the sale, his spokesman David O'Neill told the Star Tribune.

Sarah Jessica Parker Poses For Annie Leibovitz

2008-03-05T17:30:00.001-08:00

Wednesday, March 05, 2008

SARAH JESSICA PARKER POSES FOR ANNIE LEIBOVITZ

Gearing up for press duties associated with the highly anticipated May 30th release of Sex and the City: The Movie, Sarah Jessica Parker found herself posing for famed photographer Annie Leibovitz in NYC earlier today (March 5).

Accompanied by SATC co-star Chris Noth (Mr Big), the Carrie Bradshaw actress made her way to the 5th Avenue set, looking lovely for what will soon become a Vogue magazine spread.

And while Sex and the City may very well be the biggest thing this summer, another new Parker movie "has been scrapped after the finished project failed to find a distributor."

According to press reports, "The Sex And The City star shot Spinning Into Butter with Miranda Richardson and Beau Bridges, in which she plays a college dean dealing with a race hate crime on campus. The movie wrapped and was due to be released in 2007, but was hit by delay after delay as producers struggled to get it into theaters."

Of the situation, Sarah Jessica tells, "It's in that purgatory that many movies find themselves. One enters these endeavors with the best of intentions, but sometimes they don't work out."

Celebrity Gossip

Enjoy the pictures of Sarah Jessica out for her 5th Avenue photoshoot (March 5).

Apple Hints at Enterprise Future for iPhone (PC World)

2008-03-05T16:30:00.007-08:00

"Tomorrow were going to talk a bit about the iPhone in the enterprise at our event on campus," said Peter Oppenheimer, chief financial officer of Apple, via a webcast of the Morgan Stanley Technology Conference. "We believe the iPhone is great for all parts of the market, including the enterprise."

Apple has scheduled an event tomorrow for developers, during which it will talk about the software road map of the iPhone, including details about the software development kit for the device and enterprise use, he said. The SDK will allow developers to create applications for the iPhone. Since Apple launched the iPhone last year, it has been closed to third-party developers.

In addition to opening up the iPhone to developers, he suggested that other changes may be on the horizon. While the company has created revenue-sharing agreements with operators so that Apple earns ongoing revenue as users pay for their mobile subscriptions, that model may not apply everywhere into the future, Oppenheimer said. "Were off to a great start, but were learning and were not wedded to any one particular way to go to market," he said. "Our objective is to drive scale and take market share."

This year, Apple expects to offer the iPhone in additional European countries and enter markets in Asia, he said.

The company sold 4 million iPhones in the first 200 days that it was on the market, Oppenheimer said. Users of those phones are all over the world, even in countries where Apple isnt selling iPhones. Thats an indication of the high demand for iPhones, Oppenheimer said.

Unlocking

Even though Apple ties the iPhone to a particular operators network, users have discovered ways to unlock the phone so that they can use it on the network of their choosing. "We believe its occurring at a significant rate, its just hard to estimate," Oppenheimer said. "We believe the unlocking is occurring because of unprecedented demand for the iPhone.... We view this as a positive indicator of future demand and interest in the iPhone."

In the fourth quarter of 2007, more iPhones were sold than Windows Mobile devices in the U.S., according to recent research from Canalys. Among smartphones, only Research In Motions BlackBerry devices sold more than iPhones in the U.S. during the quarter.

Apple falls short of rental-movie target (AP)

2008-03-05T16:30:00.005-08:00

Yahoo moves to check Microsoft's takeover gambit (AFP)

2008-03-05T16:30:00.003-08:00

SAN FRANCISCO (AFP) - Yahoo on Wednesday extended its deadline for nominating board members as the Internet giant maneuvers to thwart a hostile takeover by US software titan Microsoft.

Yahoos move comes as Microsoft is believed to be planning to oust the California firms current slate of directors and replace it with a panel favorable to its February 1 cash-and-stock offer valued at 44.6 billion dollars.

Yahoo has been "pursuing strategic alternatives" that reportedly include courting a "white knight" to help it rebuff the unwanted suitor.

Among those Yahoo is said to be courting is faded Internet star AOL, owned by media colossus Time Warner.

Yahoo has also reportedly been in talks with News Corp., which owns social networking website MySpace, and Internet search king Google.

In a statement, Yahoo said it amended its bylaws to change the deadline for nominating directors from March 14 to 10 days after it announces the date of its annual stockholders meeting.

Yahoo said extending the deadline will allow its board to focus on alternatives to a Microsoft takeover without "the distraction of a proxy contest."

"The amendment does not preclude any party from nominating one or more directors at any time prior to the new deadline," Yahoo said in a written release.

"As the company has not yet announced the date of this years annual meeting, the amendment will give stockholders who want to nominate one or more directors, including Microsoft Corporation, more time to do so."

Online game players to elect council (AP)

2008-03-05T16:30:00.001-08:00

NEW YORK - Players of the game "EVE Online" will soon be able to vote for an unusual community council that will present their concerns to the publisher, the company announced Wednesday.

The players, who number more than 220,000 and are spread around the world, will be able to vote in May for a nine-member council of representatives, Iceland-based publisher CCP hf said.

Elements of democracy are not unheard of in online games. "A Tale in the Desert" lets the players write laws and vote on having them applied in the game. But "EVE Online" -- which depicts a cutthroat universe of space traders, miners and pirates -- may be the first to feature a form of representative government.

The Council of Stellar Management won't be a legislative body but will represent players before the company. Once during each council's six-month term, the councilors will travel to Iceland to meet face-to-face with the publisher's representatives, who will rule on their requests. If the company denies a request it must justify that action to the councilors.

The publisher said last year that it was considering instituting a player council to give its customers more oversight. Some players were angry at the time because a company employee had supplied one player faction with equipment blueprints, giving them an advantage over other factions.

"The time has come to empower players with a formal communications channel to directly impact the development of their society," CCP wrote in Wednesday's announcement, which included references to political philosophers Charles-Louis de Montesquieu and John Locke.

In keeping with the game's setting, CCP is not banning vote-buying, voter coercion or other practices that real-world democracies frown on. Players can yield their voting rights to other players through a proxy system.

Democracy may be more workable in "EVE Online" because all its players inhabit the same universe and can interact with each other in the game. Most online games split the players up over dozens of servers.

The game also has an unusually sophisticated social and economic structure, with a player-operated industrial sector and vibrant trade in minerals. The publisher last year hired a full-time economist to study it.

___

On the Net:

http://www.eve-online.com

Online game players to elect council (AP)

2008-03-05T01:30:00.005-08:00

Demand Media buys Pluck Corp (Reuters)

2008-03-05T01:30:00.003-08:00

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Demand Media, run by former MySpace Chairman Richard Rosenblatt, said on Tuesday it has purchased Web media syndication company Pluck Corp, as part of an expansion of its Internet social media business.

A source familiar with the matter said the Pluck deal was valued at between 50 million to 60 million.

Reuters is a customer and minority investor in Pluck.

Pluck said it operates the worlds largest blog syndication network, called BlogBurst, that connects newspapers and other media sites to selected blogs.

"Pluck lets us spread social media across the Web," Demand Media Chief Executive Rosenblatt said in an interview.

Rosenblatt left MySpace after News Corps 2005 purchase, and founded Demand Media.

Since 2006, Demand has acquired a collection of relatively unknown sites and relaunched them with social networking features and video capabilities that serve specific niche interests such as ExpertVillage.com that features "how-to" online videos.

In January, Rosenblatts company struck a deal with the Lance Armstrong Foundation to create, Livestrong.com, a social network for health and fitness.

Santa Monica-based Demand Media said in a statement it has raised over 350 million since 2006. Rosenblatt said the company generates about 150 million annually and is "very profitable." Its network of sites has attracted 64 million monthly unique visitors, the company said.

Founded in 2003, Pluck has built up a portfolio of media clients aiming to add its service to their Web sites. These clients include media conglomerate News Corp, world affairs and business media website, Economist.com, Gannett Co Inc and The Washington Post Co.

Pluck also offers SiteLife, a set of Web services for media publishers and broadcasters to add interactive features to their own sites.

Plucks other investors include venture capital firms Mayfield Fund and Austin Ventures. Digital media blog paidContent.org said Pluck has attracted about 17 million in funding. Reuters invested about 7 million in 2006.

(Reporting by Kenneth Li, editing by Leslie Gevirtz and Carol Bishopric)

Ask.com seeks makeover as women's site (AP)

2008-03-05T01:30:00.001-08:00

SAN FRANCISCO - In a dramatic about-face, Ask.com is abandoning its effort to outshine Internet search leader Google Inc. and will instead focus on a narrower market consisting of married women looking for help managing their lives.

As part of the new direction outlined Tuesday, Ask will lay off about 40 employees, or 8 percent of its work force.

With the shift, the Oakland-based company will return to its roots by concentrating on finding answers to basic questions about recipes, hobbies, children's homework, entertainment and health.

The decision to cater to married women primarily living in the southern and midwestern United States comes after Ask spent years trying to build a better all-purpose search engine than Google.

The quest intensified after Internet conglomerate InterActiveCorp bought Ask and its affiliated Web sites for $2.3 billion in 2005. But Ask.com remained an also-ran, despite spending tens of millions of dollars on an advertising blitz about dozens of new products that impressed many industry analysts.

Through January, Ask ran the Internet's fifth largest search engine in the United States with a 4.5 percent market share, according to comScore Media Metrix. Google dominates the industry with a 58.5 percent share.

"No matter what (Ask) did, it just wasn't enough to get people to leave Google," said Chris Winfield, who runs a search engine consulting firm, 10e20. "This looks they are raising the white flag."

Jim Safka, who became Ask's chief executive two months ago, predicted the retooling will breathe new life into the search engine.

"Everyone at Ask is excited about our clear focus and the trajectory-changing results it will deliver," he said in a statement.

Forrester Research analyst Charlene Li said Ask's new strategy could help boost the company's profits because married women -- particularly mothers -- dictate many household spending decisions, making them a prime advertising target.

"It's a smart move," she said. "I still think Ask has great technology, but it's just really hard to fight against Google."

With Ask scaling back, the online search market could winnow to two dominant players, Google and Microsoft Corp. Now third in the market, Microsoft is trying to buy Yahoo Inc., which runs the second largest search engine, for about $40 billion.

Ask's inability to increase its market share had spurred widespread speculation that Barry Diller, InterActiveCorp's chief executive, might hire Google to run the search engine's results to save money. Google already posts text-based ads on Ask and InterActiveCorp's other Web sites in a five-year deal that Diller expects to generate about $3.5 billion.

New York-based InterActiveCorp plans to break itself into five separate companies later this year. Ask will remain under Diller's control at InterActiveCorp.

When it first started out in 1996, Ask positioned itself as a search engine that could spit out answers to requests that were posed as natural-language questions instead of being entered as a string of loosely related words.

But the search engine, then known as AskJeeves, frequently misinterpreted requests and produced nonsensical answers that triggered widespread ridicule.

After investing in more sophisticated technology, Ask tried to reposition itself as a cutting-edge alternative to Google and even dropped its cartoonish mascot -- a genteel butler named Jeeves -- in an effort to be taken more seriously.

Even after adding more bells and whistles, Ask still primarily appealed to women who used the search engine primarily to get simple answers. Women are also a familiar demographic for Safka, who was chief executive of InterActiveCorp's online dating site, Match.com, before taking the reins at Ask.

Li predicted many married women and mothers will be thrilled to have a search engine focusing on their interests. "It's not so much that these women have simple questions," she said. "It's just that they are so busy that they need fast answers."

Google exec hired as Facebook's chief operating officer (AFP)

2008-03-04T23:30:00.001-08:00

SAN FRANCISCO (AFP) - Facebook announced Tuesday that it has wooed a top executive away from Google to be the hot online social networking websites chief operating officer.

Sheryl Sandberg is leaving her post as vice president of global online sales and operations at Google to manage marketing, human resources, business development and other day-to-day operations at Facebook.

"I have learned so much during my time at Google, and Ive loved working with the people there," Sandberg said in a statement. "I am thrilled to have this opportunity."

The hire comes as Facebook strives to increase its global popularity by making its website available in an array of languages.

Facebook unveiled a German version of its website on Tuesday and promises to have it available in French by spring.

"Were really excited to bring German-speaking users the ability to access Facebook in their native language," said Facebook vice president of product management Matt Cohler.

"We currently have over a million active users in German-speaking countries."

Facebook unveiled a Spanish version of its website in February.

Software applications made freely available let people opt for Spanish or German instructions, alerts, news feeds and other information provided by Facebook as part of the user interface.

Facebook users can critique each others translations, resulting in a communal effort to improve the software and build an accurate dictionary of terms.

Facebook users have always been able to post profiles, messages or other content in their native languages, but the framework for the website was only in English prior to February.

"Sheryl is a great manager who will help scale Facebooks operations globally," said Facebook founder and chief executive Mark Zuckerberg.

"Sheryl understands Facebooks goal of connecting everyone in the world and is passionate about building a business that will enable us to realize this mission."

Sandberg worked as a US treasury secretarys chief of staff prior to taking a job with Google six years ago. She will start her job at Facebooks headquarters in Palo Alto, California, on March 24, the company said.

But Can She Sing?

2008-03-04T22:30:00.011-08:00

12:04 PM, Filed under: Home Links

R&B singer Cassie strips down in GQ. (Popoholic)

That new friend of Paris Hilton's is actually just an actor named Maxie Santillan. (Hollywood Tuna)

Take the Celebrity Sideboob Challenge. (CollegeHumor)

Is Ashlee Simpson drunk, stoned, or both? (DListed)

Mischa Barton is looking cute in an '80s kind of way. (PopSugar)

Amy Adams is looking hot at her new movie premiere? (Pink is the New Blog)

Did Mary-Kate Olsen have awful plastic surgery? (CityRag)

Lisa Marie Pressly got fat, and ugly. (A Socialite's Life)

Paris Hilton will play herself on My Name Is Earl. (Just Jared)

Britney Spears isn't dating her paparazzi boyfriend anymore. (IDLYITW)

Jamie Lynn Spears is having a boy. (Hollywood Rag)

Sense of touch comes to computers (AP)

2008-03-04T22:30:00.009-08:00

PITTSBURGH - A controller developed at Carnegie Mellon University allows computer users to manipulate three-dimensional images and explore virtual environments not only through sight and sound, but by using their sense of touch.

The device, expected to be used mainly for research, training and industrial purposes, comes close to the sensitivity of the human hand.

Using magnetic fields, the so-called haptic device replicates the response a hand might have to textures and gravitational forces, said Ralph L. Hollis, a Carnegie Mellon professor who developed the controller. Haptic refers to devices that convey the sense of touch.

"We believe this device provides the most realistic sense of touch of any haptic interface in the world today," he said.

The controller -- like a joystick topped with a block that can be grasped -- has just one moving part and rests in a bowl-like structure connected to a computer. Two of the controllers can be used simultaneously to pick up and move virtual objects on a monitor.

In a demonstration Tuesday, visitors to Hollis' lab were invited to move an image of a pin across a plate of various textures, causing the controller to bump along ripples, vibrate across fine striations and glide across smooth areas.

On one computer, users could "feel" the contours of a virtual rabbit.

Hollis said his researchers had built 10 of the devices, six of which were to be sent to other universities across the country and in Canada, and that a new company, Butterfly Haptics, would begin marketing the device in June or July.

The controller, which Hollis said will cost "much less" than $50,000, could enable a would-be surgeon to operate on a virtual human organ and sense the texture of tissue or give a designer the feeling of fitting a part into a virtual jet engine.

The interface might also convey the feeling of wind under the wings of unmanned military planes, Hollis said.

Hollis and his research team built an initial version of the device in 1997, but refined it -- and lowered its cost -- in recent years with the help of a National Science Foundation grant.

"We have gone from the prototype to a much more advanced system that other researchers can use," he said in a statement.

Haptic devices are not new, and such technology is fast becoming more sophisticated, Hollis noted. Vibrating cell phones and some automotive accessories and video games already convey physical sensations to users.

The system developed at Carnegie Mellon differs from other technologies that simulate hand responses to touch because it relies on a part that floats in a magnetic field rather than on mechanical linkages and cables, according to Hollis.

___

On the Net:

Butterfly Haptics LLC: http://butterflyhaptics.com/

Carnegie Mellon University's Robotics Institute: http://www.ri.cmu.edu/

Dannielyn?s inheritance finally cleared

2008-03-04T22:30:00.007-08:00

Anna Nicole's Smith daughter DannieLyn was declared the sole heir of her state. Now that makes her one pretty rich baby.

DannieLyn could inherit millions, assuming J. Howard Marshall's estate is finally sorted out. Too bad that the money can't buy what she really needs -- a normal childhood.

Do you like this article? Submit it to Blogosphere News!

Nicole Ritchie?s baby album

2008-03-04T22:30:00.005-08:00

Get a sneak peek at Nicole Ritchie's excusive baby album at People.com

Soooooo cute!

Do you like this article? Submit it to Blogosphere News!

Poland's Walesa discharged from US clinic after heart surgery (AFP)

2008-03-04T22:30:00.003-08:00

WASHINGTON (AFP) - Former Polish president and Nobel peace laureate Lech Walesa was discharged Tuesday from a clinic in Texas, four days after doctors fitted him with a pacemaker, hospital officials said.

"It has been a long time since I have felt this good," Walesa said before leaving the Debakey Heart and Vascular Center in Houston for Mexico, where he is due to attend a youth conference.

While it is common for patients in the United States to be wheeled out of hospitals after they are discharged, 64-year-old Walesa "walked out of the clinic on his own, in a nice suit," Erin Fairchild, a spokeswoman for the hospital, told AFP.

Walesa hailed the surgical team, led by electrophysiologist Miguel Valderrabano, that implanted the bi-ventricular pacemaker defibrillator in a two-hour procedure on Friday.

"This is a very good outcome and I am overjoyed that I do not need a heart transplant at this time," Walesa said as he left the clinic.

"To other people with heart problems, I suggest they get their hearts checked by physicians in a good medical center.

"The world is a beautiful place and I want everyone to live in it as long as possible and help other people, like I have been helped here," he said.

The pacemaker defibrillator is "designed to resynchronize the contractions of his heart and improve its function," Valderrabano said after the operation on Friday.

"We expect that the pacemaker, combined with the other treatments Mr Walesa has received, may lead to a very substantial improvement in how he feels, even to the point of normalization of his heart function ... and help him get back to his busy and productive life," Valderrabano said.

Days before the device was fitted, doctors at the DeBakey clinic had implanted a stent in Walesa to unblock a coronary artery.

In 2006, he underwent surgery in Italy to "repair a blood vessel that was a bit crooked," his son, Polish lawmaker Jaroslaw, told AFP at the time.

Walesa rose to global fame in 1980 when he helped lead a massive strike by workers at the Gdansk shipyard in northern Poland, which led to the creation of the first free trade union in the communist bloc, Solidarity.

He won the Nobel peace prize in 1983 for his part in founding Solidarity, which has been credited with helping to peacefully bring down the Iron Curtain, which divided Europe into communist East and free West for more than 40 years following World War II.

In 1990, the son of a carpenter became Polands first democratically elected president, and served one five-year term.

His trademark handlebar moustache whitened by time, Walesa is still as outspoken as he was during the Solidarity days and retains a dry sense of humor.

He has referred to Polish President Lech Kaczynski as an "imbecile", and brushed off the threatened lawsuits that his comments provoked.

Ten days before he had his pacemaker fitted, Walesa commented wrily at the slowness with which long-time leader of Cuba, Fidel Castro, was letting go of power in the island communist state.

"If Castro keeps handing over power at this pace, he wont actually give it up for 200 years," Walesa said.

Walesa lives in Gdansk, where he heads a foundation that bears his name, and travels the world to address conferences.

Miley Cyrus Chats It Up With the Juice Boy

2008-03-04T22:30:00.001-08:00

Tuesday, March 04, 2008

MILEY CYRUS CHATS IT UP WITH THE JUICE BOY

On what was a beautiful Tuesday afternoon in Los Angeles, Miley Cyrus was out with a gal pal grabbing a smoothie at the local Robek's.

After getting her order, Miley appeared to be a bit smitten with the juice boy - as the two shared a laugh while he helped to block the cameras, chatting up the young Disney star while doing so.

In related news, Miley's pops, Billy Ray Cyrus, is denying rumors that he removed Lindsay Lohan's phone number from his daughter's cell phone.

On Ryan Seacrest's radio show, Billy Ray responded to the claims by saying: "We love Lindsay."

The 46-year-old Hannah Montana co-star stressed that he wants his children to think of him as a "best friend."

"I wanna be the person [Miley] wants to talk to," he told Seacrest, adding that Miley has a lot of friends, and "I just want to be one of those friends."

Celebrity Gossip

Enjoy the pictures of Miley out for her afternoon juice (March 4).

Heidi Montag and Britney Spears Make Sweet... Music?

2008-03-04T21:30:00.027-08:00

10:14 AM, Filed under: Home Celebrities Heidi Montag

Hey, wanna hear something really sad, and pathetic? Then take a listen to this new song featuring Britney Spears and Heidi Montag, called "Dramatic." Yes, that's right, the two most ridiculous figures in the "music" industry have joined forces in what can only be an attempt at mutual career suicide. Granted, Britney's career was over long, long ago, and Heidi Montag's music career has only ever existed in her own warped mind.

So, you feel like listening to just about the worst song ever recorded in the history of the Universe? You know you do. Oh, and don't forget about Heidi Montag's bikini music video, either. That one's a real gem.

Listen to the Song:

Britney Spears and Heidi Montag "Dramatic"

And here are some Heidi Montag pictures, because as much as she continues to become more and more plastic, at least she's not Britney Spears.

Photo credit: WENN

Samsung First to Ship 500GB Laptop Hard Drive (PC World)

2008-03-04T21:30:00.025-08:00

Samsung Electronics is the first hard drive manufacturer to ship a 500GB 2.5-inch drive. Samsung announced its drive was shipping in volume to OEMs and PC makers today.

The 500GB drive marks a significant milestone in portable storage: On notebooks that support dual-hard drive configurations, a 500GB drive means you can have a whopping 1TB of storage in a laptop computer.

Competition To Market

Hitachi was the first company to announce a 500GB 2.5-inch hard drive, before the start of the 2008 International Consumer Electronics Show. Samsung was the second to announce, also at the show; Fujitsu also recently announced its intention to offer a 500GB drive.

However, both Hitachi and Fujitsu are taking a different approach to 500GB than Samsung. All three drive makers use three disk platters, but Hitachi and Fujitsu reach 500GB by expanding the height of the drive from 9.5mm--the common standard for most notebooks--to 12.5mm, a height thats increasingly accommodated on larger, desktop-replacementlaptop designs, but not necessarily on more general-use laptops.

Samsungs Spinpoint M6 drive spins at 5,400 rpm(revolutions per minute). Hitachis drive carries the same rating, but Fujitsu slowed its drive to 4200 rpm.

Hitachis drive was supposed to ship in February, but is now expected to ship later this month. Fujitsu says its drive will ship in May.

1TB In A Laptop

Since the Spinpoint M6 fits into the chassis of commercial and multimedia notebooks, said Andy Higginbotham, director of hard drive sales at Samsung Semiconductor. Two drives can be combined for 1TB of storage, he said. Priced at $299, the hard drive is shipping now to OEMs and PC makers,and will be in retail stores later this month. A company spokeswoman declined to comment on which PC makers will be using the drive; nor would a spokeswoman say when we might see a notebook using the drive. At the Consumer Electronics Show earlier this year, Asus announced the M70S laptop, which combined two 500GB drives from Hitachi.Samsung also announced the Spinpoint MP2 hard drive, a 2.5-inch drive with 250GB of storage. Aimed at desktop replacement notebooks, workstations and blade servers, it provides quicker read and write speeds than the M6. The hard drive spins at 7,200 rpm.With the MP2, the company also provides an optional chip that protects a hard drive from vibrations caused by other hardware components.The Spinpoint MP2 is priced at $299 and will be available through retailers. An 80GB version of the hard drive is also available, according to the company.Both drives come with a free-fall sensor that OEMs can opt for; the sensor can park the head and turns the hard drive off in the event of a fall, protecting the data on it.

Microsoft's Gamble With Xbox Business Has Turned Corner (Investor's Business Daily)

2008-03-04T21:30:00.023-08:00

Microsofts bet on its Xbox 360 video game console is finally paying off.

The high-definition video game device is beating its closest rival -- Sonys (NYSE:SNE - News) PlayStation 3 -- in hardware and software sales. And better yet, Microsofts (NasdaqGS:MSFT - News) Xbox business is turning a profit.

The companys entertainment and devices unit has made money for two straight quarters and is on target to be in the black for the fiscal year ending in June.

Microsofts E&D unit earned $524 million on sales of $4.99 billion in the six months ended Dec. 31. That compares with a loss of $423 million on sales of $3.98 billion for the year-earlier period.

After years as a money pit, the unit looks to be profitable going forward, says Robbie Bach, president of the E&D unit. Video games are the big driver, but the unit also includes mobile phone software, PC peripherals, TV set-top box software and Zune portable music players.

"There are times when were making investments in one business and hopefully at that time were reaping things from other parts of the business," Bach said in an interview.

Now, the Xbox business is reaping the rewards of Microsofts long-term investments.

When Microsoft launched its first video game console, the original Xbox, in November 2001, it just hoped to gain credibility in the market. Meanwhile, it set its sights on leapfrogging Sonys industry-leading PlayStation 2 console with its follow-on console, Xbox 360.

Microsoft made several critical bets with the Xbox 360. First, it launched it a year ahead of the competition in November 2005. Second, it pushed its Xbox Live online services as a major differentiator. Third, it decided not to include a costly next-generation, blue-laser optical disc player in the console.

Sony was late to market with a more expensive device, the PS3, because it decided to incorporate a Blu-ray Disc player in the console. With the Blu-ray Disc drive, users can play high-definition movies and game developers can store more data on discs. Microsofts Xbox 360 comes with a standard-definition DVD player. But Microsoft offers paid downloads of HD movies and TV shows via Xbox Live.

Microsoft has sold more than 17.7 million consoles worldwide as of Dec. 31. Sony has sold 10.5 million PS3 consoles as of that date.

Sony looks to be a more competitive rival this year, with a cheaper PS3 and a bunch of exclusive software titles.

But Bach says Xbox 360 still has the edge on PS3.

"Even though theyve lowered prices on their hardware, you still have the basic economics of where their hardware is priced at," Bach said.

Sonys cheapest PS3 costs $399. The new model features a 40-gigabyte hard drive and was introduced in November. Microsofts cheapest Xbox 360 costs $279, but it doesnt come with a hard-disk drive.

Xbox Live Attracting Subscribers

Plus, Sony hasnt found a good response to Xbox Live, Bach says. Its PlayStation Network service doesnt have nearly the take-up rate as Xbox Live.

"Xbox Live is a big differentiator for us. That drives a significant amount of energy around whats going on with Xbox," Bach said.

More than half of Xbox 360 users subscribe to Xbox Live, which has more than 10 million members.

Xbox Live lets users play against other people over the Internet. Plus, users can download game content such as new game levels and weapons.

Those capabilities help when gamers are comparing versions of a game available on different consoles, Bach says.

"You dont have the same experience (with other consoles) that you get with Xbox Live," Bach said. "That does drive people to the platform."

For instance, one of the most anticipated new games this year, Take-Two Interactive Softwares (NasdaqGS:TTWO - News) "Grand Theft Auto IV," will have exclusive downloadable chapters for Xbox 360. "Grand Theft Auto IV" is set for release on April 29.

Microsoft makes money with the Xbox Live service through subscriptions, paid downloads and advertising, Bach says. Subscription fees are the biggest component now.

The Xbox is Microsofts play in the digital living room. Since its connected to the TV, Microsoft is able to sell and rent downloadable movies and TV shows.

The Xbox 360 is No. 2 among current-generation game consoles. Nintendo (Other OTC:NTDOY.PK - News) leads with its lower-priced, mass-market Wii console. Nintendos machine doesnt boast high-end graphics and realistic game play like the new consoles from Microsoft and Sony. Instead of cutting-edge processors, the Wii has a motion-sensing controller and intuitive, easy-to-play games. Nintendo has sold 20.1 million Wii consoles as of Dec. 31.

Grabbing Wallet Share

Microsoft focuses on "wallet share" when evaluating its place in the video game market, says Jeff Bell, corporate vice president of global marketing for Microsofts interactive entertainment business.

"Were very proud that our share of wallet is disproportionately larger than either of our two competitors," Bell said Feb. 20 at the Kellogg Technology Conference at Northwestern University. The Xbox 360 has a higher attach rate for games and accessories per console than its rivals, Bell says.

The average Xbox 360 owner has bought seven games vs. four for Wii and three for PS3, he says.

"The Xbox 360 continues to sell well," said Matt Rosoff, an analyst at independent research firm Directions on Microsoft. "Some folks have underestimated how well its going to sell. Its going to do very well."

The biggest issue Microsoft faces with the Xbox 360 involves lingering concerns about hardware failure rates, Rosoff says. Last July, Microsoft took a pretax charge to earnings of more than $1 billion for the quarter ended June 30, 2007, for anticipated costs to repair defective Xbox 360 consoles.

"We continue to see reports that defect and return rates are much higher for the Xbox 360 than they are for the other consoles, something like over 10%," Rosoff said. That could hurt the profitability of the entertainment and devices unit, he says.

Other things that could affect the units long-term profitability would be big investments in mobile phone development and perhaps work on a portable video game device, Rosoff says.

Microsoft announced Feb. 11 that it was buying consumer smart phone software developer Danger. Microsoft might be planning to use Dangers capabilities to respond to Apples (NasdaqGS:AAPL - News) popular iPhone, Rosoff says.

Samsung's new drives can give laptops 1TB of storage (InfoWorld)

2008-03-04T21:30:00.021-08:00

San Francisco - To meet the growing storage needs of laptop users, Samsung Electronics on Tuesday introduced a 500GB hard drive that could provide a notebook PC with as much as 1TB of storage.

The Spinpoint M6, a 2.5-inch hard drive, fits into the chassis of commercial and multimedia notebooks, said Andy Higginbotham, director of hard drive sales at Samsung Semiconductor. Two drives can be combined for 1TB of storage, he said.

The company was able to fit three 167GB platters in a small frame to achieve 500GB of storage in one drive, Higginbotham said. The hard drive spins at 5,400 RPM.

Priced at $299, the hard drive will ship to PC makers and retail stores later this month. A company spokeswoman declined to comment on which PC makers will be using the drive.

This is not the first attempt to put 1TB of storage in a laptop. At the Consumer Electronics Show earlier this year, Asus announced the M70S laptop, which combined two 500GB drives from Hitachi.

Samsung also announced the Spinpoint MP2 hard drive, a 2.5-inch drive with 250GB of storage. Aimed at desktop replacement notebooks, workstations, and blade servers, it provides quicker read and write speeds than the M6. The hard drive spins at 7,200 RPM.

With the MP2, the company also provides an optional chip that protects a hard drive from vibrations caused by other hardware components.

The Spinpoint MP2 is priced at $299 and will be available through retailers. An 80GB version of the hard drive is also available, according to the company.

Both drives come with an optional free-fall sensor, which parks the head and turns the hard drive off in the event of a fall, protecting the data on it.

IBM promotes agile development (InfoWorld)

2008-03-04T21:30:00.019-08:00

San Francisco - IBM again touted agile software development methods on Tuesday at the SD West Conference 2008 in Santa Clara, Calif., with an official saying the company itself probably has one of the worlds largest adoptions of agile.

In a keynote presentation and in correspondence afterward, IBMs Per Kroll, chief architect for IBM Rational Expertise Development & Innovation, cited the companys proliferation of agile practices among some of its approximately 35,000 developers.

"I think in general we have 1,000-plus people [using] agile in the IBM community," with an additional 2,000 persons trained in agile practices, Kroll said. He said, though, that he did not anticipate that all 35,000 developers would adopt agile.

On Monday at the conference, IBMs Scott Ambler, practice leader for agile development, spoke on the state of the agile space. Agile development focuses on developing software in iterations of usually two weeks. This allows for more flexibility than the traditional waterfall methodologies.

"Agile is taking many things that we???ve been using for a lot of years before agile was around [and] adding a lot of new things and putting a very good spin on it and making development more human," said Kroll. Concepts like iterative development and continuous integration are not new, but agile accounts for factors like human and collaborative aspects, he said. "We firmly believe, and our executives firmly believe, that the most successful organizations of tomorrow will be the ones [able] to adopt agile principles."

IBM has roughly 150 agile projects, he said. But each team needs to determine its own agile use based on their context. Agile means a lot of things to different teams, he said.

A key factor is that IBM helps customers and its own teams with applying agile complex environments, facing such issues as application complexity, scalability, and compliance issues, said Kroll.

Rolling out agile principles could be done with a whip or carrot approach. "Its pretty obvious that the whip approach only works for a while," with developers reverting back when no one is watching any longer, he said. To encourage agile, IBM has recognized teams for what they have accomplished.??

IBM leverages its Agile Evaluation Framework in promoting agile. "This helps us get some assistance to teams in their quest to become more agile," Kroll said. The framework is a tool to help teams understand how well they have adopted various practices and drives discussions on how to further improve.

The framework is one of several tools being used in a broader framework for organizational transformations, referred to as "Measured Capability Improvement." Also featured in Measured Capability Improvement is the mapping of business problems to practices being adopted. IBM also is measuring whether expected business benefits were achieved. IBM is looking at bringing this set of techniques and tools to market, said Kroll.

NYC Premiere of 'Dead Man's Cell Phone' Opens (Playbill)

2008-03-04T21:30:00.017-08:00

The star of Broadways Proof and TVs "Weeds" plays Jean, a mousey character who lies to the relatives of the man whose phone she picks up. In the Anne Bogart-directed play on the themes of mortality, empathy and connection in the age of cold technology and soulless transactions, Jean wants to be the agent of the survivors happiness - she makes them feel good by suggesting the dead man was thinking of them in his last moments.

T. Ryder Smith plays the title character, Gordon, replacing Bill Camp, who created the role in previews before leaving for another job obligation. Smith last appeared at Playwrights Horizons in She Stoops to Comedy. He previously worked with playwright Ruhl in The Goodman Theatre production of her Passion Play.

The production began previews Feb. 9, one day later than originally announced.

The cast also features Drama Desk and Obie Award winner and Tony nominee Kathleen Chalfant (Wit, Angels in America and the current Vita and Virginia) as Gordons red-meat-eating mother; David Aaron Baker (Broadways A Raisin in the Sun, The Rainmaker, Abe Lincoln in Illinois) as Gordons brother, Dwight, who works in the stationery business; Carla Harting (Off-Broadways Eurydice, Orsons Shadow) as The Other Woman, Gordons mistress and a colleague in his dark line of work; and Kelly Maurer (Broadways The Old Neighborhood) as Gordons widow.

According to Off-Broadways Playwrights Horizons, "Gordon is dead, but his cell phone lives on. When Jean (Mary-Louise Parker), an empathetic museum worker, answers his ringing phone beside her in a caf, she is soon playing unwitting comforter and confessor to the mans grieving friends and family. Before she knows it, Jean is ensnarled in the underbelly of the dead mans bizarre life. A wildly imaginative new comedy, Dead Mans Cell Phone is the odyssey of a woman forced to confront her assumptions about morality, redemption and the need to connect in a technology-obsessed world."

The production features scenic and costume designs by G.W. Mercier, lighting design by Brian H. Scott and soundscape by Darron L. West. Production stage manager is Elizabeth Moreau.

Director Anne Bogart is artistic director of SITI Company, which she founded with Japanese director Tadashi Suzuki in 1992. The troupe is known for its creation of potent images and its commitment to an ensemble ethic.

The performance schedule is Tuesdays through Fridays at 8 PM, Saturdays at 2:30 & 8 PM and Sundays at 2:30 & 7:30 PM.

For more information visit www.playwrightshorizons.org or call Ticket Central at (212) 279-4200.

Dead Mans Cell Phone had its world premiere in 2007 in a production by Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company in Washington, DC.

US Internet users going mobile: study (AFP)

2008-03-04T21:30:00.015-08:00

SAN FRANCISCO (AFP) - A comScore study released Tuesday shows US mobile Internet use is rising exponentially as people increasingly opt to be online while on the move.

The number of people using broadband mobile Internet connections jumped to 2.16 million in the final three months of 2007 as compared to 854,000 in the same period a year earlier, according to comScore.

"Though mobile broadband access is currently used by about one percent of the total US Internet population, it is poised for significant growth over the next few years," said comScore senior vice president Serge Matta.

"As consumers increasingly demand and depend on portable Internet access, the demand for mobile broadband should continue to increase."

Mobile broadband relies on cellular telephone networks. Users pay subscriptions for access and connections are made wirelessly through "smart phones" or with cards or hardware designed for laptop computers.

The comScore study focused on direct mobile broadband connections and did not include use of wireless "hotspots" such as those common at cafes, airports or hotels.

Telecom companies Verizon and Sprint commanded most of the US broadband market in 2007, but rival AT&T has announced plans to increase its coverage in that market, according to comScore.

The comScore study indicates more than half the US mobile broadband use is done from work computers and that more than 75 percent of the users claim household incomes of more than 50,000 dollars annually.

New Microsoft OS aimed at researchers (InfoWorld)

2008-03-04T21:30:00.013-08:00

San Francisco - Microsoft is unveiling a new operating system on Tuesday, but dont get too excited.

Think of Singularity as "a concept-car OS," said Rick Rashid, general director of Microsoft Research. Microsoft is making the prototype OS available free to the academic and research communities in the hope that theyll use it to develop new kinds of computer architectures.

Its difficult for the academic community to experiment with computer architectures, he said. Singularity is designed to make it easier for researchers to test how operating systems and applications interact with each other, he said.

"Its a new system built from the ground up, with the specific goal of being more reliable," Rashid said. Microsoft hopes that Singularity will help improve software reliability and boost research in programming languages and tools.

Singularity is available on Microsofts CodePlex Web site. It was unveiled on Tuesday at TechFest, Microsofts annual showcase of projects from its research division.

Rashid also showed off BEE3, a hardware project that Microsoft designed with researchers at the University of California, Berkeley to let researchers experiment with computer architectures. "The idea behind it is to build a computer system that is configurable," Rashid said. "You can program this computer to be another computer or do another kind of architecture or experiment with new kinds of algorithms," he said.

Rashid and his colleagues are demonstrating technologies that Microsofts research group is working on. Some of the projects ultimately contribute to Microsoft products but others, like vaccine design and quantum computing, often seem irrelevant to the software giants core business.

Still, Rashid said that the best return on any investment that Microsoft makes consistently comes from its investment in Microsoft Research. The group generates about a quarter of the companys patents, he said.

IE8 Will Support Current Web Standards by Default (NewsFactor)

2008-03-04T21:30:00.011-08:00

Microsoft said Monday that it will make the current Web standard for rendering browser content the default in Internet Explorer 8. As the Web has evolved, there have been different levels of support for Web standards and new forms of Web-site behavior. Unless a Web site provides specific instructions, a browser uses a default mode.

THREE MODES

IE8 will have three rendering modes. One supports the current implementation of Web standards, the second supports the implementation that existed as of IE7s release in 2006, and the third supports rendering modes back to the first days of the Web. Microsoft said the current implementation is more forward-looking and preferred by Web designers, while the others maintain compatibility with Web sites designed for previous versions of Internet Explorer.

Microsoft chief software architect Ray Ozzie said the original plan was to make the IE7 standard the default for IE8, but the company finally decided to opt for current Web standards.

"This is obviously a complex issue," he said. On one side, he added, there are "literally billions of Web pages designed to render on previous browser versions." On the other hand, Ozzie said, its beneficial to Web designers "if all vendors give priority to interoperability around commonly accepted standards as they evolve."

He added that Microsoft will work with content publishers to encourage them to update their Web sites during the IE8 beta period.

IGNORING STANDARDS CAN BE EXPENSIVE

Last month, the software giant issued a set of Interoperability Principles for data portability, support for industry standards, and other areas to open up its products. Ozzie said the IE8 decision is part of Microsofts commitment to those principles.

But theres another factor. Brad Smith, Microsofts general counsel, noted that, while there arent any legal requirements about which rendering mode must be the default, the company feels its decision "clearly removes this question as a potential legal and regulatory issue."

That issue can be expensive. Last week, the European Commission fined Microsoft $1.35 billion for not abiding by a previous antitrust settlement.

Brad Shimmin, an analyst with industry research firm Current Analysis, said the IE8 decision is a sign that the days of the Web browser as the key user interface are coming to an end. Web standards have to support legacy systems, he said, and that means cutting-edge innovation will happen elsewhere.

He cited Adobes Flex, AIR and Flash technologies, as well as Microsofts Silverlight, as the leading candidates for innovation. Even so, he expects the browser to remain the standard platform for sending data from the server to the client.

'Idol' just about mum on stripper past (AP)

2008-03-04T21:30:00.009-08:00

LOS ANGELES - David Hernandez's stripper past didn't come back to haunt him on Tuesday night's "American Idol."

Hernandez's three-year stint as a male stripper wasn't even mentioned during the live telecast, which featured the 24-year-old from Glendale, Ariz., performing a rendition of Celine Dion's "It's All Coming Back to Me Now." However, acerbic judge Simon Cowell did mutter something about stripping, off camera, immediately after the song ended.

Randy Jackson called Hernandez's singing "pitchy" but said he had a "big ol' voice." Paula Abdul raved that Hernandez had some of the "best vocals." And Simon Cowell said it wasn't as good as last week, but Hernandez had secured himself a place in the finals.

On Thursday, 16 semifinalists will be narrowed down to the final 12 contestants.

Other than Cowell, no one alluded to Monday's news that Hernandez worked for three years in Phoenix at Dick's Cabaret. There, he would appear fully nude and perform lap dances for the club's "mostly male" clientele, club manager Gordy Bryan told The Associated Press on Monday.

It apparently wasn't Hernandez's "most embarrassing moment" either. (Contestants had to 'fess up about theirs during the show.) In a taped segment before his performance, Hernandez said his red-faced moment happened when he discovered he had "a pea-sized booger" in his nose following a photo shoot.

Fox and the producers have declined to comment about Hernandez.

In 2003, semifinalist Frenchie Davis was dismissed from "Idol" because of her appearance on an adult Web site, but Antonella Barba remained in the competition last year after racy photos of her surfaced on the Internet.

Third-place finisher Nikki McKibbin from the first "Idol" season briefly worked as stripper before the show, according to Joe Cannizzaro, president of McKibbin's record label, Chenoa Music. Like Hernandez, McKibbin wasn't dismissed from the show when her history as a stripper was publicly revealed -- nor was it disclosed on the show.

Dick's Cabaret manager Bryan told the AP he was aware that Hernandez was a vocalist, but that Hernandez never sang at the club. Bryan said he now believes Hernandez stopped working at the strip club on Sept. 30, 2007, because of his participation in "Idol."

On a video posted on AmericanIdol.com, Hernandez said he broke the lease on his apartment and lived out of his car before auditioning for "Idol." And, when asked in a Q&A posted on the site which talent would he would most like to have if he couldn't sing, Hernandez responded: "Dancing! I'm horrible at that."

___

AP writer Erin Carlson in New York contributed to this report.

___

On the Net:

American Idol: http://www.americanidol.com/

Rock star Aussie minister off-key on whales: Japanese official (AFP)

2008-03-04T21:30:00.007-08:00

SYDNEY (AFP) - In the days when Australias environment minister was a rock star and Japans whaling chief was a student, they sang from the same songbook -- but not any more.

Environment Minister Peter Garrett, former frontman for protest rockers Midnight Oil, now leads Australias attempts to force Japan to end its whaling programme.

The chief of whaling at Japans Fisheries Agency, Hideki Moronuki, leads the defence -- and he says Garrett has lost a fan.

"When I was a high-school student I used to listen to Midnight Oil. When I was a high-school student I liked his music. Now I dont," Moronuki told the Australian Associated Press.

Garrett was less diplomatic than previous Australian environment ministers and more aggressive, he said in a telephone interview from Tokyo.

"Previous ministers take into account the political situation but minister Garrett is very, very direct."

Moronuki scoffed at Garretts proposal to reform the International Whaling Commission, calling it "quite ridiculous."

Garrett wants to close a loophole in an international moratorium on whaling that allows Japan to kill the giants of the seas in the name of research.

Australia is a leading opponent of Japans annual hunt in Antarctic waters, which this year is targeting 1,000 whales.

The government sent a customs vessel into the Southern Ocean in January to track the whalers and collect evidence for a possible international court action to stop the killing.

Photographs of harpooned whales being dragged aboard a Japanese ship were later published in Australian newspapers and described by Garrett as sickening.

Anna Nicole's daughter named her heir (AP)

2008-03-04T21:30:00.005-08:00

LOS ANGELES - Anna Nicole Smith's daughter will inherit her late mother's estate.

A Los Angeles judge on Tuesday not only made 18-month-old Dannielynn Hope the sole heir, but also set up a trust in the girl's name.

Her father, Larry Birkhead, and Smith's executor, Harry K. Stern, will be co-trustees.

Superior Court Judge Mitchell Beckloff granted a petition filed by Stern, who wanted to clarify Smith's intentions toward her daughter. Smith drafted a will in 2001 -- five years before the child was born -- that left her estate to her then only child, Daniel. However, it said the assets in Daniel's trust should be shared equally if she had future children.

Daniel was 20 when he died in 2006, three days after Dannielynn was born.

"We and Mr. Stern always believed that Anna Nicole never intended to disinherit her daughter," Stern's lawyer, Bruce S. Ross, said after the hearing. "I'm pleased to say this chapter in the saga is closed."

Dannielynn could inherit millions of dollars if the estate wins an ongoing court fight over a will by Smith's wealthy second husband, J. Howard Marshall, that left much of his fortune to the model. His relatives have been fighting the will for years.

Dannielynn: Sole Heir of Anna Nicole?s Estate

2008-03-04T21:30:00.003-08:00

Tuesday, March 04, 2008

DANNIELYNN: SOLE HEIR OF ANNA NICOLE'S ESTATE

Baby Dannielynn has been named the sole heir to the late Anna Nicole Smith's estate, a Los Angeles judge ruled in court proceedings held earlier today (March 4).

According to press reports, "In court papers filed in Superior Court Oct. 18, 2007, Howard K. Stern, the executor of Smith's estate, sought to clarify Smith's intentions in her July 2001 will, drafted five years before Dannielynn Hope's September 2006 birth."

"We and Mr. Stern always believed that Anna Nicole never intended to disinherit her daughter,"' Stern's lawyer, Bruce S. Ross, said following the hearing. "I'm pleased to say this chapter in the saga is closed."

Depending on what happens with Smith's late husband/oil tycoon J. Howard Marshall's estate, which is still tied up in litigation in the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, Dannielynn could end up inheriting millions.

Reports add that the "judge also established a trust on the 18-month-old's behalf, with Stern and Dannielynn's father, Larry Birkhead, acting as co-trustees."

Celebrity Gossip

Jessica Alba Premieres ?The Eye? In Paris

2008-03-04T21:30:00.001-08:00

Tuesday, March 04, 2008

JESSICA ALBA PREMIERES "THE EYE" IN PARIS

Looking lovely in a gorgeous white gown, Jessica Alba attended the Paris premiere of her new thriller, The Eye, at the Gaumant Marignan cinema on Tuesday (March 4).

The Sin City starlet's red carpet appearance follows a week full of fashion fun - as she was a staple at the numerous shows going on in the City of Lights as part of fashion week.

Before her appearance at the Gaumant Marignan cinema, Jessica posted a short blog message, which read: "I am currently getting my makeup done to go to the premiere of my movie. Can't wait to get home and rest. Every day I have eaten ham and cheese sandwiches, I cant get enough of them. Wish they had these back in the states, the bread is amazing. My tummy is getting bigger by the second and the little one must like the food too because it is moving and kicking like crazy. IT'S THE BEST."

Giving more details about her trip to Paris, Alba wrote: "Went to the Lanvin show and the Rodin museum in Parisamazing. Also saw Amy Winehouse perform. She has such an incredible voice. She's definitely a throwbackreminiscent of Ella [Fitzgerald]."

Celebrity Gossip

Enjoy the pictures of Jessica at the Paris premiere of "The Eye" (March 4).

Yahoo's onePlace Aims to Manage Mobile Content (NewsFactor)

2008-03-04T19:30:00.011-08:00

Microsoft and Yahoo are competing again, but this time its not about a takeover but the mobile Web. While Microsoft has partnered with Nokia to put its Silverlight platform on mobile phones, Yahoo on Tuesday unveiled onePlace, a mobile-content management tool.

Marco Boerries, executive vice president of Yahoos Connected Life, said onePlace is an essential component of Yahoos mobile products. "Yahoo onePlace is where users will be able to find what matters to them the most, no matter where their interests, passions and information come from," he said. "Yahoo onePlace will provide mobile users with a rich and dynamic content experience."

HYPERCUSTOMIZED CONTENT

Yahoo aims to personalize the mobile Web. Its onePlace tool organizes content, keeps it current, and serves it according to consumer preferences. Yahoo is calling it "hypercustomized" to consumer tastes.

Yahoo thinks onePlace will be easy to adopt because it uses bookmarks to link to Internet content, including news feeds, Web sites, videos, images, e-mails and search queries. The tools task is to keep that content updated -- be it the latest game scores or stock prices -- and assign categories and tags. Users can place the content into customized collections.

Yahoo offers the example of a user planning a holiday to Paris in June. The user could create a "Paris" collection and begin linking it to any useful information -- weather conditions, city guides, restaurant reviews, hotel reservations, walking maps, songs of Edith Piaf, English-French dictionaries, winery recommendations, etc. If the flight times change, onePlace automatically updates that information.

Yahoo expects to release onePlace in the second quarter.

ELIMINATING MOBILE PAIN POINTS

Greg Sterling, principal analyst at Sterling Market Intelligence, likened onePlace to MyYahoo adapted for a mobile setting. The concept is also similar to RSS feeds. While "favorites" have largely disappeared from users desktops because people just search for what they need, the idea of favorites on a mobile device is important and powerful because, Sterling noted, its painful to search for all these sites.

"If you can set up favorites and they are easy to access, then it becomes a very useful and sticky application for the mobile user," Sterling explained. "Consumers would be loyal to this because it helps you organize all your mobile content. This will be very strategic for Yahoo if they can get into lots of different hands."

Of course, the ultimate goal is to drive advertising dollars. But the way in is to establish a relationship with the user. In an ultra-competitive environment, software makers need to create useful tools that motivate mobile users to download them and use them repeatedly. User loyalty will bring page views and searches that Yahoo could serve ads against.

"onePlace looks like a quite valuable tool," Sterling concluded. "The idea that you can page through important sources of information is valuable. Its trying to sort of be a front door to the mobile Internet."

Mike Kent also contributed to this article.

Sony to launch Skype via PSP in Japan this month (AFP)

2008-03-04T19:30:00.009-08:00

TOKYO (AFP) - Sony said on Tuesday it will add the Skype telephone service to its slim PlayStation Portable handheld console in Japan this month, enabling users to make free or low-cost telephone calls.

Sony will start selling microphones for the PSP-2000 in the Japanese market on March 19 as part of its efforts to broaden the appeal of its video game consoles amid fierce competition with rival Nintendo.

After a system software update planned for March 18, PSP users will be able to chat for free to other Skype users and, for a charge, call landlines and mobile phones anywhere in the world, Sonys game unit said in a statement.

The service was started for the PSP in Europe and the United States in January but Sony was forced to delay the launch in Japan because the microphones did not meet the Skype specifications.

Skype, which was bought by eBay in October of 2004, uses a peer-to-peer (P2P) network to enable users to make free Internet telephone calls to one another through their computers.

Users can also use the service to call landlines or mobile phones at low rates.

Lindsay Lohan's mom to star in reality TV show (Reuters)

2008-03-04T19:30:00.007-08:00

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Dina Lohan took a lot of heat for managing daughter Lindsay Lohans rise to stardom and U.S. television viewers now can watch as she shepherds 14-year-old daughter Ali into a show business career.

A new program, "Living Lohan" promises to take audiences inside the suburban New York home of Dina and Ali, starting this summer on E!, the cable TV network said on Tuesday.

The premiere date has yet to be set and the shows name is still a "working title" but E! said the program will "follow Dina as she works double duty as mom and manager to help Ali try to follow in her big sisters famous footsteps."

And those are big -- but not always glamorous -- footsteps.

Lindsay Lohan, 21, began modeling as a child and created a name for herself as an up-and-coming teenage actress in Disney movies such as "The Parent Trap," "Freaky Friday" and "Mean Girls."

As she entered her late teens, Lohan undertook more difficult roles and earned critical praise in films such as "A Prairie Home Companion" from legendary director Robert Altman.

But last year, Lohans personal life took a tumble as she battled drug and alcohol abuse and was arrested twice by local law enforcement officials.

She wrecked her car in Beverly Hills in May, and two months later was involved in a car chase. In both cases, she possessed a small amount of cocaine. By August, Lohan was in treatment at a rehab facility in Utah. In recent months she has mostly stayed out of Hollywoods limelight.

Dina Lohan came under criticism for, perhaps, allowing her daughter to live a late-night life of Hollywood club-hopping, and E! acknowledged she has faced "intense scrutiny"

But Lisa Berger, executive vice president of original programming for E!, said Dina Lohan "is an incredibly hard-working, passionate mom that I think our viewers will find both relatable and highly entertaining."

E! said it had been given unprecedented access to the Lohan family.

Ali, whose real name is Aliana, also began modeling as a child and has some limited acting experience appearing in small roles in movies such as "The Parent Trap." There are also two Lohan bothers -- Cody, 11, and Michael, 20.

Reuters

Dannielynn Named Anna Nicole's Sole Heir (E! Online)

2008-03-04T19:30:00.005-08:00

Los Angeles (E! Online) - Dannielynn Hope Marshall Birkhead has been handed the keys to the castle.

Larry Birkheads 18-month-old daughter with Anna Nicole Smith was declared the sole beneficiary to the late models estate Tuesday after a Los Angeles judge approved Howard K. Sterns petition to clarify his departed paramours earthly intentions.

We and Mr. Stern always believed that Anna Nicole never intended to disinherit her daughter, Sterns attorney, Bruce S. Ross, said after court Tuesday. Im pleased to say this chapter in the saga is closed.

L.A. Superior Court Judge Mitchell Beckloffs ruling also establishes a trust on Dannielynns behalf, with her father and Stern serving as cotrustees.

The once litigious pair were not present in court, but Ross said that neither had any particular disagreement as far as Danielynns financial future was concerned. DNA confirmed that Birkhead was Dannielynns biological father about two months after Smiths death.

Smiths assets at the time of her passing were estimated at $710,000, but Tuesdays ruling leaves Dannielynn poised to inherit millions if the decade-plus legal battle between Smith (and now Smiths estate) and the family of her late husband, billionaire oil tycoon J. Howard Marshall II, turns in her favor.

Marshall, who was 90 and had been married to Smith for 14 months when he died in 1995, left most of his fortune to his widow, a decision his family has been raging against ever since.

Stern filed papers Oct. 18 seeking to having Dannielynn singled out as Smiths heir, presuming the former Playboy Playmate would have certainly provided for her daughter had she drawn up a more recent will.

Smith died Feb. 8, 2007, of an accidental prescription drug overdose in Hollywood, Florida. She was 39.

The will filed in probate court was made out in 2001 and named Smiths son Daniel, who died several days after Dannielynns birth in September 2006, as the sole heir. The document also said, however, that the assets in Daniels trust should be divided equally among any siblings if Smith had other children.

As a matter of law, Dannielynn is a pretermitted heir, Sterns petition stated, meaning she was an accidental omission, or someone who likely would have been named in the will except for the fact that the person drawing up the will didnt know her at the time.

An ongoing inquest into Daniels death is scheduled to resume Mar. 17 in the Bahamas. Birkhead and Stern are expected to be called to testify about his close relationship with his mother and the days leading up to the 20-year-olds death, also of an accidental Rx overdose.

Boy band mogul Lou Pearlman to plead guilty in fraud (Reuters)

2008-03-04T19:30:00.003-08:00

ORLANDO, Florida (Reuters) - Lou Pearlman, the music mogul who launched the Backstreet Boys and N Sync, has agreed to plead guilty and make restitution to victims swindled out of an estimated 300 million in phony bank and investment schemes, U.S. prosecutors said on Tuesday.

Pearlman admitted in a plea agreement that for 20 years he enticed people and banks to invest millions of dollars in two companies that existed only on paper: Transcontinental Airlines Travel Services Inc. and Transcontinental Airlines Inc.

Pearlman is scheduled to enter his plea on Thursday in a U.S. court in Orlando. The charges carry a maximum of 25 years in prison and a 1 million fine.

As part of the deal, Pearlman agreed to help the government identify assets to make restitution, forfeit a 2004 Cadillac, a 2005 Chrysler, a 2004 Rolls Royce Phantom, a 2006 Cadillac limousine and two bank checks totaling 97,000.

Pearlman will plead guilty to two counts of conspiracy, one of money laundering and one of making a false claim in a bankruptcy, according to the deal. Prosecutors said the case involved three different conspiracies and fraud schemes.

One was a "Ponzi" scheme in which money raised from investors was used to pay earlier investors. The second was a bank fraud in which Pearlman got loans based on fake financial statements and income tax returns prepared by a fictitious accounting firm and the third was a bankruptcy fraud scheme.

Prosecutors counted at least 250 individual victims who lost 200 million, plus 10 financial institutions that lost 100 million, according to the plea deal.

The schemes were sustained by a fictitious international accounting firm, Cohen & Siegel, created by Pearlman in 1995, with nothing more than a dedicated telephone line at a Coral Gables, Florida, answering service, the plea deal said.

Pearlman, who guided the career of teen idols N Sync and the Backstreet Boys in the 1990s, also created a fictitious "German Savings Banks" and company officers, according to the agreement.

Among the banks identified as loaning money or providing a line of credit to Pearlman or his companies are Integra Bank N.A.; Bank of America; American Bank of St. Paul; First International Bank MB Financial Bank N.A.; Northside Community Bank; Mercantile; Washington Mutual; First National Bank and HSBC Bank.

(Editing by Jim Loney and Bill Trott)

The Game checks into Twin Towers jail (AP)

2008-03-04T19:30:00.001-08:00

LOS ANGELES - Playtime is over for The Game, who began serving a 60-day jail sentence for felony firearm possession.

The rapper turned himself in Sunday night at the Twin Towers Correctional Facility, according to the Sheriff's Department.

The 28-year-old entertainer (real name: Jayceon Terrell Taylor) was convicted last month of possession of a firearm in a school zone. He was accused of pulling a gun on a player from an opposing team during a pickup game at a South Los Angeles school nearly a year ago.

Two other counts were dismissed under a plea agreement, the district attorney's office said. Taylor was also sentenced to 150 hours of community service and three years' probation.

Child pornographers charged (AP)

2008-03-04T18:30:00.011-08:00

Twelve U.S. men were indicted with participating in a global child pornography ring that distributed more than 400,000 pictures and videos of children engaged in sexual activities. FBI and international authorities called the online ring, which was encrypted to keep investigators out, one of the most sophisticated child pornography operations in recent memory.

The men were charged with engaging in a child exploitation enterprise, conspiracy, advertisement of child pornography, transportation of child pornography, receipt of child pornography and obstruction of justice. They were:

_Michael Berger, 33, of Mechanicsville, Va.

_James Freeman, 47, of Santa Rosa Beach, Fla.

_Ruble Keys, 55, of Medford, Ore.

_Gary Lakey, 54, of Anderson, Ind.

_Marvin Lambert, 33, of Indianapolis.

_Neville McGarity, 40, of Medina, Texas.

_John Mosman, 46, of Waterbury, Conn.

_Warren Mumpower, 63, of Spokane, Wash.

_Raymond Roy, 54, of San Juan Capistrano, Calif.

_Erik Wayerski, 46, of Round Rock, Texas.

_Warren Weber, 56, of Boise, Idaho.

_Ronald White, 59, of Burlington, N.C.

Additionally, two other men were charged in connection with the ring but not included in the indictment. They were:

_Stepan Bondarenko, 38, of Philadelphia.

_Daniel Castleman, 43, of Lubbock, Texas.

___

Source: U.S. Justice Department.

(This version CORRECTS short headline to reflect the 14 are charged in a child porn case and delete characterization of them as child pornographers.))

Applied Materials gets $1.9B solar order (AP)

2008-03-04T18:30:00.009-08:00

SAN FRANCISCO - Applied Materials Inc. snagged a $1.9 billion order to help build multiple solar panel factories, a major milestone in the expansion efforts of the world's largest maker of equipment used in making computer chips, the company said Tuesday.

The Santa Clara-based company disclosed the sales victory in a regulatory filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, saying only that its customer is a privately held company outside the United States. The $1.9 billion covers the cost of equipment to assemble solar panels and services to make sure they work properly.

Applied Materials thrives when chip makers upgrade their factories but has expanded into other markets such as solar power to help weather the downtime between cycles and tap into a burgeoning new sales stream.

Global economic pressures also can weigh on the company: In January the company said it was cutting 1,000 jobs, or 7 percent of its work force, a response to technology companies tightening their pursestrings amid mounting fears of a U.S. recession.

The company entered the market for equipment used to make solar power cells in 2006 with its $484 million acquisition of Applied Films, whose equipment is used to make solar cells, energy-efficient glass and liquid crystal displays, known as LCDs.

Shares of Applied Materials jumped $1.44, or more than 7 percent, to close at $20.32. They gained 7 more cents in after-hours trading.

Sense of touch comes to computers (AP)

2008-03-04T18:30:00.007-08:00

Yahoo activates smart mobile bookmarks (Reuters)

2008-03-04T18:30:00.005-08:00

HANOVER, Germany (Reuters) - Yahoo Inc, still fending off a 41 billion takeover bid by Microsoft Corp, unveiled a cell phone tool on Tuesday that lets users keep up with their favorite topics using dynamic bookmarks.

OnePlace, to be launched in the second quarter, allows users to mark links, news feeds or search results that lead them to, for example, the latest information on flight arrivals, sports results or friends Facebook postings.

Bookmarking tools are not new -- Yahoos del.icio.us is one -- but Yahoo says it has reinvented bookmarking for phones, given their small screens and different user requirements, with placeholders linked to updated info instead of a fixed page.

"You have something thats always changing. You could always just bookmark a site as a placeholder but now its alive," Marco Boerries, who is leading Yahoos mobile drive, said in an interview at the CeBIT IT fair in Hanover, Germany.

Yahoo is racing to leapfrog Google Incs clear lead in computer search and advertising by custom-building services for cell phones and forming alliances with carriers that already give it access to 600 million mobile phone users.

Yahoo aims to reach 750 million users this year by adding to a partner list that includes Telefonica, AT&T Inc and Deutsche Telekoms T-Mobile.

OnePlace also leans on two other Yahoo mobile services -- oneSearch and oneConnect -- by tailoring the content behind the bookmarks to match the location of users and the preferences and activities of friends and contacts who use the service.

"Were not reinventing forms of mobile content or getting into the content business but there are places where you have stuff that you care about, that youre passionate about, that you follow," Boerries said.

Users will be able to gather their favorite Web places either by choosing them on their PC and then synchronizing with their cell phone, or directly on the mobile phone itself.

As with oneSearch, actual information will be shown rather than Web links, often awkward to navigate on a cell phone. Users would be able to get the service either through carriers who have Yahoo deals or download it from Yahoo, Boerries said.

RIGHT ADVERTISING MODEL

Boerries said onePlace was the last major piece of Yahoos consumer offering for mobile, which it has been working on for three years, leaving it free to focus on making money from it.

"The consumer experience is not done but its at a stage where it can now evolve," he said. "My foreseeable focus for the future is to build the right advertising model."

Yahoo already has advertising deals with carriers including T-Mobile, Vodafone Group Plc and AT&T, but the question the industry faces now is how to develop the form to better fit the cell phones small screen and target consumers better.

"We did the simple stuff really early and thats how were making money right now, but thats not the way forward," Boerries said. "Were nowhere near where we could be."

Boerries declined to say how long it could take to come up with a new model but argued Yahoo could help pull it together.

"Whats inhibiting advertisers right now is (that) its too complicated with all the different platforms," he said, referring to the variety of cell phone operating systems that exists, ranging from Nokia to Microsoft.

Boerries said ads should enhance and not obstruct normal cell phone use, such as returning useful, sponsored information in Web search results. "The challenge is to create a system that the user is super, super happy to access," he said.

(Additional reporting by Eric Auchard in San Francisco; editing by Elaine Hardcastle and Braden Reddall)

IBM, allies offer Microsoft-free PCs for E.Europe (Reuters)

2008-03-04T18:30:00.003-08:00

HANOVER, Germany (Reuters) - IBM has teamed up with partners in Austria and Poland to offer Microsoft-free (MSFT.O) personal computers for the eastern European market, IBM said in a statement on Tuesday.

International Business Machines Corp (IBM.N) said it was offering the PCs based on the open-source Linux operating system together with Red Hat (RHT.N) software distributor VDEL of Austria and Polish distributor and services firm LX Polska in response to demand from Russian IT chiefs.

The PCs will include IBMs Lotus Symphony software based on the Open Document Format, a rival format to Microsofts Office Open XML document format, which the latter is trying to get adopted as an ISO internationally approved standard.

IBM, which has sold its PC business to Chinas Lenovo (0992.HK), said the hardware would be made by partners of VDEL and LX Polska.

Russia, where many large corporations and public-service bodies are building large computer systems for the first time, is emerging as a key battleground between Microsoft and rivals offering open-source alternatives.

Microsoft is active in IT education campaigns in Russia and last month signed a deal with MTS (MBT.N), Russias largest mobile phone operator, to offer services and cut-price laptops installed with its Vista operating system for small businesses.

IBM said the Linux PC line it would offer with VDEL and LX Polska, called Open Referent, would cut desktop computing costs for buyers by up to half.

It said chief information officers from Russian organizations including the Ministry of Defence, airline Aeroflot (AFLT.MM) and private bank Alfa Bank had been among those who had requested an open-source PC.

An IBM spokesman declined to give any sales forecasts on behalf of its partners.

(Reporting by Georgina Prodhan; Editing by David Holmes)

Lindsay Lohan Readies For Mom?s New Show

2008-03-04T18:30:00.001-08:00

Tuesday, March 04, 2008

LINDSAY LOHAN READIES FOR MOM'S NEW SHOW

Now that winter is beginning to subside, our favorite celebrities are spending more and more time enjoying the sunshine. And Lindsay Lohan made the most of the beautiful southern California weather yesterday.

LiLo was spotted out and about in Santa Monica, taking in a few rays and browsing around the shops of the Third Avenue Promenade yesterday afternoon.

And after her little excursion, she returned to Los Angeles for a ritzy dinner with a few girlfriends at French Restaurant Comme Ca on Melrose. On her way in, the "Mean Girls" actress stopped to say hi to a few fans.

And pretty soon, Lindsay won't be the only Lohan female with fans. Her mom, Dina, will be all over the airwaves come this summer.

According to reports, "Living Lohan" will be premiering this summer on E!. The series will follow Mommy Lohan as she juggles family life with business. We'll even get to see Lindsay's younger sister Ali as she embarks on a career in entertainment.

Lisa Berger of E! told press, "The Lohans are one of the most intriguing families in the entertainment industry today. This is a family that knows how to roll with the punches and come out on top. Dina is an incredibly hard-working, passionate mom that I think our viewers will find both relatable and highly entertaining."

Gossip Girls

Enjoy the pictures of LiLo out in Santa Monica on Monday (March 3).

Mebroot Proves Tough to Crack (PC World)

2008-03-04T17:30:00.003-08:00

HANOVER (03/04/2008)- A rootkit uncovered in the wild in December is proving to be a real headache to detect, according to Finnish security company F-Secure.Dubbed "Mebroot," the rootkit infects the master boot record (MBR), the first sector of a PCs hard drive that the computer looks to before loading the operating system. Since it loads before anything else, Mebroot is nearly invisible to security software."You cant execute any earlier than that," said Mikko Hypponen, F-Secures chief research officer. A rootkit is a malicious program that hides deep in a computers operating system and can be difficult to remove. Since December, Hypponen said theyve seen alpha and beta versions of the Mebroot rootkit but believe it has now been RTMed, the term usually used for a legitimate piece of software thats entered production after testing. Once a machine is infected, the hacker controlling the rootkit has complete control over the victims machine, opening up the potential for a variety of other attacks. For example, the hacker could try and download other malicious software to the machine to log a persons keystrokes and collect financial or personal data.F-Secure, which specializes in finding rootkits, says its technology is only able to "suspect" if Mebroot is on a PC. Hypponen said he couldnt reveal the techniques the company is using to make even that fuzzy guess.The problem is that Mebroot isnt just a single file-- it injects itself into other processes running on a machine, masking its nefarious actions, Hypponen said.Mebroot, however, can be uncovered if F-Secures security software CD is used to boot up the PC, Hypponen said. "The one who executes first has the upper hand," he said.Mebroot is the manifestation of what researchers thought was just theoretically possible, although the MBR on older, MS-DOS systems had been infected with rootkits. But in 2005, researchers Derek Soeder and Ryan Permeh of eEye Digital Security showed the idea was possible by producing proof-of-concept code, called "BootRoot."But Hypponen said it was thought the highly technical engineering needed for a successful attack was beyond the reach of todays malware writers. They were wrong. Hackers are now creating Web pages that, if visited with certain browsers with security vulnerabilities, will automatically infect a PC with Mebroot-- a technique known as a drive-by download.Hypponen said its unknown how widespread Mebroot is. VeriSigns iDefense Intelligence Team has said 5,000 users were infected in separate attacks on Dec. 12 and Dec. 19.

Paris Hilton on 'My Name is Earl' (AP)

2008-03-04T17:30:00.001-08:00

NEW YORK - NBC is pumping up the return of "My Name is Earl" with a guest shot by Paris Hilton. Hilton appears as herself in a dream sequence. Earl has been knocked unconscious and various things from his life and imagination are bleeding into his fevered mind.

Her appearance will come in the one-hour episode on April 3 that is the first new material following the writers strike settlement, NBC said.

"When we wrote the role of Paris Hilton in the script, we weren't exactly sure who to go with for the role," said Greg Garcia, the show's executive producer. "But after an exhausting search we finally settled on a relatively unknown actress by the name of Paris Hilton."

Hilton has just finished work on the movie "Repo: The Genetic Opera."

Apple Expected to Tightly Control iPhone Applications (NewsFactor)

2008-03-04T16:30:00.023-08:00

Apples plans to give third-party developers access to its iPhone will be unveiled Thursday at its Cupertino, Calif., headquarters. But what it plans do at its iPhone Software Roadmap event has developers anxious.

Its not clear if Apple will release a promised software development kit, but failing to do so would be a major disappointment for developers. Apple is already late on its promise to have an iPhone SDK in developers hands in February.

The iLounge Web site has reported that Apple will only release a beta version of the SDK, with the full kit not available until June in conjunction with the Worldwide Developers Conference in San Francisco.

JAIL-BREAKING TO CONTINUE?

In any case, developers may be a little underwhelmed by the terms Apple is setting. iLounge reported, based on sources who "independently confirmed" the details, that Apple will distribute third-party applications through the iTunes Store, that it will decide what applications are approved, and that developers will not be able to interface with hard accessories.

Ross Rubin, an analyst with NPD Group, wrote on his blog that having Apple as the sole distributor of third-party apps is "overall positive, if true." After all, he said, "The inability to track down mobile applications has been one of the major hindrances in smartphone application development." Rubin also suggested Apple make the apps available over its iTunes Wi-Fi Music Store.

Until that happens, "Im pretty certain jail-breaking will be popular for the foreseeable future," said Damien Stolarz, coauthor of an upcoming book on iPhone hacks, in an e-mail. "The SDK is better than nothing, but a lack of over-the-air purchase and install will leave installer.app in business until Apple lets you buy on the phone."

APPLE AS GATEKEEPER

iLounge editor Jermey Horwitz noted that the plan to have Apple serve as application gatekeeper is easily "the most controversial aspect" of Apples vision. "Our sources confirm that Apple will act as a gatekeeper for applications, deciding which are and are not worthy of release, and publishing only approved applications to the iTunes Store; a process that will less resemble the iTunes Stores massive directory of podcasts than its sale of a limited variety of iPod games," Horwitz wrote.

Rob Enderle, principal analyst with the Enderle Group, said Apple needs to play this role. "I actually think its a good idea to control applications, so that Apple can ensure quality," he wrote in an e-mail. Thats what the game-system vendors do -- "and the last thing you want is an unreliable phone." Indeed, Enderle notes, "Ataris game system died because they didnt control quality."

One fear is that Apple will become a severe bottleneck, with the availability of programs hamstrung by Apples testing and verification process. One of iLounges sources said that thus far, Apples approval processes for third-party products have resulted in "lengthy, needless delays."

FREE APPS AND THE DOCK

"The bigger question will be how people get free apps," said Tim Bajarin, principal analyst for Creative Strategies, in an e-mail. "How Apple answers this question will be of great interest to the iPhone community."

Perhaps most disappointing to developers is the lack of access to hardware connected through the dock. "Thats unfortunate, but also not surprising -- clearly a big part of what Apples been working on in advance of this SDK are ways to sandbox applications for security and control of resources," John Gruber wrote on his Daring Fireball blog.

On the enterprise side, expect Apple to announce iPhone compatibility with Microsoft Exchange and Lotus Notes, Horwitz said.

International child porn ring uncovered (AP)

2008-03-04T16:30:00.021-08:00

WASHINGTON - After James Freeman was vetted and approved for membership in what police describe as a highly sophisticated child porn network, he expressed his appreciation by posting two folders online: one labeled "mild," the other "wild."

"All I can say is that they are worth the download," wrote Freeman, 47, known in the global porn ring as "Mystikal," according to court documents. "My thanks to you and all the others that together make this the greatest group of pedos ever to gather in one place."

Freeman, of Santa Rosa Beach, Fla., was one of 12 Americans indicted last week in a worldwide investigation that ultimately charged 22 people with participating in the porn ring -- and intentionally blocking police from investigating it.

In all, more than 400,000 pictures, video files and other images showing children engaged in sexual behavior were produced, advertised, traded and distributed globally in the online pornography ring, according to U.S. and international authorities. The sting, which started in Australia, also netted accused pornographers in England, Canada and Germany.

Some victims were as young as five years old. Others were preyed upon for innocent characteristics such as wearing their hair in pigtails.

Authorities won't say how they eventually broke through several layers of encryption, background checks and other security measures the pornographers used to protect their online user group from being accessed. The porn ring was run like a business, FBI executive assistant director J. Stephen Tidwell said Tuesday, with the lewd images used as currency instead of cash.

"This is beyond a quantum exponential leap for us to see folks that have gone to this much trouble to produce this kind of volume of horrific exploitation of children," Tidwell said in an interview.

So far, authorities have identified and rescued 20 of the children who were exploited, he said, adding: "But with 400,000 (images) we're going to be at this for years, trying to find the victims."

Australian investigators first discovered the ring and infiltrated it undercover in January 2006, said Ross Barnett, detective chief superintendent with the Queensland Police Service. Those who gained access to the online forum could only after passing a series of what Tidwell called "various benchmarks and bars to get over to get into their group."

"From our perspective, it's definitely the largest and most sophisticated and disciplined group that we have ever seen operating in this environment," Barnett said.

A 34-count indictment unsealed Friday in U.S. District Court in Pensacola, Fla., details conversations among the 12 men accused of trading and advertising the pornography. Two other Americans were also arrested in connection with the ring but not included in the indictment.

The men were charged in 11 states: California, Connecticut, Florida, Idaho, Indiana, North Carolina, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Texas, Virginia and Washington. They all used aliases, like "Box of Rocks," "Crazy Horse," "Lizzard," and "Pickleman."

In one example cited in the indictment, 54-year-old Raymond Roy of San Juan Capistrano, Calif., posted videos of Thai children "to give everyone something to do for an afternoon."

"This one may offend here, so a word of caution, these girls are heavily drugged," Roy, known as "Nimo," wrote on July 10, 2007, according to the court documents. "Not much action to speak of, the girls are (sic) to (expletive deleted) up to move, or resist. Three girls, the first one being the youngest, around 8 or 9 yo."

"Yo" stands for "years old."

The 12 men were charged with engaging in a child exploitation enterprise; illegally posting notices seeking to receive, exchange and distribute child porn across state lines; and obstructing of justice. Several also were charged with producing the pornography -- meaning they had contact with the children who were exploited, Tidwell said.

The investigation, which is continuing, is the latest product of the FBI's "Innocent Images" task force that stemmed from a 1993 child pornography case. The task force has arrested more than 9,400 suspects since 2004 and is made up of international investigators working in the United States from an FBI command center in suburban Maryland.

Noting the sophisticated process the porn ring used to bar police, Tidwell compared the growing number of child pornography crimes to that of cocaine dealers, terrorists and the Mafia.

"If they had good operational security, that's a bad thing for us," Tidwell said. "When you've got that, you've got a real challenge for law enforcement."

International child porn ring uncovered (AP)

2008-03-04T16:30:00.019-08:00

Facebook Hires Away Google Online Ad Exec (PC World)

2008-03-04T16:30:00.017-08:00

Sheryl Sandberg, Googles vice president of global online sales and operations, will jump to Facebook later this month to become the social-networking companys chief operating officer and help the company to grow globally.Sandberg will report directly to CEO Mark Zuckerberg and oversee sales, marketing, business development, human resources, public policy, privacy and communications, Facebook announced Tuesday. Her first day at Facebook will be March 24.Sandbergs main responsibilities at Google, where she has been since 2001, were online sales of the companys advertising and publishing products, as well as running the sales operations of Googles consumer products and Google Book search, according to information on Googles Web site.Previously, she worked as chief of staff for the U.S. Treasury Department, as a management consultant with McKinsey & Co. and an economist with The World Bank. She has a bachelors degree in economics from Harvard University and an MBA from the Harvard Business School.Google didnt immediately respond to a request for comment about Sandbergs departure.

Nielsen says mobile ads growing, consumers respond (Reuters)

2008-03-04T16:30:00.015-08:00

NEW YORK (Reuters) - About 23 percent of U.S. mobile phone users have seen advertising on their cell phones in the last 30 days and about half of them responded to the ads, according to a report from The Nielsen Co released on Tuesday.

The number of phone users who recalled seeing mobile ads rose by 38 percent to 58 million in the fourth quarter compared with 42 million in the second quarter, Nielsens fourth-quarter survey of 22,000 active mobile data users.

Service providers such as AT&T Inc (T.N) and Sprint Nextel Corp (S.N) have long-discussed the concept of augmenting revenue with mobile phone ads and have been easing into the market slowly for fear of bombarding customers.

But according to Nielsen almost a third of people who use data services such as text messaging or Web surfing are open to advertising if it lowers the overall bill.

One service provider Virgin Mobile USA (VM.N) offers call discounts in exchange for customer viewership of ads.

About 13 percent of respondents said they were open to ads if they improves the mobile content available, while about 14 percent said they were open to ads as long as they were relevant to their interests, the survey found.

Nielsen also said teenagers aged 13 to 17 were the most likely to recall seeing an ad, and that Asian-Americans and African-Americans were more likely to recall seeing ads than other data users.

(Reporting by Sinead Carew, editing by Richard Chang)

Angela who? Vodafone search fails to identify Merkel (Reuters)

2008-03-04T16:30:00.013-08:00

HANOVER, Germany (Reuters) - She may be Germanys most prominent woman, but Chancellor Angela Merkel found Vodafones new image search software could not identify her.

"I am not in the database," Merkel said when testing Vodafones Otello, a search engine that uses images instead of words, at the CeBIT technology trade fair in Hanover on Tuesday.

"Thats a major gap -- please update," Merkel quipped.

Otello users take a photo on their mobile phone and send it via MMS (multimedia messaging service) to a service number.

When successful, it sends back a text message identifying the image either directly or in the form of Web links.

Starting Monday, Vodafone is conducting a trial to use Otello with Europes best-selling tabloid Bild, owned by Berlin-based publisher Axel Springer.

(Reporting by Nicola Leske and Arno Schuetze; Editing by Alastair Sharp)

Prosecutors quiz Samsung brother-in-law (AP)

2008-03-04T16:30:00.011-08:00

Tilda Swinton

2008-03-04T16:30:00.009-08:00

Actor Born:November 15, 1961 in Scotland, UK Biography:Known throughout Britain for her idiosyncratic performances and long-time association with the late filmmaker "Derek Jarman", "Tilda Swinton" is nothing if not one of the more unique actresses to come along during the second half of the 20th century. Born in London on November 5, 1961, Swinton attended Cambridge University, where she received a degree in social and political sciences. While at Cambridge, she became involved in acting, performing in a number of stage productions. Following graduation, Swinton began her professional theater career, working for Edinburgh's renowned Traverse Theatre and the Royal Shakespeare Company.

Oprah Rises; Moment of Truth Falls (E! Online)

2008-03-04T16:30:00.007-08:00

Los Angeles (E! Online) - Finally, some good news for poor Frank Cleri: Only 8.5 million people, on average, watched his wife emasculate him on prime-time TV.

Numbers for last weeks Moment of Truth were the worst yet for the Fox game show, even as it aired its most notorious episode to date.

The season premiere of Oprahs Big Give, meanwhile, gave ABC a big lift, per the latest Nielsen Media Research rankings.

For The Moment of Truth, the results were decidedly mixed.

On one hand, the show finally delivered the sort of contestant that justified the purchase of its fancy polygraph equipment: Lauren Cleri, a New York woman who admitted to cheating on husband Frank, admitted to loving a man other than husband Frank, and then blew all of her and husband Franks community-property prize money by lying about whether she thought she was a good person. (She said she thought she was; the polygraph said she thought otherwise.)

On the other hand, the show couldnt really cut it without American Idol.

Airing on a Monday minus its usual Idol lead-in, Moment of Truth got trumped by P. Diddys Sean Combs self, as seen in the ABC TV-movie A Raisin in the Sun (ninth place, 12.7 million), and fell from the Top 10, dropping all the way to 25th place. Still, it was one of Foxs top shows, and, as best can be determined, the only one of the last week to potentially inspire a divorce proceeding.

Oprahs Big Give, which premiered Sunday, had neither Idol, nor a salacious storyline on its side. Somehow, it managed to do well anyway.

The Oprah Winfrey-fronted reality show with a mission ranked fourth for the week, averaging 15.7 million viewers, a season high for a series debut.

But lest more be made of Oprahs Big Give rise versus The Moment of Truths fall, its worth noting that Winfreys brand of uplift wasnt nearly as big as the show that usually airs in its time slot: Desperate Housewives.

Thats the show that could, but doesnt star Lauren and Frank Cleri.

Here are other ratings highlights from the TV week ended Sunday:

* Theres no contest yet between the Idol men and women, possibly because David Archuleta sings on Tuesdays (first place, 28.6 million), and not on Wednesdays (second place, 27.6 million). * If pirate-clad Robbie Carrico needs references for Long John Silvers, he can always check with the 26.2 million who, on average, witnessed his heave-ho from Thursdays Idol (third place). * The producers of Foxs Dont Forget the Lyrics (seventh place, 14.4 million) and Back to You (13th place, 12.2 million for Tuesdays episode; 14th place, 11.7 million for Wednesdays episode) might just be the worlds biggest Idol fans. * Speaking of Idol (still), the new Fox comedy Unhitched (61st place, 5.8 million) was wondering if Archuleta could possibly sing something on Sunday nights. * The new ABC reality/game show Here Come the Newlyweds (19th place, 10.1 million) has no complaints about being married on Sunday nights to Oprahs Big Give. * Lost (eighth place, 12.9 million) isnt about an island; it is an island. The ABC drama was the only scripted series in the Top 10. * All is not lost for Lipstick Jungle (64th place, 5.6 million). NBC is still going to the trouble of spinning the shows cable-esque numbers. * Speaking of cable-esque numbers, the NBC premiere of the MySpace-spawned quarterlife averaged 3.1 million viewers, placed 96th and inspired series cocreator Marshall Herskovitz to say the tween drama never should have been on network television. Lucky for him it wont be anymore. * In cable, Ellen DeGeneres dancer Barack Obama and Saturday Night Live cut-up Hillary Clinton ruled with their latest debate, as aired on MSNBC (7.8 million viewers). * Nicks I Carly (4.5 million) was the top scripted show; Bravos nearing-Bryant Park Project Runway (4 million) was the top reality show. * NCIS is doing for USA what it does for CBS: Deliver viewers. A Saturday night repeat was cables most-watched drama series (3.9 million). * Why do soap-opera characters come back from the dead? Because they love crowds, apparently. The latest daytime ratings show ABCs All My Children had its best week in five months when recently revived Jessie (Darnell Williams) returned to the arms of his widow, Angie (Debbi Morgan).

Overall in the network race, Fox won the week in total viewers (averaging 13.7 million), dominated the week in 18-to-49-year-old viewers, swept the just-concluded February sweeps, and stopped just short of curing cancer when it was decided that might be perceived as showboating.

CBS (8.1 million), ABC (7.9 million), NBC (7.2 million), Univision (3.5 million) and the CW (2.2 million) collectively huddled in a corner, and shivered.

In cable, USA was the top prime-time network (2.8 million), followed by the Disney Channel (2.3 million) and All Wedding Crashers, All the Time, sorry, TBS (2.2 million).

Heres a look at the 10 most watched broadcast network prime-time shows for the week ended Sunday, according to Nielsen Media Research:

* American Idol (Tuesday), Fox, 28.6 million viewers * American Idol (Wednesday), Fox, 27.6 million viewers * American Idol (Thursday), Fox, 26.2 million viewers * Oprahs Big Give, ABC, 15.7 million viewers * Deal or No Deal, NBC, 15.4 million viewers * Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, ABC, 14.9 million viewers * Dont Forget the Lyrics, Fox, 14.4 million viewers * Lost, ABC, 12.9 million viewers * ABC Premiere Event: A Raisin in the Sun, ABC, 12.7 million viewers * Survivor: Micronesia, CBS, 12.5 million viewers

Anna Nicole Smith's daughter Dannielynn named heir (Reuters)

2008-03-04T16:30:00.005-08:00

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - A judge on Tuesday ruled that the baby daughter of deceased model Anna Nicole Smith is the sole heir to her estate, meaning 18-month-old Dannielynn could inherit a multimillion-dollar fortune.

Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Mitchell L. Beckloffs ruling also established a trust for Dannielynn that would be administered by Smiths companion, Howard K. Stern, and Dannielynns father, Larry Birkhead.

Smith, a former Playboy model and television actress, died in February last year of an accidental overdose of prescription drugs, roughly five months after Dannielynn was born. Smiths son, Daniel, died only three days after Dannielynns birth. He was 20.

Daniel had been Anna Nicole Smiths heir according to a will that was written well before his death, but the actress/model never changed the will. Stern, who is executor of Smiths estate, had petitioned the Los Angeles court in October to name Dannielynn as the sole heir.

"We and Mr. Stern always believed that Anna Nicole never intended to disinherit her daughter," Sterns lawyer, Bruce Ross, said after the hearing. "Im pleased to say this chapter in the saga is closed."

At the time of her death, Smith was embroiled in a legal battle over the will of billionaire oil tycoon Howard Marshall.

She married Marshall when she was 26 years old and he was 89. He died 14 months later with a fortune estimated at 1.6 billion, triggering a battle between Smith and Marshalls family over his estate that still has not been resolved.

If that dispute is settled and Anna Nicole Smiths estate receives a large payout, the money would belong to Dannielynn.

The birth of Dannielynn and deaths of Daniel and Anna Nicole Smith were the subjects of a huge media frenzy last year due to the actress/models celebrity.

(Editing by Dan Whitcomb and Sandra Maler)

Jeri Ryan gives birth to baby girl (AP)

2008-03-04T16:30:00.003-08:00

LOS ANGELES - Jeri Ryan and her husband, French chef Christophe Eme, have a new family member.

The 40-year-old actress gave birth Sunday to daughter Gisele in Los Angeles, her publicist David Lust announced.

"Both parents are thrilled. Jeri is resting comfortably and Christophe is playing the part of proud new papa quite well," Lust said.

The baby, weighing 7 pounds, 13 ounces, is the couple's first. The pair wed in France last June and own L.A. restaurant Ortolan, which Eme heads.

Ryan has a 13-year-old son, Alex, from a previous relationship.

She currently stars on the TV drama "Shark" on CBS. Her TV credits include parts on "Boston Legal" and "Boston Public," and she gained fame as Borg character Seven of Nine on "Star Trek: Voyager," which wrapped up in 2001.