Liberty Newsprint Dec-03-09 by Liberty Newspost

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White House defends social secretary in gate-crasher flap, couple declines to testify By Steve Holland (Front Row Washington)

procedures have been changed to ensure someone from the social office is at the gate. Submitted at 12/2/2009 12:55:17 PM The White House sent over a White House spokesman Robert m e m o o u t l i n i n g t h e n e w Gibbs today defended the White p r o c e d u r e s . House social secretary, Desiree But Gibbs rallied around Rogers, Rogers, in the controversy who is the subject today of a onesurrounding how a Virginia two punch of fairly critical couple managed to wangle their stories — a column by the New way into President Barack York Times’ Maureen Dowd and Obama’s state dinner for Indian a S t y l e s e c t i o n p i e c e b y Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Washington Post fashion writer last week. Robin Givhan. It has been noted in news Both of them note that Rogers accounts that no one from the was a guest at the event instead social secretary’s office was at of paying all her attention to the gate helping the Secret making sure things ran smoothly Service identify guests and at the Obamas’ first state dinner. making sure people not on the Gibbs was peppered by list did not get inside. questions about this from April Gibbs noted that for the crush of Ryan of American Urban Radio. holiday parties that have just “The president, the first lady and begun at the White House, the entire White House staff are

ADVERTISEMENT: (BloggingStocks) Submitted at 12/3/2009 11:00:00 AM

grateful for the job that she does and thinks she has done a terrific and wonderful job pulling off a lot of big and important jobs here

at the White House,” Gibbs said. He said Rogers would not be testifying on Capitol Hill tomorrow at a congressional probe about how Tareq and Michaele Salahi talked their way past the Secret Service and got into the White House and mingled with Obama, VP Joe Biden, others. Gibbs said it was a separation of powers issue, that White House staffers don’t typically testify before Congress. UPDATE: The Salahis have declined to testify at tomorrow’s hearing. Their publicist issued a statement late this evening saying the couple has provided relevant documentation, including emails and cell phone records detailing communications with a White House official, to the Secret Service and the House Homeland Security Committee.

Bing Maps Beta: Very cool, but limited By Tom Krazit (Webware.com) Submitted at 12/3/2009 4:00:00 AM

High-res imagery and a slick user interface make the Bing Maps Beta one of the best new Bing features, but it still has a

long way to go to match Google's breadth. Originally posted at Relevant Results

This just in. House Homeland Security Committee chairman threatening subpoenas if Salahis are no show at tomorrow’s hearing. Stay tuned. Meanwhile, ABC News has obtained copies of emails between the Salahis and Michele S. Jones, the Pentagon official who attempted to secure tickets for the couple to the White House state dinner and arrival ceremony. Look at ‘em for yourself by clicking here and see if you think it proves their case. Click here for more Reuters political coverage Photo credit: Reuters/Jonathan Ernst (Desiree Rogers arrives at White House state dinner)

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Rise and Fall, according to Murtha By Jim Wolf (Front Row Washington) Submitted at 12/2/2009 3:25:01 PM

Great powers rise and fall. And a powerful member of the House of Representatives, mindful of this, fears the United States could be swamping itself in Afghanistan’s rugged terrain, a graveyard of foreign forces. “What I’m worried about is the cost of the war,” said Rep. John Murtha, who controls the Pentagon’s purse strings as chairman of the House Appropriations Defense subcommittee. President Barack Obama, a fellow Democrat, was “real good” in presenting his new war strategy Tuesday night, “but he didn’t convince me,” Murtha told a briefing on Wednesday. He spoke after a two-day visit to Afghanistan last week. The blunt, 77-year-old retired Marine said he had sent the president a copy of “The Rise and Fall of the Great Powers,” a 1987 study by Paul Kennedy, a Yale University professor of history. The book, subtitled “Economic

China sentences five Uighurs to death (World news and comment from the Guardian | guardian.co.uk)

police officer by smashing him in the back of the head with a brick. Mamattursun Elmu and Memeteli Abburakm were Submitted at 12/3/2009 9:38:21 AM accused of attacking a minibus Ethnic Uighurs found guilty of and kicking a man and woman murder and other crimes during i n s i d e u n t i l t h e y d i e d . unrest in July Mamattursun Elmu was also A Chinese court sentenced five charged with setting fire to a people to death today for killing a grain distribution centre that police officer, kicking bystanders killed five people. to death and other crimes during Helil Sadir was accused of ethnic riots in the western region killing a bystander with a beer of Xinjiang in July. Two others bottle and kicks to the face, and Change and Military Conflict last year, reaching $6.7 billion in were sentenced to life in prison Kushiman Kurban was found from 1500 to 2000,” surveyed June alone. Sticker shock could by the intermediate people's court guilty of stabbing a bystander to shifting balances of power that fuel congressional doubts about of Urumqi, the Xinhua news death. brought all empires to dust as Obama’s plan to ship in 30,000 a g e n c y r e p o r t e d . T h e f i v e China blames the rioting on they overextended their reach. new troops by next summer, a sentenced to death had names overseas-based groups agitating Murtha said he had hand-marked $30 billion to $35 billion add-on. indicating they were Uighurs. for broader rights for Uighurs in passages for Obama, and sent it Click here for more Reuters Many Uighurs resent Beijing's Xinjiang. rule in Xinjiang, their traditional • China via retired Marine Gen. James political coverage Jones, the national security Photo credit: Reuters/Mike h o m e l a n d . H u n d r e d s w e r e • Capital punishment adviser. The White House had no Theiler (Murtha inbetween arrested when Uighurs attacked • Xinjiang immediate comment on whether Defense Secretary Robert Gates Han people, who make up Obama received the book, or at left and Joint Chiefs Chairman China's ethnic majority, in guardian.co.uk© Guardian News violence that left nearly 200 & Media Limited 2009 | Use of whether he had read it or planned Adm. Michael Mullen) p e o p l e d e a d . O f t h e f i v e this content is subject to our to do so. sentenced to death, Memeteli Terms & Conditions| More Feeds War spending in Afghanistan Islam was accused of killing a has more than doubled over the

DLO WallDock takes the cables out of iDevice charging By Doug Aamoth (CrunchGear) Submitted at 12/3/2009 9:30:00 AM

I’ll go on record and say that $25 seems like a lot of money for

something like this. It’s an intriguing idea, though, and might make a good stocking stuffer or Secret Santa gift for the Apple fan in your life. According to the product

description:

The cushioned top supports your the wall. iPhone or iPod without the need Simps, eh? It’s $25 direct from for fit inserts, and it hides the DLO. dock connector when not in use. [via OhGizmo!] The dock pivots to let your iPhone or iPod rest gently against

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Comcast to take control of NBC Universal By Andrew Clark (World news and comment from the Guardian | guardian.co.uk)

Comcast's chairman, Brian Roberts, said it was a "perfect fit" that would allow his company to "become a leader in the Submitted at 12/3/2009 9:35:56 AM development and distribution of • Deal includes NBC's TV m u l t i p l a t f o r m ' a n y t i m e , network and Universal Pictures anywhere' media that American • Critics express concerns over consumers are demanding". monopoly and stifled creativity NBCU's chief executive, Jeff America's largest cable services Zucker, said: "Consumers of all provider, Comcast, struck a deal our products – on screens large today to take control of the media and small – will have the benefit empire NBC Universal in a o f e n h a n c e d c o n t e n t a n d controversial move that creates a experiences, delivered to them in new entertainment powerhouse, new and better ways." bringing together production of But the tie-up will be subject to popular television shows and tough scrutiny by competition films with distribution to millions a u t h o r i t i e s . C o n s u m e r of homes. organisations fear that it will Comcast is to take a 51% stake spark a wave of mega-mergers as in NBC Universal, with the other media organisations seek to company's existing majority bulk up with similar scale, and owner, General Electric, hanging that more entertainment will onto the remaining 49%. The ultimately disappear behind pay transaction attaches a $30bn walls. (£18bn) valuation to NBCU "Vertical integration between which encompasses America's distribution and content has NBC television network, the h i s t o r i c a l l y b e e n b a d f o r Hollywood studio Universal creativity," said Mark Cooper, Pictures, theme parks and cable director of research at the channels such as CNBC, Bravo, C o n s u m e r F e d e r a t i o n o f MSNBC and Oxygen. America. "We really do fear that Architects of the deal, which this will stifle creativity." was initially struck through a Comcast delivers internet, meeting of executives on a golf television and phone services to course in Sun Valley, Idaho, said 23.8m cable customers. Assets the joint venture would bring within NBCU include some of more resources to the production America's biggest broadcast of high quality entertainment and names. With its distinctive to the development of new digital rainbow-coloured peacock logo, means of dissemination. NBC can trace its origins to a

radio network founded in 1926. Figures including Johnny Carson, Tom Brokaw and Jay Leno built their careers at NBC. But the network has suffered a ratings slide since the end of longrunning hits of the 1990s such as Frasier, Seinfeld and ER. NBC's morning show, Today, and its evening news bulletin and Sunday talkshow Meet the Press are both cornerstones of US television schedules. Keen to reassure viewers, Comcast's executive vice-president, David Cohen, noted in an open letter: "NBC News is a national treasure whose independence we all value and we will always respect." Under the terms of the transaction, Comcast will pay $6.5bn of cash to General Electric and will contribute a clutch of its own digital media properties worth $7.25bn to the new NBCU joint venture including cable channels such as E! Networks, the Golf Channel and Style Network. In order to clear the ground for the deal, GE struck an agreement earlier in the week to buy a 20% minority share of NBCU held by France's Vivendi for $5.8bn. On Wall Street, analysts are split on the merits of the transaction, with sceptics citing disappointing outcomes from previous megamergers in the media industry such as Time Warner's buyout of AOL. Thomas Eagan, an analyst

at Collins Stewart, expressed doubt about the impact on Comcast's ability to pay dividends and buy back shares: "We're still very unsure about the value created from this deal." Over time, GE is expected to withdraw entirely from NBCU in order to focus on its industrial, heavy machinery, environmental and finance arms. GE has an option to offload its minority stake to Comcast over a sevenyear timeframe. A campaign group which backs the independence of media, Free Press, called on the White House to block the tie-up, saying the new entity could overcharge rival cable networks for content and would control too much of the nascent online video market. "The Obama administration has made a commitment to reinvigorating the nation's antitrust laws," said Corie Wright, policy counsel of Free Press. "They can't ignore the severe threat this merger poses." • Mergers and acquisitions • NBC • General Electric • TV news • United States Andrew Clark guardian.co.uk© Guardian News & Media Limited 2009 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions| More Feeds

Carlyle looks south -of-the-border for deals By Tom Taulli (BloggingStocks) Submitted at 12/3/2009 12:40:00 PM

Filed under: Brazil, Private equity Traditionally, the role of private equity is to buy mature companies and find ways to improve the operations. The result is often a tidy profit. But over the past couple years, the strategy has been undergoing some changes. Look at the Carlyle Group. Recently, the firm invested $60 million in three growth companies in China. In fact, these deals came only four months after Carlyle raised its Asia Growth Partners IV fund. Continue reading Carlyle looks south-of-the-border for deals Carlyle looks south-of-theborder for deals originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 03 Dec 2009 12:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink| Email this| Comments

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Iran opposition remains defiant but struggles to keep up protests By Ian Black (World news and comment from the Guardian | guardian.co.uk)

with the opposition, still striving to keep up the protests that began when Mahmoud Ahmadinejad claimed victory over Mir Hossein Submitted at 12/3/2009 9:39:09 AM Mousavi. National University Iran stifles dissent by jailing Students Day next Monday looks r e f o r m - m i n d e d p o l i t i c i a n s , likely to be marked by more intellectuals and journalists, but rallies on campuses. The defiant o p p o s i t i o n w e b s i t e s a n d mood is caught by a powerful individuals do a good job of new song by classical artistes keeping the world informed Shajarian and Parisa demanding It's not easy getting a clear "justice for injustice". picture of what's happening in It struck me this week that Iran these days: correspondents nearly every reformist-minded from western news organisations p o l i t i c i a n , i n t e l l e c t u a l o r have not been granted visas since journalist I met in Iran during June's disputed presidential three visits over the last year has elections; the few accredited been arrested and tried since the foreign journalists still in Tehran crackdown began. face severe restrictions; and The latest is Saeed Leylaz, a international attention focuses gadfly editor and economist who mostly on the nuclear issue, with predicted on the eve of the poll occasional diversions like the that Ahmadinejad would rig the s a g a o f t h e y o u n g B r i t i s h vote if he felt it necessary. On yachtsmen who strayed into Wednesday Leylaz was given Iranian waters. nine years in prison on charges of Yet there's no shortage of "propaganda against the system, information from individual keeping classified documents and Iranians who manage to keep in links to foreign elements". touch with the wider world, by According to his lawyer, a p h o n e , e m a i l a n d s o c i a l parliamentary report on the networking sites. Opposition judiciary found in Leylaz's home websites such as Mowjcamp and was treated as a "classified Tehran Bureau do a good job of document". reporting and aggregating news. Ahmad Zeidabadi, another wellIt's mostly bad and adds up to a known journalist who regularly b i g p i c t u r e o f c o n t i n u i n g contributed to BBC Persian a repression of activists associated particular bete noire of the

regime was sentenced to six years in prison, five years of exile and lifetime exclusion from political activity. Bijan Khajehpour, a highly regarded consultant, spent three months in Tehran's notorious Evin prison just for having suggested that Ahmadinejad might lose. Earlier this month it was the turn of the cleric Mohammad Ali Abtahi, former vice-president under the reformist president Mohammad Khatami and the most senior former official to be arrested. Abtahi was rotund and jovial when I met him but looked gaunt in grey prison uniform and sounded drugged in TV pictures broadcast from his trial. He got six years in prison and was released on bail of more than £400,000 pending appeal. Behzad Nabavi, a former deputy speaker of parliament, also got six years in prison and was freed on bail of about £480,000 for surgery. Under Iranian law, any jail sentence of three months or more is subject to appeal and a convict can be granted bail for the 20-day period allowed for one to be lodged. Mohammad Atrianfar used to be another essential reformist for foreign journalists visiting Tehran. He got a six-year prison

term and was freed on £300,000 bail after giving a televised "confession" and asking to be pardoned during his trial. Fellow reformist Ali Tajarian was this week sentenced to six years in jail plus 74 lashes, for "participating in gatherings aimed at disturbing security and for spreading propaganda against the regime". The list goes on. Charges by the opposition that detainees were abused or raped in custody have been given new force by a report that a doctor who blew the whistle on torture in Kahrizak prison died of poisoning from an overdose of an anti-hypertension drug. The inevitable suspicion is that he was murdered. Overall, about 140 protesters have been prosecuted and five have been given death sentences. The trials of Iran's opposition seem far from over. • Iran • Middle East Ian Black guardian.co.uk© Guardian News & Media Limited 2009 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions| More Feeds

So, Comcast, About That Hulu Pay Wall [Blockquote] By John Herrman (Gizmodo) Submitted at 12/3/2009 9:25:40 AM

That's a resounding no from Comcast chief operating officer Steve Burke, who unfortunately isn't able to make this call, at all. But at least he means well! In claiming the Hulu is safe from potential fees, Burke is speaking of behalf of the Comcast's recently absorbed NBC Universal, which has a 27% stake in the Hulu venture—the same as News Corp and ABC. In other words, while Comcast execs are now privy to whatever discussions are going inside Hulu, they can't really guarantee anything without cooperation from the site's other partners. Including the one that's loudly demanding that Hulu develop some kind of pay service, soon. In other words, Burke's answer assures one thing: that nobody, especially Hulu, knows exactly how the site will change over the next year. [ Silicon Alley Insider]

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Question Time films in Wootton Basset for Afghanistan edition (World news and comment from the Guardian | guardian.co.uk)

News of the World and Daily Mirror editor Piers Morgan. Morgan was a fierce critic of the Iraq war when he was editor of Submitted at 12/3/2009 9:33:04 AM the Daily Mirror, and was sacked BBC1's Question Time to focus in May 2004 after the paper on war in Afghanistan in episode printed pictures that purported to from Wootton Bassett, town be of British troops abusing Iraqi strongly linked with conflict prisoner but turned out to be Next week's edition of Question fake. T i m e , t h e B B C ' s f l a g s h i p The bodies of members of the political programme, will focus a r m e d f o r c e s k i l l e d i n on the war in Afghanistan and is Afghanistan and Iraq are driven to be filmed in Wootton Bassett, through Wootton Basset en route the Wiltshire town that has to RAF Lyneham, where they are become synonymous with the prepared for burial. conflict. The town's residents have lined Guests joining its host David the streets since shortly after the Dimbleby will include Sir start of the Iraq war to express Richard Dannatt, the former head their support for the fallen troops, of the British Army who publicly and their numbers have been c r i t i c i s e d G o r d o n B r o w n ' s swollen in recent years by handling of the war, claiming that v i s i t o r s , p r o m p t i n g s o m e the prime minister had refused complaints about "grief tourism". his requests for more troops to be Question Time is not describing sent to Afghanistan. next weeks' edition, which will Dannatt subsequently became be filmed and broadcast on the Conservative Party's defence BBC1 on Thursday December a d v i s e r . T h e a r m e d f o r c e s 10, as a special show, but it is minister, Bill Rammell, will also likely that many of the questions be on the panel, alongside the will be about the conflict in s h a d o w f o r e i g n s e c r e t a r y , Afghanistan. William Hague, and the former The Question Time editor, Ed

Havard, said: "Wootton Bassett has come to symbolise the nation's respect for fallen servicemen and we have already had a huge number of people apply to take part in this programme and to debate the issues". Question Time was at the centre of a political storm in late October, when it invited BNP leader Nick Griffin to appear. • To contact the MediaGuardian news desk email editor@mediaguardian.co.uk or phone 020 3353 3857. For all other inquiries please call the main Guardian switchboard on 020 3353 2000. • If you are writing a comment for publication, please mark clearly "for publication". • BBC • Television industry • Piers Morgan • Afghanistan • William Hague guardian.co.uk© Guardian News & Media Limited 2009 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions| More Feeds

Google runs a fade pattern on home page By Tom Krazit (Webware.com) Submitted at 12/2/2009 3:50:00 PM

Visitors to Google.com will see

only the search bar when they first arrive unless they move their mouse, in which case links to various Google properties will appear.

Originally posted at Relevant Results

Analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations: AAPL, AMZN, BAC, DRYS, GENZ, REG, S ... By Eric Buscemi (BloggingStocks)

2010 could be a positive catalyst for the company. • Credit Suisse upgraded Submitted at 12/3/2009 11:40:00 AM Ternium ( TX) to outperform Filed under: Analyst reports, from neutral and raised its target A n a l y s t u p g r a d e s a n d to $40 from $31. The firm downgrades, Apple Inc (AAPL), u p g r a d e d s h a r e s b a s e d o n Amazon.com (AMZN), Sprint e x p e c t a t i o n s f o r f u r t h e r N e x t e l C o r p ( S ) , B a n k o f improvements in profitability. A m e r i c a ( B A C ) , A n a l y s t • G-III Apparel ( GIII) was initiations upgraded to overweight from Analyst Upgrades market weight at Thomas Weisel. • Cubist Pharma ( CBST) was • FBR Capital upgraded Bank of raised to outperform from sector America ( BAC) to outperform perform at RBC Capital. from market perform to reflect its • AvalonBay ( AVB) was positive view of the company's upgraded to neutral from sell at $20.5M common equity raise and Goldman. $45B TARP repayment. The firm believes the $20.5B capital raise Continue reading Analyst is lower than some expected and u p g r a d e s , d o w n g r a d e s a n d that Bank of America could initiations: AAPL, AMZN, BAC, potentially announce a new CEO DRYS, GENZ, REG, S ... by year-end. FBR raised its price Analyst upgrades, downgrades target on shares to $20 from $15. and initiations: AAPL, AMZN, • J P M o r g a n u p g r a d e d BAC, DRYS, GENZ, REG, S ... Kennametal ( KMT) to originally appeared on overweight from neutral. The BloggingStocks on Thu, 03 Dec firm, which has a $30 target on 2009 11:40:00 EST. Please see the stock, cites the recent our terms for use of feeds. pullback in shares and believes Permalink| Email this| Comments increased industrial production in

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Drug baron Curtis Warren jailed for 13 years (World news and comment from the Guardian | guardian.co.uk)

Tucker said. "Nevertheless he has been shown to be the mastermind behind the planned importation." Submitted at 12/3/2009 9:43:30 AM Turning to Warren, Sir Richard Only drug dealer to appear on said: "After being released from Sunday Times rich list sentenced prison in Holland it was a very for role in plot to smuggle £1m short space of time before you worth of cannabis into Jersey embarked on this drug trafficking Drug baron Curtis Warren, enterprise. thought to be one of Britain's "It was you who provided the richest criminals, was jailed for contacts in Holland and the 13 years today. source of supply." Warren, 46, and five members of The judge, sitting with a panel of his gang were convicted last five jurats – retired members of October of a plot to smuggle £1m the public who set the sentence – worth of cannabis into Jersey. said that it ought to be known The former Liverpool street that Jersey courts imposed severe dealer, who became Interpol's sentences for drugs offences. most wanted man, appeared by In June and July 2007 the gang video link from Belmarsh prison planned to buy 180kg (400lb) of in south-east London for his the drug in Amsterdam and sentencing at the royal court in St transport it by car to the coast of Helier. Normandy, France, where it was Warren, nicknamed Cocky in the to be placed on a boat to Jersey. criminal underworld, is the only Had the plot succeeded, Warren drug dealer to have appeared on would have taken a sizeable the Sunday Times rich list. share of the haul. He showed no reaction as the The trial was told the street judge, Sir Richard Tucker, passed value of drugs in Jersey was sentence. three times higher in than in the "We do not sentence him because UK and the gang expected to of his record or notoriety," make handsome profits.

Advocate Howard Sharp, prosecuting, called Warren the "head" of the conspiracy and asked the judge to jail him for 13 years. In his sentencing remarks, the judge said it was the biggest drugs trafficking case yet to come before the courts in Jersey. "Warren is a prolific drugs trafficker who has operated at the highest levels of the international drugs trade. "Warren orchestrated this conspiracy. He knew and had direct contact with the main coordinators in both Jersey and Holland, from source to distributor. "He had the necessary clout and influence to direct them. He was the link between the two." • Crime • Drugs trade • Jersey guardian.co.uk© Guardian News & Media Limited 2009 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions| More Feeds

Google Maps for Mobile stars synced maps By Jessica Dolcourt (Webware.com) Submitted at 12/2/2009 3:47:00 PM

An update to Google Maps for Mobile for Symbian and Windows phones connects your favorite maps online and on your

mobile phone. Originally posted at The Download Blog

House votes on risk bill, bank breakup power included By Tom Johansmeyer (BloggingStocks) Submitted at 12/3/2009 11:20:00 AM

Filed under: Citigroup Inc. (C), Bank of America (BAC), Amer Intl Group (AIG), Federal Reserve, Recession, Financial Crisis The federal government is a step closer to having vast powers over financial services firms. The U.S. House of Representatives Financial Services Committee voted on Wednesday to give regulators the authority to carve up financial firms when economic stability is at stake. The bill would also open up the Federal Reserve to much more congressional oversight. This comes more than a year after firms such as AIG ( AIG) and Citigroup ( C) needed profound financial intervention to prevent a broad collapse of the global economic system. Of course, the measure is getting mixed reviews. The Independent Community Bankers of America, a lobbying group for smaller entities, says it will "create a

more equitable financial system and hold too-big-to-fail firms accountable for the risks they pose." Meanwhile, the Financial Services Roundtable, which represents larger banks, such as Bank of America ( BAC), says it will "stifle creativity and the freeflow of ideas and capital." Continue reading House votes on risk bill, bank breakup power included House votes on risk bill, bank breakup power included originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 03 Dec 2009 11:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink| Email this| Comments

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How much would Wells Bears load up on puts Fargo need to pay off TARP ahead of Marvell like Bank of America? Technology's 3Q report By Mark Fightmaster (BloggingStocks)

Submitted at 12/3/2009 12:00:00 PM

Filed under: Bank of America (BAC), Wells Fargo (WFC) It seems that the TARP-related news from Bank of America ( BAC) Thursday morning has many thinking about how much capital other banks will need to raise in order to pay back taxpayers. One of those banks that some have speculated about is Wells Fargo ( WFC). According to Keefe, Bruyette & Woods (KBW), Wells Fargo may need to raise as much as$34 billion in new capital in order to repay TARP. Fortunately for Wells Fargo, KBW believes that the companies strong pre-provision and pre-tax earnings will help

By Elizabeth Harrow (BloggingStocks) Submitted at 12/3/2009 12:20:00 PM

Filed under: Earnings reports, Options, Technical Analysis, Marvell Technology Group (MRVL) limit how much capital Wells Marvell Technology Group ( MRVL) is scheduled to take the Fargowould have to raise. Continue reading How much earnings stage after the closing would Wells Fargo need to pay b e l l . A h e a d o f t h e t e c h off TARP like Bank of America? company's fiscal third-quarter How much would Wells Fargo report, analysts are anticipating a need to pay off TARP like Bank profit of 27 cents per share, up of America? originally appeared from its year-ago net income of on BloggingStocks on Thu, 03 23 cents per share. Sales for the Dec 2009 12:00:00 EST. Please quarter are expected to total $770 see our terms for use of feeds. million. Permalink| Email this| Comments If history is any guide, Marvell could very well exceed these consensus estimates. During the past four reporting periods, the company has consistently met or

The FTC Still Wants to Slay the Intel Monopoly Monster [Intel] By matt buchanan (Gizmodo) Submitted at 12/3/2009 9:43:41 AM

surpassed analysts' earnings expectations. Continue reading Bears load up on puts ahead of Marvell Technology's 3Q report Bears load up on puts ahead of Marvell Technology's 3Q report originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 03 Dec 2009 12:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink| Email this| Comments

Sure, Intel paid off AMD to drop their antitrust suit, but the FTC's still mighty interested in their their fights with Nvidia, and concerned about preserving competition in the chip marketplace overall. It could get ugly. [ BW]

Trading on disaster: Two new cat bonds come to market By Tom Johansmeyer (BloggingStocks) Submitted at 12/3/2009 1:00:00 PM

Filed under: International markets, Good news The catastrophe bond market is still running strong. This alternative to reinsurance, in

which insurers can package up their risk and sell it to investors, may be a small part of the market, but carriers are clearly committing to it. Swiss Re ( SWCEY) and Scor ( SCRYY) both have launched cat bonds, for $150 million and $75 the fourth quarter issuance total million, respectively. This brings

to $840 million and the 2009 year-to-date tally to just over $2.6 billion, based on information from Artemis.bm and Guy Carpenter's GC Capital Ideas. Continue reading Trading on disaster: Two new cat bonds come to market

Trading on disaster: Two new cat bonds come to market originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 03 Dec 2009 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink| Email this| Comments

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Boxee + Clicker = so close, yet so far By Scott Merrill (CrunchGear) Submitted at 12/3/2009 9:01:20 AM

I don’t watch a lot of television programming, and I’m not particularly patient with the way “Big Media” treats me, the consumer. I really wanted to like Flash Forward, but it’s pretty clear that the show is more interested in hitting that 100 episodes mark to earn syndication than it is in delivering an interesting, gripping story. So I gave up on that, and on a lark decided to try Fringe, to kill some time. Unfortunately, Hulu doesn’t have the beginning of the series, let alone the beginning of the current season. I’m not excited about jumping into the show midstream. I’m also not interested in navigating the various network websites to find their hosted copies of the shows I might watch. Isn’t that what Hulu was supposed to do for me? Enter Clicker.com. “Clicker aims to become the complete programming guide to Internet television.” Indeed, they have an impressive catalog of more than 400,000 television episodes from 7,000 different shows, not to mention movies and original web content. They’ve been around for awhile, but today they’re unveiling their new Boxee app, allowing you to access their impressive catalog of content from within Boxee. From the Clicker blog post: Clicker’s Boxee app gives you

the opportunity to experience our service in a brand new way — on your actual television. You can search for your favorite shows, movies and videos, or you can browse through hundreds of categories. All this while sitting 10 feet away with a (real) clicker in your hand. Now we’re getting somewhere! I have Boxee installed on the Mac Mini attached to my television,

though I don’t often use it. I’ve found it easier (for me) to simply use the Finder to navigate folders of media, and to play said media in VLC. That’s great for the movies I’ve ripped, but not so great for television programming I might like to watch. A unified interface to watch my movies and television would be great. I eagerly installed the Boxee Clicker.com app, and tried it out.

It’s a great idea, and shows a lot of promise, but there’s still a long way to go. To be fair, I recognize that this is a first release of the Clicker app, so there’s no way they’re going to have a fully functional release on their first try. Although I set up an account at Clicker.com, there’s currently no way for me to access that account from within the Boxee app. I’m told that’s coming very

soon. Perhaps most aggravating, to me, is that the listing of available content within the Clicker.com app shows a lot of stuff to which I don’t actually have access. I foolishly clicked Ghostbusters from the “Popular Movies” column, which is sourced from Netflix. Nothing BOXEE page 13

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BOXEE continued from page 12

happen, I wouldn’t have been able to watch it anyway, since I don’t have a Netflix subscription. Oh Clicker, you tease me so. I’ve spoken with the crew at Clicker and shared some of my frustration with this user experience. There are a number of challenging constraints with what they’re trying to do. From the Clicker website itself, clicking on a Netflix-sourced movie will take me to Netflix where I can sign in. From the Clicker app, selecting a Netflixsourced movie should transfer the connection over to the Netflix app, assuming you’ve authenticated it. I uncovered a bug: when you don’t have the Boxee Netflix app activated, nothing happens. The Clicker team told me that they’d get to work on fixing this in a future version. I can watch Ghostbusters for free at Crackle.com, and I can see that at the Clicker.com website. But the Clicker Boxee app doesn’t contain everything that their website indexes. From the Clicker app announcement: Not all the programming you can discover on Clicker.com is available on Boxee yet, so our

Boxee app explicitly features only shows or movies that are currently available through Boxee. That includes over 180,000 episodes from over 3,000 TV and Web shows, as well as 5,000 movies. We’re working with Boxee to add more content and many more sources in the future. It’s true. There’s a lot of content displayed inside the Clicker.com app. Navigating all that content can be a little time consuming. Searching that content, right now, feels like a waste of time. Here’s a screenshot of me trying to search for Fringe: Okay, so Fringe isn’t available through Clicker on Boxee — I can dig that. But the search results provided make no sense to me. I have no idea how a search for “fri” would produce that set of results. Speaking with the Clicker crew, and using the Clicker website a bit more, clarified the situation: I was expecting a straight match of my search term against the raw show titles. Clicker, however, is being a lot more helpful. They don’t have Fringe to show me, but they are showing me other media that is related to Fringe in

a number of ways. Maybe an actor from Fringe was a guest on Jay Leno’s show; or some behind -the-scenes piece about Fringe appears on another program. That’s what the search results are in the screenshot above. This is made much more obvious when you search the Clicker website: the results clearly indicate the connection to the search term. Again, it looks like I uncovered a bug, and the team is going to brainstorm ways to improve the search result listing to disambiguate why that set of results was returned. There’s a lot of other little things that show that the Clicker.com app, while a great start, still has quite a ways to go. After speaking with the team, I’m actually quite enthusiastic about the future of the Clicker app on Boxee. The Clicker team says they’re listening to user feedback, and my experiences so far support that, so start tweeting and, uh, Facebooking your suggestions to make the Clicker app better.

Yelp live in BlackBerry App World By Jessica Dolcourt (Webware.com) Submitted at 12/2/2009 2:20:00 PM

Starting on Wednesday, you can download Yelp's BlackBerry through the App World. Originally posted at The

Download Blog

Targeted by Hollywood, OpenBitTorrent lives to fight another day By Nicholas Deleon (CrunchGear) Submitted at 12/3/2009 10:00:56 AM

Not a day goes by without coming across one or more stories related to The Pirate Bay. Today is no different, with OpenBitTorrent (a tracker that Hollywood has accused of being The Pirate Bay’s spiritual successor, serving some 550,000 “works”) being given a new lease on life by a Swedish court. The gist is, Hollywood wanted the tracker shut down, but said Swedish court denied the action. OpenBitTorrent is merely a tracker; there’s no .torrent files to download from the Web site. That is, you create a .torrent u s i n g http://tracker.openbittorrent.com/ announce as the tracker, then upload the .torrent file somewhere else. I don’t know, a message board or something. Oh, or ThePirateBay. That was Hollywood’s beef.

Lawyers tried to argue that OpenBitTorrent was merely a continuation of ThePirateBay, and that it should be shut down. It should be noted that OpenBitTorrent is proactive with regards to copyrighted material using the tracker, unlike ThePirateBay. That is to say that if Hollywood wanted, it could have just gone after the offending torrents rather than try to get the entire tracker shut down. We all know where this is going. Hollywood made its case to a Swedish court (OpenBitTorrent is based in Sweden), but the court didn’t buy the lawyers’ arguments. Why should an entire site be shut down when there’s no proof that the whole operation is crooked? You want to go after individual files, fine, but don’t think you can go after en entire site just because it’s easier than other alternatives. That’s it.

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Confirmed: Michael Jackson composed the music for Sonic The Hedgehog 3 By Nicholas Deleon (CrunchGear) Submitted at 12/3/2009 8:00:40 AM

Rumor no more! Are you standing? Then sit down. Are you sitting down? Then stand up, then sit down again, for there’s huge news to share: Michael Jackson is now confirmed to have written the music for Sonic The Hedgehog 3. There’s a magazine in France called Black & White. It’s Michael Jackson’s official magazine over there. Check out the cover: Looks great, right? Right. In the latest issue, composer Brad Buxer said the following: B&W: Can you clarify the rumor that Michael had in 1993 composed the music for Sonic 3 video game, for which you have been credited? Buxer: I’ve never played the game so I do not know what tracks on which Michael and I have worked the developers have kept, but we did compose music for the game. Michael called me at the time for help on this project, and that’s what I did. And if he is not credited for composing the music, it’s because he was not happy with

Marvell's Armada chip bringing 'HD-quality video, 3D graphics support' to Entourage Edge By Darren Murph (Engadget) Submitted at 12/3/2009 11:07:00 AM

the result sound coming out of the console. At the time, game consoles did not allow an optimal sound reproduction, and Michael found it frustrating. He did not want to be associated with a product that devalued his music… B&W: One of the surprising things in this soundtrack is that you can hear the chords from Stranger in Moscow, which is supposed to have been composed later… Buxer: Yes, Michael and I had

We already knew that a potent Marvell chip was under the hood of Spring Design's Alex, but at long last the mystery surrounding composed those chords for the t h e p o w e r h o u s e w i t h i n game, and it has been used as Entourage's Edge is no more. The base for Stranger in Moscow. [...] Armada PXA168 processor will So there you have it, Michael be responsible for steering the Jackson did, in fact, write the world's first "Dualbook" through music for Sonic The Hedgehog 3, the stormy seas that'll be created as the rumor had gone for so once crazed consumers get ahold of this thing, and while we've no many years. Surely this belongs in that idea if the software will actually “shocking moments” thread on support this laundry list of capabilities, the chip should have NeoGAF. no issue with "full-featured web via Reddit browsing, multi-format video and image processing." More specifically, we're informed that "HD-quality video and 3D graphics" will be supported,

which could obviously lead to some pretty interesting applications (you know, like actual web surfing on an ereader). Hop on past the break for a brief look at an early generation model as well as a functioning version of what should hopefully hit shelves in early 2010. Continue reading Marvell's Armada chip bringing 'HDquality video, 3D graphics support' to Entourage Edge Marvell's Armada chip bringing 'HD-quality video, 3D graphics support' to Entourage Edge originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 03 Dec 2009 11:07:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink| Business Wire, Netbook News| Email this| Comments

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Comcast takes control of NBC, promises not to crush Hulu 'like a bug'

NC State intellects design twistable, shapeshifting antennas

By Joseph L. Flatley (Engadget)

By Darren Murph (Engadget) Submitted at 12/3/2009 10:09:00 AM

Submitted at 12/3/2009 11:29:00 AM

As expected, Comcast announced its buyout of NBC this morning, and we have a few details of interest to Engadget readers and fans of rom-coms alike. Essentially, Comcast now owns 51 percent of NBCUniversal to GE's 49 percent and will manage the entity -leveraging the newly acquired content with their infrastructure. On an investor call (reported by All Things Digital) a short time ago, Comcast CEO Brian Roberts emphasized that the company bought "a bunch of profitable cable channels" and "some theme parks, too" (we think that last part was a joke). Not so funny, of course, is the film studio that's seen better years and the broadcast network that's been described elsewhere as "faltering." When asked about TV Everywhere and Hulu, Comcast COO Steve Burke notes that "NBC has been careful not to put too much cable content on the Internet. We think that's a smart strategy... We think that going forward, you're going to continue

to have free broadcast stuff on Hulu, and cable stuff on TV Everywhere." As for rumors of Hulu Premium? "That's certainly not in the cards." Web-based TV fanatics will be pleased to note that Roberts appears to be in your court: "We love Hulu and have no intent to crush it like a bug." That's all well and good, but as we know nothing's final until the government has its say: the FCC, the Federal Trade Commission, and the Justice Department are

NC State may be well on its way to yet another underwhelming season on the hardwood, but it seems as if a few of its most spirited boffins aren't even taking any time off to celebrate the season-ending victory over the hated Heels on the team's final football game. Dr. Michael Dickey and team have just published their latest invention, and if this thing ever reaches commercial status, you can expect ordinary objects to become a lot more intelligent. The crew's shape-shifting, twistable antenna overcomes the common limitation of copperbased alternatives by relying on an alloy that can be "bent, stretched, cut and twisted" while still transmitting or receiving a signal. Aside from enabling concept phones like the Ondo to

all sure to have strongly held opinions on the matter. PR after the break. Continue reading Comcast takes control of NBC, promises not to crush Hulu 'like a bug' Comcast takes control of NBC, promises not to crush Hulu 'like a bug' originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 03 Dec 2009 11:29:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink| By Rafe Needleman All Things Digital| Email this| (Webware.com) Comments

become real, the development could also allow for stretchable antennas to be integrated into actual structures, giving buildings and bridges a way to communicate stresses to architects. Too bad it can't communicate the crumbling of an athletics program to an oblivious AD, but hey, there's always room for improvement in version 2.0. NC State intellects design twistable, shape-shifting antennas originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 03 Dec 2009 10:09:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink Popular Science| NC State| Email this| Comments

Boxee gets Clicker app, but not all Clicker data Submitted at 12/3/2009 9:00:00 AM

Clicker really was made for a

living-room app like Boxee. But Boxee itself is feeling a bit crowded. Originally posted at Rafe's Radar

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Feeling lonely? Bizarre Japanese CD lets 600 different girls say “I love you” to you By Serkan Toto (CrunchGear) Submitted at 12/3/2009 9:40:21 AM

Does anybody remember the DVD I blogged that was supposed to cure shyness in geeks by letting them look at 50 different girls over a time span of 96 minutes? The girls would just sit there, not saying or doing anything. The idea was to make you get used to looking at pretty girls on the TV to overcome your shyness in real life. That was last year. And now we have the Hougen CD[JP], which is more or less trying to do the same thing – but this time not with video but audio. In my view this CD, a real product you can buy, is even dumber than

aforementioned DVD: What you get is a CD on which 600 different Japanese girls say “Daisuki!” or “Meccha Daisukiyanen!”, which means “I love you!” in Japanese. As a bonus, the girls talk in their

etc.). The Hougen CD goes on sale just in time for Christmas, on December 23 (price: $25). And as if NR Pro wanted to prove everything is possible in Japan, they’re also offering the Chuu CD[JP] (”Chuu” means kiss in Japanese). 12 different girls are making 100 kiss noises each on it. And those 1,200 kisses will set you back exactly 1,200 Yen ($15). You get one home dialects (”Hougen” means kiss for one yen and there are no dialect in Japanese) in order to language barriers. satisfy geeks all over Nippon. Ask CD Japan in the unlikely Record company NR Pro also case you want one of those CDs throws in a second CD on which, shipped outside Japan. for some strange reason, the girls will yell at you (”I hate you”

Chat With Evan Ratliff Today About His Time on the Run, 3pm EST By Nicholas Thompson (Wired Top Stories) Submitted at 12/2/2009 9:50:00 PM

After Evan Ratliff wrote a Wired story about how people disappear in the digital age (September issue), he went on the run. Wired readers tracked him down after a couple of weeks using clues posted daily. Thursday (12/03) at 3 p.m. EST, we'll host a live chat with Evan. Here's your chance: Ask how he evaded you, what he learned and why he didn't just stay on the bus with the Hermit Thrushes.

Yamaha turns up the bass, brings the noise with its YSP-5100 Digital Sound Projector By Tim Stevens (Engadget)

update to the YSP-4100 that's all of two and a half months old, so Submitted at 12/3/2009 9:43:00 AM new that Yamaha didn't even There are three ways to end bother to do another studio shoot, speaker wire clutter: go wireless, just chopped in the same remote get a soundbar, or shun the ways from the earlier press image. of the surrounds entirely. The Natural, really, since the devices former option isn't for everyone, sport the same HD decoding the latter simply won't do, and so abilities (like Dolby TrueHD and Yamaha keeps pumping out DTS-HD), the same suite of ins endless new installments of its and outs, and the same 55W Digital Sound Projector line. p o w e r r a t i n g . T h e o n l y Latest is the YSP-5100, an differences are a slightly greater

width on the 5100 and what's claimed to be "dramatically" evolved sound, richer bass and clearer highs -- things you can't

really verify from a press release. No word on price, but they should be shipping before the year is through.

Yamaha turns up the bass, brings the noise with its YSP-5100 Digital Sound Projector originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 03 Dec 2009 09:43:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink Akihabara News| Yamaha| Email this| Comments

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Monocle offers custom BlackBerry 9700 for the discerning business traveler By Donald Melanson (Engadget) Submitted at 12/3/2009 10:38:00 AM

WowWee Cinemin Swivel iPod and iPhone pico projector review By Richard Lai (Engadget)

dance? Only in Japan. Finally, WowWee took a break from robotics to give us the answer The first time we saw a pico with its foldable Cinemin Swivel projector some of us thought: pico projector: for watching "Err... What's the point?" Slide videos on the ceiling while lying show presentations from your in bed, obviously. Still, we have phone? Doubt it -- not powerful our doubts about image quality, e n o u g h f o r p r a c t i c a l u s e . portability and practicality -Cinematic experience in the especially for $299. Read on to toilet? Maybe, but you'd want a find out if this little guy is worth built-in projector on your PMP it. instead of a separate brick. Funky Gallery: WowWee Cinemin Submitted at 12/3/2009 12:20:00 PM

Swivel iPod and iPhone pico projector review Continue reading WowWee Cinemin Swivel iPod and iPhone pico projector review WowWee Cinemin Swivel iPod and iPhone pico projector review originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 03 Dec 2009 12:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink| | Email this| Comments

Looking for a BlackBerry for yourself or a special someone that's unique but not in a Colorware sort of way? Then you might just want to consider ponying up for this new limited edition BlackBerry 9700 crafted by the folks at Monocle in partnership with RIM. It'll cost you a hefty ÂŁ950 (or just over $1,500), but that will get you the gift of confidence that this is one of just 100, along with some suitably luxurious touches like a custom leather strap, a reminder of its rarity on the back,

Monocle's 25/25 travel guides pre-loaded on the device, a few custom wallpapers, and even a 16GB microSD card thrown in for good measure. Alright, so maybe it's a bit tough to justify the $1,000+ premium, but those ready to throw caution to the wind can expect their order to ship on December 10th. Monocle offers custom BlackBerry 9700 for the discerning business traveler originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 03 Dec 2009 10:38:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink Acquire| Monocle| Email this| Comments

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Nokia E72 now in stock in the New World -- the US, to be specific By Chris Ziegler (Engadget)

10.2Mbps down and 2Mbps up. Of course, you won't get anything close to those speeds in It's been a long, long journey, the States -- but hey, you can't but Nokia's E72-- the hotlydrive a Lambo 180 miles per anticipated successor to the hour on a public street, either. wildly popular E71-- is finally [Thanks, Pankil] available as an unlocked phone Nokia E72 now in stock in the directly from Nokia USA New World -- the US, to be following a November release specific originally appeared on elsewhere. The privilege of Engadget on Thu, 03 Dec 2009 upgrading to what could very 12:54:00 EST. Please see our well be the finest S60 3.2 handset exchange, you're getting a 5 terms for use of feeds. Permalink| ever made won't be cheap, megapixel cam, optical d-pad N o k i a U S A | E m a i l t h i s | though: they're charging $469 ("Navi Key" in Nokia parlance), C o m m e n t s before tax and shipping, but in and full-on HSPA with up to Submitted at 12/3/2009 12:54:00 PM

Swedish Court Gets One Right: Won't Shut Down OpenBitTorrent By Mike Masnick (Techdirt)

However, in a bit of a surprise, the court has pointed out that it's a big stretch to hold the ISP With the movie industry's liable without more evidence, lawyers recently demanding that and has refused to order the ISP Portlane shut down the shutdown of OpenBitTorrent. OpenBitTorrent tracker, claiming Nice to see that the courts don't (without any evidence) that it always just accept what the was just a rebranded version of movie industry says without The Pirate Bay's tracker, it further examination. seemed possible that the Swedish Permalink| Comments| Email courts would roll over again. This Story Submitted at 12/2/2009 7:51:43 PM

Convert a standard outlet to a USB outlet By Doug Aamoth (CrunchGear) Submitted at 12/3/2009 7:30:00 AM

If you’ve got a surplus of power outlets in your home, I guess you should probably convert one to a USB outlet. It can be done for less than $10 and apparently only

takes about 30 minutes. You’re literally plugging two Apple-esque mini USB chargers into a regular outlet and then hiding it all behind a wall plate but, hey, that can be our little secret. Of course if you have $10 but you could just buy the mini USB you DON’T have 30 minutes,

chargers and plug them into a standard outlet. But they’d be on the outside of the wall rather than behind it. That’s the difference right there. People would come over and groan about you taking the easy way out, at which point you’d angrily ask them to leave. But

then once you had time to think about it you’d realize that the only person you have to blame is yourself because, yes, you did indeed cut corners. Outlets of the Future aka in-wall USB Charger[Instructables via SlashGear]

The Epson PictureMate Show combines a digital photo frame and printer By Matt Burns (CrunchGear) Submitted at 12/3/2009 8:28:47 AM

The new Epson PictureMate Show could be the finest example of technical convergence that you will never use. It brings the two

worlds of digital photography into one convenient device. Too bad that it will probably sit unused like most digital photo frames and 4 x 6 printers after the novelty wears off. It seems like a nice little device

800×400 screen is nearly as large as the average digital photo frame and the 4 x 6 printer can spit out photos in just 37 seconds, which should be fast enough for everyone. Plus, there is 270MB t h o u g h . T h e 7 - i n c h , 1 6 : 9 , of internal memory to store your

photos, but of course it can read data off of USB flash drives, memory cards, and PictBridge devices too. The $300 PictureMate Show is available now.

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Epson PictureMate Show Is Sort of a Photo Frame, Sort of a Printer [Printers] By Mark Wilson (Gizmodo) Submitted at 12/3/2009 9:20:00 AM

Epson's PictureMate Show isn't quite a sleek digital photo frame with hidden printer, but if you wanted to print 4x6 images at home (and nothing else), it's a fairly elegant solution. Featuring a 7-inch LCD face, the Epson PictureMate Show is half digital photo frame, half small form photo printer. You can load By Sean Fallon (Gizmodo) play your tv content on up to images via USB or card reader, three authenticated internet edit them using the display and Submitted at 12/3/2009 9:37:00 AM devices. We already knew that then print them at a class-leading Continuing Comcast's big day, w o u l d b e r o l l i n g o u t i n 5760x1440 dpi. The PictureMate Zats has learned that the cable December, but Zats has specified Show is $300 and available now, provider will be rolling out two an exact date of December 12th. but unless you're printing stuff more customer apps (in addition As for remote DVR scheduling, you really don't want other to their data usage meter) in the details are a little hazier. Comcast people to see, I don't really near future: Xfinity and remote has "promised" that the feature is understand the economics or DVR scheduling. on the horizon, but no specific convenience of mass printing at As it turns out, Xfinity is just a dates have been announced. [ home. [ Epson via Electronista] rebranding of TV Everywhere—a Zats] free service that allows you to

Comcast Delivering Two More Apps For The Holidays [Comcast] Acer's Aspire 8942G-728G1280TWN: World's First, Longest-Named DX11 Notebook [Directx11] By Brian Barrett (Gizmodo)

graphics card. The other specs are equally over the top—18.4" 1980x1080 LED display, two The timing and price are up in 6 4 0 G B h a r d d r i v e s , 8 - c e l l the air, but Acer's next high-end battery—but what we're most gaming notebook will be the first excited about are graphics like using DirectX 11 graphics. It's this: also going to be insane. Expect it on the market in early Fudzilla's reporting that the 2010 for a whole lot of cash. It Aspire 8942G-728G1280TWN is also weighs over 10 pounds, so going to be a beast, shipping with make sure to lift with your legs. [ a Core i7 processor at 1.6GHz, Fudzilla] 8GB of DDR3 RAM, and the allimportant ATI Radeon HD5850 Submitted at 12/3/2009 9:13:53 AM

Video: Wish List for Camera Geeks By Wired.com Video Department (Wired Top Stories) Submitted at 12/2/2009 5:00:00 PM

Wired has a few suggestions for the shutterbug on your shopping list. The Nikon Coolpix S1000pj sports a built-in projector, while the ContourHD 1080p Helmet

Cam lets you strap a hi-def video camera to your head -- or handlebars.

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Avast update falsely flags good apps as malware (CNET News.com) Submitted at 12/3/2009 9:24:00 AM

Czechoslovakia-based Avast issued an update late on Wednesday to its antivirus software that mistakenly flagged hundreds of innocent files as a Trojan. It fixed the situation five and a half hours later. Falsely labeled as malware were programs from Adobe, Realtek, sound card drivers, and various media players, among others, according to a blog post on the Avast Support Center. The errant update had been issued around 12:15 a.m. GMT. A new update was issued at 5:50 By Jason Chen (Gizmodo) s u p p o s e d l y i m p l i e s m o r e a.m. GMT that corrected the gameplay hours than non-RPGs. problem. Customers who did not Submitted at 12/3/2009 9:51:05 AM Even when you're not actually use their computers between that Song Summoner was one of the playing the game, you can level time will most likely not be few games released for the up your guys by listening to the impacted, the company said. iPod窶馬ot the touch, but original music that's bound to each The software was identifying the clickwheel type. It was special, character, giving you an added good files as the Win32:Delfas a game, because it used your bonus to use your iPhone/iTouch MZG Trojan, according to Avast. own music to procedurally more. [ iTunes (Full Version) and Avast, based in Prague, did not respond to an e-mail late on generate enemies. Now, it's on iTUnes (Lite) via Kotaku] Wednesday seeking comment. the iPhone. False positives happen in the It's $10, but it's an RPG, which industry. In July, Computer Associates' antivirus software was falsely tagging a Windows XP system file as a virus, and last By Lewis Wallace (Wired Top mainstream comedies like Men in year AVG falsely identified a file Stories) Black, these are the science f r o m s e c u r i t y p r o v i d e r fiction movies that turned on Z o n e A l a r m a s a v i r u s . Submitted at 12/2/2009 9:00:00 PM Wired.com readers during the This content has passed through fivefilters.org. From oddities like eXistenZ to grunge era.

Song Summoner Comes From iPod to iPhone, Uses Your Own Music [IPhone Apps] What To Do With All Your Broken Routers? Make a MacBook Mod, That's What [Mod] By Kat Hannaford (Gizmodo)

along with the iSight camera and microphone in the joined-up cases, loaded Leopard and after Like the Everest-climbing slaving over it in the workshop George Leigh Mallory, modder for a few weeks, he was able to Tyler saw a Linksys router and c o n n e c t i t t o h i s m o n i t o r decided to shove a MacBook s u c c e s s f u l l y . inside, "because it's there." Well, Sure does beat having several it was either that, or a Billy the broken routers in the attic like I Big Mouth Bass. do. [ Phantomdev via Gearfuse] Using two Linksys routers, he rammed the MacBook's parts, Submitted at 12/3/2009 9:35:23 AM

Totally Recalled: Your Fave '90s Sci-Fi Flicks

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10 Adobe AIR Apps That Simplify Our Lives By Ben Parr (Mashable!)

your computer. Pick your favorite websites, blogs, and RSS feeds and just watch the stories This series is supported by (and mini-screenshots) roll by. Times Reader 2.0. Learn more It’s a great way to keep track of about The New York Times’ the websites you care about most latest innovation in newspaper or the ones that tend to update delivery here. frequently. 2. Pandora One Since its launch in early 2008, Desktop Adobe AIR has spread like How it simplifies life: Makes wildfire across the web. The listening to and discovering lightweight platform, which music easy and accessible. allows users to run web-based Internet radio service Pandora is applications on Linux, Mac, and one of the web’s most popular Windows desktops, has had well streaming music tools. You just over 200 million installs. Now open it up on the browser, set up there are thousands of apps that your station, and let the tunes roll are capable of doing everything in. from image editing to managing Still, it can be annoying to open your Twitter account. up another browser window or to It’s clear that AIR is a powerful switch tabs to get to your tool for bringing the power of the Pandora player. That’s where the web to your desktop and your Adobe AIR Pandora One app fingertips. But to get the most comes in: it provides all of the out of AIR, you need useful functionality of the web version programs that help you better of Pandora. It includes playback, manage your time, your web t h u m b s u p / d o w n r a t i n g s , accounts, and most of all make b o o k m a r k i n g , s t a t i o n your life easier. That’s why i n f o r m a t i o n , d e s k t o p we’ve put together this list of notifications, and audio quality Adobe AIR apps that we believe control, among many other are simplifying life and making features. information more accessible. Of course, there’s a catch: you While not a comprehensive list, need to upgrade your Pandora we believe that you’ll find that a c c o u n t t o P a n d o r a O n e these gems will alter how you use ($36/year) in order to use the your computer for the better: 1. desktop app. 3. Ora Time and Snackr Expense How it simplifies life: Brings the How it simplifies life: Small news to your desktop. business expensing and S n a c k r i s a n e w s t i c k e r timesheets in an easy-to-use containing your RSS feeds. It interface. works just like the tickers you see If you own a small business, on Fox News or CNN, but for consultancy, or have to expense Submitted at 12/3/2009 9:54:44 AM

clients, then you shouldn’t be without Ora, a popular AIR app for tracking time and expensing clients. It comes loaded with features like scanning receipts via webcam, generating timesheets and invoices, customizing templates, and report generation. It eliminates a lot of headaches. 4 & 5. TweetDeck and Seesmic How it simplifies life: All of your social media accounts in one place. Most Twitter addicts won’t be surprised to see that TweetDeck and Seesmic make this list of Adobe AIR apps, but their effect on your use of social media is simply profound. Instead of visiting Twitter, MySpace, Facebook, and LinkedIn, you can track and update them all from the desktop. Columns make it easier to see what’s happening with your friends and custom searches make it simple to track important conversations. If you’re looking to simplify your social media, one of these AIR apps is a must. 6. Focused How it simplifies life: Removes all distractions when you’re writing. If your desktop is like mine, it’s filled with notifications, browsers, emails, notes, files, music, and other things that can suddenly catch your attention and double the time it takes to write an article, paper, proposal, or

business document. Focused fixes that in the simplest way possible: by removing all distractions. It takes over your desktop, leaving you only with the text editor, which allows you to get your writing done. Also check out Focus Booster, a digital pomodoro timer for helping you focus. 7. JustResizeIt! How it simplifies life: Drag-anddrop image resizing. JustResizeIt! may actually be the simplest AIR app of the bunch, but that’s exactly why it makes this list. If you find yourself often creating and editing images, blogging, or needing to create web icons, JustResizeIt! is ideal. It’s one more way to avoid fumbling with image editors. Shrink O’Matic is also a good and similar choice. 8. Klok How it simplifies life: Personal time management tool to make your life more efficient. Do you have a job where you have to track time? Ever wonder how much time you waste on tasks like checking email? Need to keep track of your time every week? The popular Klok AIR app does all of that with a feature -rich interface, drag-and-drop functionality, and analytics that graph out how you’ve been spending your time. It’s time management at its best. 9. Doomi How it simplifies life: Completely intuitive to-do list tool. For those of us who are forgetful, a to-do list is simply a

lifesaver. While there are plenty of programs that do a good job of the to-do list (e.g. Google Tasks and RememberTheMilk), Doomi is a dead-simple desktop solution. It helps you conveniently add and manage your priorities without extra flair. Tip: If you are a user of RememberTheMilk, there is also an unofficial Adobe AIR version. 10. Tidysongs How it simplifies life: Cleans up your iTunes in a snap. Duplicate files, messed up folders, missing music files, incorrectly-labeled music, and lost album art…does this sound like your iTunes library by any chance? The more music you collect, the messier it becomes, especially if you keep transferring your music library to new computers or reformat your hard drive regularly. Tidysongs fixes all of that. It will add album art, find song duplicates, fix any songs with incorrect titles or descriptions, and even organize your music by genre. It will do the first 100 songs for free, but does cost $30 to purchase afterwards. If you’re a music lover and your library is as messy as mine though, it’s a price you are probably willing to pay. Series supported by Times Reader 2.0 This series is supported by Times Reader 2.0. Learn more about The New York Times’ latest innovation in newspaper ADOBE page 25

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HOW TO: Choose a News Reader for Keeping Tabs on Your Industry By Barb Dybwad (Mashable!) Submitted at 12/3/2009 7:50:54 AM

This post originally appeared on the American Express OPEN Forum, where Mashable regularly contributes articles about leveraging social media and technology in small business. We’ve already talked about using RSS as a business intelligence tool, but how do you choose the right software to get maximum benefit out of your news reading? With a number of options and myriad features on multiple platforms, it can be a daunting task to even get started. In this article we’ll take a look at some of what you might consider when shopping for a news reader. Do you need cutting edge, up to the second information at your fingertips? You might want to look at “ticker” style applications that scroll new headlines continuously. Or maybe you need to monitor a large number of feeds but are primarily interested in a subset of specific keywords or topics. In that case, you’d want to look for an RSS reader that supports a Smart Folders or Saved Searches feature. If you need to keep news feeds in sync across multiple platforms, from Mac to Windows or from the web to a desktop or mobile clients, there are solutions out there for you too. Many of these readers also help you share

individual articles and posts with your colleagues and collaborators as well. Let’s take a look at some of the options available online, on your desktop and on your phone. Online The reigning king of online newsreaders is currently Google Reader. One of the advantages of an online RSS reader over a desktop version is accessibility: you can use it from any web browser, even if it’s not your primary computer, and all your feeds will be exactly the way you left them. Of course, one of the disadvantages of a web-based newsreader is that you typically need an active internet connection to make use of them, whereas a desktop client can download feed items you can later read offline. One of the areas Google Reader excels, however, is in its ability to also sync with various desktop and mobile clients. Not only does that give you some measure of offline access to your feeds (as does installing and enabling Google Gears), but it prevents you from having to sort through some of the feeds you’ve already read elsewhere when you switch from your computer to your phone, or even from web to desktop client. We’ll look at some of the desktop and mobile clients Google Reader syncs with in the next two sections. Another potential option in this

category is NetVibes. Though it’s officially classified as a Start Page moreso than an RSS reader, it can import and monitor news feeds along with a number of other apps or widgets designed to bring various types of information into one at-a-glance interface. NetVibes offers far more flexibility and customizability than a straight up RSS reader, but the downside is it’s not the best solution to monitoring a large volume of feeds. Google also has a similar product dubbed iGoogle worth checking out as well. Desktop If keeping news feeds in sync between a Macintosh and a Windows computer is part of your requirements, you’ll want to take a look at two industryleading news readers on their respective platforms: NetNewsWire and FeedDemon. Both of these readers sync with Google Reader, making crossplatform feed reading a lot more painless. Even if you don’t need cross-platform compatibility, both readers are full-featured and worthy contenders for your

desktop feed reading needs. Both offer the ability to watch for specific keywords or set up saved searches that automatically bring up important topics in your niche to the forefront of your news reading sessions. Another worthy option on the Mac is Shrook a free RSS reader that syncs back to the web to keep your feeds in line whether you’re reading from your Mac, iPhone, or any computer with an internet connection. On Windows, take a look at the free and open source RSSOwl. For a news ticker type experience on either the Mac or PC, check out Snackr, an Adobe AIR client that continually scrolls headlines from your feeds across your desktop. This type of news reader can be handy for those who want to be able to see stories at a glance without having to switch back and forth between applications or browser tabs. Mobile On the iPhone, Reeder is a solid mobile client that syncs with Google Reader. Newsstand is another iPhone client that does so, along with the ability to easily export or send stories to a number of external sources like email, Twitter, delicious and more. There’s also a special iPhone-formatted version of Google Reader you can simply use in the Safari mobile browser that works quite well.

On the Android platform, FeedR is a great option for reading feeds, with a free demo version and a reasonable $0.99 version that removes certain intermediary dialog boxes. You can import feeds from an OPML file and even cache feeds for offline reading as well. For a solid client that syncs with Google Reader, check out NewsRob. Palm webOS users might want to see if the iPhone-formatted Google Reader works for your needs; it’s not specifically customized for Palm devices yet still tends to work rather well. BlackBerry users can also access Google Reader in the phone browser, or check out FreeRange or Viigo. Windows Mobile users can also use the browser method to access Google Reader, or try the free NewsBreak Lite or YoMoMedia, which syncs with its own web-based feed reading client as well. Shop Around Don’t hesitate to spend some time shopping around and trying several clients before settling on your feed reader of choice — or even continuing to use more than one at a time. Thanks to the OPML standard, it should be a relatively simple process to export and import your feeds from one client to another. This means that building a master list of news feeds in one client is HOW page 24

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Google Earth peers into California's eco-future (CNET News.com) Submitted at 12/3/2009 9:42:00 AM

Google Earth and California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger announced Wednesday that Google is developing a tool to map out disturbing scenarios of how California can be affected by climate change. The project comes out of a collaboration with the California Natural Resources Agency, Schwarzenegger, and the Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI), an organization funded by the California Energy Commission and Google.org. "There is a serious bottleneck in delivering relevant information, much of which is map-based, to decisionmakers in a manner that allows them to turn climate change research results into effective climate change adaptation decisions and policies," according to a statement from SEI. The CalAdapt Google Earth tool, which will allow individuals to view how their specific community would be changed, will not be ready for public use until September 2010. But on

Wednesday, Google.org released two related videos narrated by Schwarzenegger. Both the threeminute video (see below) and seven-minute video demonstrate the kind of data the Google Earth CalAdapt tool will make more palatable. The extended version additionally highlights Schwarzenegger's concerns and political initiatives. CalAdapt visually demonstrates the effects of climate change as determined by the current scientific data available to the state of California. It includes past data regarding temperature change and water shortages. It includes data modeling what will happen if, for example, the Sierra snow pack disappears at the various rates predicted. It also includes data on which parts of the state's shoreline would be most effected due to storms and rising sea levels. Certainly, it's a teaching tool to show average folks what scientists believe will happen to the California climate in the coming years. But it also happens to dovetail into Schwarzenegger's executive order that the state develop a"Climate Adaptation

Strategy" on everything from agriculture to commercial land development. It's not the first time, organizations have turned to the Google Earth platform to give the public a tool for avoiding land misuse or harrowing legal battles. In April Google Earth released the Path to Green Energy tool. Those layers, developed in conjunction with the Natural Resources Defense Council and the National Audubon Society, show which lands in the greater western U.S. are prohibited from commercial development, awaiting approval for inclusion into the federal wilderness system, or considered natural habitats for endangered species among other categories. It's intended to be a preemptive offering to commercial developers who may rather shy away from the hassle of an environmental fight if there are adequate lands available for their needs elsewhere. This content has passed through fivefilters.org.

Cams, Camcorders and Scopes to See the World By Wired Staff (Wired Top Stories) Submitted at 12/2/2009 5:00:00 PM

What would a freewheeling photographer like this holiday season? Definitely something from Wired's list of the best

camera and technology.

camcorder

Defense Of Software Patents Actually Raises Questions About All Computer Patents By Mike Masnick (Techdirt)

what's done in hardware (not really true in many cases, but...), software patents must be good. A bunch of folks have been B u t s h o u l d n ' t t h e o r i g i n a l submitting the recent Patently-O question be whether or not the post by Martin Goetz, the guy hardware itself requires patents who claims to have the first and whether or not that helps to "software patent," defending the "promote the progress of science concept of software patents. The and the useful arts"? Goetz never argument boils down to pretty bothers to explain how any of much the same argument we've these patents promote progress. heard a thousand times before: And, of course, the bigger point that what people create in is whether or not it's really true software is no different than what that software is just a different they create in hardware -- it's just way of doing what you can do in a different method of doing the hardware. In some cases, that's same thing, and thus, software true. In other cases, it's not. should be patentable. To some Most software today is not just a extent, I agree. Unlike some, I'm different way of doing things that not in favor of making a specific could be done in hardware, but "exemption" for software as not involve things that couldn't be being patentable (though, I do done without software. How do question why or how something you offer wireless email without should be covered by both any software? How do you do copyrights and patents, and also "one-click shopping" without am curious how you can patent software? What the article is basic mathematics... but those are really arguing is that because you questions for another time). could build softwareHonestly, in reading through his functionality into hardware, you arguments, what struck me is that should be able to patent it, but there is no explanation for why perhaps that never should have even computer hardware should been allowed to be patented in be patentable. It's just taken for the first place? granted that computer hardware Permalink| Comments| Email patents must be good, and since This Story software is the equivalent of Submitted at 12/2/2009 11:52:00 PM

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ComScore: So far, online holiday sales are up

Dismissing The Freeloading Myth

(CNET News.com)

By Mike Masnick (Techdirt)

marketing efforts have so far succeeded in persuading consumers to open their wallets The 2009 holiday season thus far online," ComScore chairman is revealing much stronger online Gian Fulgoni said in a statement. sales figures than what was "Thanksgiving Day and Black witnessed in 2008, market- Friday were atypically strong r e s e a r c h f i r m C o m S c o r e online sales days this year, and announced late Wednesday. Cyber Monday has continued According to the company, that trend by outperforming the which has monitored spending season-to-date average growth for the first 30 days of the rate and matching last year's November-December shopping record day of $887 million in season, sales are up 3 percent to online spending." $12.26 billion, compared to the The good news doesn't stop same period in 2008. Cyber there. Cyber Monday also saw an Monday sales hit $887 million in increase in the number of buyers, online spending, tallying a 5 ComScore found. The total percent gain over the same day number of online buyers grew 6 last year. That amount also percent to 8.7 million people. matched "the biggest spending That said, the average amount day on record, December 9, each person spent dropped 2 2008." percent to $102.19. "We've seen an encouraging start True to the day's origins, the to the online holiday shopping majority of sales originated from season and it would appear that work computers. The company retailers' aggressive and early found that 52.7 percent of all Submitted at 12/3/2009 9:05:00 AM

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highly worthwhile, since it can travel with you even if you move to a new RSS reader down the road. Image courtesy of iStockphoto, angelhell More small business resources from Mashable: - Top Mobile Productivity Tools for the Small Business - 5 Advanced Social Media

Marketing Strategies for Small Businesses - 4 Ways Social Media is Changing Business - 6 Must-Follow Steps for Selling in Any Economy - 5 Easy Social Media Wins for Your Small Business - HOW TO: Use Twitter Hashtags for Business Reviews:

purchases were completed in the office. Just 41.6 percent of shoppers picked up items from home, ComScore said. ComScore wasn't the only company reporting strong numbers this week. eBay said that Cyber Monday transactions outpaced Black Friday's by a whopping 35 percent. More than 2.4 million transactions were completed on Black Friday and Cyber Monday, eBay said. The site even has a heat-map graphic that shows how the transactions pored in over the course of those days. ComScore and eBay's data follows another strong report from marketing-optimization company Coremetrics, which said earlier this week that sales were up 13.7 percent at some online retailers that it received data from. This content has passed through fivefilters.org.

Of course, she even gets the basics of freeloading wrong, focusing on the sociological A bunch of folks have sent in issues, but ignoring the economic this column by freelance writer research on freeloading and the Anne Wollenberg claiming that value of commons and sharing. there is no defense for file That's doubly odd considering sharing and that free riders and that our recent Nobel Prize freeloaders are simply bad, stop, winning economist won that end sentence. Oddly, looking prize for her groundbreaking over Ms. Wollenberg's own work showing that the simplistic website, we find links to many of t h i n k i n g o n " s h a r i n g " a n d her works, including PDF files "commons" simply isn't accurate, and jpg image files of writeups and that communities will quite done for publications that don't frequently create models where have those writeups on the web. sharing is seen as beneficial and Some of those appear to be other structures make sure that written up in magazines that fair compensation occurs. require a subscription or a Now, I'm not one who believes newsstand fee to view normally. that people should be sharing the Now perhaps she has permission files of those who don't allow it to post these (or perhaps not), but (and I don't participate in any even if she does, it certainly unauthorized file sharing myself), seems that she sees the value in but to write off the entire having her works shared freely community as "freeloaders" for the promotional value of her without understanding what's ability to write (not particularly actually happening and without well, mind you, but that's a actually understanding the separate issue). Yet, oddly, her economic research on freeloading writeup seems to ignore the s e e m s l i k e a p r e t t y w e a k A n d r o i d , G o o g l e , G o o g l e concept of promotional value of a r g u m e n t . Reader, RSSOwl, Safari, Twitter, works shared freely online. Permalink| Comments| Email adobe AIR, iStockphoto Instead, she tries to lump all who This Story Tags: business, news reader, rss, file share into a single camp of small business people who are pure freeloaders. Submitted at 12/3/2009 8:37:00 AM

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Holiday Shopping: Amazon FTW! [STUDY] By Christina Warren (Mashable!)

almost every single area. Walmart.com won in the product search capability section, and Submitted at 12/3/2009 9:07:06 AM was very close in the price Thanks to Black Friday and metric. Target received the Cyber Monday sales, online lowest feedback of all three sites. retailers are getting more visitors Another interesting conclusion and making more sales than this gleaned from the uTest survey is time last year. But which online that when asked for what criteria shopping destinations are the also the most trusted site for was most important in selecting easiest to use? Which have the holiday shopping. Methodology an e-tailer, nearly 70 percent of fewest (or the most) usability Nearly 600 testers from more the respondents said something bugs and glitches? than 20 countries took part in the other than “lowest prices.” uTest, a service that lets w e e k - l o n g s u r v e y i n l a t e Online e-tailers need to take note software developers crowdsource November. In the end, 505 bugs that customer satisfaction isn’t their bug testing, recently were found. Testers found 260 just derived from getting the best conducted a study titled “Battle bugs — more than half of all price, shopping experience is also of the E-Tailers” to find out reported bugs — at Target.com, key. which sites performed the best. and that was reflected across When you choose where to shop The three sites compared for the Target’s other usability and online, what factors influence s t u d y w e r e A m a z o n . c o m , experience scores. Amazon, y o u r d e c i s i o n s ? R e v i e w s : Target.com and Walmart.com. w h i c h c o n s i s t e n t l y r a n k e d A m a z o n . c o m The result? Amazon.com came highest of the three e-tailers, only Tags: amazon.com, retailer out on top in nearly every had 94 bugs. Results study, Target, usability, uttest, category, including pricing, ease Looking at the results from the WalMart of use, user reviews and product d i f f e r e n t t e s t i n g m e t r i c s , comparison tools. Amazon was Amazon.com came out ahead in

ADOBE continued from page 21

delivery here. Tags: adobe, Adobe Air, times Image courtesy of iStockphoto, reader series Hiob Reviews: Facebook, Klok, LinkedIn, MySpace, Pandora, Seesmic, TweetDeck, Twitter, adobe AIR, iStockphoto, linux

Australia Moves Forward With (Weakened) System To Have Artists Paid Multiple Times For Same Artwork By Mike Masnick (Techdirt)

can create and sell for much more than ever before. Meanwhile, the problem with an artist resale right There are a few countries out is it actually decreases the there that have "artist resale incentive for anyone to buy the rights," which make little sense original artwork, knowing that and do a lot more to harm artists they'll have to sell it for that than help them. Earlier this year, much more before they can w e w r o t e a b o u t p l a n s f o r actually make a profit -- since Australia to implement such a they'll have to kick back fees to right and Michael Scott alerts us t h e a r t i s t s . It adds an to the news that a watered down unnecessary tax that acts as version of the plan is moving friction in the art market. The forward. If you're unfamiliar Australian plan tries to limit at with it, the concept is that even least some of this issue by only after an artist has sold a piece of having the resale tax kick in after artwork, such as a painting, if the the second resale. But, of course, owners later decide to sell it, they this just moves the unnecessary must give back a percentage of friction up a level, and doesn't the sale price to the original change the thought process that artist. The (faulty) thinking on goes into the buying decision. this is that poor, starving artists With any other product, once you sell their paintings or sculptures sell it, you've sold it. It makes no or whatever for next to nothing, sense to allow the original creator and it's only later, when they're to retain a cut of any later sale. famous, that they're actually Imagine if that were the case with worth anything -- but the artist cars or houses as well? Who will never get a cut of that value. would ever think that was Of course, that's not true. In reasonable? reality, if those earlier works are Permalink| Comments| Email so valuable, so are many newer This Story works as well -- which the artist Submitted at 12/3/2009 2:55:00 AM

Review: 'The Saboteur' Stumbles by Selling Stealth Short By Chris Kohler (Wired Top Stories) Submitted at 12/2/2009 9:00:00 PM

Should you sneak up on that

group of Nazis or open up with your submachine gun? This World War II game makes it impossible to know which strategy you should employ, and

the muddled gameplay disappoints as a result.

Tech/ Tech News/

E-reader Newspaper

The Next Phase of Google’s Internet: Google Public DNS

Ask TUAW: Target disk mode, iPhoto library, upgrading an iMac hard drive, gifts for a recent Mac convert and more

By Adam Ostrow (Mashable!)

in Target Disk Mode, is there any way to use the iMac's wireless keyboard and mouse to control the MBP? Submitted at 12/2/2009 7:00:00 PM When your computer is Filed under: Ask TUAW Hello connected to another computer in a n d w e l c o m e b a c k t o A s k Target Disk Mode, the connected TUAW, our w e e k l y computer is effectively just an troubleshooting Q&A column. external hard drive and nothing W e h o p e y o u h a d a g r e a t more. So no, there isn't a way to Thanksgiving! This week we've control the MacBook Pro because got more questions from readers, it isn't functioning as an actual such as using Target Disk Mode, computer when in Target Disk moving your iPhoto library to an Mode. It is simply another hard external drive, putting a bigger drive and behaves accordingly. hard drive in an iMac, sharing a Continue reading Ask TUAW: Magic Mouse, good gifts for a Target disk mode, iPhoto library, recent Mac convert, and more. upgrading an iMac hard drive, As always, your suggestions and gifts for a recent Mac convert and questions are welcome. Leave more your questions for next week in TUAW Ask TUAW: Target disk the comments section at the end mode, iPhoto library, upgrading of this post. When asking a an iMac hard drive, gifts for a question, please include which recent Mac convert and more machine you're using and what originally appeared on The version of Mac OS X is installed U n o f f i c i a l A p p l e W e b l o g on it(we'll assume you're running (TUAW) on Wed, 02 Dec 2009 Snow Leopard on an Intel Mac if 19:00:00 EST. Please see our you don't specify). terms for use of feeds. And now, on to the questions. Permalink| Email this| Kishen asks: Comments While I connect a 2009 MacBook Pro to a new 27" iMac

users globally. The goal of Google Public DNS is to benefit Submitted at 12/3/2009 9:08:52 AM users worldwide while also Remember that rumor a while helping the tens of thousands of back that Google was going to DNS resolvers improve their build its own version of the services, ultimately making the Internet? It turns out that the web faster for everyone.” idea might not be so far-fetched While “speed” might indeed be after all. the end result for users, data is Last month, Google revealed unique Internet Protocol (IP) immensely valuable to Google as that it was working on its own numbers — e.g., 74.125.45.100 a company that is increasingly all protocol that could perhaps one — t h a t c o m p u t e r s u s e t o about gathering more and more day replace HTTP, dubbed communicate with one another. i n f o r m a t i o n f r o m m u l t i p l e SPDY. T o d a y , G o o g l e Our research has shown that channels in order to serve better announced that it’s going after speed matters to Internet users, so advertising. If you want to try another fundamental piece of the over the past several months our Google DNS for yourself, there’s Internet: DNS. engineers have been working to already a site that will tell you Google has launched what make improvements to our public how to do it, complete with tollthey’re calling Google Public DNS resolver to make users’ web free telephone support. DNS. Here’s how and why -surfing experiences faster, safer It’s going to be yet another Google says they’re attacking the and more reliable. interesting piece of the Google issue: As people begin to use Google puzzle to keep an eye on. “You could think of it as the Public DNS, we plan to share Reviews: Google switchboard of the Internet, what we learn with the broader Tags: DNS, Google converting easy-to-remember web community and other DNS d o m a i n n a m e s — e . g . , providers, to improve the www.google.com — into the browsing experience for Internet

By Chris Ullrich (The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW))

Classic 1950s Science Textbooks Get 21st-Century Update By Carl DeTorres (Wired Top Stories) Submitted at 12/2/2009 5:00:00 PM

A series of textbooks dating from the 1950s taught a generation of students that science could also be art. But

research progresses and artistic methods evolve, so Wired has brought these mid-century classics up to date.

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YouTube Trims the Fat With New “Feather” Version

Google wants to unclog Net's DNS plumbing

By Ben Parr (Mashable!)

(CNET News.com)

Submitted at 12/3/2009 9:41:49 AM

Submitted at 12/3/2009 9:39:00 AM

effect. The standard interface will instead appear, complete with ads and sharing options. Not long ago, YouTube This means that YouTube conducted some research into Feather will have no direct effect what its users wanted. The on those who depend on it for results, and the dichotomy, were revenue. stark. While content creators We believe that Feather is a very wanted to connect with their elegant solution that gives what users and provide options that lot of the navigation, and reduces users want. Not only that, but the c r e a t e d c a l l s f o r a c t i o n the comments shown to ten. In decreased load should help (subscribe, share, etc.), casual addition, you only have three key reduce costs on YouTube, even if YouTube viewers just wanted to actions available to you: to only marginally. We think that a watch videos, and nothing more. favorite a video, to flag a video, lot of YouTube viewers, given We weren’t surprised by the and to subscribe to a channel. the option, will latch onto this. results, but YouTube has taken You can’t even rate videos in the The company has informed us that data to heart and is acting new interface, although you will that a wider rollout could occur upon it with surprising swiftness. still see the familiar stars below soon if tests show positive Today, YouTube is releasing the video. results. YouTube Feather, a beta program Before you panic content Image via Treehouse1977 on t h a t s t r i p s d o w n Y o u T u b e creators, YouTube has found a Flickr Reviews: Flickr, YouTube viewing pages down to its core savvy way to make sure you still Tags: Google, youtube, elements. have your calls to action, your Y o u T u b e F e a t h e r It’s an elegant solution designed sharing options, and your ads. for slower connections and for For any video that is being those who want to watch videos. monetized by a content creator, It increase font sizes, takes out a YouTube Feather will not be in

over the past several months our engineers have been working to make improvements to our public Google wants to speed up a key DNS resolver to make users' web part of the Internet's inner -surfing experiences faster, safer workings called the Domain and more reliable," said product Name System and is inviting manager Prem Ramaswami in a technically savvy folks to try blog post introducing the Google their ideas out. Public DNS service. The DNS is a crucial part of the Google's search service already Internet. It converts the text has made it central to the addresses people can remember workings of the Internet. If its into the numeric Internet Protocol DNS service becomes popular, addresses actually used to locate Google could become even more information on the Internet. For significant. example, CNET.com's IP address For those who want to give it a is 216.239.122.102. whirl, Google posted instructions When you visit a Web page, a on using the Google Public DNS DNS server that's part of a vast service. For those worried about distributed network often must what traces your Web surfing perform that conversion--called will leave in Google's records, resolving a host--many times. check, the Google DNS privacy With the Google Public DNS page service, Google wants to be that This content has passed through server. fivefilters.org. "Our research has shown that speed matters to Internet users, so

Orangutan takes photos, shares them on Facebook (CNET News.com) Submitted at 12/3/2009 9:18:00 AM

An orangutan in the Vienna Zoo takes pictures that are uploaded to Facebook. No, she didn't take the self-portrait.(Credit: Nonja's Facebook page) She's like the Ashton Kutcher of the ape world: An orangutan in the Vienna Zoo now has a

Facebook fan page to showcase the photos she takes with a digital camera. The orangutan, named Nonja, uses a Samsung ST 1000 point-and-shoot that automatically uploads the photos. When this post was published, Nonja had over 9,000 "fans" U.K.'s Daily Mail explains that subscribed to her page. the camera has been modified to But there's a catch: Coverage of dispense a raisin whenever the the camera-toting ape in the

shutter button is pushed. So Nonja is evidently more interested in tasty treats than in

artistic endeavors. The non-orangutan version of the Samsung ST 1000 was released this summer(though not in the U.S.) and is equipped with Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and GPS. This content has passed through fivefilters.org.

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Black Screen of Death Actually Caused by Malware By Stan Schroeder (Mashable!) Submitted at 12/3/2009 7:10:51 AM

A couple of days ago we wrote about the Black Screen of Death, a problem that caused Windowsbased machines to freeze and lock out users, leaving them teary -eyed and black-screened. The issue, however, doesn’t seem to be a common one, nor is it tied to Microsoft’s security updates, as we’d previously thought. In fact, UK security company Prevx, who pointed out the issue (and actually offered a software fix), admitted that the problem is likely caused by malware and not by Microsoft’s error. Prevx’s CEO Mel Morris wrote a blog post, apologizing to Microsoft for the inconvenience. From the post: “The issue appears to be related to a characteristic of the Windows Registry related to the

storage of string data. In parsing the Shell value in the registry, Windows requires a null terminated ‘REG_SZ’ string. However, if malware or indeed any other program modifies the shell entry to not include null terminating characters, the shell will no longer load properly, resulting in the infamous Black Screen with the PC showing only the My Computer folder.” The folks at Microsoft, understandably, aren’t happy. Chief Security Advisor of

Microsoft EMEA Roger Halbheer fired at Prevx on his blog, saying: “Looking at that, you should now make your risk assessment and decide which source you want to trust. For me, the ultimate source for information you should build your assessment on is neither Twitter nor your brother’s sister in law’s father’s brother (unless he works for Microsoft’s security) but our website.” While this particular case was a false alarm, Halbheer forgets to point out that if we had listened exclusively to what Microsoft says when it comes to security issues in the past, we would have missed quite a lot of them. As always, don’t believe everything you read, see or hear, but also don’t immediately write off any news that doesn’t come from an official source. Reviews: Twitter Tags: BSOD, microsoft

Video: Tiger Woods' Alleged Mistress Arrives at Attorney's Office (ETonline - Breaking News) Submitted at 12/3/2009 7:05:00 AM

ET has obtained footage of Tiger Woods' alleged mistress, Rachel Uchitel, entering the building of her attorney's offices.

Bombarded by questions from photographers, Uchitel remained mum, only saying "no comment." HTV also caught up with Uchitel's lawyer Gloria Allred who was more candid with the cameras.

CNS reports, the alleged mistress was to appear at a press conference on Thursday with her high-profile attorney but canceled it due to "unforeseen circumstances."

Road Tested: Newer Technology NuPower Charge & Sync + By Steven Sande (The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW)) Submitted at 12/2/2009 6:00:00 PM

Filed under: Accessories, iPod Family, iPhone, Road Tested If there's something that is almost as common as fart apps, it's iPhone external battery packs. TUAW has done reviews and giveaways of a number of these units including the Richard|Solo 1800 and the Mophie Juice Pack Air. One thing that a lot of these boxes have in common is that they all require an external AC adapter in order to charge 'em up. That can sometimes be problematic, particularly since the AC adapters are sometimes as large as the battery pack itself. A separate AC adapter also means that there's one more thing that you have to remember to take on a trip and one more thing that can get lost. Newer Technology came out with a new and rather innovative device last month that I thought was so different from the pack that I ended up buying one for

myself. The NuPower Charge & Sync + packs almost everything you need, including the AC adapter and charger, a 1400 mAh Lithium-Ion battery pack, and a USB charging cable, into one small package. Read along as I tell you all about this unique little device. Continue reading Road Tested: Newer Technology NuPower Charge & Sync + TUAW Road Tested: Newer Technology NuPower Charge & Sync + originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Wed, 02 Dec 2009 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Read| Permalink| Email this| Comments

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TUAW Review and giveaway: BackPack for iMac and Cinema Display By Steven Sande (The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW))

accurate. Nothing screws into the iMac stand. There are two clips that you adjust in width and then tighten onto the BackPack shelf. Submitted at 12/3/2009 12:00:00 PM The shelf and clips then hold Filed under: Accessories, Odds onto the iMac stand with gravity and ends, Reviews Way back in - because the stand is trapezoidal August we announced the release (smaller at the top - larger at the of the Twelve South BackPack bottom). It simply slides down to for iMacs and Cinema Displays. the width you have set. That's It's a cool little metal shelf that also what makes it adjustable clamps onto the back of the desk you just change the width. Hope stand on your computer or this helps. monitor, giving you a place to Continue reading TUAW hide a backup hard drive or Back when we ran the first post Review and giveaway: BackPack proudly display the best of your about the BackPack, I noted that for iMac and Cinema Display the device doesn't use any clamps Star Wars figurine collection. TUAW TUAW Review and Twelve South sent us a couple of to grab onto the metal arm of giveaway: BackPack for iMac BackPacks to try out, and in your iMac or Cinema Display, and Cinema Display originally following TUAW's policy for using friction and gravity instead. appeared on The Unofficial review equipment, we're going to One reader insisted that there had Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Thu, be giving those away to two to be clamps of some sort, but 03 Dec 2009 12:00:00 EST. lucky readers. Before we get to Andrew from Twelve South Please see our terms for use of the details of the giveaway, be quickly corrected her with this feeds. sure to read the review of this statement: Read| Permalink| Email this| Just wanted to clarify the Comments surprisingly handy little 'friction and gravity' thing. It is accessory.

Canadian Collection Society Pushing Gymnastics Clubs To Pay Up For Music By Mike Masnick (Techdirt)

who use them practice routines done to music. But, of course, SOCAN wants to calculate fees We've been seeing a ton of not based on the small number of stories in the last year concerning people who actually use music collection societies around the (which is usually intended for world increasing their efforts to themselves, anyway, not for collect money from any sort of others -- which should exclude entity that plays music ever -- the usual "ambiance" reasoning even if it actually ends up that collections societies claim), causing significant harm to new but the "average number of and up-and-coming musicians. persons per week per room The efforts usually focus on two multiplied by $2.14." This can areas: (1) increasing the fees r e a l l y a d d u p f o r s m a l l they're able to demand from businesses, and many gymnastics venues (usually set by the c l u b s a r e r e f u s i n g t o p a y , government) and (2) getting recognizing that they might not places that barely play any music be able to afford it at all if they at all to pay up at exorbitant want to stay in business. It's rates. SOCAN, up in Canada, is difficult to see how that helps supposedly working on both of anyone. these fronts, with reader Adam Permalink| Comments| Email Bell pointing out that it's been This Story going after gymnastics clubs because a small number of kids Submitted at 12/2/2009 9:52:00 PM

Microsoft Exec: Piracy No Longer A Threat To Us, Because Pirates Will Get Destroyed By Malware By Mike Masnick (Techdirt) Submitted at 12/3/2009 7:12:00 AM

Ok, perhaps the title is a bit of an exaggeration, but it certainly

appears to be what a Microsoft exec in the Philippines implied in a recent interview concerning Windows 7. Basically, he said that using unauthorized copies of

the OS were really unsafe, so doing things like online banking or other sensitive stuff on such software could put users in serious danger. Of course, that

m a k e s y o u w o n d e r w h a t This Story Microsoft has done to make unauthorized copies of the software so dangerous to use... Permalink| Comments| Email

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IDC's crystal ball says Apple tablet, 300,000 App Store apps in 2010 By Steven Sande (The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW)) Submitted at 12/3/2009 11:00:00 AM

Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Rumors One fun thing about being a tech research firm is that sometimes you can state the obvious and everybody still gets excited. That's what will happen today when technology research company IDC releases their forecast for the next year, and in anticipation of the big news, the New York Times recently had a chat with Frank Gens, IDC's chief analyst. Among the predictions the company will announce today is the expectation of an Applebranded touchscreen tablet computer. Wow, we've never heard that before! Gens thinks that it will be a general-purpose device instead of just an ebook reader, and "could deliver a real kick in Kindle's butt."

IDC is also assuming that the recent trend of cranky developers dropping iPhone development won't continue; they're stating that the number of apps in the App Store will climb to 300,000 by the end of 2010 and that the competing Android platform will see up to 75,000 apps by that time. Gens pointed out that there are about 10,000 apps listed on

Microsoft's Windows 7 compatibility site, and notes that "The market follows the applications. That's a message for the software industry, particularly for the PC industry." I'm interpreting this comment as meaning that the most compelling and innovative software is not being developed for the big operating system on the block -- instead, the mobile space is the recipient of most of the attention right now, and that could end up being a huge factor in the success of an Apple tablet. [via Mac Rumors] TUAW IDC's crystal ball says Apple tablet, 300,000 App Store apps in 2010 originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Thu, 03 Dec 2009 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Read| Permalink| Email this| Comments

their own marital issues when her hubby admitted he was a sex addict. When asked about Tiger Woods, "I've been through some crazy actress Tea Leoni speaks frankly things this past year, personally," from the heart! The actress and she says. "I think everybody just David Duchovny went through [needs to say] God bless and get Submitted at 12/3/2009 7:18:00 AM

By TJ Luoma (The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW)) Submitted at 12/3/2009 1:00:00 PM

Filed under: Odds and ends, iPhone, App Store Wolfram|Alpha has discontinued their iPhone-friendly formatted webpage. The page, which was available at http://wolframalpha.com/iphone, now redirects visitors to http://products.wolframalpha.co m/iphone/, which is an information page related to their $50 iPhone app [ iTunes Link]. A n o t h e r p a g e , http://www.wolframalpha.com/ad dtoyouriphone.html, shows iPhone users how to add the website to their iPhone (hint: just like any other page). Visiting the website in Mobile Safari brings up the image shown here, also suggesting that you buy the iPhone app. The app gained wide attention when it was first announced due to its price tag, which critics said was far too high. Others rebuffed the criticism by saying that if you didn't want to use the app you through it." Watch the video as Al Roker, could use the iPhone-friendly Matt Lauer, Bryant Gumbel and webpage. more celebs at last night's UNICEF Snowflake Ball share their thoughts on the story.

Tea Leoni Talks Tiger: 'God bless and get through it' (ETonline - Breaking News)

WolframAlpha iPhoneformatted web page no longer available

Perhaps too many people did just that. Thanks to TUAW reader Anil Doshi for the tip. TUAW WolframAlpha iPhoneformatted web page no longer available originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Thu, 03 Dec 2009 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Read| Permalink| Email this| Comments

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Sens. Feinstein And Durbin Rachel Uchitel Specifically Try To Carve Citizen Cancels Press Journalists Out Of Shield Law Conference By Mike Masnick (Techdirt)

Senators Dianne Feinstein and Dick Durbin are specifically Submitted at 12/3/2009 5:36:19 AM trying to limit the bill to only There was a lot of reasonable covering major media journalists. concern earlier this year when a It's hard to see any rationale for much needed federal shield law such a move, but it does seem proposal appeared to ignore rather obnoxious. One of the participatory journalists and only fundamental points of a strong cover those employed by major media is the ability to protect media companies. After people their sources. Without that, it's complained about this we were that much harder for the media to relieved to see Senators Chuck a c t u a l l y h o l d a n y o n e Schumer and Arlen Specter accountable, since sources will change the bill to cover be more afraid to reveal By Mike Schramm (The occasional combat and a story. Unofficial Apple Weblog Looks like it'll be fun, especially participatory journalism as well. important information. Why (TUAW)) for Mirror's Edge fans looking As they realized such a law would Senators Feinstein and for a little extra gameplay before should be about protecting acts of Durbin be so against protecting Submitted at 12/3/2009 10:00:00 AM the eventual sequel comes out. journalism not some arbitrary the process of journalism? Permalink| Comments| Email Filed under: Gaming, iPhone, The game boasts 14 levels run by definition of journalists. App Store, iPod touch the game's original protagonist, Unfortunately, it looks like some This Story EA has announced that they're Faith, and while there's no price other Senators disagree. Karl bringing Mirror's Edge, the mentioned yet, I'm guessing EA Bode alerts us to the news that inventive "first-person jumper" will start it out around $6.99, and title that intrigued gamers last then probably bring it back down year, to the iPhone and iPod to $4.99 once sales level off. touch via the App Store. I was Gallery: Mirror's Edge (iPhone) disappointed to see that it's not actually just a straight port (it TUAW Mirror's Edge coming to would be interesting to see how the iPhone originally appeared on By Adam Ostrow (Mashable!) the topsy-turvy platformer would The Unofficial Apple Weblog Submitted at 12/3/2009 8:05:46 AM fare with some gesture and (TUAW) on Thu, 03 Dec 2009 accelerometer input), but instead 10:00:00 EST. Please see our It’s a done deal: Comcast is buying a controlling stake in i t ' s m o r e o f a n i s o m e t r i c terms for use of feeds. p l a t f o r m e r . I n f a c t , t h e Read| Permalink| Email this| NBC Universal in a blockbuster $30 billion agreement that will screenshots kind of remind me of Comments significantly shake up the media Canabalt, though this will business. (by way of Hulu), Tonight Show probably be more complex, with While it’s far from clear what host Conan O’Brien didn’t waste the deal will ultimately mean for any time in looking to get into consumers in the form of TV the good graces of his new shows, movies and online video bosses.

Mirror's Edge coming to the iPhone

(ETonline - Breaking News) Submitted at 12/3/2009 7:41:00 AM

ET has the latest... The press conference that was planned for Thursday morning where Tiger Woods' alleged mistress Rachel Uchitel and her attorney Gloria Allred were reportedly planning on revealing details about Uchitel and the pro golfer's connection has been canceled. According to CNS, the press conference was canceled due to "unforeseen circumstances." Keep checking here for the latest on this story.

Conan Comments on the ComcastNBC Universal Deal [VIDEO] On last night’s show, before the deal was even officially announced, Conan was unable to come up with a joke about Comcast, but he did offer a glowing endorsement of the cable giant along with his Tonight Show cohorts. Check it out in the video below: Tags: comcast, conan o'brien, nbc universal, video

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Is Huckabee a Sucker for Jailhouse Conversions? (Little Green Footballs) Submitted at 12/2/2009 8:34:02 PM

iTunes Connect gets a face-lift By Joachim Bean (The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW))

Below the icon, it now shows the name of the application and a colored indicator showing the application status. Submitted at 12/2/2009 9:00:00 PM Thanks to everyone who sent Filed under: App Store, SDK this in! Apple quietly tweaked the TUAW iTunes Connect gets a interface of iTunes Connect for face-lift originally appeared on App Store developers today, The Unofficial Apple Weblog changing the way applications (TUAW) on Wed, 02 Dec 2009 are listed. It changed from the list 21:00:00 EST. Please see our format that was previously used, terms for use of feeds. and now shows a group of five Read| Permalink| Email this| app icons in a row, which gives a Comments more complete look at your apps.

A few days ago I asked this question about Mike Huckabee’s decision to grant clemency to suspected cop killer Maurice Clemmons: One possibility: Huckabee is a fanatical fundamentalist. Was it because Clemmons pretended to “get religion” in order for his sentence to be reduced? Well, several LGF readers thought I was jumping to conclusions on that one and I took a few knocks in the comment section for it. But look who’s bringing up the same question now — The Associated Baptist Press: Did Huckabee rely too much on faith in making pardon decisions? This section is key, and contains new information about Huckabee’s decision that answers my original question definitively:

In his 2000 clemency petition, Clemmons appealed to Huckabee, a former pastor and past president of the Arkansas Baptist State Convention, for mercy. Clemmons claimed the crimes for which he was then imprisoned were committed when he was 16, during a sevenmonth spree after he moved from Seattle to a crime-infested neighborhood in Arkansas and fell in with the wrong crowd. “I come from a very good Christian family and I was raised much better than my actions speak,” Clemmons claimed. He said his mother’s death changed his heart, because he now had to live with the knowledge that after all he had put her through he had missed an opportunity to make her proud of him before she passed away. “I have never done anything good for God, but I’ve prayed for

The Climategate Criminal Conspiracy (Little Green Footballs) Submitted at 12/2/2009 1:57:21 PM

David Hone, climate change advisor for Shell Oil, has an excellent comment about the phony scandal drearily dubbed “Climategate:” Just what is in a &##x201C;political agreement&##x201D;? I think that the science now tells

us more than enough to warrant action. Certainly there remain uncertainties, but not on the issue as a whole. With regards the private e-mails posted on the internet, I think the story is a simple one and it could apply to any one of us. Think of all the e-mails you have written over the past 10 years. Now imagine that someone criminally

breaks into your e-mail account and downloads all of them, handpicks a few and posts them on the internet to cast you in a particular light. We could all be shown to be saints or sinners or anything in between. Now look at what has happened with these scientists going about their work in much the same way anyone of us might attend to our

job. Enough said. Absolutely right. Hone sees what’s going on very clearly — the CRU theft was a criminal attempt to sabotage the Copenhagen climate summit, and the entire right wing blogosphere is complicit in the crime. (Hat tip: Big Steve.)

him to grant me in his compassion the grace to make a new start,” Clemmons petitioned. “Now, I’m humbly appealing to you for a brand new start.” The Arkansas Leader, a Little Rock-area newspaper that began writing about Huckabee’s commutations in 2004, said the governor appeared to have a penchant for releasing inmates he happened to meet or who had connections to his family as well as for those vouched for by a fellow minister claiming the prisoner had accepted Christ. As Huckabee’s reputation for granting clemency spread, the number of convicts applying increased. Because they knew they had a sucker for their jailhouse conversions, obviously. (Hat tip: Thanos.)

We Don't Want to Hear About Anything Under $50 Billion [Crime] By Hamilton Nolan (Gawker) Submitted at 12/3/2009 8:44:02 AM

Ho hum, Minnesota man convicted in $3.6 billion Ponzi scheme. No one notices any more.

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SciAm: Seven Answers to Climate Contrarian Nonsense

New Embryonic Stem Cell Lines Approved

(Little Green Footballs)

rational inquiry, a respect for scientific thought and a wellgrounded doubt in ghosts, Scientific American has an astrology, creationism and excellent article debunking seven homeopathy, it might have been of the main climate change denial cause for cheer. But Inhofe had a talking points promoted by more narrow definition of skeptic people like James Inhofe: Seven in mind: he meant “standing up Answers to Climate Contrarian and exposing the science, the Nonsense. costs and the hysteria behind The introduction to the article global warming alarmism.” draws the distinction between Within the community of honest skeptics and deniers, a scientists and others concerned topic that’s frequently raised in about anthropogenic climate our threads about climate change: change, those whom Inhofe calls On November 18, with the skeptics are more commonly United Nations Global Warming termed contrarians, naysayers Conference in Copenhagen fast and denialists. Not everyone who approaching, U.S. Sen. James R. questions climate change science Inhofe (R–Okla.) took the floor f i t s t h a t d e s c r i p t i o n , o f of the Senate and proclaimed c o u r s e — s o m e p e o p l e a r e 2009 to be “The Year of the genuinely unaware of the facts or Skeptic.” Had the senator’s honestly disagree about their s p e e c h m a r k e d a n e w interpretation. What distinguishes commitment to dispassionate, t h e t r u e n a y s a y e r s i s a n Submitted at 12/3/2009 10:03:02 AM

unwavering dedication to denying the need for action on the problem, often with weak and long-disproved arguments about supposed weaknesses in the science behind global warming. What follows is only a partial list of the contrarians’ bad arguments and some brief rebuttals of them. Read the whole thing. There’s a lot of good information about the role of CO 2 as a greenhouse gas, the “hockey stick” graph, the influence of the sun on global warming, and the false claim that global warming “stopped a decade ago.” (The comments for the article are overflowing with deniers and contrarians, spouting the very talking points the article debunks, of course.)

Mark and Demitri Go Rogue on 'FlashForward' (ETonline - Breaking News) Submitted at 12/3/2009 9:10:00 AM

Mark Benford ( Joseph Fiennes) and Demetri Noh ( John Cho) head to Hong Kong against orders on tonight's episode of "FlashForward" -- and ET is

behind the scenes. Against orders, Mark and Demetri jet to China to try to track down the mystery woman ( Shohreh Aghdashloo as Nhadra Udaya) who previously phoned Demetri, telling him that she has information about the day he

dies. "We think we've got a lead on the woman who gave me the news that I was going to be shot, so we confront that woman," John tells ET. "It's a dazzler of a scene, I've got to say. It's some great stuff."

Submitted at 12/2/2009 12:17:43 PM

While I supported the Bush administration’s foreign policies for the most part, one of the biggest disagreements I had with them was their blatant bias against scientific research; and one of the best examples of that bias was their opposition to stem cell research, an opposition based entirely on irrational religious objections from the far right. So I’m very pleased to see the news that for the first time in years, a new line of embryonic stem cells has been approved for US researchers. Dec. 2 (Bloomberg) — Thirteen embryonic stem-cell lines were approved for use by U.S.-funded researchers today, the first of hundreds of new cell colonies that may become available under new polices promised by President Barack Obama. Stem cells taken from days-old human embryos can be kept alive indefinitely in solution, and have the ability to turn into about 200 cell types in the body. Use of

these so-called stem lines is opposed by some people because extracting them destroys the embryos. The stem-cell expansion was announced today by Francis Collins, director of the National Institutes of Health, in a telephone briefing with reporters. Another 20 lines may be approved as soon as Dec. 4, the first of “a wave” of approvals that could make hundreds available, Collins said. Obama pledged to end U.S. stem-cell restrictions during his presidential campaign. Congress twice voted to overturn the limits, put in place by President George W. Bush, and Bush vetoed both measures. “With these restrictions now being lifted, we can now compete, hopefully, with the U.K. and some of the other foreign governments that are running with us,” said Robert Lanza, chief scientific officer of Worcester, Massachusetts-based Advanced Cell Technology Inc., in a telephone interview today. “It would be good for us to be back in the game.”

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PAC Coordinator Bails on Huckabee (Little Green Footballs)

Arkansas state coordinator for HuckPAC in a volunteer capacity. Theocrat Mike Huckabee’s PAC “My departure was with a heavy coordinator in Arkansas has quit, heart but was done after serious over Huckabee’s decision to prayer and consideration,” grant clemency to suspected cop Tolbert wrote on his Web site. killer Maurice Clemmons. “Some have asked about the ( C N N ) – T h e A r k a n s a s timing. As most could imagine, coordinator for Mike Huckabee’s the recent news of the last two p o l i t i c a l a c t i o n c o m m i t t e e days along with the response did resigned Tuesday, citing the play a role in this decision but former Arkansas governor’s was not the sole factor.” decision nine years ago to grant UPDATE at 12/2/09 6:12:39 clemency to Maurice Clemmons, pm: the man suspected of murdering The New York Times has letters f o u r p o l i c e o f f i c e r s i n exchanged between prosecutor Washington state. Robert Herzfeld and Mike Jason Tolbert, who runs a Huckabee about his clemency conservative blog, served as policies, and you are not going to Submitted at 12/2/2009 4:48:08 PM

believe Huckabee’s incredibly arrogant response (sent via his deputy legal counsel and adviser on criminal justice Cory Cox): Parole and Clemency for Maurice Clemmons - The New York Times. This is Cox’s reply to Herzfeld’s plea for them to reconsider their policies: Dear Robert, The governor read you [sic] letter and laughed out loud. He wanted me to respond to you. I wish you success as you cut down on your caffeine consumption. Un. Freaking. Believable.

How Fox News Landed That Derek Jeter Interview [How Things Work] By John Cook (Gawker) Submitted at 12/3/2009 9:51:57 AM

Gretchen Carlson interviewed Derek Jeter on Fox News yesterday. What a get! She mentioned that Jeter is "the last pure athlete" and that he lives his life "so perfectly," but not that she's married to his agent.

Run the Boxee Remote Widget on Windows with Kludgets [Media Center] By Kevin Purdy (Lifehacker) Submitted at 12/3/2009 8:00:00 AM

Controlling a TV-connected Boxee media center from a laptop is easy with the Boxee Remote widget, but it only runs on Macs. Unless you use Kludgets, which seamlessly brings the widget to your Windows desktop. Lifehacker reader Pablo told us that this neat work-around worked for him on Windows XP and Vista, and we've tested it on Windows 7 as well, where it ably controlled a Boxee media center By Kevin Purdy (Lifehacker) supported site, and we try not to on Ubuntu. Install Kludgets and allow ostentatious, offensive, or run it, download the Boxee Submitted at 12/3/2009 7:10:00 AM oppressive advertising part of our widget, and then select "Open The developers of Fennec, a.k.a. mix, so we ask you to keep widget package" from Kludgets' Firefox Mobile, have stated that Lifehacker on your whitelist, right-click menu. Point it to the support for add-ons will m o b i l e o r n o t . S t i l l , i t ' s Boxee remote widget ZIP, and differentiate it from other mobile heartening to see that some of it'll run. browsers. Much like Firefox's F i r e f o x ' s m o s t b e l o v e d You'll need to click the little "i" desktop version, a preview build extensions will make it onto in the lower-right to point the of reader favorite AdBlock Plus Fennec, and that they'll make the remote at your Boxee setup, but might ensure Fennec gets its mobile web a swifter place for after that, it serves as a pretty proper due. mobile browsing—someday handy control for when you're Web ads, the annoying and down or delay browsing over hit- few platforms it's out for. It's also soon. Fennec support and signed d o i n g t h e s i m u l t a n e o u s very minimal, at the moment, builds[Adblock Plus and (a little) laptop/video thing. Thanks flashy kinds, are something a lot and-miss data connections. Pablo! AdBlock Plus' build for Fennec letting you simply turn it on or more] of browsers are eager to knock d o w n w i t h s o f t w a r e l i k e is available for download now, off and select a single ad- AdBlock Plus Adds Support for AdBlock Plus. Mobile ads, on the but you'd have to be running a blocking list. Fennec[Mark Finkle's Weblog] We are, of course, an adother hand, can notably slow nightly build on one of the very

AdBlock Plus Working on Firefox Mobile Builds [Firefox Mobile]

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Lifehacker's 2009 Gift Guide, for the Lifehacker-Type in Your Life [Gift Giving] By Adam Pash (Lifehacker)

Very handy. Read more >> LaCie iamaKey($20 for 4GB,$32 for 8GB): This durable Finding the perfect gift is never USB thumb drive is the size of a easy, and heading to the mall is key, fits on your keychain, and even worse. Find just the right stores up to 8GB of data. This gift for the difficult-to-buy-for one's got practical geek written Lifehacker-type in your life with all over it. Read more >> a look at the coolest gear we've Bessey Ratcheting Spring highlighted over the course of Clamp($10): As we said when 2009. we first posted about these notPhoto by Charlie Brewer. new but still handy weekend Before we get started, we project savers: If you've ever had recently rounded up some of our to hassle with old-school screw favorite office supplies for clamps to hold together a home rejuvenating your workspace, so DIY project while the glue dries, if you're looking for something ratcheting spring clamps are lifefor a coworker or just someone changing. Read more >> with an office supplies fetish, it's 3M Performance Plus Nuclear worth a look, too. Grade Duct Tape($17): It's hard Contigo Double Wall Stainless leaves. They're perfect for those comes with a fake million dollar -the-go. You can find tons of to pass up a DIY favorite like S t e e l V a c u u m I n s u l a t e d cold winter days and nights. bill when you buy one.) Read U S B c a r c h a r g e r s o n duct tape that can withstand Tumbler($20): We love a good Read more >> more >> Amazonâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;like the well-rated, nuclear-grade conditions. Read insulated travel mug, especially Victorinox 8-Inch Chef's Knife, C o n s e r v e S u r g e w i t h two-port one linked above for more >> when the mercury starts to drop. Black Fibrox Handle($30): A Timer($35): This smart vampire- only $4. Perfect Curve Neoprene This auto-sealing mug from good chef's knife is a must-have power slayer turns off certain M S R F l e x 4 S y s t e m Glove($46): They're not exactly C o n t i g o k e e p s o u r w a r m for any kitchen, but a nice chef's outlets completely during times Cookset($160): Whether you're a cheap, but word on the street is beverage close by and ensures knife can be expensive. At $30, o f t h e d a y y o u a r e n ' t camper looking for a way to pack you won't find a warmer pair of you don't spill it on your lap the Victorinox chef's knife is a w o r k i n g â&#x20AC;&#x201D; g o o d f o r s a v i n g some serious cookware without gloves to get you through the when driving or your keyboard notable exception, according to money at the old home office wasting space or you just want winter. Read more >> while working. Read more >> venerated cooking magazine without crawling on the floor to less clutter in your kitchen Still didn't find just the right B o d u m C h a m b o r d F r e n c h Cook's Illustrated. Read more >> unplug your vampire power cabinets, the nesting MSR Flex 4 gear? Check out our previous gift Press($30); Tea infusers(Cheap): Storus Smart Money Clip($20): sources every day. Read more >> cookset is the Matryoshka doll of guide and, as I mentioned above, The French press is your best bet This smart money clip's got a Two-Port USB Car Cigarette cookware. Read more >> our office-supply favorites for for brewing the best coffee place for your money and a Lighter Adapter/Charger($4): M e a s u r e m e n t C o n v e r s i o n rejuvenating your workspace. without breaking the bank, and separate spot for your credit Got a lot of gear that charges via Apron($19): This clever apron Got a Lifehacker-worthy gift of the Bodum press is one of our cards, yet it's still slim and easy USB but don't want to buy a helps you convert tablespoons, your own you're planning to fill favorites. If teas more your on the pocket. (What's more, s e p a r a t e c a r c h a r g e r f o r cups, quarts, and so on on-the-fly the stocking of your life-hacking receiver's thing, consider a tea according to this editor's father, it everything you want to charge on with a built-in conversion chart. friend or loved one with? Share it infuser and some fancy loose tea in the comments. Submitted at 12/3/2009 9:00:00 AM

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Simple DIY Keyboard Cover Keeps Things Dust Free When You're Away [DIY] By Sarah Rae Trover (Lifehacker) Submitted at 12/3/2009 8:30:00 AM

Although we're guessing most of the gunk and grime that lands in your keyboard is from snacking while working, you can still keep the dust bunnies away while you're not around. DIY site Instructables details how to keep that new-keyboard feel. This DIY project is super easy and super inexpensive here's what creator and Instructables user sbgstudios has to say about the project: I work from home a week at a

time. I recently got a new keyboard at work and loved the "newness" so much i wanted to keep it that way. So I thought of creating a cover for it to keep out the dust while I was away. Oh,

and I did not want to spend $$ on it. Call me cheap... This Instructable could not be easier and costs next to nothing to make. Most of the materials you have in your desk drawer

already. All you'll need is some paper, scissors, tape and a few writing utensils, and that's it. Hit up Instructables for the full tutorial to make your own. On the other hand, if you're working from a laptop you can always try making a keyboard cover from an old T-shirt; if you're past the point where a cover can help and you just need to give things a thorough, deep cleaning— we can help you with that, too. Easy Keyboard Dust Cover[Instructables]

Submitted at 12/3/2009 6:30:00 AM

Firefox: If you're all about keeping a tidy bookmarks file, Incredible Bookmarks is a Firefox extension packed with features to help you sort, organize, check, and color code your bookmarks. Incredible Bookmarks comes with a variety of tools for helping you keep your bookmarks file clean and streamlined. You can color code individual bookmarks

and folders and you can easily create custom toolbars based on the task at hand—toggling them on only when you need them. Perhaps the most handy feature

even if you're not bent on color coding and tagging all your bookmarks is check for duplicates and expired links. Any bookmarks folder, sub-folder, or

By Kevin Purdy (Lifehacker) Submitted at 12/3/2009 6:10:00 AM

If you dug how Google's experiment with a single-word homepage looked, you'll be pleased to know that the search service's homepage is indeed sticking with that look—kind of. The page shows just the logo, elongated search bar, and two buttons when you first arrive, and then the top-level menus fade in when you interact with it. It may not show up right away, but after a hard refresh—or cookie toolbar can be scanned for wipe—you should start seeing duplicate bookmarks—as seen in the new effects. the screenshot above—or for If you've ever wondered how expired bookmarks. Check out Google goes about testing and rethe video below to see Incredible re-designing a page layout, hit Bookmarks in use. the link to read up on how 10 You can jump right to the different designs, some of them Mozilla page for Incredible almost practical jokes, led to the Bookmarks here or visit the link Mountain View firm's decision. below for additional information. And tell us what you think of Have a bookmark tool—Firefox- Google's semi-new look in the centric or otherwise—you love? comments. Now you see it, now L e t ' s h e a r a b o u t i t i n t h e you don't[Official Google Blog] comments. Incredible Bookmarks[via Firefox Facts]

Incredible Bookmarks Helps You Sort and Check Your Bookmarks File [Downloads] By Jason Fitzpatrick (Lifehacker)

Google Officially Converts Homepage to Minimalist, Fade-In Style [Google]

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Layar Adds Foursquare, Beatlemania and Civic Projects to its AR Offerings By Dana Oshiro (ReadWriteWeb) Submitted at 12/2/2009 8:00:00 PM

Augmented reality browser Layar recently launched it's v3 publishing site chock full of developer tools. The launch signifies more than 1000 active developers being given the chance to showcase their 3rd party applications. By exposing this immersive platform to outsiders, the company is solidifying its title as a pioneer in the"future of augmented reality". In a recent blog post Layar outlined 5 cases to demonstrate current form, the user script only the power of the platform. In applies to Lifehacker, not the rest a d d i t i o n t o s o m e o f t h e of our sibling sites, so you will company's earlier 3rd party still see the gallery on other releases, below are some of our Gawker sites (like Gizmodo). If favorite layars. you want to include other sites, Sponsor you can simply right-click the 1. Civic Projects and Politics: A Greasemonkey icon in the status N e t h e r l a n d s - b a s e d P r o v a s t bar, select Manage User Scripts, created a layar where users can select the Lifehacker - Remove see the final plans for the Gallery script in the sidebar, and currently unfinished construction add other sites to the included of the Markthal Rotterdam. pages. That seemed to work just Meanwhile developer Andree Toonk worked with fine for me. Remove Gallery Links is a free NetKnowledge.ca on a slightly download, requires Firefox with more political project. His layar the Greasemonkey extension or gives information on all of the other user-script supporting projects that receive funding browsers. Lifehacker - Remove from the Canadian government as Gallery Links[userscripts.org]

Avoid Lifehacker's Gallery View with a User Script [Downloads] By Whitson Gordon (Lifehacker) Submitted at 12/3/2009 10:00:00 AM

Firefox with Greasemonkey: We use galleries sparingly around these parts, but some of you just don't like Gawker's new gallery layout. Thanks to one scriptsavvy Lifehacker reader, you can now install a user script that'll get rid of our galleries for good. Installing this user script will help you bypass the gallery format by taking you directly to the non-gallery page whenever you click through to a story—essentially, it just removes the /gallery/ part of any link on Lifehacker that contains it. Keep in mind that in it's

part of Canada's Economic Action Plan. 2. History and Landmarks: Those visiting Liverpool and London can walk down music's memory lane with a visual tour of Beatles-related points of interest. L a y a r d e v e l o p e r Augmentedreality.co.uk created a layar where users can follow the exploits of the Fab Four. Meanwhile a number of developers have looked to historical landmarks as inspirations for their work. Similar to Junaio's editable AR app, BuildAR lets you create your own points of interest and customize your layars to suit your needs. 3. Social: Dutch Squio.nl engineer Johannes la Poutré has a

number of social applications for Layar. Similar to TwittARound, Tweeps Around queries Twitter for posts and marks the exact location that the post is given on an augmented reality layar. In his Foursquare application Poutré gives users access to the latest Foursquare venues and tips. 4. Advertising and Inventory: In addition to obvious product finding and advertising-based layars, Masternaut created a layar that allows users to track vehicles and assets across cities. Meanwhile developer Bastian Voight created a real time ship tracker for Vesseltracker with a layar that displays the position of moored ships in the world's largest ports. 5. Specialized Reference: Developer Pablo Garcia created the Elipse Golf layar where users can find the exact location of a golf hole and tee up for success. Smallroomstudios.net developer Patrick O'Reilly focused on transportation with both a Dublin bus location layar and a layar for Dublin's public bicycle program. Other layars also exist to locate hospitals, apartments for rent and wireless hotspots. Discuss

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Identity Wars: Google & Yahoo! Bow to Facebook & Twitter By Marshall Kirkpatrick (ReadWriteWeb) Submitted at 12/2/2009 8:18:28 PM

Yahoo! announced this morning that it is adding Facebook Connect across many of its properties. This afternoon Google Friend Connect announced the inclusion of Twitter as a top-level log-in option. These moves will be convenient for users, but may not be good for the future of the web. People have always said that Google does what's good for the web, because what's good for the web is good for Google. In this case I'm worried that the Royalty of the web's last generation has crowned these two leading social networks as the Royalty of the current generation in a deal that offers traffic and money but that could suffocate the most creative developments of the open, distributed web. That could be called the web's next generation. Sponsor The Importance of Identity Identity is a very important matter online, particularly as everything becomes more social. Online identity is your address book, it's your wallet, it's your reputation and it could become a lot more. Increasingly, you take that Identity from site to site, leveraging on the next site what you did on the last one. If a particular company provides that Identity for you, it sets the rules, regulations, "interest rates" (eg. use of your info for advertising)

and determines things like what parts of your identity you can use on different sites and what parts you can't. Facebook and Twitter are becoming big Identity providers. Google and Yahoo! have wanted to be leading Identity providers themselves but today cried Uncle with a big nod to the supremacy of the two leading social networks. At this point they have an interest in doing so, because they want you to share what you do on Yahoo and Google sites with your big link-clicking network of friends on Facebook and Twitter. Google didn't add Facebook Connect, just Twitter, because Facebook is now Google's leading challenger. The Rest of the Identity World But there are far more parties in the world of Identity than Twitter and Facebook. The Internet works because it is decentralized and there are scores of small companies, services and developers building out Identity infrastructures that are decentralized as well. Infrastructures that leverage the network-effect of the decentralized internet to provide the benefits of a large group, but are independent and interoperable in order to provide the benefits of personal freedom and control that can come from owning your own Identity. Those small players, people working on things like OpenID, ActivityStreams, the distributed social graph and other

support Google and Yahoo! have given them. People have talked about combining OpenID and Friend of a Friend data for spam control on blogs. "We'll just require Facebook log-in, thanks," I can imagine big websites saying. components of distributed, P e o p l e a r e w o r k i n g o n independent and interoperable implementing cross-network social networking - those players standards for user activity data so may have been sold down the sites can understand the activity river by today's deals between feeds of other social networks Yahoo and Google and Facebook and users of small, innovative sites can still communicate with and Twitter. How could that be? After all, their friends on other, larger sites. the OpenID logo appears on the That means people will use small login screen for Google Friend innovative sites and give them Connect and Yahoo! has been a the support to grow. "Most big supporter of OpenID. I would people just use Facebook or argue that by putting the best Twitter," I can imagine big known brands, with the easiest websites saying. People have log-in experiences, at the very talked about using things like front of the parade - Google and c o n t e n t c a t e g o r y t a g s a n d Yahoo have further marginalized bookmarks to build cross-site the distributed web. The PR user Attention Profiles. "We'll email to journalists about the just look at their Facebook announcement was even titled profiles," I can imagine big "Google Friend Connect and websites saying. A distributed social web, Twitter Get Cozy Together." The communicating through Consequences of Today's Deals By choosing to favor branded interoperable, standards-based log-ins and making standards- l a n g u a g e , o f f e r s a s m u c h based systems an afterthought, opportunity for innovation as a websites using these systems are common tongue does for poetry, disincentivized to leverage the universally visible pigments do innovations that come from the for art or cash money and free open standards community and time do for a self-determined big Identity brands stay in afternoon. Your clicks, your control. Those websites might be c o n t a c t s , y o u r m e a s u r a b l e Google and Yahoo! or they might behavior and content online are be other big sites with all the like fuel to burn, cash to spend. more reason to favor incumbent You'll either be able to spend that leaders in Identity because of the r e s o u r c e o n t h i n g s l i k e

recommendations, privileges, trust, recognition, greater efficiency and unforeseeable innovation - or those resources will be handed directly and exclusively to advertisers for the benefit of those who broker your Identity. The identity and activity payloads that come with most systems of identity don't seem to be of much interest to sites leveraging Facebook and Twitter as primary identity providers today, though. It's hard to think about anything else when all that potential traffic from enabling broadcast of your content is dangling in front of you. "All you little sites are interested in making it easy to do cross-site photo identification/ comment reaggregation / book recommendation based on charecteristics of multiple social networking profiles (etc.)?" Big Website might say, "Well, Facebook and Twitter don't do that and they are good enough for us. We're excited about people broadcasting links to our site out to their Twitter and Facebook friends. That's enough for us. Isn't that innovative?" This may be more cynicism than is warranted, but I don't think so. When dealing with hundreds of millions of peoples' identities, the future of human communication and trillions of dollars - it's probably good to lean a little toward cynicism when IDENTITY page 39

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Watchdog Group EFF Sues Government Regarding Social Media Surveillance Tactics By Sarah Perez (ReadWriteWeb) Submitted at 12/3/2009 4:51:06 AM

Consumer watchdog group, the Electronic Frontier Foundation, has initiated a lawsuit against multiple U.S. government agencies for failing to disclose their policies regarding the use of social media for surveillance. According to the filing, the government has been making use of social media sites like Facebook, MySpace, YouTube and Twitter to aid in various investigations where the alleged crimes range from the relatively minor infringement of underage drinking, to more serious endeavors, such as the coordination of protesters during the G-20 summit. However, when requests were made under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) for details about governmental policies, several agencies failed to respond with information regarding what data is collected, under what circumstances and who has access to it. Sponsor About the Suit The EFF is working with the Samuelson Law, Technology, and Public Policy Clinic at the University of California, Berkeley, School of Law on this

lawsuit. The clinic filed the original FOIA requests on EFF's behalf and later filed the suit when government agencies refused to respond. Named in suit are the Department of Defense, the Central Intelligence Agency, the Department of Homeland Security, the Department of the Treasury, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, and the Department of Justice, which includes the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Drug Enforcement Agency, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, among others. The filing mentions several recent media articles where criminals have been apprehended due to government surveillance of social networking sites, including the case of Maxi Sopo, whose Facebook status updates led to his arrest on bank fraud charges. Another example involved programmer Aaron Swartz, who helped an opengovernment activist with the collection of millions of public and free court records. His activities led to a full-scale FBI investigation, as detailed here in this Wired article. Twitter's name also came up when, as mentioned above, the service was used to notify G-20 summit protesters of

police movements. Although this suit may lead some to believe the EFF is against the practice of utilizing social networking sites for investigative purposes, that is not the case. The filing notes that government use is "often for laudable reasons" - they just want the scope clarified so as to prevent abuse. Social Media Investigations are the New Wiretap No longer solely used by techsavvy individuals, social networks have seen explosive growth over recent years. Sites which at one time catered only to the young - such as Facebook which began as college-only network - now include demographic groups that range from pre-teens all the way up to grandparents. As more mainstream users join sites such as these, there is a growing need

IDENTITY continued from page 38

considering collaboration with incumbent industry leaders. I appreciate the ease of Facebook and Twitter login for privacy awareness. around the web as much as Specifically, internet users have the right to know who can access anyone, but every big Identity their data as well as when and login action I take feels like an economic transaction where the how it can be used. Initiatives like Facebook's recent change and the interest slip privacy updates are intended to through my fingers and land in help users maintain some control the pockets of Facebook and over that data, but that may not Twitter. be enough. As graduate student Wouldn't it have been better for Christopher Soghoian recently the web to say "no, we will not revealed on his blog, government simply take the easy solutions a g e n c i e s r o u t i n e l y r e q u e s t when it comes to Identity, in information from the operators of exchange for traffic and money. s o c i a l n e t w o r k s w h e n We will instead look for ways to investigating criminal activities make it easier for users of any in order to access data users have Identity provider to engage with hidden from public view. In fact, our websites." most companies even have The short-term trade of giving documented policies regarding more control to two big social the procedures for requesting this networks, in exchange for traffic data. For example, Facebook's and ad money, may not serve Subpoena and Search Warrant anyone well in the long run. Guide is here, and MySpace's Discuss Law Enforcement Guide is here. In this new technological age we live in, using social media to gather data and track criminals is commonplace. It's the new wiretap. And while groups like EFF acknowledge that social network surveillance is often used for commendable purposes, people deserve to know what their rights are in this area. Hopefully, this suit will shed some light on that. Discuss

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Analysts Predict 1 Billion+ Mobile Web Users by 2010 By Sarah Perez (ReadWriteWeb)

predicting the "death of the PC," rather that mobile devices will no longer be seen as "subservient to Submitted at 12/3/2009 6:24:52 AM PCs." Instead, says IDC, mobile A c c o r d i n g t o t h e r e c e n t devices will be viewed as predictions from analyst firm primary client platforms. IDC, mobile web usage is set to However, IDC does believe that explode over the course of next in 2010 mobile devices will year due to market forces like the eclipse PCs in several areas - or tripling of iPhone applications, at least come very close. For the quintupling of Android example, the firm claims we'll applications, and the introduction see over a billion mobile devices of Apple's long-rumored tablet connected to the web by yearcomputer. This statement was end. That's almost as many made among the firm's many mobile devices as internetyear-end predictions released in a connected PCs, the latter which report which offered a broad will total 1.3 billion. Also, the overview of what's to come in growth rate of mobile devices is 2010 in terms of the IT industry, 2.5 times that of PCs. cloud computing, the mobile For the most part, the growth web, and the overall technology w i l l b e s p u r r e d b y t h e marketplace. proliferation of smartphones such Sponsor as Apple's iPhone, RIM's Mobile Web Continues Growth Blackberry as well as the lines One the more notable running Nokia's Symbian predictions in the near 20-page operating system (OS), Windows report is in regard to the growth Mobile, and Google's Android of the mobile industry. Under the OS. In 2010, 200 million more headline"Mobile Devices on a s m a r t p h o n e s w i l l s h i p , Path to Eclipse PCs," the analyst representing 16% of the market. firm claims that in 2010 mobile By 2013, that figure will rise to d e v i c e s w i l l b e c o m e m o r e 20% or more. strategic platforms for both In addition to the sheer number c o m m e r c i a l a n d e n t e r p r i s e of phones produced in the developers. However, the report c o m i n g y e a r , a p p l i c a t i o n backs away from the implications development will continue to see made in that eye-catching title by explosive growth too. IDC clarifying that they're not (yet) believes Apple's iPhone will have

December, they appear to have been right. Now they claim 2010 is finally the year for its launch. They also note that it would not be surprising to see Microsoft launch its own tablet device next year too. In addition to the introduction of the so-called "iPad," IDC says the netbook market will continue to grow with major manufacturers expanding their 300,000 applications available by lineup to include different pricing year-end (up from the 100,000 levels for the ultraportable they have now) while Android machines. This "good, better, will offer 50,000-75,000 (up best" lineup will allow netbooks from 10,000 now). They also to move away from being just believe that Google's strategy c o n s i d e r e d v a l u e - o r i e n t e d with Android - that is, an open s y s t e m s ( c h e a p w i t h l o w OS that can run on different performance) to being decent hardware - will help make it a a l t e r n a t i v e s t o t r a d i t i o n a l strong iPhone competitor. Apple notebook PCs. Do You Agree? The IDC report involves "iPad" Will Launch predications of what's to come, Of course, the one prediction but it was created after studying which everyone wants to know about is the Apple tablet. IDC this year's data in detail and dubs the device the "iPad" and extrapolating on that to peer into says it will be more like an the future. We think their oversized (8-10 inch) iPod Touch findings sound credible - even than a downsized Mac computer. the one about the mythical The device will allow for web "iPad," although that may just be surfing, videophone applications, wishful thinking on our part. Do you agree with these gaming, reading books, predictions, too? Share your magazines, and newspapers, and thoughts in the comments. watching videos. Last year, IDC Discuss said the iPad would not arrive in 2009 - and since it's now

Review: Nip/Tuck - Lola Wlodkowski By Jonathan Toomey (TV Squad) Submitted at 12/3/2009 12:16:00 PM

( S06E08)"Do I need to start smoking again?!" - Kimber With only two new episodes left in season six of Nip/Tuck(although, season seven does start right up again in January), I feel pretty confident in saying that "Lola Wlodkowski" will probably go down as the best of this penultimate season's 10 episodes. For the most part, it stood alone in terms of plot and only loosely tied into the season's overarching arcs. Instead, it provided what was arguably one of the series' best takes on what beauty is while at the same time, reaffirming the differences between Sean and Christian. Hats off to Jennifer Salt for writing a helluva ep. Continue reading Review: Nip/Tuck - Lola Wlodkowski Filed under: OpEd, Nip/Tuck, Episode Reviews, Reality-Free Permalink| Email this| | Comments

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In the Same Space as Google Docs? The Service Better Measure Up By Alex Williams (ReadWriteWeb) Submitted at 12/2/2009 4:12:14 PM

When a service shows similarities to Google Docs, we expect there to be some key differentiating factors. Otherwise, the new service provider runs the risk of being perceived as trying to ride the coat tails of the leader. The product better work, too, without requiring any significant degree of support. In our reviews of SharedDoc, we saw its distinctions but unfortunately had considerable issues trying to get it to work. Sponsor SharedDoc is a SharedBook service. SharedBook is known for its web-to-print products. CEO Caroline Vanderlip makes the distinction that SharedDoc is different than Google Docs in one major way: Google Docs is more of an editing platform, while SharedDoc is a commenting platform. SharedDoc allows you to comment on a document you share. It has version control. You may control who sees the document. Users can filter comments by date or by the person who made the comment. They may add photos, too. SharedDoc did not work when we first used it on our Firefox browser. We tried repeatedly to use the comment functionality.

Each time, the "post comment" box disappeared when we clicked it. The knowledge base did not work when we tried to use it to troubleshoot the problems we were having. We eventually spoke to a customer support person who said SharedDoc uses some complex JavaScript, which may attest to the issues that surfaced in the browser. He was baffled when we told him that the color for highlighting the text was not in yellow. SharedDoc looks like it came out of

development pretty fast. It shows in the lack of support information available in the knowledge base and in its questionable reliability. SharedDoc worked fine once we quit Firefox and relaunched the application. Later, though, we experienced the same issues as we did when we tried it the first time. It did not work. You could not add a comment or a photo. You can only upload Word documents into SharedDoc. It is supposed to works in Firefox and Internet Explorer, which is OK

but limits access to Mac users, who we expect you'd want to reach, considering they are often early adopters of these kinds of services. Mac users often do not use Microsoft Word. In our case, we created a document in Google Docs and then downloaded it as a Word file. We then uploaded it back into SharedDoc. It worked once with help from customer support. Later, we downloaded a Word document from email and then uploaded the file it into

SharedDoc. At first, we had the same issues as we did earlier. Finally, we got it work. It was actually pretty cool. The service allows users to share documents so others may comment. Vanderlip says it works best with five to 50 people commenting. People who receive the document may not share it with anyone else. The only person who can share the document is the person who SAME page 43

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Google Wants to Speed Up the Web: WhoSampled: Launches Its Own DNS Service Uncovering the Origins of Rap, Rock and Pop By Frederic Lardinois (ReadWriteWeb)

the last few months. Instead of performing DNS lookups on an Submitted at 12/3/2009 8:50:57 AM ISP's DNS server, Google will Google just launched the Google use its data-center and caching Public DNS. Just like OpenDNS, infrastructure to resolve these Google Public DNS will allow domain names. users to bypass their ISPs After SPDY(an which augments Domain Name Servers (DNS). HTTP), this is Google's second DNS servers are, in many major project that touches upon respects, the backbone of the the core infrastructure of the Internet. DNS allows you to type Web. Using Google Public DNS a d o m a i n n a m e l i k e Google Public DNS uses 8.8.8.8 www.senate.gov into a browser and 8.8.4.4 as its IP addresses. instead of a machine-readable IP Advanced users will surely have n u m b e r l i k e no problem making the necessary http://156.33.195.33/. Google changes to enable Google Public argues that it wants to give DNS. The company has also consumers an alternative to their released a set of step-by-step ISPs' DNS services in order to instructions for Windows, Mac make the Internet "faster, safer and Linux users that can be and more reliable." found here. A First for Google: Sponsor Phone Support for a Free Product According to Google product In addition, Google is also manager Prem Ramaswami, the offering phone support, which, to company's engineers have been our knowledge, is unprecedented. working to improve DNS over

Nets set record for most losses to start season By Associated Press (ESPN.com) Submitted at 12/2/2009 10:51:15 PM

Fast Facts • The Nets fell to 0-18, setting the NBA record for most losses to start a season. • The teams were tied at 28 after one quarter before the Mavs

outscored the Nets 49-22 in the second quarter. • Jason Kidd finished with 16 points, 10 assists, 8 rebounds and 5 steals vs his former team. -- ESPN Stats & Information This content has passed through fivefilters.org.

Given that a mistake in changing your DNS settings could easily make accessing the Internet impossible, this is probably a good solution in this specific case. Privacy According to Google's FAQ, the company will only keep temporary logs and erase all the information it collects through the public DNS service within 24 to 45 hours. The company promises not to keep any information that is linked to IP addresses in its permanent logs. As of now, it doesn't look like Google offers any additional services besides the pure DNS lookup. Unlike OpenDNS, it doesn't block malware sites or present users with a list of alternative addresses (and ads) if it can't resolve an address. Discuss

By Dana Oshiro (ReadWriteWeb) Submitted at 12/2/2009 3:05:00 PM

If you've ever mistaken Parliament for Snoop or Lou Reed for A Tribe Called Quest, you wouldn't be entirely wrong. Musicians have been sampling from others for years and instead of arguing about where a sample originated, there's a new site that offers you the facts. UK-based software consultant Nadav Poraz recently launched WhoSampleda site that allows users to explore the origins of their favorite songs. Sponsor For the past decade, WhoSampled cofounder Nadav Poraz has split his time between being a software consultant and deejay. Poraz started the company as a natural manifestation of his passions. According to Poraz, 6 out of 13 of this year's number one songs in the US are based on samples. WhoSampled offers users a side by side comparison of songs like Lady Gaga's "Poker Face" with Boney M's "Ma Baker" and the Black Eyed Peas "I Got a Feelin'"

with David Guetta's "Love Is Gone". Visitors get a glimpse of embedded music videos while listening to the songs in their entirety. "We see WhoSampled first and foremost as a unique service for music discovery." Says Poraz,"The collaborative nature of our site promotes knowledge sharing and propagates more exposure to and appreciation of music new and old." Registered members can also submit their own discoveries to the site for approval. Once samples are uploaded, you can view, discuss and share them with others through Twitter, Facebook and MySpace. The community currently contains 10,000 samples and continues to grow as new users upload their comparisons. To check out the service visit whosampled.com. Discuss

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SAME continued from page 41

uploaded it to SharedDoc. We asked why. Vanderlip said that feedback showed people do not want others to share as it can easily run out of control. But shouldn't the user have the option to let people share if it is merited? She said it is a feature that we may see in a future release. Potential? SharedDoc is a collaborative tool that reminds us of the commenting features in services like CubeTree, which allows you to comment down to the cell in a spreadsheet. SharedDoc needs to have fuller capabilities for commenting on documents in a

variety of formats such as PowerPoint and Excel. These features are expected in future releases but we would have liked to see them in this version. Overall, SharedDoc has the potential to be a pretty handy service but reliability is the key. It needs some improvements for it to be considered in the same class as Google Docs and other world-class applications. Discuss

Big Gains Predicted for Apple Market Share in 2010 By Darrell Etherington (TheAppleBlog) Submitted at 12/3/2009 8:25:30 AM

Investors should be seriously looking at putting more money into Apple stock, says one industry analyst. Robert Cihra of Caris & Company is predicting that Mac market share will grow by 26 percent in 2010, compared to only a 16 percent expansion in the general computing industry. Cihra predicts in a new research report(PDF download, requires registration) that Apple will have a 4 percent overall market share in the year 2010, which is actually around what it has now, according to numbers released in September. Apple’s pricing and profit model, however, give it a 10 percent share of worldwide revenue. Despite not seeing (ETonline - Breaking News) FCC heat." Following his AMA growth in terms of overall market performance in which he kissed Submitted at 12/3/2009 4:55:00 AM share, Cihra still thinks Apple is his male keyboardist and The repercussions for Adam e x h i b i t e d s u g g e s t i v e the best stock available in the L a m b e r t ' s c o n t r o v e r s i a l choreography, ABC cut him from personal computing market. The report, as described by performance at the American the "Good Morning America" AppleInsider, sees Mac unit sales Music Awards just keep on lineup. He instead was invited to growing because of things like coming. The singer confirms that appear as a guest on CBS' "The pricing and product line control: ABC has cancelled his two Early Show." Cihra goes into great detail on upcoming appearances on the The "American Idol" runner-up network--" Jimmy Kimmel announced to fans on Twitter, "I his analysis in a note issued to Live!" and "New Year's Rockin' AM doing [ Jay] Leno though. investors Thursday morning. Due to Apple controlling its own Eve." And lookin into something for Lambert tweeted, "Yes, sadly NYE." His debut solo album, product cycles, as well as pricing, friends, ABC has cancelled my "For Your Entertainment," is in appearances on Kimmel and stores now. NYE. :( don't blame them. It's the

ABC Cancels Additional Adam Lambert Appearances

he believes Mac units will grow at a rate of 1.6 times faster than the entire PC market. On average, the Mac has outpaced the PC market as a whole by 1.8 times over the last 12 quarters. In the report, Cihra also explains why Apple remains the best stock choice for investors interested in the computing sector: As the most (in fact only) innovative, highest-value (hardware+software) and profitable PC vendor, we estimate Apple having earned a Mac [average selling price] of $1,289 in CY09, down 10% [year over year] but still representing a premium of 1.8x vs. its Wintel peers. Even more meaningful, we estimate Apple Macs generating a gross profit-per-unit of nearly $340, which is 2-3x our estimate for its peers, keeping us focused

on AAPL as the single best PC market investment. Apple’s success is due to a number of factors, but one in particular is the way in which it predicted the dominance of the notebook well before it had achieved that position with consumers. The price of Apple’s notebooks fell below those of its desktop offerings in around 2005, a full two years before the same thing happened at HP, one of the largest PC manufacturers. Many consumers these days, if they have only one computer, choose a notebook because while performance has caught up to desktop machines, portability and battery life in laptop computers have made significant gains. While Cihra doesn’t seem to mention it, if Apple does indeed release a tablet in 2010, and if it can price it reasonably, as recent evidence seems to suggest it will, there’s no telling what kind of gains we could see. If done well, Apple would essentially be creating a new market, which could provoke an uptick in its fortunes the likes of which we haven’t seen since the introduction of the iPod.

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Fiat’s 500C the Makings of an Apple iCar By Charles Moore (TheAppleBlog)

him much longer than that to come up with the G.M. iCar.” Fiat Chrysler a More Logical Submitted at 12/2/2009 10:30:10 AM iCar Partner Back in 2007, the Mac web Steve Jobs of course has had rumor mill was abuzz for a while other challenges to contend with about a reported September over the past year, but the ideal meeting in California between of an Apple iCar still tantalizes Steve Jobs and Volkswagen CEO some of us crossover auto-buff W i n t e r k o r n o v e r p o s s i b l y Mac and gadget fans. I think a integrating the iPod, iPhone, and rather more promising candidate other Apple products into an for an Apple automotive venture automobile — with blogosphere joint partner would be Chrysler, speculation about possibly even rather than GM or VW. an Apple/VW joint venture Why? Well for one thing, “iCar” project. Chrysler is now controlled by However, by late November, the Italy’s Fiat S.p.A., currently in G e r m a n s i t e C a p i t a l w a s the hunt to re-enter the U.S. reporting ( Google translation) automobile market after a nearly that Apple/VW discussions, two-decade absence, building the a l t h o u g h c o n f i r m e d b y brand from the ground up, as it Volkswagen, had ground to a were, and the CEO of both halt. Steve Jobs as Auto Exec.? companies, Sergio Marchionne, Fast-forward two years. It’s an is reportedly a big fan of the understatement to say that the Apple business model. automobile industry has been Last June, TIME magazine noted turned on its head by the global that, “Since he took over as chief recession. Apple, however, is executive of Italy’s Fiat in 2004, doing considerably better, which the chain-smoking Canadianhas led to speculation as to what Italian has used Apple as a Steve Jobs would do were he model, focusing on the way running an auto-making firm — Steve Jobs transformed it from an say beleaguered General Motors. also-ran computer company into Last fall the New York Times’ a g l o b a l i c o n o f c o o l . H e T h o m a s F r i e d m a n m u s e d , encourages Fiat managers to take “Somebody ought to call Steve a close look at Apple’s branding Jobs, who doesn’t need to be prowess and even asks them to bribed to do innovation, and ask benchmark their activities against him if he’d like to do national the company.” service and run a car company The TIME piece also cited Carlo for a year. I’d bet it wouldn’t take Alberto Carnevale, professor of

strategic management at Milan’s Bocconi University’s business school, observing, “The challenge for Fiat Chrysler is to move away from popular products and into ‘pop’ products, full of cool environmental technology and on the right side of history. In that sense, it’s the same bet as Steve Jobs’. That’s why Marchionne uses that metaphor.” Why Not an iCar Version Too? But what if it became more than a metaphor? I say this because the iconic Fiat 500C (“Cinquecento”), which has been a rip-roaring sales hit in Europe and elsewhere (currently sold in 59 markets), is expected to anchor the brand’s re-entry into the North American car market, with Road & Track magazine

reporting that at least four Fiat 500 versions will be gracing showrooms here for the 2011 model year, including hatchback, convertible, wagon, and sportyhatch versions. Why not a fifth, “iCar” version? The Fiat 500 seems to me an ideal base for an iCar treatment. Unveiled at the 2009 Geneva Motor Show, the new Fiat 500C version is like the VW New Beetle, the BMW Mini, and arguably even the Ford Mustang, a retro-interpretation of an automotive icon from the ’50s or ’60s, in this instance the original 1957 fabric roof Fiat 500, but with thoroughly modern mechanicals and engineering under the classic-appearing skin. Fiat notes that the new Cinquecento was developed by

the Centro Stile Fiat design center using an IT industry-esque “open-source approach,” continually evolving on the basis of input from users and enthusiasts. Environmentally Friendly and Uber-Cool The Fiat 500, available with a variety of what the company says are “environmentally friendly engines,” has reconfirmed its status as an Italian style icon, winning more than 30 awards, and with upwards of 11 million internet users visiting its website. Fiat affirms that is sees the Cinquecento to be a “platform upon which Fiat Automobiles is building a whole family of cars with advanced technology and high attention to detail.” It’s not at all an extravagant stretch to imagine that an iCar version of the Fiat 500C could quite harmoniously be included in that vision. A Cinquecento-based, Apple cobranded iCar would have both the timely characteristics of small size and light environmental footprint, which, combined with the uber-cool Apple “i-factor” that could at least conceivably make it the iPhone/iPod/iMac of the automobile world. Perhaps I’m wildly fantasizing, but it sounds like a workable plan to me.

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iTopoMaps: Technology in the Wilderness By Bryan Schuetz (TheAppleBlog) Submitted at 12/3/2009 7:25:06 AM

Like a lot of tech enthusiasts, I end up spending a lot of time sitting in front of my computer. When I do find a chance to break away I like to get out into the wilderness for a little backpacking. Nothing clears the mind like a nice long walk up a mountain and a night spent out in the open and of course, as with most things these days, there’s an app for that. iTopoMaps makes getting around in the wilds easier than ever with downloadable USGS topographic maps, waypoints, range and bearing tracking and more. Going for a hike is a great way to get some fresh air, take a break from the hectic pace of modern life and leave behind all the trappings of the modern technology. Well not quite all the trappings, I do of course always bring my iPhone with me. In fact, my 3GS is really well suited for helping me out on the trail. • As a camera: An ever-growing catalog of great photography apps means that grabbing a quick panorama of the valley you just hiked out of is easier than ever.

• As a navigation tool: The builtin compass with both magnetic and true north can keep you pointed in the right direction. • For emergencies: If you’re able to get some kind of cellular signal it can obviously be very valuable in an emergency situation for contacting help. • As a quick reference guide: Want to identify that bird you just heard? There’s an app for that. Want to remember how to tie that Siberian Hitch knot in your tarp line? There’s an app for that. Want to figure out what animal made that track? You get

the idea.

off you are. While iTopoMaps won’t give And of course, there’s always you all the functionality of those the built-in GPS. Being able to big dedicated devices, it offers quickly place yourself on a map more than enough for most with a high degree of accuracy walks. If you’re planning on has obvious benefits on a hike, serious multi-week backcountry especially if you’re out bush trips then something a little more whacking away from established fully featured, not to mention trails. I suppose you could just weatherproof, may be necessary. bring a dedicated GPS device but For your average 1-3 day jaunt if you’re packing light then multi though, iTopoMaps hits the spot. -purpose is the name of the game. Before you hit the trail fire up If you want it with you on the the App and download the trail, then you’ve got to carry it necessary map sections; maps are around on your back, so the more full 1:24k USGS Quads and free you can do with less, the better of charge. With the maps cached

locally, once on the trail you can go into Airplane mode to save battery life and still zoom around and pan the map as needed. Set a waypoint, select it as your destination, then turn on the GPS to get your distance and bearing. All that’s left to do is start walking. Once you reach your destination you can even snap a nice photo and load the image in as the default image for that waypoint on the map. What’s your favorite iPhone app to use while out in the wilds?

FKIA's Daily Double: Carb Coma By ELLE.com (ELLE News Blog) Submitted at 12/2/2009 2:52:45 PM

Always follow a carb fest with a Jill Pettijohn juice. It takes the gob out of the gobble. — Anne Slowey

Let me know what you

love—and if you have any questions, e-mail me at AnneSloweyFashionKnowItAll @elle.com.

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App Store World Domination in 2010: 300,000 Apps Strong By Charles Jade (TheAppleBlog) Submitted at 12/3/2009 8:54:20 AM

IDC is making some bold predictions for 2010, one of the boldest being a tripling of the number of applications at Apple’s App Store. In reality, that might actually be a conservative guess. According to IDC, the App Store will have 300,000 applications by the end of next year. Looking at the history, that looks pretty good in a chart, except IDC is predicting even faster growth for Google’s Android Market. In its first year, the Android Market amassed about 10,000 applications, tepid growth compared to the App Store’s first year. The reason was pretty simple, not a lot of Android devices to choose from, not a lot of mobile providers carrying them. Going forward, the Android Market currently has about 15,000 applications, but the number of devices, from mobile phones to tablets to

netbooks will be greatly increase in 2010. There may be as many as 50 devices, including mobile phones on networks all over the world. In contrast, Apple will still have only the iPhone and iPod touch, and maybe a tablet. Considering the propagation and availability of Android devices, it’s not unreasonable to see the Android Market at 75,000 applications by

the end of 2010. That wold be a fivefold increase, two more folds than the App Store is projected to have, but there’s a problem with that projection. The number of devices available does not necessarily equate to more devices being sold. In June at WWDC, Apple announced that more than 40 million iPhone OS devices had been sold. Since then, the

company has probably sold another 10 million iPhones. The iPod touch appears to be selling around half as many iPhones now, so that’s another five million iPhone OS devices. By the end of this year, there will easily have been more than 60 million iPhone OS devices sold. It’s widely expected that a Mac tablet capable of running applications from the App Store

will be released early next year, as well as rumors of a Verizon iPhone in 2010. However, even without either of those devices, Apple will easily have sold 100 million iPhone OS devices before introducing new models of the iPhone and iPod touch around the middle of the year. What’s the best case estimate for Android device sales by that time? Five million, maybe ten? In the New York Times, IDC analyst Frank Gens made an interesting comment. “The market follows the applications,” Mr. Gens said. “That’s a message for the software industry, particularly for the PC industry.” I wonder if IDC has considered the reverse of that, that the applications follow the market, in this case the iPhone OS device market. 300,000 apps in the App Store by 2010? Try half a million, minimum.

Review: The Middle - Siblings By Jason Hughes (TV Squad)

children are so vastly different in personalities that the three of them bonding naturally is (S01E09) Every parent wants v i r t u a l l y i m p o s s i b l e . their kids to get along. It makes Sue is a bit of a dork, Axl is the things more peaceful in the cool kid and, as mentioned, Brick house, and you can feel like you is ... Brick. must be doing something right. But that's not going to stop Unfortunately, it doesn't always F r a n k i e f r o m t r y i n g , a n d work out that way. The Heck dragging Mike along to support Submitted at 12/3/2009 10:44:00 AM

her. I'm glad to see Mike's honesty trait remaining strong as

he supports his wife while Filed under: Other Comedy admitting to his kids he has no Shows, OpEd, Episode Reviews, idea what she's doing or why. Reality-Free And while her efforts didn't Permalink| Email this| | necessarily work at first, Mike C o m m e n t s found a way to bring the kids together. Too bad it was exhausting for the parents. Continue reading Review: The Middle - Siblings

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China Unicom Sells Just Five iPhones Through Major Chinese Online Retailer

Chris Brown Reacts to Rihanna's Emotional 'Good Morning America' Interview

By Darrell Etherington (TheAppleBlog)

(ETonline - Breaking News)

Unicom itself reported only 5,000 sales in the first few days, a dismal number when compared Submitted at 12/3/2009 10:08:52 AM to international launch figures. It’s only been open for two It may seem like a loss for both weeks, but according to recently China Unicom and Apple, but released sales figures from a really, it sends a clear message to store on a major digital retailer in Apple’s other business partners China, the iPhone isn’t doing that going forward: If you let us do great. At least, not through things our way, and don’t make official channels. China Unicom any extraordinary demands that sold only five iPhones through drag out the negotiation process large retail site Taobao.com so and impede our ability to offer far, according to PC World. consumers exactly what we China Unicom also sells the already know they want, device through its own site, so everyone wins. If not, customers the numbers are far from final, phones and computers, so that’s a remove from its production run will seek other solutions. but they do probably at least hint little like similar numbers being for China at the behest of China As Apple looks to expand the at how the iPhone is faring in all posted for iPhone sales at Unicom in order to engineer a availability of the iPhone, official outlets. Taobao.com’s Amazon.com, were they to offer distribution deal. opening up the device to more There’s also the matter of price, and more carriers worldwide, it’s iPhone sales also started later it. than the network operator’s, a The problem is that China is which is no small concern. A an important message to send, c o u p l e o f w e e k s a f t e r t h e already flooded with iPhones, 16GB iPhone 3GS costs around and best of all, the consumer iPhone’s official launch at the despite how long it took Apple to 5700 yuan (about $834 USD) and wins thanks to reduced control come to an agreement with an the 32GB model will run you residing in the hands of telcos, end of October. The five iPhones sold include official service provider for the 6,999 yuan (or around $1,024 and more with hardware and two 8GB models, and three device. Not only that, but USD). Much cheaper in most software makers who actually 16GB devices. Taobao.com is the unofficially unlocked devices cases to pick up an imported, care about user experience most frequented online retail site brought in from other countries unlocked international version. quality control. in China, and a go-to destination also boast Wi-Fi, something Pricing issues and the lack of Wiespecially for electronics like cell which Apple had to agree to Fi could account for why China

Submitted at 12/3/2009 6:44:00 AM

Chris Brown appeared on Thursday's "Good Morning America" with anchor Robin Roberts, seeming to be remorseful as he reacted to clips of his ex-girlfriend Rihanna talking about the night of their domestic dispute. "I've never, ever had problems with anger, no domestic violence with any of my past girlfriends," he told Roberts. "I never was that kind of person. ... How could I be that person?" "GMA" showed Brown a clip of Rihanna's early November interview with Diane Sawyer where the pop star describes her ex-boyfriend at the time of the domestic dispute, saying, "He had no soul in his eyes, just blank. So, at that point I didn't know what could happen."

The Hills & The City Renewed By MTV By Bill Gorman (TVbytheNumbers) Submitted at 12/3/2009 8:25:53 AM

Despite falling ratings, MTV’s

“The Hills” will return for a sixth season. [...] Second half of season five began in September with 2.1 million viewers, a steep decline from

previous season premieres. [...]

Spinoff “The City,” starring “Hills” alum Whitney Port, has also been greenlit for a second season. via Variety.

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Reader Survey: Help Us ABC drops Adam Better Serve You (and Win a Lambert again and again Allison Waldman (TV $50 iTunes Gift Certificate) BySquad) By Josh Pigford (TheAppleBlog)

Submitted at 12/3/2009 11:28:00 AM

When Adam Lambert was competing on American Idol, At GigaOM Pro, we offer a wide there were times when his variety of in-depth market performances reminded the research that appeals to the judges -- and viewers -- of Elvis technology enthusiast, innovator, Presley. And other rock icons, market research for this large and investor and designer. While we too. It was all part of Adam's enthusiastic audience. know many of these words can appeal. But now that he's You can take the survey here. be used to describe readers of promoting his new CD and did a We are offering a$50 iTunes gift TheAppleBlog, we also know "scandalous" performance at the c a r d t o o n e l u c k y s u r v e y most of you visit TheAppleBlog American Music Awards, he's participant, so if you want to take for Apple related news, analysis really getting the Elvis treatment. a shot at winning this gift card, and reviews. There's fear that his actions, please take a few minutes to fill Given this, we’d like to better which are more graphic than out our survey(we will not use understand what types of analysis anything Elvis ever did, will go your email address — if you and market research topics would too far. choose to enter your name for be valuable to visitors of Today, Adam tweeted that ABC consideration for the gift card — TheAppleBlog. This short had cancelled two more spots on f o r a n y t h i n g e l s e b u t t h i s survey will help us to better do so the network-- his upcoming and, as a result, make GigaOM d r a w i n g ) . Jimmy Kimmel Live! date and a Pro more valuable by offering New Year's Eve performance. Adam added that nobody should blame ABC for the cancellations because it was pressure from the FCC that prompted ABC's action. So maybe we should really be blaming Janet Jackson and Justin Timberlake for the infamous Super Bowl breast/costume Submitted at 12/2/2009 1:22:30 PM

malfunction? ABC previously dumped Adam from Good Morning America. Continue reading ABC drops Adam Lambert again and again Filed under: OpEd, American Idol, Music and Variety, Watercooler Talk, Celebrities, Talk Show, Reality-Free Permalink| Email this| | Comments

Street Chic: Paris By ELLE.com (ELLE News Blog) Submitted at 12/3/2009 4:00:00 AM

A formfitting top lends a

feminine touch to menswearinspired trousers. Photo: Stylesight Think you are Street Chic? Email us your photo and you could

Chic Daily. Follow ELLE on Twitter. Become our Facebook fan! appear in ELLE.com's Street

Report: Tiger Woods’ Alleged Mistress Admits to Affair, Schedules Press Conference (ETonline - Breaking News) Submitted at 12/3/2009 5:00:00 AM

A new report alleges that Rachel Uchitel, the woman who initially denied she had an affair with Tiger Woods, now admits to the romance. According to RadarOnline.com, Uchitel now confesses to being involved with the golfing legend. Meanwhile, she told the New York Post, "I have not had an affair with Tiger Woods…I have never spoken on the phone with Tiger Woods, or texted him, ever." Denying the rumor, she said to the newspaper, "This is ridiculous. Not a word of it is true. I told the Enquirer and Star that it wasn't true. I told them not only did I have information to disprove the story, but I offered to take a lie-detector test."

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TV Ratings: Rudolph still beloved, Glee hits highs By Robert Seidman (TVbytheNumbers) Submitted at 12/3/2009 9:08:20 AM

Based on Nielsen Fast National Ratings for Wednesday December 2, 2009 FOX won the night with adults 18-49, 18-34 and CBS had the most viewers. Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer was the night’s mostwatched program both overall and with adults 18-49. Still it was down 10% versus last year’s final numbers for 12/3/08. Glee hit sesason highs in adults 18-49, and viewers and series highs with adults 18-34. Its 4.3/12 adults 18-34 rating was tops for the night and with women 18-34 it had a 6.0/16 rating/share Full Details: = Nielsen TV Ratings: ©2009 The Nielsen Company. All Rights Reserved. You can see TV ratings from other recent Overnight ratings reports here. Definitions: Fast Affiliate Ratings: These first national ratings, including demographics, are available at

Share (of Audience): The percent of households (or persons) using television who are tuned to a specific program, station or network in a specific area at a specific time. (See also, Rating, which represents tuning or viewing as a percent of the entire population being measured.) Time Shifted Viewing– Program ratings for national sources are produced in three streams of data – Live, Live+Same Day(Live+SD) and Live+7 Day. Time shifted figures account for incremental viewing that takes place with DVRs which are currently in approximately 24.4% of all U.S. TV households. Live+Same Day(Live+SD) include viewing during the same approximately 11 AM (ET) the the entire network feed, as well Pacific Time Zone, following the broadcast day as the original day after telecast, and are as local news breaks or cutaways live football game, but not game telecast, with a cut-off of released to subscribing customers for local coverage or other coverage that begins at 5PM PT. 3:00AM local time when meters daily. These data, from the programming. Fast Affiliate The same would be true of transmit daily viewing to Nielsen National People Meter sample, ratings are not as useful for live Presidential debates as well as for processing. Live+7 Day a r e s t r i c t l y t i m e - p e r i o d programs and are likely to differ live award shows and breaking ratings include incremental information, based on the normal significantly from the final news reports. viewing that takes place during broadcast network feed, and results, because the data reflect Rating: Estimated percentage of the 7 days following a telecast. include all programming on the normal broadcast feed patterns. the universe of TV households For more information see affiliated stations, sometimes For example, with a World Series (or other specified group) tuned Numbers 101. including network programming, game, Fast Affiliate Ratings to a program in the average This content has passed through sometimes not. The figures may would include whatever aired minute. Ratings are expressed as fivefilters.org. include stations that did not air from 8-11PM on affiliates in the a percent.

Wish List: Treesje Cosmetic Bags By ELLE.com (ELLE News Blog) Submitted at 12/2/2009 1:41:22 PM

I cannot express in words or any other audible equivalent the

sound that came out of my mouth when I saw these leather cosmetic bags (it was something like cooing at a baby while simultaneously going down a rollercoaster). They are so gosh

darn adorable! And with the

holiday party circuit here, they're — Maura Lynch, Associate perfect for my supply of just-in- Beauty and Fitness Editor case-makeup. Follow ELLE on Twitter. Below: Ginger Ruffles, Motley Become our Facebook fan! and Mortale Ginger styles, available at www.treesje.com.

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The Jay Leno Show Canceled! And Other Nonsense About The NBCU Deal By Bill Gorman (TVbytheNumbers) Submitted at 12/3/2009 9:36:44 AM

The internet (including our site’s comments) have been buzzing for quite some time with all sorts of ridiculous predictions of what would happen when the Comcast/GE/NBCU deal was announced. They’ve ranged from the Leno rage fueled “Jay Leno is gone the day after the Comcast deal!”, to predictions of the swift end of broadcast television “Comcast will trash its broadcast affiliates and go all cable!” Because the deal has to meet regulatory approval before it closes, and t he politicians are already circling, I’d count on far less change over the next year or so that it takes to get approval

than many folks are predicting. Note that Jeff Zucker is running the new business until it meets regulatory approval as a sign of that continuity. It wouldn’t surprise me if he leaves soon afterwards, but it wouldn’t surprise me if he stayed either.

Programming changes will still happen, as usual, but Leno’s not going anywhere till at least next fall because NBC has nothing to put in his place. There’s no chance that there will be any negative change to the NBC local affiliate situation until

the deal closes. Those affiliates carry plenty of political power and they’ll be lining up for their pound of flesh worth of concessions in Washington. There also won’t be any cable carriage fee dust ups provoked by Comcast ( although it will be interesting to see if other cable networks or providers try and provoke some) before the deal closes. The new company will be walking on eggshells until the deal’s done. And just a small point that some entertainment writers might want to heed. While Comcast will be in effective control of the new entity, they do not “own” it, they own 51% of it. GE still owns the other 49%. This content has passed through fivefilters.org.

Rain, winds, record heat hit Northeast in 1 day (AP) (Yahoo! News: U.S. News) Submitted at 12/3/2009 8:03:05 AM

aaron buzzed up: Obama science advisers grilled over hacked emails (AP) 1 second ago 2009-1203T09:57:24-08:00 This content has passed through fivefilters.org.

Did NBC's Christmas in Rockefeller Center seem a little surreal to you? By Bob Sassone (TV Squad) Submitted at 12/3/2009 12:41:00 PM

So we didn't have any major walkout or cutting of the electricity during the live broadcast of the Rockefeller Center Christmas tree lighting on NBC last night. But we did have enough things to talk about the

day after. I could discuss the lip synching that a lot of the acts decided to do (I'm looking at you, Barry Manilow) and point out just how bad Rod Stewart is at doing either old standards or soul songs. But I really want to talk about Jane Krakowski. She hosted (along with Chuck's

Zachary Levi) and it was a

little...surreal. This was a variety show that wasn't too different than a special TGS that the 30 Rock gang might put on, and it almost seemed like it was Jenna Maroney hosting. Krakowski basically plays a really exaggerated version of herself on 30 Rock, and I was waiting for her to say something

clueless or potentially racist or have a cat jump on her face and scratch her. Continue reading Did NBC's Christmas in Rockefeller Center seem a little surreal to you? Filed under: Music and Variety, Watercooler Talk, Reality-Free Permalink| Email this| | Comments

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“Rudolph” Shines Brightest on Wednesday By Robert Seidman (TVbytheNumbers) Submitted at 12/3/2009 9:42:13 AM

via press release: RUDOLPH SHINES B R I G H T E S T O N W E D N E S D A Y Gallops Away with Across-theBoard Victory in Key Demos Holiday Special Helps Lead CBS to Wednesday Night Victory It would take more than allergy season to stop the perpetual glow of Rudolph’s nose, and Wednesday night was no exception. CBS’s broadcast of its annual holiday special RUDOLPH THE RED-NOSED REINDEER helped the network win a decisive Wednesday night victory, placing first in viewers

second at 9:00 PM in adults 2554 (2.7/06), adults 18-49 (2.3/06) and adults 18-34 (1.7/05). CRIMINAL MINDS SPECIAL at 10:00 PM was first in households (5.3/09), viewers (8.03m), adults 25-54 (2.7/07), adults 18-49 (2.2/06) and adults 18-34 (1.4/04), beating first-run programming on both NBC and ABC. For the night, CBS was first in viewers (8.42m), adults 25-54 (3.3/08), tied for first in households (5.0/08, with NBC), a n d 2 5 - 5 4 , w i t h R u d o l p h (10.74m), adults 25-54 (4.5/12), second in adults 18-49 (2.8/08) s w e e p i n g n e a r l y e v e r y adults 18-49 (3.8/11), adults 18- and adults 18-34 (1.9/06). measurement in its time period, 34 (2.6/08), children 2-11 Updated Wednesday ratings will according to Nielsen preliminary (5.8/18), children 6-11 (5.0/16) be available this afternoon. live plus same day ratings for and tied for first in households This content has passed through Wednesday, Dec 2. (5.7/09, with NBC). fivefilters.org. RUDOLPH THE RED-NOSED GRAMMYS NOMINATIONS REINDEER was first in viewers CONCERT (4.0/06, 6.48m) was

It's a subdued holiday season for SC first family (AP) (Yahoo! News: U.S. News) Submitted at 12/3/2009 9:57:22 AM

Winer buzzed up: AP Enterprise: Crew blames capt. for pirate attack (AP) 5 seconds ago 2009-1203T09:57:28-08:00 This content has passed through fivefilters.org.

What's On Tonight: Community, Private Practice, Fringe, It's Always Sunny By Bob Sassone (TV Squad)

A Christmas Carol at 8. • At 8:30, Cartoon Network has a new Marvelous Misadventures of Flapjack, followed by the • A t 8 , A B C h a s a n e w season finale of Total Drama FlashForward, followed by two Action. new episodes of Private Practice. • At 9, Comedy Central has a • CBS has a new Survivor at 8. new Jeff Dunham Show. • NBC has new episodes of • TLC has a new American C o m m u n i t y , P a r k s a n d Chopper at 9. Recreation, The Office, 30 Rock, • S p i k e h a s a n e w T N A and The Jay Leno Show. Wrestling at 9. • FOX has a new Bones, then a • Also at 9: Current has a new new Fringe. SuperNews, then new episodes of • TCM has the 1938 version of InfoMania, SuperNews, and The Submitted at 12/3/2009 12:09:00 PM

Rotten Tomatoes Show. The League. • At 10, FX has a new It's • MTV has the season premiere Always Sunny in Philadelphia, of Jersey Shore at 10. followed by a new episode of

Check your local TV listings for more. After the jump, the late night talk shows. Continue reading What's On Tonight: Community, Private Practice, Fringe, It's Always Sunny Filed under: Late Night, Programming, Celebrities, Talk Show, What To Watch Tonight, Reality-Free Permalink| Email this| | Comments

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Even Last Place Equals Big Bucks in South Africa

You can't go wrong with TV's SpongeBob gifts for kids

(WSJ.com: The Daily Fix) Submitted at 12/3/2009 7:06:06 AM

By John Scott Lewinski (TV Squad) Submitted at 12/3/2009 11:03:00 AM

"Who lives in a pineapple under the sea? Popularly licensed and profitable is he!" That's not how the SpongeBob SquarePants theme song goes, but the statement is factually correct. The Nickelodeon yellow legend is still immensely popular across various age ranges. And that gives you some easy gift ideas for kids in and around your family. Rather than merely give the kid in question a stuffed sponge for the holidays, you can dig a little deeper and offer up a couple Spongebob board games from Hasbro for less than $25 each. The SpongeBob SquarePants Edition of "Kid Cranium" mixes up artistic activities with a trivia-

Fox News Near 2009 Primetime Ratings Peak, While MSNBC, CNN Are At/Near Lows

based board game to let kids express themselves while they kick your grown-up butt. Continue reading You can't go wrong with TV's SpongeBob gifts for kids Filed under: Other Comedy By Bill Gorman Shows, Animation, Children, (TVbytheNumbers) Reality-Free Submitted at 12/3/2009 9:01:27 AM Permalink| Email this| | Comments Through November, Fox News was near its 2009 annual primetime ratings peak (for the adults 25-54 demo targeted by cable news advertisers), while MSNBC held at its low ratings point of the year and CNN was (Yahoo! News: U.S. News) attack (AP) just off its low ratings point. 5 seconds ago 2009-12Submitted at 12/3/2009 9:34:59 AM For anyone wondering, CNN’s 03T09:57:28-08:00 June/July ratings spike was Winer buzzed up: AP Enterprise: This content has passed through courtesy of the Michael Jackson Crew blames capt. for pirate fivefilters.org. death frenzy. For complete information on all cable news ratings check our

Texas man with low IQ asks court to spare his life (AP)

Most people talk about national pride when teams qualify for the FIFA World Cup, but there is another motivation — cash. FIFA’s executive committee Wednesday approved a 61% increase in prize money for next year’s event, to $420 million from $261 million. Every team that qualified will immediately receive $1 million to help cover expenses. The winning team will receive $30 million, second place $24 million, third place $20 million, fourth place $18 million, fiftheighth place gets $14 million, ninth-16th place gets $9 million and 17th-32d place gets $8 daily cable news ratings posts. million. Not bad for coming in Anybody else wanting to last. produce trend charts of any of In addition, the committee our other data, drop me an email. decided to maintain the current N i e l s e n C a b l e N e t w o r k guidelines for the Olympic C o v e r a g e E s t i m a t e s ( a s o f tournament for 2012. Only September, 2009) players under 23 can play, with CNN/HLN: 99.10 million HHs the exception of three overage CNBC: 96.78 million HHs players per nation. FIFA will reFNC: 96.26 million HHs consider the issue for subsequent MSNBC: 92.64 million HHs Games. Nielsen TV Ratings Data: Also, beginning in 2015, the ©2009 The Nielsen Company. W o m e n ’ s W o r l d C u p w i l l All Rights Reserved. expand from to 24 teams from This content has passed through 16. fivefilters.org.

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World goes nuts because the President preempts A Charlie Brown Christmas Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker creeping up on the UK next May

By Danny Gallagher (TV Squad) Submitted at 12/3/2009 1:02:00 PM

It's official: President Barack Obama has officially ruined Christmas. Pundits and TV viewers from up and down the dial are calling out President Obama for airing his big speech on the troop surge in Afghanistan and preempting ABC's airing of the classic Christmas cartoon A Charlie Brown Christmas. If this causes a move for impeachment, I may never awake from my laughter coma. Not only was the story the top headline on yesterday morning's Drudge Report, but the pundits really jumped in to turn the

By Griffin McElroy (Joystiq) Submitted at 12/3/2009 10:40:00 AM

President into their own personal Scrooge. Continue reading World goes nuts because the President preempts A Charlie Brown Christmas Filed under: News, Programming, Reality-Free Permalink| Email this| | Comments By Hamilton Nolan (Gawker)

Everybody Mad at Dolls, Cartoons [Controversies] Submitted at 12/3/2009 9:31:46 AM

We like to "jest" with the advertising industry about how stupid and evil they are, but the truth is that marketing is not showed that the number of US easy. Today in Fuzzy Public workers claiming unemployment Outrage: Dolls are racist, and benefits fell for the fifth week soap bubbles are rapists. running and dropped to the Here is one of those "viral" lowest level in 14 months, videos you've heard so much offering hope that the stricken about. In it, imaginary cartoon labour market may be starting to s o a p b u b b l e s r e p r e s e n t i n g improve. chemical soap scum linger This content has passed through around a lady's shower, acting fivefilters.org. like jerks. That is because the household cleaner company that made it supports rape.

US services sector contracts in November (Financial Times - US homepage) Submitted at 12/3/2009 7:59:32 AM

The US services sector unexpectedly contracted last month as businesses expressed frustration with the pace of the economic recovery, an Institute of Supply Management survey said on Thursday. Separately, official figures

A Konami press release, laden with the heft of a UK release date for Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker, landed in our laps this morning. We don't think it had enough force to do any serious damage to -- what? Oh, right. Potential FOXHOUNDs living in the United Kingdom can get their hands on the co-op portable stealth title on May 28, 2010; or, as they'd likely call it, 28 May, Here are some " So In Style 2010. African American Barbie Dolls." For those of you keeping score, They are drawing complaints now the UK and Japan both have because black parents feel their release dates for the game. Who hair, eyes, and body do not does a guy have to hide behind in represent what most black girls a b o x a n d t h e n p u t i n a n actually look like. Yes, well, that unrelenting sleeper hold to get a means they are just as horrible as North American launch date every other Barbie doll ever then, around here? no? Perhaps the problem is that Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker an inanimate plastic doll is now creeping up on the UK next May expected to be a role model. How originally appeared on Joystiq on about protesting the fact that Thu, 03 Dec 2009 10:40:00 EST. Barbie costs $27, when did that Please see our terms for use of feeds. happen? EHH? Let's just worry about keeping Read| Permalink| Email this| Barbie safe from sexual assault Comments from soap bubbles, shall we?

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Comcast Buys a Bunch of Awesome Cable Networks and Some Broadcast Thing Called 'NBC' [Christmas Shopping] By John Cook (Gawker)

promising that his role as chief executive will continue in the new joint venture," the Times GE and Comcast officially says. But Zucker shouldn't rest announced that this morning that too easy. To read the Times' play they've come to terms on a deal -by-play of how the deal went over NBC Universal. It's really, down, it seems like Comcast really complicated, but the CEO Brian Roberts and GE CEO upshot is that Jeff Zucker still has Jeff Immelt don't really trust him: a job for some reason. Zucker wasn't told of the early Comcast will own 51% of NBC negotiations, and when Immelt Universal, and GE will own 49%. first met with Comcast coIt's simple really: NBC will founder Ralph Roberts to talk it borrow $9.1 billion and give it to over at a media conference, he GE, which will pay $5.8 billion took care to physically avoid to Vivendi for its share of NBC Zucker so as not to raise his Universal, and Comcast will pay suspicions. It was a smart move: $6.5 billion to GE, which will For nearly six months, only a contribute its share of NBC small cadre of G.E. and Comcast Universal, valued at $30 billion, rate for someone making $34,000 over the next year. Comcast owns the cable pipes, so executives knew about the deal t o t h e j o i n t v e n t u r e w i t h a year, by way of comparison, is The deal is being spun as, there's got to be a way to — nobody at NBC was ever told Comcast, which will contribute 25%. essentially, a purchase of NBC leverage that into even more — and it had not leaked. On its networks, valued at $7.25 GE intends to slowly unload its Universal's cable assets—USA money, right? In a just-ended Sept. 30, several hours after the billion, to NBC Universal. In the remaining share over the next Network, the SciFi Network executive conference call with talks were disclosed to a tiny end, GE will clear $9.8 billion seven years. The deal will have (which some idiot decided to call reporters on the transaction, the group of executives at NBC, the and still own just under half of to be approved by FCC and the SyFy), Bravo, etc.—which word "synergy" came up a lot, blockbuster talks appeared on NBC Universal. Why is it Justice Department, which is c o n v e n i e n t l y o b s c u r e s t h e unironically, which doesn't bode TheWrap.com, a Hollywood structured so insanely? So expected to take nine to twelve question of the money pits at the well. But what do we know? news site. nobody will have to pay any m o n t h s . H a v i n g M S N B C , center of NBC Univeral's brand, Zucker, as we predicted, is going "I'm telling you to be prepared taxes, of course: GE expects to CNBC, and NBC News ought to the NBC television network and to keep his job, at least for now, for this to leak," Mr. Sherin had make $8 billion on the deal after come in handy in convincing the station group. Both are in an according to a little birdie (also told Mr. Angelakis earlier that t a x e s , e x i s t i n g d e b t , a n d Obama administration to sign off, extended freefall owing to the named Jeff Zucker!) who talked day. transaction costs. We don't know w e i m a g i n e . A n d w e l o o k genius of Jeff Zucker, the to the New York Times. His new how much debt and what the forward to the rancid hypocrisy president of NBC Universal. But contract will keep him on transaction costs are, but the very of News Corp.'s Fox News that doesn't matter, because the through regulatory approval of maximum GE could pay in taxes decrying that conflict of interest cable networks make money, and the deal and "include language is $1.8 billion, or 20%. The tax Submitted at 12/3/2009 8:46:42 AM

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A Simple Plan for Tiger Woods: Play Some Golf [Advice] By Hamilton Nolan (Gawker) Submitted at 12/3/2009 8:23:01 AM

It might appear that Tiger Woods has lots of problems these days, but in fact he only has one problem: He is a boring, boring man who finds himself in a nonboring situation. We know how to solve this. Here is where things stand for Tiger, this morning: His love life is pretty fucked. Although his sex life sounds great! Of the five or so extramarital women everybody thinks he boned, the big news today is about the original Tiger Fling Girl, Rachel Uchitel. Just two days ago she gave a big front-page exclusive interview to the New York Post about how this is all bullshit and she never did anything at all with Tiger and god, this is all bullshit, because of lying whores who hate her. Well! She's changed her mind. Rachel's having a press conference this afternoon to announce that she did, in fact, do all that sexy stuf f, with Tiger Woods. ( Update: The press

conference was just canceled, but the admission to boning the golf star is now out there.) We assume this is because she read our advice and wants to clear the air as she moves forward with her nightlife career, but, Rachel窶馬ot so abrupt next time. The turnaround from total, vehement lie to revelation of truth that everyone already suspected must be a little smoother, so as not to

are the bland upper crust of Middle America. That, and rich assholes who love to cheat on their wives. Neither of these groups of golf fans cares one bit about your marital infidelity, Tiger. Nor do your sponsors. What they do care about is being forced to think about something other than golf. People play (and watch) golf to escape the real world. The world of golf is a world of creepy perfectly manicured lawns and rolling greens as far as the eye can see and lots middle-aged white guys. People want to embrace you as the staid, unblinking image of perfection on a golf course, Tiger. They make you appear to be either a are a cipher. Fans and sponsors don't want to be forced to psycho or blackmail victim. love you for it, because they can consider who you're fucking. The Although we will consider project whatever image they want masochistic desire of sports fans everything forgiven if you make upon you, and your inscrutable, for a feeling of inadequacy next a point to mock the New York uninteresting being simply to their heroes does not extend Post's dead-wrong exclusive at swallows it up. into the bedroom. your press conference. Golf is the most uninteresting So just shut the fuck up and play Tiger Woods: Your job is spectator sport in the world. Golf golf, Tiger. You'll be boring the simple. Just be Tiger Woods. fans are not moralists. They are hell out of America again before That means, continue being the people who believe that golf you know it. most robotic, uninteresting sports shirts in various shades of coral megastar of our time. You, sir, are acceptable outerwear. They

Wii sells six million in UK By JC Fletcher (Joystiq) Submitted at 12/3/2009 10:10:00 AM

Gfk-ChartTrack data indicates that the Wii has passed the six million mark in the UK, one week shy of three years after it launched. Detailing the system's

rise to MCV, ChartTrack director Dorian Bloch said, "In calendar year 2007, it sold 1.81 million but really took off in 2008, with 2.73 million sold. So far in 2009, it's hit 1.31 million - but it's got a few weeks to build on that before should ascribe the console's Christmas." We know to what we

success. You guessed it: Escape from Bug Island. This feat makes Wii the fastestselling console in the history of the UK. MCV notes that it's still not the best-selling console, an honor reserved for the over 10million-strong PS2.

Wii sells six million in UK originally appeared on Joystiq on Thu, 03 Dec 2009 10:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Read| Permalink| Email this| Comments

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Yelp's Holiday Party Way Lustier Than Yours [Holidaze]

US retailers report tough November

By Ryan Tate (Gawker)

(Financial Times - US homepage)

Submitted at 12/3/2009 8:45:32 AM

At Yelp, every review is a chance for free drinks, every email a chance for distasteful punning— and every company party a chance to leer, spank and orgy out. Judging from the pictures, 2009's holiday bash was no exception. The local reviews portal uploaded a cache of party pics to Flickr, a trove duly uncovered by Nicholas Carlson over at Silicon Alley Insider. It comes complete with the requisite provocatively posed women, mostly-naked men and naughty company icon (Santa). Those are the sort of party props that have become Yelp's PR calling card, lending

the company a "let the good times roll" vibe that helps keep unpaid contributors supplying the company with free content. In fact, this particular gathering, trampy as it may have been, looks reasonably tame compared to the debaucheries of years past; our last picture in the gallery below is a compilation distilling the positively fleshy feel of parties past (also documented here, here, here, here, here and here.) "That would be a lump of coal you're feeling, young lady, for your, uh, untoward extreme naughtiness. You're a very, uh, Girl on far left rocking about 8x baaad girl." harder than everyone else in the Don't you wish you'd had the picture. chance to sign this little angel, "I can't speak for Mr. Leprechaun too??

here, but I'm totally looking you in the eyes, lady." Yelp photographers can literally smell the female tongue leaving the mouth. "So many bad girls at this party, so little time to admonish them..." Come, now, sir, you can do several buttons better than this. Several flies, even. Ooops, we did it again, and, what do you know, at another Yelp party. Santa presumably has his own private collection of these "girls on my lap" shots. Everyone looks equally buzzed/sober. Nice pacing! History teaches us what a truly wild Yelp party looks like.

Submitted at 12/3/2009 8:09:34 AM

Leading US retailers reported November sales that were broadly lower than expected, as a post-Thanksgiving rush failed to offset earlier weak demand. Retail Metrics, which tracks the monthly comparable sales figures, said its index for the month rose just 0.7 per cent from last year, when sales slumped. Ken Perkins, head of Retail Metrics, said the “the bottom line is that comp store sales were very disappointing ahead of the critical December holiday shopping season”. This content has passed through fivefilters.org.

Hottest Topic at FIFA Meetings: 2018, 2022 Bids (WSJ.com: The Daily Fix) Submitted at 12/3/2009 2:23:09 AM

Cape Town, South Africa The game behind the game at this weeks FIFA meetings and World Cup draw has nothing to do with next summers tournament or even the 2014 World Cup slated for Rio. It is all about the race to host the 2018 and 2022 event, which will be decided next December. That means this week represents a major opportunity for the

bidding countries to press the flesh and lobby FIFAs 23 executive committee members for their votes. Outside of the draw, the bidding is the hottest topic in town, with leaders of the bid countries huddled in hotel lobbies with FIFA leaders at every opportunity. On Wednesday, representatives of those countries bidding for the event headed up Signal Hill, overlooking the city and Table Bay, for a luncheon reception thrown by the executive mayor of

Cape Town for FIFA President Joseph Sepp Blatter and other FIFA officials. Spain was there to lobby for the joint Spain-Portugal bid. So was a contingent representing Belgium-Netherlands, even a group from South Korea, which wants another shot at hosting after sharing the 2002 World Cup with Japan, which also wants its own shot at the tournament. In some ways its a lot easier than the Olympics, said Sung-Joo Han, chairman of Koreas bid for

the 2022. You know exactly who you have to talk to. Australia, England, Indonesia, Japan, Korea Republic, Qatar, the U.S. and Russia are also bidding. The buzz among executives who deal regularly with FIFA is that after taking chances by bringing the World Cup to developing countries South Africa and Brazil, the organization is likely to return to its roots, with England a leading candidate for 2018 but the field wide open for 2022. Mr. Blatter has said he

prefers the event go to one country, not two. The question is whether FIFA, much like the International Olympic Committee, has gotten hooked holding transformational events that alter perceptions and mark major world changes. The South African World Cup is being hailed as Africas formal introduction into the global economy. As an executive at one of FIFAs major sponsors put it, Its all about what kind of statement FIFA can make.

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The One Thing Kathie Lee Gifford Won't Do for Ratings [Keeping Mum] By Brian Moylan (Gawker) Submitted at 12/3/2009 9:53:15 AM

Kathie Lee Gifford rose to fame sitting next to Regis Philbin and talking about her personal life ad nauseam. Now that she co-hosts the Today show's daily dose of wacky, what is the one subject she won't broach? Her husband's infidelity! The Tiger Woods' affair story is the hot issue of the day, but, according to The B Plot, which is written by a former TV guy and publicist in New Jersey, Kathie Lee is adamant that she won't talk about the scandal from a "personal point of view." When

producers ask she apparently said, quite loudly, "Absolutely not will I rehash any of that horrible history in my life." So let's get this straight, disclosures of nudity, making out with co-

host Hoda Kotb, and dressing up as C-3PO, are all OK, but talking about her husband doing it with a flight attendant more than a decade ago is beyond the pale? The two stories a perfect

parallel, both Woods and Katie Lee's husband Frank Gifford are sports figures, both fooled around while on the road, both stayed with their wives (so far). Kathie Lee could give us the perspective of what Elin Nordegren must be feeling right now, since she has kept silent ever since—well, smashing the windows out of her cheating husband's car. That's a pretty big statement, but come on, Kathie Lee, give her a voice. Gifford seems like the type who will do anything for fame and isn't afraid to look stupid in front of the camera. How is this going too far? [ Image via Getty]

Tiger Woods issues Web statement: 'I am far short of perfect' By ESPN.com news services (ESPN.com) Submitted at 12/2/2009 10:57:43 PM

Reilly: Tiger Has Something To Believe In Reilly: Tiger Has Something To Believe In VIDEO PLAYLIST • Reilly: Tiger Has Something To Believe In Reilly: Tiger Has Something To Believe In • Reilly Shocked By Public Admission Reilly Shocked By Public Admission • Woods Posts Apology Woods Posts Apology • Rocco Mediate Speaks Out On TIGER page 58

Sources: Philadelphia Phillies, Placido Polanco near 3-year, $18M deal By Jayson Stark (ESPN.com)

and told NBC-10 TV's John Clark that he's "excited to join a championship team." Only a physical stands in the Before Wednesday, the Phillies w a y o f P l a c i d o P o l a n c o appeared to be locked in on three becoming the Phillies' next third p o t e n t i a l f r e e - a g e n t t h i r d baseman. basemen -- Polanco, Adrian According to multiple sources Beltre and Mark DeRosa. But familiar with the club's thinking, talks intensified with Polanco's the two sides are closing in on a agents Wednesday, a day after three-year, $18 million deal, his old team, the Tigers, declined pending a physical. to offer him arbitration. The 34-year-old infielder arrived Polanco is a Type A free agent, in Philadelphia on Thursday so the decision not to offer him morning to take that physical, arbitration means the Phillies Submitted at 12/3/2009 9:10:04 AM

could sign him without losing their first-round draft pick. Polanco played for the Phillies from 2002-05. And their mutual familiarity appeared to be a major force driving their pursuit. Although Polanco has won two Gold Gloves at second base since the Phillies traded him to Detroit, he played 95 games at third as a Phillie. So the club seems to have no reservations about moving him back to third. And Polanco told NBC-10, "I feel very comfortable playing third base."

The Phillies declined the option on third baseman Pedro Feliz last month to see if they could find a righthanded-hitting offensive upgrade who could help balance their left-leaning lineup. They envision Polanco hitting second behind Jimmy Rollins, a move which would drop Shane Victorino lower in the order. Polanco batted .337 at Citizens Bank Park as a Phillie, with more walks (23) than strikeouts (20). And it's his plate discipline that appeals most to the defending NL

champs. Polanco has never struck out 50 times in any season in his career. Feliz, on the other hand, had a 618-217 career strikeoutwalk ratio, and the Phillies were looking to add more contact to a strikeout-prone lineup. Jayson Stark covers Major League Baseball for ESPN.com. This content has passed through fivefilters.org.

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TIGER continued from page 57

Tiger Rocco Mediate Speaks Out On Tiger

stories in particular that physical violence played any role in the car accident were utterly false Tiger Woods, charged with and malicious. Elin has always careless driving and fined $164 done more to support our family by Florida authorities on Tuesday and shown more grace than and squarely in the crosshairs of anyone could possibly expect. the celebrity and tabloid media, "But no matter how intense issued a statement Wednesday curiosity about public figures can apologizing for actions he did not be, there is an important and deep specify. principle at stake which is the "I have let my family down and I right to some simple, human regret those transgressions with measure of privacy. I realize all of my heart," Woods said on there are some who don't share his Web site. "I have not been my view on that. But for me, the true to my values and the virtue of privacy is one that must behavior my family deserves. I be protected in matters that are am not without faults and I am intimate and within one's own far short of perfect. I am dealing family. Personal sins should not with my behavior and personal r e q u i r e p r e s s r e l e a s e s a n d failings behind closed doors with p r o b l e m s w i t h i n a f a m i l y my family. Those feelings should shouldn't have to mean public be shared by us alone. confessions. â&#x20AC;&#x153; "Whatever regrets I have about I have let my family down and I letting my family down have regret those transgressions with been shared with and felt by us all of my heart. I have not been alone. I have given this a lot of true to my values and the reflection and thought and I behavior my family deserves. I believe that there is a point at am not without faults and I am which I must stick to that far short of perfect. I am dealing p r i n c i p l e e v e n t h o u g h i t ' s with my behavior and personal d i f f i c u l t . failings behind closed doors with "I will strive to be a better person my family. Those feelings should and the husband and father that b e s h a r e d b y u s a l o n e . â&#x20AC;? - - my family deserves. For all of Statement by Tiger Woods those who have supported me "Although I am a well-known over the years, I offer my person and have made my career profound apology." as a professional athlete, I have The Web site posting came been dismayed to realize the full hours after US Weekly magazine extent of what tabloid scrutiny put Woods on its cover, released really means. For the last week, Wednesday, alleging he had a my family and I have been two-plus-year affair with a Los hounded to expose intimate Angeles cocktail waitress. It also details of our personal lives. The comes a week after the National

Enquirer reported that Woods had an affair with a New York VIP host -- a charge the woman strongly denies -- and less than a week after he was involved in a car accident. The US Weekly report claims that Jaimee Grubbs has more than 300 text messages from Woods, and the US Weekly Web site posted a voice mail Grubbs says is Woods calling her last week and asking to change the ID on her phone so that his wife wouldn't recognize it. Grubbs says she met Woods at a Las Vegas nightclub the week after the 2007 Masters -- two months before Woods' wife, Elin Nordegren, gave birth to their first child. Reilly: Tiger will be a better man Once the furor dies down, ESPN's Rick Reilly thinks Tiger Woods will still be the most successful and willful and talented athlete alive, but he will also be chastened, humbled and, at long last, human. Story Wednesday morning, the magazine published what it said was a voice mail provided by Grubbs that she said was left by Woods on Nov. 24, three days before his early morning car crash. In the voice mail, a man, who calls himself "Tiger," asks Grubbs to take her name off her phone. "My wife went through my phone," the man's voice said. "And, uh, may be calling you." The call ends with the man saying: "You gotta do this for

me. Huge. Quickly." ESPN could not confirm Woods was the caller. Woods' agent, Mark Steinberg, did not immediately return an email requesting comment. When asked whether US Weekly paid Grubbs for her story, spokeswoman Cheryl Crowley said, "As a policy, we do not comment on obtaining stories or photo transactions." MSNBC reported that "rumors" are Grubbs could have been paid $100,000 for her story. Grubbs was recently part of the VH1 cable channel reality series "Tool Academy." Several of Woods' sponsors said Wednesday that they still are in business with Woods. Nike, Gatorade, EA Sports, TLC Vision, NetJets and Gillette all said that their relationship with Woods remains as it was before the announcement. AT&T Inc. declined to comment and officials with Accenture, Tag Heuer and Upper Deck could not be reached by Reuters. Alternate Shot: Raised Stakes With revelations of Tiger's "transgressions," Bob Harig and Jason Sobel discuss myriad topics including will his endorsements be hurt and is there an Oprah or Barbara Walters interview in his future? Alternate Shot Woods was involved in a onecar traffic accident on Friday. He hit a fire hydrant and a tree in his Cadillac SUV. The Florida Highway Patrol investigated the case, but closed the investigation

on Tuesday, saying Woods would be cited and fined. But that hasn't stopped tabloid rumors. Woods hasn't met with the media since the incident, and has only issued statements on his Web site. Sunday, Woods released a statement saying, in part: "Although I understand there is curiosity, the many false, unfounded and malicious rumors that are currently circulating about my family and me are irresponsible. The only person responsible for the accident is me. My wife, Elin, acted courageously when she saw I was hurt and in trouble. She was the first person to help me. Any other assertion is absolutely false." Woods has remained at home in the exclusive gated community of Isleworth, while some of the world's top golfers were in Southern California preparing for the start of a tournament he hosts. Woods, citing injuries from the crash, issued a statement Monday saying he would not attend or play in the Chevron World Challenge. Tuesday, the Florida Highway Patrol said it "is not pursuing criminal charges in this matter nor is there any testimony or other evidence to support any additional charges of any kind other than the charge of careless driving," according to department spokeswoman Sgt. Kim Montes. "Despite the celebrity status of Mr. Woods, the Florida Highway TIGER page 62

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The Count: When the Worst NBA Teams Beat the Best Ones (WSJ.com: The Daily Fix)

expected to be resting its best players or giving less than maximal effort, for the playoffs. When the 3-14 New York So the teams with the good Knicks met the 14-3 Phoenix records could be expected to be Suns at Madison Square Garden really good, and those with the on Tuesday night, there was good bad records, really bad. In the reason to expect a blowout. The rest of these teams’ matchups Suns had won four straight, by an during the same season, the better average of 21.3 points. The team won seven out of nine Knicks had lost five straight, by times. Part of the explanation for an average of eight points. And a t h e u p s e t s i s h o m e - c o u r t rout indeed ensued — only it advantage — three of the four wasn’t the visiting Suns on top. teams played at home. Also, The Knicks won a shocker, 126- unlike the Knicks, none won by a 9 9 . G e t t y I m a g e s W i l s o n double-digit margin, and the Chandler and the Knicks looked average margin was 4.5 points. like the elite NBA team at MSG And each game had some special on Tuesday. circumstances: How stunning was it? ESPN’s Vancouver Grizzlies (4-20 SportsCenter reported a couple of before the game) 93, Houston stats: Just four prior times in the Rockets (21-2) 92, December 17, last 15 seasons did a team with a 1996: Bryant Reeves hit a jumper record worse than the Knicks’ with under six seconds left, while heading into the game beat a Hakeem Olajuwon missed a shot team such as the Suns, with the at the buzzer. The loss, and a bad best mark, 15 games or more into start in Houston’s next game, had the season. And this was the first the Rockets riled up, and Charles time, 10 games into the season or Barkley and Clyde Drexler were later, that a team winning 20% of ejected in the fourth quarter. its games or less beat a team with Dallas Mavericks (6-32) 107, a winning percentage of .800 or Seattle Supersonics (32-8) 98, better by 20 points or more. January 20, 1998: Dallas hung on I dug up the details on those four after squandering several fourthprevious mega-upsets. None quarter leads in previous recent were as early in the season as the games. The Mavs hit 8 of 13 Knicks-Suns game, the 18th of three-pointers and turned the ball the season for each team — over just eight times. meaning the records were less Los Angeles Clippers (4-31) 89, likely to be flukes. Nor were any Portland Trail Blazers (28-7) 83, in the final games of the season, April 11, 1999: The Clippers had when the better team might be recently knocked off one of the Submitted at 12/2/2009 1:04:55 PM

league’s other top teams, the Utah Jazz, “providing evidence that they play to the level of competition,” the Los Angeles Daily News reported. The Clippers shot 38 free throws, to 21 for Portland, in the only road win of the bunch. They lost their next 12 games in Portland. Chicago Bulls (6-29) 106, Los Angeles Lakers (26-7) 104, overtime, January 12, 2002: Shaquille O’Neal and two other players were ejected in a fourthquarter scrum engendered by feelings from the Lakers center that fouls on him were going uncalled — though plenty were, as he attempted 18 free throws, hitting 9. Without him, the Lakers fell in OT. The Bulls also won the teams’ other meeting that season. In general, the bad teams weren’t as bad as their records would suggest, nor were the good teams as good. The gap between their winning percentages narrowed by an average of 0.174 by the end of the season. None of the four teams with a best record at the time of the upset finished the season as the NBA’s best team, though they all finished in

the top four. And the Mavs and Clippers weren’t the NBA’s worst by season’s end (the Grizzlies and Bulls were). Even now, the Knicks and Suns aren’t quite as far apart as their records suggest. After last night’s upset, the Suns rank 11th in the NBA in Simple Rating System, which takes into account margin of victory and strength of schedule. And the Knicks rank 27th out of 30. Two of the Suns’ four wins in its recent winning streak came against two of the teams that rank below the Knicks in SRS. That rating system suggests the Suns would beat the Knicks by about eight points on a neutral court. Since the average home team this season has won by 3.5 points, it would have been reasonable to expect that the Knicks would at least give the Suns a close game last night, if not blow them out. Even with the win, the Knicks are already 3.5 games out of the last playoff spot and look like a long-shot for the postseason. But maybe such wins can help impress LeBron James, whom the Knicks are believed to be courting ahead of his impending free agency. He’s produced his share of memorable MSG moments. “No question, James likes to visit,” Sports Illustrated recently noted. “The reigning MVP has averaged 30.4 points, 5.8 rebounds and 6.8 assists in 11 games in Gotham.”

Does LeBron really thrive against the Knicks? In 21 career games, his average number of points, rebounds and assists are almost exactly in line with his averages in his other 468 games (27.8, 6.2, 7.0 vs. 27.6, 7.0, 6.7). He’s taken half a free throw more per game and had an 0.046 bump in three-point shooting percentage. But that could simply reflect the Knicks’ woeful defense in recent seasons. The Knicks have given up 5.5% more free throws per game than league average, and a 0.012 bump in three-point shooting, during James’s career. Such defense from prospective future teammates isn’t likely to have LeBron itching to don orange and blue. Still, he has done significantly better at MSG than playing the Knicks at home, scoring five and a half more points per game. That’s almost entirely because of making more three-pointers, though — 46% compared to 26%. In nearly every other stat — free-throw shooting, twopoint-field-goal shooting, rebounds and assists — James has been better at home. If any numbers are likely to sway James to join the Knicks, they’re more likely to have dollar signs attached.

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Everyone Goes Ape Over Tiger (WSJ.com: The Daily Fix) Submitted at 12/3/2009 7:08:43 AM

You may have heard about Tiger Woods? AFP/Getty Images This man is having a bad week. Woods apologized Wednesday for unnamed personal failings, writing on his website, “I have let my family down and I regret those transgressions with all of my heart.” He won’t be appearing at his own charity golf tournament this weekend. Tiger becomes the last sports hero to unwilling reveal a humanity that didn’t match his marketing plan. “For a halfcentury, war heroes, politicians and sports figures have let us down,” Steve Elling writes at CBS Sports. “Never again should we place our trust in another man’s image. Woods was a manufactured persona who played by the rules on the golf course and admittedly cheated off it.” Tiger’s unnamed transgressions aren’t an issue to the Washington Post’s Mike Wilbon. Far from it. “Virtue in sports is whether you can hit a jumper as time expires in the playoffs, or hit 50 home runs in a season, or sink a putt on the 72nd hole to win the Masters,” Wilbon writes. In the Detroit Free Press, Rochelle Riley blames the public for falling for the Tiger myth.

“Tiger is, whether we like it or not, human,” she writes. “He’s just a guy, one who can do stupid guy things.” “This will be remembered as the year that Tiger’s impeccable image took a serious hit,” Sports Illustrated’s Gary Van Sickle writes. SI colleague Michael Bamberger disagrees. Woods has portrayed such a tightly controlled image during his career that the Guardian’s Richard Williams thinks Woods would benefit from a little more openness. The Chicago Tribune’s David Haugh says Tiger can learn a lesson from another imperfect athlete, Michael Jordan. Now that Tiger has admitted he has shortcomings, he deserves his privacy about what those transgressions are, the Telegraph’s Paul Kelso argues.* ** The New Jersey Nets stayed with the Dallas Mavericks for a quarter Wednesday night, giving their fans faint hope they could end their record-tying 17-game losing streak to start an NBA season. No such luck. Dallas rode hot second-quarter shooting to a 27-point lead and an eventual 117-101 victory, sending the Nets to infamy. The record they shared with the 1988-89 Miami Heat and the 1999 Los Angeles Clippers is all theirs now.

“Do you know how hard it is to lose 18 straight games in the NBA?” the New York Post’s Mike Vaccaro writes. “All you had to do was look at what happened across the river Tuesday night, the Knicks blasting the Suns out of the Garden, one of the least of the East clobbering the best in the West. In a league where even the best teams no-show now and again, its almost as hard to lose 18 straight as it is to win 18 straight.” Yahoo’s Adrian Wojnarowski called this game“the Nets’ Super Bowl, three decades of futility preparing them for this march into history, for this inglorious night.” The Nets have been losing money for years, and with hopes of moving to Brooklyn under new ownership, most Garden State fans aren’t about to invest emotionally or with their wallets in this year’s team. But those who do show up and express their displeasure with signs are being threatened with eviction

from the team’s half-full Izod Center, the Star Ledger’s Steve Politi writes.* * * The stakes in the 113th Civil War game Thursday night between Oregon and Oregon State have never been higher. The winner is guaranteed a spot in the Rose Bowl. You might expect such an ancient rivalry to spark rosters chock-full of Oregonians itching to smash into each other. But the great majority of Ducks and Beavers are from out of state, the Journal’s Darren Everson discovers. The two starring running backs, Oregon’s LaMichael James and Oregon State’s Jacquizz Rodgers, hail from Texas, ESPN’s Ted Miller blogs. In the Oregonian, John Canzano implores fans to help make this edition of the Civil War an epic battle.* * * The Fix picks the NFL’s Thursday game, ahead of its Friday picks for the weekend: Week 13 of the NFL season kicks off with a game in Toronto. Unfortunately, the second of five regular-season games the Buffalo Bills will play at Rogers Centre over five years isn’t generating buzz. Could be because it involves the bottom half of the AFC East. N.Y. Jets (-3) vs. Buffalo (at Toronto): The Bills have many reasons for playing eight games (three are preseason) in Toronto

over a five-year span. The biggest: Rogers Communications is paying C$78 million ($74 million in the U.S.) for the privilege, mostly to show that Canada’s biggest city could support an NFL team, at the expense of a city that’s long supported its team but isn’t as economically sound. To keep their slim playoff hopes alive, the Jets must defeat a Bills team that’s won four of the past six meetings. Jets QB Mark Sanchez was horrible in a Week 6 loss to Buffalo, throwing five picks. Playing in an antiseptic domed stadium won’t give the Bills much of a home-away-fromhome-field edge on the Jets, who are only 1-4 against divisional foes this season. Pick: David: Buffalo, Garey: Jets, Al Toonie, the Lucky Canadian Two-Dollar Coin: Buffalo – Tip of the Fix cap to reader Don Hartline. Found a good column from the world of sports? Don’t keep it to yourself — write to us at dailyfix@wsj.com and we’ll consider your find for inclusion in the Daily Fix. You can email Garey at ris84rap@gmail.com.

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Hofstra Pride of Football The Evolution of Soccer Championship Subdivision dropping on Robben Island its football program (WSJ.com: The Daily Fix) Submitted at 12/3/2009 8:26:09 AM

By Mark Schlabach (ESPN.com)

does not generate significant national interest," he said. The decision follows a two-year Submitted at 12/3/2009 9:45:46 AM review of sports spending at Hofstra University is dropping Hofstra. Rabinowitz says there its football team, citing high costs are no plans to cut any other and low interest from the college sports at the school. community. Hofstra has an enrollment of The university, which has 12,400 students and is located in fielded a football team for the Hempstead, N.Y., on Long past 69 years, told its coaching Island. staff Thursday morning that it is School officials told ESPN.com dropping the sport, sources told that athletics director Jack Hayes ESPN.com. and coach Dave Cohen were Hofstra, which has competed in u n a v a i l a b l e f o r c o m m e n t t h e N C A A ' s F o o t b a l l Thursday morning. Championship Subdivision CAA commissioner Thomas (formerly known as Division I- Yeager was unavailable for AA) since 1991, is the second comment, conference spokesman member of the Colonial Athletic Scott Meyer said. Association to drop its football The Pride went 5-6 this past program in the past 10 days. season, tying for third with a 3-5 Northeastern University, in record in the CAA North. Hofstra Boston, announced Nov. 23 it has produced five NFL draft was dropping its program after picks since 1991, including New 74 seasons. Orleans Saints star receiver In a statement, university Marques Colston and Pittsburgh president Stuart Rabinowitz said Steelers tackle Willie Colon. "the choice was painful, but Former Pride quarterback clear." Giovanni Carmazzi was a third"The cost of the football round choice of the San program, now and in the future, Francisco 49ers in 2000, and far exceeds the return possible former New York Jets receiver from an FCS program, which Wayne Chrebet played there.

Patriots cornerback Kyle Arrington, who went undrafted coming out of Hofstra in 2008 but was able to join New England's practice squad this fall, found out about Hofstra's decision when a reporter approached him at his locker Thursday morning. As soon as he turned on his cell phone, it began buzzing with text messages from friends relaying the same news. "The worst we heard was that Cohen was on the hot seat," said Arrington, who was elevated to the active roster Nov. 5 and has appeared in three games. "That was it. ... I can't believe it. We have to get football back." Hofstra's last game was a 52-38 home win over UMass on Nov. 21. The program has an overall record of 403 wins, 268 losses and 11 ties. Mark Schlabach covers college football for ESPN.com. Information from ESPNBoston.com and The Associated Press was used in this report. This content has passed through fivefilters.org.

There are plenty of moments when the gravity of the World Cup coming to South Africa hits like a sledge hammer. Associated Press Children cheer as they pose for photographers before a FIFA Executive Committee meeting on Robben Island Thursday. One of those came Thursday when the world was introduced to members of the Makana Football Association, founded in the 1960s on Robben Island — yes that Robben Island, where Nelson Mandela was jailed for 18 years. Some of his fellow former political prisoners led tours Thursday through the stone barracks of the windswept and desolate island a few miles off Cape Town. When they were imprisoned, it was not enough for them to merely pass some time kicking a bunch of rags or whatever passed for a ball. They organized full association with nine teams, three divisions and a disciplinary system. They kept full records of regulations and play. After first prohibiting games, guards ultimately relented

and took an active interest in following them, leading to warmer relationships with their captives, former prisoners said. “This was a place of adversity and we turned it into a place of virtue,” said Tokyo Sexwale, a former prisoner and association member who is now a leader of the South African World Cup organizers. “We must control football, and they did it well,” added FIFA President Sepp Blatter, who held an executive committee meeting on the island Thursday. Perhaps it’s fitting that Jacob Zuma, another former prisoner was a registered referee with the Makana FA. Zuma is now South Africa’s president and is scheduled to attend Friday’s draw here for the World Cup.

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TIGER continued from page 58

Patrol has completed its investigation in the same professional manner it strives to complete each traffic investigation." ESPN 1000, Chicago PGA golfer Rocco Mediate defends Tiger Woods on "Waddle & Silvy" by stressing that people should stay out of his personal business. More Podcasts » After consulting with the local prosecutor's office, investigators also decided there was insufficient evidence to issue a subpoena that would have given them access to records from his hospital visit after the crash, Montes said. Reached in Sweden by The Associated Press on Wednesday, Woods' father-in-law, Thomas Nordegren, said: "I don't want to comment on this whatsoever."

Woods is also on the cover of the January issue of Golf Digest, a magazine he's had a longstanding relationship with. In a photo illustration, he's pictured with President Barack Obama. The issue offers "10 things Obama could learn from Tiger -and vice versa" according to a Golf Digest news release. A magazine spokeswoman said Tuesday that the issue was printed before the car crash involving Woods. Information from The Associated Press and Reuters is included in this report. This content has passed through fivefilters.org.

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Seattle Seahawks GM Tim Ruskell to step down By Mike Sando (ESPN.com)

agency and the offseason," Ruskell said. "If I am not going to spearhead those meetings and Ruskell Out/Holmgren In? it wasn't going to happen no Ruskell Out/Holmgren In? matter what our record was, you The Seattle Seahawks will become a lame duck. And I did announce general manager Tim not want that." Ruskell's resignation at a news Ruskell is in the final year of a conference Thursday. five-year contract. NFC West blog The Seahawks have an 8-19 ESPN.com's Mike Sando writes record since the beginning of last about all things NFC West in his season. Ruskell's arrival before division blog. the 2005 season precipitated a • Blog network: NFL Nation run to the first and only Super T h e t e a m c a l l e d a n e w s Bowl in Seahawks history. The conference for 1 p.m. ET. team's recent struggles were too When it finally became clear the much for him to overcome. team would not commit to him, Team officials are expected to Ruskell decided the best course provide details Thursday. would be to step down now, Mike Sando covers the NFC particularly as his status had West for ESPN.com. become a distraction. This content has passed through "We were getting ready to go fivefilters.org. into those meetings about free

Comcast to take control of NBC Universal (Financial Times - US homepage) Submitted at 12/3/2009 4:55:35 AM

Submitted at 12/3/2009 8:21:36 AM

Comcast has sealed an agreement to take control of NBC Universal from General Electric in a deal valuing the media property at $30bn that will create one of America’s largest media companies. The top US cable operator will contribute its collection of cable properties including E!, Versus and a portfolio of regional sports television networks worth $7.25bn to a joint venture that features America’s oldest television network and a roster of the most popular cable channels including USA Network, CNBC and Bravo. This content has passed through fivefilters.org.

PlayStation brand celebrates 15th anniversary By Andrew Yoon (Joystiq) Submitted at 12/3/2009 1:00:00 PM

What does 15 years of PlayStation look like? Sony Computer Entertainment Japan has opened a brand new site celebrating the legacy of the PlayStation platform, featuring a

timeline of Sony's major gaming hardware releases, beginning with the launch of the original Japanese PlayStation on December 3rd, 1994. Sony's handheld holds a majority of those dotted events, with every version of the PSP (from the 1000 to the Go) represented.

The "15" year logo is a fun

potpourri of various accessories released throughout the brand's history. In addition to SingStar microphones and Buzz! controllers, you can see Sony playing homage to UMD, PocketStation and rubber ducks - stars of the initial tech demos for both PS2 and PS3.

[Thanks, tmacairjordan87] PlayStation brand celebrates 15th anniversary originally appeared on Joystiq on Thu, 03 Dec 2009 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Read| Permalink| Email this| Comments

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The Saboteur's dayone DLC unlocks nudity, self-loathing By Justin McElroy (Joystiq)

EA aims to reclaim FPS Xbox Live moderators dominance with Medal getting serious about Modern Warfare 2's Javelin glitch of Honor, Battlefield By Ludwig Kietzmann (Joystiq) Submitted at 12/3/2009 12:30:00 PM

"I'm not saying it's going to happen tomorrow, but in the way that Activision sort of alternates sequels of Modern Warfare and Call of Duty and owns the leadership position in FPS [firstperson-shooter], between Medal of Honor and Battlefield, I want it back," EA CEO John Riccitiello declared in an interview with Kotaku. This means war. With the Call of Duty franchise growing into a$3-billion juggernaut, it's no surprise to see EA looking to topple Activision's bulging beast and reap the significant rewards. According to Riccitiello, the newly rebooted

Submitted at 12/3/2009 12:00:00 PM

Here's at least one reason to buy your copy of The Saboteur new: All fresh copies of the game will ship with a code to download DLC, called "The Midnight Show," for free. The pack contains new Parisian hiding By Griffin McElroy (Joystiq) repeatedly, two weeks. Medal of Honor and March's spots, a new minigame and, for For us honest folk, it seems the Battlefield: Bad Company 2 Submitted at 12/3/2009 11:15:00 AM wait for a patch, which will cull better or for worse, the option to represent a strategy of Oh, you think it's funny, making the kamikaze epidemic, will be unlock nudity in the game. "innovation and quality," one he your virtual soldier explode with short. Infinity Ward's Robert If you buy the game sans code, suspects is bolstered by DICE's you'll also be able to pick up the multiplayer expertise. "We think the force of a small supernova Bowling tweeted yesterday that a DLC for $4.99 / 400. But at that every time he gets killed? Yeah, fix is currently being tested, and, we've got an advantage over point, whether you'll admit it or Modern Warfare 2 with our we suppose it is. Know what else "once it's cleared, we'll be urging not, you're basically paying to multiplayer," he suggested. "The is funny? Getting banned from it through Microsoft & Sony see digi-boobies ... and if you do guys at DICE do that really, Xbox Live. Oh, wait, did we say certification as fast as possible." that, we're just not sure we can be f u n n y ? W e m e a n t r e a l l y Keep the fire, troops. We can really well." friends with you any more. So, you think the console wars unpleasant. However, according make it through this thing The Saboteur's day-one DLC to Xbox Live's Director of Policy together. are intense? Just wait until you a n d E n f o r c e m e n t , S t e p h e n Xbox Live moderators getting unlocks nudity, self-loathing see the war ... wars. originally appeared on Joystiq on E A a i m s t o r e c l a i m F P S Toulouse, using Modern Warfare serious about Modern Warfare Thu, 03 Dec 2009 12:00:00 EST. 2's Javelin glitch (an unsavory 2's Javelin glitch originally dominance with Medal of Honor, Please see our terms for use of Battlefield originally appeared on practice demoed in this video) is appeared on Joystiq on Thu, 03 feeds. Joystiq on Thu, 03 Dec 2009 cheating, as defined by the Dec 2009 11:15:00 EST. Please Permalink| Email this| 12:30:00 EST. Please see our s e r v i c e ' s T e r m s o f U s e . see our terms for use of feeds. Comments According to Toulouse, anyone Read| Permalink| Email this| terms for use of feeds. Read| Permalink| Email this| caught self-detonating will be Comments banned for 24 hours, or if caught Comments

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People Don’t Wear Black in LA? Really? By ELLE.com (ELLE News Blog) Submitted at 12/2/2009 1:50:31 PM

Capcom porting Phoenix Wright Ace Attorney to iPhone By JC Fletcher (Joystiq)

details for the release. For reference, the WiiWare version of the first episode is priced at The Wii isn't the only new venue 900 Wii Points in Japan(with a into which Phoenix Wright is 300-point charge for the extra expanding his legal business. fifth case) and 1,000 in North Today, at the Apple Store in America(with the last case as a Ginza, Capcom revealed a 100-point download). version of the first Phoenix [Via Andriasang] Wright: Ace Attorney for iPhone Capcom porting Phoenix Wright and iPod Touch. It uses the same A c e A t t o r n e y t o i P h o n e unaltered Game Boy Advance originally appeared on Joystiq on graphics that have graced the DS Thu, 03 Dec 2009 11:45:00 EST. and WiiWare versions, along Please see our terms for use of with new "flick"-based controls. feeds. Finally, a device that can both Read| Permalink| Email this| play the game and the Steel Comments Samurai ringtone! Capcom didn't offer date or price Submitted at 12/3/2009 11:45:00 AM

I’ve only been to Los Angeles twice, the majority of my time spent either in a hotel room or stuck in glacial paced traffic, so on last night’s season finale of The City, when designer Whitney Port proffered “No one in LA wears black” as a counterargument to the Bergdorf Goodman panel’s suggestion that her white, shoulder cut-out textured mini might sell better in the darker hue, I was confused. Don’t wear black? Like, ever? Like, enough so that a designer would really go so far as to omit it entirely from their first collection and then, without hesitation, state the fact as if it were just that, fact, to “the most

important department store [buyers] in the world”? (as La Cutrone said of BG’s Linda Fargo, Ginny Hersey-Lambert, and Sunni Spencer). Before I could mull it over too long, as has happened in almost every episode this season, Whitney’s inner-dialogue-less friend Roxy Olin stepped in and set things askew by announcing that she, also a native LA-er, does wear the official color of the fashion industry in her hometown. In other words, for no real reason other than to live up to her role as saboteur d'ami, Roxy joined team BG, leaving poor Whit to flail in all her floralness, alone. And without a contract. So, what’s the deal with the ‘no black’ thing? Is that true across

the board, or just among certain demographics? And if it is true, is it in part because people in LA think of all-black as a badge of NYC dishonor? Which leads me to something else: I read the comments every day in the Street Chic posts on this site and a good half are always deriding the woman (or the ELLE photographer who snapped her) for stepping out sans color—why do so many think an outfit without reds and purples and greens is inferior? And why, in some cases with some people, does an all-black outfit git’cha so upset? Photo: WireImage Follow ELLE on Twitter. Become our Facebook fan!

Colo. Deputies Use Taser on 'Out of Control' 10-Year-Old (FOXNews.com) Submitted at 12/3/2009 5:54:11 AM

PUEBLO, Colo. Colorado sheriff's deputies shocked an "out of control" 10-year-old child with a Taser and arrested him. Pueblo Sheriff's Capt. Jeff Teschner said Wednesday that the boy was not hurt when deputies took action Monday

after arriving at his foster home, where he was reportedly destroying property. Teschner says deputies were justified in their use of force. The deputies say the youth threatened them with a pipe and a stick, and threw a piece of wood at them. The boy was arrested on suspicion of menacing with a deadly weapon.

Last month, a police officer in a small Arkansas town was fired after using a stun gun on an unruly 10-year-old girl, not for using the Taser but for violating department policy by failing to use the camera attached to it. This content has passed through fivefilters.org.

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Christian Cota’s Party-Perfect Holiday Line By ELLE.com (ELLE News Blog) Submitted at 12/2/2009 2:46:46 PM

Designer Christian Cota presented his first ever holiday collection last night, with friend and Ugly Betty star Ana Ortiz by his side. Cota, looking all aglow after a trip home to the beaches of Mexico, can also count Leighton Meester, Blake Lively, Eva Longoria Parker, and Rose Byrne as loyal fans. The new collection, available through his just-launched e-commerce site starting today, has a heartfelt

back-story. After seeing a CNN special on Doc Hendley (founder of Wine to Water, a nonprofit which provides clean water through the sale of wine, and a 2009 CNN Hero), Cota was

(Cota will donate 25 percent of sales to Wine for Water). Click here to watch the inspiring CNN documentary on Doc Hendley. Christian Cota and Doc Hendley, at right , wearing limited edition tees, celebrate with Ana Ortiz, in a silk jersey draped dress, and Nate Berkus Photo: Cindy Yon inspired to get involved. The —Violet Moon Gaynor result: party-ready dresses, Follow ELLE on Twitter. sequin skirts, and the perfect chic Become our Facebook fan! and cheap gift—a limited edition hand-painted T-shirt for women and men, which retails for $60

Divine Design Shopping Extravaganza Kicks Off in Los Angeles By ELLE.com (ELLE News Blog)

fashion, beauty, and home items at 50 to 90 percent off (every penny will go to Project Angel Submitted at 12/2/2009 3:55:16 PM Food, a volunteer-driven From the Fairfax flea market to organization that gives out more DecadesTwo, Los Angeles is a than 13,000 meals each week to city filled with exciting shopping those living with HIV/AIDS, destinations. Starting tomorrow, cancer and other life-threatening L.A. shoppers are about to get illnesses throughout L.A.). even luckier as Divine Design, ELLE’s very own Joe Zee served t h e c i t y ’ s l a r g e s t f a s h i o n as fashion chair, bringing in strikingly chic women will be fundraising event, kicks off its donations from designers like honored—Barbie is this year’s 17th year. The five-day shopping YSL and BCBG. At the opening Fashion Icon (with a special e x t r a v a g a n z a w i l l i n c l u d e night gala tomorrow night, two

runway show and a pop-up shop of collectibles), while Mad Men’s Christina Hendricks will be named 2009’s Woman of Style. Divine indeed. Click here to purchase tickets to the event. —Violet Moon Gaynor Follow ELLE on Twitter. Become our Facebook fan!

Wal-Mart Greeter Hospitalized After Being Punched by Shopper (FOXNews.com) Submitted at 12/3/2009 6:57:28 AM

NORTH VERSAILLES, Pa. A 72-year-old Wal-Mart greeter is in the hospital after being punched in the face by a Pittsburgh-area man. Surveillance video shows Thomas Jenkins standing at the entrance to the Wal-Mart in a town about 13 miles southeast of Pittsburgh. A man comes around the corner, punches Jenkins in the face and the elderly man falls to the ground. North Versailles Police Sgt. Vince DiCenzo says 55-year-old Paul Washington of North Versailles has been arrested and charged with punching Jenkins. DiCenzo says the attack appears unprovoked. He says Washington denies hitting Jenkins. Jenkins is being treated in a local hospital for broken facial bones. It is not immediately clear if Washington has an attorney. This content has passed through fivefilters.org.

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Ohio serial killer suspect pleads insanity (AP) (Yahoo! News: U.S. News) Submitted at 12/3/2009 7:36:56 AM

Terminal 5 Rave With Deadmau5 By ELLE.com (ELLE News Blog)

range of sounds coupled with light fixtures that moved simultaneously with the music Submitted at 12/2/2009 1:29:42 PM were entrancing and I soon found Surrounded by neon glow sticks, myself just as mesmerized as pacifiers, and a lot of crop tops I everyone else. The highlight of e n t e r e d t h e r a v e s c e n e a t the set was "Sometimes Things Terminal 5 last Wednesday Get, Whatever," which featured a night. The bi-level theater was s t e a d y p u l s e b a s s b e a t overflowing with hundreds of emphasized by Deadmau5's electro house music enthusiasts, signature twist. It was a great all raging to the hypnotic sounds show from beginning to end and blaring from the speakers. After I see now why he was named one an impressive set from a handful of the top ten DJs in the world. o f g r e a t h o u s e m u s i c D J s —Jade Frampton, Market Editor Deadmau5 (pronounced "dead- Follow ELLE on Twitter. mouse"), the night’s headliner, Become our Facebook fan! took the stage, ready to finish off an already hysterical crowd. His

CLEVELAND – A registered sex offender accused of killing 11 women and leaving their remains in and around his Cleveland home pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity Thursday to all charges. Anthony Sowell, 50, was arraigned by video hookup from jail. He kept his cuffed hands on his lap, occasionally looking at an overhead screen showing the courtroom crowded with TV crews. Asked by Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Judge Eileen J. Gallagher if he was pleading not guilty by reason of insanity to an 85-count indictment, the softspoken Sowell responded, "Yes, your honor." Sowell was indicted Tuesday on charges that include murder, rape, assault and corpse abuse. He is accused of murdering 11 women and attack three others who survived. He could get the death penalty if convicted of any of the killings. The prosecutor asked for $14 million bond — $1 million for each victim — but the judge

ordered him jailed without bond. He has been held in an isolation cell at the county jail. Sowell's court-appointed defense attorney, Brian McGraw, attended the arraignment but said later he didn't know if he would continue to handle the case and couldn't comment. Assistant Cuyahoga County Prosecutor Richard Bombik said outside court that the insanity plea wouldn't affect the state's case and said he was confident Sowell would be ruled competent to stand trial. An insanity defense requires a finding that the person suffers from a severe mental illness and cannot distinguish between right and wrong. "I think he will fail miserably on both accounts," Bombik said. When his defense team is settled, psychiatric testing is likely. The issue will be handled by the trial judge beginning with a pretrial hearing Monday. Authorities have said Sowell lured vulnerable women, typically homeless or living alone and with drug or alcohol addictions, to his home and attacked them. Of the 11 alleged victims, all black women, 10

have been identified. The remains of 10 women and a skull were found in his home and buried in the yard. A search of Sowell's former home on Wednesday turned up no new bodies, the FBI said. Agents using cadaver dogs spent hours looking inside and outside the East Cleveland house where Sowell lived before going to prison for 15 years for a 1989 attempted rape. They took some items, but FBI spokesman Scott Wilson declined to identify what they were and said there were no plans to resume the search. The renewed search, Wilson said, was part of a wider FBI investigation into the Sowell case, including previously reported plans to search outside the Cleveland area in states he lived while in the military. Sowell served in the Marines from 1978-85 with assignments at Parris Island, S.C.; Camp Lejeune and Cherry Point, N.C.; Camp Pendleton, Calif.; and Okinawa, Japan. This content has passed through fivefilters.org.