Liberty Newsprint Dec-14-09 by Liberty Newspost

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The First Draft: What will be in Obama’s Christmas stocking?

France returns 'stolen' relics to Egypt

By David Morgan (Front Row Washington)

(World news and comment from the Guardian | guardian.co.uk)

Submitted at 12/14/2009 7:42:22 AM

The last thing Republicans want to see this Christmas is the U.S. Senate giving President Barack Obama a nicely wrapped package of health care reform legislation. Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele made that plain today. He hopes the Senate will be a lousy Santa who leaves nothing in Obama’s Christmas stocking. “I hope so. I really do,” he told NBC’s Today show. Steele says that’s because the American public doesn’t want the kind of healthcare legislation that Senate Democratic leaders have been talking about lately. “People are not listening to what folks back at home are saying. I think the latest polls are showing up to 60 percent of the people want this thing either stopped, slowed down or somehow modified,” Steele said. Steele may have been referring

to a recent Fox News poll that showed 57 percent of Americans opposing healthcare legislation now under consideration. That’s the highest level of opposition Fox has found so far. Other polls have painted a more complex picture of American sentiment. The Kaiser Foundation’s health tracking poll for November found that 58 percent of Americans want reform. Thirty-three percent said they want Obama and Congress to tackle reform even though they don’t like what they’re hearing out of Washington.

Some media commentators seem to think the Senate will fail to reach a compromise by Christmas and point to fresh criticism from lawmakers including independent Sen. Joe Lieberman of Connecticut as evidence that reform is in trouble. But that doesn’t seem to matter much to Obama adviser David Axelrod, who pointed out on ABC’s Good Morning America that Christmas has yet to be cancelled. “I think that they can get it done. I hope that they will get it done. We’re working day and night with them to get it done,” he said. “The president said many times that healthcare would be pronounced dead five times before he signed the bill,” Axelrod added. Photo Credit: Reuters/David Moir (Santas) Click here for more political coverage from Reuters

Hawass, cut ties with the Louvre in October. France said the fragments had been acquired "in good faith" in 2000 and 2003 , Submitted at 12/14/2009 9:36:03 AM though it said doubts emerged Fragments of ancient wall last year about whether the pieces painting, which were subject of a had been taken from Egypt dispute with Louvre Museum, illegally years before. handed back Hawass is leading aggressive France has handed over five efforts to reclaim what he says fragments of an ancient wall are antiquities stolen from the painting at the centre of a dispute country and purchased by leading between Egypt and the Louvre world museums. The move Museum. against the Louvre was one of the President Nicolas Sarkozy biggest escalations yet in his showed one of the fragments – a efforts. slab with sepia and blue tones • France featuring two figures in profile – • Egypt to his Egyptian counterpart, • Art Hosni Mubarak, after the two men had lunch in Paris today. guardian.co.uk© Guardian News Egyptian officials said the & Media Limited 2009 | Use of artefacts, from a 3,200-year-old this content is subject to our tomb near Luxor, were stolen in Terms & Conditions| More Feeds the 1980s. Egypt's chief archaeologist, Zahi

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A tragedy for Western Sahara | Brian Eno and Stefan Simanowitz By Stefan Simanowitz, Brian Eno (World news and comment from the Guardian | guardian.co.uk) Submitted at 12/14/2009 10:10:00 AM

As the world's diplomats duel over her destiny, Aminatou Haidar, on the 29th day of her hunger strike, could be hours from death Anyone who has seen Hunger, Steve McQueen's harrowing film about the Maze prison hunger strike, will have some idea of just how horrific it is to die by starvation. Bobby Sands, a fit 27year-old man, survived 66 days without food. Aminatou Haidar, a delicate 42-year-old, is on the 29th day of her hunger strike; with a perforated ulcer and a constitution weakened by years of imprisonment and torture, there are fears that she will not survive much longer. She is now too weak to stand, and the director of Lanzarote hospital, Domingo de Guzmán, has warned that Haidar's life expectancy is now "hours or days rather than weeks". Listing her symptoms as hypotension, nausea, anaemia, muscularskeletal atrophy and gastric haemorrhaging, Dr Guzman believes she is nearing an irreversible deterioration that could result in her death even if

she were to abandon the hunger strike. But abandoning her strike is not something Haidar, a human rights activist nominated for the Nobel peace prize, will countenance unless her single demand – to be allowed to return to her country – is met. Haidar has been on hunger strike in Lanzarote airport since being deported there from her home in Western Sahara on 15 November. Two days earlier she had flown back to Laayoune, the largest city in Western Sahara, from New York, where she had picked up the Train Foundation's Civil Courage human rights award. On her arrival in Laayoune she wrote her address on her landing card as being in "Western Sahara" rather than "Morocco". As a Saharawi, she has never recognised Moroccan sovereignty over her native land which has been occupied by Morocco in breach of international law for over 34 years. In the past Morocco has chosen to overlook her numerous "landing card protests", but on this occasion she was interrogated, stripped of her passport and expelled to the volcanic Canary Island which lies less than 80 miles off the African coast. Spain offered to give Haidar refugee status or Spanish citizenship so she could be

allowed to return home, but she rejected both options on the grounds that she did not want to become "a foreigner in her own land". According to Human Rights Watch, her forced expulsion breached Article 12 (4) of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights(ICCPR), ratified by Morocco, which makes it clear that no one can be arbitrarily deprived of the right to enter their own country. In addition, by preventing her return to Western Sahara, Spanish authorities may have breached both Spanish national law and Article 2 of Protocol 4 of the European convention for the protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms. Article 12 (2) of the ICCPR also stipulates that everyone shall be free to leave any country. On 4 December, perhaps after having been made aware of the legal situation, Spain laid on a private aircraft to carry Haidar back to Laayoune. As she boarded the plane with Agustin Santos, of the Spanish foreign ministry, it seemed as if Haidar had won a significant victory. However, celebrations among Saharawis and campaigners around the world were shortlived when it emerged that the Spanish had not received any

agreement from Morocco to allow her return. In a hastily organised press conference held soon after tearful supporters had watched Haidar being stretchered back into the airport terminal, Santos claimed that Spain had attempted "to facilitate the exercise of her right to return to her country" and could do no more. This statement was greeted with incredulity by the Spanish media, and the Zapatero government has come under increasing internal and international pressure to do more to resolve the crisis. Indeed, today Hillary Clinton was due to discuss the issue with Spain's foreign minister, Miguel Angel Moratinos. Last week the UN secretary general, Ban-Ki moon, urged the Moroccan foreign minister to re-admit Haidar. The European Union has also urged Morocco to "meet its human rights obligations". Morocco has taken a firm line on the matter, with the foreign minister, Taieb Fassi-Fihri, insisting that Haidar had " disowned her identity and her nationality" and "must accept, on her own, the legal and moral consequences which result from this behaviour". Morocco has also demanded that she offer an apology for questioning Morocco's claim to sovereignty

over what is a former Spanish colony – a claim that has not been recognised by a single nation and was rejected by the international court of justice. Haidar's deportation has been condemned by governments, civil society groups and human rights organisations across the world. Her action has raised awareness of the forgotten injustice perpetrated against her people, but the cost may be high. Imelda Gonzalez, one of many campaigners who travelled to Lanzarote to offer their support, is aware that Haidar is irreplaceable. "Western Sahara has had so many martyrs, they do not need another. Her death would be a tragic loss to the world and its leaders must act together and act quickly to save Aminatou." As high-level discussions take place around the world, Haidar is on the brink of death. Biology knows nothing of politics. • Protest • Morocco • Spain • Human rights Stefan Simanowitz Brian Eno guardian.co.uk© Guardian News & Media Limited 2009 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions| More Feeds

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Don't blame the internet for extremism | Tim Stevens By Tim Stevens (World news and comment from the Guardian | guardian.co.uk)

passage to a Pakistani safe house. The incident has raised further concerns that young Americans with links to Muslim populations Submitted at 12/14/2009 10:02:35 AM in Asia and Africa are travelling Concerns about YouTube users to Pakistan to connect with b e i n g r e c r u i t e d b y j i h a d i s extremist Islamist groups of shouldn't lead us to treat the various stripes. The internet, internet as a 'battlespace' unsurprisingly, is implicated in The arrest last week of five t h i s p r o c e s s , a s r e l i a b l e y o u n g A m e r i c a n m e n i n communications are crucial to Sargodha, Pakistan has reopened f o r g i n g a n d m a i n t a i n i n g the debate over the role of the transnational networks. Its speed internet in radicalising and and relative anonymity are recruiting young Muslims into eminently suitable for remaining terrorist networks – and how below the radar of intelligence states should respond to it. and law enforcement. The five, currently being The events in the Punjab questioned by the FBI ahead of prompted John Arquilla, a possible extradition to the US, prominent academic and analyst are all said to have watched c l o s e t o t h e A m e r i c a n jihadi videos on YouTube government, to accuse US involving footage of insurgent agencies of giving jihadis a " free attacks on allied troops in ride in the virtual domain". This Afghanistan. After one of the i s u n t r u e , g i v e n t h e l e g a l men left an approving comment provisions afforded the National on one of these clips, they are Security Agency and others, and alleged to have come under the the effort they are expending on influence of a net-trawling this issue. His statements also middleman calling himself ignore the success the US and its " S a i f u l l a h " . A c c o r d i n g t o allies have had in using the Pakistani law enforcement, internet to track and trace Saifullah contacted the five men suspects, although it would be and eventually facilitated their disingenuous to suggest that they

are as effective as they might be. Arquilla suggests that we need to reimagine our relationship with cyberspace, and treat it as a "battlespace" analogous to the physical domains of land, sea, air and space. Militaries have been doing this for some time. As an integral part of warfare, cyberspace has long been viewed as a space in which wars can be won or lost; it is right that militaries develop capabilities for protecting citizens and soldiers in this way. Information operations of many different types are important facets of the expeditionary wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, for example. Unfortunately for average users of the peacetime internet, treating all cyberspace as "battlespace" is a deeply unedifying idea. Domestic terrorism is not a war: it is a security issue. Allowing state agencies unrestricted access to personal data, internet browsing histories and email logs will not make terrorism disappear. Nor will it make extremists "leave the virtual world," as Arquilla claims, although there is a valid argument for making their

activities more difficult and awkward. Total cybersecurity is impossible. The only sensible approach is risk management, and there will always be cracks in any system, no matter how sophisticated the surveillance and analysis. As we are often told, the internet is a big place, and it is unrealistic to expect that states can sensibly be involved in the internet in all its myriad manifestations. Do we seriously think that the "Sargodha Five" might not have attempted to get to Pakistan some other way? Would they not have gone the old-school routes of letters and telephony, as did those who volunteered for the Republicans in the Spanish civil war, and a dozen other conflicts? Yes, the internet helped, but it was not the only factor in their eventual passage to Pakistan. Of course the net is a valuable tool for extremists. It is not, however, the cause of radicalisation and extremism. Any expanded state involvement should be thought through carefully, and delivered with appropriate transparency and

27-inch iMacs sucking wind, orders backing up By John Biggs (CrunchGear) Submitted at 12/14/2009 7:15:20 AM

The 27-inch iMac, darling of all and sundry, are having some shipping issues. Orders are currently backed up two weeks

and the litany of problems, including broken displays and busted hard drives, shows us that this model wasn’t quite fully baked. CNET has Apple saying that inconvenience but there have t h e y a p o l o g i z e f o r t h e been enough problems to warrant

a clever problem tracking website along with a Flash web app for display testing. Anyone else having problems?

firm oversight. Arquilla is right to argue for better co-operation between law enforcement and intelligence agencies, but we should be very wary of ramping up covert state activities in cyberspace on the basis of a few individuals who, let's not forget, were apprehended before committing any acts of terrorism. State agencies could perhaps do better, but increased powers are not necessarily the way forward in combating terrorist use of the internet. • This article was amended on 14 December 2009. The original referred to David Ronfeldt when it should have referred to John Arquilla. This has been corrected • Global terrorism • United States • US foreign policy • Pakistan • Islam • YouTube • Internet Tim Stevens guardian.co.uk© Guardian News & Media Limited 2009 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions| More Feeds

New Movies on DVD & Blu-ray: December 15 (ETonline - Breaking News) Submitted at 12/14/2009 6:01:00 AM

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Tiny Nauru struts world stage by recognising breakaway republics By Luke Harding (World news and comment from the Guardian | guardian.co.uk) Submitted at 12/14/2009 9:35:15 AM

Pacific atoll once famed for exporting bird droppings is to recognise Russian-backed Abkhazia and South Ossetia for £31m aid It is 8 square miles in size, home to 11,320 citizens and looks like a small dinner plate dropped into the gleaming South Pacific. But today the tiny atoll nation of Nauru achieved a rare moment in the international spotlight by saying it will recognise the republics of Abkhazia and South Ossetia. According to Kommersant newspaper, Russia is preparing to give hard-up Nauru $50m (£30.74m) in humanitarian aid. In return Nauru will establish relations with the two Russianbacked territories. The Kremlin has been frantic to secure international recognition for both regions since its punitive war last year with Georgia. So far only Venezuela and Nicaragua have followed Moscow's lead, with the rest of the world regarding the rebel provinces as Georgian territory. Even Kremlin allies such as Belarus declined. In mounting desperation, Russia courted Nauru's foreign minister, Kieren Keke. Over the weekend, Keke dropped in to South

Ossetia's capital, Tskhinvali. The Russian foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, who normally grapples with weightier issues such as Iran's nuclear programme, also invited Keke for talks. Today Keke was unavailable for comment and the island's website appeared to have conked out. Observers suggested Russia's latest diplomatic initiative was worthy of ridicule. "I don't see the sense in this," said Alexander Privalov, a columnist and political analyst in Moscow. According to Privalov, Nauru has previously taken money to recognise the independence of Kosovo and Taiwan. In July 2002, Nauru accepted $130m from China to de-recognise Taiwan only to re-recognise it in 2005 after apparently receiving another, better offer. "It seems that political démarches are a kind of business in Nauru. It's a custom there, a bit like wearing a tie," Privalov said. "I can't really understand what Russia gets out of this. It may be about making us look more decent." Germany annexed the island in 1888 and incorporated it into the Marshall Islands Protectorate. Australia occupied it during the first world war, and it subsequently became a mandate country administered by Australia, New Zealand and the

UK, with a brief violent incursion by Japan during the second world war. Home to a Pacific people with a unique language, Nauru became independent in 1968. It joined the UN in 1999. The republic, which lies just south of the equator, has been in economic trouble for a decade or so. In 2000 its main resource, fossilised bird droppings mined for their valuable phosphates, began to run out. The island experimented by becoming a tax haven. From 2001 until last year Nauru took in asylum seekers in a money-spinning deal with neighbouring Australia. According to Kommersant, Nauru's parliament will legislate on South Ossetia and Abkhazia in the current winter session. Nauru officials may also visit Abkhazia – another somewhat larger micro-territory on the Black Sea. "We will be asking other Oceania countries to help us in the same way," South Ossetia's speaker, Stanislav Kochiev, told the paper. Some analysts put a more positive spin on the development, predicting that other tiny island states in Oceania could emulate Nauru. "These small exotic countries make their living from tourism and the issue of collectors' stamps and coins," said Alexei Makarkin, deputy director of the

Centre for Political Technologies in Moscow. "These countries need to advertise themselves. Recognition of Abkhazia and South Ossetia may become their PR act. I don't rule out recognition statements from several states in the region, in addition to Nauru,"' he told the Interfax news agency . He added: "This is good for the image of Abkhazia and South Ossetia because they can now say they are recognised by four countries." Russia's attempt to buy international support on the issue has not always ended happily. In October, Moscow offered Ecuador's president, Rafael Correa, $200m in loans when he popped into Moscow. Correa subsequently failed to recognise South Ossetia and Abkhazia, and Russia responded by not giving him the money. Last night the Russian foreign ministry spokesman, Igor LiakinFrolov, said he was too busy to comment. • Nauru • Russia • Georgia Luke Harding guardian.co.uk© Guardian News & Media Limited 2009 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions| More Feeds

EU staff stage three-hour warning strike over pay (World news and comment from the Guardian | guardian.co.uk) Submitted at 12/14/2009 9:53:46 AM

Hundreds of European Union staff join industrial action over pay increase opposed by half of member states Hundreds of European Union staff today staged a warning strike to push wage demands and threatened to block EU ministerial meetings later this week. The civil servants want a 3.7% pay increase in line with commitments made earlier. About half the EU member states say a pay increase is inappropriate in times of economic crisis. The FFPE trade union, representing the civil servants, said some 2,500 people – over half of the staff of the council – showed up for the three-hour warning strike. European commission and European parliament staff did not take part. • European Union guardian.co.uk© Guardian News & Media Limited 2009 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions| More Feeds

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Exxon Mobil moves into natural gas Apple iPhone sales pick with XTO Energy buyout up in China, but still at dismal pace By Andrew Clark (World news and comment from the Guardian | guardian.co.uk)

independence for America – a goal of the Obama administration, which wants to wean the US off its dependence Submitted at 12/14/2009 9:59:06 AM on foreign oil. • America's largest oil company "XTO's strengths, together with will pay $41bn to XTO Exxon Mobil's advanced R&D • Exxon looking to tap into and operational capabilities, 'unconventional' resources global scale and financial America's largest oil company, c a p a c i t y , s h o u l d e n a b l e Exxon Mobil, placed a huge bet d e v e l o p m e n t o f a d d i t i o n a l on the future of gas-fuelled supplies of unconventional oil power yesterday by striking a and gas resources, benefiting $41bn (£25bn) deal to buy a consumers both here in the US T e x a s - b a s e d p r o d u c t i o n and around the world," said company, XTO Energy, giving it Tillerson.With natural gas prices access to potentially lucrative languishing at historic lows, the natural gas reserves across the deal is a sign that Exxon sees US. long-term prospects in gas as an The buyout is the sixth largest alternative to coal. Once the deal c o r p o r a t e d e a l o f 2 0 0 9 is wrapped up, Exxon said it worldwide and is Exxon's largest would establish a new upstream move since its formation through organisation to manage so-called the merger of Exxon and Mobil "unconventional" resources in 1999. XTO is the top US which were once regarded as too player in natural gas, with i n a c c e s s i b l e t o t a p c o s t operations stretching from Texas e f f e c t i v e l y . to New Mexico, West Virginia, The headline price of the North Dakota and Wyoming. takeover amounts to less than a In an all-share deal, Exxon is year's profit for Exxon, which issuing 0.7 new shares for each produced earnings of $45.2bn in XTO share. The headline price of 2008 – the largest ever for a US $41bn includes the assumption c o m p a n y . B u t a l t h o u g h i t by Exxon of $10bn of debt. generates an enormous amount of Exxon's chief executive, Rex cash, Exxon has been slower than Tillerson, described it as a rivals such as BP to jump into positive step towards energy natural gas and has faced anger

from environmental groups over its refusal to invest in sustainable forms of energy. Kert Davies, research director for Greenpeace US, said the process of burning gas emitted far less carbon than burning coal: "If this is in any way an indication that they're leaning towards cleaner burning fuels or that they have an instinct to clean up their act, then that's news. For XTO, the buyout ends 23 years of independence. The company, which is based in Houston, made profits of $1.91bn last year and has been steadily increasing its production target for 2009. XTO's chairman, Bob Simpson, said: "As the world's leading energy company, Exxon Mobil will build on our success and open new opportunities for the development of natural gas and oil resources on a global basis. • Exxon Mobil • Oil • Oil and gas companies • United States Andrew Clark guardian.co.uk© Guardian News & Media Limited 2009 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions| More Feeds

By Brian White (BloggingStocks) Submitted at 12/14/2009 12:30:00 PM

Filed under: Competitive strategy, Apple Inc (AAPL), China Apple ( AAPL) saw limited success in China when it recently debuted its iPhone there. Although the Chinese really weren't all that impressed by the device's requirement of an expensive calling plan from Apple partner China Unicom, the iPhone has sold fairly well since its debut. Or, it has sold poorly depending on your perspective. In two months, China Unicom has sold a little over 100,000 Apple iPhones. Compare that with China Mobile, China Unicom's largest competitor and the largest mobile carrier in China, which apparently doesn't feel threatened by the lackluster sales performance of the iPhone.

Indeed, a mobile market with a 1.3 billion potential customer base and the comparison of 100,000 handsets sold for a device that has seemingly revolutionized the entire mobile industry don't appear to belong in the same sentence, right? Continue reading Apple iPhone sales pick up in China, but still at dismal pace Apple iPhone sales pick up in China, but still at dismal pace originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 14 Dec 2009 12:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink| Email this| Comments

Web accessibility no longer an afterthought By Tom Krazit (Webware.com) Submitted at 12/14/2009 4:00:00 AM

Thanks to the work of Internet accessibility advocates, the

world's move to the Web is more and more available to those with disabilities. Originally posted at Relevant Results

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Nike stands by sponsorship of Tiger MBIA booted from S&P Woods despite 'indiscretions' 500 Index By Matthew Weaver (World news and comment from the Guardian | guardian.co.uk)

Gillette have said they would limit the use of Woods in its marketing But Nike will continue to Submitted at 12/14/2009 10:11:10 AM sponsor him. It has too much to C h a i r m a n o f s p o r t s w e a r lose to do otherwise. Nike has company gives unequivocal invested heavily in Woods and backing and describes golfer's built its entire range of golf troubles as 'a minor blip' sportswear and equipment around His marriage may be in deep him. It signed him up in 1996 trouble but Tiger Woods's main when Woods turned professional sponsor – Nike – is standing by in a deal worth $40m (£25m) a its man. year. Before then, it had not Phil Knight, the chairman and co entered the golf market. -founder of the sportswear Despite the public backing, in c o m p a n y , h a s g i v e n h i s private Knight and the other Nike unequivocal backing to Woods at executives must be nervous about a time when other sponsors are Woods's future in the game. The distancing themselves from the company's association with world's top golfer. Knight said: Woods, like that with other "When his career is over, you'll sporting greats, has fuelled Nike's look back on these indiscretions expansion. as a minor blip." Speaking to the It has built a brand with the Sports Business Journal, Knight slogan Just Do It, by associating brushed off the scandal engulfing with controversial sportsmen, Woods as "part of the game" of from whom more conservative sponsorship deals. sponsors have shied away. Other Woods has announced he is Nike stars have included John taking an"indefinite" break from McEnroe, Ronaldo and Michael golf after admitting infidelity. Jordan. The admission prompted the In his interview, Knight said of financial services company Woods: "I think he's been really Accenture to sever links with great". Woods. Proctor & Gamble and Woods continues to feature

prominently on Nike's website. "Being the best takes dedication, patience and insight. For Tiger Woods, these are the pillars of his approach," it says. The Swiss watchmaker Tag Heuer said it would also continue to sponsor Woods, saying the company did not care about the golfer's private life. Company spokeswoman Mariam Sylla said the sponsorship was unchanged because Woods remained the world's best golfer. "He's the best in his domain. We respect his performance in the sport," she said, adding that Woods's personal life was "not our business." Tag Heuer has been sponsoring Woods since 2002. Before the current scandal it was estimated that Woods earned around $100m a year in endorsements. • Tiger Woods • Golf • United States

By Elizabeth Harrow (BloggingStocks) Submitted at 12/14/2009 12:45:00 PM

Filed under: Major movement, Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMY), S and P 500, MBIA Inc (MBI) Standard & Poor's is performing some end-of-year cleanup on its benchmark index, the S&P 500 Index (SPX). My colleague Mark Fightmaster reported earlier that Visa ( V) is set to replace Ciena Corp. ( CIEN) on the widely watched market barometer, but that's not the only SPX development hitting Wall Street today. In fact, struggling insurance issue MBIA Inc. ( MBI) is preparing to take its leave from the venerable index. In a press release late Friday, Standard & Poor's explained that MBIA "currently ranks 500th in the index and is no longer representative of the S&P 500

Matthew Weaver guardian.co.uk© Guardian News & Media Limited 2009 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions| More Feeds

TwitVid gets a real-time search engine, analytics By Josh Lowensohn (Webware.com) Submitted at 12/14/2009 5:00:00 AM

Twitter video host TwitVid finally has a search engine that pulls in results in real time. The service is also now offering its

users a way to see who is watching their videos. Originally posted at Web Crawler

index market cap space." The beaten-down insurance company will be replaced by Mead Johnson Nutrition ( MJN), which is in the process of being spun off by Bristol-Myers Squibb ( BMY). Continue reading MBIA booted from S&P 500 Index MBIA booted from S&P 500 Index originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 14 Dec 2009 12:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink| Email this| Comments

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Aol pushes ICQ, talking Walmart trying to keep new customers by to Digital Sky By Tom Johansmeyer (BloggingStocks) Submitted at 12/14/2009 11:45:00 AM

Filed under: Deals, Rumors, Internet, Time Warner (TWX), Technology Digital Sky Technologies may be looking to grow its online empire a little bit. The Russian investment firm is said to be making a play for Aol's ( AOL) ICQ instant messaging service. A report in the Wall Street Journal, which cites sources familiar with the talks, says that the discussions are still in early stages. And, in case Digital Sky doesn't bite, Aol is exploring options with other companies. The WSJ puts the possible sale price at $200 million to $300 million. Back in July, Digital Sky pumped another $100 million

enhancing store experience By Brian White (BloggingStocks)

GAO audit of the Fed would represent a giant step -- backward

Submitted at 12/14/2009 12:00:00 PM

Filed under: Consumer experience, Competitive strategy, Wal-Mart (WMT) into Facebook, paying $14.77 a Walmart's ( WMT) new "Project s h a r e f o r t h e p r i v i l e g e o f Impact" plans to enhance the investing in the white-hot social store experience as a way to media company which could be retain those consumers who have setting the stage for an initial found the big-box retailer a money-saving haven for over a public offering next year. Continue reading Aol pushes year while the U.S. was mired in recession. ICQ, talking to Digital Sky This isn't just planogram Aol pushes ICQ, talking to Digital Sky originally appeared changes, though: Walmart is on BloggingStocks on Mon, 14 lowering shelf heights (to greatly Dec 2009 11:45:00 EST. Please increase in-store visibility), is see our terms for use of feeds. getting rid of the pallet clutter Permalink| Email this| Comments commonly seen in most Walmart supercenters and is increasing its food offerings.

By Joseph Lazzaro (BloggingStocks) Continue reading Walmart trying to keep new customers by enhancing store experience Walmart trying to keep new customers by enhancing store experience originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 14 Dec 2009 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Read| Permalink| Email this| Comments

Filed under: Politics, Federal Reserve, Financial Crisis The financial services reform process is likely to yield many public policy improvements, but one dimension that Congress should not act on concerns the U.S. Federal Reserve. One reform effort would authorize the General Accountability Office (GAO) to audit the Federal Reserve. The initiative, though wellintentioned, would represent a regression. Continue reading GAO audit of promoting them. the Fed would represent a giant Continue reading Serious Money: These Dow Dogs are step -- backward GAO audit of the Fed would not! represent a giant step -- backward Serious Money: These Dow Dogs are not! originally appeared o r i g i n a l l y a p p e a r e d o n on BloggingStocks on Mon, 14 BloggingStocks on Mon, 14 Dec Dec 2009 13:00:00 EST. Please 2009 12:15:00 EST. Please see see our terms for use of feeds. our terms for use of feeds. Permalink| Email this| Comments Permalink| Email this| Comments

Serious Money: These Dow Dogs are not! By Sheldon Liber (BloggingStocks)

didn't know whether to laugh or cry. In Thirteen Dow stocks that are doomed, we are informed that Submitted at 12/14/2009 1:00:00 PM 13 of the 30 are going down and Filed under: Forecasts, Rants we should all bail out before it is and raves, Serious Money, S and too late. P 500, DJIA, Stocks to Buy, I find this silly on many levels. Stocks to Sell For one, 13 stocks amount to a After reading an unbelievable large-cap index fund and since sell recommendation by one of large-cap stocks have lagged the will outperform going forward is my BloggingStocks colleagues, I market the probability that they real and has many investors

Submitted at 12/14/2009 12:15:00 PM

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Google's Chrome browser goes live for the Apple Mac operating system By Brian White (BloggingStocks) Submitted at 12/14/2009 11:30:00 AM

Filed under: Competitive strategy, Google (GOOG), Apple Inc (AAPL) Google ( GOOG) is shaping up to be quite a competitor to oncefriend Apple ( AAPL). Not only is it taking on the iPhone in many ways, it's now competing with Apple's Safari web browser on the Mac computing platform. Google Chrome, which was launched over a year ago and is seen by some as the most simplistic and fastest web browser on the planet, want to be your portal to the Internet -- by displacing Apple's own excellent Safari web browser product.

Continue reading Google's Chrome browser goes live for the Apple Mac operating system Google's Chrome browser goes live for the Apple Mac operating system originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 14 Dec 2009 11:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Read| Permalink| Email this| Comments

JVC intros cord-free TH-BA3 and TH-BS7 soundbar audio systems By Darren Murph (Engadget) Submitted at 12/14/2009 10:24:00 AM

JVC's never been much on using wires to hook up its home theater systems, and for those not looking for mind-blowing 7.1 surround, these soon-available wireless soundbar setups might just satisfy your aural cravings without forcing you to run ungodly lengths of cabling around your den. The TS-BA3 ($549.95) is a dual wireless soundbar system that consists of a 280-watt amplifier, 5.1-channel surround rig (including a

soundbar, wireless subwoofer and wireless rear speaker kit) and built-in surround decoding. You'll also find a single analog input, two optical digital inputs and support for Dolby Digital, DTS and Dolby ProLogic II surround signals. The TH-BS7 ($599.95) is engineered to mount alongside flat-panel HDTVs, with a 1.4-inch tall, ultrathin soundbar, an even slimmer wallmountable amplifier / control unit and a wireless subwoofer. This one's packing 180-watts of teethrattling oomph and promises 4.1 sound with minimal consumption

of floor space. Hop on past the break for the full release and detailed specifications. Gallery: JVC intros cord-free TH-BA3 and TH-BS7 soundbar audio systems Continue reading JVC intros cord-free TH-BA3 and TH-BS7 soundbar audio systems JVC intros cord-free TH-BA3 and TH-BS7 soundbar audio systems originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 14 Dec 2009 10:24:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink| | Email this| Comments

Samsung ST5500 Shows Off Wi-Fi and Nice Specs in FCC Appearance [Cameras] By Brian Barrett (Gizmodo) Submitted at 12/14/2009 10:09:54 AM

Samsung's new camera showed up on the FCC website the other day, and the specs look pretty

good so far: 14.2 megapixels, a 3.5-inch screen, and the ability to send photos via email and post online via Wi-Fi. According to the FCC filing, the ST5500 also comes equipped

microSD support, and can take year, and not for cheap. [ FCC 1280x720 video at 30fps. It's also via Wireless Goodness via got 7x optical zoom and ISO Engadget] settings up to ISO 3200, along w i t h 1 0 0 M B o f m e m o r y , with a max 1/2000 shutter speed. Expect it sometime early next

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Nintendo’s 2010 lineup features new games, colorful Wii remotes By Doug Aamoth (CrunchGear)

CAPCOM™: ULTIMATE ALLSTARS Jan. 26

Submitted at 12/14/2009 8:30:00 AM

Nintendo has gone ahead and let loose some information concerning its early 2010 lineup of games and accessories. For starters, from February 14 onward there will be two new Wii Remote colors: pink and blue. These new controllers will feature the Wii MotionPlus addon standard. Black and white Wii Remotes will still be available as well. As for games across all of Nintendo’s systems, here’s a partial list of Wii, DS(i), and downloadable titles that we can expect in the early part of next year: Wii 2K Sports • Major League Baseball 2K10 March Activision • How To Train Your Dragon March 23

City Interactive USA • Combat Wings: The Great Battles of WWII Feb. 16 • Chicken Riot Feb. 9 Collision Studios • City Builder February D3Publisher • Family Party: 30 Great Games™ Winter Fun February Deep Silver, Inc. • Let’s Play Ballerina March • Let’s Play Garden March Disney Interactive Studios • Alice in Wonderland March Hudson Entertainment • Rooms: The Main Building Spring • Calling Spring Konami • Walk it Out Jan. 10 • Yu Gi Oh! Duel Trancer Q1 • DanceDanceRevolution Q1

The American Game Factory, Inc. Majesco Entertainment • Build-A-Bear Workshop – • Data East Arcade Classics Friendship Valley March 17 January • The Daring Game of Girls Atlus U.S.A., Inc. February • Shiren the Wanderer™ Feb. 9 • Pizza Delivery Boy March Capcom • TATSUNOKO

• Racquet Sports March • Red Steel 2 Q1

Nintendo V S . • Endless Ocean: Blue World

Feb. 22 SEGA of America • Super Monkey Ball Step & Roll™ Feb. 9 • Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing™ March SouthPeak Games • Sled Shred™ featuring the Jamaican Bobsled Team Feb. 1 • Fast Food Panic™ Jan. 5 Storm City Entertainment • Bermuda Triangle: Saving the Coral February UFO Interactive Games, Inc. • Arcade Shooter: Ilvelo Q1 • Rock Blast Q1 • Jaja’s Adventure Q1 Ubisoft • No More Heroes 2: Desperate Struggle late January • Sleepover Party Jan. 12

• Super Meat Boy Q1

Nintendo DS/DSi XSEED Games 2K Sports • The Sky Crawlers: Innocent • Major League Baseball 2K10 Aces Jan. 5 March • FRAGILE DREAMS: FAREWELL RUINS OF THE Activision MOON March 16 • Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning WiiWare Thief™ Feb. 2 Akaoni Studio S.L. • How To Train Your Dragon • Zombie Panic in Wonderland March 23 Q1 Aksys Games Broken Rules • World Cup of Pool Feb. 9 • And Yet It Moves Q1 The American Game Factory, Capcom Inc. • P h o e n i x W r i g h t ™ : A c e • Build-A-Bear Workshop – Attorney™ January Welcome to Hugsville March 17 • Mega Man® 10 March Atlus U.S.A., Inc. Ghostfire Games • Shin Megami Tensei®: Strange • Rage of the Gladiator Q1 Journey™ March 10 Hudson Entertainment • Military Madness: Nectaris® Q1

Capcom Entertainment, Inc. • Ace Attorney Investigations™: Miles Edgeworth Feb. 16

Nabi Studios • Toribash Q1

City Interactive USA • Animal Country: Life on the Farm Feb. 16 • Art of Murder March 16

Nintendo • WarioWare™ D.I.Y. Showcase Q1 Press Play ApS • Max & the Magic Marker Q1 Team Meat

Deep Silver, Inc. • Let’s Play Flight Attendant March • Let’s Play Ballerina March NINTENDO’S page 11

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Why We All Need to Calm Down About the "Real Google Phone" [Android] By John Herrman (Gizmodo)

breathless commentary on the Nexus One admits that what it means is more important than If you've seen the internet (or what's on its spec sheet. And Giz) this weekend, you've heard yeah, it'll be the first phone about it: the "real Google phone" marketed as the Google phone, that " changes everything." But and Google's sales strategy—to before we get carried away, a offer the device without contract counterpoint: Google isn't magic. first, and probably unlocked, And the Nexus One isn't a gamewith a ( hardware changer. Not yet. limited—possibly just to TAnd I don't mean to say that I Mobile, if you care about 3G) don't understand what the Nexus choice of carriers—is foreign to One is, or what Google's trying to the US market. But it's far from do. Nor am I saying that Google unheard of—you can buy plan for the Nexus One—to offer unlocked phones at Best Buy, for a different type of cellphone God's sake. Oh, and Nokia's been buying experience than US handling their US smartphone customers are accustomed to, and releases like this for years. It to provide a model for future hasn't gone well. Android handset—is a Google doesn't have particularly bad one. I'm saying superpowers. Using their that I don't get the hype: Google's unmatched internet superpowers, Nexus one is an interesting Google can do more to convince experiment, not some kind of the general public that an heroically disruptive Google expensive, unsubsidized phone is coup, as many people, changes a good idea than Nokia, whose everything">including us, have marketing efforts have been implied. Consider the facts: wimpy and ineffective. But they It's an HTC Android handset. I t ' s t h e t h i r d ( a t l e a s t ) how Google had full control over step up from 2.0, which is what can't do anything crazy, like give This means that on a material Snapdragon-powered Android the Nexus One user experience, the Droid ships with, which, this thing away. They can sell it level, it's barely more of a phone we've heard about. It's got and how it's going to be unlike mind you, Motorola doesn't seem for cheap by relying on their own G o o g l e p h o n e t h a n t h e a 5-megapixel camera. It's got any other Android we've ever to have touched almost at all. As advertising network—or hell, G1—which Google passively dual microphones, to help with seen before. But we've seen other far as I can tell, the Nexus One their homepage—for advertising, o v e r s a w — o r t h e M o t o r o l a noise reduction. It's fairly thin. builds of 2.1, albiet covered in will have some pretty new UI as well as the massive press Droid—which Google actively These are nice features for a new the Sense UI, leaked for the HTC flourishes, and maybe a few UX coverage they're already getting, helped design. And hey, people phone, but they're more or less H e r o ( s p o i l e r : n o t t h a t changes. Again: this is typical, and selling it at little to no profit. remember: Google still isn't a exactly what we'd expect HTC to impressive), and combined with paced progress, not a drastic To be able to match carriers' hardware company. Not even be working on next. the early glimpses we've caught overhaul. prices, though, will be a stretch: close. It's pretty much running Android from spy shots, they give the The new business model isn't WHY page 13 The hardware isn't revolutionary. 2.0. People are talking a lot about feeling that 2.1 isn't much of a really new. Even the most Submitted at 12/14/2009 8:36:34 AM

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NINTENDO’S continued from page 9

• Let’s Play Garden March Disney Interactive Studios • Sonny With a Chance Spring • Alice in Wonderland March GameMill Publishing • Escape the Museum Jan. 12 • Hidden Mysteries: Buckingham Palace Feb. 9 Hudson Entertainment • Rooms: The Main Building Spring • DECA SPORTS™ Spring Konami • Scene It! Twilight Q1 • Puzzle Chronicles Jan. 10 Majesco Entertainment • Super Speed Machines February • The Daring Game for Girls February • Dawn of Heroes February • ATV Revolution March Nintendo • Glory of Heracles Jan. 18 • Pokémon HeartGold Version and Pokémon SoulSilver Version

March 14 • WarioWare: D.I.Y. March 28 • America’s Test Kitchen: Let’s Get Cooking March 28 Natsume Inc. • Squishy Tank™ February • Cheer We Go!™ March PopCap Games • Bejeweled Twist™ Q1 SEGA of America • Sands of Destruction™ Jan. 12 • Infinite Space™ March • Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing™ March • Sonic Classic Collection™ Spring SouthPeak Games • Crime Scene™ Feb. 1 • Dementium II™ Feb. 2 • Fast Food Panic™ Jan. 5 • Sushi Go Round™ Feb. 1 • Montessori Music™ March 1 Storm City Entertainment • Bermuda Triangle: Saving the Coral February • Myst February • ATV Quad Kings March

• T.A.C Heroes: The Big Red One March TECMO • Monster Rancher® DS March • AGAIN™ March • Telegames, Inc. Puzzle Overload™ Spring • Solitaire Overload Plus™ Spring THQ • Daniel X: The Ultimate Power Jan. 12 Tomy Corporation • Lovely Lisa™ and Friends(enhanced Nintendo DSi content) February Ubisoft • Imagine Reporter Jan. 20 • Imagine Party Planner Jan. 13 • Imagine Sweet 16 Feb. 10 • Imagine Gymnast March 10

• Downtown Texas Hold’em Poker Q1 • Surviving High School™ Q1 Gameloft • Legends of Exidia Q1 • Let’s Golf Q1 • Real Soccer™ 2010 Q1 • Gangstar 2: Kings of L.A. Q1 Nintendo • Trajectile™ Jan. 4 • Number Battle™ Jan. 25 • Starship Defense™ Jan. 18 • Touch Solitaire Jan. 11 • X-Scape™ February • Link ’n’ Launch™ February Subatomic Studios • Fieldrunners Q1 WayForward • Shantae: Risky’s Revenge Q1 [ Press Release]

XSEED Games • KORG DS-10 Plus Jan. 19 • Ragnarok™ DS Feb. 16 Nintendo DSiWare EA

Black Friday Emits 50x More CO2 Than Cyber Monday [Graphs] By Mark Wilson (Gizmodo) Submitted at 12/14/2009 8:40:00 AM

Assuming a 20-mile round trip

to a store on Black Friday, one study found Cyber Monday emits 50 times less carbon through the miracles of online shopping. [

GigaOM Pro via Treehugger]

Spandau Ballet To Be First Intergalactic Band Aboard Branson's SpaceShipTwo Enterprise [Space] By Kat Hannaford (Gizmodo) Submitted at 12/14/2009 10:11:34 AM

Last week I invoked the wrath of trance fans everywhere by suggesting Above & Beyond, rumored to be the first musical act in space, should be kept up there. Turns out Richard Branson chose Spandau Ballet instead. I think I now want a ticket aboard Enterprise even more than I did before. They're performing just one song, rumored to be either Gold, True or I'll Fly For You (surprising news to anyone who thought they had just two songs) if Spandau Ballet guitarist/saxophonist Steve Norman is to be believed. With only six passengers and two pilots allowed on that first Enterprise flight, the five Spandau Balleters will make up almost half the human weight. Although judging by the looks of Tony Hadley these days, maybe it'd be more like 50/50. [ The List]

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World of Warcraft’s new dungeon finder just made life worth living again By Nicholas Deleon (CrunchGear) Submitted at 12/14/2009 9:50:09 AM

For me, the best part of Patch 3.3 in World of Warcraft is the new dungeon finder. I’ve used it a bunch in the past couple of days, and can say this: PUGing is now fun (though it’ll change the way we look at guilds). PUG stands for pick-up group, a term to describe a ragtag collection of players thrust together to run though a dungeon, or instance. Prior to this latest patch, setting up a PUG was a pain the the ass: you’d join a specific chat channel then submit yourself to a pretty rubbish queuing system. It would take an awful long time to get five players together. We’re talking 30+ minutes. Inconvenient, yes. You’d get prepared to run a dungeon, have all your potions and items and whatnot on you, then enter the queue… then you’d wait. And wait and wait. Needless to say, by the time you got a group together, you were often no longer in the mood to run the dungeon. And then you’d find that the group itself was rubbish. Not fun, no. The new system changes things.

The biggest change is that the dungeon finder looks across servers, so even if your server has, say, only 100 people in it (for argument’s sake), that’s no longer a problem. You’re no longer handcuffed by your server’s inadequacies! The queueing system has also improved, and dramatically. Now you select your role in the group (damage-dealing, healing, or tanking), then the system scours several servers to find other plays queuing up for the same dungeon. What used to take 30+ minutes to set up now takes

around 10. I say that as a damage -dealer (Warlock); healers and tanks, being more rare, are placed into groups even quicker. (Groups consist of three damagedealers, a healer, and a tank.) Like I said, I’ve used the new system several times since the patch went live. I couldn’t be happier. Within 10 minutes of entering a queue I’m fighting my way through the game’s dungeons. Yes, this is what I do with my life, such as it is. But the new dungeon finder may change the way people look at

guilds. Before, you’d join a guild so you can get to know a bunch of other people who you’d run dungeons with. It was a lot quicker for a few guildies run a dungeon than sit though the old PUG system. But now that you can have a dungeon run up and ready in just a few minutes, why bother with a guild? This is especially true of people who like to play the game alone like I do: I have no interest in asking my fellow guildies “hey, what’s up guys?” If I can find a group in a few minutes, then be done with a dungeon in double-quick time,

why put up with all the drama of a guild? This only speaks to pre-endgame raiding, of course. That’s a whole different animal where being friends with people and knowing what are people’s motivations (what gear they’re after and so on). So there you go. Running dungeons is infinitely easier, and faster, now, but it may change the way people look at guilds. Are they even worth the trouble now, especially at lower levels?

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Bag Week: Kata CS-17 camera satchel By Matt Burns (CrunchGear) Submitted at 12/14/2009 7:45:00 AM

Name one messenger bag that effectively combines a notebook bag and a camera case? Obviously the bag pictured above. The Kata CS-17. Info: • The Kata CS-17 • Holds up to a 17-inch notebook • Padded, removable pouch can hold a DSLR & 2 lens • Constucted out of nylon • Weather cover • $140 MSRP • Big Bird designed the inside Pros • Dual purpose notebook/camera case • Top zipper allows quick, discrete access • Relatively inexpensive Cons • Not the best looking bag

If you’ve ever tried to fit your DSLR into a normal messenger bag, you totally understand the draw to this bag. Other bags just aren’t designed to hold a large camera and a notebook at the same time. I’ve always ended up pushing the notebook as far to

the trendy and teal 90’s. I’m even turned off by Kata’s logo. And the inside is way too yellow. Throw a Transformer’s logo on it and it would be Bumblebee. But that’s Kata. All the company’s bags have a yellow interior and I better get used to it; I have two more bags from Kata to review this week. Wrap-up The concept behind this bag is solid. It effectively holds both a notebook and a DSLR at the same time. But I’m not into the look. Say what you will, but I one side of the bag as possible so o w n padded spot t o t a l l y f e e l the camera’s lens will fit down too. Accessing the contents can that’s important especially when the side of the bag next to the be done by unzipping the large, a bag costs $140. Hey, maybe computer. It definitely doesn’t front flap or through a somewhat you’re still into pleated khakis make you feel comfortable. hidden top zipper. If the bag and light blue polo shirts. If But with this bag your camera wasn’t so damn ugly, it would be that’s you, and you have to tout can be safely stored in its own perfect for a blogger running b o t h a b i g c a m e r a a n d a padded pouch with room for two around CES. notebook, buy this bag. accessories like flashes or lenses. I’m not loving the bag’s look. It The computer is housed in its reminds me of something from

WHY continued from page 10

A Verizon or a T-Mobile can absorb the cost of a phone in month-to-month fees and overage charges. What does Google have? Theoretical future Adsense revenue? Even if what we see now is exactly what we're going to get, the Nexus One is something worth paying attention to—it will be a way for Google to demonstrate what their vision for Android is without carrier interference. They'll control the software experience on the

phone; they'll control how it's updated; they'll control what software is and isn't allowed on it. And they could use it to convey an vision for Google Voice, in which Google supplies your number, your nonstandard calling rates and your texting allowance, while carriers simply supply a neutral, dumb and ultimately out-of-sight cellular connection. But even if that is what they're doing—we don't know!—the Nexus One is a first step. It'll be an early product to

guide the progress of an industry, not the product that'll define it. Whenever we talk about Google, we need to factor in a little windage. They're buzzy, they're huge, and they've thrown plenty of other industries curveballs before. This phone sits at the hype nexus (for lack of a better word) of Google Voice, Android, Google's online services and HTC. For now, to say that the Nexus One has somehow changed everything is to buy into these company's hype too

earnestly, to ascribe to Google mystical qualities, and to take for granted a series of future actions that Google hasn't even hinted at fulfilling yet. Apple isn't the only company tech watchers recklessly project onto. Or, to compress it to 140 characters or less: "The Google phone matters as much as Google makes it matter." For now, people, calm down.

2009 holiday sales online: $19.9 billion and counting By Don Reisinger (Webware.com) Submitted at 12/14/2009 6:30:00 AM

ComScore releases stats on the online holiday-shopping season so far. Sales are strong and ahead of 2008 levels.

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Synaptics Fuse concept handset puts a new squeeze on touchphone interaction By Paul Miller (Engadget)

squeeze, tilt and haptic interaction. The big idea is to approach single-handed and noIn case you weren't aware, look operation on a touchscreen S y n a p t i c s d a b b l e d i n t h e handset, no small feat to be sure. touchscreen handset game way The result is a pure kitchen sink back in 2006 with the Onyx of sensors, including a touchpad concept, before phones like the on the back of the phone, touch LG Prada and Apple's iPhone and pressure sensitive strips came along and proved the idea along both sides of the phones, so convincingly. However, dual haptic feedback motors, a 3Synaptics thinks innovation has axis accelerometer and of course stagnated since, and has girded a new-generation Synaptics itself once again to attempt touchscreen in front. The TI another trend-setting concept. OMAP 3630 processor powers This one's a bit more wild: the the TAT Cascades 3D UI Engine "Fuse" involves contributions which attempts to contextualize from Alloy, TAT, Immersion and UI interaction with perspective Texas Instruments, and includes tilts and fancy motion, and the Submitted at 12/14/2009 11:34:00 AM

haptics feeds back to let you know where your finger is on the screen -- an attempt to emulate feeling out the correct nub for keypad orientation on a button phone. We'll have to play with it

to find out if Synaptics is really on to something, but even if the Fuse isn't the next best thing, we could certainly see somebody using some of these sensors to improve existing handset

interaction. Check out a quick video after the break. Continue reading Synaptics Fuse concept handset puts a new squeeze on touchphone interaction Synaptics Fuse concept handset puts a new squeeze on touchphone interaction originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 14 Dec 2009 11:34:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink| | Email this| Comments

Cowboys Stadium 3D scoreboard experiment doesn't go so well, turned off in less than seven minutes By Nilay Patel (Engadget)

people in attendance didn't bother to put on the headgear required to see the 3D effect, and instead You know 3D has a long way to saw a blurry anaglyph image -go when even Jerry Jones can't which they then booed. What's manage to sell it for longer than more, some who wore the glasses seven minutes: the vaunted real- complained that the 3D effect time 3D scoreboard display c a u s e d n a u s e a - - a l t h o u g h experiment at last night's 'boys / probably not as badly as the Chargers game was turned off to Cowboys' 17-20 loss to the loud cheers after just six minutes Chargers. HDlogix actually has and fifty seconds of being active. the tech to do glasses-free HD, The problem, as usual, was but it simply doesn't work when glasses: most of the 80,000 scaled up for the world's largest Submitted at 12/14/2009 1:01:00 PM

HD monitor-- but they'll have plenty of time to tinker with it when the Cowboys fail to make the playoffs with another couple

December losses. Continue reading Cowboys Stadium 3D scoreboard experiment doesn't go so well,

turned off in less than seven minutes Cowboys Stadium 3D scoreboard experiment doesn't go so well, turned off in less than seven minutes originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 14 Dec 2009 13:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink| Associated Press, Fox 43| Email this| Comments

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PS3 Slim was supposed to have network storage (that is, no local hard drive) By Nicholas Deleon (CrunchGear)

would have cost too much money to set up and maintain the required servers. It’s a shame, Submitted at 12/14/2009 9:00:17 AM because as slim as the PS3 Slim Did you know that, at one point, turned out, it could have been so Sony considered constructing the much slimmer! PS3 Slim around the concept of Well, all of this according to a network storage? That is, instead recent interview with Nikkei of there being local storage (hard Electronics Asia. drive, memory cards, etc.) you’d Sony also said that it could have store all of your data on Sony’s made the PS3 Slim even slimmer servers then retrieve said data by moving the power supply over the Internet. Now that (see: the Xbox 360’s power would have been radically brick) outside the system. That different. was ixnayed, too, because it Of course, Sony decided against would have made it “harder to the idea, primarily because it use freely.”

I don’t know about you, but when I place a video game console in its spot, it doesn’t leave that spot until the next generation rolls around. So I

officially don’t understand why Sony didn’t go with the power brick idea—it did with the PS2 Slim! Now, the network storage thing,

yeah, that I can understand. Money aside, it’s a pretty foreign concept for console owners. “So I have zero control over my saved games? That’s not cool.” What happens if Sony’s servers explode and an earthquake knocks over the backup storage facility and a tornado destroys the backup’s backup facility? Then what? Flickr

Thanko rolls out not one but two spy cams By Serkan Toto (CrunchGear)

powered by USB. The camera cap shoots video with 640×480 resolution and at Tokyo-based USB gadget maker 25fps. It has 4GB of internal today started selling two spy memory (enough to store 50 cameras, the so-called Camera minutes of video), weighs 130g Cap[JP] and the LED Spy and has a battery life of 2.5 Light[JP]. While it’s a bit of a hours. You can connect it to your stretch to call the latter a spy Windows machine via USB. It’s accessory, the bizarre cap can available over at Geek Stuff 4U surely be used for undercover for$134.47. r e c o n n a i s s a n c e a n d o t h e r The LED Spy Light looks more shenanigans. As to be expected, like a conventional flashlight both gadgets are kind of silly and than anything else. It has a small Submitted at 12/14/2009 8:40:40 AM

camera that shoots video with 640×480 resolution (at 30fps) and pictures with 1,600×1,200 resolution. The main “selling

point” here is that you can do this while it’s dark. If you use the light and the camera at the same time, you’ll be able to shoot

and responses to his first video.[Video] You may also be interested in Craven’s book based on the

videos: What’s the Worst That Could Happen? I have it on my Kindle now, waiting to be read after I finish this great Joe

video continuously for about 2 hours before the battery dies. You can use the 2GB of internal memory, but there’s also a microSD/SDHC card slot (8GB max). Just like the camera cap, you can connect the Spy Light to your Windows PC via USB. The device is available at Geek Stuff 4U for $94.92.

Video: How It All Ends (Little Green Footballs) Submitted at 12/13/2009 4:12:34 PM

This is the sequel to science

teacher Greg Craven’s“What’s the Worst That Could Happen” video, clarifying his arguments after he received many comments

Lansdale novel: Sunset and Sawdust.

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JVC has two more sound bars from you to pick from: TH-BA3 and TH-BS7 By Nicholas Deleon (CrunchGear)

Xperia Pureness available now includes concierge service, avarice By Joseph L. Flatley (Engadget)

the mobile phone to its most essentials functions." You see, this bad boy "is not simply about Submitted at 12/14/2009 11:57:00 AM a phone; it is about opening a Great news for the disposable debate about people's relationship i n c o m e c r o w d : T h e S o n y with technology in a complex Ericsson Xperia Pureness is world." Got that? In case you're finally available online through still not sold, did we mention that Saks Fifth Avenue -- and it can the purchase price includes a be yours for a mere $990. concierge service? Although we According to some seriously high don't know for sure, it's probably -minded PR, the sleek and feature not a leap to assume that this -poor handset "represents an "concierge" is a help desk alternative approach to life in the employee somewhere who could complex, digital age by refining feed his village for a month with

bar. That means both the speakers and the subwoofer are totally wireless—handy if you or Submitted at 12/14/2009 8:00:36 AM yours hate to see wires strewn Didn’t Nickelodeon used to give about. It’s a 5.1 sound system, a w a y J V C b o o m b o x e s a n d one that works with Dolby whatnot on its game shows back Digital, DTS, and Pro Logic II. in the day? (I’m primarily talking There’s more! JVC has one to twenty-somethings here, yes.) more sound bar, the TH-BS7 Imagine you were a contestant on ($600). Whereas the TH-BA3’s Double Dare, and you manage to big deal is that it’s dual wireless, find the flag inside the big nose the TH-BS7 is quite tiny at 1.4 filled with goo, and you win this, inches. This one is only 4.1the TH-BA3. It’s a sound bar, channels, but works with all the which are a heck of a lot easier to aforementioned codes. incorporate into a small space Both are available now. than a complete surround sound Anyone else remember What system. Would You Do and Wild & The TH-BA3 ($550) is the Crazy Kids? world’s first dual wireless sound

the grand you dropped on a cell phone. PR after the break. Continue reading Xperia Pureness available now - includes concierge service, avarice Xperia Pureness available now includes concierge service, (Little Green Footballs) avarice originally appeared on Submitted at 12/13/2009 6:52:19 PM Engadget on Mon, 14 Dec 2009 11:57:00 EST. Please see our Are you feeling healthy and terms for use of feeds. Permalink| smug because you drink nothing Saks Fifth Avenue| Email this| but bottled water? Comments

The Facts About Bottled Water You may want to have a look at this chart, and then wipe that smug off yer face: The Facts About Bottled Water. (Hat tip: Stanley Sea.)

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Samsung ST5500 WiFi camera hits the FCC

Quadriplegic Man Gets a License to Control a Shotgun with his Mouth [Guns] By Adam Frucci (Gizmodo) Submitted at 12/14/2009 9:16:11 AM

Jamie Capp was paralyzed playing football in high school, By Donald Melanson Toss in a fairly large 3.5-inch robbing him of the ability to (Engadget) touchscreen and built-in 802.11 hunt. But now, after a two and a b/g WiFi (all in a surprisingly Submitted at 12/14/2009 12:28:00 PM half year legal battle, he's compact package) and you've got obtained a hunting license. Samsung's fast making a name a camera that just might turn a Jamie is now able to hunt using for itself as a company that few heads. Of course, there's no By Paul Miller (Engadget) inch thick, and even packs in a 12-gauge shotgun attached to a throws more than the basics into indication of a price or release Submitted at 12/14/2009 11:10:00 AM dual 3.5mm headphone jacks, b a t t e r y - p o w e r e d m a c h i n e into its point-and-shoots, and it date just yet, but you can check and we really have no excuse to operated via breathing tube. looks to be continuing the trend out a few more pics and even the Look, we're not ones to knock be Negative Nancys, but we For a quadriplegic, firing a with its new ST5500 camera, camera's user manual at the links specs for specs' sake, and 1080p suppose we're just a little OS- shotgun requires help from a which just recently cleared the below. output is certainly impressive for spoiled these days. It's not you, companion. In Mr Cap's case, a FCC. Judging from the specs, Samsung ST5500 WiFi camera a $177.45 Chinese import PMP, RAmos, it's us. We've changed. friend sets up the contraption, this one certainly looks to have hits the FCC originally appeared but after seeing RAmos churn its RAmos T11TE 5-inch PMP s a f e t y o n , o n M r C a p ' s things covered on the picture- on Engadget on Mon, 14 Dec way through some Android with outputs 1080p over HDMI, might wheelchair and Mr Cap aims the taking front, with it packing an 2009 12:28:00 EST. Please see the W7, it's hard to get fired up be compensating for something shotgun by moving the toggle ample 7x optical zoom, 14.2 our terms for use of feeds. for this new T11TE monster. But originally appeared on Engadget switch with his mouth. Once his megapixels, ISO settings up to Permalink| Wireless Goodness, back to the specs: there's a 5-inch on Mon, 14 Dec 2009 11:10:00 partner releases the safety, Mr ISO 3200, a max 1/2000 shutter User Manual (PDF)| Email this| 800 x 480 touchscreen, 16GB of EST. Please see our terms for Cap fires by sipping on the speed, and support for 720p Comments b u i l t - i n m e m o r y , m i c r o S D use of feeds. Permalink PMP breathing tube. video at 30 fps for good measure. expansion and codec support Today| Ownta| Email this| It's great that the technology galore. Mix in the fact that the Comments exists to allow Jamie to continue whole player is less than half an to enjoy a hobby that he loved before his accident. [ Telegraph via Geekologie] By John C Abell (Wired Top What'd you get this year? A w o r k e r s , n o t b a m b o o z l i n g memories. Stories) party? A turkey? How about bankers or anything. Kingston $130,000 â&#x20AC;&#x201D; and these were tech Technology, thanks for the

RAmos T11TE 5-inch PMP outputs 1080p over HDMI, might be compensating for something

Dec. 14, 1996: Kingston's Holiday Bonus Shows Workers the Money

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Nintendo bringing pink and blue Wiimotes to America on Valentine's Day By Darren Murph (Engadget)

Wii MotionPlus dongles. There's no word yet on pricing, but we're guessing a small premium is in Hey, kids. We got your order for those badly in need of attention? Good. Remember some hue variation. those pink and blue Wii Nintendo bringing pink and blue controllers that were quietly Wiimotes to America on launched in the Land of the Valentine's Day originally Rising Sun back in October? appeared on Engadget on Mon, Yeah, well it seems that both of 14 Dec 2009 10:48:00 EST. those gems are coming to the Please see our terms for use of United States, but it'll be well Starting on February 14, 2010, feeds. Permalink Electronista| after Christmas before you can the blue and pink Wiimote will Nintendo| Email this| Comments get your hands on either (without be on sale on US soil, and both a good importer, anyway). devices will come bundled with Submitted at 12/14/2009 10:48:00 AM

Verizon Waives $21,917 Monthly Bill Caused by 13 Year-Old Data Hog [Bills] By Brian Barrett (Gizmodo) Submitted at 12/14/2009 9:20:00 AM

Attention, teenagers of America: things cost money, even when plucked out of thin air. And attention parents of America: buy a data plan, already. When Ted Estarija added his son to his cell phone plan, he 1.4GB in a month. But these probably wasn't expecting the kids, that's they do! Anyway, in a adorable little scamp to download s h o w o f u n c u s t o m a r y

magnanimity, Verizon has forgiven all charges for the month, and Estarija the Younger has been cut off, so everything's back the way it should be. Except for the fact that apparently a kajillion percent (approximately) increase in data usage didn't send up any flags at Verizon as it was happening, which is pretty unfortunate customer relations. [ AP via Consumerist]

What's Basically the Most Adorable Children's Gift I Can Imagine [Toys] By Mark Wilson (Gizmodo)

really good idea, actualizing a child's design into something they can hold. Here's the idea: your child I believe the cost is $85, and if scribbles an animal on Shidonni's you were interested in the gift for w e b s i t e , t h e y h a n d - s e w a Christmas, you'd need to order by corresponding one-of-a-kind tomorrow, December 15th. No plush toy and mail it to you. word on whether or not Shidonni Neat, right? will sew you one of the deadly From the looks of this video, tanks firing exploding ice cream s w e a t s h o p l a b o r e r s a r e n ' t cones that I drew as a kid. [ stitching their fingers to your Shiddoni] child's Christmas gift. Shidonni is just a small operation with a Submitted at 12/14/2009 10:00:00 AM

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Mashable’s Guide to Digital Marketing & Social Media Conferences By Tamar Weinberg (Mashable!) Submitted at 12/14/2009 8:49:32 AM

It’s a brand new week, which means it’s time for Mashable’s guide to upcoming social media and web events, parties, and conferences. For more upcoming event listings, check out Mashable’s Events section. Is your event not on this list? Contact us at least one month before your event and let’s establish a media partnership. Mashable’s Weekly Social Media and Marketing Event Guide is proudly supported by Eventbrite, the Web’s Event Marketplace. December 15, 2009, Santa Clara, CA: The 5th annual Digital Living Room at Sun Microsystems Auditorium features the definitive voices in the digital home. CBS.com GM Bill Binenstock, Intel Digital Home GM Bill Leszinske, Playstation Network Sr. Director Susan Panico, to name just a few. This year’s theme is the connected living room: the network of TVs, broadband Internet, settop boxes, consoles, portable and mobile devices and now 3D technology that’s transforming the home. Mashable readers enjoy a 15% discount on the ticket price: follow the link here and click Apply Discount button next to the keyword

‘mashable’. December 16, 2009, Chicago, IL: Word of Mouth Supergenius is where you’ll learn to be a fantastic word of mouth marketer with 12 how-to classes, 12 realworld case studies, and 6 brilliant authors. You’ll learn practical, hands-on techniques to get started, grow your program, and earn amazing word of mouth. Word of Mouth Supergenius is where you’ll learn to be a fantastic word of mouth marketer with 12 how-to classes, 12 realworld case studies, and 6 brilliant authors. You’ll learn practical, hands-on techniques to get started, grow your program, and earn amazing word of mouth. Save $75 off registration by u s i n g t h e c o d e ILoveMashableWOM. January 11, 2010, Nashville, TN: The Social Media conference that comes to you. Social Fresh is a one day, case study rich conference targeted for marketers. Social Fresh Nashville will have 30+ speakers including Jason Falls of Social Media Explorer, Gavin Baker of Ruby Tuesday, and John Andrews of Collective Bias (formerly of Walmart). Save 15% when using code mashable. January 12, 2010, New York, NY: PluggedIn is an exclusive deal making gathering, bringing together handpicked digital media founders, gatekeepers and

tion.html. January 14, 2010, Century City, CA: The first-ever Schmoozd investors to candidly interact in a event, a new Social Media Mixer laid back setting and unlock the event in Los Angeles, will be full value of doing business held at the Xbar. X bar’s together. PluggedIn is a polar environment is the perfect place o p p o s i t e t o y o u r t y p i c a l to network – a lounge designed o v e r c r o w d e d , l o u d a n d with spots for hanging out as ineffective conference. We keep well as socializing and action. it to a closed circle of in-the- Whether closing the deal or know executives and offer a sharing ideas, X bar’s renowned c a s u a l , o f f t h e r e c o r d design, cuisine and location environment. Our objective is to means X marks the spot. For cultivate substantive and concrete more information, please visit dialogue between a select group www.schmoozd.com. Mashable of decision makers and help readers get 50% off when m a k e t h i n g s h a p p e n . U s e registering via this link. registration code mashable to get January 14-16, 2010, Sedona, AZ: Join us at #SMML for a 25% off. January 13, 2010, New York, S o c i a l M e d i a M a s t e r m i n d N Y : S o c i a l I n t e g r a t i o n – Conference. We are going to get Harmonizing Social Channels personal. As you seek to glean i n t o t h e M a r k e t i n g , more information about social Communications, & Service media, how it works and how Platform – Case Studies & you can use it to gain more Roundtables is a conference that customers. You’ll see more will demonstrate case studies of results in 2 days than you will h o w l e a d i n g b r a n d s a r e have in six months working integrating social media and alone! If you are ready to be social networking into and across energized, engage with your the enterprise. We will approach audience, work with the best and t h e t o p i c f r o m t h e take home real solutions in c o m m u n i c a t o r / m a r k e t e r ’ s developing your own social perspective but technology, media strategy, then join us. customer service, and operations Speakers include: Robin Harris, professionals are welcome to Raliegh Pinskey, Frances Flynn participate. Use promo code Thorsen, Shannon Evans and MASH for a discounted rate of more. Use event code SMMLBiz $ 1 5 5 a t to save 15% on your registration www.bdionline.com/socialintegra fee.

January 20-22, 2010, Washington DC: Social Media for Defense and Government is a unique forum on the embracement, implementation and utilization of new media platforms that meet the Governments goals of transparency that allow for more efficient internal and external communication. As the public develops their use of online tools for their personal, career and business development goals, DoD & Gov’t have made it their mission to reach the public via these new forms of media. The forum will provide insight into technologies including Twitter and Facebook as well as advanced elements such as the Governments general information page, blogs, and closed social media suite. Mashable readers get an exclusive 20% discount off the standard pricing with s p e c i a l c o d e IUS_MASH_SMTM_#1 when registering! January 23, 2010, Virginia Beach, VA: Social Media @ The Beach is a place for anyone looking to “get their feet wet” and explore social media. It’s an interactive conference with the laid-back atmosphere of a meetup. The January event will focus on two main goals: boosting personal social networking skills MASHABLE’S page 20

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and developing professional social media marketing strategies. The event is open to everyone, drawing community members of all ages, backgrounds and levels of social media experience. Enter mashable for the discount code to receive 15% off ticket price. January 26, 2010, San Francisco, CA: Vator.tv, a leading platform for entrepreneurs and innovators to broadcast themselves, and provider of news and information through VatorNews, and Girls in Tech, a social network enterprise focused on education and empowerment of influential women in technology, are hosting the Catalyst Competition to find five women-led startups across any stage to present at the Catalyst Conference. Ten finalists will be selected by their peers through an online competition. Join the competition today and get the vote out. January 27-28, 2010, Amsterdam, Netherlands: Enterprise Social 2.0: RIP or ROI? This senior executive event will bring together decision makers from the top Fortune companies to discuss innovative strategies on how to maximize business performance through social media engagement. The event will include keynote speeches, best-practice presentations as well as interactive discussion sessions. Use promo-code MASH14 for a €100 (Euros) discount for the 2 day conference registration fee. January 28, 2010, San Francisco,

CA: The ARF Industry Leader Forum— Putting Listening to Work is an interactive event to help advertisers, agencies, media and research companies determine how to use social media and digital behavior for their listening strategies. Learn how to use listening, evaluate listening applications, develop a listening strategy, integrate it into your existing research program, create an action plan and apply insights garnered. Attendees will receive The ARF Foundations Series – Listening tool, an $895 value, featuring 25 case studies and 30+ company reviews how listening is used for consumer insight, customer service, new product development, reputation management, competitive benchmarking, and breaking into new applications like media planning, targeting and predictive modeling. Speakers include: Jeremiah Owyang, digital media strategy superstar and blogger and Partner, Customer Strategy, Altimeter Group, Toyota Motor Sales, Saatchi and Saatchi Wellness and LinkedIn. Mashable readers can use promo code ARFMASH to save $100. January 28-29, 2010, Bilbao, Spain: The biggest Search Engines: Search Marketing and Online Marketing Event starts the new year in the north of Spain: Bilbao the TIC city! SC Bilbao will offer 9 professionals workshops, 8 Conferences and the glorious Closed Party! 2 days of learning and networking at “Palacio Euskalduna” . Come

and share with Google, Yahoo, Microsoft, SEMPO and the best Internet experts. There’s a special 30% discount on Conferences for all Mashable readers using the promotional code: ILOVESEARCH. February 1-5, 2010, New York, London, Berlin, Toronto, San Francisco, São Paulo: Social Media Week’s second annual conference will take place between February 1st – 5th, 2010 simultaneously in New York City, Berlin, London, San Francisco, Toronto and São Paulo. The five day conference will explore the profound impact that social media has on culture, business communications and society at large. The week-long conference is designed as a series of localized events, which city partners are responsible for organizing. Over the course of the week and in each city, programs will span a variety of formats, ranging from talks, presentations and panel discussions, to interactive workshops, seminars, networking events and drinks receptions. RSVP here. February 4, 2010, San Francisco, CA: Vator, a leading platform for innovators and entrepreneurs to broadcast themselves, is holding its inaugural Vator Splash competition to find 10 promising early-stage startups to present at the Vator Splash event. Enter the competition today and join other onstage presenters, such as Zynga CEO Mark Pincus, Smule CEO Jeff Smith, August Capital

VC Howard Hartenbaum and Google Ventures VC Bill Maris. Buy your 25% discount ticket today using the code: VatorMashable February 8, 2010, Tampa, FL: The Social Media conference that comes to you. Social Fresh is a one day, case study rich conference targeted for marketers. Social Fresh Tampa will have 30+ speakers including Chris Barger of GM, Maggie Fox of Social Media Group, and John Andrews of Collective Bias (formerly of Walmart). Get 15% off if using code mashable. February 8-10, 2010, Philadelphia, PA: The 9th Annual ePharma Summit is the most innovative digital marketing event for pharma. Year after year, hundreds of marketing professionals from leading pharmaceutical companies attend ePharma for incomparable access to insider information for optimizing their brand strategy and perfecting consumer relationships. Join us next February to collaborate with industry leading industry minds and perfect your digital strategy by pursuing true e-marketing innovation. The 2010 event is packed with fresh case studies, hands-on workshops, hot topic debates, facilitated roundtable discussions, and live audience polling sessions. Register with Priority Code XP1506MASH to save 15% off standard registration! February 8-11, 2010, Washington, DC: Attend the

Advanced Learning Institute’s Forum on Social Media for Government: How To Engage Your Employees And Citizens By Using The Latest Web 2.0 Technologies To Drive Communication Results, to learn how to capture the power of social media in your organization, along with helpful tools, tips and techniques to get started. Hear practical advice, firsthand, from leading government agencies and organizations such as: CIA; IRS; U.S. Army Public Affairs; National Wildlife Federation; U.S. Department of Agriculture; City of Raleigh, NC; U.S. Navy; Morris County, NJ; U.S. Department of State Roanoke Public Libraries, VA; Court Services & Offender Supervision Agency; Department for International Development, Government of the United Kingdom; NOAA; National Institutes of Health; U.S. Department of Health & Human Services; National Defense University; City of Richmond, VA; Porter Novelli; Booz Allen Hamilton, and more. Mention Mashable when registering to save $200. February 9-13, 2010, San Francisco, CA: Macworld 2010 is a five-day event that educates, entertains and immerses attendees in the Apple products community. A comprehensive expo hall offers access to hundreds of Mac products and MASHABLE’S page 21

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services, paired with expert advice, demonstrations and instruction. Macworld conference programs feature industry leading minds, presenting cutting edge product training on the topics attendees most want to see. From Mac Power Users to creative professionals to first-time users to Enterprise computing professionals, Macworld has the conference content, special presentations and exhibit hall attractions that create what has been called “Mecca for Mac Users”. Get 15% off as a Mashable reader. February 10, 2010, New York City: The Online Community Unconference East is a gathering of online community professionals – managers, developers, business people, tool providers, investors – to discuss experience and strategies in the development and growth of online communities. As we have found with our past events, the best source of information on all of these challenges is other knowledgeable practitioners. Mashable readers are entitled to a discount by registering here with code mashable. February 15, 2010, Barcelona, Spain: The Mobile Premier Awards recognize the year’s best in Mobile Startup Innovation and are the largest open, global startup competition in the mobile industry. The awards are the point of reference in startup premiers during the Mobile World Congress and are organized in collaboration with

some of the main networks in the industry. Participation to the awards is free and open to any startup with a mobile angle. Sign u p a t www.mobilepremierawards.com and take your chance to walk the red carpet in Barcelona! February 19-21, 2010, Los Angeles, CA: SCALE 8X is the 8th Annual Southern California Linux Expo. As the premier community run Linux / Open Source conference, it will feature tutorial sessions designed to show users of all skill levels what Open Source can do and how to do it. Whatever your interest is in Open Source, SCALE 8x will have something for you. Mashable’s readers can receive 40% off registration with the promo code MASH8. February 22-24, 2010, New York City: From authoring, editing, and layout to distribution and consumption, new technologies are changing all aspects of publishing. TOC will help you navigate these changes and understand how to apply them to your business or organization for a more profitable future in publishing. You’ll also have the opportunity to participate in conversations that are shaping that future as often as they are describing it. The fourth annual O’Reilly TOC Conference is your opportunity to join those inventing the future of publishing. Register now and s a v e a t : en.oreilly.com/toc2010/public/re gister. Save an additional 15%

when you use the Discount Code: toc10mas. February 22–25, 2010 San Diego, CA: Online Marketing Summit, the premier educational event for marketing professionals, is coming to San Diego this February. Join your marketing peers as they share ideas, hear from expert practitioners, and learn best practices in the areas of: Social Media, Search, Email, Analytics, and more – in a completely vendor free environment! Register now and receive 25% off using discount code MASHABLE. February 23-26, 2010, San Jose, CA: At FAST ‘10, explore new directions in the design, implementation, evaluation, and deployment of storage systems. Learn from leaders in the storage industry, beginning Tuesday, February 23, with groundbreaking file and storage tutorials by industry leaders such as Brent Welch, Marc Unangst, Michael Condict, and more. This year’s innovative 3-day technical program includes 21 technical papers, as well as two keynote addresses, Work-in-Progress Reports (WiPs), and a Poster Session. Don’t miss this unique opportunity to meet with premier storage system researchers and industry practitioners from around the globe. Register by February 8 and save! Mashable readers get $100 off using code FASTMASH10. March 1-4, 2010, Ottawa, ON: Attend the Advanced Learning

Institute’s Forum on Social Media for Government: How To Engage Your Employees And Citizens By Using The Latest Web 2.0 Technologies To Drive Communication Results, to learn how to capture the power of social media in your organization, along with helpful tools, tips and techniques to get started. Hear practical advice, firsthand, from leading government agencies and organizations such as: ON Ministry of Health & Long-Term Care; Parks Canada; Communications Community Office; City of Ottawa, ON; Public Safety Canada; Indian & Northern Affairs Canada; Toronto Police Service, ON; Canadian Forces Aerospace Warfare Centre; Human Resources & Skills Development Canada; Northern Lights Canada; Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency; Canada Mortgage & Housing Corporation; Royal Bank of Canada; Genome Alberta; Business Development Bank of Canada; Thornley Fallis Communications; Centre of Excellence for Public Sector Marketing, & more. Mention Mashable when registering to save $200. March 2-4, 2010, Santa Clara, CA: Search Marketing Expo – SMX West content is so compelling, you’ll want to implement what you’ve learned before leaving the conference. Over 50 super-charged sessions on PPC, SEO, local search, search-friendly design, and social

media marketing will help you flourish today, tomorrow and in the future. Whether you’re new to search or have years of experience, employed at a Fortune 500 company or run your own business or agency, you’ll be a more effective, innovative and inspired internet marketer after attending SMX East. Featured keynote – Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer. Get 3 jampacked days of content for only $1145 if you register by January 30th and use discount code smx100mashable. For more info visit smxwest.com March 4-5, 2010, Chicago, IL: At SOHO’s 2-Day, “The CoAlignment of the Corporate and Personal Brand,” a Strategy Framework, develop your exclusive copy of “The Draft,” SOHO’s 16-page social communications policy workbook for businesses and corporations. The focus in 2010 is co-aligning the corporate brand with internal and external communications. SOHO brings to you presentations, case studies and Town Hall meetings with Chris Brogan and Dan Schawbel, and other experienced practitioners. For more information and to register, please visit Sohobiztube.com. Use discount code MashableChi for a 20% discount on a 2-day “The Draft” ticket. March 15-16, 2010, London, UK: At Social Media World Forum, learn from social MASHABLE’S page 26

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Oracle pledges to play well with MySQL (CNET News.com)

of MySQL storage engines, promising to maintain the openness and flexibility of The chill between Oracle and the MySQL's Pluggable Storage European Commission may Engine Architecture and not finally be thawing. require commercial licenses to European antitrust regulators use the storage engine APIs. have been playing a wary In response, the European bouncer to Oracle's planned Commission on Monday issued a takeover of Sun Microsystems, statement suggesting that it's and they've been especially warming up to the idea of a Sunattentive to the software maker's Oracle combination. i n t e n t i o n s r e g a r d i n g S u n ' s "Today's announcement by M y S Q L o p e r a t i o n s . I n Oracle of a series of undertakings November, their concerns about to customers, developers and the future of the open-source users of MySQL is an important MySQL database software led to new element to be taken into a formal thumbs-down to the a c c o u n t i n t h e o n g o i n g acquisition. proceedings," said the EC in its But recent discussions between statement. "In particular, Oracle's O r a c l e a n d t h e E C h a v e binding contractual undertakings apparently been fruitful, as t o s t o r a g e e n g i n e v e n d o r s Oracle on Monday pledged 10 r e g a r d i n g c o p y r i g h t n o n "commitments to customers, assertion and the extension over a d e v e l o p e r s a n d u s e r s o f period of up to 5 years of the MySQL." terms and conditions of existing Among other things, the c o m m e r c i a l l i c e n s e s a r e company pledged to spend more s i g n i f i c a n t n e w f a c t s . " cash than Sun did on MySQL EC Competition Commissioner development and to set up Neelie Kroes expressed optimism advisory boards to include for a satisfactory outcome, one MySQL customers. Oracle also that won't hurt the competition in said it would not require paid the European database market. support to get a commercial But according to the Reuters MySQL license and that it would news agency, critics of Oracle offer flexible support contracts to aren't impressed with Oracle's customers. latest promises. i n a d d i t i o n , i t a d d r e s s e d "This is purely cosmetic, totally licensing and copyright issues ineffectual. Neither storage relevant to third-party developers engine vendors nor 'forkers'-Submitted at 12/14/2009 8:41:53 AM

developers of derived versions-nor enterprise users would have a basis on which to invest in MySQL-related innovation," said Florian Mueller, a spokesman for MySQL co-founder Michael "Monty" Widenius, who has been one of the loudest voices in opposition to the deal. Fearing that Oracle will try to weaken MySQL to strengthen its own database products, Widenius has been intent on drumming up support among the faithful, asking them to urge the EC to stop the merger for good. The battle for Sun began in April when Oracle's $7.4 billion bid won over Sun's board. Subsequent approval by shareholders and the U.S. Justice Department seemed to solidify the deal. Summarized below, Oracle's 10 commitments outline how the company intends to keep MySQL alive as a competitive database product. • Continued Availability of Storage Engine APIs. Oracle promises to maintain and enhance MySQL's Pluggable Storage Engine Architecture, which gives users the ability to select from a variety of different storage engines that can plug into a MySQL database server. • Non-assertion. As copyright holder, Oracle will change Sun's current policy and will not assert

against anyone that a third-party vendor's implementations of a storage engine must be released under the GPL (GNU General Public License) because they used the APIs that are part of the Pluggable Storage Engine Architecture. Further, Oracle will not require a commercial license from third-party storage engine vendors to implement the Pluggable Storage Engine Architecture's APIs. • License commitment. When current MySQL OEM agreements with storage vendors end, Oracle will offer an extension up to December 10, 2014, with the same terms and conditions. • Commitment to enhance MySQL in the future under the GPL. Oracle promises to enhance MySQL, including version 6, under the GPL. Oracle won't update MySQL Enterprise Edition without also updating MySQL Community Edition and will make the source code of Community Edition available to the public at no charge. • Support not mandatory. Customers won't be required to buy support services from Oracle to get a commercial license for MySQL. • Increase spending on MySQL research and development. Oracle promises to spend more money than Sun did to continue

James Cameron's New 3-D Epic Could Change Film Forever By Joshua Davis (Wired Top Stories)

Twelve years after Titanic, with Avatar, a $250 million 3-D director James Cameron is back interplanetary epic.

to further develop MySQL, both the commercial and GPL editions. • MySQL Customer Advisory Board. No later than six months after the anniversary of the closing, Oracle will create a customer advisory board to offer guidance and feedback on MySQL development. The board will include end users and embedded customers. • MySQL Storage Engine Vendor Advisory Board. No later than six months after the anniversary of the closing, Oracle will create and fund a storage engine vendor advisory board for guidance on issues important to MySQL storage engine vendors. • MySQL Reference Manual. Oracle will continue to update and provide a free download to a MySQL Reference Manual similar to the one currently available from Sun. • Preserve Customer Choice for Support. Oracle will make sure that end-user and embedded customers paying for MySQL support can renew that support each year or every few years, depending on the customer's preference. fivefilters.org featured article: Normalising the crime of the century by John Pilger

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10 Great Digital Gifts for Social Media Lovers By Barb Dybwad (Mashable!)

too. 2. Dropbox Subscription Have a friend or loved one with multiple computers who’s always Maybe you just hate leaving the trying to keep things in sync, house to shop, or you find likes to share a lot of files, or yourself last-minute gift-hunting, needs a totally hands-off backup or you simply live on the method? Check out Dropbox as a Internets and want to give gifts to dead simple cloud storage, other web lovers. The web can sharing and backup option for help you create and personalize them. A Pro account with 50 GB unique physical gifts, but it can of storage space is $9.99 per also provide instant gratification month, or $19.99 a month for with gifts for friends and family 100 GB of space. Your giftee who are tech-savvy and enjoy gets quick and painless file sync digital toys. and storage, plus sharing features Check out the ideas below for and web access to their files. 3. giving the gift of digital love this Flickr Pro holiday season. These options are This one’s for the shutterbug in especially great for filling those your life. A Flickr Pro account last few gaps on your list, since gift is $24.95 for 1 year and can most can be purchased on the be either e-mailed or printed out. spot without shipping times or Your giftee simply enters the delivery costs. Have any other code on the gift activation page great ideas for digital gifting? Let and gains all the benefits of a Pro us know in the comments! 1. account, including unlimited iTunes Gift Certificates photo and video uploads, storage If your giftees have occasion to and bandwidth. 4. Amazon Gift download media from iTunes, a Certificate gift certificate is a great way to Amazon offers a number of give them something they’ll love ways to send gift cards, whether without having to find out what by e-mail, snail mail, or printable they already own. Best of all, you methods. You can customize the can deliver them on the spot via e card with different designs and, -mail, or pick one up just before of course, your own amount and running out the door to that message. This is a great option Christmas party by printing one for giftees who often change out at home. You can even send hobbies and interests to allow iTunes Gifts through Facebook them flexible purchasing of as well, or gift specific tracks, whatever suits their current albums, TV shows, or movies fancy. 5. Last.fm Subscription Submitted at 12/14/2009 8:40:30 AM

up their gifts. Not sure what game to give? Download Squad has a good guide with a few ideas. 7. Netflix Subscription If you’re gifting to a film or TV buff who doesn’t already subscribe, Netflix offers gift subscriptions from as little as one month up to a year. Your giftee For the music lover in your life, will get the benefits of painless consider giving the gift of DVD and/or Blu-ray rental uninterrupted streaming tunes delivery by mail, as well the from Last.fm. The music social opportunity to instantly stream a network, discovery engine and number of titles directly to their personalized radio station goes ad PC, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and -free and uninterrupted with a $3 other supported devices. 8. per month subscription. You can Evernote Premium choose any duration you like, or Know someone who already even gift to an existing user with uses Evernote, the popular source a monthly or one-time payment. - a g n o s t i c n o t e b o o k a n d 6. Steam Gifts information capturing tool? Or Need something for the gamer in k n o w a s t u d e n t , w r i t e r , your life? Consider giving the productivity enthusiast, or other gift of Steam. You can purchase information hoarder who could games for both current members benefit from a great celestial of the popular digital game brain application? You can give distribution platform and non- the gift of Evernote for $45 a members simply with their e-mail year, which nets them 500 MB a d d r e s s . Y o u c a n a d d a monthly upload allowance, personalized message to the e- broader file type support and mail they’ll receive notifying syncing, PDF search, premium them of the gift. Current Steam support and other benefits of the users will be prompted to free version. 9. Audible Gifts download their gift when they Have a frequent commuter on log into Steam, while new users your list, or someone who loves simply need to install Steam audio books? Choose an amount ( W i n d o w s - o n l y r i g h t n o w , and have the gift of storytelling though Mac users with Bootcamp sent to family and friends via eor Crossover can also use Steam) mail instantly. Or, choose a and create a new account to pick membership level and give

Inventing Effects to Create the Avatar Universe By Frank Rose (Wired Top Stories)

Go behind the scenes to get a look at Avatar's groundbreaking

special effects and the tech that made them possible.

someone the gift of a monthly subscription to various levels of books on tape. 10. Newegg Gift Cards If your giftee is a gadget lover, you can let them go to town with the shiny toys they’d like with a Newegg Gift Card. They’re delivered by e-mail and never expire, which make them a worthy choice for the tech lover on your gift list. More holiday shopping resources from Mashable: - Mac Gift Guide: 10 Buying Ideas for Apple Fans - 10 Gift Suggestion Sites for Hapless Holiday Shoppers - 10 Unique Gifts You Can Make with Help from the Web - HOW TO: Use Social Media to Find Deals This Holiday Season - 7 YouTube Holiday Shopper Videos That’ll Make You Glad You Bought Online - 10 New Sites for Socially Responsible Shopping Image courtesy of iStockphoto, acik Reviews: Blu, Dropbox, Evernote, Last.fm, Steam, iStockphoto Tags: amazon, Audible, Dropbox, evernote, flickr, gift guide, Gifts, holiday shopping, itunes, Last.FM, List, Lists, netflix, shopping, steam

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Vintage AOL: Adventures in digital-age archaeology (CNET News.com)

access or 45 days, whichever comes first, with no credit card required. (1,025 hours is slightly This year for Christmas, I finally under 42 days.) On the red-anddecided to give my family gold packaging is the face of a something that they've been Japanese anime-style character, asking me about for more or less the edges of the drawing blurred the past five years: I told them to make the marketing message that I would clean my room. absolutely clear: This is fast. This No, really. I moved out of my is the future. childhood home years ago, but AOL 7.0 was released on more or less shut the door to my October 16, 2001, right in the room and didn't change a thing. depths of post-9/11 turmoil and It's sort of a late '90s-early '00s some of the darkest hours for the teenage time capsule. There was dot-com industry. It was also less stuff in there that had not been than a year after America t o u c h e d s i n c e t h e C l i n t o n Online's historic $165 billion administration. There were merger with Time Warner, now m a g a z i n e s w i t h J u s t i n regarded as one of the most Timberlake on the cover from an disastrous business decisions of era when nobody expected he'd the past decade. It was also right be cast as a Silicon Valley around the time I turned 17 and hotshot in a movie directed by flunked my driver's test; in the Fight Club guy. There were hindsight I clearly should've been varsity letters and prom photos honing my skills of coordination and model rockets and Warped by playing more video games. Tour '01 memorabilia and pretty A press release from October 16 much whatever else you'd expect hails version 7.0 as having "a to find in the living space of a kid fresh new look that puts local, who came of age in the era of community-focused features, Can't Hardly Wait and "Dawson's shopping and resources front and Creek." center throughout the service to That inventory included one m a k e A O L a n e v e n m o r e almost perfectly preserved AOL relevant and valuable part of 7.0 installer disk, a CD-ROM members' daily lives." Then-CEO that boasts "Faster Than Ever!" B a r r y S c h u l e r o f f e r e d a and offers 1,025 free hours of s o u n d b i t e , s a y i n g " W e ' r e Submitted at 12/14/2009 9:40:30 AM

behind it, and yet, at the same time it doesn't. The thing about AOL in the late '90s and early '00s was that it was as mainstream and ubiquitous as any tech company could get. In a press call last week to announce AOL's long-overdue spinoff from Time Warner, current CEO Tim building on our strong, engaged A r m s t r o n g s a i d t h a t " t h i s relationships with more than 31 company is one of the companies million members worldwide to that really put the Internet in lead the transformation of new vogue for consumers." c a t e g o r i e s l i k e m u s i c , "The '90s were about access, and entertainment, local, and digital AOL played a major role in photography--with more on the access," Armstrong continued. way as broadband and AOL "This decade has really been A n y w h e r e c r e a t e n e w about platforms: Google, o p p o r t u n i t i e s l i k e h o m e Facebook, Twitter, et cetera, and we believe that the next decade networking." I don't exactly remember why I will really be about content." had that CD stashed away, but So the company has courted I'm willing to surmise that I was Madison Avenue aggressively, keeping it around in the case of a with marketers and agency types dial-up nuclear winter--i.e. if my flooding the floor at AOL's glitzy parents came across a less-than- spinoff party at the New York s t e l l a r c a l c u l u s g r a d e a n d Stock Exchange last week. It's responded by silencing the launched Seed.com, a bold and Internet connection that sucked controversial clearinghouse for away some of the time that I quick, efficient media content might have been spending on based on trends and demand. A homework otherwise. With that medium-sized 2005 acquisition, shiny disk, I could somehow Weblogs Inc., has proven more figure out a 45-day lifeline. important to the company's navigational course than the jawThe 'new' AOL. AOL wants to put those days dropping $850 million it spent on social network Bebo last year.

Baby-by-Number: Parents' New Obsession With Data By Hadley Leggett (Wired Top Stories) Submitted at 12/13/2009 9:00:00 PM

We track our packages, our flights, our pizzas -- and now our kids. From iPhone apps that record every diaper, bottle and

nap to electronic toys that track how kids play, a host of new products let parents keep tabs on nearly every aspect of their

children's lives. Is that a good thing?

The dial-up access business is still there, but slowly dying. A lot's changed, and still a lot hasn't. The focus at AOL now might be on blog content, not the beeps and buzzes and "You've Got Mail!" messages. But at its core, even in the Tim Armstrong age, AOL still wants to be something that the average consumer--which, I suppose, includes small-town teenage girls who spend more time instantmessaging than learning how to parallel park--absolutely can't live without. Rebuilding AOL is a challenge that some have dismissed as a total pipe dream for Armstrong & co. But some cultural phenomena have indeed proven capable of being relevant at both the beginning and end of the '00s: I mean, look at Justin Timberlake. That guy looked ridiculous when he was all over teen magazines ten years ago. (As for the AOL disk, thanks very much to those of you who offered suggestions via Twitter for what I should do with it. Seems like a lot of you use them as coasters!) fivefilters.org featured article: Normalising the crime of the century by John Pilger

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8 Ways to Share Happiness on the Web [Contest] By Matt Silverman (Mashable!)

rescue by acting as their webmaster, managing Twitter account and Facebook page. Submitted at 12/14/2009 10:12:59 AM We’ve saved literally hundreds of Mashable is proud to present the dogs over the past few years. Zappos.com Sharing Happiness Bonnie Jean Weinman: Giveaway Contest! My sister lost her job and is in We’ve received so many great danger of losing her house. I use responses/entries to our big the web and twitter to research question,“How do you use the ways for her to network and get web to improve your life and/or another job and save her house. make people happy?” GeekGirlCamp: But you can still add more by I use the web to promote # S h a r i n g H a p p i n e s s i n t h e education and computer literacy comments section of our original by creating a community of post for a chance to win a $3,000 gifted online people to help get shopping spree at Zappos.com! our message out about donating Entries are due by Tuesday, m o n e y t o e d u c a t i o n a l December 15th at 11:59 PM PT, scholarships for women in dire and we’ll announce a winner on need, free computer classes for December 16th. Be sure to read disadvantaged women, laptop the contest rules before posting donation programs for young a n d t w e e t i n g . N o t e t h a t girls and women who have no comments on this post will not be money, and many more causes to counted as contest entries. Go get everyone more education for here for your chance to enter. 8 school and job skills. Blogging, Ways to Share Happiness on the Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Web: Flickr, Ning, and others have To keep the holiday cheer helped us so much gain a loyal flowing, we’ve highlighted some community that is always ready of the most inspiring submissions to help anything we do. We so far. These are some great would never be able to get ideas for sharing happiness on technology into the hands of the the web: people who need it most without Jon Strum: the web! Thank you to everyone I use the web to publish my blog who helps us day after day get about caregiving for my disabled the message out! wife. Being a caregiver for a Akilah S. Richards: loved one can be a very isolating I use the Web to link experience. My blog helps other Execumamas to each other at caregivers to remember that they various stages in their journeys aren’t alone. toward successfully integrating Herb Hernandez: motherhood and business! What One example: helping dog makes me most proud of what I

How do you use the social web to spread happiness and help others? Share your experience in the comments section of our original post for a chance to win a $3,000 shopping spree at Zappos.com! To Enter 1. Leave your answer in the do on the Web is my ability to comments section on the original i n s p i r e w o m e n w h o a r e post and/or, apprehensive/nervous/afraid 2. Tweet out your answer with about pursuing their career goals the hashtag “#SharingHappiness” for fear of compromising their (Be sure to leave the URL of roles as mothers. I still get emails your Twitter comment in your that make me cry in appreciation comment on the original post.) of what I’m able to do! Contest Rules & Restrictions porcheb: You must be 18+ years of age I am a teacher and I use the web and currently reside in one of the t o d e v e l o p v i d e o s i n s i g n 50 US States. If you would like language so that my deaf kids to participate but are not of valid would be able to have tutorial, age/residence, please note “not language acquisitions, and social eligible” in your comment on the d e v e l o p m e n t a t h o m e o r original post. By submitting, you anywhere. Basically, it is not are agreeing to the full rules and limited to only my deaf kids but restrictions. Final entries are due to anyone. The web is a amazing o n t h i s p o s t b y T u e s d a y , tool to spread knowledge. December 15th at 11:59 PM PT. Laurie: A Big Thanks to Zappos! I use the web to fundraise for “Visit Zappos.com and outfit breast cancer research. It makes your life with a new head-to-toe m e h a p p y t o h e l p o t h e r s . wardrobe for men, women, and #SharingHappiness kids! Step into all the clothes, RENONFL: bags, shoes and more from all I am always searching the web your favorite brand names! Plus, to find schrolarships for my three enjoy our 365-day return policy, children to continue college. I fast & free shipping, free return want them to have a better life shipping & 24-hour customer than I. To give them an education service!” Reviews: Facebook, so they can become young adults Flickr, LinkedIn, Twitter that make a positive difference in Tags: contest, Contests, sharing the world sounds wonderful to happiness, sharinghappiness, me. I love my kids and want the Zappos most life can give them.

Woman Arrested For Filming Snippets Of 'New Moon' May Sue Theater By Mike Masnick (Techdirt) Submitted at 12/14/2009 5:16:18 AM

The latest in the saga of the young woman, Samantha Tumpach, who was arrested and jailed for two nights because her attempt to film some of her sister's birthday party at the movies happened to catch a few snippets of the film New Moon, is that Tumpach is now considering suing the theater, even though the charges against her have been dropped. Unfortunately, thanks to the draconian anti-camera laws pushed by the MPAA to punish people for these sorts of things, she might not get very far with such a lawsuit. As Copycense points out, the Illinois law in question basically lets the theater do exactly what it did, even if the circumstances are ridiculous. So, any lawsuit is unlikely to last, though it should lead us to questioning why legislators around the globe have passed similar laws at the behest of the movie industry. There are already perfectly good copyright laws to be used against anyone actually filming a movie for "piracy" purposes. These anticamcorder laws go above and beyond that, and lead to ridiculous scenarios like this one. Permalink| Comments| Email This Story

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networks, brands, advertisers and analysts. Hear from leading social networks on their strategy, revenue models and how they are approaching the future. Worldwide case studies from global brands and corporations on their use of social media. Examine the current market conditions, future forecasts and predictions from leading analysts. Mention you are a Mashable reader to receive 15% discount. March 19, 2010, London, UK: Justmeans’ Social Media and Stakeholder Engagement Conference will bring together the top minds in sustainability, marketing, innovation and technology. This executive forum will explore how technology can enable sustainable business by involving stakeholders in the value creation process and will showcase examples of success and failure in this rapidly evolving market. Use this link for a 10% registration discount. March 24-25, San Francisco, CA: EyeforTravel’s Social Media Strategies for Travel conference goes beyond the ‘what is social media?’ debates (that were so 2008!) and examines the strategic

importance of social media to travel brands. The 2 day conference will share leading case studies, hits, tips and advice from top travel companies including JetBlue, Hilton, Virgin America and more. Use the discount MASHABLE to save $100 on the registration fee! March 30-April 1, 2010, San Jose, CA: Become Location Enabled at Where 2.0. Now in its sixth year, Where 2.0 is one of the world’s foremost events dedicated to exploring the emerging technologies in the geospatial industry. At Where 2.0, we expose the tools pushing the boundaries of the location frontier. Join us and meet the people behind the mashups, the people behind the platforms, and the people looking ahead to the future of geospatial. Find out what’s viable now, what’s lurking just below the radar and how to gain a competitive edge. Register now and save 15% at en.oreilly.com/where2010. Use code whr10mash. May 17-19, 2010, Charlotte, NC: Search Exchange is a 3-day action packed internet marketing conference offering insights into social media marketing, search

engine optimization, online reputation management, and pay per click advertising. Learn and network with industry professionals and business owners from around the world. Mashable readers save 10% using code mash10 during registration. May 25-27, 2010, The Sage Gateshead, UK: Thinking Digital is overtly inspired by the TED and PopTech conferences in America. We attract more than 30 of the world’s most innovative, creative, insightful and/or accomplished people to come to Hall Two of the Sage Gateshead, United Kingdom annually and talk about their work, inspirations, insights and ideas. Our venue and speakers thereby attract a wonderfully eclectic mix of people from around Northern England, Europe and the world. Mashable readers save 25% using code tdc_mashable here. June 29-30, 2010, London, UK: The 2nd annual Cloud Computing and Enterprise 2.0 World Forum is the perfect event to learn and discuss the future development and integration of cloud and enterprise 2.0 services

and products. Building on the success of the 2009 show, this two day conference and exhibition will provide a focused platform for the global cloud computing and enterprise social media industry. The 2010 show will include a free-to-attend exhibition with scenario based workshop area and key service providers demonstrating their products. The Mashable Weekly Social Media and Marketing Event Guide is proudly supported by Eventbrite, the Web’s Event Marketplace. Eventbrite is an online events marketplace where tens of thousands of individuals, businesses and organizations of all sizes manage, promote and sell tickets to their events. Make your event a success on Eventbrite. Reviews: Facebook, Google, LinkedIn, Mashable, Twitter, linux Tags: conferences, Events, mashable

Microsoft DRM Locks You Out Of Your Own Documents By Mike Masnick (Techdirt) Submitted at 12/14/2009 7:01:00 AM

In case you haven't been paying attention, there's yet to be a good reason put forth for using DRM that I can remember. We've seen over and over again how DRM seems to interfere with legitimate actions, but does nothing at all to slow down "pirates." Slashdot points to a rather scary situations for those who used Microsoft Office 2003 to DRM certain documents for their own use. Apparently, a screwup on the part of Microsoft (oops) means that many people got locked out of their own documents. Basically, Microsoft let a certificate expire, and that's made life difficult for lots and lots of people. So what good is DRM again? Permalink| Comments| Email This Story

Microsoft fixes Office 2003 bug with patch (CNET News.com) Submitted at 12/14/2009 8:52:00 AM

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fivefilters.org featured article: Normalising the crime of the century by John Pilger

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Priceline shrinks from marketing scandal (CNET News.com) Submitted at 12/14/2009 8:34:00 AM

Priceline, an online travel site accused by the government of selling customer credit card information to "scam" marketers, says it no longer has any relationship with the marketing firms. Company spokesman Brian Ek said Priceline, perhaps best known as the "name your price" company, stopped using posttransaction firm Affinion sometime last month. The news was first reported by The Connecticut Post. In May, the U.S. Senate launched a probe of the company, as well as competitors Webloyalty and Vertrue and 88 online merchants, for allegedly duping as many as 30 million consumers into paying monthly fees. "With the Senate inquiry going on, we want to wait and see what happens," said Ek, who added that Priceline no longer has partnerships with any of the posttransaction marketers. According to the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation, Priceline is one of about 19 companies, including Orbitz, Travelocity, Shutterfly, Classmates.com, Buy.com, and Redcats USA, that banked more than $10 million from its partnerships with post-transaction

according some experts. The government's investigators have unearthed documents that show the marketing companies and the e-tailers know that the ads are deceptive. They also show that only a tiny percentage of the people who are signed up to the membership programs ever use them and that an elaborate system is created by the marketers to shield their retail partners from getting blamed by customers. Members of the Commerce committee have called the practices a "scam," and "robbery." Just washing its hands of Affinion may not get Priceline off the hook. On November 5, marketers. Among the merchants But buried in the fine print are Commerce committee Chairman that have cut ties with the the full terms, which state that by John Rockefeller wrote a letter to m a r k e t i n g f i r m s s i n c e t h e providing an e-mail address, Priceline CEO Jeff Boyd asking g o v e r n m e n t b e g a n i t s shoppers are enrolling in a f o r i n f o r m a t i o n a b o u t h i s investigation are Continental m e m b e r s h i p p r o g r a m a n d company's relationship with Airlines and VistaPrint, an online authorizing the marketer to Affinion. printing service. charge their credit card up to $20 Ek said he didn't know whether The government says that the per month. After finding the Priceline severed ties with merchants agreed to allow the charges on their bank statements, Affinion before or after Boyd marketers to present ads late in thousands of mystified people received Rockefeller's letter. t h e t r a n s a c t i o n p r o c e s s . have complained that they were The Commerce committee is According to experts, the ads are misled. expected to hold another hearing designed to give unwitting Web The marketers have denied on the matter sometime after the shoppers the impression that by wrongdoing and say that their start of the year. providing their e-mail address practices are legal because all the fivefilters.org featured article: they are justing signing up to terms are included in their ads. Normalising the crime of the receive a cash-back reward or T h e y h a v e r e c e n t l y b e g u n century by John Pilger discount. requiring consumers to enter the Click the photo and read a last four digits of their credit card collection of CNET's stories on number. the marketing scandal. That doesn't go far enough,

Israeli ISPs Caught Traffic Shaping Without Admitting It By Mike Masnick (Techdirt) Submitted at 12/14/2009 3:14:48 AM

For many years, in the US, there were claims that Comcast was doing traffic shaping on its network, slowing down or even blocking certain types of traffic. Despite increasingly sophisticated evidence, Comcast always denied it, until the Associated Press finally presented proof. Comcast still tried to dance around on definitions, but finally came clean. In response it got a wrist slap from the FCC (which it's fighting in court), but it has become a lot more transparent in its traffic shaping/filtering practices. There just isn't any logical reason why any ISP should be less than forthcoming about these issues. Slashdot points us to the news that a new study of Israeli ISPs shows that, despite denying it, many are traffic shaping P2P traffic, often using deep packet inspection. Apparently, Israel's Communications Ministry is already looking into this and determining if it requires any action on its part. It makes you wonder why ISPs think it makes sense not to explain what they're doing to customers. Permalink| Comments| Email This Story

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Apple Launches Nuclear Patent Counterstrike On Nokia By Mike Masnick (Techdirt) Submitted at 12/14/2009 1:17:05 AM

We've discussed in the past how many large companies now view patent accumulation as something of a nuclear stockpiling technique. That is, if you accumulate enough patents, By Mike Masnick (Techdirt) seemed to think it was even it comes to innovation. It could perhaps he feels it's his mission other large companies won't sue worth trying to actually back up be a whole variety of factors, to overstate the importance of the you for patent infringement, Submitted at 12/14/2009 9:35:00 AM that claim with any evidence from firms recognizing what a organization, but his claims because you'll just sue them right We've seen it over and over whatsoever. If innovation were waste it is to patent certain should have at least some basis in back for infringing on your again in the press. They love to really declining in the US, you things, to companies deciding not reality. patents. As ridiculous (and assume that the number of would think there would be some to waste money on patents during B u t , o f c o u r s e , a g o o d obviously against the basis of the patents being filed is a proxy for sort of tangible evidence of it, but a recession, to the various court explanation for why this is very patent system) as this is, it innovation. There's just one C N N a n d r e p o r t e r D a v i d rulings that have finally put a tiny happening is explained (though, has certainly limited some patent ( l a r g e ) p r o b l e m w i t h t h a t . Goldman never bother to even pushback on what is considered not by the CNN reporter who lawsuits between large tech Multiple studies have shown no look for it. Tragically, USPTO "patentable." But none of that appears to miss it entirely) later companies. But every so often, a connection between patents and boss David Kappos -- who s u g g e s t s a n y l i m i t o n U S in the article: the USPTO is nuclear battle breaks out. Earlier innovation. But, don't tell that to should know better -- perpetuates innovation or ingenuity. And, it's e n t i r e l y f u n d e d b y p a t e n t this year, Nokia, jealous over the the reporters at CNN who are the myth that the two are directly even more ridiculous to claim, as application fees. Thus, it has success of the iPhone, sued f r e t t i n g a b o u t h o w t h e connected. In commenting on Kappos appears to do in that every incentive to get more Apple. Apple, of course, has "recession" has taken its latest the decline in patent applications, quote, that this drop in patent people to file, and to play up the bragged about all those patents it victim: US Innovation. This is he notes:"That's unfortunate applications could represent a prestige and value of a patent, holds on the iPhone... so... the ridiculous on so many levels that because [patent filings] are a decrease in jobs and opportunity. even when the evidence is to the obvious next step has occurred, even patent system defenders are reflection of innovation," said That statement is even more contrary. So, now it appears that and Apple is lobbing back disagreeing with CNN. First, David Kappos, director of the laughable, since Kappos must CNN becomes the PR arm of the charges of patent infringement CNN bases this on a minuscule P a t e n t O f f i c e . " I n n o v a t i o n know that the number of jobs Patent Office, rather than actually against Nokia. In the end, the 2.3% decline in patent filings, creates so many jobs and so created is not even remotely looking to find out what's going two sides will probably work out despite a massive growth in m u c h o p p o r t u n i t y f o r o u r related to the number of patents on. some sort of settlement, but the patent filings over the past fifteen country. It is absolutely key to granted or held (just ask some Permalink| Comments| Email whole process is a huge waste of years. our long-term success in the patent hoarding firms that hold This Story time and resources. Wouldn't we But, more importantly, there is global economy." But, of course, many patents but employ just one all be better off if they just no indication whatsoever that this there is no indication that this or two people). What a shame focused on competing in the means anything in terms of US tiny drop in applications is that Kappos would repeat such marketplace by creating better innovation. No one at CNN reflective of anything at all when myths. As boss of the PTO, products? Permalink| Comments| Email This Story By Charlie Sorrel (Wired Top After years of denying that it's some details of the phone it plans One. Stories) planning to release its own to issue next year: the unlocked, smartphone, Google confirms thinner-than-an-iPhone Nexus

Dear CNN: Patents Are Not A Proxy For Innovation

Google Confirms Plans to Release Its Own Smartphone

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Facebook is the new Compuserve (CNET News.com) Submitted at 12/14/2009 9:56:55 AM

Want to know what prominent Apache Software Foundation and former Google developer Greg Stein thinks about MySQL, the GPL, and the European Commission's antitrust stance on Oracle/Sun? You've got two options. You can read his original post here, of course. But if you want better commentary, you'll need to read this same post on Facebook. You can check out any time you like... Except that you probably can't, unless you're Stein's "friend" on Facebook. Open Web, meet your closed cousin, Facebook. People rightly fret about Facebook's twisting, turning approach to privacy, but perhaps a far greater concern is that so much great content is locked up at all. Let's be honest: as much as we may pretend we're concerned about our privacy, the reality is that most of us most of the time appear to be hell-bent on revealing details about our innermost thoughts on a scale only the Internet can provide. As ZDNet's Larry Dignan opines,

is trapped. Professor Jonathan Zittrain raises a warning voice about this in his " The Future of the Internet and How to Stop It", but I can't help but think that the convenience of Facebook will trump the social benefits of broadening conversations beyond "We're all Google-tethered the borders of such services. zombies who go about life Of course, it's very possible that without a hoot for privacy." openness trumps all, and that, That's why, as TechCrunch like Compuserve before it, reports, we're even happily F a c e b o o k ' s w a l l e d - g a r d e n sharing the details of our credit approach to the Web will go out with a whimper. card transactions online. Unlike Compuserve, however, Really. The real concern is that we share Facebook is helping people to so much behind the closed doors tame the disorder of the Web. of Compuserve-esque Web There really wasn't much content "sites" that serve as Hotel to tame prior to AOL, Prodigy, Californias for our content. Yes, I C o m p u s e r v e , e t c . T h e s e want to keep some conversations companies corralled and created private, but as more of my the content that populated their ramblings move to Facebook and services. Facebook doesn't. other closed corners of the Web, Do you share my concern? Or do I w a n t t o b r o a d e n t h e you think it's just a moment in conversation beyond the borders time that will resolve itself quickly? Please comment of my "friends" list. I can't. I'm stuck. What happens here...and not on my Facebook on Facebook, stays on Facebook. page. :-) Even content that is cross-posted fivefilters.org featured article: e l s e w h e r e : t h e e n s u i n g Normalising the crime of the commentary (often of equal or century by John Pilger greater value to the original post)

Avatar Pushes the Limits of Visual Effects By Wired.com Video Team (Wired Top Stories) Submitted at 12/13/2009 9:00:00 PM

Wired contributing editor Joshua Davis discusses the extensive process that led to the development of James Cameron's

intergalactic space epic, Avatar.

Dozen Daily Deals for December 14, 2009 By Victor Agreda, Jr. (The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW))

LCD HDTV w/ Sony PS3 120GB for $958 + $1 s&h • JR: [Digital Cameras] Panasonic DMC-LX3K 10MP Submitted at 12/14/2009 12:30:00 PM 2.5x Zoom Digital Camera for Filed under: Deals'Tis the season $399 + free shipping shop until your brains melt (or • Skinit: [Notebook Accessories] skip it all entirely, depending on Skinit.com coupon: 50% off your interpretation of the term sitewide holiday). In that spirit, for the • W a l m a r t : [ E l e c t r o n i c s ] next few weeks we'll be rounding Westport Small Charging Station up a dozen daily deals courtesy for $19 + $1 s&h our friends at DealNews.com. • Meritline: [iPod Accessories] Each afternoon tune in to TUAW Crystal Hard Case for Apple iPod for this handy summary. Keep in Touch 2nd Generation for 39 mind that while our posts will cents + free shipping live on, the deals won't. Each is • Staples: [Office Furniture] Zlovingly generated by the deal- Line Gemini L-Desk for $50 + bot every day, so get 'em while free shipping, padding they're hot. Enjoy! • Buy.com: [Headphones] Ultimate Ears Metro.fi 200 • iTunes Music Store: [iPhone / Stereo Earphones from $20 + iPod Apps] App Store Freebies: free shipping GravBall, iWore, Cyclic Dial, • Target: [32" LCD TVs] JingleToe, TanSafe, more Sylvania 32" 720p Widescreen • InvisibleShield: [iPhone] LCD HDTV for $270 + $20 s&h ZAGG.com coupon: 50% off sitewide, no minimum TUAW Dozen Daily Deals for • Google: [Store Events] Google December 14, 2009 originally Holiday Deals: Up to $20 off appeared on The Unofficial $120 at select merchants Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Mon, • OfficeMax: [Office Furniture] 14 Dec 2009 12:30:00 EST. Office Chair Roundup: Sofronio Please see our terms for use of Manager Mid-Back Chair for feeds. $130 + free shipping, more Permalink| Email this| • Walmart: [46" - 47" LCD TVs] C o m m e n t s Sony BRAVIA 46" 120Hz 1080p

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Send virtual 3D gifts with Little World Gifts By Victor Agreda, Jr. (The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW))

someday your Sims could wear Abercrombie or your virtual villagers in Pocket God could get a dancing Elvis? I'd be happy to Submitted at 12/14/2009 11:30:00 AM ship toxic waste to Farmville. Filed under: iPhone, iPod touch Currently the gifts on the store When Apple launched the App are rather limited and have a Store, there were no in-app holiday theme. I'm sure there will purchases, but it quickly became be more items to buy as time apparent that some mechanism goes on, but I'd love to see a for buying stuff within an app "real" market a la Second Life, itself would be needed. I where users could build their remember thinking a store of own 3D trinkets and sell them on virtual gifts seemed like a nothis store. Hey, maybe we could brainer, but the in-app purchase resurrect the 3DMF format? Who block was a show-stopper. threw that virtual tomato? Kisky Netmedia isn't the first The Little World Gifts app is company to enable in-app free, of course. The gifts purchases, of course, but Little normally range from $.99 to World Gifts[ iTunes Link] is $3.99 or more (or less), but for a precisely what you'd expect to short time all gifts are only evolve on the iPhone: a little $.99US to celebrate the app's store of 3D trinkets which you debut. can purchase and share with Gallery: Little World Gifts friends. Little World Gifts (which with little 3D items, and you can sometimes, and you have to intuit TUAW Send virtual 3D gifts we covered a few weeks ago) buy them. Some are simply 3D to double-tap to bring up a "close with Little World Gifts originally would be relegated to a "gee objects you can rotate and zoom this view" button, but the models appeared on The Unofficial whiz" factor were it not for the in a little staging area, while are quite wonderful to behold. Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Mon, F a c e b o o k c o m p o n e n t . M y some have associated animations You can send gifts to people via 14 Dec 2009 11:30:00 EST. purchases appear in the Facebook (none that I tested had sound). the app or into Facebook, and Please see our terms for use of LWG app (as seen in the gallery Y o u w i l l n e e d a n e t w o r k there's even a tracker to see who feeds. below) and from there I can share connection to browse this store, has picked up their gift. As I said, Read| Permalink| Email this| with my friends who also enable a s n e w i t e m s m a y a p p e a r this is the practical evolution of Comments the Facebook app. No iPhone periodically. I found the store virtual gifting on the iPhone, and required. Uh oh. pretty easy to use, as most in-app via Facebook, frankly. I can The implementation is simple: purchases tend to be low friction. envision a raft of new, branded you see a series of little shelves Viewing an item is a little tricky stores popping up, too. Perhaps

Restaurants Sue Vendor for Unsecured Card Processor By Kim Zetter (Wired Top Stories) Submitted at 12/13/2009 8:44:00 PM

Several restaurants breached by a Romanian hacker file a classaction suit against the maker of a point-of-sale system on grounds

that the system wasn't secure.

Artists: Don't Expect To Get Paid For What Imeem & Snocap Owe You By Mike Masnick (Techdirt) Submitted at 12/14/2009 8:17:00 AM

We always hear the record labels and politicians screaming bloody murder over the concept that musicians aren't being paid "what they're owed" due to piracy -- but when there's a situation where musicians might actually not be getting paid what they're owed? Silence. A few weeks back, MySpace "bought" Imeem in a fire sale. But, the details of the deal suggest they didn't actually buy the company, but "certain assets," which means they get to ignore the liabilities. Guess what those liabilities include? You got it: paying artists what they're owed. Now, as the Wired article notes, there's nothing technically wrong with MySpace acquiring just the assets, but it is notable that it's the musicians left without getting paid what they're actually owed (not some theoretical concept like what they might be "owed" due to unauthorized file sharing). And, yet, we don't seem to hear any politicians or record labels screaming about this. Funny, since they keep insisting that they're really just interested in helping artists... Permalink| Comments| Email This Story

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Facebook Movie Hotly Anticipated by Hollywood Insiders

Kindle iPhone App Goes International

By Christina Warren (Mashable!)

Submitted at 12/14/2009 8:11:52 AM

Let’s be honest, when the news first surfaced that acclaimed writer Aaron Sorkin was writing the script for a movie about Facebook, most of us laughed. Then we found out that it wasn’t a joke, and we groaned and prepared for the worst. Even with luminaries like Sorkin and director David Fincher on board, what were the chances that this wouldn’t be just a disaster waiting to happen? The film, which is currently in production, is scheduled for release in October 2010. However, that hasn’t stopped the script for The Social Network from appearing near the top of 2009’s The Black List. The Black List is a compilation of the mostliked unproduced scripts of the year, as chosen by Hollywood insiders. The Social Network, which is number two on the list, is unique for several reasons. First, it is a script from a high-profile writer (Sorkin), whereas the bulk of the

list is made up of up-and-coming screenwriters. Second, as we’ve covered, the film’s production is well underway. This underscores just how well the script itself has been received. This is how Entertainment Weekly describes the film: The Social Network By Aaron Sorkin What it’s about: Chronicles Mark Zuckerberg’s complicated journey towards creating Facebook. Sorkin depicts both the founder’s motivations for starting the largest social network in the world and the human casualties that came with his profound success. What it’s like: The fascinating biographical elements of Shattered Glass meets the courtroom drama of Kramer vs. Kramer, without the tears. Sorkin

cuts between Zuckerberg’s heated depositions with his former Harvard colleagues who claimed he stole Facebook from them and the chronological retelling of the company’s trip to becoming a billion-dollar enterprise. Status: In production for Sony Pictures. Jesse Eisenberg plays Zuckerberg while Justin Timberlake portrays Sean Parker, one of the founders of Napster and Zuckerberg’s idol. David Fincher is directing. Having read an early draft of the script, as well as Ben Mezrich’s book, The Accidental Billionaires, I have to agree with the assessment: It’s an excellent script with the potential to be an excellent film. While I’ll hold back judgment until the film actually reaches theaters, at this point, it seems more likely than not that “the Facebook” movie won’t suck after all. Reviews: Facebook Tags: Aaron Sorkin, facebook, facebook movie, Movies, screenplays, the social network

3 Found Shot to Death Inside Texas Mobile Home (FOXNews.com)

or redistributed. © 2009 FOX Normalising the crime of the News Network, LLC. All rights century by John Pilger reserved. All market data delayed This material may not be 20 minutes. published, broadcast, rewritten, fivefilters.org featured article: Submitted at 12/14/2009 7:11:20 AM

Submitted at 12/14/2009 8:09:40 AM

Good news ebook fans: Amazon’s Kindle app for the iPhone is now available in more than 60 countries. Amazon launched an international version of the Kindle back in October, but now users can link their Kindle books with their iPhone or forgo buying the Kindle and just read the books on their mobile phone. Amazon employs a technology they call Whispersync with the Kindle that keeps the bookmarks and last pages synchronized across different devices on the same account. It also means that if you accidentally remove a book from your iPhone, you can redownload it on the fly. Amazon’s Kindle app[iTunes lin]) is one of the best e-readers for the iPhone, regardless of platform. It’s easy to navigate, has adjustable settings for text and background color, and you can enable or disable the accelerometer (which is handy for anyone who likes to read in bed). Using the app, you can buy books directly from Amazon.com and download them to your

device, or sync with purchases you make on a Kindle or via the web browser. Amazon recently released Kindle Desktop software for the PC, and a Mac version is in the works. Amazon also says that Kindle for BlackBerry is on the way, too. Since launching the Kindle in 2007, Amazon has watched the competition in the space go from nearly nonexistent, to more and more crowded. Competitor Barnes & Noble just launched their own eReader, the Nook, which also has its own iPhone app. We think that the free Kindle iPhone app is the best advertisement Amazon can make for the Kindle itself. It’s extremely easy to buy and read books, and after you start to amass a small library, that can play a large factor in what standalone eReader you buy. Tags: eBook, ereader, iphone, Kindle, kindle iphone, nook

Tech/

Get a Mac Named Ad Campaign of the Decade By Adam Ostrow (Mashable!)

who is casual and comfortable in his skin. PC, personified by John Hodgman, as a rounder, paler In the past few years, clever Bill Gates, is a well-meaning commercials have become geek with all kinds of operating content in and of themselves, problems. For Apple, the thanks in no small part to the rise campaign managed the neat trick of YouTube and embeddable of making the brand look laid multimedia. back and cool while it For example, Verizon and “Apple always diverged from the mercilessly skewered its rival.” A T & T ’ s r e c e n t w a r o v e r ’speeds and feeds’ ads associated AdWeek actually went tech- and coverage maps has made for with the computer category, but Apple-happy for its entire end of plenty of tech and media blog the brand really defined itself decade special — Google was fodder, with each new ad with the 2006 launch of n a m e d b o t h m e d i a a n d drawing lots of eyeballs both in TBWA\Media Arts Lab’s ‘Get a technology company of the TV and in online media. Mac’ campaign. That series of 60 decade, YouTube top website, But the campaign that perhaps -plus ads brought some humanity Steve Jobs top marketer, Apple personifies this more than any into the equation by turning the top brand and iPod top product. other is Apple’s iconic “Get a m a c h i n e s i n t o l i v e - a c t i o n Conventional picks, perhaps, but Mac” ads, a staple of both TV cartoons. In so doing, the comic difficult to make a strong and Internet advertising since s p o t s o f f e r t r a n s p a r e n t argument against as we wind 2006. Perhaps it should come as understanding of the aspirations down the ’00s and consider the no surprise then that AdWeek has of its audience and how people performance and impact of these just named the series “campaign i d e n t i f y — a n d c o n n e c t companies over the past 10 years. of the decade” in its best of the emotionally—with technology. Reviews: Google, YouTube 2000s roundup. The genius is in the casting. The Tags: advertising, apple, Here’s what the publication has Mac guy, Justin Long, is a c o m m e r c i a l s to say about “Get a Mac”: younger version of Steve Jobs Submitted at 12/14/2009 8:50:23 AM

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Qik Launches Desktop App for Live Video Sharing By Christina Warren (Mashable!) Submitted at 12/14/2009 9:02:36 AM

It’s been a busy couple of weeks for Qik. Last week, the company launched its first official app for the iPhone 3GS, letting users finally livestream from their phones without having to resort to jailbreaking. Today, Qik is rolling out its invitation-only beta for Qik-inTouch, a service that brings the Qik experience to your desktop and makes it easy to share videos and interact with your friends and family. Qik-in-Touch is an Adobe Air app, so it runs on Windows, Mac and Linux. If your mom is like my mom, she probably really wants to be able to watch your live broadcasts, but has a hard time figuring out what time to tune in, where to go, etc. This is where Qik-in-Touch

comes in. The Air app runs in the background and when you go live, your friends and family can watch you instantly and interact with you through chat. Power Qik users can also use Qik-in-Touch to access their own video collections or to watch what is going on on QikTV. Qik-in-Touch is in private beta, but you can request an invite by going to http://qik.com/qntbeta. How do you share live video with your friends and family? Reviews: adobe AIR, linux Tags: live video, qik, qik-intouch

Apple has 12 gifts of Christmas for people who live in the UK By Michael Grothaus (The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW))

Days of Christmas promotion for UK residents. From December 26 to January 6 anyone with a UK iTunes account can download a Submitted at 12/14/2009 1:00:00 PM free song, music video, app, Filed under: iTunes, Holidays, television show, or film from App Store For the second year in ' s o m e o f t h e b i g g e s t s t a r download is only available for 24 a row, Apple is running their 12 performers' on iTunes. Each free

hours, so be sure to sign up for their email alerts to be notified of the new daily download. As for our US readers: it's not exactly Bah, humbug! for you. TUAW Apple has 12 gifts of Christmas for people who live in the UK originally appeared on

The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Mon, 14 Dec 2009 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Read| Permalink| Email this| Comments

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Talkcast 10pm tonight: It's a bird, it's Lieberman Won't Vote a plane, it's the Googlephone for Health Bill By Michael Rose (The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW))

(Little Green Footballs) Submitted at 12/14/2009 9:43:40 AM

In a surprise move that’s only surprising if you haven’t paid much attention to Joe Filed under: TUAW Business, Lieberman’s many other Podcasts We had a fun show last “surprise moves,” he announced week, as we had a crowd of today that he won’t support the several TUAW team members; health care bill in its current we were also joined (about form. halfway through) by our friend WASHINGTON — In a surprise and frequent guest Ross Rubin of setback for Democratic leaders, Engadget and NPD. The hour Senator Joseph I. Lieberman, passed by with us mulling independent of Connecticut, said Apple's Lala acquisition and on Sunday that he would vote what the company might choose against the health care legislation to do with this newly bought in its current form. expertise. You can download the The bill’s supporters had said shows direct from Talkshoe or earlier that they thought they had subscribe on iTunes. secured Mr. Lieberman’s Tonight, we're back live at 10 agreement to go along with a pm ET with the usual gang of compromise they worked out to ruffians, and at least two stories to talk about: the impending Web" button on our profile page P h o t o : overcome an impasse within the arrival of the Googlephone, and at 10 pm Sunday. To call in on http://www.flickr.com/photos/llo Democratic Party. But on Sunday, Mr. Lieberman the unfortunate display problems regular phone or VoIP lines (take ydm// CC BY-SA 2.0 and shipping delays for the 27" a d v a n t a n g e o f y o u r f r e e TUAW Talkcast 10pm tonight: told the Senate majority leader, iMacs. Of course, we're happy to cellphone weekend minutes if It's a bird, it's a plane, it's the Harry Reid, to scrap the idea of be detoured and derailed by your you like): dial (724) 444-7444 Googlephone originally appeared expanding Medicare and abandon c o m m e n t s , q u e s t i o n s a n d and enter our talkcast ID, 45077 - on The Unofficial Apple Weblog any new government insurance pontifications... but we won't - during the call, you can request (TUAW) on Sun, 13 Dec 2009 plan or lose his vote. know about any of those unless to talk by keying in *-8. 20:30:00 EST. Please see our On a separate issue, Mr. Reid tried over the weekend to concoct you call in and join us. If you've got a headset or terms for use of feeds. To participate on TalkShoe, you microphone handy on your Mac, Read| Permalink| Email this| a compromise on abortion that would induce Senator Ben can use the browser-only client, you can connect via the TalkShoe Comments Nelson, Democrat of Nebraska, the embedded Facebook app, or 'ShoePhone' VoIP client or with to vote for the bill. Mr. Nelson the classic TalkShoe Pro Java the free Gizmo (now a Google opposes abortion. Any provision client; however, for maximum product) or X-Lite SIP clients; that satisfies him risks alienating fun, you should call in. For the basic instructions are here. Talk web UI, just click the"TalkShoe with you soon! Submitted at 12/13/2009 8:30:00 PM

supporters of abortion rights. In interviews on the CBS News program “Face the Nation,” Mr. Lieberman and Mr. Nelson said the bill did not have the 60 votes it would need in the Senate. Senate Democratic leaders, including Mr. Reid and Senator Charles E. Schumer of New York, said they had been mindful of Mr. Lieberman’s concerns in the last 10 days and were surprised when he assailed major provisions of the bill on television Sunday. He reiterated his objections in a private meeting with Mr. Reid. Democrats are not pleased: 81% Of Dems Want Lieberman Punished For Health Care Filibuster. More than 80 percent of Democrats say they believe Sen. Joseph Lieberman (I-Conn) should be stripped of his powerful chairmanship in the Senate if he ends up supporting a Republican filibuster of health care reform, according to a new poll. It should be noted that over the course of his career, Joe Lieberman has taken almost $2.5 million in donations from the health care industries, and more than $1 million from the insurance industry: OpenSecrets.org.

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Give your Dashboard a kick in the pants By Michael Grothaus (The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW)) Submitted at 12/14/2009 7:00:00 AM

Filed under: Productivity, Freeware After reading through the comments on my post about Dashboard Widgets, I noticed quite a few people lamented the fact that the widgets have to go through a 'start-up' process every time you turn on your Mac or log out and log back in. Well, not anymore. We actually covered this four years ago, back when it was an application named Dashboard Starter. Today it's called Dashboard Kickstart and its taken the form of a System Preference pane by Alwin Troost that runs in the background and reacts to the

starting or re-starting of the Dock. Every time you log in or out, you restart the dock. When that happens, Dashboard Kickstart initiates the starting sequence of the Dashboard Widgets. This prevents the delay you'll experience when launching

delay to be between the time your computer starts, or wakes from sleep, and the time you want your widgets 'kicked'. I set the sliders to the lowest time possible. Dashboard Kickstart is free and requires 10.4 or above. Let me know what you think of Dashboard Kickstart in the comments! TUAW Give your Dashboard a kick in the pants originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Mon, Dashboard the first time you 14 Dec 2009 07:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of want to use it. I've used Dashboard Kickstart, feeds. in its different iterations, for Read| Permalink| Email this| years and its always worked Comments flawlessly. Once installed, open your System Preferences and simply set how long you want the

Ashley Greene Spills 'Twilight Saga: Eclipse' Secrets (ETonline - Breaking News) Submitted at 12/14/2009 5:03:00 AM

ET exclusively went behind the scenes of Ashley Greene's photo shoot for Teen Prom magazine, where the actress (a.k.a. vamp Alice Cullen) dished about her rigorous fight and stunt training for 'The Twilight Saga: Eclipse.' "I was excited about the photo shoot. I wasnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t too nervous, I've been in a prom dress before," said 22-year-old Ashley, looking glamorous in a strapless, floorlength purple gown. "I'm trying to convince them to let me take the dress so I can go out in it," she giggled, "but I don't think it's going to happen."

World's most geeky Christmas card includes an iPhone By Aron Trimble (The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW))

case of the card from my insurance agent, in the trash. However, this particular card (featured on Crave) is one that I Submitted at 12/14/2009 10:15:00 AM wouldn't mind receiving and Filed under: iPhone, Holidays w o u l d m o s t d e f i n i t e l y b e There's no more procrastinating: treasured long after the new year. the holidays are officially here, The card uses different colors of and regardless of your construction paper, card celebratory affiliations, some sort decorations, and an iPhone(!!!) to of holiday card is going to end up create the ultimate in holidayin your mailbox. Typically, these mail technology. Combine the little card stock/construction above with a scalpel or exacto paper doo-dads end up on the knife, a little free time and elbow mantle, refrigerator or, in the grease and what you get is a

crafty and creative delivery an iPhone you're willing to give medium for your loved one's gift away... that is sure to excite and delight. Read on to see the video Of course, you have to start with d e m o n s t r a t i o n o f h o w t o

construct the card. [via Switched] Continue reading World's most geeky Christmas card includes an iPhone TUAW World's most geeky Christmas card includes an iPhone originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Mon, 14 Dec 2009 10:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Read| Permalink| Email this| Comments

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Apple is delaying shipments of 27 inch iMacs

GOP Climate Denier Profile: Rep. Joe Barton

By Joachim Bean (The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW))

(Little Green Footballs)

Submitted at 12/14/2009 12:30:00 AM

Filed under: iMac, Bad Apple Uh oh! It looks like there's shipping delays and availability issues with 27 inch iMacs. It's reported that these delays could be due to graphics issues with the GPU. Several Apple resellers are citing shipping delays when trying to order the models. Apple made a brief statement to CNET tonight acknowledging the delays, but iMacs are showing a two week shipping delay on Apple's online store, which might mean you won't be able to purchase one in time for the holidays. Graphics issues are nothing new to these iMac models. Some 27

Adaptation Polities and Programs,” one of the “experts” called to testify by Barton and his For a perfect example of the GOP anti-science cronies (in willfully, pig-headedly ignorant addition to complete wacko Lord Republican position on climate Christopher Monckton) was Dr. change, check out this video from E. Calvin Beisner(PDF link), a C-SPAN of Rep. Joe Barton(R- young earth creationist. A quote Tx). from Beisner’s testimony: The first question from C- The naturalist, atheistic world S P A N ’ s m o d e r a t o r : “ W h a t view sees Earth and all its causes, in your perspective, ecosystems as the result of global warming?” chance processes and therefore Barton’s reply: inherently unstable and fragile, shipments of 27 inch iMacs Well, the short answer would be vulnerable to enormous harm originally appeared on The God. from tiny causes. The Biblical U n o f f i c i a l A p p l e W e b l o g Which might be OK if it really world view sees Earth and its (TUAW) on Mon, 14 Dec 2009 was just “the short answer.” The ecosystems as the effect of a wise 00:30:00 EST. Please see our problem is that for Barton, this is God’s creation and providential the only answer. terms for use of feeds. preservation and therefore robust, Read| Permalink| Email this| Watch and weep. Where does resilient, and self-regulating–like ignorance this impenetrable come the product of any good engineer Comments from? Perhaps … the energy who ensures that the systems he industries?[Video not shown] d e s i g n s h a v e p o s i t i v e a n d It’s like a six-course meal of negative feedback mechanisms to stupid. Barton is the archetypal balance each other and prevent anti-science climate change small perturbations from setting arch-nemesis, another werewolf. denier. He categorically rejects off a catastrophic cascade of One can only wonder if this all of the scientific evidence, reactions. Here’s Barton at this ludicrous casting was done in hopes that from all of the sources. they would be confused for And Barton, of course, is also a hearing; his solution to global Taylor Lautner, the werewolf in c r e a t i o n i s t . A t a r e c e n t w a r m i n g ? F i n d s o m e Subcommittee on Energy and s h a d e . [ V i d e o ] the latest Twilight movie. Continue reading Teen Wolf Environment hearing titled, “Preparing for Climate Change: gets some Tylers Filed under: Programming, OpEd, Casting, Reality-Free Permalink| Email this| | Comments Submitted at 12/13/2009 1:31:32 PM

inch iMacs also had issues earlier with graphic performance and Flash, which was fixed in the 10.6.2 update. The 27 inch iMac has also had a number of other reported problems before, from machines that have had broken screens, to iMacs arriving that simply don't work. TUAW Apple is delaying

Teen Wolf gets some Tylers By Brad Trechak (TV Squad) Submitted at 12/14/2009 11:02:00 AM

We know a new version of the Michael J. Fox '80s flick Teen Wolf is coming to MTV. Now we have some names for the cast as well as a glimpse of the premise. Apparently, MTV has cast two guys named Tyler as both the central protagonist and antagonist. Tyler Posey plays the

nerdy high schooler who gets bitten by a wolf and Tyler Hoechlin has been cast as his

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The African Baby Boom and Bush's New Protests in Iran Abstinence Programs After Ayatollah Photos Burned (Little Green Footballs)

generation of Africans under a mountain of poverty. Promoting birth control in Africa faces a The religious right’s pernicious host of obstacles — patriarchal influence in Africa isn’t limited customs, religious taboos, illto Uganda’s persecution of equipped public health systems h o m o s e x u a l s ; t h e B u s h — but experts also blame a administration’s much-praised powerful, more distant force: the a n t i - A I D S p r o g r a m h a d a U.S. government. decidedly less altruistic side. Under President George W. SIRAKANO, Uganda — At age B u s h , t h e U n i t e d S t a t e s 45, after giving birth to 13 withdrew from its decades-long children in her village of thatch r o l e a s a g l o b a l l e a d e r i n roofs and bare feet, Beatrice supporting family planning, Adongo made a discovery that driven by a conservative ideology startled her: birth control. that favored abstinence and shied “I delivered all these children a w a y f r o m p r o v i d i n g because I didn’t know there was c o n t r a c e p t i v e d e v i c e s i n another way,” said Adongo, who developing countries, even to started on a free quarterly married women. contraceptive injection last year. Bush’s mammoth global antiSurrounded by her weary-faced AIDS initiative, the President’s brood, her 21-month-old boy Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, clutching at her faded blue dress, poured billions of dollars into she added glumly: “I fear we are Africa but prohibited groups already too many in this family.” from spending any of it on family On a continent where fewer than planning services or counseling one in five married women use programs, whose budgets flatm o d e r n c o n t r a c e p t i o n , a n lined. e x p l o s i o n o f u n p l a n n e d The restrictions flew in the face pregnancies is threatening to bury of research by international aid A d o n g o ’ s f a m i l y a n d a agencies, the U.N. World Health Submitted at 12/13/2009 7:11:46 PM

Organization and the U.S. government’s own experts, all of whom touted contraception as a crucial method of preventing births of babies being infected with HIV, the virus that causes AIDS. The Bush program is widely hailed as a success, having supplied lifesaving anti-retroviral drugs to more than 2 million HIV patients worldwide. However, researchers, Africa experts and veteran U.S. health officials now think that PEPFAR also contributed to Africa’s epidemic population growth by undermining efforts to help women in some of the world’s poorest countries exercise greater control over their fertility. “It was a huge missed opportunity to integrate HIV/AIDS and reproductive health in ways that made sense,” said Jotham Musinguzi, a Ugandan physician who heads the Africa office of Partners in Population and Development, an intergovernmental group that promotes sexual health in developing countries.

(Little Green Footballs)

and the elite Revolutionary Guard, the country’s most powerful military force, called I r a n i s e r u p t i n g i n for the trial and punishment of demonstrations again, after state those responsible. television repeatedly broadcast Video circulated widely on the video of people burning pictures Internet on the day of last week’s of the Ayatollah Khomeini and protests also showed photos of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Police surrounded the campus of K h a m e n e i a n d P r e s i d e n t Tehran University on Sunday, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad being trapping hundreds of students burned as well as one photo of protesting what they said were Khamenei and Khomeini side by fabricated government images of side going up in flames. The the burning of a photo of the faces of those burning the Islamic Republic’s revered pictures could not be seen and founder. loud chants against the State television has repeatedly government were heard in the shown images, ostensibly taken background. … during student-led protests on Students, who led Sunday’s Dec. 7, of unidentified hands protests, contended the images of burning and tearing up pictures burning photos were fabricated of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini. by government agents as a It was a grave and illegal insult pretext for further crackdowns on against the former leader still the opposition. widely respected in the country Submitted at 12/13/2009 10:45:37 AM

Sarah Palin Visit Doesn’t Boost Conan’s Tonight Show Ratings By Robert Seidman (TVbytheNumbers) Submitted at 12/14/2009 6:05:43 AM

Sarah Palin made a surprise visit to “The Tonight Show” on Friday

night, but perhaps since the info about her appearance only came out a few hours beforehand, people who might have tuned-in to watch Palin didn’t know about it.

Friday night in the local People

Meter Markets Conan scored a 1.0/4 rating/share with adults 1849. He did best Letterman and “The Late Show” (.8/3 ) but last week against a repeat of “Late Show” Conan pulled a 1.1/4 (to

the “Late Show” encores’ 0.7/3). fivefilters.org featured article: Normalising the crime of the century by John Pilger

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Understanding the Windows Pagefile and Why You Shouldn't Disable It [Mythbusting] By The How-To Geek (Lifehacker)

your PC, and your workload really isn't that huge, you may never run into application Submitted at 12/14/2009 9:40:00 AM crashing errors with the pagefile As a tech writer, I regularly disabled, but you're also taking cringe at all the bad tweaking away from memory that advice out there, and disabling Windows could be using for read the system pagefile is often a and write caching for your actual source of contention among documents and other files. If geeks. Let's examine some of the your drive is spending a lot of pagefile myths and debunk them time thrashing, you might want once and for all. What is a to consider increasing the amount Pagefile and How Do I Adjust It? of memory Windows uses for the Before we get into the details, filesystem cache, rather than let's review what the pagefile disabling the pagefile. actually does. When your system Windows 7 includes a new file runs low on RAM because an caching mechanism called application like Firefox is taking and navigate to Advanced –> you are forcing Windows to keep become very unstable. When that SuperFetch that caches the most too much memory, Windows S e t t i n g s – > A d v a n c e d – > everything in much faster RAM application crashes, it's going frequently accessed application moves the least used "pages" of Change. From this screen you all the time. down hard—there's no time to f i l e s i n R A M s o y o u r memory out to a hidden file can change the paging file size The problem with this logic is save your work or do anything applications will open more named pagefile.sys in the root of (see image above), set the system that it only really affects a single else. quickly. It's one of the many one of your drives to free up to not use a paging file at all, or scenario: switching to an open In addition to applications reasons why Windows 7 feels so more RAM for the applications just leave it up to Windows to application that you haven't used crashing anytime you run up m u c h m o r e " s n a p p y " t h a n you are actually using. What this deal with—which is what I'd in a while won't ever grind the against the memory limit, you'll previous versions—and disabling actually means to you is that if recommend in most cases. Why hard drive when the pagefile is a l s o c o m e a c r o s s a l o t o f the pagefile takes away RAM y o u ' v e h a d a n a p p l i c a t i o n Do People Say We Should disabled. It's not going to actually applications that simply won't that Windows could be using for minimized for a while, and you Disable It? make your PC faster, since run properly if the pagefile is caching. Put the Pagefile on a are heavily using other Look at any tweaking site Windows will never page the disabled. For instance, you really Different Drive, Not Partition applications, Windows is going anywhere, and you'll receive application you are currently won't want to run a virtual The next piece of bad advice that to move some of the memory many different opinions on how working with anyway. Disabling machine on a box with no you'll see or hear from would-be from the minimized application to deal with the pagefile—some the Pagefile Can Lead to System p a g e f i l e , a n d s o m e d e f r a g system tweakers is to create a to the pagefile since it's not being sites will tell you to make it huge, Problems utilities will also fail. You'll also separate partition for your accessed recently. This can often others will tell you to completely The big problem with disabling notice some other strange, pagefile-which is generally cause restoring that application to d i s a b l e i t . T h e l o g i c g o e s your pagefile is that once you've indefinable behavior when your pointless when the partition is on take a little longer, and your hard something like this: Windows is exhausted the available RAM, pagefile is disabled—in my the same hard drive. What you drive may grind for a bit. inefficient at using the pagefile, your apps are going to start experience, a lot of things just should actually do is move your If you want to take a look at and if you have plenty of crashing, since there's no virtual don't always work right. Less pagefile to a completely different your own pagefile settings, memory you should just disable m e m o r y f o r W i n d o w s t o Space for File Buffers and physical drive to split up the launch sysdm.cpl from the Start it since RAM is a lot faster than allocate—and worst case, your SuperFetch UNDERSTANDING page 39 menu search or run box (Win+R) your hard drive. By disabling it, actual system will crash or If you've got plenty of RAM in

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What You Missed in Google Phone News Over the Weekend [News] By Kevin Purdy (Lifehacker)

Then the Wall Street Journal broke the news wide open Saturday(modified numerous Did you have something to do times since then) that Google this weekend other than scan tech isn't just producing a new phone news and Twitter for "Nexus with a cell network partner. One"? Here's the quick-read They're going to sell the phone, lowdown on what the "Google unlocked, directly to consumers. Phone" is (and isn't), what it The general reasoning cited in looks like, and when it might news reports and blog analysis is arrive. that Google wants to stake its Image via Cory O'Brien. claim in the smartphone CNET producer and pocaster advertising market, which is Jason Howell got to play with a growing at a faster rate than phone given out to Google s t a n d a r d i n t e r n e t - b a s e d employees on Friday. He posted a d v e r t i s i n g . about it, of course, to his Twitter What is this device? It is, account, and was backed up by supposedly, an unlocked version Google employees registering of the rumored HTC Passion, their own thoughts, with such a.k.a. Dragon, with a 1 GHz descriptions as"an iPhone on Snapdragon processor (roughly beautifying steroids." twice as powerful, at least in Google's given out "developer" specs, as the chip that powers models, or non-carrier-locked almost every Android device phones, of its latest Android right now, except the Droid), a projects to employees before. 3 . 5 - i n c h O L E D s c r e e n , a They've even doled them out to trackball-style pointer as the only conference goers. This time, physical buttons on the front, and however, they acknowledged in a a virtual keyboard. Sources have blog post that they were handing the phone as running on GSM out the phones for use as a networks, the kind supported by " m o b i l e l a b " i n i n t e r n a l T-Mobile and AT&T in the U.S., testing—known as "dogfooding," and used nearly everywhere in or "eating your own dogfood," in E u r o p e a n d o t h e r f o r e i g n developer parlance. It's dubbed d e s t i n a t i o n s . the Nexus One, which, as Daring It would, of course, be running a Fireball points out, is a reference new version of Android, 2.1, and to the androids in Blade Runner. have its hardware and software Submitted at 12/14/2009 7:30:00 AM

designed entirely by Google—not that the G1 and Droid weren't similarly Googlesponsored setups. Where and when can you get it? Multiple posts and reports agree only on an estimate of early 2010. As for where, beyond Google just posting up a page and offering it through Google Checkout, blogs have sniffed out

sources stating that the phone could be offered physically through Best Buy and T-Mobile stores. Once purchased, you'd choose your wireless voice and data carriers through a software menu upon starting up the phone. The big question mark at the moment is pricing. If sold unlocked, without any subsidy from the wireless carriers who

normally drive down prices in exchange for two-year agreements, it could be quite a chunk of change: the iPhone, for example, actually costs AT&T about $599, but it sells the model for $199 to make it more palatable. Here's a quick list of related reading: • Gizmodo has its own take on how the Real Google Phone changes everything. • Engadget has, at the moment, the most revealing screenshots. • Android Guys has a very thorough list of everything that's known and unknown about the Nexus One. • TechCrunch, always willing to jump out on an unconfirmed limb, cites Nexus-One-havers as saying the phone is "really, really fast," and that it features complete voice-to-text functionality (as in, speak your email responses out loud). What do you think of all the Google Phone/Nexus One hoopla? Is a phone that's actually unlocked and designed front-toback by Google something you're intrigued by? Tell us your take in the comments.

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UNDERSTANDING continued from page 37

workload. What Size should my Pagefile Be? Seems like every IT guy I've ever talked to has stated the "fact" that your pagefile needs to be 1.5 to 2x your physical RAM—so if you have a 4GB system, you should have an 8GB pagefile. The problem with this logic is that if you are opening 12 GB worth of in-use applications, your system is going to be extremely slow, and your hard drive is going to grind to the point where your PC will be fairly unusable. You simply will not increase or decrease performance by having a gigantic pagefile; you'll just use up more drive space. Mark Russinovich, the wellknown Windows expert and author of the Sysinternals tools, says that if you want to optimize your pagefile size to fit your actual needs, you should follow a much different formula: The Minimum should be Peak Commit – Physical RAM, and the Maximum should be double that. For example, if your system has 4GB of RAM and your peak

memory usage was 5GB (including virtual memory), you should set your pagefile to at least 1GB and the maximum as 2GB to give you a buffer to keep you safe in case a RAM-hungry application needs it. If you have 8GB of RAM and a max 3GB of memory usage, you should still have a pagefile, but you would probably be fine with a 1 GB size. Note: If your system is configured for crash dumps you'll need to have a larger pagefile or Windows won't be able to write out the process memory in the event of a crash—though it's not very useful for most end-users. The other size-related advice is to set the minimum and maximum size as the same so you won't have to deal with fragmentation if Windows increases the size of the pagefile. This advice is rather silly, considering that most defrag software will defragment the pagefile even if Windows increases the size, which doesn't happen very often. The Bottom Line: Should You Disable It? As we've seen, the only tangible benefit of disabling the pagefile

is that restoring minimized applications you haven't used in a while is going to be faster. This comes at the price of not being able to actually use all your RAM for fear of your applications crashing and burning once you hit the limit, and experiencing a lot of weird system issues in certain applications. The vast majority of users should never disable the pagefile or mess with the pagefile settings—just let Windows deal with the pagefile and use the available RAM for file caching, processes, and Superfetch. If you really want to speed up your PC, your best options are these: • Upgrade your RAM. • Clean off the crapware—the biggest cause of system slowdown. • Switch to Microsoft Security Essentials and stop paying for bloated Windows security packages. • Windows 7 handles multitasking much better than Windows XP did.

managed pagefile, every application opens quickly, and even the applications I haven't used in a while still open almost instantaneously. I'm regularly running it up to 80-90% RAM usage, with dozens of application windows open, and I don't see a slowdown anywhere. If you want to read more extremely detailed information about how virtual memory and your pagefile really work, be sure to check out Mark Russinovich's article on the subject, which is where much of this information was sourced. Don't agree with my conclusions? Voice your opinion in the comments, or even better—run some benchmarks to prove your point. The How-To Geek has tested pagefile settings extensively and thinks everybody should just upgrade to Windows 7 already. His geeky articles can be found daily here on Lifehacker, HowTo Geek, and Twitter.

On my Windows 7 system with 6GB of RAM and a Windows-

TorrentFreak's Most Popular Torrent Sites of 2009; Demonoid Returns [BitTorrent] By Adam Pash (Lifehacker) Submitted at 12/14/2009 9:05:00 AM

All-things BitTorrent weblog TorrentFreak broke down the numbers and rounded up the 25 most popular torrent sites of 2009. The results represent several best-known sites (like The Pirate Bay), but also probably a few you're not all that familiar with. Incidentally, number 20 on the list Demonoid—a hybrid public and private tracker that we've always liked despite its recent downtime—is back up and running. And while we're on the subject, feel free to share your BitTorrent search engine of choice in the comments. [ Top 25 Most Popular Torrent Sites of 2009(Warning: Link contains one very small but NSFW thumbnail image of one of the sites)]

The Twelve Days of Festivus: Ten shows on DVD By Nick Zaino (TV Squad) Submitted at 12/14/2009 11:29:00 AM

On the tenth day of Festivus, TV gave to me... Ten shows on DVD. There are plenty of great TV collections being released all the

time now, bringing back classic TV, shows that had short runs, and current favorites. You know about most of the big shows, so here's a mix of more popular and some maybe less-heralded collections. was a breakout season for the House, M.D.: Season Five: This

show, where the secondary characters really came to life and House broke down and finally had to face his addictions and personal failings. Season five may wind up being a pinnacle for the series as a whole. Continue reading The Twelve

Days of Festivus: Ten shows on DVD Filed under: TV on DVD, House, Festivus, Reality-Free Permalink| Email this| | Comments

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Take the Mystery Out of Holiday Tipping [Tips] By Jason Fitzpatrick (Lifehacker) Submitted at 12/14/2009 6:30:00 AM

Want to tip some of the hard working people in your life that make things easier? How should you tip the delivery person? Your babysitter? Your barber? Check out Emily Post's guide to get things sorted out. Photo by Photos8.com. The first order of business is, of course, working within your own personal budget. Beyond that a variety of factors come into play like whether or not you tip well throughout the entire year, the size of the city you live in (bigger cities, bigger tips), and how long you've been a customer and had a relationship with the individual.

How much do they recommend at the Post Institute for various tips? They've compiled a list of various professions for which you might leave a tip, the custom typically associated with that profession (type of gift, if they

barber or stylist would appreciate a holiday tip of the cost of one haircut or small gift of similar value. Giving a gift to the postman or woman is common practice but beware that postal regulations prohibit postworkers from accepting cash or gifts that have a value of more than $20â&#x20AC;&#x201D;this rule is common across most delivery services. Google Auto-Suggest Check out the full article for a Offers Quick-Glance lengthy list of professions and appropriate gifts and tip amounts. Weather, Flight Data, can or can't traditionally accept Have your own method for and More [Search] cash), and some suggested gifts holiday tipping or showing By Kevin Purdy (Lifehacker) appreciation for the people that or cash amounts. For a regular babysitter a make your life easier? Let's hear Submitted at 12/14/2009 8:10:00 AM customary holiday gift is an a b o u t i t i n t h e c o m m e n t s . Google's auto-suggest feature is evening's pay as a bonus and a Holiday Tipping Guide[via now good for more than quick small gift from your children. A FiveCentNickel] searches and occasionally hilarious search completions. Type something like buffalo weather or your flight number in, and a drop-down box will provide answers from Universal Search without even clicking. and installing the source code for Many of Google's automatic the notifications, and might search data results can be require dealing with additional accessed now from the dropdependency installations if you d o w n a u t o - s u g g e s t b o x , get back errors on trying to install including movie times, ZIP code the source code. After it's done, l o o k - u p s , a n d c a l c u l a t o r however, your notifications now functions. That's pretty helpful appear in the lower left, and when you're running out the they're less intrusive on your door, and a good reason to desktop experience. How to: a actually visit Google's own home clicking on any controls can get quick and dirty hack to keep page once in a while. Two new in the way of certain apps, and n o t i f y - o s d o u t o f y o u r features enhance search beyond stay around longer when you the results page[Official Google hair[Ubuntu Forums] hover your cursor over them. Blog] The fix requires downloading

Move Ubuntu's Notifications to a Less Annoying Corner [Linux Tip] By Kevin Purdy (Lifehacker) Submitted at 12/14/2009 6:00:00 AM

Ubuntu's ambient notification system, styled after the Mac Growl interface and first arriving in April's 9.04 release, can be very helpful. They can also be very annoying in their default position. This config editing work-around moves them elsewhere. An Ubuntu Forums user details a few steps that move Ubuntu's notifications from the upper right

corner of your desktop to the lower left. The top right corner seems like the best place to stash notifications, until you realize that they block the mouse from

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NewTabURL Fine-Tunes Firefox's New Tab Behavior [Downloads] By Kevin Purdy (Lifehacker) Submitted at 12/14/2009 5:30:00 AM

Firefox: By default, Firefox shows just a blank white page when you open a new tab. If you'd rather have it open a custom URL or load what's in your clipboard memory, NewTabURL can do just that. The extension consists of just a single preference pane, where you can set whether a new tab loads a blank page, the same page as you last had open, or a custom URL location. If you'd like to have Firefox load up

whatever URL is in your copyand-paste memory, NewTabURL can do that, too, and do it only once if you open a bunch of new tabs. A final, handy feature is

automatic highlighting of the address bar when you open a new tab, so you can quickly get to where you're going after opening a tab to do so. NewTabURL is a free download, works wherever Firefox does. The developer's page, linked below, has a more recent version than the add-on's Mozilla page, but you won't receive automatic updates that way, so it's your choice. NewTabURL[Sogame via Mozilla Links]

Thousands evacuate after gas leak in central Ohio (AP) (Yahoo! News: U.S. News) Submitted at 12/14/2009 9:21:54 AM

Jewel buzzed up: Back from Review: The combat, women struggle for Simpsons - O Brother, acceptance (AP) 10 seconds ago 2009-12- Where Bart Thou? 14T10:10:04-08:00 By Jason Hughes (TV Squad) fivefilters.org featured article: Normalising the crime of the Submitted at 12/14/2009 10:41:00 AM century by John Pilger (S21E08) The last episode of 2009 also has the distinction of being the 449th episode of The Simpsons. The series will come back Sunday, January 10th for a 450th episode extravaganza, including a one-hour 20th anniversary special. It's certainly a big year for Tracey Ullman's one-time back-up series. The beginning of the episode h i r i n g p o o l o f c o o l k i d s . had an almost frantic pace, as it Blocking social media from your set up about four or five different company can mean cutting possible plotlines, before finally yourself off from an important settling on Bart's jealousy of Lisa potential source of productivity, and Maggie's relationship. His i n n o v a t i o n a n d i n c r e a s e d attempts to help his parents efficiency. create a little brother for him Of course, that's an argument I were a little disturbing, but that like to make to people who was more than made up for by a haven't just received a dozen fantasy sequence featuring many Farmville notifications. famous brothers. productive, collaborative work. More Noise to Signal. Discuss Continue reading Review: The So it's not just a question of Simpsons - O Brother, Where denying your HR department a Bart Thou? Filed under: OpEd, The Simpsons, Episode Reviews, Reality-Free Permalink| Email this| | 10 seconds ago 2009-12- Normalising the crime of the Comments 14T10:10:04-08:00 century by John Pilger fivefilters.org featured article:

Cartoon: Friends With Benefits By Rob Cottingham (ReadWriteWeb)

a.k.a. those damn kids who won't get off your lawn) are happy to return the favour when recruiting Submitted at 12/13/2009 10:00:00 AM time rolls around. Blocking The debate rages on over access to Facebook looks a lot whether social networks (and like those IT departments that Twitter, and YouTube, and, and, wouldn't install web browsers on and) have any legitimacy in the your computer a decade ago... or workplace, fueled in no small external email access a few years part by people who sell tools to earlier. block them. Sponsor But employers who turn their And like those tools before noses up at Facebook et al. may them, the social web today is well discover that their coveted increasingly being used by Millennials(a.k.a. Generation Y, companies and organizations for

Ga. man sentenced to 17 years in terror case (AP) (Yahoo! News: U.S. News) Submitted at 12/14/2009 9:27:03 AM

Jewel buzzed up: Back from combat, women struggle for acceptance (AP)

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Content Farms: Why Media, Blogs & Google Should Be Worried By Richard MacManus (ReadWriteWeb)

search engines, then make it viral through social software and make lots of money through ads. Submitted at 12/13/2009 12:59:43 PM Demand Media has been heavily I've been writing a lot about so- funded to carry out that mission, called 'content farms' in recent to the tune of $355 million. In months - companies like Demand short, it's a well-funded, wellMedia and Answers.com which oiled page view generating create thousands of pieces of machine. content per day and are making a In November I explored more big impact on the Web. Both of a b o u t h o w D e m a n d M e d i a those two companies are now produces 4,000 pieces of content firmly inside the top 20 Web a day, based on an interview I did properties in the U.S., on a par with the founders in September. I with the likes of Apple and AOL. followed up by asking: is adBig media, blogs and Google are driven content crossing a line? all beginning to take notice. Low Quality, High Impact Sponsor The bottom line is that the Chris Ahearn, President of quality of content produced by Media at Thomson Reuters, these 'content farms' is dubious, recently published an article on which has an impact on both how journalism can survive in publishers and readers. the Internet age. TechCrunch Last week I analyzed the way founder Michael Arrington also wikiHow produces its content- its riffs on this theme, mentioning users do all of the writing and AOL's "Toyota Strategy of editing for free, via a Wikipediabuilding thousand of niche l i k e p l a t f o r m . T h e r e w a s content sites via the work of cast- evidence that wikiHow's model is offs from old media" and quoting producing better content than its a Wired piece on Demand Media Demand Media counterpart for from October. how-to articles, eHow. More I started my analysis of Demand worrying though is that Demand Media in this August post. I Media is producing thousands of wrote then that Demand Media these types of articles a day. operates based on a simple So is the Web becoming awash formula for success on the Web: w i t h l o w - q u a l i t y c o n t e n t create a ton of niche, mostly produced by content farms like uninspired content targeted to Demand Media, Answers.com

and now AOL? Yes it is. From my analysis of Demand Media and similar sites, such content is very generic and lacks depth. While I wouldn't go as far as wikiHow founder Jack Herrick and say that it "lacks soul," it certainly lacks passion and often also lacks knowledge of the topic at hand. Arrington's analogy with fast food is apt - it is content produced quickly and made to order. Can Quality Survive? Given the impact that content farms are having right now, how can producers of 'quality' content survive? Chris Ahearn from Thomson Reuters claims that journalism will "do more than survive the Internet Age, it will thrive." Ahearn notes that Reuters makes the "vast majority of its revenues" from subscriptionbased business models targeted to

"vertical and niche markets." Plus Reuters, he says, provides "valuable services - not just content." Ahearn also implies that syndication technologies, like Reuters' semantic analysis platform Open Calais, will lead to a new kind of "B2B content network" - where content creators and publishers can easily collaborate and make money together. Google Needs to Wake Up and Smell the Coffee In my view both writers and readers of content will need to work harder to get quality content. I know I'd rather read an article by The Economist on any given topic, than one generated by Demand Media. But we, as readers, need more help from Google and the other search engines. Right now 'quantity' still rules on the Web, 'quality' is hard to find. Perhaps that's why Reuters is betting on the subscription model - it hopes that consumers will just subscribe to quality content, thereby removing the need to search for it. I think there's something to that, which if true implies that Google will become less relevant in the future. Should Google be worried about that? Yes; and they are. I can only hope that Google and

other search engines find betters ways to surface quality content, for its own sake as well as ours. Because right now Google is being infiltrated on a vast scale by content farms. If you thought it was bad enough that many professional blogs pump out 30 posts a day, often regurgitations of press releases or quick write-ups of "news" such as Twitter being down for a few minutes(note the irony of that tweet), this new type of Google gaming is on a far bigger scale. What Demand Media, Answers.com and AOL are doing is having a much greater impact on the quality and findability of content on the Web. See also: • Demand Media Is a Page View Generating Machine - And it's Working • Answers.com: 31 Million Copied and Pasted Web Pages Can't Go Wrong • The Age of Mega Content Sites - Answers.com and Demand Media • How Demand Media Produces 4,000 Pieces of Content a Day • Ad-Driven Content - Is it Crossing The Line? Photo credit:~Darin~ Discuss

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MySQL Co-Founder: "Save MySQL from Oracle's Clutches" By Jolie O'Dell (ReadWriteWeb)

October about how MySQL could be shuttered. "The easiest way to kill MySQL Submitted at 12/14/2009 3:35:06 AM would be to not sell licenses any Several days ago, we called more or make their prices 'really MySQL's falling prey to Oracle high'. Another scenario is that the one of the top 10 tech-related development resources are failures of 2009. drastically reduced in some It seems we're in good company, important areas. Then people as one of MySQL's founders, would stop believing in the future Monty Widenius, the man who of MySQL, which slowly will spent the past 27 years creating kill the product... It's safe to and working on MySQL, is using assume that both Sun and Oracle his personal blog to incite mass understand this." letter-writing to the European Now, Widenius says MySQL Commission in order to ensure hardly an underdog in the space the open-source future of the has grown and stabilized to the popular database. We're not the point that it "hurts Oracle every o n l y o n e s w h o q u e s t i o n e d day... Oracle have to lower prices w h e t h e r M y S Q L w o u l d all the time to compete with "succumb to corporate lameness" MySQL when companies start after a takeover by a major closed new projects. Some companies -source competitor. In fact, even migrate existing projects Widenius speculates that Oracle from Oracle to MySQL to save could close or even kill all or money." parts of MySQL. Although Oracle has made Sponsor several statements about the Although the U.S. Department future of MySQL, here's what of Justice approved Oracle's Widenius says the companby has acquisition of Sun Microsystems not guaranteed: earlier this fall, the EC chose to • That all of MySQL and its open an investigation of the parts, modules and tools will matter. The DOJ saw no problem remain under an open source with Oracle's acquiring MySQL license and focused instead on Java • That MySQL license and licensing issues. support prices will remain the Widenius, who split from Sun same earlier this year after - and • T h a t n e w v e r s i o n s a n d entirely because - MySQL was s u b m i t t e d p a t c h e s w i l l b e acquired by Sun, wrote in released consistently and in a

that either Oracle is not a fit steward for MySQL or that timely manner • That dual licensing will O r a c l e m u s t m a k e c e r t a i n continue and that affordable guarantees to ensure its opencommercial licenses will be source competitor's success. EU Competition Commissioner available • That MySQL will be Neelie Kroes is a known developed as an open source s u p p o r t e r o f o p e n - s o u r c e technology; if user emails reach project • That Oracle will work with the her before January 19 and make a existing MySQL user community significant impression, her office • That discrimination will nor could shut the deal down. occur when MySQL patches As we've reported in the past, compete with Oracle products MySQL usage is expected to • That MySQL will continue to d r o p i f t h e a c q u i s i t i o n i s be developed in ways that make complete. It seems that Oracle is it even more competitive with putting a bad taste in the mouth of more than a few open-source Oracle's main offering geeks. In other words, by omitting What's your opinion? Do you certain language, Oracle has left think Oracle should be allowed to i t s e l f m o r e t h a n e n o u g h take MySQL and do with it as ammunition to kill MySQL, if they please? Do you think Oracle not execution-style then certainly should have to make certain over a long, slow, painful process g u a r a n t e e s t o e n s u r e t h e of throttling innovation and l o n g e v i t y a n d s u c c e s s o f freedom (as in beer and as in M y S Q L ? O r d o y o u t h i n k speech). Widenius points to MySQL should simply go to a Oracle's handling of the InnoDB good home, a.k.a. a nonprofit acquisition in 2005 as a possible f o u n d a t i o n , a n d r e m a i n a sign of things to come. "In the standalone competitor to Oracle's end, he writes, "Sun had to fork offering? InnoDB, just to be able to Vote below, and let us know your full thoughts in the improve performance." So, without a list of users, c o m m e n t s . Widenius is issuing a call to the Should Oracle Get MySQL?( entire open source community to surveys) help save MySQL from Oracle Discuss by emailing the EC and stating

Guess which TV star makes a voice cameo in The Single Man By Bob Sassone (TV Squad) Submitted at 12/14/2009 12:41:00 PM

Colin Firth is getting Oscar buzz for his role in Tom Ford's first directorial effort The Single Man, but there's a TV actor who makes a voice cameo in the movie and he goes completely uncredited. He plays the guy who phones and delivers some bad news to Firth's character (obviously this might be a spoiler if you haven't seen the movie). Answer after the jump. Continue reading Guess which TV star makes a voice cameo in The Single Man Filed under: Video, Celebrities, Reality-Free Permalink| Email this| | Comments

Citigroup to repay $20bn in Tarp funds (Financial Times - US homepage) Submitted at 12/14/2009 9:17:12 AM

Citigroup to repay $20bn in Tarp funds By Alan Rappeport in New York Published: December 14 2009 12:23 | Last updated: December 14 2009 17:17 fivefilters.org featured article: Normalising the crime of the century by John Pilger

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P2P Sharing Being Blocked Around the World, Where Next? By Jolie O'Dell (ReadWriteWeb)

ago, Comcast caught some heat from users and media for filtering user traffic when torrent files Submitted at 12/13/2009 11:24:13 PM were being downloaded, even Last week, we told you about causing some to speculate that peer-to-peer and torrent file- the ISP was violating U.S. law by sharing sites were being prohibiting this traffic. systematically shut down all over Eventually, Comcast did strike a China. Not too long before that, deal with BitTorrent to allow we let you know about file- p r o t o c o l - a g n o s t i c t r a f f i c sharing being monitored by a management, but only after the major ISP in the UK. sparring had been brought to the Now, Israeli ISPs are throttling a t t e n t i o n o f t h e F e d e r a l P2P network access, too, as Communications Commission. confirmed in a report just It's currently unclear whether released by an Israeli cyberlaw Israeli ISPs are filtering traffic attorney and a partner news site. due to piracy concerns or simple Whether you consider file- due to bandwidth concerns, as sharing an affront to content shared files can often amount to creators and copyright-holders m u l t i - g i g a b y t e , h o u r s - l o n g everywhere or whether you see downloads. However, trafficP2P networks as a permissible s h a p i n g t h a t b l o c k s P 2 P and valid way for users to protocols can also apply to VoIP exchange data, this trend is calls, IM clients and other gaining considerable momentum applications. Although P2P around the world. Where will traffic is associated with illegal P2P restrictions pop up next? downloads, nothing about the Sponsor protocols themselves is In their research, tech attorney inherently illegal."The element Jonathan Klinger and researchers common to all P2P services," involved with the Israeli website reads the Israeli report, "is the Ynet found that two of the three lack of economical benefit to the m a j o r I S P s i n I s r a e l a r e ISP." interfering with user traffic and Klinger noted that although might be conducting deep packet complaints have been brought to inspection. media outlets and ISPs since Traffic shaping is a practice 2007, the ISPs have typically sometimes used by some ISPs to i g n o r e d t h e s e c r i t i c i s m s . discourage the use of certain Netvision and Internet Zahav applications. A couple of years were the two ISPs determined by

results this report will yield in Israel, we are left to ponder the perturbing question: Where will traffic-shaping pop up next to prevent P2P activity? Take another look at the findings from Vuze's traffic-monitoring plug-in. You'll see that ISPs around the world - including Verizon, BellSouth, AOL, AT&T, Charter, Road Runner and ISPs in France, this research to be blocking file- Italy, Germany, Poland, the UK s h a r i n g t r a f f i c . B e z e q and the Middle East, to name a International was the third ISP few locations - are already investigated. Although Bezeq interrupting traffic. was cleared by this particular Vuze's researched was released i n v e s t i g a t i o n , a p l u g - i n in April 2008; in August, the introduced last year from popular FCC declared that ISPs should bittorrent client Vuze shows that not be allowed to target and this ISP, too, throttles and interrupt P2P applications. Still, disrupts file-sharing network suspicious Americans and other users around the world should traffic. In response to the findings consider using a tool such as the presented by Ynet and Klinger, EFF's Switzerland to determine all three of the investigated ISPs whether torrent downloads and gave typically canned responses VoIP calls are being interrupted claiming to offer users excellent by their ISP. surfing experiences. Israeli Do Israeli or other ISPs have the Communications Ministry rep right or the moral imperative to Dr. Yechiel Shabi told Ynet, throttle traffic in this manner? Do "The research materials relayed they have the need or right to to us paint a picture which examine the applications, files, arouses the need for thorough and protocols being employed by examination. After we become users on their networks? Or do familiar with the study's findings, ISPs around the globe need to we shall consider the need for read the wiki on net neutrality interference, supervision or and get their act together? Let us know your experiences and regulation of the matter." So, while we wait to see what opinions in the comments. Discuss

'I Made A Mistake' Cori Rist Says of Alleged Tiger Woods Affair (ETonline - Breaking News) Submitted at 12/14/2009 7:01:00 AM

Cori Rist, the latest woman allegedly connected to Tiger Woods, says she made a mistake when she had an affair with the golf pro, and feels sorry for his wife. "I'm sorry for her pain. I hate that I'm a part of it," the 31-year-old mother told "Today" show correspondent Natalie Morales on Monday. "I had no idea it would be like this. I can only imagine the pain she's feeling now, and I'm sorry." She claims she is only telling her story to clear reports that she was paid to be Tiger's lover. "I felt it was necessary to defend myself because I'm hearing negative reports; they're not true," she said on the program. "I'm not an escort, he has not paid me, I'm a mother. At the end of the day, I made a mistake, but I'm not what they're claiming that I am. So I will defend myself because I have no other choice."

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Dell Increases its Crowdsourcing Efforts - Will it Work? By Alex Williams (ReadWriteWeb) Submitted at 12/13/2009 8:01:00 PM

Dell is increasing its crowdsourcing efforts on IdeaStorm, by giving hardware manufacturers more feedback on products and services."Storm Sessions" are designed to attract a larger business community to the IdeaStorm site, by providing a more focused, structured approach. Storm Sessions provide a way for Dell to listen to its community, but we are a bit skeptical that the effort will receive significant interest from the business community. Sponsor This may be in part due to the transparency of the process. Will business people feel comfortable giving their feedback in such a public way? Dell launched Ideastorm two and a half years ago, with the intention of giving customers the

opportunity to post their own ideas about Dell's products and services. Ideastorm now has 60,000 registered users. The community posts about 300 ideas per month. The free form aspects of the crowdsourcing effort attracts a consumer crowd. Product groups at Dell find Ideastorm useful. The Linux community is especially

vocal on IdeaStorm and Dell now offers Ubuntu on Dell machines based on feedback from the Linux community. Storm Sessions seek to better match business users with the community aspects of the IdeaStorm site, through a more structured process. Storm Sessions will live on the Dell site for two to four weeks. Dell is

The ideas then get loaded to the IdeaStorm site. Dell product groups receive the information collected from the sessions. It is analyzed and integrated into the product development process. IdeaStorm is impressive, especially considering that just two-people manage it. The amount of feedback Dell receives in return is significant, which shows the power that crowdsourcing can bring to an organization. Storm Sessions will initially focus on the education market, starting with two topics, covering where Dell shows a strong mobile technology and the presence. This could serve as the redesign of the Dell support site. major draw for Storm Sessions. Sessions are presented with a We look forward to watching the statement, providing context progress of Storm Sessions and about the issue Dell is exploring. how other companies bring Each session includes a count c r o w d s o u r c i n g i n t o t h e enterprise. Discuss down. Ideas are submitted through a UI that looks much like a blogging platform.

Remember the great Edward Woodward with Callan By John Scott Lewinski (TV Squad)

gritty British spy series, Callan. Written by James Mitchell, the show featured David Callan -- a Submitted at 12/14/2009 1:02:00 PM spy working for an ultra-secret Most American TV viewers arm of the British Intelligence know Edward Woodward from s e r v i c e s p e c i a l i z i n g i n his run as Robert McCall as The assassinations. Unfortunately, the Equalizer. But, British TV former soldier and convict was aficionados know he trained in cursed with a conscience that led backside-kicking on the dark, him to hate his job, his superiors

and himself. Woodward was perfect in the

role -- blending haunted humor with genuine menace to create an intelligent, tortured man who you believed could kill anyone without having to look like Rambo while he did it. Continue reading Remember the great Edward Woodward with Callan Filed under: Other Drama

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Complete Guide to Cleaning and Disinfecting Your Mac By Charles Moore (TheAppleBlog) Submitted at 12/14/2009 10:00:30 AM

Computers get dirty, especially their human interface surfaces — keyboards and pointing devices. In some instances, dirt can even affect input device performance as well as appearance. Some time ago the faithful SlimType gave me a scare when the F and W keys stopped responding properly. A keystroke would register only when the key was pressed more firmly than usual, and the subtle over-center click of the SlimType’s scissors keyswitch mechanism was missing — the malfunctioning keys feeling “numb” and offering higher than normal resistance. The medicine that time proved to be blowing out the accumulated crud beneath the key console with compressed air. I successfully used an automotive shop compressor with a blow gun. For more cautious folks, or those without convenient access to a compressor, one of those little aerosol cans of compressed air used for cleaning photography equipment could do the trick. But sometimes a bit of compressed air isn’t enough. So, here is our guide to cleaning everything from mice to laptops. Getting Started: Apple’s Cleaning Recommendations Apple has posted a Knowledge Base article covering recommendations and guidelines for cleaning Apple computers,

displays, or input/ peripheral devices. Much of its advice should be common sense, such as before you start cleaning: • Turn off your Mac. • Unplug the power cord from the wall or power strip. • Remove the battery (from products with removable batteries such as some Apple portables or from wireless devices such as mice and keyboards). • Disconnect all external devices from the computer.

free cloth. For the new unibody MacBook’s non-slip plastic coated aluminum bottom case, Apple recommends using a 3M Gray Microfiber or soft dye-free, lint-free cloth for cleaning, once again giving its blessing to 70 percent isopropyl alcohol or iKlear on the bottom case. Mouse Cleaning Mice get dirty. When your mouse becomes covered in Instructions specific to Apple fingerprints or its surface is l a p t o p s i n c l u d e n o t u s i n g soiled, you can gently wipe it isopropyl alcohol on bare LCD with a clean, lint-free cloth. If panels (or any type of alcohol or necessary, moisten the cloth Other warnings some users ammonia-based glass or window using plain water, making sure might be less likely to think of cleaner, I hasten to add). Use not to over-saturate it, and be are: only a damp, soft, lint-free cloth mindful that the mouse’s internal • Don’t use window sprays or o r p u r p o s e - m a d e , A p p l e - electronic components may be cleaning products containing approved LCD cleaning product damaged if water seeps or drips ammonia, chlorine, or abrasive like iKlear. inside. ingredients. Aluminum portables are best With Apple’s Mighty Mouse, • Don’t use rough towels or tackled with a damp, soft, lint- the scroll ball can be cleaned cloths to dry the plastic. free cloth. Apple says it’s safe to using a lint-free cloth lightly • Don’t spray cleaner directly use 70 percent isopropyl alcohol moistened with water, making onto your computer. Liquid could on them (I personally wouldn’t) sure to rotate the ball itself to drip inside the case and cause an or iKlear. Remove surface dust or ensure complete coverage or you electrical shock or malfunction. loose dirt gently with your bare can use something like Wet One. • Don’t use excessively damp hand before proceeding with Drowned Keyboard First Aid cleaning wipes. cleaner and cloth. After cleaning, Moisture is potential death to dry the aluminum with a soft, lint electronics, as anyone who’s ever If more than dusting is needed, -free cloth. spilled liquids on a computer use a lint-free cloth slightly For plastic portables, the same keyboard or laptop can ruefully dampened to wipe away dirt or applies as aluminum, but I would tell you. Apple also warns against grime. Don’t over-wet the cloth. recommend a gentler, damp-cloth using solvents like acetone, If you can squeeze drips of water approach first and reserve the a l c o h o l , o r a l c o h o l - b a s e d out by wringing, it’s too wet. heavier-duty agents for stubborn cleaners on your computer, Solvents and Cleaners s t u f f . A s w i t h t h e m e t a l admonishing to never spray Plain water may not be effective machines, remove any loose c l e a n e r d i r e c t l y o n t o t h e on oils or grease residues, in surface dirt gently with your bare machine, since liquid could drip which case a stronger agent will hand before proceeding with inside the keyboard or case and be needed. Try iKlear or mild cleaner and cloth. After cleaning, cause an electrical shock (or detergent first. Cleaning Laptops dry the plastic with a soft, lint- more likely a component-frying

short-circuit and/or residual corrosion). Should you spill liquid on your keyboard, if it’s thin and clear fluid, immediately shut the computer down, unplug the keyboard, turn it upside down, and drain the liquid out, let it dry (inverted or on edge is best) for 24 hours at room temperature, after which it may or may not recover. If the liquid is greasy, sweet, sticky, or acidic, you’re likely out of luck. I ruined a MacAlly iceKey scissors-action keyboard a while back by sloshing diluted Grapefruit Seed Extract (extremely acidic) on it twice in a week — the only times I’ve drowned a keyboard in two decades of computer use. We disassembled the keyboard and cleaned the circuits, but corrosion had set in. Computer Disinfection With the H1N1 flu pandemic, computer contact surface disinfection has moved to the front burner, especially for machines accessed by multiple users. Apple support also has a Knowledge Base article entitled How To Disinfect The Apple Internal Or External Keyboard, Trackpad, And Mouse. The article recommends, in addition to regular cleaning of your computer and input devices, that disinfecting them may be desirable, noting that,”Multiple people using the same computer, people using the computer when they were ill, and the particular COMPLETE page 48

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iPhone Owners Suffer Stockholm Syndrome, AT&T is Actually Awesome (Just Don’t Mention Friday’s Outages) By Liam Cassidy (TheAppleBlog)

day Stross’ article appeared on the WSJ website. AT&T acknolwedged the problem with a Submitted at 12/14/2009 8:00:56 AM statement via Engadget’s It’s hard to know where to w e b s i t e : begin. The weekend has seen a “We are seeing a hardware issue series of events unfold that in downtown San Francisco that m a n a g e t o c o m b i n e — is causing some degradation in beautifully, perfectly — into a service. GSM and EDGE voice s i n g l e g l o r i o u s m u t u a l l y - and data services are still a n n i h i l a t i n g m a e l s t r o m o f accessible. Our experts are aware silliness. and working to resolve as quickly On Friday the Wall Street as possible. Further resolution is J o u r n a l p u b l i s h e d a n expected this evening.” inflammatory piece by Randall Perfect timing, right? And Stross which began “I love my perhaps proof that Stross is right? iPhone…” but barely a half Just ignore for a moment that his dozen sentences (and some primary “source” is financially o b l i g a t o r y ‘ A T & T v e r s u s affiliated with AT&T. I’d love to Verizon’ white noise later) added rant some more about the whole “…the iPhone itself may not be stupid situation but I don’t need so great after all.” to, since I can offer you this I’ll spare you the tumultuous perfect conclusion from John (and largely inane) nonsense that Gruber: follows, and just give you the So on the one hand we have the bottom line; Stross thinks the simple theory that AT&T’s iPhone is a flawed device; that network stinks, especially in Apple has mass-produced shoddy large metro areas, and extrahardware; and that the iPhone’s especially in New York City and poorly engineered internals lie at San Francisco. the heart of AT&T’s network On the other hand, we have the problems. theory that AT&T’s network is In an example of utterly brilliant just fine because two network ( b u t c o i n c i d e n t a l ) t i m i n g , consulting companies say so, A T & T ’ s n e t w o r k i n S a n even though a Consumer Reports Francisco’s Bay area ground to customer survey says otherwise, an awkward halt the very same and it is the iPhone that is flawed,

but the flaws are for some reason worse on AT&T than other carriers around the world, and just happen to be worse still in some cities than others, and Apple has been unwilling and/or unable to address these flaws in three model years. Gruber debunks Stross’ claims with a few easy and, it appears, perfectly rational observations. But you can’t trust Gruber. And if you’re an iPhone owner, you can’t trust yourself, either. That’s because, according to a report from Strand Consulting(no, you’re not alone, no-one else has heard of them, either) we’re all delusional, suffering from a condition akin to Stockholm Syndrome. 9to5 Mac summarizes the most salient points from Strand’s report entitled “How will psychologists describe the iPhone syndrome in the future?”: It is no secret that there has been a great deal of hype surrounding the iPhone and it is also no secret that Apple probably has the most loyal and fantastic customers in the world. Apple has launched a beautiful phone with a fantastic user interface that has had a number of technological shortcomings that many iPhone users have

accepted and defended, despite those shortcomings resulting in limitations in iPhone users’ daily lives. When we examine the iPhone users’ arguments defending the iPhone, it reminds us of the famous Stockholm Syndrome – a term that was invented by psychologists after a hostage drama in Stockholm. Here hostages reacted to the psychological pressure they were experiencing, by defending the people that had held them hostage for 6 days… …the iPhone is surrounded by a multitude of people, media and companies that are happy to bend the truth to defend the product they have purchased from Apple. So there you have it. The takehome message from this weekend’s press is that, broadly speaking, the iPhone is a poorlydesigned piece of junk that simultaneously inspires mindless fanaticism in its fans while callously destroying poor old AT&T’s data network infrastructure. That embarrassing outage in San Francisco on Friday? Nothing to do with AT&T. All your fault, you pesky iPhone fanatics, gobbling up all that precious bandwidth. Shame on you.

The good news for AT&T is that they’re still liked by some people — Business Traveller Magazine’s readers have voted AT&T the operator with the Best Mobile Phone Coverage in the World. Naturally, AT&T is keen to milk any positive coverage it gets (which isn’t in great supply these days). Bill Hague, the company’s vice president of International Mobility and Consumer Markets, said in a statement: We are truly honored that Business Traveler readers have once again chosen AT&T as having the Best Mobile Phone Coverage in the World. AT&T is committed to helping our customers stay connected to their world when traveling abroad. Shame it’s not quite as committed to keeping its customers connected when they’re at home, too. That statement was released the very same day San Francisco’s iPhone customers lost SMS and Data services. Really, you can’t make this stuff up. There is a silver lining — Fake Steve has already had a chat with the Powers That Be. Let’s hope they listen…

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Apple Looking to Have Record iPhone Quarter: Report By Darrell Etherington (TheAppleBlog)

information gathered by the Taipei-based market Intelligence & Consulting Institute (MIC), Submitted at 12/14/2009 7:08:49 AM much of that increase is due to According to information Apple’s strong sales. Which isn’t gathered from parts suppliers for to say that Apple’s competitors Apple’s iPhone 3GS, the handset a r e n ’ t h a v i n g a n y l u c k is headed for a record quarter. c h a l l e n g i n g i t s m a r k e t Apple’s Taiwanese suppliers for dominance, according to MIC the iPhone’s components have analyst Edward Lin: reported a 31 percent increase in Samsung is currently the largest volume of orders placed for the supplier in the market, as it parts, which should indicate a supplies for the Apple iPhone very healthy spike in sales of the series models. However, TI, smartphone. which has exited from the The report comes via Taiwan’s baseband business and now online tech industry publication, focuses on AP development, has t h e D i g i T i m e s , w h i c h h a s rolled out the OMAP 3430 series, provided ample fuel for the which adopts the Cortex A8 rumor fire regarding various architecture and features a clock Apple devices in the past, as well speed of 1GHz. This offers as reporting on Apple’s business processor options other than outlook. In the second quarter, Qualcomm, enabling terminal the iPhone sold 7.4 million vendors to pair together different worldwide, but if DigiTimes’ communications systems, and it information is accurate, total has been well received by many sales for the third quarter, which brand-name vendors, such as end in December for the Mac HTC, Palm, etc. As a result, TI’s maker, could reach the 10 million s h a r e i n t h e T a i w a n e s e mark. smartphone AP market increased Numbers are up all across the in the third quarter of 2009. smartphone component supply The ability to use different industry, but according to w i r e l e s s c o m m u n i c a t i o n

standards is something that’s recently come up in rumors surrounding Apple’s nextgeneration device, and it looks like that rumor is well in keeping with the pulse of the industry at large. Perhaps it isn’t so farfetched to imagine that the next iPhone could use both GSM- and CDMA-based networks, allowing it to be offered on Verizon in the U.S. Of course, then some of Apple’s commercials would become factually incorrect. Regardless of what’s coming, third-quarter sales of 10 million is a huge win for Cupertino. Looking at recent developments, its easy to spot the source of this late-game success. Apple has opened up sales of its device to many more carriers at the international level, expanding into new territory in the UK, Canada and France, to name a few. It’s also finally gained official access to the massive Chinese market, which paves the way for a lot of potential success, despite early setbacks.

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environment where the computer is used, are a few reasons you may wish to disinfect areas of the computer that people come into contact with the most.” Using a mild soap with antibacterial properties will help, but Apple suggests properly disinfecting contact areas with products like Lysol Wipes, Clorox Disinfecting wipes, or Clorox Kitchen Disinfecting Wipes. I would be cautious about using them on the screen however (except for glasscovered aluminum laptop and iMac displays), and would stick

'Inglourious Basterds' & 'Nine' Lead in Critics Choice Award Nominations (ETonline - Breaking News) Submitted at 12/14/2009 7:30:00 AM

The nominees for the "15th Annual Critics’ Choice Movie Awards" have been decided, with the male-dominated movie 'Inglourious Basterds' and the female crazed film 'Nine' leading the way in nominations. The films boast an all-star cast and crew and are both up for 10 awards, including Best Picture. James Cameron's highly

Your Best Shot 2009: For the Birds By Heather Champ (Flickr Blog) Submitted at 12/13/2009 6:42:11 PM

• About Flickr Flickr is a revolution in photo storage, sharing and organization, making photo management an

with water or iKlear for that. Otherwise, follow the general rules outlined in the regular cleaning instructions above, with a special caveat to not use disinfectant wipes containing bleach, or disinfectant sprays in general. What are some techniques you’ve used to clean those hard to reach and sensitive areas of your gadgets?

easy, natural and collaborative fivefilters.org featured article: process. Get comments, notes, Normalising the crime of the and tags on your photos, post to century by John Pilger any blog, share and more!

anticipated film 'Avatar' follows close behind them with nine nominations, while 'The Hurt Locker' and George Clooney's movie 'Up in the Air' are up for eight awards. The heart-wrenching drama 'Precious: Based on the novel Push by Sapphire' got six Critics' Choice noms, with actresses Gabourey Sidibe and Mo’Nique both nominated.

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Apple Delays iMac Shipments, Says Sorry By Liam Cassidy (TheAppleBlog) Submitted at 12/14/2009 7:29:46 AM

Back in November we reported on the news that some of Apple’s new 27-inch iMacs were turning up with shattered screens and dodgy “flashing” displays. At the time, the most plausible explanation for the physical damage was that the packaging designed to protect the machines during transit was insufficient. The crazy flashing? Well, that’s anyone’s guess. Add to the mix an alreadylengthy waiting period for order fulfillment and you get a fair number of frustrated customers wondering what they paid $1,700 for. Over on the Apple Support forums there’s a mammoth (80+ pages!) discussion raging about the very issue. As though that’s not enough, one disgruntled iMac owner created this web site for reporting and tracking other instances of damaged 27 inchers. Yesterday Apple did what it so very rarely does —

Review: Aqua Teen Hunger Force - A PE Christmas (season premiere) apologized. Really: “We apologize.” Wow. I almost fell off my chair. The apology (I can’t stop shaking my head in wonder as I type that word) was delivered by an Apple spokesperson to CNET and reads, in all its succinct glory; The new iMac has been a huge hit and we are working hard to fulfill orders as quickly as possible. We apologize for any

Risk appetite surges on Dubai bail-out (Financial Times - US homepage) Submitted at 12/14/2009 8:45:54 AM

16:45 GMT. Global risk appetite surged on Monday, boosting stocks and initially denting haven

assets, after Dubai said it had received $10bn from Abu Dhabi to help cover its debts. The FTSE World index rose 0.8 per cent with financial groups particularly strong in Europe as traders calculated that the loan

By Jonathan Toomey (TV Squad)

However, last night's companion episode was anything but that. Paling in comparison to classic Submitted at 12/14/2009 11:51:00 AM ATHF X-mas fare (like ( S07E01)"Larger point: listeners "Cybernetic Ghost of Christmas ain't gonna know until they've Past From the Future"), "A PE already paid for the album!" - Christmas" could have truly Shake captilized on the idea of Shake Those words, spoken by Master making Christmas music, but Shake, while recording his instead never took the idea far Christmas album with Meatwad, enough. were intended to be a jab at Continue reading Review: Aqua consumers -- our Christmas Teen Hunger Force - A PE album sucks but you won't figure Christmas (season premiere) that out until we have your Filed under: Other Comedy money. On the contrary, the Shows, OpEd, Animation, Adult album (aptly titled " Have Swim, Episode Reviews, Realityshould halt any contagion from Y o u r s e l f a M e a t y L i t t l e Free Christmas") is an absolute Dubai’s woes. Permalink| Email this| | fivefilters.org featured article: goldmine of comical music hits C o m m e n t s Normalising the crime of the for fans of the show. century by John Pilger inconvenience or delay this may cause our customers. Of course, there was no mention of the shattered glass problem. Not a word about blinking displays. But c’mon, you didn’t expect a full and frank confession did you? This is Apple. Still, as Engadget’s Vladislav Savov put it, “Some contrition is better than none.”

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Cedric The Entertainer, Alyson Hanningan and Leann Rimes to appear on Dec. 15 “Cookalong Live” By Robert Seidman (TVbytheNumbers) Submitted at 12/14/2009 9:49:17 AM

Monday, Dec. 14, 2009 HOT FROM FOX… CEDRIC THE ENTERTAINER, ALYSON HANNIGAN AND LEANN RIMES STEP INTO THE KITCHEN WITH CHEF RAMSAY FOR “GORDON RAMSAY: COOKALONG LIVE” TUESDAY, DECEMBER 15, ON FOX Shopping List Outlines All Ingredients Necessary To Participate in the Live Nationwide Event Comedian Cedric the Entertainer, actress Alyson Hannigan and Grammy Awardwinning artist LeAnn Rimes will strap on their aprons and step up to the stovetop as they join Chef Gordon Ramsay in-studio for GORDON RAMSAY: COOKALONG LIVE Tuesday, Dec. 15(9:00-10:00 PM ET live/PT tape-delayed) on FOX. During the live one-hour special, Chef Ramsay will guide America and his special celebrity guests through step-by-step instructions on how to cook three fresh and easy dishes, including Angel Hair Pasta with Shrimp, Chili Peppers and Tomatoes appetizer; Steak Diane with Sautéed Potatoes and Peas as the main course; and Quick Tiramisu for dessert.

As a reminder, participants will need to be armed with all the ingredients before the COOKALONG, so Chef Ramsay has provided this shopping list to assist in preparation for the cooking event: SHOPPING LIST(Serves 4) PRODUCE • 1 red chili pepper • 5 large garlic cloves, peeled • 1 large tomato (heirloom, beefsteak or a few smaller roma tomatoes) • 1 lemon • Small handful of fresh basil leaves • 3 scallions • 4 ounces crimini mushrooms, cleaned (can also use button mushrooms instead) • 3 shallots, peeled • Small handful of flat-leaf parsley • 3 small sprigs of rosemary • 1 pound small waxy potatoes (Yukon Gold or any small potato, cut in half) • 2 cups peas, defrosted if using frozen

• 2 1/2 tablespoons salted butter PASTA/BREAD • 7 ounces angel hair pasta • 4 Italian Ladyfingers, or Savoiardi BAKING • 1/4 cup powdered sugar • 1 vanilla bean, or 1 teaspoon vanilla extract • Piece of chocolate (to grate as garnish) LIQUOR/COFFEE • 4 tablespoons Marsala, or sweet dessert wine such as Vin Santo • 1/4 cup brandy or cognac • 1/4 cup white wine • 1 cup cold strong coffee

CONDIMENTS • Salt and freshly ground black pepper • Olive oil MEAT/FISH • Extra virgin olive oil • 1/2 pound medium-size raw, • 1-2 tablespoons Worcestershire peeled shrimps sauce, to taste • 4 small sirloin steaks (approx. • 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard 7 ounces each) NOTE: You will need to have a DAIRY pot of boiling water ready for • 1 3/4 cups heavy cream your pasta at the start of the • 1 cup mascarpone show. Cedric the Entertainer is best

known for his crowd-pleasing roles in such hit films as “Barbershop,” “Be Cool,” “Madagascar,” “Intolerable Cruelty” and Spike Lee’s “The Original Kings of Comedy.” He will next be seen in “All’s Faire in Love” opposite Christina Ricci. Cedric has celebrated many career successes spanning television, live performances and film. Some notable accolades include nabbing the AFTRA Award of Excellence in Television Programming for his television series “Cedric the Entertainer Presents,” as well as a record-breaking four consecutive NAACP Image Awards for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series for his portrayal of the lovable “Coach Cedric Robinson” on the top-rated “The Steve Harvey Show,” which ran for six seasons. In November 2008, Cedric made his Broadway debut in David Mamet’s “American Buffalo.” Now helming his own production company, A Bird and a Bear Entertainment, Cedric will develop and produce feature films. In the field of philanthropy, Cedric founded The Cedric the Entertainer Charitable Foundation, which provides scholarships and outreach programs to enhance the lives of inner-city youth and their families in his hometown of St. Louis, MO. He plans to extend

the foundation nationally. Alyson Hannigan has captivated audiences in both television and film. She currently stars on the Emmy-nominated comedy series “How I Met Your Mother,” which centers around a group of best friends in their 20s who are living in New York and searching for love. Prior to that, Hannigan starred as “Willow Rosenberg” in Joss Whedon’s hugely popular “Buffy the Vampire Slayer,” and she also guest-starred on a number of popular television shows, including “Picket Fences” and “Roseanne.” Hannigan made her breakthrough performance at the age of 13 in “My Stepmother Is an Alien” opposite Dan Aykroyd and Kim Basinger. Her film credits include “American Pie,” “American Pie 2,” “American Wedding,” “Date Movie” opposite Fred Willard and Jennifer Coolidge, “Dead Man on Campus” and “Boys and Girls.” Born in Washington D.C., Hannigan grew up in Atlanta and currently resides in Los Angeles. LeAnn Rimes has sold more than 37 million albums, won two Grammys, three Academy of Country Music Awards and 12 Billboard Music Awards. Rimes is the youngest recipient of a Grammy and the first country recording artist to win in the Best CEDRIC page 54

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Disney XD To Premiere I’m In The Band, A New Music-Filled Comedy Series, January 18 By Bill Gorman (TVbytheNumbers)

v i s i t www.disneyxdmedianet.com. Registration is required.) The premiere schedule is: Monday, January 18 • “The Suite Life on Deck” (6:30 p.m., ET/PT)

association to begin regulating skateboarders. • “Band Van” – Iron Weasel music video will be available on Disney XD and Disney XD.com.

newcomer Caitlyn Taylor Love (”America’s Got Talent”). The series was created by Michael B. Submitted at 12/14/2009 10:03:49 AM Kaplan (”Frasier,” “Girlfriends”) via press release: and Ron Rappaport (”Date My DISNEY XD TO PREMIERE Mom”) and is executive“I’M IN THE BAND,” Tuesday, January 19 produced by Kaplan and Richard A NEW MUSIC-FILLED • “I’m in the Band” premiere G u r m a n ( ” M a r r i e d … w i t h COMEDY SERIES In this new episode, “Any Given episode available on Disney XD Children,” “Still Standing”). The MONDAY, JANUARY 18 ON Fantasy,” Mr. Moseby forbids on Demand, DisneyXD.com, series is produced by It’s A DISNEY XD football on the Sky Deck so the Disney XD Mobile, Xbox Live Laugh Productions and carries a – New Episode of “The Suite students decide to play fantasy and iTunes. TV-Y7 parental guideline. Life on Deck” Guest Starring football instead. Cody enlists Disney XD is a basic cable Arizona Cardinals Quarterback K i r b y t o t e a c h h i m a b o u t “I’m in the Band” follows Tripp channel and multi-platform brand Kurt Warner – football, and London unveils her Campbell as he joins his favorite showcasing a compelling mix of “I’m in the Band,” a music-filled, s e c r e t w e a p o n – A r i z o n a “ v i n t a g e ” r o c k b a n d , I r o n l i v e - a c t i o n a n d a n i m a t e d live-action comedy series for kids Cardinals Quarterback Kurt Weasel, and becomes determined programming for Kids age 6-14, and families about a teenager Warner himself. to help the band he idolizes make hyper-targeting boys and their who realizes his wildest dream • “I’m in the Band” (7:00 p.m., an epic comeback. He’s certainly q u e s t f o r d i s c o v e r y , when he joins his favorite ET/PT) got his work cut out for him with a c c o m p l i s h m e n t , s p o r t s , “vintage” rock band, Iron the trio of rock star misfits whose adventure and humor. Disney XD Weasel, will premiere In the premiere episode, “I stars have fallen so far that they branded content spans television, MONDAY, JANUARY 18(7:00 Wanna Punch Stuff,” Tripp gets can’t even afford their own o n l i n e , m o b i l e a n d V O D p.m., ET/PT) on Disney XD and dumped by Lana, the prettiest girl housing and are forced to share platforms. The programming DisneyXD.com. Kicking off the in his class, so he’s inspired to bunk beds in a guest room at includes series, movies and shortevening is a new episode of the write a new song, “I Wanna Tripp’s house. Nonetheless, in form, as well as sports-themed hit series “The Suite Life on Punch Stuff.” Meanwhile, Tripp their own off the wall way, the programming developed with Deck” guest starring Arizona surprises his band mates with a three stooges will do their best to ESPN. In the U.S., Disney XD is Cardinals Quarterback Kurt visit from professional mixed help Tripp steer through his seen on a 24-hour, advertiser Warner (6:30 p.m. ET/PT). martial arts fighter and former teenage years with the goal of supported network that reaches S p o n s o r e d b y P e p p e r i d g e roadie Ernesto the Besto who, turning him into a bona fide rock over 74 million households via Farm® Cheddar Goldfish® unbeknownst to Tripp, has a star and giving him the chance to its basic cable affiliates. Disney crackers, “I’m in the Band” will bone to pick with Iron Weasel. live out his dream. XD recently launched in the UK, also be showcased via Disney • “Zeke and Luther” (7:30 p.m., The series stars Logan Miller F r a n c e , S p a i n , D e n m a r k , XD on Demand, DisneyXD.com, ET/PT) (”Ghosts of Girlfriends Past”), S w e d e n , N o r w a y , P o l a n d , Disney XD Mobile, Xbox Live Steve Valentine (”Crossing Greece, Turkey, Latin America and iTunes on Tuesday, January In the new episode, entitled Jordan,” “Wizards of Waverly and Japan. 19. “Law and Boarder,” Zeke and Place The Movie”), Greg Baker fivefilters.org featured article: (Editors please note: Click here Luther crash into Ginger’s potato ( ” S p o r t s N i g h t , ” “ H a n n a h Normalising the crime of the for images of “I’m In The Band” wedge stand, and she gets even M o n t a n a ” ) , S t e p h e n F u l l century by John Pilger and“The Suite Life On Deck” or by convincing the home owners (”Hannah Montana,” “CSI”) and

'Jersey Shore' Cast Reacts to Snooki Getting Punched in the Face (ETonline - Breaking News) Submitted at 12/14/2009 7:02:00 AM

The cast of the "Jersey Shore" sits down with ET's Mark Steines to reflect on the horrific night when cast member Nicole "Snooki" Polizzi was punched in the face by a man in a bar. "It's really hard for me to watch," Snooki says of watching the punch that was caught on camera. "The first time I saw it, [I] started hysterically crying. ... It came out of nowhere." Jenni "J-WOWW" Farley says she was directly behind Snooki at the time of the punch and says she caught her cast mate. "It was horrifying," J-WOWW tells ET. "My arms, everything was just covered in blood. ... It was a grown man punching a tiny, tiny girl."

TV Ratings Sunday: Football Wins, Oprah’s Christmas Rates Below Brothers & Sisters By Bill Gorman (TVbytheNumbers) Due toRATINGS the naturepage of live 52 sports Submitted at 12/14/2009 9:01:42 AM programming the ratings for

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RATINGS continued from page 51

NBC (Sunday Night Football) and CBS (NFL overrun) are approximate and subject to significant revisions in the final numbers. See below for more information on these Fast Affiliate Ratings. Of course, Sunday Night Football& NBC won the Sunday night ratings as usual, as NBC averaged a 5.7 adults 18-49 rating on the night, far ahead of second place CBS‘ 2.9 rating, which was itself boosted by an NFL overrun. ABC’s Christmas In the White House special did a 2.8 adults 18-49 rating, lower than the season average for Brothers & Sisters(of 3.17). NBC’s Sunday Night Football Game 14: Eagles vs. Giants delivered a 7.0 adults 18-49 rating/17 share from 830-11p, on par with last week’s Game 13 (Vikings vs. Cardinals) which posted a 6.8/16 in the Fast Nationals before rising to a 7.8/19 from 8:31-11:16p in the Finals. Against a close SNF game with popular teams and no NFL overrun, the Fox line up suffered compared to their last original telecasts on 11/29. The Simpsons was down 23% to a 3.2 adults 18

-49 rating. The Cleveland Show fell 9% to a 3.0 rating. Family Guy dropped 14% to a 3.8 rating. American Dad was down 6% to a 3.1 rating. ABC’s Extreme Makeover: Home Edition was up 3% from last week to a 3.1 rating. CBS’ lineup was a jumble with the NFL overrun, you can see the preliminary half hours in the table below, but making comparisons is a bit difficult until the final ratings are out this afternoon. You can see TV ratings from other recent Overnight ratings reports here. Nielsen TV Ratings: ©2009 The Nielsen Company. All Rights Reserved. Definitions: Fast Affiliate Ratings: These first national ratings, including demographics, are available at approximately 11 AM (ET) the day after telecast, and are released to subscribing customers daily. These data, from the National People Meter sample, are strictly time-period information, based on the normal broadcast network feed, and include all programming on the

affiliated stations, sometimes including network programming, sometimes not. The figures may include stations that did not air the entire network feed, as well as local news breaks or cutaways for local coverage or other programming. Fast Affiliate ratings are not as useful for live programs and are likely to differ significantly from the final results, because the data reflect normal broadcast feed patterns. For example, with a World Series game, Fast Affiliate Ratings would include whatever aired from 8-11PM on affiliates in the Pacific Time Zone, following the live football game, but not game coverage that begins at 5PM PT. The same would be true of Presidential debates as well as live award shows and breaking news reports. Rating: Estimated percentage of the universe of TV households (or other specified group) tuned to a program in the average minute. Ratings are expressed as a percent. 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 broadcast day as the original telecast, with a cut-off of 3:00AM local time when meters transmit daily viewing to Nielsen for processing. Live+7 Day ratings include incremental viewing that takes place during the 7 days following a telecast. For more information see Numbers 101 and Numbers 102. fivefilters.org featured article: Normalising the crime of the century by John Pilger

Taylor Swift Gives $250,000 Christmas Gift (ETonline - Breaking News) Submitted at 12/14/2009 8:21:00 AM

Taylor Swift gave a whopping $250,000 gift -- but it wasn't to

rumored boyfriend Taylor Lautner! The music superstar marked her 20th birthday by giving big, according to People.com.

"Something I wanted to do at the end of this amazing year and especially on my birthday was give back to something I really believe in, which is education,"

she told the magazine. "The schools that I went to and the amazing people I got to learn from really turned me into who I am, and I wanted to give back."

J is for Jersey [Open Caption] By Brian Moylan (Gawker) Submitted at 12/14/2009 8:25:38 AM

[ Jersey Shore star Nicole "Snooki" Polizzi carries a monogrammed purse (that doesn't match her outfit) emblazoned with the mysterious letter J while walking the Los Angeles streets with DJ Paulie Directions on Saturday night. Image via X17]

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“Christmas at the White House: An Oprah Primetime Special” Draws ABC’s 2nd-Biggest Audience in the Hour this Season By Bill Gorman (TVbytheNumbers) Submitted at 12/14/2009 9:40:58 AM

via press release: Up Year to Year, ABC Continues to Beat its Non-Sports Sunday Competition Opposite CBS’ NFL Overrun at 7pm, “AFV” Draws its Biggest Audience in 9 Months Growing Throughout its 2-Hour Telecast Against NBC’s Big NFL Eagles-Giants Game, “Home Edition” Boosts its Time Slot for ABC by Wide Margins Year to Year Sunday’s Most-Watched Entertainment Program, “Christmas at the White House: An Oprah Primetime Special” Draws ABC’s 2nd-Biggest Audience in the Hour this Season Sunday Night (7:00-11:00 p.m.) Opposite NFL driven NBC(Eagles-NY Giants) and CBS(Cowboys-Chargers primetime overrun), ABC

continued to beat out its nonsports boosted competition on Sunday, defeating Fox’s original Sunday lineup by 4.6 million viewers(10.2 million vs. 5.6 million) and by 12% in Adults1849(2.8/7 vs. 2.5/6). • ABC’s Sunday numbers jumped over the year-ago night by 2.3 million viewers and by 22% in Adults 18-49(7.9 million and 2.3/6 on 12/14/08). “America’s Funniest Home Videos” (7:00-8:00 p.m.) Opposite CBS’ big NFL overrun in the 7 o’clock hour, ABC’s “America’s Funniest Home Videos” beat out its non-sports c o m p e t i t i o n o n Fox(“Brothers”/”Brothers”) by 5.6 million viewers(8.7 million vs. 3.1 million) and by 91% in Adults 18-49(2.1/6 vs. 1.1/3). • Despite the substantial NFL competition from CBS in the slot,“AFV” generated the series’ biggest audience in over 9

months– since 3/1/09.

11/22/09.

“Extreme Makeover: Home Edition” (8:00-10:00 p.m.) Gaining viewers and young adults throughout its 2-hour telecast against NBC’s EaglesGiants game, ABC’s “ Extreme Makeover: Home Edition” improved the time period over the same evening last year(12/14/08) by 1.4 million viewers(10.2 million vs. 8.8 million) and by 15% in Adults 18 -49(3.1/8 vs. 2.7/6). “Christmas at the White House: An Oprah Primetime Special” (10:00-11:00 p.m.) ABC’s “Christmas at the White House: An Oprah Primetime Special” registered as Sunday’s most-watched entertainment program(11.8 million). • The Oprah special generated ABC’s 2nd-largest audience in the hour this season– behind only the final hour of the “2009 American Music Awards” on

A note about increasing DVR penetration and year-to-year rating comparisons: Year-to-year rating comparisons based on the Live + Same Day data stream are distorted by the level of DVR penetration in the Nielsen sample, which has jumped up to 33% currently, from 28% at the same point in 2008. More viewers are watching shows on their own timetables, which may not be reflected in the overnight next day numbers. The only truly valid year-to-year comparison would be one based on the Live + 7 Day metric, once those stats are released by Nielsen. Source: Nielsen Media Research (Fast Affiliate, Live + Same Day Ratings), 12/13/09. fivefilters.org featured article: Normalising the crime of the century by John Pilger

2-on-1: Goalies On the Block By Adam Gretz (Fanhouse Main) Submitted at 12/14/2009 2:00:00 AM

Filed under: Flyers, Kings, Panthers, Thrashers, NHL Rumors Every Monday during the season two of our hockey writers will debate one topic. It's the 2-on-1. This week, Adam Gretz and Chris Botta talk about potential landing spots for the numerous goaltenders that could be on the trade block.

Sunday Night Football Live Chat: Eagles vs. Giants By Adam Gretz (Fanhouse Main)

throw down this week as the the New York Giants, looking to keep pace in the NFC playoff Submitted at 12/13/2009 11:45:00 AM picture, host Donovan McNabb Filed under: Eagles, Giants, and the Philadelphia Eagles. The NFC East, NFL Live Blogging Giants are coming off a huge 31We have a classic NFC East 24 win against Dallas last

Sunday, but are just 2-5 in their past seven games after starting

the season 5-0. The Eagles are riding a threegame winning streak after thumping Atlanta 34-7 last Sunday. Should be a good one, so please join us for our Sunday night live

chat. Festivities begin at 8:15 PM ET.

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What's On Tonight: The Sing-Off, Big Bang Theory, Men of a Certain Age By Bob Sassone (TV Squad) Submitted at 12/14/2009 12:13:00 PM

• At 8, ABC has Jennifer Hudson: I'll Be Home For Christmas, followed by a new Find My Family. • CBS has a new How I Met Your Mother at 8, then new episodes of Accidentally on Purpose, Two and a Half Men, Big Bang Theory, and CSI: Miami. • NBC has the two-hour series premiere of The Sing-Off at 8, followed by a new Jay Leno Show. • ABC Family has Mary Poppins at 8. • USA has a new Monday Night RAW at 8. • TLC has a new Little People,

• History Channel has two new episodes of Pawn Stars at 10. • Hallmark has the movie A Christmas Carol: The Musical at 10. Check your local TV listings for more. After the jump, the late night talk shows. Continue reading What's On Tonight: The Sing-Off, Big Bang Theory, Men of a Certain Age Filed under: Late Night, Programming, Celebrities, Talk Show, What To Watch Tonight, Reality-Free Permalink| Email this| | Comments

Australia releases R18+ discussion paper, requests public feedback By Alexander Sliwinski (Joystiq) Submitted at 12/14/2009 11:00:00 AM

The Australian government has finally released the R18+ discussion paper and is requesting comment on whether the adult classification should be made available for video games. For those just joining us, Aussie Big World at 8. Me. video game classification caps at • Food Network has a Christmas • TNT has a new episode of The MA15+, meaning any game Good Eats at 8. Closer at 9, then a new Men of a unsuitable for a 15-year-old can't • Also at 8: Cartoon Network has Certain Age. be sold in the region. Grandma Got Run Over By A • TLC has a new Cake Boss at 9. Submissions stating why the Reindeer, followed by Gotta • At 10, Bravo has a new Chef government should allow an Catch Santa Claus. Academy. R18+ rating for games is due by • At 9, FOX has a new Lie to • A&E has a new Hoarders at 10. February 28, 2010. The government spells out quite CEDRIC plainly that any change in the continued from page 50 classification policy "must be New Artist category. Her current L i v e , ” t h e s e c o n d - l o n g e s t and an inspirational book, “What Potato Inc. and A. Smith & Co. unanimously agreed [upon] by album, “Family,” marks the first c h a r t i n g s o n g e v e r o n t h e I Cannot Change.” Rimes is a Gordon Ramsay, Ben Adler, C o m m o n w e a l t h , S t a t e a n d time Rimes has written or co- B i l l b o a r d H o t 1 0 0 . R i m e s long-time supporter of charity Patricia Llewellyn, Arthur Smith Territory Censorship Ministers." written every song on an album. ventured into acting when she organizations, including The a n d K e n t W e e d s e r v e a s [Thanks Simon and everyone She recently won the CMT starred in the television movies National Psoriasis Foundation, e x e c u t i v e p r o d u c e r s . else who sent this in] Award for Collaborative Video “Northern Nights” and “Holiday T h e C o a l i t i o n t o S a l u t e fivefilters.org featured article: Australia releases R18+ of the Year with Bon Jovi and the In Your Heart.” She also guest- America’s Heroes and Children’s Normalising the crime of the discussion paper, requests public Gospel Music Association’s starred on the long-running series M i r a c l e N e t w o r k . S h e i s century by John Pilger feedback originally appeared on Dove Award for her song “Ready “American Dreams” and in an currently in the studio working Joystiq on Mon, 14 Dec 2009 for a Miracle.” Rimes has scored episode of “Days of Our Lives.” on her new album, which is due 11:00:00 EST. Please see our numerous hit singles in her An accomplished author, Rimes out in summer 2010. terms for use of feeds. career, including “Can’t Fight the has written two children’s books, GORDON RAMSAY: Read| Permalink| Email this| Moonlight,” which went to No. 1 “Jag” and “Jag’s New Friend”; a C O O K A L O N G L I V E i s Comments in 11 countries and “How Do I novel, “Holiday In Your Heart”; produced by One Potato Two

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Up in the Air Is The Grapes of Wrath for the Rich and Out of Touch [That's Rich] By Brian Moylan (Gawker) Submitted at 12/14/2009 9:26:04 AM

In yesterday's New York Times, Frank Rich says the George Clooney flick Up in the Air will, "salve national wounds that continue to fester in the real world." Did he see the same movie we did? Because he's totally wrong. For those of you who rushed out to see the movie during its big city engagement before it opens wide on Christmas day will know, Up in the Air is the story of Ryan Bingham, a man who travels around the country firing people who have been downsized by their respective companies. Rich thinks this is the greatest thing since sliced bread, if we could all still afford a loaf of bread or a knife to cut it with. Here is an America whose battered inhabitants realize that the economic deck is stacked against them, gamed by distant, powerful figures they can't see or know. Up in the Air may be a glossy production sprinkled with laughter and sex, but it captures the distinctive topography of our Great Recession as vividly as a far more dour Hollywood product of 70 years ago, The Grapes of Wrath, did the vastly different landscape of the Great Depression. Steinbeck did actually tell the story of Up in the Air in The

because his tale is about the people whose livelihood was lost due to natural and financial disaster and who subsequently wander around doing anything just to survive. Through it we can sympathize with the once-proud people who have been laid low by the Great Depression. Up in the Air, on the other hand, is a film about the man who flies around in first class collecting frequent flier miles for sport and still has a job, an expense account, an apartment, and so many hotel key cards that he doesn't even need to pony up for a night at the Milwaukee Hilton unless he wants to. After a peek into his luxe lifestyle, it asks us to feel sorry for him, because his job firing people is so hard and he doesn't have a life outside of Grapes of Wrath. Early in the because it provided a refuge from owner men sat in the cars and work. He's lonely. Sad face. novel, he gives a few pages to the thought and from feeling. If a explained. You know the land is While director Jason Reitman bank men who came to kick bank or a finance company poor. You've scrabbled at it long uses "real people" who lost their jobs as the sorry spectres loosed farmers off their land: owned the land, the owner man enough, God knows. Some of the owner men were s a i d , T h e B a n k o r t h e And then Steinbeck moved on to from this employment coil by kind because they hated what Companyneedswantsinsistsmust the true characters, the Joads and R y a n , h o w d o y o u t h i n k they had to do, and some of them have as though the Bank or the their trek west, full of empty watching this movie must feel for were angry because they hated to Company were a monster, with dreams and shattered promises. someone who has met the Brooks be cruel, and some of them were thought and feeling, which had The only way this movie â&#x20AC;&#x201D; that Brothers-clad grim reaper in a cold because they had long ago ensnared them. These last would tries to humanize the corporate beige conference room in their found that one could not be an take no responsibility for the hatchet man â&#x20AC;&#x201D; could be anything very own workplace? They're owner unless one were cold. And banks or the companies because like The Grapes of Wrath is if intended to muster up even the all of them were caught in they were men and slaves, while John Steinback came back from slightest bit of sympathy for this s o m e t h i n g l a r g e r t h a n the banks were machines and the dead and rewrote it so that it dude, who still gets a paycheck, themselves. Some of them hated masters all at the same time. focused on and humanized the because he doesn't have a life? the mathematics that drove them, Some of the owner men were a men who show up at the Joad's Yeah, that's not salve we're and some were afraid, and some little proud to be slaves to such house to tack a foreclosure notice AIR page 56 worshiped the mathematics cold and powerful masters. The on the front door. But he didn't

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Houston Accidentally Elects a Lesbian Mayor [Moral Victories]

AIR continued from page 55

putting on that wound, Frank, it's salt.

By John Cook (Gawker) Submitted at 12/14/2009 9:57:08 AM

Houston became the largest American city to elect an openly gay mayor on Saturday night, but don't get too excited: No one was really paying attention, and it's not like they're going to let them start getting married or anything. Annise Parker, a former city council member and city controller with 12 years of experience as a civil servant and 19 years of experience as a lesbian in a committed relationship with her partner Kathy Hubbard (that's Hubbard and Parker, on the right, in the photo), was elected mayor of Houston on Saturday night in a run-off against a fellow Democrat. It's very good news, but the New York Times explains why you shouldn't get your hopes up too much about America no longer hating gay people or anything like that: • Parker didn't play up the whole gay thing. "When asked, for instance, if she would advocate for a referendum giving benefits to same-sex partners of city workers, she was quick to say it was not in her plans." • There were no Republicans in the race, so the lesbian-haters sat out the race. "That there was no credible Republican candidate in

NintendoWare weekly: Bejeweled, Blaster Master, Earthworm Jim 2 By David Hinkle (Joystiq) Submitted at 12/14/2009 1:20:00 PM

the race for the first time in three decades also helped Ms. Parker's bid." • Her opponent Gene Locke had never won elective office and doesn't sound too sharp. "Mr. Locke, who is black, also ran a flawed campaign. He was late to begin television advertising, a fatal mistake for a little-known candidate." • Also, he was a lawyer and a lobbyist, which led one political columnist to write, "Here's the bottom line, or maybe the punch line. In Houston, it is now harder for a lawyer to be elected mayor

than a lesbian." • No one really cares who the mayor of Houston is, anyway. "In the end, it turned out that the Houstonians who were paying attention to the election - only about 16 percent of registered voters - did not seem to care deeply about Ms. Parker's sexual orientation...." So the good news is that even Texas will let gay people become mayors, as long as they don't advocate too strongly for things like treating gay people equally and run against flawed opponents

in elections no one pays attention to. That bad news is that the FBI's analysis of hate crime statistics for 2008 is out, and offenses motivated by sexual orientation are up 11% over last year. Crimes motivated by racism against African Americans are up 4%, so Prop. 8 generated almost three times as much violent hatred as the Barack Obama campaign, for those who are counting.

As promised, Sunsoft's brought Blaster Master to the Virtual Console -- though we think the impact is somewhat dulled by the quantity of other games available for download this week. There's a total of 11 different games available, so head past the break for the full list. Continue reading NintendoWare weekly: Bejeweled, Blaster Master, Earthworm Jim 2 NintendoWare weekly: Bejeweled, Blaster Master, Earthworm Jim 2 originally appeared on Joystiq on Mon, 14 Dec 2009 13:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Read| Permalink| Email this| Comments

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WSJ Editor: 'Principle Is But a Bystander at The New York Times ' [Newspaper Wars] By Hamilton Nolan (Gawker) Submitted at 12/14/2009 9:17:19 AM

Fight! The Wall Street Journal enjoys newspaper feuds, remember? Which is the only sensible explanation for WSJ editor Robert Thomson's pugnacious statement that just went out regarding David Carr's New York Times column today. Carr's non-shocking thesis today: Since Rupert Murdoch bought the WSJ, he's turned it into more of a general interest paper, and its Washington coverage leans right, as evidenced by Robert Thomson's hiring of a right-wing deputy managing editor, and also evidenced by the fact that that's what several WSJ staffers tell Carr, and also evidenced by reading the paper. Robert Thomson will not let this observation stand! From: Thomson, Robert Sent: Monday, December 14, 2009 11:06 AM To: Christie, Robert Subject: Statement by Robert Thomson on The New York Times The news column by a Mr David Carr today is yet more evidence that The New York Times is uncomfortable about the rise of

FYI: WarioWare DIY does it on DS in March By JC Fletcher (Joystiq) Submitted at 12/14/2009 10:30:00 AM

an increasingly successful rival while its own circulation and credibility are in retreat. The usual practice of quoting exemployees was supplemented by a succession of anonymous quotes and unsubstantiated assertions. The attack follows the extraordinary actions of Mr Bill Keller, the Executive Editor, who, among other things, last year wrote personally and at length to a prize committee casting aspersions on Journal journalists and journalism. Whether it be in the quest for

prizes or in the disparagement of competitors, principle is but a bystander at The New York Times. Robert Thomson, Editor-in-Chief, Dow Jones. Rather feisty, no? We've emailed both papers to try to get more info and responses to the allegations against Bill Keller. In the meantime, our diagnosis: Rupert Murdoch and his peons are essentially drunk barroom fighters. They love this shit. Keep it coming, plz. UPDATE: John Koblin gets a

strong I-stand-by-the-column from Bill Keller. UPDATE 2: NYT PR sends us the same statement the NYO got, namely: Here's a response from Bill Keller: While David's column clearly got under Mr. Thomson's skin, I don't see anything in this response that casts doubt upon it. The column was scrupulously fair and, if anything, understated, and I have no inclination to help Mr. Thomson change the subject.

One of Nintendo's most exciting announcements from E3 was the localization of WarioWare DIY, a DS app that lets players create their own WarioWare games, with custom graphics, sound, and gameplay. Nintendo didn't happen to offer a date during the thrilling E3 presentation, and it's said nothing at all about what should be a major part of the publisher's DS lineup -- until today. In its Q1 schedule, Nintendo provided a date of March 28. You're not buying anything in March, right? The company also offered a Q1 date for WarioWare DIY Showcase, the WiiWare game through which WarioWare DIY games can be uploaded and played on a big screen. FYI: WarioWare DIY does it on DS in March originally appeared on Joystiq on Mon, 14 Dec 2009 10:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink| Email this| Comments

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Wall St. Bankers Snub Obama, Duck D.C. SitDown Because of 'Inclement Weather' [Goldman Sachs] By John Cook (Gawker) Submitted at 12/14/2009 9:37:55 AM

Goldman Sachs CEO Lloyd Blankfein, Citigroup chairman Dick Parsons, and Morgan Stanley CEO John Mack all skipped out on a scheduled dressing-down today from Barack Obama because "inclement weather" made it physically impossible for them to travel to Washington. Convenient! Obama met with 10 top banking executives, or"fat cats" as he's taken to calling them these days, to yell at them for not lending enough money and generally being horrible people. But the worst of them, Goldman Sachs' Lloyd Blankfein, is among the three that are participating via conference call because fog made it impossible for them to deploy the billions of dollars under their control in service of transporting

them bodily to Washington, D.C. this morning. According to Joyce Jones, the Black Enterprise reporter doing White House pool duty today, Obama "thanked them for calling in and said he's sorry their flights got held up." We're hoping that the audio of the meeting is

released, because we expect Obama's voice to be dripping with saracasm. As you can see from the above photo, taken from the roof of Gawker HQ, there was no problem getting off the ground in New York this morning. There were indeed traffic management

systems put in place this morning at Dulles International Airport and Reagan National due to fog, and many flights between New York and D.C. were delayed or canceled. But these are powerful men, with private planes. They really couldn't squeeze in a landing ahead of the losers who fly commercial? For a sense of just how debilitating the fog is in D.C., here's a live shot from a traffic camera about a mile from Reagan Washington: Not to mention BaltimoreWashington International Airport, just a quick limo drive from the White House, which wasn't experiencing any delays this morning: Also, there are trains that travel between Washington and New York. Nine of them arrived at Washington's Union Station before the 11:09 a.m. start-time of the meeting with Obama.

Obama presses banks to boost lending (Financial Times - US homepage) Submitted at 12/14/2009 9:05:38 AM

President Barack Obama on Monday told the US’s top bankers that they had a “special responsibility” to help spur the economic recovery after they received government bail-outs last year, urging them to increase lending to small businesses and mortgage refinancing. As Wall Street returns to health while Main Street continues to struggle, Mr Obama struck a sharp tone before the meeting, saying he “did not run for office to be helping out a bunch of fat cat bankers”. fivefilters.org featured article: Normalising the crime of the century by John Pilger

Reid Rules: Eagles Follow Coach's Lead By Thomas George (Fanhouse Main)

fracas and thus the game, 45-38, to the Philadelphia Eagles here on Sunday night. You could say Submitted at 12/13/2009 7:00:00 PM that the Giants' pass rush has Filed under: Eagles, Giants, NFL slipped, that their secondary has Analysis EAST RUTHERFORD, crashed. That the Giants' shoddy N.J. -- You could say the New punt coverage helped kill their York Giants lost the turnover chances.

But what you have to say is that

Eagles coach Andy Reid has figured out his team. And he has dissected the Giants and continues to carve them into pieces. You have to say this now about the Eagles-Giants rivalry: Reid Rules.

It is four consecutive victories and counting now in Reid vs. the Giants. He beat them in the playoffs last season in Giants Stadium. He roasted them in Philadelphia earlier this season, 40-17.

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Incredibly Wonky Pranksters Pretend Canada Cares About Climate [Hoaxes] By Pareene (Gawker) Submitted at 12/14/2009 8:24:41 AM

This morning, an elaborate hoax briefly convinced the world that Canada was going to take the lead on carbon emissions reductions and financial aid to Africa. But... why? No one seems to know who was behind the hoax—or what the point was, except to embarrass Canada?—but it involved emailed press releases, a fake website for Canada's Environment Department, and and even a (really well done) spoof Wall Street Journal story. The release claimed Canada was going to reduce emissions to 40% below 1990 levels by 2020, and it

went on to claim that Canada was going to send Africa $13 billion in aid next year for development and as "reparations" for climate change caused by developed nations. The people behind the hoax sent out not only the initial

email announcing the fake new Canadian policy, but also a follow-up claiming the office had been spoofed and linking to the false Journal story. And, wow, is this a spoof UN Climate Change Conference

website too? Looks just like the real thing! So. No one is sure where this came from and Canada does not find it very funny. The Yes Men tend to perform their stunts in person, and they'd be more likely to pretend to be American than Canadian. Right? (They already did a climate hoax involving the US Chamber of Commerce.) Maybe Canada has its own Yes Men! But who would want to pick on the Canadian government? (Presumably lots of people, because Canada does not want to do much about emissions at all, and they're trying to back out of Kyoto.)

New Pic: Tiger Woods' Wife Elin Spotted Without her Wedding Ring (ETonline - Breaking News)

and Families reportedly paid a visit to Tiger Woods' home, Submitted at 12/14/2009 8:56:00 AM according to a story on Radar ET has the latest... Online, but the sheriff's ET has just obtained this new d e p a r t m e n t r e l e a s e d t h e photo of Tiger Woods' wife Elin, following statement to ET in spotted in Florida over the regards to Radar's report: weekend pumping her own gas "On Friday afternoon the Orange while sporting a smile -- but not C o u n t y S h e r i f f ' s O f f i c e her wedding ring. responded to a call for assistance Also over the weekend, the from an investigator with the Florida Department of Children Department of Children and

Family Services. The deputy responding was to meet with the DCF investigator at the front entrance of the Isleworth community, located in the unincorporated area of west Orange County. The Orange County Sheriff's Office is not at liberty to discuss the reason for the visit, who was being contacted, nor the details of the complaint received by DCF. DCF

is the agency responsible for the visit and no report or documentation was generated by this office, any information regarding the case should be directed to them, it is a common occurrence for DCF to request assistance from a law enforcement agency."

Warm Up With the Roku and Netflix By ELLE.com (ELLE News Blog) Submitted at 12/14/2009 9:06:00 AM

It’s #&$*ing cold here in New York City, so this weekend I turned up the oven (no fireplace in my tiny apartment) and turned on the Roku, a small black box that connects to the TV and plays any Netflix movie in my Instant Queue wirelessly. (Without the box, you can still watch a huge collection of movies instantly, but in the glow of your laptop.) Other similar devices have come along— the Xbox 360, PS3, and Tivo HD can play Netflix movies instantly, and some LG HD TVs have the service built in— but the Roku’s price tag ($79) makes it a sweet accessory to my coldweather-fueled Netflix obsession. — Julie Vadnal, Assistant Editor Follow ELLE on Twitter. Become our Facebook fan!

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Nike, Tag Heuer continue sponsorship with Tiger Woods By ESPN.com news services (ESPN.com)

Kids These Days: Hopeless [Trendwatch] By Hamilton Nolan (Gawker)

prisons for kids because the prisons are too dangerous, for the criminals. Jesus. What about the children? A • Even South Dakota Indian cursory examination of the reservations, some of the poorest "news" reveals the chilling truth places in America, are now which we have all dreaded for so r i d d l e d w i t h j u v e n i l e long: There is no hope for you, gangs(surprise!). One kid quoted kids. Just do what you want. in the video accompanying this • Want to go to college? Why? story is in the Black Wall Street • The juvenile justice system in gang, which is a gang of dirtNew York is so fucked up, p o o r S o u t h D a k o t a N a t i v e a c c o r d i n g t o a n e w Americans, obviously. Jesus. report(surprise!), that "the state • Not to mention all these other agency overseeing the prisons crazy juvenile crimes! has asked New York's Family • " Kids Wonder: Did Dad Kill Court judges not to send youths Mom?" Jesus. to any [juvenile prisons] unless they are a significant risk to We blame this on role models public safety." Yes, the agency who are losers. that runs the prisons is begging [Pic via] courts not to send any kids to the Submitted at 12/14/2009 8:51:30 AM

checked out by Nike before signing a deal with him and, according to Knight, "he came Submitted at 12/14/2009 7:54:37 AM out clean." Tiger Woods Loses Sponsor Knight said companies cannot Tiger Woods Loses Sponsor get such background checks right Nike chairman and co-founder all the time and "there's always a Phil Knight said his company is r i s k . " H e a d d e d t h a t t h e standing by its relationship with company's relationship with its T i g e r W o o d s , a d a y a f t e r most famous client isn't going to Accenture decided to part ways change. with the embattled golfer. "I think he's been really great," Knight told SportsBusiness Knight said in the interview J o u r n a l t h a t t h e s c a n d a l published Monday. "When his surrounding Woods is "part of career is over, you'll look back on t h e g a m e " i n s i g n i n g these indiscretions as a minor endorsement deals with athletes. blip, but the media is making a Woods admitted to "infidelity" in big deal out of it right now." his marriage in a statement Meanwhile, Swiss watchmaker released Friday on his Web site. Tag Heuer said Monday it will Mike and Mike in the Morning continue its association with CNBC sports business reporter Woods. D a r r e n R o v e l l j o i n s M i k e Company spokeswoman Mariam Greenberg and Mike Golic to Sylla said the sponsorship is discuss Accenture publicly u n c h a n g e d b e c a u s e W o o d s severing ties with Tiger Woods remains the world's best golfer and what it means for Woods and and Tag Heuer does not care his other sponsors. about his private life. More Podcasts » "We will continue," Sylla told W o o d s ' b a c k g r o u n d w a s The Associated Press. "He's the

best in his domain. "We respect his performance in the sport," she said, adding that Woods' personal life is "not our business." Tag Heuer has been sponsoring Woods since 2002. Financial details of the agreement have not been announced. Tag Heuer's comment came a day after global consulting firm Accenture PLC became the first major sponsor to announce it was cutting ties with Woods. Accenture said Sunday the golfer is "no longer the right representative" after the "circumstances of the last two weeks." The move ends a six-year relationship during which the firm credited its "Go on, be a Tiger" campaign with boosting its image significantly. Information from Reuters and The Associated Press is included in this report. fivefilters.org featured article: Normalising the crime of the century by John Pilger

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NFL Diary: Chargers 20, Cowboys 17 (WSJ.com: The Daily Fix) Submitted at 12/13/2009 11:12:26 AM

Reuters The Chargers’ LaDainian Tomlinson (center) scores the only touchdown in the first half. The Journal provides minute-byminute analysis of the San Diego Chargers’ 20-17 victory over the Dallas Cowboys from Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas. Guest blogger Steve Kornacki offers commentary on the game and the CBS telecast. 2:15 pm | Pregame | by Steve Kornacki If youâre counterintuitive by nature, you have to like the Cowboysâ chances today. Dallas, as you might have heard, canât win in December âsomething they demonstrated yet again at the Meadowlands last week. The Chargers, meanwhile, are 10-0 in December since Norv Turner took over before the 2007 season â- and 15-0 if you throw in Marty Schottenheimerâs final campaign in 2006. Factor in San Diegoâs current seven-game winning streak and Tony Romoâs decision to start holding kicks again and the Chargers look like the cinch of the century as threeand-a-half-point underdogs. Then again, streaks were made to be broken. On paper, at least, this is an evenly matched game. Philip Rivers comes in with a slightly higher passer rating (104.9) than Tony Romo (96.3), but their stats are basically identical: Rivers has thrown one

more touchdown and one less pick than Romo on the season, while Romo has thrown for 14 more yards. Overall, the Cowboys ranks third in total offense, compared to 12th for the Chargers. (On defense, San Diego is 12th, two slots above Dallas.) Certain players, coaches and teams seem to be at their best when everyone expects the worst -â and at their worst when everyone expects the best. (See: Ron Zook at Florida, Gerry Faust at Notre Dame and Steve Lavin at UCLA.) The Cowboys have crumbled late in the season so many times now that another collapse this year is taken as a given. Maybe, just maybe, thatâs the perfect set-up for Coach Wadeâs team to put all the pieces

together and shut down the streaking Chargers today. 4:19 pm | Pregame | by Steve Kornacki As we approach kickoff, a quick look at what's at stake for both teams: It looks like the Broncos are about to lose to the Colts, so this isn't a must-win game for the Chargers; even if they lose, they'll still be a game up on Denver in the AFC West. Still, with Cincinnati falling to the Vikings, the Chargers can move into sole possession of second place in the AFC -- a slot that would guarantee them a firstround playoff bye -- with a win. Of course, they play the Bengals next week, so it wouldn't really matter that much. The Cowboys need this one

more. Right now, they're tied with Philadelphia atop the NFC East with an 8-4 mark. The Giants (who play the Eagles tonight) are one game back at 75. So Dallas really can't afford a loss -- especially with a game against the now 13-0 Saints looming next week. A win today would keep Dallas tied (at least) for the division lead. A loss would put them in jeopardy of missing the playoffs. 4:20 pm | First quarter, 0-0 | by Steve Kornacki Nate Kaeding manages to avoid hitting Jerry Jones' 14 trillionpound scorebaord with his opening kickoff, which Felix Jones runs back to the Cowboy 46. Makes Dallas' decision to receive the opening kick seem wise.

4:22 pm | First quarter, 0-0 | by Steve Kornacki The Cowboys are doing an excellent job of shooting themselves in the foot here -after quickly moving inside the Charger 40, two penalties (false start and illegal use of the hands) sets up a 2nd and 22 all the way back at their own 47. 4:25 pm | First quarter, 0-0 | by Steve Kornacki 4th and 4 from the Charger 35. Wade Phillips wants to go for it. The crowd agrees. First Big Play of the game and....Tony Romo hits Roy Williams for 19 yards. (In case you're wondering, no, that's not the same Roy Williams who kicked a fan out of a basketball game yesterday.) NFL page 62

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NFL continued from page 61

4:29 pm | First quarter, 3-0 Cowboys | by Steve Kornacki Cowboys forced to try a 31-yard field goal, which means it's time for the obligatory flashback footage of Romo's last effort at holding a kick, in the 2006 playoffs. CBS obliges, but Romo has no trouble setting the ball for Nick Folk, who bangs it in, and the Cowboys take a 3-0 lead. 4:32 pm | First quarter, 3-0 Cowboys | by Steve Kornacki It's still been 16 games since Dallas scored a touchdown on its first possession of a game, but that was still a very good start -the Cowboys ate up nearly seven minutes of clock, managed a key third-down conversion, and took the lead. Plus, they covered the ensuing kickoff well, jamming the Chargers inside their own 20. 4:37 pm | First quarter, 3-0 Cowboys | by Steve Kornacki A reminder of why San Diego has such a potent offense: LaDainian Tomlinson has carried the ball three times so far for just two yards. And yet the Chargers, in about three minutes time, have moved the ball 83 yards on three passes -- the last 38 courtesy of a trick play that ended with a passinterference call that set San Diego up inside the 5. 4:38 pm | First quarter, 7-3 Chargers | by Steve Kornacki And there's the touchdown -- a 1 -yard run for Tomlinson, who now has four carries for three yards (and six points). Kaeding tacks on the XP and it's 7-3 Chargers with 4:30 left in the quarter.

4:42 pm | First quarter, 7-3 Chargers | by Steve Kornacki Also, we didn't see Antonio Gates on that last drive. But we did see Kris Wilson, a littleusedÂ sixth-year tight end from Pitt,Â who made only his second reception of the year, for 21 yards. 4:43 pm | First quarter, 7-3 Chargers | by Steve Kornacki On first down, Brandon Siler sacks Romo back at the DallasÂ 10Â for a loss of 10 yards. And Romo barely avoids the safety on second down. Looks like we'll be seeing that Charger offense momentarily. 4:45 pm | First quarter, 7-3 Chargers | by Steve Kornacki Sproles fair catches the punt at his own 25. Chargers were probably expecting better field position after the first two plays of that last drive. 4:49 pm | First quarter, 7-3 Chargers | by Steve Kornacki Third and 8 for the Chargers. Excellent chance for the Cowboys to settle things down with a stop and get the ball back in good field position. Instead, Rivers finds Vincent Jackson for 33 yards. I thought Dallas was supposed to be a great firstquarter defensive team? 4:51 pm | First quarter, 7-3 Chargers | by Steve Kornacki Tomlinson carries for a yard on the last play of the first quarter. It'll be third and 3 from the CowboyÂ 33 to start the second. I'm guessing this is four-down territory for the Chargers. I knowÂ I'd like my chances with

that offense. 4:55 pm | Second quarter, 7-3 Chargers | by Steve Kornacki We'll see if Norv Turner agrees with me. Darren Sproles is stopped a half-yard short on third down. And Turner doesn't even blink; they're going for it. Fourth and short from just inside the 31. Nothing fancy: Rivers sneaks it for what looks like a first down -- except that he gets a bad spot, setting up a dramatic measurement. The verdict: First down by about an inch. 4:56 pm | Second quarter, 7-3 Chargers | by Steve Kornacki An encroachment call against Dallas. CBS cuts to Wade Phillips, who shakes his head slowly. That's called his December look, I think. 5:02 pm | Second quarter, 10-3 Chargers | by Steve Kornacki Chargers' fans might be a little frustrated with how that possession ended. After moving into the red zone, Turner got conservative and called two run plays -- one for Sproles and the other for Tomlinson. Result: a third andÂ 3 thatÂ wasn't too hard for Dallas to defend. NateÂ Kaeding hits the 29-yard field goal and it's 10-3 San Diego with 10:18 left in the half. Not a bad position to be in, obviously, but San DiegoÂ couldÂ be up more right now. 5:04 pm | Second quarter, 10-3 Chargers | by Steve Kornacki I wouldn't say Dallas needs to score on this drive. But a few first downs, to build some

confidence andÂ rest the defense, would be very helpful. 5:06 pm | Second quarter, 10-3 Chargers | by Steve Kornacki And there's a 12-yard run for Felix Jones on first down. Followed by another 12-yarder to the outside. Two plays, two first downs, and the Cowboys are in Charger territory now. 5:08 pm | Second quarter, 10-3 Chargers | by Steve Kornacki CBS informs us that Shawne Merriman is now on the sideline. But the Cowboys seem happy to keep it on the ground -- five straight runs now on this drive, which has reached the Charger 31. 5:10 pm | Second quarter, 10-3 Chargers | by Steve Kornacki And now Merriman seems to be back in the game. The cameras just caught Jason Witten seemingly holding him on a Tashard Choice running play. 5:14 pm | Second quarter, 10-3 Chargers | by Steve Kornacki A hands-to-the-face penalty against Shaun Phillips sets the Cowboys up inside the 5, but Marion Barber can't reach the end zone on three straight carries. Fourth and goal from inside the 1. Will Wade Phillips go for it? 5:16 pm | Second quarter, 10-3 Chargers | by Steve Kornacki He does. And it's another handoff to Barber, who loses ground. A goal-line stand for the Chargers! The boos rain down. I wonder if that one looked even worse in 3-D on the Cowboys Stadium big screen? 5:18 pm | Second quarter, 10-3

Chargers | by Steve Kornacki Rivers gets it at the 1-yard line and keeps it for a yard. We're at the two-minute warning. 10-3 Chargers. And worth remembering that they'll get the ball to start the second half. 5:21 pm | Second quarter, 10-3 Chargers | by Steve Kornacki Statistically, the Cowboys look like the stronger team so far. They've run more plays, gained more yards, and kept the ball for five minutes longer than the Chargers. But they're down by seven points. 5:23 pm | Second quarter, 10-3 Chargers | by Steve Kornacki Interception! Terence Newman picks off Rivers' third-and-9 pass. But that's giving him too much credit -- Rivers made a bad throw, falling backward and floating the pass. So far the Cowboys are having trouble taking advantage of the gift, though: It's third-and-7 from the Charger 25. 5:25 pm | Second quarter, 10-3 Chargers | by Steve Kornacki Romo had plenty of time on third down, but couldn't connect with Miles Austin. Dallas will have to settle for a disappointing 41-yard field goal. But wait....they won't even get that. Folk's kick goes wide to the left. Dallas gets nothing. Again. Still 10-3 Chargers. 42 seconds left in the half. I'm sure they'll be delighted to run the clock out and take that lead to the locker room. 5:27 pm | Second quarter, 10-3 NFL page 63

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Chargers | by Steve Kornacki Never mind that running out the clock business. They have three time-outs, and use one after Sproles carries for five on first down. San Diego is probably 30 yards from Kaeding field-goal range. 5:29 pm | Second quarter, 10-3 Chargers | by Steve Kornacki ...and there's about 20 of them, on a pass to Legedu Naanee. Chargers take timeout No. 2. 5:30 pm | Second quarter, 10-3 Chargers | by Steve Kornacki Rivers is taken down at the 50. It'll be third and long with 18 seconds left. Chargers burn their final timeout. It'll take about 15 yards here to get within fieldgoal range. But any pass will have to be near the sidelines, now that the Chargers can't stop the clock again. 5:35 pm | Halftime, 10-3 Chargers | by Steve Kornacki Pass goes incomplete and the Chargers punt. Romo takes a knee to kill the final four seconds and that's the half. The headline so far: Missed Opportunities Killing Cowboys. Jim Nantz just put it perfectly: "The Cowboys with three trips inside the Charger 25 -- and they come away with only a field goal." Chargers lead 10-3, and they'll get the ball to start the second half. If Rivers can drive them down for a touchdown, things could get ugly in King Jerry's castle. 5:48 pm | Third quarter, 10-3 Chargers | by Steve Kornacki And we're back. Chargers will

get it at their own 20 after a touchback. 5:50 pm | Third quarter, 10-3 Chargers | by Steve Kornacki Not a good start for the Dallas D. Rivers hits Tolbert for 11 yards on the first play of the drive, then a few plays later, finds Vincent Jackson to move the chains again. Chargers moving close to midfield now. 5:54 pm | Third quarter, 10-3 Chargers | by Steve Kornacki CBS keeps showing various Cowboy fans staring up at the big screen with their 3-D glasses. Do they know that if they take the glasses off and look at the actual field, it's also 3-D? 5:57 pm | Third quarter, 10-3 Chargers | by Steve Kornacki A huge break for Dallas -- Mike Jenkins is flagged for pass interference on Malcolm Floyd, a penalty that would have set the Chargers up near the Cowboy 10, Instead, the officials rule it an uncatchable ball and San Diego is forced to punt. The replay seems toÂ support the call. Romo will make his first appearance of the half, taking over from his own 5. If the first half is any guide, he'll have no trouble moving them down the field...until they make it to the red zone. 6:00 pm | Third quarter, 10-3 Chargers | by Steve Kornacki Woah. Romo is nearly picked off by Stephen Cooper on thirdand-6. Cowboys have to kick, and Sproles runs it back to his own 43. Pretty good field position for the Chargers. Even a

field goal would make it a twopossession game. 6:06 pm | Third quarter, 10-3 Chargers | by Steve Kornacki Big third-and-10 here for the Chargers from the Cowboy 44 -and Rivers' pass to Sproles is four yards short of the marker. Cowboy fans breathe a sigh of relief. It's still a one-possession game. But once again their team has a long field ahead of them. The Chargers' just downed the punt at the 1. 6:08 pm | Third quarter, 10-3 Chargers | by Steve Kornacki Jim Nantz mentioned this the last time Dallas had the ball: Romo hasn't completed a pass since the first quarter. The Cowboys' long, time-consuming drive (that ended with a goal-line stand) was fueled almost entirely by Marion Barber runs. For the game, Romo is 6 of 13 for 65 yards -- a 61.4 rating. It makes Rivers' otherwise pedestrian performance -- 14 of 24 for 158 yards and a pick -- look impressive. 6:10 pm | Third quarter, 10-3 Chargers | by Steve Kornacki Maybe the Cowboys are just done with trying to pass. Jones and Barber are alternating carries, and so far it's been good for two first downs on this possession. Oh, never mind -there's a nine-yard pass to Witten. 6:13 pm | Third quarter, 10-3 Chargers | by Steve Kornacki Wait, what's that strange, unfamiliar sound I'm hearing from my television? Oh yeah --

it's cheering Cowboy fans, suddenly on their feet after a 19yard pass to Miles Austin. Dallas is in San Diego territory now. 6:15 pm | Third quarter, 10-3 Chargers | by Steve Kornacki And now it's nothing but passing. A catch-and-run to Roy Williams brings the Cowboys inside the 10. Barber carries to the 1 on the next play. Back at the goal line. Can they finish the job this time?? 6:17 pm | Third quarter, 10-3 Chargers | by Steve Kornacki Uh-oh. Whistles before the snap. Yes, that's right: it's a false start. So much for being on the goal line. Now the Cowboys are six yards out on second down. A field goal wouldn't do much here; the Cowboys would still need a touchdown after it. 6:18 pm | Third quarter, 10-10 tie | by Steve Kornacki Touchdown! A perfect fake to Barber helps Romo find Austin in the back of the end zone. XP is good. We have a tie, 10-10. 6:21 pm | Fourth quarter, 10-10 tie | by Steve Kornacki Also, that touchdown was the last play of the third quarter. Sproles carries the ensuing kickoff out to the Charger 25. It hasn't been pretty, but this should be a fun fourth quarter. 6:25 pm | Fourth quarter, 10-10 tie | by Steve Kornacki I'm re-thinking that second quarter goal-line stand.Â The four straight runs to Barber may have been futile then, but it ensured that the Chargers were thinking run on that last

possession, freeing up Austin for the TD catch. So, in other words, Wade Phillips is a coaching genius. 6:26 pm | Fourth quarter, 10-10 tie | by Steve Kornacki Third-and-7 for the Chargers from midfield. Huge play coming up. But the Cowboys' DeMarcus Ware is down, so we're at a break now. 6:29 pm | Fourth quarter, 10-10 tie | by Steve Kornacki OK, this looks worse than I thought. Ware is still down and they're bringing a cart out now. It looks like his legs are still moving. 6:35 pm | Fourth quarter, 10-10 tie | by Steve Kornacki Ware isÂ on the stretcher now. One of the Cowboy players around him flashed a thumbs-up. Phil Simms says his arms were moving too. The emergency crew is now securing him in the cart. Play should resume momentarily. I won't even speculate on what exactly might have happened. The replay shows Ware running with his head down directly into a Charger player, then falling to the ground. 6:38 pm | Fourth quarter, 10-10 tie | by Steve Kornacki Now, here's that third-and-7 play. Actually, it'll be 3rd-and12. There's a false start on San Diego. The crowd hasn't been this loud all game. Ooohh...what a play! Rivers barely gets the pass off, but he hits Vincent Jackson, who has a step on the NFL page 66

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Colts Defense Preserves Record Win Streak (WSJ.com: The Daily Fix)

doses of Manning or the team’s other signature stars. Outside the realm of undefeated, With all due respect to the t h e M i n n e s o t a V i k i n g s equally undefeated, manifestly r e b o u n d e d f r o m a p r e t t y f u n - t o - w a t c h N e w O r l e a n s thorough thrashing at the hands Saints, Week 14 of the NFL of the Arizona Cardinals in Week s e a s o n b e l o n g e d t o t h e 13 to hand out a beating to the Indianapolis Colts. The Saints Cincinnati Bengals and improve reached 13-0 in a squeaker of a to a mere 11-2. In Sports win against Atlanta, but Indy’s Illustrated, Joe Posnanski argues 28-16 victory over the Denver that Minnesota’s ability to shrug B r o n c o s m a d e h i s t o r y . off the Arizona loss augurs well Indianapolis also ran its record to for the Vikings’ prospects down 13-0 and, unlike the Saints, the stretch. “It was a loss. They extended its regular-season got outplayed,” Posnanski writes. winning streak to an NFL-record “And it doesn’t mean anything 22 games. Associated Press How important. This is the way teams would Peyton Manning do if he used to feel about regular season had to face Tim Jennings and his losses. And this, it seems to me, teammates on the fierce Colts is still the healthiest way for defense? teams to feel about losses.” It’s easy, especially for those of It’s saying something that, on a us who benefited from it in Sunday that saw Denver receiver fantasy sports, to focus on Peyton Brandon Marshall set a singleManning’s four touchdown game NFL record with 21 passes in the Colts’ win. But that receptions, Philadelphia Eagles requires overlooking both receiver DeSean Jackson Manning’s three picks and the managed to deliver the week’s brilliant work of the Indianapolis best performance by a receiver. defense in ensuring that none of Jackson powered Philadelphia’s those interceptions turned into 45-38 victory over the New York game-losing mistakes. “The Colts Giants with a pair of long displayed the kind of defense a touchdowns, gaining 178 yards in team needs come January to get all and also returning a punt 72 through to the Super Bowl,” yards for a touchdown. “He was Yahoo’s Jason Cole writes. must-see TV, the guy people all “Especially when Manning over the country will be talking wasn’t playing particularly well a b o u t t h i s m o r n i n g , ” t h e Sunday.” In the Indianapolis Philadelphia Inquirer’s Phil Star, Bob Kravitz predicts that Sheridan writes. “On a night Sunday’s win is the last time when the Eagles defense was before the postseason that NFL utterly helpless, turning Eli fans will be getting full-game Manning’s 10-yard passes into Submitted at 12/14/2009 9:25:40 AM

pursue, by most accounts, a massively duplicitous lifestyle — A thirst for danger? Anger at decades of imprisonment inside the bubble of fame? A megacelebrity’s delusion of immunity from consequence? — was a powerful force, and will only be long touchdowns, Jackson was defeated by his powerful will in just too good to let the Eagles return,” Newport writes. “If he so chooses.” lose.” Another must-watch receiver has At Golf.com, Cameron Morfit been nearly invisible of late. writes that the scandal — call it Slumps beset every player, but L’Affaire(s) Tiger — is just when the receiver is Randy another way an over-exalted Moss, the accusations that he has sport is coming back to earth. quit on his team are quick to “Golf has come down from on follow. At CBS Sports, Ray high because there is money in it, Ratto tackles the affair with his long term,” Morfit writes. “It’s why golf has followed football’s characteristic wryness.* * * Tiger Woods announced on lead: The Tour condensed its Friday that he will be taking an schedule in 2007 in part because indefinite hiatus from golf in the country’s most popular order to piece back together his league, the NFL, has an enviably family life, super-tarnished brand finite, clearly delineated season. and what’s left of his self-respect. And it’s why golf has aped auto It looks like the right thing to do racing: The Tour remade its end for any number of reasons, but game to resemble Nascar’s All of that doesn’t make the prospect of the above moves have helped a Tiger-free PGA Tour any easier golf shake its insular, imperious to imagine. It may have been rep. Even Tiger’s embarrassing predictable that Woods would get missteps have helped, in their dropped by some sponsors and own sad, bizarre way.” In the t h a t h e ’ d p r o v i d e h e a v i l y New York Times, Larry Dorman qualified non-explanations. But warns of lower TV ratings for a the Journal’s John Paul Newport Tiger-less tour.* * * gets at what remains so defiantly College-hoops upset season is odd about this whole sad affair: already upon us, as a pair of how the unknowable thing that unranked, crosstown rivals made Woods so great relates (or knocked off more highly touted doesn’t) to his not-so-great programs this weekend. On decision-making off the golf Sunday, Temple scored an impressive 65-55 win over thirdcourse. “Whatever drove Mr. Woods to ranked Villanova. The two

schools share a long-running rivalry as part of Philadelphia’s storied Big Five scene, but Temple’s upset was made in Argentina. Temple’s Argentine guard Juan Fernandez ripped ‘Nova for 33 points in the win, and went 7-for-10 from threepoint range. “The Wildcats were undone by a kid who couldn’t possibly understand the magnitude of the Big 5,” ESPN’s Dana O’Neil writes. “Fernandez came to Temple last December, following in the footsteps of his Argentinean hero Pepe Sanchez to enroll there. The Big 5? When I sat down with him this summer for a story, he was still trying to get his arms around the bright lights and show that is American college basketball, his studies and the English language.” As awesome as Fernandez’s fireworks were, Xavier’s 83-79 win over No. 19 Cincinnati contained more action — thanks to two tense overtimes, 12 ties, nine lead changes and a pair of near-brawls. “The drama of this rivalry was gone, some said. The intensity was supposed to be as stale as old chili,” Cnati.com’s Paul Dehner Jr. writes. “It only took one half to remind everyone why this is classified as one of the great rivalries in all of college basketball. Then it added two overtimes to ensure nobody would forget it.”* * * After several super-tempestuous COLTS page 69

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Tom Brady defends Randy Moss, deflects criticism of effort By ESPNBoston.com (ESPN.com) Submitted at 12/14/2009 9:33:46 AM

Reiss' Take On Moss Reiss' Take On Moss A day after New England Patriots wide receiver Randy Moss' effort was questioned by Carolina Panthers defensive backs, quarterback Tom Brady rushed to his defense, deflecting the criticism by calling Moss one of his "favorite guys I've ever played with" and saying it's not easy when teams center their defensive game plan around stopping an individual like Moss. Moss Gathering ... Moss? Perhaps some of Randy Moss' frustration has come from a reduced role in the Patriots' offense. Breaking down Moss' games this season (by comparison, Wes Welker was targeted 36 times in the last three games): "He's one of the top receivers in the league right now," Brady said in an interview on Boston sports radio station WEEI on Monday morning. "He is up there in yards and catches and touchdowns. Every game plan that the defense comes up with is trying to stop Randy Moss. ... It's not like they don't have respect for him when their game plan is built around stopping him." Brady expanded on that thought later in the interview: "When guys play Randy, they want to show everyone what they can do. I guess they came out of

the game pretty confident. Randy is one of the best players in the history of the NFL. When it doesn't go perfect out there, everyone wants to jump on Randy. It's all of us, and we all have to do a better job." Brady also took a jab at Carolina defensive back Chris Gamble, who after Sunday's game said Moss gave up on a lot of plays. "Everyone takes liberty to say whatever they want to say in a situation like [Sunday]," Brady told WEEI. "I've seen plenty of plays made on Chris Gamble, too, over the course of the season." In distinct Bill Belichick style, the Patriots coach also defended Moss on Monday when asked about critical comments made by the Panthers. "My response would be that's a lot of conversation coming from a team that lost another game," Belichick said. A few minutes later in his press conference, Belichick added another dig. "I have a lot of respect for Randy, I think he's one of our best players and I think if you watch other teams defend him and watch other teams play against him, they think the same way -- other than these two guys from Carolina after they lost another game. I guess they don't think that way. They haven't won a lot of games now." Moss had just one catch for 16 yards in Sunday's 20-10 Patriots victory over the Panthers, losing

a fumble, dropping another ball and having a false start penalty called against him. Some also questioned whether Brady's firstquarter interception was a result of Moss not completing a route. According to numbers compiled by ESPN's stats and information department, eight of Brady's 11 interceptions this season have come on passes intended for Moss. “ When guys play Randy, they want to show everyone what they can do. I guess they came out of the game pretty confident. Randy is one of the best players in the history of the NFL. When it doesn't go perfect out there, everyone wants to jump on Randy. It's all of us, and we all have to do a better job.”-- Tom Brady, defending Randy Moss in a radio interview Brady took the blame for the interception on Monday. "You throw it to a place where you think the guy is going to be," Brady said, "and Randy saw something, and he went to the place where he thought the ball was going to be. I don't think you blame Randy on that. I'm the ultimate one responsible with the football. I hate games where I throw interceptions, especially against a team like that, a turnover-driven team." After Sunday's game, Gamble told The Boston Globe that "we knew [Moss] was going to shut it down. That's what we wanted him to do. That's what we did ...

He'd just give up a lot. Slow down, he's not going deep, not trying to run a route. You can tell, his body language." Carolina defensive back Chris Harris also told the Globe: "I don't want to say [Moss] quits, but he kind of doesn't run the routes the way they're supposed to be run. If you get a jam on him, he'll just ease up. He had the one catch, and he fumbled. ... We stayed on top of him. We were not gonna let him catch a deep pass. That's his game. If he can't get it going, he gets out of sync." After the game, Brady acknowledged Moss was frustrated. "He was frustrated in himself and the situation and it's just something you have to fight through," Brady said. "He keeps fighting through it and you have those days where it's not all great, but you keep lining up and you keep going up. You've just got to keep fighting." Based on his track record, some have wondered if Moss will do just that. While signs pointed to Moss heading in a different direction at times Sunday, Patriots running back Kevin Faulk passionately defended him, saying he has no doubt that Moss is giving his all. Mike and Mike in the Morning ESPN NFL analyst Cris Carter says he was shocked by the pathetic performance of Patriots WR Randy Moss against the Panthers. Carter says he doesn't know if being sent home for

being late to practice this week affected Moss, but something did. More Podcasts » "Randy, as a person, is doing what he has to do to help this team win," he told ESPNBoston.com. "He knows what he has to do as a football player for this football team and he is doing it. Nobody in this organization is complaining about what he's doing." Moss skipped out of the locker room without addressing reporters Sunday, deciding to let his play do the talking for him. It didn't always look good on the field. Or on the sidelines for that matter, such as when Brady came over to offer encouragement and Moss kept staring ahead. "I know when we don't make good plays, when I throw interceptions or there are dropped passes and fumbles, I'm always trying to go over and pump the other guy up," Brady said Monday. "It's easy to get down on yourself, and it's always important to go back out there and keep battling, too. We did that definitely at times [Sunday]. Randy has definitely done that over the course of his career. He has to, because it doesn't always go right. We didn't certainly play our best game on offense, but we won and that's what is most important." Gamble described Moss as a sneaky player, because at times it TOM page 69

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Cowboy defenders, for 39 yards to get near the 15. That'll quiet Cowboys Stadium. 6:39 pm | Fourth quarter, 17-10 Chargers | by Steve Kornacki And it gets even quieter as Rivers finds Gates for a 14-yard touchdown on the next play. Kaeding's XP is good, and the Chargers take a 17-10 lead with 10:56 to go. 6:41 pm | Fourth quarter, 17-10 Chargers | by Steve Kornacki And once again the Cowboys will start with awful field position, as Felix Jones' kickoff return is stopped at the Dallas 13. 6:48 pm | Fourth quarter, 17-10 Chargers | by Steve Kornacki Fumble! Jones drops the ball on a first-down carry, but is able to scoop it up. Big break for Dallas. 6:48 pm | Fourth quarter, 17-10 Chargers | by Steve Kornacki A near-interception on second down sets up third-and-15. Romo's pass to Williams is low. Cowboys are forced to punt. Chargers will get it at their own 11 with 9:13 to go. Dallas can't afford to give up many first down here -- not so much because of the time, but because of field position. If they can force a three -and-out here, they could get the ball near midfield. 6:50 pm | Fourth quarter, 17-10 Chargers | by Steve Kornacki LT takes it for 11 yards and a first down, giving the Chargers some badly-needed breathing room. 7:38 to go now. Timeout San Diego. 6:53 pm | Fourth quarter, 17-10 Chargers | by Steve Kornacki

Exactly what Dallas had to avoid: On second-and-long, Rivers finds Jackson for a big 21 -yard catch. The ball is near midfield now, and the clock is ticking. 6:55 pm | Fourth quarter, 17-10 Chargers | by Steve Kornacki The Cowboys' defense is intent on taking the fun out of these final minutes. There's yet another first down, this time courtesy of a Tomlinson run. First down for the Chargers at the Dallas 43. Inside of five minutes now. Even if the Cowboys force a punt now, they'll probably be pinned deep in their own territory without much time left. 6:57 pm | Fourth quarter, 17-10 Chargers | by Steve Kornacki But now we're talking field-goal range. A quick pass to Tolbert, the fullback, gives San Diego a first down at the 33. They call another timeout -- just 3:39 to go now. From here, it would be a 50 -yard kick. 6:59 pm | Fourth quarter, 17-10 Chargers | by Steve Kornacki Dallas takes a timeout with 2:53 to go. It'll be third-and-2 from the 25. Even if Dallas can somehow stop the Chargers here (and it's doubtful they will, the way this drive has gone), the field goal is looking more and more like a gimme. 7:00 pm | Fourth quarter, 17-10 Chargers | by Steve Kornacki Rivers to Gates. First down. It's not officially over yet. The Cowboys still have two timeouts, plus the two-minute

warning. But from here, it would be a 32-yard kick. Barring a fluke turnover, the Chargers are going to be 10-3 -- and the Cowboys are going to spend the next week hearing all about their December Curse. 7:05 pm | Fourth quarter, 17-10 Chargers | by Steve Kornacki It will be a 33-yard field-goal attempt. But first, there'll be a break for the two-minute warning. If Kaeding can make the kick, it's over. Cowboys fans are hoping the Kaeding who choked against the Jets in the 2004-05 playoffs suddenly takes the field. 7:06 pm | Fourth quarter, 20-10 Chargers | by Steve Kornacki The kick is good. It's 20-10 Chargers with 1:56 left. Dallas has no timeouts. CBS shows Jerry Jones throwing his pen down in disgust. 7:09 pm | Fourth quarter, 20-10 Chargers | by Steve Kornacki Two completions here for the Cowboys, but both inbounds. Clock moves inside of a minute. Finally, Barber gets out of bounds around the Dallas 45, stopping the clock with 57 seconds to go. 7:12 pm | Fourth quarter, 20-10 Chargers | by Steve Kornacki Tick, tick, tick. A catch-and-run to Barber brings the Cowboys to the San Diego 40. But he can't get out. Next play is another completed pass, this time to the 18. Clock is at 26 seconds. Dallas elects not to kick the field goal. Instead, Romo hits Austin...in the middle of the field! They're at

the 5-yard-line, but the clock is down to seven seconds. Not tht they really had a chance here, but Dallas has managed the clock horribly here. 7:14 pm | Fourth quarter, 20-17 Chargers | by Steve Kornacki Romo finds Patrick Crayton for a touchdown with two seconds left. What's the point? Even if they get the onside kick, there won't be any time left. That's why you don't throw in the middle of the field when you have no timeouts left!! 20-17 now. 7:16 pm | Fourth quarter, 20-17 Chargers | by Steve Kornacki Chargers recover the onside kick. Hometown scoreboard operator dutifully leaves a second on the clock. Rest assured, the clock would have run out on that kick in San Diego. 7:17 pm | Final, 20-17 Chargers | by Steve Kornacki It's official. Norv and Wade shake hands. 20-17 is the final. 7:31 pm 7:32 pm | Postgame | by Steve Kornacki One of the worst things about growing up in the Boston area was hearing -- over and over -about The Curse of the Bambino. I never believed in it and I tried, almost always in vain, to convince others not to take it too seriously. But no matter how much I carried on, I knew that the only way I'd ever hear the end of it would be for the Red Sox to just win the World Series -something that didn't finally

happen until I was 25 years old. It's sort of the same in Dallas, I guess. There really is no December Curse for the Cowboys, but until they start winning games in the final month of the year, it's all anyone will talk about. With their 20-17 loss today, the Cowboys dropped to 0 -2 in December this year -- a record that is all but certain to get worse next week when they play the 13-0 Saints. If the Eagles beat the Giants tonight, they will overtake the Cowboys for sole possession of the lead in the NFC East. If the Giants win, it will be a three-way tie. Either way, Dallas' playoff hopes -- once again -- are fading as the year wnds down. This won't be a fun week to be Wade Phillips. The Chargers, meanwhile, look like an elite team. They've now won eight straight. Offensively, they are similar to the Saints -- a deep corps of receivers and multiple threats in the backfield. And a quarterback who's not half -bad either. With a win over Cincinnati next week, the Chargers would essentially lock up the second slot in the AFC playoffs -- meaning they'd get a first-round bye and a home game in the semifinals. A date with the Colts for a trip to the Super Bowl is looking more and more likely by the week. And won't that be fun?

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Denver Broncos receiver Brandon Marshall sets NFL mark with 21 catches in loss to Indianapolis Colts By Associated Press (ESPN.com)

against San Diego. Doubling-up Brandon Marshall is the only Submitted at 12/14/2009 9:41:11 AM person in NFL history with 18 or Record Day For Brandon more receptions in one game M a r s h a l l R e c o r d D a y F o r twice. B r a n d o n M a r s h a l l V I D E O He tied Owens' mark on a 5-yard PLAYLIST touchdown pass from Kyle Orton • Record Day For Brandon in the fourth quarter. He set the Marshall Record Day For record on Denver's final Brandon Marshall offensive play when he gained 7 • Marshall Sets Single-Game yards on a fourth-down play Catch Record Marshall Sets before lateraling to lineman Chris Single-Game Catch Record Kuper for 7 more yards. Marshall felt good about his INDIANAPOLIS -- Brandon chances for success against the Marshall didn't enjoy his single- Colts. game receptions record much. "I went to my receiving coach That's because his 21 grabs came [Adam Gase] before the game i n D e n v e r ' s 2 8 - 1 6 l o s s t o and I told him, 'I think this is Indianapolis on Sunday. going to be the best game I've "I believe it was one of those ever played,'" Marshall said. games where, whenever you "Just because of the environment, accomplish something like that, it the situation of playing the Colts. definitely feels good," he said. I believe big players step up in "But we have goals, and our only big games, and this was a big g o a l i s t o w i n g a m e s . I ' d game for us." definitely trade in a couple of Marshall had 10 catches at those catches for a win." halftime and 15 at the end of the Marshall surpassed the mark San third quarter. He was told he was Francisco's Terrell Owens set on nearing the record. Dec. 17, 2000. He finished with "Someone came up to me and 200 yards and two touchdowns said I was close, but I didn't have and bettered his team record of an idea of where I was," he said. 18 catches, set on Sept. 14, 2008 Colts ornerback Kelvin Hayden

gave Marshall his due. "He's one of those elite receivers," Hayden said. "He's 64. You've got to play him aggressive and play your game. You can't get caught up into what he's doing and things like that. You just have to be effective at doing what you're doing and the chips will fall your way eventually. "You know he's going to make his plays, but you have to make your plays as well." Orton completed 29 of 41 passes for 277 yards, two touchdowns and an interception. He targeted Marshall 28 times, despite heavy coverage. "He got a lot of attention for sure, but he's such a special player where he can beat them over the top," Orton said. "They weren't taking him away all that often, so we just kept on going." AFC West blog ESPN.com's Bill Williamson writes about all things AFC West in his division blog. • Blog network: NFL Nation One play Marshall didn't make came on a third-and-6 at the Colts 20 in the third quarter. Orton underthrew Marshall and Tim Jennings intercepted near the

goal line, allowing the Colts to maintain their 21-7 lead. "On the one interception, I'd throw it again," Orton said. "It's one-on-one coverage out there. You give me that matchup, and I'll take it 100 times out of 100 times." As good as Marshall's effort was, the rest of the team had eight catches for 77 yards, which had much to do with Denver's loss. "When you lose, you lose," Broncos coach Josh McDaniels said. "There's no moral victories in this league. We understand where we want to go. We just got a really close-up look of it for four quarters." Colts linebacker Clint Session seemed a bit shocked when told how much damage Marshall inflicted. "He got 21 catches today?" Session asked. "That's a good tribute to that guy. We knew he was going to be a tough task to cover coming into this game. He got his, but they lost." Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press fivefilters.org featured article: Normalising the crime of the century by John Pilger

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Street Chic: New York By ELLE.com (ELLE News Blog) Submitted at 12/14/2009 4:00:00 AM

She's pretty in a pink, perfectly polished jacket. . Photo: Stylesight Think you are Street Chic? Email us your photo and you could appear in ELLE.com's Street Chic Daily. Follow ELLE on Twitter. Become our Facebook fan!

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Dallas Cowboys OLB DeMarcus Ware carted off field with neck sprain

MediaDailyNews: Accenture Cuts Woods From Ads

By Calvin Watkins (ESPN.com)

(MediaPost | Media News)

Submitted at 12/14/2009 9:49:33 AM

Ware Will Miss At Least One Game Ware Will Miss At Least One Game ARLINGTON, Texas -- Dallas Cowboys outside linebacker DeMarcus Ware was carted off the field after his head hit the hip of San Diego Chargers right tackle Brandyn Dombrowski on Sunday. Ware suffered a sprained neck and was taken to a local hospital for X-rays as a precaution. He was alert and had feeling in all his extremities. The linebacker had tissue damage but nothing structural. "Initially, it looks like right at the base that he has a sprain," Cowboys owner Jerry Jones said. "I don't want to get into medicine. Obviously I'm not qualified, but we feel very good about everything was moving. Everything was going. It was just by the nature of where it was. The doctors felt good. He's at the hospital right now." Later Sunday, Ware was released from the hospital and is expected to miss two weeks,

sources close to the situation told ESPNDallas.com. The Cowboys (8-5), who fell out of the NFC East lead when Philadelphia beat the Giants late Sunday, play at 13 -0 New Orleans on Saturday night and visit Washington on Dec. 27. Ware spent Sunday night icing his neck at home and had significant soreness and swelling, one source said. Ware was rushing Chargers quarterback Philip Rivers with 11:28 to play in the fourth quarter when his head smashed into Dombrowski's left hip. Ware's wife, Taniqua, rushed down to the field with several family members. The linebacker was moving his arms and legs before doctors and trainers came onto the field to get him. Trainers removed Ware's face mask before lifting him onto a cart. More on the Cowboys Calvin Watkins and Tim MacMahon have the Cowboys blanketed for ESPNDallas.com. Check in with their constantly updated coverage. Blog "The good thing is we saw him moving. Definitely from that

indication, things weren't going to be too bad," said teammate Terence Newman, who spoke to Ware while he was being loaded on the cart. "But the fact you're taken off on a stretcher, you're still always nervous." As Ware was being wheeled into the tunnel with associate trainer Britt Brown, he waved both his hands and wiggled his feet. He also gave a thumbs-up and made a motion with his fingers to look like a W. "Nobody really wants to get hurt. We talked at one point and he was telling me to tell his [teammates] when I got in [the locker room] that he was all right," Cowboys inside linebacker Bradie James said. "But we saw him moving. Anytime that you have a neck issues, or something happens to your neck, it just really lets you know how precious life is." Ware leads the Cowboys with nine sacks and 35 quarterback pressures coming into the game. "We all love DeMarcus and obviously he's an incredible player," Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo said. "But more important to all of us, he's a great guy and he's a joy to be around.

Rain or shine he has a smile on his face and he's always lifting everybody's spirit. We'll be praying for him." In October, Ware agreed to a $78 million, six-year contract extension through the 2015 season that included a $20 million signing bonus. The 27year-old Ware was in the final year of the contract he signed after being the 11th overall pick in the 2005 draft. The Cowboys drafted Ware over Shawne Merriman, who was taken the next pick by the Chargers. The two standout defenders have been linked ever since. They keep in contact with each other, consider each other friends, and were playing in the same regular-season game for the first time. "I told him I'd call and check up on him," Merriman said. "It sounds like he's in good shape. I think it was just precautionary." Ware was replaced by Victor Butler. ESPNDallas.com's Tim MacMahon and The Associated Press contributed to this story. fivefilters.org featured article: Normalising the crime of the century by John Pilger

Submitted at 12/14/2009 7:41:28 AM

For six years, global consulting firm Accenture PLC featured Tiger Woods in ads designed to highlight the company's integrity and high performance. All that ended Sunday; the first major sponsor to cut Woods from the ad green, reports AP. The campaign's cut line: "Go on, be a Tiger." A new campaign is planned for next year; the ad firm is Young & Rubicam. fivefilters.org featured article: Normalising the crime of the century by John Pilger

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seasons, the New York Knicks are more or less past the point of surprising anyone anymore. But the franchise reached back and delivered a stunner over the weekend by announcing the signing of former lottery pick Jonathan Bender. The sweetshooting seven-footer played just 28 games over his last three seasons with the Pacers before injuries finally forced him from the NBA in 2006, and he is now attempting an out-of-nowhere NBA return at age 29. In a Knicks season that’s already circling the drain, Bender’s comeback at the very least provides an interesting storyline. “If healthy, Bender fits well into Mike D’Antoni’s system. He’s long, versatile and can spread the floor with his shooting,” Frank Isola writes in the New York Daily News. “Think Danilo Gallinari with two bad knees and that’s Bender.” At the minor-league hoops blog

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Ridiculous Upside, Scott Schroeder can’t fathom why the Knicks went with a surpassingly rusty 29-year-old instead of a DLeague call-up.* * * For most who followed it, 17year-old Zac Sunderland’s solo circumnavigation of the globe aboard the 36-foot Intrepid provoked simple, gobsmacked awe. From his 16-year-old sister Abby, it elicited a different response — part inspiration, part sibling rivalry. In the Los Angeles Times, Pete Thomas details the younger Sunderland’s even more ambitious sailing goal. Abby Sunderland plans to become the youngest person to sail around the world alone and unassisted, and departs later this month. “She’ll carry all provisions — including freeze-dried food and a water desalination device — and cannot make landfall or accept assistance, beyond advice, once she’s underway,” Thomas writes.

“Whereas Zac traveled in higher latitudes in mostly warm climates, Abby will venture offshore and sail down the Pacific, round South America and treacherous Cape Horn, then continue east below the populated continents in the windswept and turbulent Southern Ocean — a direct but dangerous route around the world.” To his credit, Thomas gets both the “amazing adventure” and “who lets a 16-year-old sail solo around Cape Horn?” angles into his story. 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 David at droth11@gmail.com.

might look like he's not giving a top effort, attempting to lull a cornerback into thinking he isn't part of the play before suddenly shifting into top gear. Yet Gamble said there was little deception with Moss on Sunday. Instead, he was telegraphing the Patriots' offensive intentions. "Some of his body language let me know it was a run, and that's how I got a feel on when to help out on the run," he told ESPNBoston.com. "I think if he came off the ball and had a little Wes Welker in him, you wouldn't know what was coming. That's what I think Moss needs to do -be like Wes and go hard every play. I'm going to respect him, and every other [defensive back] is going to respect him if he comes off the ball hard." During Monday's radio interview, Brady also discussed the mood in the Patriots' locker room last week, after the team had lost two straight and four players, including Moss, were disciplined for being late to a Wednesday meeting.

"I think from everybody there's frustration when you lose," Brady said. "There's one thing that's going to make us all feel better and one thing only and that's to win. There's no sense of well being when you lose games, it's pretty much as simple as that. "It'll be a much better feeling in Foxborough this week. I can actually turn the TV on this week. A week like last week, it's so frustrating because everyone wants to think back on the [last] game ... but you're trying to move forward ... you still obviously have that disappointment from the week before, but you've got to move forward with what's ahead." ESPNBoston.com Patriots reporter Mike Reiss contributed to this report. fivefilters.org featured article: Normalising the crime of the century by John Pilger

Eagles top Giants 45-38 to take over NFC East By Associated Press (ESPN.com)

886 total yards, which is fifth most in the NFL this season. • DeSean Jackson had 178 yards Submitted at 12/14/2009 6:05:01 AM receiving and a touchdown and a Fast Facts 72-yard punt return for a score. • The 83 total points are the most Jackson has scored eight TDs of in the Eagles-Giants rivalry, 50 yards or more this season, breaking the previous record of which tied the NFL record. 81 from Nov. 22, 1992. • Donovan McNabb threw for • The two teams combined for 275 yards, two TDs and an

interception. He improved to 108 against the Giants in the regular season with 25 TDs and six interceptions. • The Eagles are 5-1 against the NFC East this season and 15-5 against the NFC East in December since 2000. The Giants have lost four straight against the Eagles.

• Steve Smith had seven receptions to give him 85 on the season and break the team record for most receptions in a single season, a mark previously held by Amani Toomer (82 rec. in 2002). • Michael Vick scored consecutive rushing touchdowns for the first time since November

2002. • Bloggers' wrapups • Rapid reaction -- ESPN Stats & Information fivefilters.org featured article: Normalising the crime of the century by John Pilger

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Fantasy Football Wrap: Cowboys Sinking and Marshall Law Chargers Soaring? Must Be December By Matt Snyder (Fanhouse Main) Submitted at 12/13/2009 12:00:00 PM

Filed under: Sunday Wrap-Up, NFL Value Machine Sunday Evening Wrap checks out players who increased or decreased their value during the Sunday afternoon games. Riser of the Week: It's pretty evident the only person Kyle Orton trusts in his offense is Brandon Marshall. Orton found Marshall 21 times (to set an NFL record in single-game receptions) for 200 yards and a pair of touchdowns. Orton only completed eight other passes all game and many of his incomplete passes were directed (read: forced) in Marshall's direction. Orton attempted 41 passes and targeted Marshall a whopping 28 times. I'm honestly not sure I've ever seen a quarterback so locked on one particular receiver.

MediaDailyNews: Mindshare Wins Skyy Spirits (MediaPost | Media News) Submitted at 12/14/2009 9:08:27 AM

By Nancy Gay (Fanhouse Main)

Mindshare North America has been awarded media planning, implementation and digital Submitted at 12/13/2009 2:30:00 PM responsibilities for Skyy Spirits Filed under: Chargers, Cowboys, brands, a Gruppo Campari AFC West, NFC East, NFL subsidiary. The assignment will Coaching, NFL Analysis be handled by the agency's Los ARLINGTON, Texas -- There Angeles office. Gruppo Campari was no point asking Dallas coach already collaborates with Wade Phillips what he thinks Mindshare in some of its key about the Cowboys' latest trading territories, such as Italy, The Broncos face the Raiders December swoon. Germany and Switzerland. next week, which means Nnamdi The San Diego Chargers came fivefilters.org featured article: Asomugha, but Marshall had five away from Cowboys Stadium on Week 15 trip to New Orleans to Normalising the crime of the catches for 67 yards and a Sunday with a 20-17 victory, face the undefeated Saints, century by John Pilger touchdown last time against leaving the staggering home team followed by NFC East battles at Oakland. Plus, he's in a much with consecutive losses. And that the Redskins and against the better groove now. He was means that Cowboys owner Jerry Eagles at home. "But there's no superb both before and after the Jones was the only Dallas voice doubt in my mind when we step catch Sunday, so there's that mattered in the aftermath. out here [in practice], we'll have absolutely no reason to even "This is a bitter pill to swallow a good week. And we'll be down think about sitting him next here at home," said Jones, whose there competing to play." week. Marshall is a WR1 again. 8-5 team finds itself fighting for a postseason pulse yet again, with a

Now's Not the Time for Colts to Go Easy By Greg Couch (Fanhouse Main)

postseason, we can finally get those perfect 1972 Dolphins to shut up. And ... Submitted at 12/13/2009 1:00:00 PM What's that? Three more regularFiled under: Broncos, Colts, season games? No, that can't be. NFL Analysis INDIANAPOLIS - The Colts are shutting down. - They did it! Perfection. The Owner Jim Irsay himself told me Colts beat the Broncos 28-16 that the most important thing is to Sunday to finish the regular be healthy for that first playoff 2005 and 2007 and then lost their season a perfect 13-0. And now, game. first playoff game. In 2006, they i f t h e y r o l l t h r o u g h t h e They tried shutting down in late

were forced to fight to the end, and then won the Super Bowl. What about that? "What you have to be careful in doing is sometimes you try to use logic and perception," Irsay said, "and you have to be careful that you come up with misperceptions."

Despite What They Say, Saints Want It All By Terence Moore (Fanhouse Filed DESPITE under: Atlanta page 71Falcons, Main) Saints, NFL Analysis

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ATLANTA -- It was a lie from the start. Yes, the New Orleans Saints are obsessed with trying to go undefeated. No, they won't say it, because they can't say it. None of that matters, though. The truth is everywhere. And the truth? The Saints wish to win every game in 2009. After that, they plan to continue their streak through February 7 of next year -- you know, in Miami , where the NFL will play its final game of the season. Even so, the Saints kept

perpetuating their lie last week, and that was despite Robert Meachem becoming the latest New Orleans player to show that this is one of those teams of destiny. The No. 3 wide receiver turned a Washington Redskins interception into a Saints touchdown with a miracle you really had to see to believe.

Preview: Heavy Rain's first full chapter By Andrew Yoon (Joystiq)

playing Heavy Rain, the first question that generally pops up is, "Is it anything but a series of While Heavy Rain attempts to Q u i c k - T i m e E v e n t s ? " T h e welcome both serious and more problem with that question is that casual players, it's clear that it inherently assumes that a QTE many will find the unique necessitates a lack of player controls and the story's slow burn control. While it's true that the a bit too jarring, unconventional, majority of player input is done and even boring. Sony has via on-screen indicators, to a l r e a d y r e l e a s e d s o m u c h simply call them quick-time (arguably too much) footage of events is a bit derogatory, Quantic Dream's adventure, and ignoring the innovations that chances are that you've already developer Quantic Dream has passed judgment on the title. made. Not all actions require Perhaps more than any other players to press buttons as game before it, Heavy Rain quickly as they see them. In fact, hopes that you want to like the most of the commands involve a experience. Why? It is -- at its very deliberate pace: you may core -- a role-playing game. need to move the analog stick When people find out I've been slowly, or hold down two buttons Submitted at 12/14/2009 1:00:00 PM

while transitioning to a third. Some inputs use the PS3's builtin motion controls, while others will use a combination of various inputs. There are many ways of interfacing with the controller,

with each QTE trying to simulate its corresponding, real-world action. However, variety is not Heavy Rain's greatest innovation. Perhaps the most difficult aspect

of the game to explain is its integration of inaction. You are oftengiven the opportunity to do nothing -- and counter to your intuition, that can be the most satisfying option to pursue. Gallery: Heavy Rain: The Origami Killer Continue reading Preview: Heavy Rain's first full chapter Preview: Heavy Rain's first full chapter originally appeared on Joystiq on Mon, 14 Dec 2009 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink| Email this| Comments

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Army of Two: The 40th Day demo coming in less than 40 days By Griffin McElroy (Joystiq)

eye out for the strange interaction between the game's two beefy protagonists. What is that? It's Actually, according to the EA like ... the future of fist-bumping press release we just received, the technology. The forearm-bump. demo for Army of Two: The 40th More subtle, yet still triumphant. D a y w i l l b e r e l e a s e d i n Less aggressive, but still dripping significantly less than 40 days. with bravado. An alternative It'll arrive on the PSN and Xbox m a n l y s a l u t a t i o n o r Live Marketplace on December c o n g r a t u l a t i o n f o r t h e 17, and the PSP demo will drop gentleman's mercenary. Study the on January 7 (January 14 in technique, friends. This thing's Europe). The preview will allow gonna catch on like wildfire. players to get a sneak peek at Army of Two: The 40th Day most of the game's first level, demo coming in less than 40 which takes place in Shanghai -- days originally appeared on but you know what? None of that Joystiq on Mon, 14 Dec 2009 is important. What is important is 12:30:00 EST. Please see our seen in the trailer for the demo, terms for use of feeds. which we've posted above. Read| Permalink| Email this| Now, jump to a little bit before Comments the halfway mark, and keep an Submitted at 12/14/2009 12:30:00 PM

Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands fills in gaps before Warrior Within; new details revealed in developer interview By James Ransom-Wiley (Joystiq)

of Time game and its sequel, Warrior Within. Clearly, Ubisoft has positioned Submitted at 12/14/2009 12:00:00 PM the next game to piggyback on During a recent Ubisoft preview the Bruckheimer blockbuster and event, Michael McIntyre, director ideally generate renewed sales of level design for Prince of for the brand (which under Persia: The Forgotten Sands, performed in its 2008 iteration). talked to Joystiq about the new Forgotten Sands is also an s e q u e l t o t h e o l d t r i l o g y , opportunity for Ubisoft to finally establishing its connection to the justify the Prince's remarkable Sands of Time game series and transformation from carefree the Bruckheimer film. The hero to brooding, emo warrior. Forgotten Sands is a side story, Continue reading for our full based in the Sands of Time interview with Michael McIntyre universe, bridging the seven-year -- after the break -- in which he gap between the original Sands reveals new (and rewinding

revisited) elements in the game and the return of a familiar voice. Continue reading Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands fills in gaps before Warrior Within; new details revealed in developer interview Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands fills in gaps before Warrior Within; new details revealed in developer interview originally appeared on Joystiq on Mon, 14 Dec 2009 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink| Email this| Comments

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Last-Minute Gifts from Boticca.com By ELLE.com (ELLE News Blog) Submitted at 12/14/2009 7:40:49 AM

Many of us are still scrambling for prezzies for our loved ones, and Boticca.com is a place where you can find unique accessories by independent designers at varied price-points. You can pick up a pair of earrings for $25 or a set of cuff links for $2500, but rest assured, there is a large variety of products to fit anyone's budget. The site caters to those tuned into the international fashion scene: The designers are from all over the world and the site allows you to see the prices in dollars, pounds, or Euros, deleting all By Justin McElroy (Joystiq) Balki says we should try to force conversion issues. And because them to release the game by ... all the products on the website Submitted at 12/14/2009 11:30:00 AM well, it's a whole plan he's got, are by small designers, what you Thank heavens for Google but it involves dancing with a choose is sure to be as unique as Translate! Not only did it allow goat and a poultice recipe his us to track our family genealogy sister Yanna sent over from and find our Cousin Balki -- who Mypos. Honestly, we should let we then brought to America for a him tell you. It's better with the series of screwball adventures -- accent. but it also taught us that Earth No Report: Recoil slows 'Earth No More, a 3D Realms-published More' development for smaller game being developed by the ex- projects originally appeared on Remedy staff at Recoil Games, Joystiq on Mon, 14 Dec 2009 has been put on hold. As near as 11:30:00 EST. Please see our we can tell from the translation of terms for use of feeds. this eDome report, the studio is Read| Permalink| Email this| currently focusing on smaller, Comments more manageable projects.

Report: Recoil slows 'Earth No More' development for smaller projects

the person you are gifting. Need some inspiration? Here are a few picks that won't break the bank. â&#x20AC;&#x201D; Rebecca Suhrawardi Austin Antwerp Necklace on Blake Lively as Serena Van Der Woodsen Suzanna Dai

$382.00 Silver Shine Bracelet by Arosha Luigi Taglia $50.00 Plastic made to look like metal Audrey Earrings by Liz Law $63.00 Vintage lucite, crystal, and a jet Swarovski bicone on sterling posts DB Cuff by Dolce & Banana $48.00 Silver metal cuff with cluster of mother of pearl and assorted beads Gothic Pendant Necklace by Marmalade Park $49.50 Orange laser cut wool felt with ribbon fastening, adjustable length Follow ELLE on Twitter. Become our Facebook fan!

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Lily Cole on The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus By ELLE.com (ELLE News Blog) Submitted at 12/14/2009 8:51:10 AM

It’s impossible to take one’s eyes off catwalk darling Lily Cole in The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus, Terry Gilliam’s trippy fantasy film, which hits theaters December 25. The PreRaphaelite beauty, who plays the teen daughter of the title character—the leader of a travelling theater troupe who wins immortality through a bargain with the devil—recently chatted with us about her first major role, her Cambridge studies, and upcoming acting projects. —Erin Clements What attracted you to Parnassus? I love fantasy films, but it was more that the script was incredibly fascinating. I met Terry Gilliam and he was such an unusual, brilliant person. I’d seen Brazil and Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, and was very excited to have the opportunity to work with him. If you could have any superpower, what would it be? To fly. What was it like working with veteran actors like Christopher Plummer? It was intimidating but very inspiring to be up against some

of the greatest actors of our age. It’s a wonderful place to be and also a scary place to be. What was the atmosphere like on set after Heath Ledger passed away and Colin Farrell, Johnny Depp, and Jude Law took over his role? It was very sad, but also lovely to see everyone again. There was a sense of unity and everyone really was so grief-stricken and really loved Heath and came back together in a beautiful and loving way to try and finish the film, so it was a strange mixture. Is acting a long-term goal? I’m going to see what’s offered to me. I’m definitely more interested in acting than modeling and if I’m lucky I’ll keep pursuing that path and keep finding these interesting projects. At the same time, I’m studying the history of art right now [at Cambridge] and the world’s got vast possibilities. I’m not hellbent on one particular path. What led you to study art? Wanting to know and appreciate the greatest influences in visual culture over the last 2,000 years. It’s an inspiring subject and it doesn’t seem at odds with filmmaking these days, which is a technologically developed way of expressing creativity. Do you have a favorite artist? I love artists who make

innovative changes—Leonardo da Vinci and Albrecht Dürer, if you look back hundreds of years. And then a lot of 20th-century artists—De Kooning, Eva Hesse, Newman, Picasso, Gerhard Richter. Has it been difficult juggling school with modeling? I never get sick of school—well, I hardly ever got sick of school, and I hardly ever get sick of modeling. But I’m sure I’d get sick of both if I’d just committed to one entirely. Who are your favorite fashion designers? Jean-Paul Gaultier, Noir, Alexander McQueen, Chanel, a lot of the French designers. How did modeling prepare you

for acting? I think it prepared me for being on a film set and having a hundred people in a room watching you and having cameras on you and not being self-conscious and being confident enough to take on such a proposition. It gave me a lot of tools that allowed me to not be too terrified by the prospect of acting. Do you have any other film projects lined up? I’m starting a film next year with Mary Harron. It’s based on a Rachel Klein book called The Moth Diaries. My character is accused of being a vampire throughout it, so it’s kind of ambiguously a vampire story, but it’s also about the narrator’s psychological obsession with another girl. What’s the best and worst advice you’ve gotten? The best is probably to stay true to yourself and pursue the impossible. The worst advice—did you hear about the Kate Moss scandal?—I know she was joking, but “Nothing tastes as good as being skinny.” Photo: Getty Images

AP Enterprise: Gaps in DNA banks lead to tragedy (AP) (Yahoo! News: U.S. News) Submitted at 12/14/2009 8:27:39 AM

MADISON, Wis. – During what police say was a 20-year killing spree in Milwaukee, Walter Ellis left his DNA behind all along the way — everywhere but the one place where it might have saved a life. Ellis should have given a DNA sample to the state crime databank during a prison stint in the early part of this decade, but he had another inmate pose as him, authorities say. As a result, when analysts tried to identify DNA in bodily fluids from one of the slayings back in 2003, no matches turned up. Investigators didn't connect Ellis to the crimes until this fall, when they seized genetic material from his toothbrush. By then, it was too late for the woman police say was Ellis' seventh and final victim. "If they would have got his DNA when they were supposed to get it, maybe my cousin would still be here," said Sarah Stokes, whose cousin, 28-year-old prostitute Ouithreaun Stokes, was found beaten and strangled in an abandoned rooming house in 2007. An Associated Press review found tens of thousands of DNA samples are missing from state databanks across the country ENTERPRISE: page 76

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Ground search for 2 missing Ore. climbers halted (AP) (Yahoo! News: U.S. News)

area, and will examine photos taken from Sunday's aerial search. GOVERNMENT CAMP, Ore. – Authorities say they have not Rescuers on Mount Hood who given up hope that Anthony have recovered the body of one Vietti, 24, of Longview, Wash., climber say "time is critical" in and Katie Nolan, 29, of Portland, the hunt for his two companions, could still be found alive, calling but all but ruled out a ground them experienced climbers. But search for them Monday because rescuers were mindful that "time the risks of an avalanche on is critical now," Strovink said Oregon's tallest peak were too Sunday. great. Mountaineers found the body of The search crews are hoping for t h e i r c o m p a n i o n , L u k e T . a break in the foul weather by Gullberg, 26, of Des Moines, midday Monday to see if they Wash., on Saturday. can mount another aerial search. The three mountaineers had "They can't take to the hill begun their ascent on the west because the avalanche danger is side of the mountain about 1 a.m. e x t r e m e , m o r e s o t h a n Friday and were due back late yesterday," said Detective Jim that afternoon, but failed to Strovink of the Clackamas return. On Saturday, crews found County sheriff's office. Gullberg's body on a glacier. A Risk of an avalanche prevented f o r e n s i c e x a m i n a t i o n w a s teams of rescuers from searching planned. No details were released the mountain on foot Sunday. An on how he died or the condition overnight storm dumped seven of the body. inches of snow on the daunting His equipment also was found 11,249-foot mountain, raising the scattered around the glacier, avalanche danger. Forecasters including a camera with at least expect another storm to sweep in 20 photos of the climbers. Crews late Monday afternoon, dropping have looked over the photos for 12 to 18 inches of snow on landmarks and other clues to the Mount Hood. location of the two missing Rescuers held out the possibility climbers. a helicopter could lower a rescuer " I t l o o k e d l i k e t h e y w e r e to inspect the immediate search confident and having a good Submitted at 12/14/2009 8:31:35 AM

time," Strovink said of the photographs. The final frames of the photos appeared to show that the climbers were at the 10,000-foot level, not too far from the summit, Erik Broms, a Portland Mountain Rescue team leader, told the Oregonian newspaper for Monday editions. Steve Rollins, another Portland Mountain Rescue leader, told the newspaper that rescuers believe the missing climbers could still be alive, saying that details from the photos led them to believe that Vietti and Nolan have survival equipment with them. Relatives of the three climbers were gathered at Timberline Lodge, a ski lodge on Mount Hood and a staging area for the rescuers, to await more news. The climbers met through church activities, said Dennis Simons, a nondenominational volunteer chaplain for the police and fire departments in nearby Sandy. Simons said the experience of Nolan and Vietti also was giving their relatives hope. He said Nolan had made the summit of other Cascade Range peaks, and the three had climbed together before. "They know how to survive in the snow," Simons said.

Mount Hood is a popular site among climbers in the United States. In 25 years, it has been the site of dozens of climbing accidents and fatalities. The worst on record happened in May 1986 when nine people — seven students from Oregon Episcopal School and two adults — died after they dug a snow cave during a sudden storm. The latest search, which comes almost exactly three years after another trio of experienced climbers died on Mount Hood during a December 2006 blizzard, has generated heated debate among some about the wisdom of tackling the mountain during the winter, a season when brutal storms can move in quickly. In an online discussion for c l i m b e r s a t http://www.summitpost.org, some said it's irresponsible even for experienced climbers to take on Mount Hood during the winter while others said the challenge of winter mountaineering is what brings them to Mount Hood. Veteran climber Jim Whittaker, the first American to conquer Mount Everest, said he understands why climbers like the challenge of tackling Mount Hood in the winter.

"It's exciting and fun when your testing yourself against the power of nature," Whittaker said in an interview from his home in Port Townsend, Wash. "But you've got to know what you're doing; you've got to be prepared." Republican John Lim, a former legislator who's running for governor, said Sunday he plans to keep pushing for a state law to require mountaineers to carry electronic locator devices when they head for the summit of Mount Hood. Many rescuers and mountaineers oppose such a requirement, saying it would create a false sense of security and prompt some climbers to take risks they otherwise would avoid. In the latest case, the three climbers did not have a radio locator beacon but they did have a cell phone that was briefly activated as they were preparing to begin their ascent. ___ Associated Press Writer Brad Cain contributed to this report from Salem, Ore. fivefilters.org featured article: Normalising the crime of the century by John Pilger

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ENTERPRISE: continued from page 74

because they were never taken or were lost. The missing evidence — combined with big backlogs at the nation's crime labs that result in DNA samples sitting on shelves for years without being analyzed and entered into the databanks — is preventing investigators from cracking untold numbers of cases. And some of those gaps have had tragic consequences. "If you got missing samples, some of those people are out there raping your wives and abducting and murdering your children this week," said former Charlottesville, Va., police Capt. J.E. Harding, who helped uncover missing samples in that state during a search for a serial rapist. Crime lab supervisors, state police and prison officials blame the failure to collect samples on new and confusing laws and a lack of coordination among the many different law enforcement agencies and institutions responsible for taking DNA. "I would just about guarantee you every state has an issue with this," said Lisa Hurst, who tracks DNA convictions for Gordon Thomas Honeywell, an organization that lobbies on public safety and biotechnology issues. The AP review found 27 states either failed to collect some DNA samples or are unable to say whether they took one from every offender who owes one.

The case against Ellis, who is set to go trial this spring, prompted an audit in Wisconsin that found 12,000 convict samples are missing. The AP review further found that Illinois failed to get DNA from about 50,000 offenders, Colorado from 2,000, and Virginia from about 8,400. Exactly how many samples are missing across the country is unknown. The National Institute of Justice estimated in 2003 that offenders owed up to 1 million uncollected samples and as many as 300,000 samples may be waiting for processing. The backlog grew to about 450,000 by 2008. The institute had no updated estimate of uncollected samples. At least 13 states are dealing with more samples than they can handle. Kansas, for example, has nearly 40,000 on its crime lab shelves, waiting for upload. Police in Columbus, Ohio, say Robert N. Patton Jr. committed 37 rapes over a decade and a half. As with Ellis in Milwaukee, he could have been stopped earlier. Patton had submitted his DNA in 2001 while behind bars for burglary, but it was not entered into the database until 2004, two days before he climbed through an apartment window and raped Diana Cunningham. Police say he attacked 13 women in all after supplying his DNA. If Patton's genetic material "had been processed in a timely fashion, he never would have

gotten to me or gotten to any of the others," said Cunningham, now 25. "It's scary how many more people are going to be victimized because their attackers aren't going to be caught. And it would be so easy for them to be caught if they could make the matches." Patton is now serving a 68-year prison sentence. State databanks contain hundreds of thousands of samples. The FBI's national database, built with states' uploads, held 7.4 million as of September. Over the past 15 years, tough-on -crime legislators expanded laws to require DNA from more offenders. First it was sex offenders. Today, 47 states demand DNA from every convicted felon. Twenty-one take it from anyone arrested for homicide or a sex crime, according to Gordon Thomas Honeywell. Generally, prison officials collect DNA from inmates as they enter the institution, often by swabbing the prisoner's mouth. Local police, sheriff's departments or probation officers are also supposed to take samples. That means a profusion of collection points. But the laws are so fluid that the agencies responsible for collecting DNA struggle to track which offenders owe samples, authorities say. The New Mexico lab has taken to sending wall

charts to sheriff's departments to help them keep things straight. Wisconsin Gov. Jim Doyle has blamed his state's missing DNA, in part, on confusion over the laws during the early days and no clear idea of who was in charge. Roughly half the states have some cross-check between their labs and prison systems to ensure everyone who owes a sample has given it, the AP found. For example, Michigan DNA administrators and state prison officials compare information annually. Virginia requires that it be done quarterly. But half the states have no such procedures. Robyn Quinn, Delaware's DNA database administrator, said she is sure her state is missing DNA, but has no idea how much, citing lack of communication between her office and the Corrections Department. "The other end is a black hole for me. We have no way of getting into their system to see who is supposed to be collected," she said. "I am waiting for something to hit the fan, if you will." ___ Associated Press writers Robert Imrie contributed from Wausau, Wis., and Carrie Antlfinger from Milwaukee. fivefilters.org featured article: Normalising the crime of the century by John Pilger

Rescuers Launch Helicopter Search For Signs of Climbers (FOXNews.com) Submitted at 12/14/2009 9:28:14 AM

Rescuers in Oregon launched an all-out helicopter search Monday for two missing hikers on Mount Hood as bad weather and avalanche danger ruled out the possibility of a ground search. The Civil Air Patrol, the Oregon Army National Guard and the U.S. Coast Guard are using aerial surveillance to produce high resolution photo images to examine any trace of the missing climbers. Rescuers are hoping that the climbers — 24-year-old Anthony Vietti and 29-year-old Katie Nolan — will hear the helicopter flying over and send a signal that they're alive. The body of their companion, 26 -year-old Luke T. Gullberg of Des Moines, Wash., was found Saturday on the glacier at the 9,000-feet level. The three had begun their ascent on the west side of the mountain about 1 a.m. Friday and were due back that afternoon, but failed to return. Gullberg's equipment also was found scattered around the glacier, including a camera with at least 20 photos of the climbers. Crews have looked over the photos for landmarks and other clues to the location of the two missing climbers — Vietti, of RESCUERS page 77

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RESCUERS continued from page 76

Longview, Wash., and Nolan, of Portland. "It looked like they were confident and having a good time," Jim Strovink, spokesman for the Clackamas County sheriff, said of the photographs. Rescuers had to bring in a helicopter and airplanes to conduct the search over the weekend because new snow had created avalanche dangers for crews working on foot. Skies had cleared Sunday morning, but the weather worsened again Monday. SLIDESHOW: Missing Climbers on Mount Hood After eight inches of snow fell on the 11,249-foot mountain overnight Saturday, avalanche dangers in the higher elevations Sunday made a rescue mission on foot too risky. "Nobody is going to want to tromp around in that snow," said Steve Rollins, a Portland Mountain Rescue leader. Still, officials had not given up hope that Nolan and Vietti could still be found alive, calling them experienced climbers. Strovink said he didn't believe the

climbers had a shovel, which could be used to build a snow cave to keep them out of the elements. But, he said, "They were well equipped otherwise." The Oregonian newspaper reported Sunday that Gullberg was a sales clerk at the outdoor retailer and cooperative REI in Tukwila, Wash., and he studied writing and English at Central Washington University. "He was very adventurous," Stacy Cleveland, his cousin, told the newspaper. "He did a lot of hiking and climbing and things a lot us would never attempt." Relatives of the three climbers were gathered at Timberline Lodge, a ski lodge on the flank of Mount Hood and a staging area for the rescuers, to await more news. They were comforted by Dennis Simons, a nondenominational volunteer chaplain for the police and fire departments in nearby Sandy. "They are grieving and hoping," he said. The three climbers, all Christians, met through church activities, Simons said, and Nolan has traveled extensively

for Christian causes. Simons said the experience of Nolan and Vietti also was giving their relatives hope. He said Nolan had made the summit of other Cascade Range peaks, and the three had climbed together before. "They know how to survive in the snow," Simons said. Mount Hood is a popular site among climbers in the United States. In 25 years, it has been the site of dozens of climbing accidents and fatalities. The worst on record happened in May 1986 when nine people â&#x20AC;&#x201D; seven students from Oregon Episcopal School and two adults â&#x20AC;&#x201D; died after they dug a snow cave during a sudden storm. The latest search, which comes almost exactly three years after another trio of experienced climbers died on Mount Hood during a December 2006 blizzard, has generated heated debate among some about the wisdom of tackling the mountain during the winter, a season when brutal storms can move in quickly. In an online discussion for

c l i m b e r s a t www.summitpost.org, some said it's irresponsible even for experienced climbers to take on Mount Hood during the winter while others said the challenge of winter mountaineering is what brings them to Mount Hood. Veteran climber Jim Whittaker, the first American to conquer Mount Everest, said he understands why climbers like the challenge of tackling Mount Hood in the winter. "It's exciting and fun when your testing yourself against the power of nature," Whittaker said in an interview from his home in Port Townsend, Wash. "But you've got to know what you're doing; you've got to be prepared." Click here for the latest news from KPTV Fox. fivefilters.org featured article: Normalising the crime of the century by John Pilger

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Nev. brothel aims to offer 1st male prostitutes (AP) (Yahoo! News: U.S. News) Submitted at 12/14/2009 5:11:48 AM

LAS VEGAS â&#x20AC;&#x201C; The owner of a brothel more than two hours' drive from Las Vegas said she hopes to hire Nevada's first legal male prostitutes within a month, now that state health officials have approved a method to test men for infectious diseases. The world is ready for women, or even other men, to legally buy sex, said Shady Lady Ranch owner Bobbi Davis. Plus, being the first to offer male service could boost business in tough economic times, she said. "With so many other male revues going on in Vegas, we thought it was time to give this a try," Davis told The Associated Press. Until now, men have been effectively barred from legally plying the world's oldest profession in Nevada by the specificity of a state health law requiring prostitutes to undergo

frequent cervical testing for sexually transmitted diseases. The health board approved a regulation to allow urethral testing for men â&#x20AC;&#x201D; a crucial rule change by the state agency with ultimate power over whether prostitutes can or can't work. For more than 25 years, no licensed female prostitute in Nevada has contracted HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, said George Flint, a Reno wedding chapel owner and longtime lobbyist for the Nevada Brothel Owners Association. "My concern is that we continue to maintain that kind of record," he said. Davis, Flint and Nye County Sheriff Tony DeMeo all acknowledged Friday that Davis still needs county approval to become the first of the state's 24 legal brothels to offer a lineup of men. "We're going to look at it. We have some concerns," said

DeMeo, who serves as a voting member of both a county health commission and a board that oversees alcohol, gambling and brothel licenses. "The ramifications of this are going to be statewide," he said. "We're going to have to deal with it at our other six brothels in Nye County if they want to offer the same service. We want to make sure we protect customers and make sure the industry is regulated with clarity and understanding." Prostitution has been legal in rural Nevada counties since 1971 under strict state health board oversight but is against the law in the Las Vegas and Reno areas. Flint said he feared the idea of male prostitutes serving male clients could spur a legislative backlash. He said he works to make the brothel industry socially acceptable to both libertarians and conservatives. "I think the Legislature is really

going to give me some heartburn over this," Flint said in a telephone interview after appearing before the state Health Board in Carson City on Friday to endorse the Shady Lady proposal. "But I think it's an inevitability," he added, "and the brothel association has reluctantly agreed to support this as a test." Davis said she wants to add two men to the three women she currently has living and working at her compound of trailers off U.S. 95 about 150 miles northwest of Las Vegas. She said the women usually charge about $300 per hour for the five to 20 customers who visit on any given night. "We don't know how to structure the men's pricing yet," Davis said. fivefilters.org featured article: Normalising the crime of the century by John Pilger

Police to Question Husband of Missing Utah Mom Again (FOXNews.com) Submitted at 12/14/2009 8:25:02 AM

Utah police are planning a second interview Monday with the husband of a woman whose disappearance has been called "highly suspicious." West Valley City Police Capt. Tom McLachlan told FoxNews.com that authorities plan to re-question the husband of 28-year-old Susan Powell, the mother of two young children who was reported missing Dec. 6 from a Salt Lake City suburb. Powell's husband, Josh, had previously told police he left his wife and took his boys, ages 2 and 4, on a camping trip around midnight on Dec. 6 in subfreezing temperatures. Police said he told them that they slept in a van and returned home Tuesday evening. But authorities said that they POLICE page 79

Britons' Guantanamo case rejected (BBC News | Americas | World Edition) Submitted at 12/14/2009 9:17:55 AM

Four British former Guantanamo Bay prisoners have failed in their bid to bring legal action against leading members of the Bush administration. The US Supreme Court refused

to take up an appeal by the four. Shafiq Rasul, Asif Iqbal, Rhuhel Ahmed and Jamal al-Harith said they were the victims of torture and religious abuse during detention. Lower courts had already thrown out the claims against former Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and 10 other officials.

The four men were captured in Afghanistan in 2001 and transferred to the detention centre at Guantanamo Bay in early 2002. They were freed in 2004. 'Unique opportunity' Their lawsuit alleged that they were beaten and threatened by dogs during their captivity. It also alleged their prayers were

interrupted, their beards shaved off, and that at one point a guard threw a copy of the Koran into a toilet. In their appeal, their lawyers said: "This case presents a unique and compelling opportunity for this court to affirm that torture at Guantanamo was a violation of fundamental rights."

But the Obama administration had opposed the appeal, saying further review of the case was unwarranted. Print Sponsor fivefilters.org featured article: Normalising the crime of the century by John Pilger

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Clinton urges Iran to free hikers (BBC News | Americas | World Edition)

basis for it... They were out hiking and unfortunately, apparently, allegedly walked Submitted at 12/14/2009 8:50:01 AM across an unmarked boundary." US Secretary of State Hillary 'Deliberate provocation' Clinton has called on Tehran to Mr Mottaki earlier told a news free three US citizens who conference that "interrogation of crossed into Iran while hiking in the three Americans who have Iraq. illegally entered Iran with She was speaking after Iranian suspicious aims is ongoing". Foreign Minister Manouchehr "They will be put on trial by the Mottaki said the three would judiciary and rulings will be stand trial, although he did not made," he said in comments specify on which charges. broadcast on state television. Mrs Clinton said that any The three Americans were charges would be unfounded. seized by Iranian border guards Shane Bauer, Sarah Shourd and on 31 July near the town of Josh Fattal were detained in July Marivan, and are being held in and have been accused of illegal Tehran's Evin prison. entry. Swiss diplomats - who represent Iranian officials have also US interests in Iran, with whom previously alleged the trio were the US has no formal diplomatic spying. relations - were allowed to meet Their families say they strayed the trio in late September for the across the border accidentally. first time since their arrest. Mrs Clinton said: "We appeal to Their families say the spying the Iranian leadership to release allegations are "entirely at odds these three young people and free with the people Shane, Sarah and them as soon as possible. Josh are and with anything that "We consider this a totally Iran can have learned about them unfounded charge. There is no since they were detained".

Chilean tycoon wins first round (BBC News | Americas | World Edition) Submitted at 12/13/2009 7:54:05 PM

Centre-right candidate Sebastian Pinera has won the first round of Chile's presidential election, but without the majority needed to avoid a run-off. The billionaire businessman has

44% of votes, with the count almost complete, below the 50% required for victory. He will now face centre-left candidate Eduardo Frei, a former president himself, in a second round in January. A victory for Mr Pinera would put conservatives back in power in Chile after 20 years of centre-

POLICE continued from page 78

haven't been able to verify the camping trip because snow had covered the site at Simpson Springs on the historic Pony Express Trail in Utah's West Desert. Powell's father, meanwhile, pleaded for her safe return Monday, calling the circumstances surrounding her disappearance odd and stating that his daughter may have been taken out of the state. â&#x20AC;˘ Click here for video. "There's no way that my daughter would leave her children or leave her home under the circumstances that they found â&#x20AC;&#x201D; leaving her purse and cell phone and keys behind," Powell's father, Chuck Cox, said Monday in an interview with Fox News. "Given the oddness of the disappearance and that no one seems to have any idea where she may be, I believe it's possible she may have been taken out of state or out of the area," he said. "If she were able to contact us, she would," he added. McLachlan said 30 detectives have been working on the case and several of them were on duty Sunday, fielding any tips or leads they can get from family and left rule. friends. Mr Frei, 67, is seeking his Powell disappeared without second term as president after an taking her purse or cell phone or absence of 10 years. other items "that you would Around eight million Chileans n o r m a l l y a s s o c i a t e w i t h have been voting in the election. somebody leaving the house," he Mr Pinera, 60, owns a television said. channel, a stake in Chile's most CHILEAN page 80 The BBC's Tehran correspondent, Jon Leyne, in London, says Iran's latest move could be seen by Washington as a deliberate provocation. The three hikers are all friends who attended the prestigious University of California, Berkeley. Shane Bauer, 27, is a freelance journalist and photographer, who specialises in reporting on the Middle East and the Darfur region of Sudan. He lives in Damascus with Sarah Shourd, 31, a teacher and writer. Josh Fattal, 27, an environmentalist and teacher, had travelled to Damascus in the summer to join them for the hiking holiday. He reportedly posted a Facebook entry on 17 July, saying that he was in the Middle East and planning a trip to Kurdistan. Print Sponsor fivefilters.org featured article: Normalising the crime of the century by John Pilger

Shelby Gifford, a spokeswoman for Powell's family, told The Associated Press Sunday that there's an overriding feeling of helplessness. "It's really difficult not to have an idea of where she is so that we can even concentrate our search someplace." She said that Powell's children are weathering the ordeal. "The family is making a huge effort just to insulate them from ... the stress and trauma of all of this and they seem to be holding up all right." Many of her family members and friends were fasting, praying and resting Sunday, said Damon Talbot, president of the nonprofit Destiny Search Project. Talbot helps maintain a Facebook page for Susan Powell that was created by her best friend, Kiirsi Hellewell in West Valley City. Hellewell had nothing new to report Sunday afternoon. "It's still a missing-person case. We don't have any information or fact to move it from that classification," McLachlan said. "But it is very suspicious to us, given the circumstances." The Associated Press contributed to this report. fivefilters.org featured article: Normalising the crime of the century by John Pilger

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Citigroup to repay $20bn bail-out (BBC News | Americas | World Edition)

the sale. Payback time Nearly 700 banks were assisted Submitted at 12/14/2009 7:16:26 AM by Tarp, and most were quick to Citigroup has said it will repay repay the bail-out money because $20bn of US bail-out funding, it came with restrictions such as marking the bank's exit from the caps on executive pay and US government's Troubled Asset dividends. Relief Program (Tarp). Last week Bank of America paid Citigroup is the last of the big back its $45bn Tarp funding. US banks to leave the support Now the only national bank mechanism. It will issue $17bn in remaining with the programme is new shares to help finance the Wells Fargo. move. The US Treasury said it was Theoretically, it means it can pleased Citigroup was moving now avoid pay restrictions on its forward with plans to repay the top 100 employees. money. The bank said it owed American "While much work lies ahead to taxpayers "a debt of gratitude". improve lending and spur job Citigroup received $45bn in creation, today's announcement government support but only has by Citigroup takes us another to pay back $20bn as the US step in the right direction." government converted the rest Analysts noted that, like other into a stake in the company. It banks repaying the government, owns 34% of the bank. Citigroup is still subject to US The government says it plans to regulation and pressure. sell these shares within the next "They're still in the government's year. The US Treasury estimates embrace. It's just not a bear hug that taxpayers could ultimately n o w , " s a i d A n t o n S c h u t z , see a profit of $13bn-$14bn from president of Mendon Capital

Advisors. 'Fat cat' meeting Later on Monday, President Obama will meet top banking executives, including those from Citigroup. He will ask them to support his efforts to tighten regulation on the financial industry and to boost lending to small businesses. The meeting could well prove tense after the president referred to bankers as "fat cats" in a TV interview on Sunday. In its statement, though, Citigroup struck a conciliatory tone, saying it recognised "our obligation to support the economic recovery through lending and assistance to homeowners and other borrowers in need". Print Sponsor fivefilters.org featured article: Normalising the crime of the century by John Pilger

CHILEAN continued from page 79

successful football club and has millions of dollars in investments. He has campaigned on a tough law-and-order ticket and has also vowed to use his business knowhow to reactivate the economy, promising Chileans an annual growth rate of 6% for the next four years. The BBC's Gideon Long in Santiago says a victory for Mr Pinera would give Chile its first conservative government since 1990, when strongman Gen Augusto Pinochet finally relinquished power. This is the second time Mr Pinera has run for the presidency at the head of a centre-right coalition. In 2006, he lost to the extremely popular outgoing Socialist president, Michelle Bachelet. But under the constitution she cannot stand for re-election, and her candidate, Mr Frei, is struggling to emulate her popularity. The third candidate was Marco Enriquez-Ominami, a 36-yearold independent who has emerged from nowhere and split the centre-left vote.

He says Chile needs a new face and new ideas in the presidential palace, after two decades of the same coalition. The fourth candidate was Jorge Arrate, a veteran Socialist who has the support of Chile's Communist Party. Mr Enriquez-Ominami polled 20%, with Mr Arrate on 6%. If Mr Pinera is successful, it will mark the first time in 51 years that the conservatives have taken power in Chile via the ballot box. Are you in Chile? What outcome are you hoping for? How important is this election for the country? Send us your comments using the form below. The BBC may edit your comments and not all emails will be published. Your comments may be published on any BBC media worldwide. Print Sponsor fivefilters.org featured article: Normalising the crime of the century by John Pilger