LNP OCT-29-09 by Liberty Newspost

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28/10/09 - 29/10/09

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Sarah Palin is REALLY tired of Levi Johnston By Steve Holland (Front Row Washington) Submitted at 10/28/2009 1:47:08 PM

Former Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin is striking back hard at her daughter’s ex-fiance, Levi Johnston, for what she called “mean-spirited, malicious and untrue attacks.” Palin, and Johnston, who had a child out of wedlock with Palin’s daughter, Bristol, have been in a war of words since Levi and Bristol broke off plans to marry early this year. Johnston appeared on CBS’ “Early Show” and repeated a charge he made in a recent Vanity Fair interview that Sarah Palin would often refer to her son with Down Syndrome, Trig Palin, as being “retarded.” Watch CBS News Videos Online Johnston also talked about his plans to appear nude in Playgirl magazine, saying it will be done

our ‘blessed little angel’ who knows it and is lovingly called that every day of his life. Even the thought that anyone would refer to Trig by any disparaging name is sickening and sad,” she said. She also criticized CBS for giving Johnston publicity. “CBS should be ashamed for continually providing a forum to propagate lies. Consider the source of the most recent attention-getting lies — those who would sell their body for money reflect a desperate need for attention and are likely to say and do anything for even more attention,” she said. tastefully. a s J o h n M c C a i n ’ s v i c e Click here for more Reuters “I’m not gonna just go out there presidential candidate last year. political coverage and get naked,” he said. In a statement issued by her Photo credit: Reuters/Matt All this comes as Palin prepares spokeswoman, Palin said she had Sullivan (Sarah Palin waves in to issue her memoir next month, tried to ignore the “mean spirited, front of daughter Bristol and son “Going Rogue, An American malicious and untrue attacks on Trig in August 2008) Life.” She resigned as Alaska our family.” g o v e r n o r l a s t s u m m e r a n d “We, like many, are appalled at r e m a i n s p o p u l a r w i t h the inflammatory statements conservative voters after running being made or implied. Trig is

Photo Gallery: Sony Gadget Teardown Porn By Brian X. Chen (Wired Top Stories)

Collaborating with iFixit, we challenged Wired.com readers to rip apart their Sony gadgets and

post photos of the innards for a along with many honorable chance to win prizes. Here are mentions. photos of the winners' teardowns,

Hopefully this Borderlands trailer gets you playing the game By Matt Burns (CrunchGear) Submitted at 10/29/2009 6:06:13 AM

You’ve heard of Borderlands, right? It’s one of the new FPSs out there but forget about the rest, you must play this game. I just started yesterday after beating Prototype (another killer game) and I have to say I’m hooked. So far I’m getting the vibe that the game is kind of like a cross between a westernthemed FPS and a RPG with a simple, but robust character development. (I’m playing as Mordecai, the sniper) Anyway, just watch the trailer above and then get the game. It’s on Steam or your favorite torrent site. Oh, and it has a Co-Op mode. Everyone loves Co-Op.

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He’s powerful… And you’re not? By Patricia Zengerle (Front Row Washington) Submitted at 10/28/2009 12:33:01 PM

Maybe it was a sign that someone wanted to put the press corps — or possibly the White House staff — in their place. Who knows, but at the beginning of the daily White House press briefing on Wednesday, a disembodied voice sounded in the briefing room, saying: “THE PRESIDENT IS POWERFUL.” Reporters and White House staffers in the room laughed, and White House spokesman Robert Gibbs joked about it, to more laughter. But no one offered an explanation for the pronouncement. “Was that happening just in my head, or did you all — did you all

hear that, too?” Gibbs asked. “We didn’t hear anything,” someone answered. “Wow. Wow. That’s — that was interesting, if inexplicable,” Gibbs said.

And then, apologizing “for not having an equally grand introduction by which to call on the first reporter,” he plunged into the usual routine of responding to, if not answering, questions on Afghanistan, healthcare reform and a news report that Democratic donors were being given special access to the White House. So, did Halloween come early to the White House? Or is it some new get-out-the-message mechanism? Click here for more Reuters political coverage Photo Credit: Reuters/Jim Young (Gibbs at daily White House press briefing on Sept. 28)

Options Update: Sun Microsystems volatility elevated on EU Commission concerns By Paul Foster (BloggingStocks) Submitted at 10/29/2009 8:15:00 AM

Filed under: Sun Microsystems (JAVA), Oracle Corp (ORCL), Options Sun Microsystems(NASDAQ: JAVA) closed at $8.18. Oracle's(NASDAQ: ORCL) announced in April it was paying $9.50 in cash per share for JAVA. JAVA November option implied volatility is at 57, December is at 57, January is at 59, above its 21-week average of 19, according to Track Data,

suggesting larger price movement. CBOE Volatility Index- VIX at 27.90; 10-day moving average is 22.77. Option Update is provided by Stock Specialist Paul Foster of theflyonthewall.com. Options Update: Sun Microsystems volatility elevated on EU Commission concerns originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 29 Oct 2009 08:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink| Email this| Comments

Obama plants a piece of New Jersey on White House lawn By Steve Holland (Front Row Washington) Submitted at 10/28/2009 3:01:17 PM

Kind of a quiet day at the White House today. Hey, why not plant a tree? President Obama was on hand for a commemorative tree planting on the White House front lawn. There’s always a good tale behind these things and here’s

this one: Benjamin Harrison planted a Scarlet Oak tree in the same spot in 1889. There it stood through good times and bad, triumph and tragedy, rain and shine, and, well, you get the idea. Then it rotted straight through and tumped over in a 2007 rainstorm. George W. Bush planted a Scarlet Oak in the same spot as a replacement in 2008, Leaf Linden tree donated from Halka Nurseries Millstone but it didn’t take hold. Thus came Obama with a Little T o w n s h i p , N e w J e r s e y .

It’s supposed to be a sturdier tree so maybe this one will take root. Droid Eris Doesn't Look W e h o p e s o , b e c a u s e i n Too Shabby for a Washington, if you want a friend, Cheapo Android Phone get a tree. Wait a second, that [Droid Eris] doesn’t sound right. Click here for more Reuters By matt buchanan (Gizmodo) political coverage Submitted at 10/29/2009 6:35:38 AM Photo credit: Reuters/Jim Young (Obama plants commemorative A better look at the purportedly $99 Droid Eris. Not bad, but why tree at White House) is everybody going to stupid touch-sensitive buttons? [ Phone Arena]

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Blair bid debate on EU summit sidelines By Ian Traynor (World news and comment from the Guardian | guardian.co.uk)

referendum on the Lisbon treaty. Officially, the job does not exist until Klaus finalises Czech ratification of the treaty, expected Submitted at 10/29/2009 5:52:55 AM within weeks. While Blair Climate talks overshadowed by personally has kept quiet about divisive subject of Tony Blair's h i s a m b i t i o n s , t h e B r i t i s h candidacy to be Europe's first government is campaigning president increasingly assertively on the European government chiefs former prime minister's behalf. gather in Brussels this evening "We will be making the case for for a summit likely to be the first a strong, internationally known occasion to broach the divisive figure who can open doors in subject of Tony Blair's candidacy [foreign] capitals," said an to be Europe's first president. official. "There is only one The topic is not formally on the candidate." agenda of a meeting that will be That was not a reference to Jeandominated by wrangling over Claude Juncker, the veteran climate change funding and how Luxembourg prime minister and to get the Czech president, European fixer, who is the only Vaclav Klaus, to add the final contender so far to have openly signature to the reformist Lisbon declared his candidacy. He treaty. But senior diplomats emerged this week as the antipredicted there would be intense Blair. private discussion on the fringes Juncker looks certain to fail in of the summit over the question: his bid for the top job. But he who will get the plum job of first may well succeed in destroying sitting president of the European Blair's chances, being viewed as council, the pre-eminent EU a stalking horse who will vanish forum that brings leaders together to make way for a third unknown for summits at least four times a contender. year. While the Blair debate rages on David Miliband, the foreign the sidelines of the summit, the secretary, said today that Blair big priority for the Swedish would give Europe a "strong government chairing the meeting voice" on the global stage, but his is to try to break a deadlock on comments were seized on by his EU funding of climate change Conservative shadow, William programmes in the developing Hague, who said the debate over world ahead of the Copenhagen the presidency proved that the conference in December. U K s h o u l d h a v e h e l d a Berlin and Warsaw are the keys

to a deal, but the prospects for a breakthrough look dim. Fredrik Reinfeldt, the Swedish prime minister, warned that Europe's credibility on global warming was at stake. In recent weeks European governments have locked horns over the financing package and have been unable to reach agreement. The aim is to come up with pledges of an EU fund of up to €15bn (£13.4bn) a year by 2020 for transfers to the developing countries to combat global warming. The overall package is central to a Copenhagen deal. But with the other big players, especially the US, which is reluctant to commit to a figure, Germany believes Europe should not show its hand until the Copenhagen negotiations. The European commission and others such as the UK and the Scandinavians believe agreeing on a figure in advance would strengthen Europe's global leadership role on climate change and send a strong signal to other potential signatories. The Poles and other eastern Europeans are unhappy at being asked to stump up for developing countries such as Brazil, which is wealthier than the poorer EU members. The Poles are refusing to agree a package and figures for Copenhagen unless it is first decided how the bill will be split

among the EU's 27 governments. In the midst of a financial crisis, the eastern Europeans say they cannot afford the climate change fund. Angela Merkel, sworn in yesterday for a second term as German chancellor, will be pivotal to any climate change financing deal and her answer to the Blair question may also be decisive. So far, she has been hedging her bets. While Nicolas Sarkozy, the French president, is known to support Blair with reservations, there are no German candidates for the two big new jobs being created under Lisbon – the European president and a European foreign minister or high representative for foreign and security policy. In Paris last night the French and German leaders discussed the posts, although there was little information on whether they reached a pact. Sarkozy said the two leaders agreed on "almost everything". Austria, Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg – all said to nurse ambitions to secure the presidential post themselves – have come out publicly against Blair on the grounds that he would neglect the interests of smaller EU member states – 19 out of the total 27. Adding his voice to the argument, Demitris Christofias,

the president of Cyprus, said a council president "from a small country would be more objective and more consensual. The European Union is a family of compromises." The Dutch centre-right prime minister and possible contender, Jan-Peter Balkenende, has come under pressure this week to renounce European presidential ambitions since his move to Brussels could trigger early elections and the fall of his government. Christofias emphasised that tonight the priority would be to get the Klaus blocking of the Lisbon treaty lifted rather than focusing on who gets what under Lisbon. Senior diplomats agreed it was too early to discuss names. If Klaus signs thetreaty soon, a special summit would be convened next month to decide on the president and foreign minister, also leaving the European commission chief, Jose Manuel Barroso, to put together a new team. • European Union • Tony Blair • Climate change Ian Traynor guardian.co.uk© Guardian News & Media Limited 2009 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions| More Feeds

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Iran ready to co-operate with nuclear agency – Ahmadinejad By Peter Walker, Robert Tait (World news and comment from the Guardian | guardian.co.uk)

technology, and we are ready to co-operate." His comments came as Iran was expected to formally respond to a UN-drafted plan for its nuclear Submitted at 10/29/2009 4:41:35 AM fuel to be processed outside the Iranian president tells rally country, allowing it to be used Tehran is prepared to work with for civil purposes but not to International Atomic Energy create nuclear weapons. Agency Reports in Iran suggest Tehran The Iranian president, Mahmoud will accept the framework of the Ahmadinejad, today said his deal while demanding some country was ready to co-operate changes. with the international community Ahmadinejad suggested western over its nuclear programme but powers were now ready to accept insisted it would not give up its Iran's nuclear programme as a atomic ambitions. reality. "If you stretch your hand towards "Today we have reached a very us honestly, we will grasp it," important point," he said. "You Ahmadinejad said in a nationally remember where we have been a televised speech at a rally in the few years ago, and look where north-eastern city of Mashhad. we are now. He said Iran was "ready to co- "They imposed sanctions, made operate" on issues including the military threats and conducted building of civil nuclear plants psychological warfare. But now and fuel exchange and was they are seeking cooperation with prepared to work with the the Iranian nation. International Atomic Energy "Today the nuclear issue is A g e n c y ( I A E A ) , t h e U N ' s accepted as a normal issue and nuclear watchdog. the [Iranian] people's right. It is "As long as this government is in nothing like before, when they power, it will not retreat one iota wanted to impose sanctions or on the undeniable rights of the disable it. Iranian nation," Ahmadinejad "Today they propose that we said. enter discussions for finding "Fortunately, conditions have solutions about the global been prepared for international co problems." -operation in the nuclear field. Iran insists its nuclear We welcome co-operation on programme is entirely peaceful, nuclear fuel, power plants and but the US and EU, among

others, fear it is covertly planning to make atomic weapons. Earlier today, IAEA inspectors returned to the organisation's headquarters in Vienna after visiting Iran's recently revealed second uranium enrichment plant. The head of the delegation said the trip had been a success, but did not go into details. The IAEA visit to the Fordo facility, carved into a mountainside south of Tehran, was the first outside inspection of the plant, the existence of which was only revealed last month. The inspection was arranged by the IAEA's head, Mohamed ElBaradei, who also brokered the deal under which Iran will send low-enriched uranium abroad for processing and eventual use in a research reactor. Under the arrangement, around 70% of the 1.5 tonnes Iran is known to possess will be sent to Russia by the end of this year for further enrichment before going to France for conversion into fuel plates. The plates would then be returned to Tehran to power the reactor, which produces radioisotopes for cancer treatment. Ahmadinejad indicated he was hopeful that Iran could work with the IAEA, saying: "Fortunately, the conditions for nuclear co-

operation at the international level are provided. "The IAEA is trying to fulfil its legal and proper role, which is nuclear co-operation and helping the independent nations in their nuclear development and technologies and to establish a healthy relations between governments." He added that said he expected the six countries involved in the talks – the US, Russia, China, France, Germany and Britain – to keep their part of the bargain and "fulfil their previous commitments". Javan, a pro-government Iranian newspaper, reported today that Iran would seek to ship its uranium abroad in stages, rather than sending the bulk in one consignment. The US and others believe the shipping of more than a tonne of the fuel would for now eliminate Iran's opportunities to produce a nuclear weapon. • Iran • Mahmoud Ahmadinejad • Nuclear weapons Peter Walker Robert Tait guardian.co.uk© Guardian News & Media Limited 2009 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions| More Feeds

Best Buy offering DROID pre-orders as of today, automates the mail-in rebate By Paul Miller (Engadget) Submitted at 10/29/2009 10:03:00 AM

In the best sort of tradition, Best Buy Mobile has gone for a repeat of its Palm Pre offering and is offering a $299 phone, the Motorola DROID, in this case, at $199 thanks to the automation of a mail-in rebate you'd have to actually "mail in" if you were to purchase the handset straight from the carrier. Best Buy also seems to be the first place to offer pre-orders of the phone, so if you're worried about a sell out or just generally averse to affixing stamps to things, Best Buy appears to have you covered. Filed under: Cellphones Best Buy offering DROID preorders as of today, automates the mail-in rebate originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 29 Oct 2009 10:03:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Read| Permalink| Email this| Comments

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US set to emerge from recession By Graeme Wearden (World news and comment from the Guardian | guardian.co.uk)

spending, business inventory investment and residential construction investment," Marple predicted. Submitted at 10/29/2009 4:40:38 AM Other economists, though, • US GDP expected to grow by believe the recovery will be less between 2% and 4.8% buoyant. Mike Englund, the chief • Growth driven by stimulus economist at Action Economics, packages and inventories predicts growth of just 2.2%. The US is expected to emerge Confirmation that the US from its longest recession since economy has returned to growth the second world war today, would be a fillip for President when GDP for the third quarter Obama, whose opponents have of 2009 is published. been vocal in their criticism of Wall Street analysts have his multibillion dollar stimulus predicted that the world's biggest plans. But it would do little to economy grew by between 2% ease the pressure on Gordon and 4.8% in the last three Brown, with the UK already months, on an annualised basis. destined to be one of the last This would be America's first c o u n t r i e s t o c o m e o u t o f quarter of positive growth since r e c e s s i o n . the second three months of 2008, Unlike in Britain, US GDP is e n d i n g f o u r q u a r t e r s o f annualised – so the quarterly contraction. change is calculated over four James Marple, an economist at quarters on a compound basis to TD Securities, has forecast that show how much the US economy US GDP rose by a "substantial" would have grown over a year. 3.8% on an annualised basis. The consensus forecast of 2%"The main pillars of growth will 4.8% is roughly equal to between be a rebound in consumer 0.5% and 1.2% on a quarterly

basis. The unusually wide range of estimates is due to uncertainty over the state of America's inventories. Firms are believed to be stockpiling more goods, having slashed their inventories when the downturn hit. "When the economic cycle is at a turning point it is very difficult to say with any degree of certainty what the inventory levels will be," explained Rob Carnell, chief international economist at ING. Carnell expects that the US economy grew by 3.8%, but concedes that it could be anywhere between 2% and 7% as "inventories are a trash-can for all unexplained activity that cannot be forced into other components. This makes it a wildcard". The prospect of economic growth did little for optimism on Wall Street last night, where the Dow Jones closed 119 points lower at 9763. With US consumer confidence falling unexpectedly last month, there is concern about next year's

economic prospects. "Markets are likely to see today's figure for what it is, a historical figure driven by one-off stimulus packages, and transient boosts to growth from inventories. Strong growth this quarter is likely to open up the possibility of weakness, even a contraction in 4Q09, and we doubt markets will be unduly moved by it," said Carnell. In London the FTSE was down by 6 points in morning trading at 5073, following yesterday's 120point tumble. • US economy • US economic growth and recession • Green shoots • Global recession • United States

Best Buy's Taking Droid Pre-Orders and Lets You Skip the Mail-In Rebate Madness [Droid] By matt buchanan (Gizmodo) Submitted at 10/29/2009 7:19:56 AM

Like it's done for every major phone that carriers force you to actually mail in a rebate for to get the advertised price (*cough*PalmPre*cough*), Best Buy's taking care of the rebate bullshit for you with the Motorola Droid, whose rebate process with Verizon—resulting in a $100 debit card—is inexplicably stranger than most. Plus, you can pre-order it today. I'd wait for the reviews in about a week though, personally. [ BusinessWire via Engadget]

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Third-quarter GDP shows growth -- is the recession over? By Mark Fightmaster (BloggingStocks)

Domestic Product indicates. The GDP showed that the U.S. economy grew at a 3.5% annual Submitted at 10/29/2009 9:35:00 AM pace in the third quarter, Filed under: Before the bell, s n a p p i n g a f o u r - q u a r t e r Good news It appears that the c o n t r a c t i o n s t r e a k . U.S. economy may finally be The growth is attributed to the d r a g g i n g i t s e l f o u t o f t h e massive government stimulus, i n i n v e n t o r i e s a n d r o b u s t economic doldrums. At least, that which led to higher consumer government spending helped spur is what the third-quarter Gross spending. In addition, a reduction

growth in the third quarter. But even excluding the influence of auto sales, production and inventories, the economy grew 1.9 percent last quarter. Continue reading Third-quarter GDP shows growth -- is the recession over? Third-quarter GDP shows growth -- is the recession over?

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Cyprus president lambasts EU-Turkey relations By Ian Traynor (World news and comment from the Guardian | guardian.co.uk)

deep, deep differences." Christofias's gloomy remarks ran counter to diplomats' hopes that the Greek and Turkish Cypriot Submitted at 10/29/2009 7:07:16 AM leaders represented the best Greek Cypriot leader Demetris chance for a settlement in a Christofias warns concessions to generation. Ankara could backfire as talks on Both leaders, personal friends divided island hit trouble who are both on the left, have The president of Cyprus today been conducting negotiations for urged Europe to get tough with more than a year. Talat, however, T u r k e y , l i k e n i n g t h e E U ' s is widely tipped to lose power in concessions to Ankara to the presidential elections in Turkishappeasement of Adolf Hitler in occupied northern Cyprus next the 1930s, and playing down April to nationalist hardliners, so expectations of any breakthrough the duo may have only months to in the quest for a settlement of 35 strike a deal. Cyprus has been years of partition in Cyprus. divided since a Turkish military Demetris Christofias, the Greek invasion in 1974. Cypriot leader and Cypriot Christofias rejected talk of a president, said that more than a d e a d l i n e a s a r t i f i c i a l a n d year of negotiations with his suggested the Turkish side was Turkish Cypriot friend and exploiting Talat's electoral counterpart, Mehmet Ali Talat, problems to blackmail him. were in trouble. If the talks fail, warned Hans "Unfortunately, my expectations Van Den Broek, the former have not been justified," he said Dutch foreign minister who sits in an interview. "We have on the Independent Commission differences and divergences, on Turkey, "the island will

certainly head towards partition. Tensions will rise in the eastern Mediterranean and EU-Turkey tension will deepen." With much at stake in the Cyprus talks, Christofias laid a large part of the blame for the stalemate on the Turkish leadership of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan. "We don't agree on anything with Mr Erdogan," he said. Hopes for a solution to the Cyprus problem have been raised by the approach adopted by Greece's new prime minister, George Papandreou, who visited Turkey shortly after he was elected, where he met Erdogan. Christofias's negative comments reveal how difficult the task will be. The fate of the Cyprus settlement talks is crucial to Turkey's bid to join the EU. Swathes of the complex membership negotiations between Ankara and Brussels are frozen because of Greek Cypriot

objections. Christofias warned that any European concessions to Ankara to keep Turkey on a proEuropean path could backfire. "I don't compare Turkey with Nazi Germany," he said. "But it is not reasonable to say don't challenge Turkey because it will get angry. There are rules and unfortunately Turkey does not respect those rules ... This reminds me of the situation before the second world war, appeasing Hitler so he doesn't become more aggressive. The substance of fascism was the substance of fascism. Hitler was Hitler." • Cyprus • Turkey • European Union Ian Traynor guardian.co.uk© Guardian News & Media Limited 2009 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions| More Feeds

Is Goodyear a good bet after the Q3 report? By Steven Mallas (BloggingStocks)

earnings release was the culprit. Although, at first glance, you might wonder what the heck is Submitted at 10/29/2009 9:00:00 AM wrong. Filed under: Earnings reports, Sales were down 15% in Q3 on Goodyear Tire and Rubber (GT) a year-over-year basis, but they The Goodyear Tire & Rubber did improve 11% on a sequential Company(NYSE: GT) sold off basis. The company increased on Wednesday by nearly 20%. GAAP earnings per share by was 45 cents per share after items V o l u m e w a s v a s t l y a b o v e more than 100% to 30 cents. were excluded, five pennies a v e r a g e . T h e t h i r d - q u a r t e r According to Bloomberg, income ahead of expectations.

Continue reading Is Goodyear a good bet after the Q3 report? Is Goodyear a good bet after the Q3 report? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 29 Oct 2009 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Read| Permalink| Email this| Comments

Apple TV 3.0 Can Play iTunes LP and Extras Like a Real Video Box [Unconfirmed] By matt buchanan (Gizmodo) Submitted at 10/29/2009 7:10:19 AM

The updated iTunes terms & conditions has a new paragraph under the iTunes LP section spilling Apple TV 3.0—namely, that it'll finally support iTunes LP and Extras viewing. Why Extras—which are like DVD extras, with bonus clips, interviews and photo galleries, but for iTunes movies—is just now on its way to Apple TV is sorta mystifying, even for their most neglected product. (What does Apple have against its tinier boxes?) It's like, the thing Apple makes expressly to plug into your TV, where you might want to watch those things. Since Apple TV 2.0, the last major update to the sad little box happened almost two years ago, maybe, just maybe, there's more to Apple TV 3.0 than just Extras and iTunes LP. Or you know, not. [ AppleInsider]

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Obama meets coffins of fallen soldiers By Daniel Nasaw (World news and comment from the Guardian | guardian.co.uk) Submitted at 10/29/2009 5:40:16 AM

Commander-in-chief makes latenight trip to Dover air force base to receive and honour remains of 18 killed in the conflict Barack Obama last night came face to face with the true cost of the war in Afghanistan, as the remains of 18 US soldiers and drug enforcement agents were unloaded from a military aircraft and returned to US soil. The unscheduled, late-night visit to Dover air force base came as the president debates whether to meet General Stanley McChrystal's request for tens of thousands more troops to fight Taliban and al-Qaida insurgents in Afghanistan. Since taking office, Obama has already ordered more than 21,000 additional troops into the country. The fallen troops, whose return Obama observed, died in two separate incidents on Monday: a Chinook helicopter carrying seven soldiers and three drug enforcement agents crashed and eight soldiers were in a vehicle struck by an improvised explosive device in the

Arghandab river valley. The total of 55 US troops killed in Afghanistan this month have made it the deadliest month in the eight-year war. The US military has endured a brutal few months, testing the nation's resolve to pursue a war that Obama says is essential for its security. In all, 902 US troops and 222 British troops have died in the war. Under George Bush, who launched the conflict in retaliation for the terrorist 9/11 attacks, news media were barred from observing the return of fallen troops through Dover airbase. The Pentagon said the measure, in place since the administration George Bush Sr, guarded the families' privacy, but critics claimed the government was trying to obscure the conflict's human toll. Obama overturned the ban this year, and allowed the families to choose whether to allow media coverage . Bush spent time with grieving military families but never went to Dover. Shortly after midnight, Obama joined a party of White House aides, military leaders and his attorney general, Eric Holder, on the tarmac at the base in Delaware.

At a chapel on the base, the president met the families of the dead. Then he and his party boarded the C-17 aircraft that flew the remains home, listened as an air force chaplain said a prayer and watched six army pall -bearers wearing black berets and combat fatigues offload each flag -draped "transfer case" from the plane to a waiting vehicle. Following the families' request, news media were permitted to witness only one transfer, that of Sergeant Dale Griffin of Terre Haute, Indiana, who was the last off the plane. The president and his party saluted as the case was placed in a white mortuary van, and again as the van drove away. Four hours later, Obama arrived back at the White House in the pre-dawn darkness and walked inside, alone. • US foreign policy • Obama administration • United States • Afghanistan Daniel Nasaw guardian.co.uk© Guardian News & Media Limited 2009 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions| More Feeds

Qooq recipe and cooking tablet pc launched for French speakers only By Laura June (Engadget)

does not have a browser (though it's got built-in weather, digital photo viewing, and internet radio Cooking tablets and recipe apps), and it's only available for readers have been pretty limited French language speakers for (and not very good) in the past -- n o w . I f y o u d o s p e a k t h e but this one looks extremely language of love, you can get one promising. Called the Qooq, the of these puppies for €349 (about 10.2-incher boasts -- in addition $513), with the subscription to a bunch of recipes, of course -- service running an additional complete meal prep videos, €12.95a month (about $19). instructions and advice on [Via Red Ferret] choosing ingredients, shopping Filed under: Handhelds, lists, meal planners -- all which H o u s e h o l d can be updated monthly via a Qooq recipe and cooking tablet subscription service. Specwise, pc launched for French speakers w e ' r e l o o k i n g a t a g l a s s only originally appeared on touchscreen, Ethernet and USB Engadget on Thu, 29 Oct 2009 ports, an SD slot, WiFi, and a 10:28:00 EST. Please see our built-in stand. The custom UI terms for use of feeds. Read| looks pretty attractive, but there Permalink| Email this| Comments are some drawbacks. The Qooq Submitted at 10/29/2009 10:28:00 AM

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'Somali pirates holding us hostage' By Sam Jones, Caroline Davies (World news and comment from the Guardian | guardian.co.uk) Submitted at 10/29/2009 7:14:52 AM

Paul Chandler tells ITV by phone that kidnappers bundled him and wife off Lynn Rival yacht in Indian Ocean Paul Chandler, who went missing with his wife in the Indian Ocean last week, has confirmed by phone that they are being held hostage by Somali pirates. Chandler, 59, told ITV News he was asleep when the pirates attacked their yacht. "I was off watch. I was asleep and men with guns came aboard. It was on Friday last week at 2.30am," he said. Earlier, the Ministry of Defence said a Royal Navy ship searching for the couple had found an empty yacht. Chandler, a former quantity surveyor, and his wife, Rachel, a 55-year-old economist, had not been heard from since last Friday when the emergency beacon was activated on their boat, the Lynn Rival. The couple, from Tunbridge Wells in Kent, were sailing from the Seychelles to Tanzania when

contact was lost. "We can confirm that a ship encountered a yacht believed to belong to Paul and Rachel Chandler in international waters," an MoD spokesman said. "[The Chandlers] were not aboard the yacht; no one was." The spokesman said there was nothing to suggest the couple had been harmed, adding that it appeared they may have been transferred to another vessel. The news emerged after a meeting was held this morning of the Whitehall emergency committee Cobra to investigate how best to bring about the release of the Chandlers. A Somali fisherman told the Associated Press that two boats carrying eight pirates and a white couple had arrived in the village of Ceel Huur, north of the pirate stronghold town of Haradhere, early today. Dahir Dabadhahan said a convoy of about 30 other pirates in six luxury vehicles met the group in front of fishermen, who were preparing their boats of the day. "The pirates opened fire into the air, waving us to move away," he said. The Chandlers' relatives met the Somali leader, Omar Sharmarke, in London yesterday. He pledged

to do everything he could to "see a peaceful solution". Rachel Chandler's brother, Stephen Collett, 58, said: "[Sharmarke] told us they do look after hostages well as they see them as trade goods and want to keep them so they can barter," he said. "Unfortunately, they [the Chandlers] have no money – it's all in the yacht." Paul Chandler's sister, Jill Marshment, 69, said the couple were "resilient people". "If I was to give a message to the pirates, I'd say you've got the wrong people," she said. "They're not a wealthy couple. They just wanted to take early retirement, to take a boat and to see more of the world." The Chandlers have been married for 28 years and have no children. They are experienced sailors but their route would have taken them near waters notorious for pirate attacks. • Piracy at sea • Somalia

Submitted at 10/28/2009 3:00:00 PM

Park Dae-Sung lived in anonymity in a small Seoul apartment, until his spot-on blogging about the imploding

By John Biggs (CrunchGear)

this costume to the children’s hospital to give them a sense of Submitted at 10/29/2009 7:30:12 AM joy to know that a hero has come Reader Anthony Le sent in his t o w i s h e s t h e m a h a p p y entry for the costume contest and H a l l o w e e n . I just had to share it with you build materials guys. It’s an amazing replica of -High impact urethane plastic the Iron Man XD suit made of -700+ rivets and washer used plastic and rivets. Anthony even -heat gun goes to his local Children’s -hot glue gun Sam Jones Caroline Davies guardian.co.uk© Guardian News Hospital in it to cheer up the kids. -boat load of hot glue sticks & Media Limited 2009 | Use of Anthony is a truly geek who -Open flip helmet “like Ironman movie” this content is subject to our inspires awe. I based the build from this -lighted chest R-T and replusor Terms & Conditions| More Feeds picture from comic-con. The gloves “like the movie” Costume is 100% home made, -flexible abdominal area, and join the build took approximately 2 covers. weeks and 5 days. I’m a very -voice changer in helmet “when busy person as well! Over 700+ spoken into, makes me sound economy began drawing tens of rivets and rivet washer used. All like a robot” thousands of pageviews — and items on the costume are 100% the attention of the government. made from scratch. I’ve lso taken

The Troubles of Korea's Influential Economic Pundit By Mattathias Schwartz (Wired Top Stories)

The.best.Iron.Man.costume.ever

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TomTom’s iPhone car kit no workie with iPod touch, first-gen iPhone By Doug Aamoth (CrunchGear) Submitted at 10/29/2009 6:41:00 AM

Bad news, you guys. If you were thinking of dropping $120 on TomTom’s iPhone car kit and then another $100 on TomTom’s navigation app for use with your first-generation iPhone or second -generation iPod touch, it now looks like you’d to run into some compatibility issues. AppleInsider is reporting“that although the Car Kit dock is compatible with all iPhone models, the TomTom application will only work with the iPhone 3GS and iPhone 3G – even with the dock connected to a firstgeneration iPhone or iPod touch.” You’ll recall that the hardware dock features its own built-in GPS chip and speaker to amplify GPS signal strength and the volume of turn-by-turn directions, so it appears that if you were to dock an iPod touch or older iPhone that you wouldn’t

Second Use for Google Wave Discovered: Role Playing Games [Google Wave] be able to take advantage of those enhancements. Basically, you’d have a $120 car charger. AppleInsider further reports that “When asked whether the application could be updated to allow it to work with the iPod touch and first-generation iPhone, a company spokesman simply said that TomTom has not made any ‘public announcements.’”

Sculptor in Chief: Futurama Writer Saves Line of Tiny Presidents By Olivier Knox (Wired Top Stories) Submitted at 10/28/2009 3:00:00 PM

Futurama writer Patric Verrone creates Lilliputian presidents

(plus the losing candidates). Since toy company Louis Marx stopped making its plastic replicas of U.S. politicians, he fills the void himself.

It doesn’t seem like it would be rocket science to add the extra compatibility, and TomTom would theoretically benefit from the expanded hardware base of potential customers but, suffice to say, it’s best to hold off for now. TomTom Car Kit, navigation software will not work with iPod touch[AppleInsider]

By Jesus Diaz (Gizmodo) Submitted at 10/29/2009 7:20:00 AM

I'm trying to like Google Wave, but at the end of the day, I can't. I don't really give a damn about it. Recreating movie scenes is cute, but hardly the life-changing paradigm they predicted. RPGs, on the other side... According to experts, Google Wave is perfect to organize role playing games. Its persistent nature allows to keep a precise record of all that is happening. Players can keep three waves: The few games I'm following typically have at least three waves: one for recruiting and

general discussion, another for out-of-character interactions ("table talk"), and the main wave where the actual in-character gaming takes place. Individual players are also encouraged to start waves between themselves for any conversations that the GM shouldn't be privy to. Character sheets can be posted in a private wave between a player and the GM, and character biographies can go anywhere where the other players can get access to them. Yeah, I don't give a damn about Google Wave. Next! [ Google Wave]

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Sony and VIZIO ditch the courtroom, clear up licensing issues By Darren Murph (Engadget)

concerns, but now it seems the two have reached a mutual Submitted at 10/29/2009 9:14:00 AM agreement to use each other's VIZIO sure ends up in a whole technologies without bickering lot of legal battles, but one way over who owns what. The release or another, it always seems to on the matter states that Sony find its way out in the long run. "has become a licensee under Such is the case once again VIZIO's patent portfolio," and today, as the current LCD TV that " VIZIO now is a licensee king has apparently said all the under Sony's color television right things to Sony. If you'll patent portfolio." Who knows recall, Sony (along with a slew of how much under-the-table cash others) filed suit against Vizio and shaky promises had to be awhile back over patent licensing passed along in order to make

everyone happy, but hey, a problem solved is a problem solved.

[Image courtesy of TooMuchNick/ WireImage] Filed under: Displays, HDTV, Home Entertainment Sony and VIZIO ditch the courtroom, clear up licensing issues originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 29 Oct 2009 09:14:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Read| Permalink| Email this| Comments

New HP Notebook Is Hearty Helping of Fast and Cheap By Christopher Null (Wired Top Stories) Submitted at 10/28/2009 4:00:00 PM

Looking for a notebook that's just as affordable as it is fast? Have a gander at the dm3 from HP. Just pay no mind to the trackpad.

Ubuntu 9.10 'Karmic Koala' released, could decide your OS fate By Thomas Ricker (Engadget)

scary text scrolls), a revamped audio framework that improves sound control across multiple It's October 2009 which means applications, and a new Software something very special for Linux Center that visually simplifies the fans: a 9.10 release of Ubuntu. Add/Remove Applications tool. Today we see the launch of These are just a few of the user"Karmic Koala" featuring a faster centric improvements meant to the OS experience and help bring graphical boot sequence (no more have a "transformative effect" on "the world of open source closer Submitted at 10/29/2009 8:31:00 AM

to the user." It's available in desktop, server, and netbook editions now so get to it, before you know it you'll be updating to Lucid Lynx. Filed under: Desktops, Laptops Ubuntu 9.10 'Karmic Koala' released, could decide your OS fate originally appeared on

Engadget on Thu, 29 Oct 2009 08:31:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Read| Permalink| Email this| Comments

Magellan SE4 navigation unit turns up at Best Buy By Donald Melanson (Engadget) Submitted at 10/29/2009 8:49:00 AM

Well, Magellan doesn't seem to be doing much talking about this one itself just yet, but Best Buy has a fresh listing for a new SE4 nav unit from the company, and

it seems to be available right now. Better still, Best Buy also looks to have knocked a full $60 off the MSRP right of the bat, bringing it down to just $119.99. That'll get you a 4.3-inch touchscreen, NAVTEQ maps of the 48 contiguous states, Hawaii POIs, and text-to-speech and turn and Puerto Rico, six million -by-turn voice prompts, but

seemingly few other notable features to speak of -- not even so much as a memory card slot or MP3 playback, if Best Buy's listed specs are right. [Via GPS Review] Filed under: GPS Magellan SE4 navigation unit turns up at Best Buy originally

appeared on Engadget on Thu, 29 Oct 2009 08:49:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Read| Permalink| Email this| Comments

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Portable HDTV and DVD player costs $300 By Doug Aamoth (CrunchGear)

Xerox announces silver ink, keeps printable electronics dream alive By Vladislav Savov (Engadget) Submitted at 10/29/2009 9:35:00 AM

Here comes Xerox, huffing and puffing its way back from obscurity with what it believes is a revolutionary new advancement. Its brand new silver ink and related printing technologies promise to make it possible for the lazy or breadboard handicapped among us to print their own circuit boards atop plastics, film, and even textiles. The wizardry of it lies in the company's development of a metallic ink

with a melting point lower than that of plastics, which allows the former to be laid (in liquid form) atop the latter. It's all very neat, and the potential for flexible, lightweight, disposable electronics is well and good, but haven't we heard this all before? Filed under: Wearables Xerox announces silver ink, keeps printable electronics dream alive originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 29 Oct 2009 09:35:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Read| Permalink| Email this| Comments

(Little Green Footballs) Submitted at 10/28/2009 7:08:35 PM

Submitted at 10/29/2009 7:05:00 AM

If you long for the ability to watch high definition TV on a seven-inch screen that’s resolution is a mere 480×234 but you also want to have the option to watch standard definition DVD’s as well, then here’s your next purchase. According to Hammacher Schlemmer, this is “The First Portable HDTV And DVD Player.” Will it be the last? Probably not. This one, however, costs a whopping $300 and features two hours of battery life for HDTV watching or 2.5 hours for DVD playback. You can also view pictures and video files using the

Video: The People Behind Doug Hoffman's Candidacy

built-in memory card reader. The digital tuner supports broadcasts in 720p and you’ll have to bring along the included “sensitive external antenna” in order to reel them in. The First Portable HDTV And DVD Player[Hammacher Schlemmer]

Michael Long is chairman of the New York state Conservative Party. This is Long’s speech to supporters on the steps of the Capitol Building in Albany (on June 9, 2009). A glimpse of the agenda of the people behind Doug Hoffman’s candidacy in New York’s 23rd congressional district.[Video] Another video from this rally:[Video] (Hat tip: Thanos.) UPDATE at 10/28/09 7:27:40 pm: Chris Matthews tries to corner Michael Long into expressing a real opinion:[Video]

RIAA's Main Anti-Piracy Partner Appears Clueless About BitTorrent By Mike Masnick (Techdirt) Submitted at 10/29/2009 2:38:41 AM

Earlier this year, the RIAA dumped its longterm anti-piracy partner MediaSentry and hired DtecNet instead. MediaSentry had lots of problems in terms of credibility, but it appears that DtecNet may be even worse. It recently came out with a report claiming that file sharing

decreased massively after The Pirate Bay went down temporarily. Not surprisingly, this report is getting some press attention. The problem? The report appears to be based on a nearly comical misunderstanding of how BitTorrent works. TorrentFreak details numerous basic mistakes in the report, nearly all of which suggest the claims made by DtecNet have

little, if anything, to do with reality. Considering that DtecNet is going to be leading the charge for the RIAA in any future lawsuits and various "three strikes" plans, the fact that it doesn't seem to understand how BitTorrent works suggests problems ahead. Permalink| Comments| Email This Story

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Dress up! Win an XBox! For serious! By John Biggs (CrunchGear) Submitted at 10/29/2009 6:49:07 AM

One Spectacular Big Bang [Image Cache] By Jesus Diaz (Gizmodo) Submitted at 10/29/2009 7:00:00 AM

Wonder at the impressive technological prowess of the genius engineers at NASA, as brave Ares launches. Be amazed at the sheer beauty of the mighty rocket as it it breaks the sound barrier, thundering the skies of

this glorious nation. OK, so it looks like a flying condom. NASA says that the six minute flight was a success. In fact, they said the vehicle flew better than expected. Good work, my dearest space boffins. Watch the video here. Images by the AP

Apple Helps You to Have Office Affairs [Retromodo] By Jesus Diaz (Gizmodo) Submitted at 10/29/2009 6:40:00 AM

Apple ads are usually quite good. Sometimes, however, they are so bad that I would like to bitchslap the copywriter. When the headline is "Start a personal relationship at the office," you know it's going down hill from

there. Actually, it doesn't only go just downhill. It crashes into a dark, smelly pothole: "And learn more about the office relationship that can free you up for other affairs." And there you were, thinking that Mad Men promoted bad stereotypes.

Halloween is coming up and if there's one thing I know it's that geeks love Halloween. The opportunity to hide behind a mask, to subvert the status quo, and to dress up like sexy nurse/sexy witch/sexy balloon boy is a cause for celebration. That said, we're offering one Xbox 360 Modern Warfare 2 Limited Edition Console to the winner of our First Annual CrunchGear Halloween Costume Contest. Here's how to enter.

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Facebook woos developers with a roadmap By Josh Lowensohn (Webware.com)

developer site. Beard says that it will remain updated with new items, planned changes, and APIs Submitted at 10/28/2009 5:49:00 PM as they are announced. The Facebook's Ethan Beard outlines company is also making publicly what the company is up to in the available a bug list, which will next six months.(Credit: CNET / show developers problems with Josh Lowensohn) the site that Facebook is working PALO ALTO, Calif.--Facebook on, as well as how they are being on Wednesday took the wraps off prioritized to be fixed. its brand new development The changes for users roadmap, unveiling changes and The new user navigation menu features the company is planning takes place of the long bar that to implement within the next used to sit on the bottom of the three to six months. page.(Credit: Facebook) Many of the changes are smaller, So what are some of the big simply rearrangements of certain changes users will see? The first parts of the user interface. is that Facebook is doing away However, the company is also with many of the visual and making some radical moves like organization changes it's made in e n f o r c i n g b a d l y w r i t t e n the last two years. That includes a p p l i c a t i o n s a n d e n a b l i n g the removal of the Windows Start developers to acquire user e-mail b a r - l i k e a p p l a u n c h e r a n d addresses as well as create notification bar that sat at the Facebook-like sites outside of the bottom of the page. That's being social network's walls. moved over to the left side of the Ethan Beard, Facebook's director page where things like filters of platform marketing, who gave currently reside. the presentation in Facebook's The new navigation bar will headquarters here, said that the house new quick jumps to menus one thing the company kept for both games and applications-hearing from developers was that something for which Facebook is they needed to know what the making a notable distinction. company was working on ahead Both will serve as a way for users of time--and not just for short- to get a bird's-eye view of what's term development, but a year happening in games or the down the line. "You want to applications they've been using, know what's going on inside of as well as what their friends are Facebook," he said. "And today up to. The company will also be is to provide you with a lot more making it easier for users to add predictability." third-party applications to the left That predictability revolves side navigation bar with some around the company's roadmap, new code that makes it a onew h i c h n o w s i t s o n a n e w click affair.

Alongside the new left side navigation Facebook is also trying to make more of a distinction between notifications that are from apps and those that are sent from other users. This change involves taking notifications out of the sometimes-dreaded notification box (which will be soon be getting the ax) and giving developers a new way to notify users with alert badges that pop up as counters. And for notifications that are sent from other users, these will soon be found in users' Facebook inboxes instead. The changes for developers One of the biggest upcoming changes for developers deals with Facebook's level of user privacy protection. The company will be letting users give app developers their e-mail address. In return they can remove their own Facebook in-box from app notification equation. This also applies to Facebook Connect, so third-party companies that use it for log-ins can send important messages directly to a user's primary e-mail instead of their Facebook in-box where it might get lost. The Connect program will also be joined by a new developer API called Open Graph that essentially lets site owners create a page on any Web site that has the same features as one of Facebook's fan pages. These will allow users to sign up to be a fan with their Facebook credentials

and use parts of the site as if they were on Facebook proper. In turn, their actions will be able to show up on their Facebook profile and news feeds. Beard said that the Open Graph API is simply a continuation of the move to add Facebook objects as well as people to third-party sites. "The graph does not necessarily have to exist in facebook," he said. "It can also live on the Web." Facebook is improving its analytics with a new system that developers can use with thirdparty analytics tools.(Credit: CNET / Josh Lowensohn) Fan pages are not the only thing to escape Facebook's walled garden though. Beard outlined the company's plans to offer developers a way to view a deeper level of analytics for their apps. The reports, which Beard says are much better than the Facebook's current Insight system, will be able to be sent to third-party analytics engines where they can be stacked up alongside performance metrics Facebook wouldn't have otherwise been able to provide. Keeping bad developers out Besides some cosmetic and back -end changes, Facebook is also stepping up how it handles developers and applications that don't conform to the site's rules and regulations. Part of that is simplifying its platform policies from 14 pages to just three. Beard says the extraneous language has been cut down, so

that hopefully more people will read it. In addition to policy, Facebook is doing away with its six-monthold verified apps program in place of verifying every single app that passes a certain use threshold. This means that Facebook is going to be evaluating every app on its service to make sure it meets the company's guidelines and getting rid of ones that might have otherwise flown under the radar. Other tidbits Facebook canvas pages are now getting a special blue bar on top that removes much of the Facebook branding and user interface. Beard said that the move was largely to help developers make their canvas pages more immersive. Profile boxes will be disappearing, and tabs will be slightly more narrow. The new Facebook games tab may implement leader boards Facebook is reworking its friends selector so that when a user is picking friends to invite or send a message, it will let them use the same filters they use to group their friends. Facebook is also working on a way to suggest a shortlist of users based on recent, or overall activity. Developers will be getting a live view into the Facebook Platform status. This is kind of like Twitter's status blog and will show all known problems as well FACEBOOK page 19

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Keep track of the World Series with these resources By Don Reisinger (Webware.com)

Series. MLB's World Series page is there for the taking.(Credit: Submitted at 10/28/2009 1:20:51 PM Screenshot by Don If you're as excited for the World R e i s i n g e r / C N E T ) Series as I am, you're probably Facebook looking for some resources that Phillies Facebook Group If you will help you stay up-to-date on plan to support the Phillies all the drama surrounding the during the World Series, you Fall Classic between the New might want to consider joining Y o r k Y a n k e e s a n d t h e the team's unofficial Facebook Philadelphia Phillies. group. There aren't many users-I've compiled a list of different about 2,500 as of this writing-resources to help you prepare for but it's filled with fans who share the big games, which begin all kinds of great content. Wednesday. For iPhone users, When I was sifting through the I've thrown in a couple of apps group's pages, I found several for when you're on the go. So photos, a lot of handy links to without further ado, let's get game-related topics, and more. going on the baseball chatter. The Facebook group also has a World Series time discussion board where fans can MLB World Series Major discuss several team-related League Baseball's World Series topics. If you plan to support the page is a great resource for those Phillies, its Facebook group is a who want to learn just about good place to start. anything related to the Fall The Facebook Phillies Group Classic. page features several neat When you get to the site, you'll pictures.(Credit: Screenshot by be able to read the news, watch Don Reisinger/CNET) videos related to the game, and Yankees Facebook Group If you watch all the interviews you want to see the Bronx Bombers might have missed. When the take another World Series, you game's playing, the site will give might want to consider joining you some updates on the progress the unofficial Yankees Facebook both teams are making. You can Group. also play World Series trivia The Yankees Facebook Group is games, buy MLB merchandise, much larger than the Phillies' and more. It's a great place to Facebook page. It has over 7,000 learn more about the World members. When you get to the

group's page, you'll find a lot of interesting content, ranging from discussions on the Yankees, photos of Yankees fans, and more. You can also read the wall, where users are talking about their predictions for the series. Since the group is larger than the Philllies' group, there is much more discussion. That helps make it a little more viable. Expect a flurry of activity in the group when the games start. Yankees Facebook Group features a lot of members.(Credit: Screenshot by Don Reisinger/CNET) iPhone Box Score Baseball If you're looking for a simple way to find out quickly what the score on the game is, check out Box Score Baseball. Box Score Baseball is a free iPhone app that provides basic information on the status of a game. You'll find the score, the inning, who's batting, who's hitting, and how many hits each team has tallied. If you just want quick updates about the game, this app is for you. Box Score Baseball has simple, but useful information.(Credit: Box Score) MLB At Bat 2009 If you're looking for the best mobile way to track the World Series, MLB At Bat 2009 is it.

MLB At Bat 2009 features all the postseason coverage you might want. You can watch games from one of seven different camera angles right on your iPhone or iPod Touch. You can also view your content in "Quad Mode" to see four different camera angles at the same time. The app lets you see every pitch, its location, and even hear the broadcast from MLB. You can also watch "condensed games" on the app, which packs the entire three-hour-plus game into a quick 10- to 12-minute snippet. I could go on, but I think you get the point: MLB At Bat 2009 is where you want to be if you can't watch the game on the big screen. And for $9.99, it's not too expensive. Get all the game updates in MLB At Bat 2009.(Credit: MLB) Twitter MLB On Fox Since the World Series will be broadcast on Fox this year, you'll probably want to consider following the MLB On Fox Twitter page. The profile gives users updates on the status of a game on Fox while it's going on. When World Series games are played, expect the profile to give you play-byplay on important points in the game. That should help you out if you don't plan on watching

Become a PowerPoint Power User By How-To Wiki (Wired Top Stories)

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professional presentations easily.

every moment of the series. World Series What better way to keep track of the World Series than to follow the updates on Major League Baseball's World Series Twitter page? The MLB's World Series Twitter page is quite informative. It features information on the teams that were in the playoffs before the Phillies and Yankees won. It also includes World Series topics. So far, the page hasn't been updated much, but now that the World Series will (finally) get under way, look for the profile to be updated often. It's a must-see. The World Series Twitter page is ready to go.(Credit: Screenshot by Don Reisinger/CNET) Twitter's MLB On Fox profile is a must-see for baseball fans.(Credit: Screenshot by Don Reisinger/CNET) My top 3 1. MLB At Bat 2009: If you're looking for the best iPhone app, this one is it. 2. MLB World Series: WorldSeries.com promises to be a fine online resource for baseball fans. 3. World Series: If you're a Twitter user, you'll definitely want to check out the World Series Twitter profile.

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Motorola sees small third-quarter profit (CNET News.com)

average, 6 cents per share. The earnings report found a favorable response on Wall Beleaguered handset maker Street. In early trading Thursday, Motorola on Thursday had some shares were up roughly 9 percent good news to offer investors, to around $8.68, following reporting a small profit for the Wednesday's closing price of third quarter. $7.96. For the three months ended The company, now some years October 3, Motorola reported net removed from its glory days with income of $12 million, or a the Razr phone, is pinning its penny per share, compared with a hopes on Google's Android loss of $397 million (and a loss software for mobile devices. In of 18 cents per share) for the year September, it unveiled its first -ago period. Android device, the Cliq. On Revenue, however, was down Tuesday, several weeks into the year over year, coming in at fourth quarter, Motorola and $5.45 billion for the third quarter Verizon Wireless unveiled the of 2009, versus $7.48 billion in A n d r o i d - b a s e d D r o i d the same quarter of 2008. smartphone. Analysts polled by Reuters had " W e d e l i v e r e d o n o u r been forecasting, on average, a commitment to improve the break-even quarter on revenue of financial performance of Mobile $5.54 billion. Devices and to commercially For the fourth quarter, Motorola launch two smartphones in time is forecasting earnings from for the fourth- quarter holiday continuing operations of between season," Sanjay Jha, co-CEO of 7 cents and 9 cents per share. Motorola and CEO of Mobile Analysts have been expecting, on Devices, said in a statement. Submitted at 10/29/2009 4:56:00 AM

"The introductions of our new products powered by Android are important milestones as we begin to address the mobilization of the Internet and the growing demand for modern smartphones. Next year, we will continue to expand our smartphone portfolio and deliver improved financial results." For the third quarter, sales for Motorola's Mobile Devices segment came in at $1.7 billion, down 46 percent from the yearago quarter, but the company did compress its operating loss for that segment to $183 million, compared with a year-ago loss of $840 million. Motorola says it shipped 13.6 million handsets during the third quarter, giving it just under 5 percent of the worldwide market share. In its Home and Networks Mobility segment, Motorola saw third-quarter sales of $2.0 billion, down 15 percent compared to the year-ago quarter. Operating

earnings were $199 million, down from $263 million a year earlier. The company's Enterprise Mobility Solutions segment logged sales of $1.8 billion, down 13 percent from the yearago quarter, while its operating earnings were $306 million, compared with $403 million in the year-ago quarter. Also on Thursday, Motorola said that Edward J. Fitzpatrick, who has been serving as the company's acting chief financial officer since February, is now its permanent CFO. This story was updated at 5:15 a.m. PDT with additional information from Motorola's Thursday statements, and again at 7:25 a.m. PDT with the stock market response. This content has passed through fivefilters.org.

By noreply@blogger.com (Ad ServeRSS) (AD ServeRSS) Submitted at 10/28/2009 5:06:00 PM

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Twitter app Brizzly adds Facebook, too By Caroline McCarthy (Webware.com) Submitted at 10/28/2009 12:08:00 PM

A look at the Facebook news feed in Brizzly. Check out the buttons at the top to toggle back and forth between Facebook and Twitter.(Credit: Brizzly) Brizzly, a Twitter client that's still private beta, on Wednesday added the ability for members to

follow their Facebook contacts as well through the Web-based service (unlike many of its competitors, Brizzly has opted to not take the form of a downloadable desktop app)--and to post Brizzly updates back to their Facebook profiles. For those of you who have Brizzly accounts, it should be live later on Wednesday if it isn't already. It's a natural move: Most Twitter

clients, like TweetDeck and Seesmic Desktop, also support updates from Facebook to one degree or another. Brizzly, created by San Francisco-based Thing Labs and spearheaded by Blogger and Google veteran Jason Shellen, makes a Twitter feed look quite a bit like a Facebook news feed by expanding image and video links from services like TwitPic and

YouTube. Through Facebook Connect, Brizzly can pull in your news feed so that you can toggle back and forth between a Twitter view and a Facebook view. But it's a little bit limited for now: currently, it's just the revamped "top stories" news feed, not the live-streaming feed that had been Facebook's default until this week.

Of note: when you've clicked on Facebook view in Brizzly, the Brizzly bear mascot is wearing a Facebook-logo sweatshirt and waving a pennant. Now that's just plain cute. UPDATE: We hear the bear's name is Phineas. Originally posted at The Social

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Happy 40th Birthday, Internet! By Stan Schroeder (Mashable!)

Fast forward to today, and the Internet has over 1.5 billion users, and most of them can’t Submitted at 10/29/2009 7:42:12 AM imagine the world without it. I remember when I first saw it. Most of you don’t need an My dad called me over to his explanation of what it is and how office, where he had a x86 PC it works; it’s one of the with a 1200 bit/s modem, which fundamental things you I’d mostly used for games (I was encounter, like rain or electricity. 15 at the time) and connecting to jumped on the train and never It’s in our blood. It brought us various BBS’. He said: there’s looked back. the ability to communicate fast, this new thing, they call it the The real beginning was a couple to connect with our friends, to Internet. I think it’ll be really of decades earlier, although no create stuff together; it brought important. one can really set the exact date us social media, Twitter and What can you do with it, I for Internet’s birth. But on Facebook. asked? You can see what’s on October 29, 1969,, the first two But unlike rain or electricity, it other computers, far away, he n o d e s o f A R P A N E T w e r e changes, faster and faster, each said. You can do it via Gopher, interconnected between UCLA’s day. Its first 40 years were just or FTP, or Cello(the predecessor School of Engineering and the beginning, and I’m really, of today’s WWW browsers). A p p l i e d S c i e n c e a n d S R I really interested in what it will There wasn’t a lot to see there, so International (SRI) in Menlo look like in another 40 years. I quickly moved onto other Park, California. It took 12 years Whatever it is, it’ll probably be things, but soon after that day, a for 213 computers to get linked unimaginable from today’s new way to browse the Internet in the network. standpoint. came out: Netscape. Somewhere after that, things Do you remember how you And suddenly, the Internet started changing, fast. Netscape – learned about the Internet? What became great. I could find out the archetypal browser – was was your first experience with it? about games and bands I’d never overrun by Internet Explorer. It Share your thoughts with us in heard of before. I could see what t o o k a b o u t 1 0 y e a r s f o r the comments. the weather is like in South Netscape’s market share to fall Image courtesy of iStockphoto, Dakota. I could create a personal from over 90% to less than 1%. Eraxion page (that’s what people did on Then Firefox started eating away Tags: birthday, internet the Internet before blogs came to at Internet Explorer’s market be) with my biography and share. Who knows what we’ll be picture for everyone to see. I browsing on in 10 years?

FACEBOOK continued from page 16

as how hard Facebook's APIs are being hit. More information about the new developer APIs can be found on Facebook's developer site. Originally posted at Web

Crawler

Nintendo's profit plunges on weak Wii sales (CNET News.com)

Resort in July and Wii Fit Plus in early September. As one of the few bright spots, Wii Sports Sinking sales and a price cut for Resort has enjoyed brisk sales. the Wii knocked Nintendo's first- The weak earnings fell short of half earnings by 52 percent. Nintendo's earlier estimate of a On Thursday, the game maker 100 billion yen profit for the first reported a profit of 69.5 billion half and prompted the company yen ($767.8 million) for the six- to lower its forecast for fiscal month period ended September 2009. Nintendo now expects 30, compared with 144.83 billion annual earnings to fall to 230 yen for the same period last year. billion yen, lower than its May Sales for the period also estimate of 300 billion yen, and tumbled, falling 34 percent to down from the 279.1 billion yen 548 billion yen. it earned in 2008. This would Nintendo blamed the shortfall on mark the first annual earnings weak sales of its Wii combined decline in six years. with its recent price cut for the Nintendo also slashed its sales game console. In September, the forecast for the full year, now company trimmed the cost of the expecting revenue of 1.5 trillion Wii in the U.S. by $50 to yen, down from its prior estimate $199.99. Nintendo said it sold of 1.8 trillion yen, an 18.4 5.75 million Wii machines percent drop from 2008. globally during the first half of The game maker is hoping for a its fiscal 2009, a huge decline brighter holiday season when gift from the 10 million units that -seeking shoppers may take flew off the shelves for the same advantage of the Wii's lower period last year. price. Nintendo is also eager to The Wii continues to face see whether its upcoming New competitive pressure from both Super Mario Bros. Wii game S o n y ' s P l a y S t a t i o n a n d proves to be a hot seller. Microsoft's Xbox, which have Reports have even surfaced that benefited from their own price the Wii may follow in the cuts. footsteps of Sony's PlayStation 3 Nintendo was also hurt by a lack by offering a Netflix streaming of hot new games for the Wii and option. portable DS game console. For This content has passed through the Wii, the company's only fivefilters.org. major releases were Wii Sports Submitted at 10/29/2009 6:46:13 AM

Tech/ TV/

Internet News Record

Google Launches Music Search With Pandora now shares MySpace, Lala, Pandora, and More with Facebook, Twitter By Adam Ostrow (Mashable!) Submitted at 10/28/2009 4:16:24 PM

Earlier today, Hitwise published a report estimating that musicrelated searches currently make up about 6% of total queries on Google. Clearly then, by integrating actual audio content that could be purchased online, Google would create a big opportunity for all of those involved. Well, Google has just answered that call, by launching a major new feature that incorporates streaming audio previews when you search for an artist, album, or song using the search engine. There’s also music discovery baked in from services like Pandora, Rhapsody, and Imeem. Google explains the product further on their blog: “Now, when you enter a musicrelated query — like the name of a song, artist or album — your search results will include links to an audio preview of those songs provided by our music search partners MySpace (which just acquired iLike) or Lala. When you click the result you’ll

somehow], I’ll get results for Phoenix’s song “Rome.” There’s a video demo as well: The biggest winner here (or at least the company that needs this the most) would seem to be MySpace, who continues to work to reinvent itself as a content and be able to listen to an audio entertainment destination where preview of the song directly from music plays a huge role. In one of those partners. For recent days, the company has example, if I search for [21st also been reported to be working century breakdown], the first on deals with both Facebook and With a Google results provide links to songs M S N . partnership now in place, at least from Green Day’s new album. one huge piece of its new MySpace and Lala also provide links to purchase the full song. distribution model is complete. Many times, though, you don’t Here’s what MySpace’s player know the name of the song or the will look like in Google music artist who sings it. Maybe you search results. Note, you can remember only the chorus — or play the track, watch the video, maybe you remember who sang or find tour info and buy tickets: it, but you forgot the exact name Google says the music search of the song. If you’ve ever heard features will be rolling out a catchy song in a car or cafe, but “gradually to users across the just can’t figure out the name of U . S . o v e r t h e n e x t d a y . ” the song, you’ll know what I’m Reviews: Facebook, Google, talking about. This search feature MySpace, Pandora, Rhapsody, also helps you find many of those imeem Tags: Google, imeem, Lala, songs by entering a search containing a line or two of lyrics. music, myspace, pandora So if I search for [static silhouette

Chelsea Handler, Giant Playboy Covers, and Jay Leno By Robert Seidman (TVbytheNumbers) Submitted at 10/28/2009 10:02:16 PM

Chelsea Handler Exclusive Playboy Reveal (2:48) First look at Chelsea Handler’s December Playboy Cover on

“The Jay Leno Show”: This content has passed through fivefilters.org.

By Harrison Hoffman (Webware.com) Submitted at 10/28/2009 4:00:00 PM

Pandora, with new Facebook, Twitter, and Gift sharing features.(Credit: Screenshot by Harrison Hoffman/CNET) Pandora on Wednesday announced the arrival of some new sharing features for the service. In the past, you have been able to share Pandora stations, but you were forced to do it via e-mail instead of taking advantage of one of the modern social networks. Now, Pandora is enabling station and song sharing via much more efficient means: Facebook and Twitter. These features work pretty much exactly how you would think they would. Clicking on the Facebook icon pops out a Facebook window, allowing you to share either the current song or station. The Twitter integration works in much the same way, enabling you to tweet out a link to the current song or station. When you click on the station link that someone has shared, it whisks you away to their Pandora station and lets you listen. However, the song links only go to a landing page that gives you a 30-second preview and an option to create a station based on that song. Oddly, this page does not

give the user the "Buy from Amazon/iTunes" option that Pandora's main app features. In addition, Pandora is bringing more attention to its stationgifting feature. This feature basically allows users to create an entirely new station, pair it with an eCard and send it off to someone. Pandora is essentially trying to create the modern version of the mixtape. This feature has been around for a little while, but it has gained little attention to this point. The more prominent placing in Pandora's music player may change that. These new sharing features should boost usage of Pandora. Tapping into the previously untouched power of Facebook's social graph and Twitter can only be a good thing. Pandora is just coming off of reaching an agreement on new royalty rates for music this summer and it's working toward its goal of being profitable by the end of the year. They're also facing some stiff competition from companies like Slacker. Pandora still has a long road ahead, but opening up its service to sharing on Facebook and Twitter is definitely a step in the right direction. Originally posted at The Web Services Report

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Internet News Record

Payments start-up Zong moves beyond mobile By Caroline McCarthy (Webware.com)

Hill Ferguson told CNET News. "You've got PayPal. You've got several of us in this mobile Submitted at 10/29/2009 2:00:00 AM payment arena. What Zong Plus The heated mobile-payment does is just elevates us into a wars are expanding...beyond different mobile payment type." mobile. Zong, one of the startOn the surface, adding ups hoping to capture the market traditional credit card payments for online micropayments billed seems to defeat the purpose of to a mobile phone, announced Zong, which inherently tries to Thursday the debut of "Zong o f f e r a s i m p l e r a n d m o r e Plus," which lets members link universal alternative for small credit or debit cards to their Zong payments (cell phone carriers put accounts. a cap on how much can be It's another move that pits Zong spent). But Ferguson said that against Boku, a competitor that Zong Plus, which is free for launched right around the same p a r t i c i p a t i n g m e r c h a n t s t o time with broader global reach-- upgrade to, "is an optional last month, it announced its feature for consumers who have expansion to subscription-based payments cards and feel that the services in addition to on-demand i n c e n t i v e t h a t w e o f f e r i s micropayments. powerful enough for them to A t l a u n c h , Z o n g P l u s i s open up their wallet and type in c o m p a t i b l e w i t h V i s a , the information." MasterCard, Discover, and What's that incentive? Part of American Express accounts, Zong Plus is a loyalty program "Today you've got a variety of that will rack up points much like products for different kinds of airline miles. In a participating payments and services," vice game or other micropaymentspresident of product management linked application, this means

that when enough points have been accrued, the member may be alerted that their next purchase is "on the house." Whether it will work is still unclear. Zong has deals with social gaming and virtual-world companies like OMGPOP, IMVU, and Gaia Online, but there are still enough rivals offering similar packages as well as the off chance that a big ecommerce player like PayPal could launch a service of its own and snuff out the competition. The announcement comes in advance of the Virtual Goods Summit in San Francisco, where pretty much any start-up involved in the latest generation of e-commerce (read: magic swords and Mafia dons) will be showing off its wares. Plenty of other companies will be making announcements, too, presumably some in the payments space. Originally posted at The Social

Jessica Biel About to Get 'Engaged' (ETonline - Breaking News) Submitted at 10/29/2009 4:10:00 AM

No, Jessica Biel has not been ring shopping with boyfriend Justin Timberlake. The actress will be starring in the film

'F***ing Engaged,' according to The Hollywood Reporter. This comedy focuses on an engaged couple who agree to make love every day leading up to their nuptials because they don't want to turn into their

crusty old parents, The Hollywood Reporter says. Biel can next be seen in 'Nailed' and 'Valentine's Day.'

Photographers Can Do CwF+RtB Experiments, Too By Michael Ho (Techdirt) Submitted at 10/28/2009 9:34:00 PM

Michiel Rhoen writes in to tell us about photography instructor and author, Thom Hogan, who has embraced the CwF+RtB philosophy by offering a limited edition deal(only 25 spots available with 4 already taken at the time of writing this) where Mr. Hogan will sit down one-onone with each buyer for 3 hours. During those 3 hours, Hogan is game for almost any kind of photography consulting, giving his professional advice on camera equipment, portfolio reviews, help with post processing work or just a long chat over a meal together. But that's not all... The complete Thom Hogan Limited Edition package (US$849) includes: • A full normal package for the book, Complete Guide to the Nikon D700(CD and To Go Guide), a US$49.99 value • A full printed version of the main book in black and white, a US$29.99 value • A full printed, signed, numbered version of the main book in color, a US$99.99 value • All of the above shipped to you via Priority Mail • All future updates of the book,

if any, delivered free, a likely US$14.99 value or more • Three hours of personal, oneon-one time with Thom, a US$750 value So this deal is aimed directly at folks who own a very specific camera and who happen to be able to travel to see Hogan when he's available for the one-on-one time. It's not exactly going to make Hogan a millionaire (at best, it's going to make him $21,225 gross). But it's a great example of how an author can take advantage of actual scarcities (Hogan's time and expertise) as part of a business. I do find it interesting that Hogan's limited edition offer is an experiment that might demonstrate the advantages of selling an author's time over selling content that is already created. I imagine if this package sells out, that Hogan will expand this limited offer to other specific cameras. And I'd bet he'd even be able to crowdfund a new book if enough amateur photographers ask him to create his next "complete guide" for a camera he might not otherwise have reviewed. Permalink| Comments| Email This Story

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Google Maps Navigation Launch Aftermath: Yes, This Will Be Huge By Stan Schroeder (Mashable!) Submitted at 10/29/2009 3:18:18 AM

Yesterday, we wrote about a new, free product from Google: Google Maps Navigation. Another free Google perpetual beta product, one might say; nothing to get overly excited about. Well, the first reviews and reactions are in, and it seems that this is one of those Google products that change the landscape of an entire industry. GPS turn-by-turn navigation has historically always been something you had to pay for. Creating and maintaining a map of the entire world, together with points of interests and traffic info, plus developing the algorithms that make sure you don’t take a wrong turn, costs millions of dollars. But Google is now offering it for free. The result was devastating for shares of GPS navigation companies: Garmin’s shares fell by 16.4%; TomTom’s by 20.8%. We’re talking billions of dollars of

market capitalization, gone in one day, just because Google presented another free product (they release new products on a monthly, if not weekly basis). This doesn’t necessarily mean that TomTom and Garmin are going out of business. But it means that this entire space has fundamentally changed, and the market reacts to developments like that. Do they do have something to fear? Absolutely. Google Maps Navigation isn’t some halfbaked, crippled free version of GPS turn-by-turn navigation. In most areas, it’s comparable with standalone GPS navigation solutions, and it even brings some novelties to the table, for example Google’s fantastic satellite view and Street View.

The folks over at Engadget have tested it out with a Droid, you can check the results in the video below. Right now, Google Maps Navigation works only on Android 2.0 devices. But as it spreads to other platforms and devices, it’s obvious that everyone will get it. After all, it’s free, so why not? People who used GPS navigation before will get it to see how well it works. People who never cared about it will try it out to see how it’s like. In a matter of months, Google will control a huge, previously untapped portion of the market. From their competitors’ perspective, it’s a nightmare. From the user’s perspective, it’s fantastic: a free alternative for a service that you previously had to pay for. It’ll be interesting to see where Google takes this, but I have a feeling that GPS navigation will get far more exciting in the future. Reviews: Android, Google Tags: Google Maps Navigation

This Is Why You’re Fat (And About to Get a Little Bit Fatter) By Adam Ostrow (Mashable!) Submitted at 10/29/2009 7:38:40 AM

Deep fried chocolate cake, tacos wrapped in pepperoni pizza, the “fat bastard burger” … these are all reasons that America has an obesity problem, and the basis for a recent Internet phenomenon – the blog called “ This Is Why You’re Fat” (TIWYF) that showcases excessive junk food items. The blog recently joined a host of other Internet memes by scoring a book deal, and is celebrating its release by holding a very cool (and fattening) promotion in New York City today where fans of the site can enjoy the type of food items that make up TIWYF’s content. TIWYF has teamed up with six New York City food trucks (all of whom have their own Twitter accounts) to offer a TIWYFinspired item today. Through its own Twitter account, TIWYF will be periodically announcing the location of each truck. The first fan to post pics of themselves eating all 6 items

wins the prize: a private food cart party for them and 25 of their friends. Meanwhile, if you don’t have time to make it to all six or simply don’t want to throw down a few thousand extra calories today, you can follow the pictures others are uploading on TIWYF’s Facebook Page. In the future, the company is hoping to bring similar challenges to other cities with burgeoning food cart cultures like Portland, LA, and San Francisco. In all, it’s a smart and fun integration of TIWYF’s brand with the real world activities that the site chronicles. Reviews: Twitter Tags: Food, MARKETING, social media, this is why you're fat

Hollywood Hunks Cite Chivalry as Gentlemanly Quality (ETonline - Breaking News)

ET caught up with some of Hollywood's most handsome

studs at "GQ Magazine's Gentlemen's Ball" and they

revealed what it takes to win over a lady's heart.

Tech/ Politics/

Internet News Record

Uncle Walt says "Apple's built-in software still has the edge" By Steven Sande (The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW))

Snow Leopard is fast and reliable. And it comes with a full suite of excellent built-in programs, including email, photo Submitted at 10/29/2009 12:00:00 AM and video software. Microsoft Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, has stripped Windows 7 of such Software, Blogging, Snow programs. Some PC makers have Leopard Walt Mossberg, the restored some or all of these in curmudgeonly, smooth-pated certain models, although I personal technology blogger at consider Apple's counterparts The Wall Street Journal's All better. Another huge plus: The Things Digital, has released his Shopping." Mac isn't susceptible to the vast While Walt points out the majority of viruses and spyware. fall computer-buying guide. And obvious -- that Windows PCs are That's high praise again from the when Walt talks, people listen. Mossberg is usually very kind to usually less expensive than Macs Prince of Personal Tech, and a Apple products, which probably and that Windows 7 has closed list of good arguments for us explains why he gets the latest the gap between the operating "Apple Fanboys" to bring up and greatest equipment sent to s y s t e m s i n t e r m s o f u s e r - when we're faced with Windowshim by the guys in Cupertino friendliness -- he also goes on to lovers. prior to release, and we don't. In say some very nice things about TUAW Uncle Walt says his latest guide, he says some Macs: "Apple's built-in software still surprisingly nice things about But Apple's hardware is stylish has the edge" originally appeared Windows PCs. That's mostly due and sturdy, and, in my tests, on The Unofficial Apple Weblog to the progress in usability and Macs usually boot faster than (TUAW) on Thu, 29 Oct 2009 friendliness brought about by the W i n d o w s m a c h i n e s . P l u s , 00:00:00 EST. Please see our recent release of Windows 7. But Apple's chain of retail stores terms for use of feeds. he also goes on to say some very offers a better buying experience Read| Permalink| Email this| interesting things in his lead-in and strong post-purchase support. Comments post, titled " Operating Systems Also, in my view, Apple's builtProvide New Choices in PC in software still has the edge.

GateHouse Media Strikes Again: Claims Headlines, Ledes Are Covered By Copyright, Threatens Forum By Mike Masnick (Techdirt)

copyrighted property of GateHouse Media... and that your Submitted at 10/29/2009 6:33:15 AM copying constitutes infringement Remember GateHouse Media? of GateHouse's rights under U.S. The regional news company sued Copyright law. This infringement the NY Times for linking to it, is not excused by links to the c l a i m i n g i t w a s c o p y r i g h t original stories or by indicating infringement to include the the name of the publication in headline and a brief snippet along which the content originated. Of with the link (you know, like c o u r s e , i t ' s n o t c l e a r t h a t Google...). Amusingly, it turned copyright law actually agrees out that GateHouse Media was w i t h t h a t . A n d , e v e n i f doing the same thing. Eventually GateHouse is correct, this makes the two companies settled, and no sense whatsoever. It's not as apparently that's convinced if people reading the Masscops G a t e H o u s e M e d i a t h a t forums are doing so as a complaining about such links is a substitute for some GateHouse good idea. Media news sites. If anything, Via CitMediaLaw we found out Masscops is sending traffic to that GateHouse Media has sent a them, and helping new readers cease & desist letter to an online discover GateHouse's sites. forum, claiming not just that its What sort of company turns stories are covered by copyright, down links and traffic? Not one but that its headlines and ledes. that's long for this world... We wish to advise you that the Permalink| Comments| Email stories, headlines and/or ledes This Story that you are copying are the

Steele Continues Backing Scozzafava (Little Green Footballs)

etc.) are rushing to the side of Doug Hoffman in the NY-23 election, but Michael Steele The religious right and social s t a n d s f o r l o r n l y b y D e d e conservatives (Tim Pawlenty, S c o z z a f a v a . Sarah Palin, Michele Bachmann, Republican National Committee James Dobson, Rick Santorum, (RNC) Chairman Michael Steele Submitted at 10/28/2009 10:15:19 AM

stuck by Republican special election candidate Dede Scozzafava in an interview on MSNBC’s Morning Joe on Wednesday. “I support the Republican nominee as the Republican Party

chairman, and that’s the way it should go, right?” Steele said in a light-hearted exchange (video at about 5 minues in).

Tech/

Internet News Record

Attacks on Google suggest it is winning

New Avatar Trailer Hits the Web [VIDEO]

(CNET News.com)

By Christina Warren (Mashable!)

lawsuit cheaply, and it's unlikely that Symbian's noise will unduly distract it. It may not end up You can look at Google's dominating mobile, for a variety growing market share in of reasons, but it's going to be a Android, its dominance in search, significant competitor, just as it is and elsewhere as signs that it's in search and increasingly in winning in its markets. But for enterprise computing. me, the best indicator that Google After all, Google is innovating in is winning is the increasingly infringement, but has endured Android, as CNET reports, and vitriolic attacks piled on it. hundreds of patent lawsuits, generally pushing the envelope You want a piece of me? nearly all of them ultimately on what's possible in computing: You can always spot a winner by found worthless. mobile, "desktop," and the bull's-eye painted on it. No But it's not just patent trolls that cloud/server. Importantly, open one bothers to diss a loser. are on the scent. Symbian, the source is a central strategy in Or sue them. Red Bend one-time leader in mobile phone each of these areas, which may Software has launched what operating systems, has gone on be one of the things that most appears to be a specious patent the offensive, claiming Google is riles the incumbent competitors claim against Google, alleging "evil" and fear-mongering about in its markets. that Google's Chrome browser w h a t G o o g l e w i l l d o w i t h For Google, the increasing violates its patent (6,546,552) by consumer data gathered with its vehemence of the attacks on it i n c l u d i n g t h e C o u r g e t t e Android software. should signal that it's doing algorithm, which enables Google Is this an indication that something right. In fact, many to push compressed software Symbian can't compete in the "somethings" right. updates to the browser. market and must instead resort to This content has passed through As Microsoft learned years ago, FUD? fivefilters.org. success breeds patent lawsuits. Google may ultimately be able Microsoft rarely sues over to get out of the Red Bend intellectual property Submitted at 10/29/2009 7:07:28 AM

Submitted at 10/29/2009 7:13:32 AM

Although the official trailer isn’t supposed to hit the web until tomorrow, Film School Rejects has tracked down a high-quality foreign leak (we think it’s from Thailand, but if you recognize the language let us know in the comments) that they got via The Film Stage. The Film Stage also has an unreleased featurette with even more new footage. The film has had a tremendous amount of buzz on and offline, because of its big budget, revolutionary filmmaking techniques and because this is James Cameron’s first film since “Titanic” more than a decade ago. The first trailer came out in August and Fox has been pushing this movie hardcore — with the “Avatar Day” IMAX promotion and its Twitter and Facebook accounts. Check out the second trailer

below. This trailer sets the stage for the film far better than the other released material and really gives the audience and sense of what the film is about. Avatar is due in theaters on December 18th. If the trailer is to go offline, we’re pretty confident the movie blogs will have us covered and we’ll update the post accordingly. What do you think of the latest “Avatar” trailer? Has the onlinebuzz affected your excitement level? Let us know! Reviews: Facebook, Twitter Tags: avatar, james cameron, movie trailers, trailers

Sprint losses and customer defections continue (CNET News.com) Submitted at 10/29/2009 5:29:00 AM

Sprint Nextel is still losing customers, the company said Thursday as it reported a thirdquarter loss. Sprint's losses widened to $478

million, or 17 cents a share, during the quarter that ended September 30, from a loss of $326 million, or 11 cents a share, a year earlier. Revenue fell nearly 9 percent to $8.04 billion. Results were slightly worse than analysts had expected. Analysts

had been looking for Sprint to report a loss of 15 cents per share on revenue of $8.09 billion. Sprint continued to lose customers, as it has for several quarters. But it lost fewer customers than analysts had expected. Sprint lost a total of

801,000 subscribers in the quarter. Analysts had expected the company to lose 870,000 socalled post-paid customers. Meanwhile, Sprint competitors AT&T and Verizon Wireless added 2 million and 1.2 million customers, respectively.

Sprint's churn rate, or the rate at which customers dump its service, was 2.17 percent, up from 2.05 percent in the second quarter. This content has passed through fivefilters.org.

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Count The Beats: Hey DJ, play us a song... By Matt Tinsley (The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW)) Submitted at 10/29/2009 7:00:00 AM

Filed under: Audio, iPhone, iPod touch, First Look, App Review, Music Here in the UK, it's getting pretty chilly on the willy compared to a month ago, or so. The warm memories of the summer are slowly dwindling to the reality of earlier, darker evenings (the clocks have just gone forward) as well as tentative first visits from our old friend Jack Frost. Generally speaking, the cold grasp of winter is steadily fastening on us ( or not). But we are blessed with a few heart warming occasions over the winter season (Christmas, New Years Eve etc) that make the

cold, well, a little less nippy on the bone. One of these such occasions is, of course, Guy Fawkes night(Remember remember the 5th of November...) And, to me, that means one thing, HOUSE PARTY! And what does a great

house party need? An authentic DJ. So when I heard my main man Dan the DJ couldn't make the party (or at the least lend me his decks) I turned to the next best thing, Sonorasaurus- the first complete deejay setup for the

iPhone / iPod Touch. At this point you may be wondering what a DJ app has to do with ' Count The Beats', or, in fact making music on an Apple platform, but it quite literally has everything to do with it. Come on, we all know that deejays are real musicians too, right? Continue reading Count The Beats: Hey DJ, play us a song... TUAW Count The Beats: Hey DJ, play us a song... originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Thu, 29 Oct 2009 07:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Read| Permalink| Email this| Comments

New Cute Kid Pics! 'Jon & Kate''s Adorable Eight! (ETonline - Breaking News) Submitted at 10/29/2009 3:32:00 AM

Despite intense feuding between their estranged parents, Jon and Kate Gosselin's eight children have been lighting up the TV with their infectious smiles and adorable ways for five seasons. Take a look at brand-new pics of "Jon & Kate"'s adorable eight! Keep clicking to see pics of the cute kids in gym class, on a butterfly outing and playing baseball!

The Apple tablet that wasn't By Mike Schramm (The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW))

just about an inch thick, with a screen the same size as a Mac Portable. They were bringing a few different companies in on the Submitted at 10/29/2009 3:00:00 AM deal, and apparently it worked F i l e d u n d e r : H a r d w a r e , well -- ran a full Mac OS, used a P o r t a b l e s , O d d s a n d e n d s pen to control or let you plug in a TechCrunch has posted pictures mouse and keyboard, and there of what they're calling an was even a smaller version called "unlaunched Apple tablet." In the PenLite(bulky by today's 1990, as the story goes, Apple standards, but remember that this was supposedly working on a pen is 20 years ago now). -based touchscreen tablet called So why weren't we all using the Pen Mac that was actually tablet computers 20 years ago? extremely small for the time -- T e c h C r u n c h b l a m e s J o h n

Sculley, who apparently thought the tablet idea was out, and the PDA idea was in, and we ended up with the Newton instead. I

touchscreen tablet craze even be here if it weren't for the iPhone? And isn't Apple's smartphone just a hop, skip and a jump from their original PDA? TUAW The Apple tablet that wasn't originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Thu, 29 Oct 2009 03:00:00 EST. Please see our won't second guess him -- while terms for use of feeds. it's easy to think that anything Read| Permalink| Email this| could have beaten the Newton, Comments would the current Apple

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Examiner.com invades 5 The Cost of Larry Canadian cities Johnson’s Gay Slur on Twitter: $213,000 By Don Reisinger (Webware.com)

Submitted at 10/28/2009 4:20:00 PM

Hyper-local publishing company Examiner.com is set to launch its service in five Canadian cities. According to the organization, Examiner will now provide localized content to those living in Calgary, Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto, and Vancouver. The company will also offer national content for all those not living in the five cities. Examiner is growing up quickly since its launch in April 2008. Examiner now provides localized content in 162 U.S. cities, according to a company spokesperson. It plans to add 40 more markets in the coming months. With the expansion to Canada now under way, the

spokesperson told me in a phone conversation on Wednesday that the company plans to bring its service to the U.K. and Australia by the first quarter of 2010. Examiner's foray into the Canadian market follows its strategy in the U.S. market, the spokesperson said. When it launched in the U.S., only five cities were covered. Today, local "examiners" are posting more than 15,000 stories per week. Examiner is currently looking for Canadians who are "passionate about their interests and areas of expertise" to join one of the markets' local sites. When Examiner chooses a writer, they provide training on how to write articles. All writers are paid based on performance and other metrics.

Submitted at 10/28/2009 10:29:51 AM

Eric Schmidt says he can search real-time stuff, but how to do ranking? Good question. Would have been easier had Twitter not

polluted the follower-count measure of authority. But you can still do it by making it relevant on a personal level. Someone I follow is a lot more relevant than someone I don't. After that people who are followed by people I follow. That

By Mike Masnick (Techdirt)

By Adam Ostrow (Mashable!)

Submitted at 10/28/2009 7:21:16 PM

Submitted at 10/28/2009 8:57:48 PM

It's certainly become popular on blogs and on Twitter to create "fake" satirical versions of various famous people. These are usually humorous (or they try to be) over-the-top representations of these celebrities. Usually, they are quite obvious, even to the point of saying that they are "the fake so-and-so" or clearly stating in the bio that this is fake. There should be no confusion around such things. However, a journalist in India who created a "fake" satirical Twitter profile for Indian politician Shashi Tharoor has found herself banned from Twitter without any explanation or chance to appeal. Now, obviously it is Twitter's right to decide whether or not to shut down certain accounts, but you would think with such an obviously fake profile that the company might be a bit more careful and, at the very least, communicate with the account holder about the issues with the account before just shutting it down. Permalink| Comments| Email This Story

It was inevitable: a big time pro athlete has been suspended for comments made on Twitter, and the price tag is a big one. The player is Larry Johnson of the Kansas City Chiefs and the cost of his offense is $213,000, the amount he would have earned for the game he’ll miss due to being suspended by the team. Johnson was suspended for the gay slurs he directed at a Twitter heckler earlier in the week, a comment he apparently repeated in the Chiefs’ locker room. We’ve seen a few similar albeit smaller incidents in the past, like when Antonio Cromartie of the San Diego Chargers was fined $2500 for tweeting about his team’s less than stellar food at training camp, and when Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban used his account to criticize

referees. The lesson here is fairly clear: Twitter and other social media are going to be viewed the same any other medium, with the messages carrying the same amount of weight. While some stars are capitalizing on that, others are seemingly struggling to come to terms with it. Perhaps now that the steep price tag of poor Twitter behavior has been revealed, the lesson will be quickly learned. Image courtesy of iStockphoto, tforgo Reviews: Twitter, iStockphoto Tags: football, nfl, sports, twitter

How to rank real-time search (Scripting News)

Twitter Banning Satirical 'Fake' Versions Of Politicians?

immediately cuts down the power of the super-elites with millions of followers (they tend not to follow many). Google is onto it with their social search. I've been asking for that, but in a different form. I want to tell them that I'm the

author of this blog. Now they know a lot more about what my interests are. 7/26/09: Two-way search. So it would be nice if ranking were a personal thing. Keep going the way you're going Eric.

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Trademark Claims: The Option Of Choice For Censoring Critics By Mike Masnick (Techdirt) Submitted at 10/28/2009 11:36:00 PM

Seeds, Tools, and Training

Via Michael Scott, we learn about how the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) tried to shut down a blog critical By noreply@blogger.com (Ad d e a t h s c a n b e t r a c e d t o of the group using a trademark ServeRSS) (AD ServeRSS) malnutrition and hunger. But you claim. While the AFT eventually can help these children reach backed down, after pretty much Submitted at 10/28/2009 4:35:00 PM their God-given potential. everyone made it clear that it had Every day is a fight for survival Your gift today will go toward no chance to win a trademark in many parts of Africa. But you World Vision programs in 19 claim against a site that was can help thousands of suffering countries across Africa. You’ll clearly criticizing it, Ron children and families survive — help provide seeds and tools to Coleman makes the point that and thrive. Your gift to provide assist farmers in raising crops trademark is the "tort of choice seeds, tools, and training will be a n d l i v e s t o c k , t r a i n i n g i n for censors." I'd suggest that multiplied 4 times by grant improved agricultural techniques, copyright isn't far behind, but it's f u n d s , a n d c a n m e a n t h e and guidance on environmental (CNET News.com) than the original DSi(Credit: r e a l l y a m a z i n g h o w o f t e n difference between life and death protection. Your gift can also trademark holders try to use Nintendo Japan) for hungry children. help provide emergency food, Submitted at 10/29/2009 6:12:00 AM Tor Thorsen has additional trademark claims to censor any Severe food shortages often clean water, and other care as Nintendo has taken the wraps off details on the DSi LL/XL at kind of speech they dislike about r e s u l t f r o m f a c t o r s t h a t needed to fight child hunger in a n e w v e r s i o n o f t h e D S i GameSpot. But, with the possible their mark. And even if the compound each other: poor Africa. handheld that sports larger 4.25- exception of some bundled DSi trademark claim has no chance of farming techniques, overplanting, Help African families get back inch dual screens. The portable Ware titles, this is exactly what it winning, it often doesn't matter to environmental decline, drought, o n t h e i r f e e t w i t h c r i t i c a l gaming unit will be considerably looks like: a supersized version those who simply can't afford the and natural disasters. Nutritious resources like seeds, tools, and bigger than current and previous of the DSi. We're still scratching time or the money to fight such food is critical for a child’s training to grow food for years to DS and DSi models. It will be our head as to who would claims. growth and development. In fact, come. dubbed the DSi LL in Japan actually want one of these, since Permalink| Comments| Email more than half of all childhood w h e r e i t g o e s o n s a l e o n we've always felt the pocketable This Story November 21 for 20,000 yen aspect of the DS/DSi was one of (about $220). In Europe, the unit its great advantages. On the other will be known as the DSi XL hand, many of us never expected (Financial Times - US this year. homepage) It gave the update on job losses when it appears on store shelves Nintendo titles like Wii Fit to as it announced a decline in third- in the first quarter of 2010. achieve megahit status, either. Submitted at 10/29/2009 4:23:15 AM quarter profit that was a little Nintendo did not provide details What about you: would you be Royal Dutch Shell said on smaller than analysts had, on on a possible North American interested in buying the DSi LL? launch. Share your thoughts below. Thursday that a total of 5,000 average, expected. staff would be leaving the Anglo- This content has passed through The DSi LL's larger screens This content has passed through require a much larger housing fivefilters.org. Dutch oil and gas group as part fivefilters.org. of a restructuring begun earlier

DSi LL: Nintendo supersizes its gaming handheld

Shell shake-up to shed 5,000 jobs

Tech/ Sports/

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Apple to bring changes to retail stores By Dave Caolo (The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW))

Lawsuit Against Cable Companies For Not Offering A La Carte Channels Dismissed

Submitted at 10/29/2009 9:00:00 AM

By Mike Masnick (Techdirt)

Filed under: Apple Corporate, Retail, Holidays As the holiday season brings additional shoppers to Apple's retail stores, they'll be making changes to ensure a pleasant experience for the new customers, ifoAppleStore reports. First, they're going to ditch the color-coded Starfleet uniform Tshirts, which shoppers have found confusing. Instead, all employees will wear the same color. Next, the handheld checkout devices will be swapped out for speciallyequipped iPod touches. A new scanner accessory will interact with point-of-sale software on the iPods. Best of all, employees will be able to accept cash from customers right where the stand,

Submitted at 10/29/2009 4:44:00 AM

eliminating the often timeconsuming walk to the cash register. Watch for these changes at an Apple Store near you. TUAW Apple to bring changes to retail stores originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Thu, 29 Oct 2009 09:00:00 EST. By Sang Tang (The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW)) Please see our terms for use of Submitted at 10/29/2009 8:05:00 AM feeds. Read| Permalink| Email this| Filed under: Odds and ends Comments Didn't it seem like it was ages ago that those Microsoft commercials with Jerry Seinfeld and Bill Gates commercials aired? You know, the one with the shopping for shoes, as well as the one with the duo bonding By Associated Press assists for the 25th triple-double with a family. Don't remember? (ESPN.com) of his career. Well, apparently neither does • The Cavaliers dropped to 0-2 J e r r y S e i n f e l d , w h o w a s Submitted at 10/28/2009 9:23:58 PM for the first time since the 2004- purportedly paid USD $10 Fast Facts 05 season. million for the commercials. • Andrea Bargnani scored 28 • Cleveland had won its previous In the latest episode of HBO's points on 11 of 15 shooting, five games against the Raptors Curb Your Enthusiasm-- which helping the Raptors hand the before Wednesday's loss. Cavaliers their second straight -- ESPN Stats & Information loss. This content has passed through • LeBron James finished with 23 fivefilters.org. points, 11 rebounds and 12

Raptors get 28 from Bargnani, knock off Cavs

Seinfeld back with the Mac in latest Curb episode happens to be one of my all time favorite shows -- Jerry is actively discussing ideas with Seinfeld creator, Larry David. In the scene, a MacBook Pro is prominently shown on Jerry's desk. Not that there's anything wrong with that. TUAW Seinfeld back with the Mac in latest Curb episode originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Thu, 29 Oct 2009 08:05:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink| Email this| Comments

Two years ago, a class action lawsuit was filed against the cable companies for not offering a la carte channels. This is an issue that gets people up in arms -- even as studies have suggested that mandated a la carte would cost consumers more(though, others dispute those findings). On the whole, I think that a la carte offerings that let people choose their own channels would certainly make consumers much happier (a good thing), but I have trouble believing that it should be mandated by the government. So does the district court where the lawsuit was filed. It's now been dismissed, with the court saying that the plaintiffs failed to show the harm to the market. Of course, the case will be appealed, so this is a long way from over. Permalink| Comments| Email This Story

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EBay Says No to Scott Roeder Benefit Auction (Little Green Footballs)

iTunes TOS update hints at Apple TV 3.0 software By Megan Lavey (The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW))

check of my Apple TV reveals no update has been pushed to the devices as of yet. Many thanks to those who Submitted at 10/29/2009 10:00:00 AM submitted the tip! Filed under: iTS, Apple TV TUAW iTunes TOS update hints A new terms of service at Apple TV 3.0 software agreement has been posted up for originally appeared on The iTunes users to approve when U n o f f i c i a l A p p l e W e b l o g purchasing songs, movies or apps (TUAW) on Thu, 29 Oct 2009 -- but a read of the summary 10:00:00 EST. Please see our reveals that Apple TV 3.0 terms for use of feeds. software is on the way. Thus far, Read| Permalink| Email this| all we know is that the update Comments will include support for iTunes LP s and iTunes Extras. A quick

killing Wichita abortion doctor George Tiller will not be permitted, company officials said The Kansas City Star’s Judy L. Tuesday. Thomas reports that eBay has “Based on the details we know rejected an auction by anti- about the anticipated listings, we abortion extremists intended to believe these would violate our raise money for Scott Roeder, the policy regarding offensive alleged murderer of Dr. George material,” the company said in a Tiller. The auction would have statement to The Kansas City included items such as an Army Star. “EBay will not permit the of God manual, a “cookbook” items in question to be posted to compiled by a woman in prison the eBay site, and they will be for abortion clinic bombings, and removed if they are posted.” signed drawings by Roeder. Roeder’s psycho-fanatical fans An eBay auction planned by are as unacquainted with the US abortion opponents to raise Constitution and the meaning of money for the man accused of the First Amendment as they are Submitted at 10/28/2009 11:38:49 AM

with simple human decency. Those working on the fundraiser said banning the auction was a violation of their rights. “They’re not only chilling the First Amendment of the Constitution, they’re raping the whole Constitution,” said Regina Dinwiddie, a Kansas City abortion opponent and friend of Roeder. Apparently Dinwiddie and her posse are trying to get Roeder to plead “justifiable homicide” in the murder of of Dr. Tiller. Otherwise known as a “good luck with that” defense.

Obama Administration Opposes UN Anti-Defamation Laws (Little Green Footballs)

barring the defamation of religion. By “religion,” the OIC means “Islam.” The Obama administration, Secretary of State Hillary through Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton criticized on Clinton, came out strongly today Monday an attempt by Islamic against the Organization of the countries to prohibit defamation Islamic Conference’s efforts to of religions, saying such policies get the UN Human Rights would restrict free speech. Council to adopt resolutions “Some claim that the best way to Submitted at 10/28/2009 3:54:26 PM

protect the freedom of religion is to implement so-called antidefamation policies… . I strongly disagree,” Clinton said. “The protection of speech about religion is particularly important since persons of different faiths will inevitably hold divergent views on religious questions.” While unnamed in Clinton’s

speech, the Organization of the Islamic Conference, a group of 56 Islamic nations, has been pushing hard for the U.N. Human Rights Council to adopt resolutions that broadly bar the defamation of religion. The effort has raised concerns that such resolutions could be used to justify crackdowns on free

speech in Muslim countries. Earlier today, President Obama signed into law a new hate crimes bill that has been enraging the religious right, because it extends federal hate crimes to include assaults against people due to sexual orientation.

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Put Together a Winter Car Emergency Kit [Winter Upgrades] By Jason Fitzpatrick (Lifehacker)

average American you can go a very long time without food. You won't last very long frozen solid Submitted at 10/29/2009 6:30:00 AM and you won't last very long Earlier this week we talked without water, and you'll hasten about an emergency kit for your the former by getting the water home, now it's time to focus on you need from the icy snow your car and how to be prepared around you. for the unpleasantness of being The water situation can be a stranded in a winter wonderland. tricky one, after all if you've been Compared to creating a home driving for hours out in the cold winter emergency kit a car the giant jug of water you've got emergency kit has two principle in the trunk is likely as frozen as differences. First, you're severely the snow on the back bumper. limited on space compared to This is where having smaller home preparations—and you water containers is much handier, burn extra gas hauling your loot smaller bottles are easier to thaw around. Second, when the power out in the heat of the car. goes out and the party stops at Alternately you can keep your your house, you're still at home water in a small cooler. I have a safe and sound. When your car $19 Coleman cooler that can gets stuck in the middle of no keep drinks cold in my trunk for where and it's 12F out, it's a almost a week, it could certainly radically worse situation that work in the opposite direction could end tragically. Keep Your and keep things unfrozen longer. Car Topped Off and Well If you live in a particularly rough Serviced and isolated area, you might You can't avoid every curve ball thought "Man I'm glad I skipped for the absolute worst mind you, isn't going to buy you a whole lot consider keeping an emergency Old Man Winter will throw at that $200 tune up." Photo by nobody expects you to keep a of time or comfort. At minimum stove and small camp pan in your you, but if you run out of gas on T o m e L e m o . A s s e s s Y o u r surgical kit and a guide to field you should plan to be stuck with kit for melting snow—the two a lonely and frozen highway Driving Patterns and Plan for the s u r g e r y i n y o u r c a r . M o s t your car for a day—it's a rarity to will run you under $15. because you'd passed a half Worst emergency kits fall woefully be in such a situation but the cost Food is, as noted above, not as dozen gas stations while running The amount of inclement short through. What if the of being prepared versus the cost critical as water but you should on less than a quarter of a tank, weather preparation you'll need accident/stranding/car breaking of being unprepared makes it a include it anyway. You'll want to you can't exactly point your to undertake is largely dependent down leaves you stuck in the veritable bargain to make sure focus on packing calorie-dense, finger at anyone. The same goes on the kind of driving you do. middle of nowhere in a blizzard you have the right supplies. non-perishable foods. Energy for having your tuned up and Winters can be bitter in New for a day or more? It sounds Hydration and Heat are Critical bars, nuts, granola and dried fruit road-ready. We know it's not York City, but you won't need preposterous to a city dweller, Staying warm and staying well are all great choices. It is best to cheap and owning a vehicle can the kind of gear in your trunk that but the US is a very big place and hydrated are the most important select food you actually normally be quite a monkey sink, but someone who commutes on the in bad weather you'll find many a t h i n g s t o c o n s i d e r w h e n enjoy eating and then rotate it out nobody huddled in a broken rural highways of North Dakota road goes untraveled for long contemplating being stranded in of the car every few weeks. That down car on the side of a would need. stretches of time. Having an ice your car. You can go a long, way you won't be stuck gnawing deserted road and slowly losing When it comes to planning for scraper, a half eaten bag of a l b e i t u n c o m f o r t a b l e t i m e , PUT page 32 the feeling in their limbs has the worst, you don't need to plan Combos, and some frozen gum without food. If you're an

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From the Tips Box: Windows 7 Screencasting, Quicksilver, and Recipes [From The Tips Box] By Whitson Gordon (Lifehacker) Submitted at 10/28/2009 5:00:00 PM

Readers offer their best tips for screencasting in Windows 7, using Quicksilver to launch applications in VMware, and organizing your personal recipes using a blog. Don't like the gallery layout? Click here to view everything on one page. About the Tips Box: Every day we receive boatloads of great reader tips in our inbox, but for various reasons—maybe they're a bit too niche, maybe we couldn't find a good way to present it, or maybe we just couldn't fit it in—the tip didn't make the front page. From the Tips Box is where we round up some of our favorites for your buffet-style consumption. Got a tip of your own to share? Add it in the comments or email it to tips at lifehacker.com. Built-In Screencasting in Windows 7 Mark shows us a nice built-in feature of Windows 7: I found if you just type "PSR" in the run box, the problem solution recorder pops up. It looks similar to the sound recorder, and when you press record, it captures key actions and saves them as an MHT in a zip file (I assume MHT is Media HyperText Markup Language, because it is

all in one file). Launching Windows Applications in VMware with Quicksilver Photo by Ben Becker. Joe shares a convenient tip on how to further Quicksilver's usefulness: If you add ~/Documents/Virtual Machines/[name of the vm].vmwarevm/Applications to the Quicksilver catalog you can index all of the apps in your VMWare virtual machine and use Quicksilver from within the PC Virtual Machine or even launch PC apps from your Mac desktop

Recipes Photo by Jennifer Dickert. Sara-Elizabeth shares her favorite tool for recipe logging: I know you've had lots of people suggesting ways to keep up with recipes, but I'd like to add my two cents. Borrowing on the idea of saving the recipes in Delicious, I then created a Blogspot account and posted the individual recipes as entries (with photos uploaded to my personal web space and source noted). I can quickly find recipes based on certain criteria and I'm even able to link within recipes to other recipes needed for the whole project. Use Wax or Crayons to Keep Wood From Splitting Photo by Chris Metcalf. Stephen shares another way to e v e n w h e n t h e V M i s n o t I'd like to be able to hibernate at keep wood from splitting: Surprised that no one has powered on (it will start VMware the end of the work day, but not automatically)... Its faster than still be logged on to my work mentioned wax, even a crayon, using the start menu! acct...) I wrote (of all things) a get it onto the nail and the nail drives about five times easier and Quick Log Off and Hibernate two line batch file: much less chance of splitting, to David tells us how he closes shutdown /l boot. down his computer quickly shutdown /h ( w i t h o u t s h u t t i n g d o w n I named it LogoffHib.bat and And absolutely put wax onto a completely): saved it to a convenient place, long screw that you're running I came up with a very simple then made a shortcut to it on my into hard wood — you'll be solution to a problem I've had, d e s k t o p , c o m p l e t e w i t h amazed at the difference. Soap and I thought it might be Ctrl+Alt+End shortcut key, and works also, wax is better IMO. something others would like to B o o m ! I ' v e s e a r c h e d f o r do as well. I've been looking for something like this for ages and a way to easily log off of my never found anything, but I account _and_ hibernate my thought someone else in a similar Vista system in one step (I have situation might like it too. work acct and a home acct, and Use a Blog to Keep Up with

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PUT continued from page 30

on a four year old protein bar when you eventually have to bust into your emergency kit. Have a sleeping bag—winter weight!—in the truck, along with winter boots and additional winter clothing. The clothes don't need to be fancy they just need to keep you warm, so throw in some older winter gear that doesn't see much use. Don't overlook hats, scarves, and gloves here, they help keep heat in at high loss points like the neck and head. Photo by Muffet. Be Able to Signal You know what a light colored car, in a ditch, in a snow storm looks like? Nothing. You don't want to be looked over by other motorists and rescue workers as you sit in your car freezing. You need a way to signal. Plan on your car's electrical system being out of commission and have an LED emergency beacon or two in your car. They aren't particularly expensive, you can pick them up

at backpacking and outdoor stores and they even have ones designed for automotive emergency use at many auto supply stores. For the unfamiliar it's essentially a battery powered strobe, like the kind of little and intense strobes above emergency exits. It's highly visible for long distance, even in a snow storm, and it lets emergency workers know that you're in need of help. While you're shopping for a beacon, don't forget to get an LED flashlight or two. Aim for getting a lower power flashlight with a long battery life, some of the high-intensity models chew up batteries really fast. Photo by S. Diddy. Dealing with the Little Things Our list up to this point has leaned towards the extreme side of things like preparing to make sure you don't freeze to death on the side of the road, a rather important thing to be prepared to ward off. On the less-fatal side of things, and certainly the more

common, you'll be dealing with things like getting stuck but having assistance nearby. Here having things on hand like a bag of sand in your trunk for additional traction and a tow rope or chain if you've got a good Samaritan at hand but the tow truck is no where to be found are extremely helpful. In addition to a bag of sand, a shovel is always handy. Look for a sturdy one sized for a child, it'll fit in the trunk better and still have a fairly wide surface area compared to a tiny emergency shovel. Photo by Kennymatic. Think of something we didn't include in our list? Have a story or two about being stuck in the snows of the great white north? Let's hear about it in the comments.

Ubuntu 9.10 Karmic Koala Out Now [Downloads] By Kevin Purdy (Lifehacker)

spread the open-source vibes. Already running the beta or release candidate? Assuming The final version of Ubuntu 9.10 you've been keeping up with your has hit Ubuntu's servers a little updates, you're already running bit ahead of its front page. Grab a the final version by now. If torrent or ISO of the free Linux updates happen at a molasses operating system while the pace today and tomorrow, try servers aren't slammed. switching to a mirror server to From our own experiences, and move things along. those of commenters, the final We've previously taken a look release of Karmic Koala will around 9.10 in beta, posted g e n e r a t e e n o u g h t r a f f i c t o a"emergency key" restoration tip, seriously slow, if not entirely and showed non-Ubuntu users 404, Ubuntu.com's web servers. where they can grab the new If you're good with BitTorrent icons and wallpapers. Now's your downloading, it's likely your best turn—tell us what you've liked, bet for today. Grab the copy you loathed, and tweaked in the latest (ETonline - Breaking News) "I'm having another girl," Mark needed. My parents had to need—for most users, that's the Ubuntu release in the comments. told People.com. "So I'll have provide to put food on the table. Submitted at 10/29/2009 6:57:00 AM ubuntu-9.10-desktop-i386 image U b u n t u 9 . 1 0 ( K a r m i c two girls and two boys." My mission in life is to raise my Mark Wahlberg and wife Rhea The youngest of nine, Mark, 38, kids right. With all the success or torrent—and leave your torrent Koala)[Ubuntu Releases via Durham are welcoming their said four kids is enough for him. I've had in the world, if I fail at client running for a bit to help Gizmodo] fourth child and the actor "We were all raised with a lot of that, my life means nothing." r e v e a l e d w h e t h e r t h e y ' r e love. But we didn't get the kind expecting a boy or a girl. of attention I think that we all

Son or Daughter for Mark Wahlberg & Pregnant Wife?

Submitted at 10/29/2009 7:00:00 AM

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US economy grows by 3.5%

Minimalist Gmail Pares Gmail Down to the Basics [Downloads]

Google Music Search Officially Launched [Music] By Adam Pash (Lifehacker)

Still, Google already puts video results from YouTube in the search results page, and more We already knew it was coming, often than not they're what you're but today Google is officially looking for, anyway. l a u n c h i n g b u i l t - i n m u s i c Right now we're not seeing the playback results on regular updates in our results, but Google search queries. chances are you'll start seeing By Kevin Purdy (Lifehacker) and the header itself (with the Much has been made of this new them in the next day or so if you very important search bar) is feature, and it certainly will make aren't already. Submitted at 10/29/2009 4:30:00 AM accessible through a tiny arrow it easier for users to get straight So what do you think? Excited Firefox: If you liked the look of placed in the upper-left corner. to a song they're looking for, but about the new music-in-Google Zen Habits' Minimalist Gmail Here are your options with the it's not something we're getting features, or kind of lukewarm adaptation, but don't usually roll Minimalist Gmail menu: all that excited about. We'll admit like us? Let's hear your thoughts with Greasemonkey scripts, a Gina's own Better Gmail 2 that finding and playing back a in the comments. Making search coder has put together a single extension can hide some of the song when all you've done is more musical[Official Google Firefox extension that can hide same elements as Minimalist search for lyrics is kind of cool. Blog] header, footer, and sidebar Gmail, along with adding other elements for an elegant look. features that might work nicely in After installing the extension, conjunction with the skinning you'll get a "Minimalist Gmail" extension. Minimalist Gmail is a menu in the upper-right corner of free download, works wherever Gmail. Click it, and you'll have F i r e f o x d o e s . M i n i m a l i s t the option to hide whatever Gmail[Matt Constantine via Zen (ETonline - Breaking News) wife Demi Moore to the event, pieces of the Gmail interface you Habits] said, "I think it's about how you Submitted at 10/29/2009 4:53:00 AM want. They'll still be accessible treat other people...with respect by keyboard shorcuts, of course, ET caught up with some of and kindness and the way that Hollywood's most handsome you would like to be treated. And s t u d s a t " G Q M a g a z i n e ' s then beyond that, I think it's Gentlemen's Ball" on Wednesday about carrying yourself in a way night. They revealed what it takes that you want to be seen." He to win over a lady's heart. said he aims to be proud of the Ashton Kutcher, who escorted man he sees when he looks in the Submitted at 10/28/2009 4:30:00 PM

(Financial Times - US homepage) Submitted at 10/29/2009 5:57:23 AM

The US economy grew for the first time in a year as an aggressive array of stimulus measures brought an end to the longest period of contraction since the Great Depression. US gross domestic product grew at an annualised rate of 3.5 per cent in the third quarter after shrinking in each of the past four quarters, commerce department figures showed on Thursday. Wall Street analysts forecast that the economy would grow by 3.2 per cent. This content has passed through fivefilters.org.

Hollywood Hunks Cite Chivalry as Gentlemanly Quality mirror. Josh Lucas responded, "Chivalry. I think that's the main thing and being someone who thinks more about what you can give back than necessarily what you can get."

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Will Google Listeners Bankrupt Lala? By Dana Oshiro (ReadWriteWeb) Submitted at 10/28/2009 8:10:00 PM

The question period after today's launch of Google's OneBox music search focused a great deal on the project delivering users with easy "legitimate music" versus other illegitimate sources. While discussion was centered around squashing the millions of illegal torrent files available for download, the truth is that a number of streaming music sites like Imeem have worked hard to pen legitimate label deals. While and Vista/7, that turns off the some may wonder why iLike and highlighting of newly-installed Lala were chosen above others to programs that can be rather benefit from the Google deal, irritating. Both toggles are found many more are worried that the under the "Customize" menu companies will be unable to tucked into a button in your Start offset label fees via premium menu's properties, which can be subscriptions and advertising. accessed by a right-click. For a Sponsor more direct roadmap to program- Said rap superstar Mos Def, "I highlight freedom, check the full personally wasn't happy to see post at the How-To Geek's home how the labels responded to away from Lifehacker. Quick Napster. I thought that was a Tip: Disable Highlighting New missed opportunity with the fans. Programs in Windows 7, Vista, It seems to me that this project and XP[the How-To Geek] revisits this with a better

Kill New Program Highlighting in Any Start Menu [Windows Tip] By Kevin Purdy (Lifehacker) Submitted at 10/29/2009 6:00:00 AM

If you're a frequent tester or tinkerer, you know that Windows likes to "highlight" your newest installed apps and program folders in the Start Menu, and doesn't turn it off until you take notice. Stop that with a littleknown setting. If you never thought to look in your Start Menu settings, there's a simple toggle, located in slightly different places in XP

can't offset the licensing fees with ad revenue. There's only so much you can do with advertising, but the [pure] subscription model ensures that you're running something sustainable." In anticipation of a future European launch, one reporter suggested Spotify as a legitimate source for streaming music to Google VP of Search Marissa perspective towards the fans- not Mayer. Said Mayer knowingly, from an adversarial point of "Your suggestion is duly noted." view. " Still, many wonder If Hyman is as confident in his whether this new fan-friendly hunch about freemium services discovery engine will bankrupt as we think he is, he may even be those footing the bill. While hoping that Spotify cuts a iLike likely has a huge amount of European Google deal and burns resources from MySpace, Lala is through its cash before its US betting on the fact that users will launch. It'll be interesting to see use up their initial 25 song credits if Google will be the catalyst in swaying listeners to pay for their and take the plunge to premium. Last month MOG CEO David purchases or if streaming music Hyman spoke to ReadWriteWeb startups will continue to tweak a b o u t t h e l a u n c h o f h i s and revisit their monetization subscription service. When asked strategies. if he would offer free listening, For complete launch details visit Lardinois' Hyman declined saying, "The F r e d e r i c problem with free services is that R e a d W r i t e W e b c o v e r a g e . if too many people use them, you Photo Credit: Ibrahim Lujaz Discuss

ELLE’s Facebook Page Gets a Face-Lift By ELLE.com (ELLE News Blog) Submitted at 10/29/2009 7:25:20 AM

You probably have your fill of baby pictures and status updates

detailing the proclivities of one’s pets, so we’ve got an exciting new reason to visit Facebook regularly: our newly revamped page! Here, you’ll get exclusive content you won’t find on

ELLE.com (like a special holiday

gift guide, coming soon!), and access to Facebook-only features like our latest style polls and ultra -luxe virtual bags, shoes, and dresses you can give as gifts to your friends. Not already a fan?

Click here now! —Erin Clements

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Facebook Announces Roadmap for Developers By Jolie O'Dell (ReadWriteWeb)

- something that has taken off to the extent of taking over the platform, and not something that Submitted at 10/28/2009 6:39:49 PM was necessarily anticipated. For Today, Facebook has published that reason, we see of the most a developer roadmap outlinining interesting changes as drawing a upcoming relevant changes and a line in the sand between social rough timeline for each. games and "real" apps. Changes include developer In this bit of new hotness, you access to user emails, more can see Apps displayed on the prominent app displays on user homepage left-hand menu for profiles, all-new homepage easier user discovery that will dashboards for apps and games, likely be less dependent on and improvements to Open recommendations or invitations Graph and Analytics APIs. from one's Facebook friends. Facebook Connect libraries will And Games are now just games, be "smaller, clearer, and faster," no longer grouped under the and app policies and principles general apps umbrella. w i l l b e s t r e a m l i n e d a n d The Games Dashboard will also uniformly enforced. Read on for g i v e d e v e l o p e r s a n e w details and screenshots of the communication channel, called new faces of Facebook apps. "News", for sending personalized Sponsor text updates to their users. "These updates are designed to One of the more interesting simplify communication for users changes that will drive adoption and developers, improve app and interaction virally is letting discovery and engagement, and usersfeature their favorite apps p r o v i d e y o u w i t h m o r e on their home pages with comprehensive tools for building bookmarks and new dashboards. or expanding your business with "In addition, users will be able to Facebook," writes Facebook better represent applications on product head Ethan Beard on the their profile following short-term Facebooks Developer blog post. changes that include focusing "Through these new APIs and profile integration on application t o o l s , w e a r e g i v i n g a l l tabs, as well as removing profile d e v e l o p e r s b u i l d i n g w i t h boxes, the info section of boxes, Facebook and those in our largest and the Boxes tab," writes Beard. application category - gaming - A l s o , t h e a p p s t h a t a r e new ways to attract and engage b o o k m a r k e d i n t o a u s e r ' s users." Look & Feel Changes homepage menu will have Indeed, Facebook seems to counters, just like Facebook's regard gaming as its own monster own features, to prompt user

users. Developer Product Changes Beard also highlighted two APIs set to change. The Open Graph actions. Apps are also getting a new API will allow any page on any canvas layout, "a format that website to integrate Facebook increases brand association with Page features. This means that users can become Facebook fans users," writes Beard. of any site or page on the Communication Changes App-user communication is Internet; that page would then rather busted in its current state. appear on the user's profile and in Beard acknowledges this fact and Facebook search results; and the presents a preliminary solution. page will be able to publish "Application communication in stories to the user's stream. channels like notifications and Although this change in itself requests aren't effectively serving doesn't open any Facebook data their original purpose. There is a to the rest of the world, it does significant opportunity to significantly increase the improve the user experience and boundaries of the walled garden. Beard also writes that an reduce spam by replacing them improved Application Insights with better features." Moving forward, Facebook Page and new Analytics API are developers will also be able to o n t h e w a y . H e p r o m i s e s interact with users in several improved tools, more robust data, different ways. First of all, user- a n d b e t t e r m a n a g e m e n t user communication via the c a p a b i l i t i e s f o r a p p s a n d platform will be consolidated into F a c e b o o k C o n n e c t - e n a b l e d streams and inboxes and will w e b s i t e s . And speaking of Facebook have new features to help users Connect, those libraries are set to remain engaged with apps. Usert o - u s e r c o m m u n i c a t i o n s become smaller and faster. Other commonly in the notifications boons to devs include the public and requests channels will be roadmap, a new website for moved to the inbox, as well. developers, and Platform Live Also, developers will have Status, "a central dashboard to access to user email addresses. view the health of various Using the d o m a i n integration points, bugs, and @facebookappmail.com, devs Platform uptime as well as detail will be able to contact users via about upcoming changes and email through what Beard says improvements to Platform." The will be a safe, secure channel for developer blog and status feed will also be available via email

subscriptions. Finally, Facebook's Developer Principles and Policies have been streamlined and will now be applied across the platform. "In addition," Beard notes, "we're retiring the formerly optional Application Verification brand, submission process, fees and badge; the program's higher standards will be required and applications will be subject to review at any time." In terms of reducing the platform's complexity and increasing its power and speed, Beard concludes, "We are focused on designing Platform in a way that we can run core Facebook applications on the same set of APIs you're building on. If our technologies aren't fast, robust, and simple, we will feel the same pains that you do." What do our developer friends have to say about Facebook's proposed changes and attempts at communicating them? Is it helpful to have some idea of what will be happening to the platform, when changes will occur, and why Facebook is making those adjustments? Another question that interests us is that of cross-platform development: From what other companies would you also like to see developer roadmaps? Let us know your thoughts in the comments. Discuss

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AdMob Reports on Mobile Web's Explosive Growth By Sarah Perez (ReadWriteWeb)

month and now accounts for 43% of all smartphone requests worldwide. In the U.S., that Submitted at 10/29/2009 8:15:11 AM percentage is even slightly Mobile ad firm AdMob has higher, with iPhone traffic revealed the dramatic changes the accounting for nearly half (48%) mobile industry has seen in their of all smartphone requests. second annual Mobile Metrics Apple devices (iPhone and iPod R e p o r t , r e l e a s e d j u s t t h i s Touch) also claim the top two morning. Believe it or not, it was spots on both the U.S. and the only a year ago that the Motorola worldwide charts of top handsets. RAZR scored as the number one However, feature phones like the phone here in the U.S. while the RAZR v3 and Samsung's R450 iPhone was the only touchscreen are still making the top ten list as device to even make the list of well and account for 60% of ad top ten handsets. Only a year requests in the U.S. - a figure later, and so much has changed. that's likely due to the unlimited Now half of the top ten are data plans available with each of touchscreen devices, six include these devices. Key Takeaway #2: Wi-Fi capabilities, and six have Watch Out! Android is Rising mobile application stores. And as Fast you would expect, this new crop Now climbing up the charts, of super-powered phones are Google's Android, the newcomer making heavy use of the mobile to the mobile operating system web. game, is beginning to have an Sponsor impact on mobile web traffic as Key Takeaway #1: iPhone Still well. From August to September the Top Smartphone Worldwide of 2009, the percentage of and Has Traffic to Prove It smartphone traffic generated by Among the devices making the devices running the Android OS heaviest use of the mobile web grew a whopping 13% over the are the iPhone and its non- course of the month. That's a smartphone counterpart, the iPod dramatic increase in such a short Touch. The data traffic created period of time and gives credence by these two handhelds has to recent reports that Android is i n c r e a s e d 1 9 t i m e s f r o m poised to become the number two September 2008 to this past smartphone in the worldwide

market. While still far behind the iPhone OS in terms of traffic with only 17% of U.S. traffic and only 10% of traffic worldwide, Google's mobile OS is already beating out competitors like RIM, the maker of Blackberry devices, and Windows Mobile. It has also claimed two spots on the top 10 chart of handset models in the U.S with the HTC Dream coming in at number 3 and the HTC Magic coming in at number 10. Worldwide, the Dream is also number 3, but the Magic only makes it to spot number 15. Key Takeaway #3: Outside of U.S., Mobile Web Strong in India, Indonesia, U.K., Philippines When looking at the number of ad requests by country, the U.S. is still dominating with 47.3% of all requests coming from the States. The next nearest country, India, only comes in at 6.5%. Rounding out the top five are Indonesia, the U.K., and the Philippines. These numbers point to heavy mobile web use in each of these countries as compared with the rest of the world. When grouped by larger regions, North America is number one

with 49.5% of requests, most of that from the U.S., and the second largest region is Asia, accounting for 25.3% of requests. Western Europe, Africa, and Latin America follow with 9.4%, 5.3% and 5.0% respectively. Looking at just percentage increases in traffic growth, a different picture appears. Latin America is showing a large percent increase year-over-year at 0.6%, second only to North America's 1.1%. Other regions in the top five, while still accounting for large numbers of requests, actually saw slight decreases in growth (less than 0.5%) over the past year. Smartphones are Taking Over, Mobile Web Grows While none of the data included in this report is all that surprising, it's interesting to see actual numbers put to the reported trends. We can now see the disproportionate amount of web surfing done by iPhone users, no doubt thanks to the phone's Safari web browser, a vast improvement over the browsers included in many other mobile devices on the market. It's also worth noting how fast Android is moving up the charts right now. It could very well be the next contender to the

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mail us your photo and you could appear in ELLE.com's Street Chic Daily. Follow ELLE on Twitter.

Street Chic: Paris By ELLE.com (ELLE News Blog) Submitted at 10/29/2009 4:00:00 AM

A bow-adorned blouse and polka -dotted tights add a double dose of whimsy. Photo: Stylesight

smartphone crown, especially given the company's plans to continue spreading its OS across numerous devices worldwide. As Google CEO Eric Schmidt recently declared, "Android adoption is about to explode." Also, AdMob noted on an earlier blog entry that there are already 12 Android phones already available through 32 carriers in 26 countries. By the time they release their next Mobile Metrics report, those numbers are sure to have increased. What all this means to the consumer is that smartphones are now edging out feature phones as the devices of choice. More phones than ever come with the advanced capabilities like touchscreens, full-featured web browsers, and Wi-Fi. With features like these, more people will begin to surf the mobile web and download mobile applications. This, in turn, will drive related changes in mobile platforms, communication, eCommerce, and more, all of which are bound to see similar upward trends over the coming months. Discuss

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Google Wave Use Cases: Education By Richard MacManus (ReadWriteWeb) Submitted at 10/29/2009 5:43:19 AM

Google Wave is a much hyped new Internet-based communications and collaboration platform. It was announced at the end of May, released as a 'Preview' product shortly after and 100,000 more invites were made available at the end of September. Early users reported mixed feelings. But one month after Google Wave was opened to tens of thousands of people, how are people using it now? What use cases are being discovered? Let's start with the education sector. We'll explore other use cases in upcoming posts. Sponsor What is Google Wave Again? A quick reminder of what Google Wave is. In a nutshell, Google Wave is a new form of real-time communications. Google describes it as "equal parts conversation and document." In our first 'hands-on' post at the beginning of June, we described it as "real-time email with a big dose of IM built-in" although we noted that "this only describes a small part of what Wave can do." In a recent CNN profile, Wave creators Lars and Jens Rasmussen described it as making email "collaborative and instant." Wave in Class After searching some public

'waves,' we came across an educational wave. Entitled 'Wave in Class,' this wave was started by Loren Baum (a self-described "collaborative learning enthusiast" and graduate student at Ben Gurion University) and Sam Boland (a Politics student and "Tech Enthusiast" at Occidental College, Los Angeles). The wave was started to explore concepts like "Collaborative Note Taking" and "Wave as a Debate Host." Nearly 100 people are included in the wave, ranging from teachers to PhD students to IT professionals to high school students. This particular wave was framed at the start as being "a set of collaborative documents, supported by a chat." As a note-taking tool, Samuel Boland wrote that "there appears to be a concensus that this [Google Wave] will work as a note-taking tool, the only disagreement is over how to implement it." Options for notetaking include voluntary extracurricular groups, rotating inclass groups and small in-class groups. A few users enthused later in the wave that "Google Wave combines a lot of the best features from different applications" - but with a realtime twist. It was noted that while Google Docs can be used to share notes and collaborate on assignments, with Google Wave

students can collaborate in realtime. This could be important in education for things like notetaking, asking questions (a.k.a. a backchannel) and collaborative projects. Another feature of Wave that would be useful for education purposes, according to this 100person wave, is the play-back ability - "so instructors can see exactly who did what, and see the progression of ideas." Will Wave Make Students Lazy? One concern that seemed to pop up several times in the wave was that Google Wave could make it too easy for lazy students to get by. As Justin Neitzey succinctly put it: "I don't think kids should be allowed piggy back of the work of others." This is a similar concern that some in the education system had with Wolfram Alpha, another innovative Web tool that is set to change the way education is delivered. Manny Guendulay responded that "reading those notes and participating in the collaboration of those notes hold totally different of levels of thinking."

He argued that "the person simply reading the notes (passively learning) has no chance to perform at the same level as someone who helped collaborate (active learning) on those notes, or even watched and read along while they were being created." In other words, engaging with Google Wave - and the Web in general in fact - will lead to smarter, better performing students. That sounds reasonable to us, but time will tell for both Google Wave and Wolfram Alpha on that score. Conclusion Overall, it is clear that Google Wave has potential to be very useful in the education system, particularly as a real-time collaborative note-taking tool. Three students experimented with just that in a lecture; the resulting notes were said to be "more complete" than if Wave hadn't been used. If you're interested in exploring other education waves, check these out: • Higher Ed Directory (meta) • Software Roles in Education- a structured, goal driven exploration • Wave for Notes- about note taking • Student-side Class Management: a Wave template Discuss

Craig Ferguson's show goes dark ... literally By Danny Gallagher (TV Squad) Submitted at 10/29/2009 10:03:00 AM

Craig Ferguson is not just a consummate entertainment professional. He's a five armed plate spinner, a punchline deliverer with a Jack Dempsey right cross, a Horatio Alger of guffaws. He puts his whole being into every late night show and comedy performance he does that he could even make an audience laugh if they were in total darkness. Sound like a bigger tall tale than Pecos Bill taking Amelia Earhart to the homecoming prom? Here's the proof. His Late Late Show suffered a power outage towards the end of Tuesday night's episode and he still stepped in front of the camera with only a flashlight to serve as his comedy spotlight. This convinces me that if a bull suddenly got loose in the studio, Ferguson could use the moment to make the audience laugh until they are gasping for life while teaching the bull English just so he could beat an apology out of it. Chuck Norris never made me laugh, intentionally. Filed under: Late Night, Celebrities, Reality-Free Permalink| Email this| | Comments

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Amazon Speeds Checkout with New PayPhrase Technology By Sarah Perez (ReadWriteWeb)

1-Click, the new PayPhrase system is even easier to use and more flexible. Using this system, Submitted at 10/29/2009 6:53:26 AM shoppers don't have to be signed Online retailer Amazon.com has in to the site with an Amazon just announced a new checkout account as is necessary with 1system called " PayPhrase" Click. That saves an extra step which speeds up the process of and could lead to more impulse making online purchases by buys as there's no "cooling allowing shoppers to enter a down" time, however brief, unique phrase and 4-digit PIN between seeing something you n u m b e r t o c o m p l e t e t h e i r want to purchase and then transaction. Both the phrase and finalizing the transaction. PIN are created in advance and The PayPhrase system also are linked to a shipping address allows for the creation of a n d p r e f e r r e d m e t h o d o f multiple PayPhrases and PINs so payment. After the initial set up, you can associate different PayPhrase users are no longer a d d r e s s e s a n d m e t h o d s o f required to sign in or fill out payment with each other. For credit card information when example, you could additionally shopping online. have a corporate credit card tied Sponsor to your office address or a preWhy PayPhrase Beats 1-Click paid credit card your children use Amazon already has a similar tied to your home address. 1speedy checkout system known Click checkout, on the other as "1-Click." When activated, h a n d , o n l y a l l o w s f o r t h e customers can associate payment combination of one address and methods with a frequently used one method of payment. shipping address, such as a home The PayPhrase technology will address, to quickly complete go live across all of Amazon.com purchases without having to fill as well as on several third-party out their name, address, and sites that use "Checkout by credit card details. Amazon," a service that lets other Although not designed to replace retailers checkout customers by

checkout system today. Even PayPal forces you to sign in, choose payment methods, and using their personal and payment complete your transaction before information saved on Amazon's being redirected back to the servers. At this time, DKNY, retailer's website. While a few Jockey, Patagonia, Buy.com, extra steps aren't a big deal on the J & R , a n d C a r - T o y s h a v e web, when you're on a mobile announced they will add the phone, every delay makes it that PayPhrase system on their sites, much harder thanks to slower too. Is PayPhrase the Future of internet connection speeds, tiny keyboards, and, more often than Mobile Transactions? Clearly, the new PayPhrase not, a lack of time to get involved technology has been designed to in any long process. If you can't make online checkout easier, but checkout in a minute or so, it's could there be more to it than g e n e r a l l y n o t e v e n w o r t h that? Earlier this month, the bothering until you're back at company launched a mobile h o m e o n y o u r b r o a d b a n d payments service which allows c o n n e c t e d P C . B u t w i t h mobile application developers to PayPhrase, you can checkout integrate Amazon's checkout incredibly fast - only two steps system into their mobile software are required: one to enter your and mobile websites. The mobile special phrase and another to payments system also allows for e n t e r y o u r P I N . A l t h o u g h the integration of the 1-Click Amazon hasn't made any formal checkout process, so there's no announcements about integrating r e a s o n t o d o u b t t h a t t h e PayPhrase into their mobile PayPhrase technology will now platform just yet, they must have also be added to the payments h a d i t i n m i n d w h e n t h e y designed this technology. platform as well. With PayPhrase, the process of D i s c u s s making an online purchase takes far less steps than any other

ABC locks in December return dates for Scrubs and Better Off Ted By Robert Seidman (TVbytheNumbers) Submitted at 10/28/2009 7:07:55 PM

Ah December. Dancing With the Stars goes away for a while and the Renew/Cancel Index gets at least a little holiday season nutmeg spice as Scrubs and Better Off Ted make their returns. The Index should have had enough time to heal from the stinging Scrubs dealt it by predicting doom for Scrubs practically every week last season. Since then the Index has learned to play it at least a bit faster and looser with 30 minute sitcoms. Scrubs will return with double episodes on Tuesday, December 1 from 9pm to 10pm, and then Better Off Ted will take the 9:30p slot on December 8. Source: Josef Adalianâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s twitter feed This content has passed through fivefilters.org.

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Turn Your Windows 7 Computer Into a WiFi Router In 5 Minutes, Free & No Hardware

Review: Modern Family - Run for Your Wife

By Jolie O'Dell (ReadWriteWeb)

(S01E06) Once again, the three families on this show needn't interact at all for the series to work. Maybe if someone were tuning in for the first time, completely unaware that the three families were all related, they'd be confused as to why we're following these three separate storylines. Even then, though, I suspect they'd still laugh at Lily's costumes and Manny's Colombian pan flute. As a parent, I'm not to the teenage years yet, so can't relate as well with the experiences of Phil and Claire, but I do remember the fear and panic you have with your first child. Every little bump is a crisis, as we saw. And, I'm ashamed to admit that I committed the same "horrible" crime they perpetrated on Lily later in the episode, as well. As for Jay and Gloria ... oh, my son is in the fifth grade. Sometimes I feel like they're

allows multiple users to piggyback off a single connection. Oh, and the MiFi and Submitted at 10/28/2009 10:35:21 PM gamut between Sticking It To similar devices cost a bit - or a lot Connectify.me is a new service The Man and Violating My ISP's - to buy and maintain, but we just found out about. They've T O S ; n e v e r t h e l e s s , i t ' s a n Connectify is free to install and sussed out how to make any interesting, fun little hack that run. Windows 7 computer into a WiFi should've been done long ago. Connectify runs on Windows 7 hotspot. Since we just installed Installation is simple. Go to the and Windows Server 2008 r2. Windows 7 on a spare laptop, we website, click the big, shiny Why no other Windows OSes, figured it was about time to make button, run the .exe file, follow you ask? "Connectify depends on Windows do something cool, so the prompt. You'll then see a improvements made in Windows C o n n e c t i f y l o g o i n t h e 7 to operate," reads the site's we installed the app. We were quite literally up and notification tray. It's party time! FAQ. "Frankly, Windows 7 is running with other devices C h o o s e a n a m e , s e t u p a such a big improvement that we connected in five minutes. In password, and click the big, s u g g e s t y o u ' r e b e t t e r o f f fact, this post is being published shiny button. Congratulations. upgrading than waiting for us to right now on a Connectify.me- You're now a software-based get all this working on an older powered connection. Windows 7 wireless router. It took about five version of Windows." users have got to try this app. very obvious clicks and was truly Three cheers for Windows for You never know when you'll get so easy a caveman could do it. getting their act together on the to save the day by letting other This is almost as much fun as OS front, and many thanks to u s e r s s h a r e y o u r I n t e r n e t that MiFi we played with a while Connectify for bringing us all nago. The main difference is that for-the-price-of-1 WiFi! Discuss connection. the MiFi creates an Internet Sponsor Speaking of which, use cases we connection for 3-5 users using can think of right now run the cellular networks, and Connectify

By Jason Hughes (TV Squad) Submitted at 10/29/2009 1:30:00 AM

living my exact life. Maybe all fifth graders are equally off-thewall, or maybe my child is as special and unique as Manny. Continue reading Review: Modern Family - Run for Your Wife Filed under: OpEd, Episode Reviews, Reality-Free, Modern Family Permalink| Email this| | Comments

Trauma Canceled by NBC: no additional episodes will be ordered By Robert Seidman (TVbytheNumbers) Submitted at 10/28/2009 10:12:18 PM

NBC has effectively canceled Trauma opting not to give it a full season pick-up. The current

plan is that the original order of 13 episodes will complete production and air, but no additional episodes will be ordered. The move comes as no surprise, especially on the heels of a full season pick-up for Mercy.

This increases the odds of an early return for Chuck, likely in January. The Trauma news comes on the heels of NBC ordering six additional episodes of Chuck, which was originally scheduled to return in March. Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;d

look for its January return on Mondays at 8pm and for NBC to move Heroes to the 9pm time slot, just like last year. This content has passed through fivefilters.org.

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The Greening of Apple: Is It Important To You? By Charles Moore (TheAppleBlog)

sensible approach because based on his research into the matter, in Enderle’s view Apple’s Submitted at 10/28/2009 11:00:01 AM customers mostly don’t care. Is Apple is putting a lot of that an accurate assessment, or e m p h a s i s o n i t s “ g r e e n ” exaggeratedly jaundiced? After initiatives lately. But is it the real all, environmentalist poster boy deal? Al Gore sits on Apple’s board of For example, Apple’s new directors. energy efficiency page says that Enderle claims that Apple tried because 53 percent of Apple’s to ignore green computing greenhouse gas emissions are a entirely until the eco-activist result of the power its products organization Greenpeace began consume, it’s designing these r e l e n t l e s s l y s l a g g i n g t h e products to be as energy efficient company as an environmental as possible employing three f o o t - d r a g g e r a n d l a g g a r d . strategies to reduce energy A d d r e s s i n g Apple’s consumption: more efficient E n v i r o n m e n t a l F o o t p r i n t power supplies, components that Apple’s website highlights require less power, and power several key areas in which it’s management software. Every addressing its environmental new Mac is claimed to meet the footprint, citing engineering strict low-power requirements of innovations such as the unibody the Energy Star specification. MacBooks, whose light, fully H o w e v e r , t h e o p e r a t i v e recyclable housing is sculpted questions are how much does from a single billet of aluminum, “green computing” matter to and the lightness of the current c o n s u m e r s , a n d w h e t h e r iMacs which contain less than 20 corporate marketing of “green” pounds of materials. IT devices amounts to more Apple also claims to be at the image-spinning than substance. industry forefront in eliminating Only the Bare Minimum? toxic chemicals, such as arsenic, S o m e c r i t i c s , s u c h a s brominated flame retardants MacNewsWorld’s Rob Enderle (BFRs), mercury, phthalates, and accuse Apple of doing the “barest polyvinyl chloride (PVC) from minimum necessary” to justify its its products. “green” claims — indeed less Cupertino has reduced than its major competitors, but packaging bulk, and, somewhat viewed pragmatically that’s a questionably in my view, bundles

because they must be able to operate on battery power, they’re engineered for energy efficiency. However, even Apple’s mass market desktops have very decent energy consumption profiles f e w e r p e r i p h e r a l s w i t h i t s these days, with iMacs reportedly systems, which arguably has using about as much energy as a some minimal environmental 60-watt lightbulb, and Mac minis benefit, but also saves Apple a substantially less than that. How f a i r b i t o f m o n e y w h i l e Much Does the Average Macd i m i n i s h i n g v a l u e t o t h e buyer Care? consumer of what is a premium- But how much does the average priced product. Diminishing Mac-buyer care? I’ve been Value f o r M i n i m a l almost exclusively a laptop user E n v i r o n m e n t a l B e n e f i t for the past 13 years, but even For example, the new WallStreet back when I used desktops, I PowerBook I bought in 1999 almost always shut them down if came with video, Ethernet, and I would be away from the modem cables and a decent hard keyboard for a half-hour or more. copy manual. To connect the My observation was that most unibody MacBook I bought this people were inclined to just leave year to an external monitor I need their computers up and running one of several varieties of Mini all day, and even in many DisplayPort adapters, have to instances all night as well. supply my own Ethernet cable, My inference, not only in the was obliged to buy a USB context of personal computers modem, and documentation and other IT devices, is that a m o u n t e d t o a q u i c k s t a r t while people like to think of p a m p h l e t . E n v i r o n m e n t a l themselves as being “green” and sensibilities notwithstanding, I environmentally conscientious, don’t perceive this as progress. their resolve tends to flag quickly Apple’s claims of cleaning up its when reducing their personal environmental footprint act do environmental footprint begins to have substance in terms of involve more than minimal operational energy consumption. i n c o n v e n i e n c e a n d / o r One reason using laptops has significantly increased cost, so long appealed to me is that that for many a commitment to “greenness” is heavier on

politically correct rhetoric and feel-good exercises that let one imagine they’re “doing something” virtuous to save the planet with empty symbolic gestures rather than substantive behavior changes, like, say, taking fewer showers or washing clothes less often, or shutting off (or sleeping) their computer when not using it. A Pew Research study found the average North American’s definition of what constitutes “necessity” these days includes a car (91 percent), washer (90 percent), dryer (83 percent), home air conditioning (83 percent), microwave (68 percent), TV (64 percent), car air conditioning (59 percent), and home computers (51 percent). Substantial minorities also included cell phone (49 percent), dishwasher (35 percent), cable or satellite TV (33 percent), and high-speed Internet (29 percent), and a few even considered a flat screen TV (5 percent) and an iPod (3 percent) “necessities.” Am I being overly cynical? How much do Apple’s and the other computer-makers’ green efforts impact your buying intentions and user behavior?

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Camtasia vs. ScreenFlow: Creating Your First Screencast By Matthew Bookspan (TheAppleBlog)

complete production. Please note, I did not try to record a screencast across Submitted at 10/28/2009 1:00:40 PM multiple displays or using an If you have need to visually external microphone. I used what demonstrate your product, and most of us have — a MacBook you have the resources, then it (or a desktop) and the built-in just makes sense to produce a microphone. Basic Editing screencast. With the release of After I recorded the basic ScreenFlow 2.0, I thought it’d be screencast, I was presented with useful to perform a real-world the Editor window within each c o m p a r i s o n r e v i e w o f t h e program: screencast heavyweight champ Screenflow Main Window versus the relative newcomer (at Camtasia Main Window least to the Mac), Camtasia. Both programs have very similar Getting Started editing experiences using a I started this comparison by timeline. ScreenFlow has the creating the same video in both added advantage of separating Camtasia and ScreenFlow. Both out the audio from the video a p p l i c a t i o n s a r e v e r y portions of the recording. This is straightforward to setup and get a great experience, because you going in creating the screencast. can also add another voiceover Camtasia gets a little bit of an quite easily. In contrast, Camtasia edge for configuration because, merges the audio and video. It unlike ScreenFlow, you do not wasn’t easily discoverable how to have to install a separate audio add or change the existing audio driver. recording. With my limited skills, However, once you get started being able to re-record the audio recording, both applications as a separate track was very provide you with a simple h a n d y . E n h a n c i n g Y o u r countdown prior to recording. As S c r e e n c a s t R e c o r d i n g a primer, try to write your script Each has a plethora of features prior to recording. This way, you to modify your recording. will have a consistent experience • Cropping: Remove extra for your customer once you portions of the video that you

no way to avoid this, although it would be nice if both tools had this as an option). Both tools make this really easy to do. Both applications have advanced audio capabilities. ScreenFlow don’t need. has true audio ducking, or the • Trimming: Remove any extra ability to decrease the volume of (or bad) audio/video from the one recording while another timeline. audio volume is increased. • Playback tools: Play, reverse, Camtasia offers audio transition fast-forward. effects, which offers some • Import Media: Additional flexibility, but not anywhere near audio, video or images. as rich as ScreenFlow. • And a whole lot more… Unfortunately, neither application has great iLife What’s nice is that as you begin integration, so I can’t directly to explore more in ScreenFlow i n s e r t a u d i o c l i p s f r o m and Camtasia, they both provide GarageBand. I think this is a simple video tutorials to show missed opportunity for both you how to use the features. For Camtasia and ScreenFlow. The s o m e o n e n e w t o c r e a t i n g Victor screencasts, this is very helpful. This is a tough call. However, I Here are a few glimpses of the g i v e t h e s l i g h t e d g e t o app once I inserted some text, ScreenFlow because of its ability graphics and transitions. to edit audio separately as well as ScreenFlow: with additional text its UI for editing different box and transitions properties of a recording. I Camtasia: with additional happen to prefer the overall graphics, text and transitions Camtasia UI over ScreenFlow’s I did perform a little trimming as it seems more like iMovie ‘09 (Camtasia calls this Delete or to me. Ripple Delete) at the end of each Ultimately, you have to decide video so that you can’t see me which items are more important click/end the recordings (there is to you:

• Features/Functionality • User Experience • Price ScreenFlow 2.0 is priced at $99 (or $29 for an upgrade). Similarly, Camtasia 1.0.1 is currently priced at $99 (this is a promotional price, the web site shows the full retail for $149). If you have limited funds, there is the screen recording capability in QuickTime X, a component of Snow Leopard. If you’ve already upgraded to Snow Leopard, then you have this option available. Otherwise, the Snow Leopard upgrade is $29. Please note that QuickTime X is nowhere in the same league as ScreenFlow or Camtasia. However, if you have a new Mac that includes Snow Leopard and iLife ‘09 (which includes iMovie ‘09), you can make some very simple Screencasts, excluding the fancier features available from either ScreenFlow or Camtasia. The Videos Don’t laugh, they’re horrible. Camtasia ScreenFlow

Shop Naeem Khan at Home By ELLE.com (ELLE News Blog) Submitted at 10/28/2009 5:40:00 AM

Get a head-start on holiday dressing courtesy of Naeem

Khan. Starting today, the designer of high-glamour gowns and separates will launch his first -ever line for HSN(tune in tonight at 8 p.m. to watch as Naeem presents the collection).

What to expect: party-perfect

sequin-encrusted dresses, tops, —Violet Moon Gaynor jackets, and skirts, along with Follow ELLE on Twitter. sleek black trousers. The entire collection is available in size 224, and will range in price from $59 to $499

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Apple Issues Magic Mouse Update, But Where Are the Mice Themselves?

Comedy Central is 'Goode' to Mike Judge with new deal

By Darrell Etherington (TheAppleBlog)

By John Scott Lewinski (TV Squad)

them for sale when you ask. As I mentioned above, the Toronto Eaton Centre Apple store Submitted at 10/28/2009 7:42:24 AM employee seemed to think it had Last week, Apple announced the to do with Apple getting the Magic Mouse, which is its new necessary software out so that it standard pointing device, wasn’t selling unsupported complete with Bluetooth hardware, but they hadn’t even connectivity and multitouch received a shipment yet — they gesture support. I promptly called weren’t just holding off on actual my local Apple store, and a staff sales. member told me they weren’t in Is it just me, or is this the most stock and to try back again later what other special features could poorly executed product launch in the week. I did, and again, no they be talking about? The Snow Apple’s had since the iPhone 3G luck. It’s now been over a week, Leopard driver is nearly double a n d i P h o n e O S 2 . 0 w e r e and no stores seem to have the size of the Leopard one, at introduced? It seems like the 64MB vs. 36MB. Both have to Magic Mouse was rushed out to stocked them yet. One staff member at the flagship be downloaded from Apple’s meet a deadline that centered Toronto store said that the delay support site, and won’t show up a r o u n d t h e i M a c a n d n e w w a s d u e t o s o f t w a r e in your update menu unless you u n i b o d y p l a s t i c M a c B o o k , incompatibility, and that the mice actually have the Magic Mouse despite the fact that the software would be available following an already. backend wasn’t actually ready for update release from Apple. Late Which brings me to my second release. yesterday, we received said point: Does anyone actually have The resulting delay could affect update, which makes the Magic the Magic Mouse already? I sales. I know my initial fervor Mouse compatible with Mac OS m e a n , b e s i d e s t h o s e e a r l y about the Magic Mouse has been X Leopard, includes a driver for adopters of the new iMac model, tempered now that I’ve been able 10.6.1. OS X 10.6.2, which is with which it ships. I know for a to think about it. My current coming soon, and is said to fact us TAB staffers are finding it pointing device needs are more hard to get our hands on one than met, and unlike with the support it out of the box. Both the 10.5.8 and 10.6.1 (short of trying out the store iPhone, delayed availability is update descriptions say nothing display models), both through weakening my desire to own a beyond that they allow you to Apple’s brick-and-mortar retail M a g i c M o u s e , r a t h e r t h a n “take advantage of your Magic stores and its online counterpart. s t r e n g t h e n i n g i t . Mouse special features.” They All Apple stores seem to have d o n ’ t e v e n e x p l i c i t l y s a y them on display, but I’ve yet to anything about multitouch, but run across one that actually has

Submitted at 10/29/2009 8:02:00 AM

The Goode Family-- the Mike Judge show ABC did everything it could to kill -- has a new home at Comedy Central. According to Daily Variety, the cable network will air all 13 episodes of the animated comedy that ABC canceled last summer. That's good news for fans of a show ABC buried in its line-up -moving it around like a pea under a nutshell until it finally put the Goodes out of their misery. At the time, the show was embraced by fans of Beavis & Butthead and King of the Hill as a worthy sardonic successor to Judge's animated quiver. But, critics often attacked its mockery of political correctness and progressive politics. Some

pundits went so far as claiming such a show was inappropriate in the era of Obama. In other words, it's only censorship when your side is the one being silenced. Continue reading Comedy Central is 'Goode' to Mike Judge with new deal Filed under: Other Comedy Shows, Cancellations, Pickups and Renewals, Reality-Free Permalink| Email this| | Comments

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Google Plans to Introduce Maps Navigation, Could Come to iPhone

Straight Outta Da Office: Subtle Sexuality

By Darrell Etherington (TheAppleBlog)

By Nick Zaino (TV Squad)

the actual street at upcoming turning points along your trip route, so that you’ll recognize Submitted at 10/28/2009 8:22:16 AM exactly where you should turn. If you’re the CEO of TomTom That should eliminate a lot of or Garmin, you may want to sit confusion in dense, layered urban down for this. Google is working areas where freeways and streets on a turn-by-turn navigation app overlap, and many route that it will be offering for free on divergences and convergences Android 2.0 handsets. And if that are subtle. wasn’t bad enough, it’s working The version for Android 2.0 with Apple to bring it to the App demoed also had a feature that Store, too. recognized when the device was But hey, maybe it isn’t so bad placed in a cradle or cupholder, for you, GPS industry. Maybe and enlarged on-screen buttons to people will still want to pay way make it easier to work with while too much for single-purpose driving. The only feature not devices instead of installing a mentioned that is already present free app on the cell phone they in many other GPS devices and already have, that works with the apps is voice guidance, but even Google Maps and Google Search if not currently present, it’ll they already use. probably make an appearance According to CNET’s Tom with” are well chosen, because down the road. Krazit, Google’s new app, Maps Navigation requires a While I can’t see why Apple appropriately dubbed Google slightly different approach than would reject or hamstring the Maps Navigation, was demoed the standard App Store approval introduction of this exciting, new Tuesday for reporters, and will be process, since it won’t be a feature, we’ve seen in the past officially announced sometime standalone application, but will that the relationship between it today. The Google demo had the instead work directly out of the and Google can be tricky. I think app running on an unidentified built-in Google Maps app. Cupertino will realize, though, black Motorola Android 2.0 Direct Google Maps integration that in this case, the ability to p h o n e , b e l i e v e d t o b e t h e means that the new navigation market built-in, free-of-charge app will be uniquely positioned navigation is a great way to move upcoming Droid device. The good news for us Apple among its competitors to deliver more hardware, even if Navigon faithful is that Google announced s o m e r e a l l y c o o l f e a t u r e s , and TomTom won’t be too at the event that it is working including Google Search for pleased with the decision. with Apple on bringing the game nearby points of interest (POI). -changing software to the iPhone Google Street View will also platform. The words “working play a part, allowing you to see

Submitted at 10/29/2009 9:01:00 AM

If The Real Housewives of Atlanta can record an upbeat party tune, why not (the beautiful and mysterious) Kelly Kapoor and (the pretty) Erin Hannon from The Office? They may fictional characters on a sitcom, but they are just as real as the Housewives. And their debut song, "Male Prima Donna," is a lot more fun than tardiness in regards to the party. Kapoor and Hannon are the new singing sensation Subtle Sexuality, and "Male Prima Donna" dropped just after midnight this morning. They already have a Web site, a merchandise page with t-shirts, mugs, and tour posters. es, they list several dates in and around the Scranton, PA area and one in Ithaca. If you happen to be in the Dickson City, PA area tonight,

you can catch the tour kickoff at Idle Hour Bowling Karaoke. Continue reading Straight Outta Da Office: Subtle Sexuality Filed under: Video, Web, The Office, Reality-Free, Webisodes Permalink| Email this| | Comments

China to investigate US car subsidies (Financial Times - US homepage) Submitted at 10/28/2009 6:57:12 PM

China is preparing to launch a trade investigation into whether US carmakers are being unfairly subsidised by the US government, according to people familiar with the matter.

The move comes at a time of heightened trade tensions between the two countries after the US imposed duties on Chinese tyres last month. Many warned this would prompt Beijing to retaliate. This content has passed through fivefilters.org.

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Quick Look: Creating and Using Site Smallville producers Specific Browsers pushing for a tenth season By Alfredo Padilla (TheAppleBlog)

and Prism. The major difference between the two is that Fluid uses Webkit to power its SSBs, while Submitted at 10/28/2009 9:30:51 AM Prism uses the Gecko browser The advent of the cloud over the base that runs Firefox. past few years has meant that a Aside from these underlying lot of the tasks that we were used technologies, the two programs to doing on our Mac have now a site specific browser here on o f f e r r e m a r k a b l y s i m i l a r moved to the web. This brings TAB in the past, Mailplane, functionality. Simply enter a web with it a host of issues, from data which is used to access Gmail’s address, choose an icon(or just ownership to reliability of use the site favicon), and voila, a online interface. services (see recent Sidekick The beauty of an SSB is not only new program based on that site fiasco) and whether the web can do you get the bonus of neatly will be created for you. What’s deliver a Mac-like experience. having your own icon for a single more, each browser can accept Putting all that aside, however, a web application, but it also v a r i o u s s c r i p t s t o a d d more mundane problem is allows that site to integrate with functionality like a dock icon and managing all of those sites and OS X more completely. For even Growl notifications. You getting to them quickly and example you can have things like can even make an SSB your easily. Individual apps address book access and dock default email or RSS program. conveniently come with their In many ways SSBs may badges, all things that Mailplane own icon on your dock, web apps r e present the future of does for Gmail. do not, forcing you to dig computing. Just look at Google’s That’s great if you use Gmail, through the myriad of open tabs but what about all the other great upcoming Chrome OS, where the in your browser to find the app web-based applications out browser is the operating system. you need. If you’ve truly made there? Although there are not In such a situation it makes no the jump to cloud computing specific SSBs for things like sense to continue using the there is, thankfully, a better way: T w i t t e r , G o o g l e C a l e n d a r , outdated system of web pages site specific browsers (SSBs). Remember The Milk and other and browser bookmarks. When a The basic idea is simple: Create a web services, there are two website is a program unto itself separate web browser, complete different programs that will let you can argue that it deserves to with its own icon on the dock, to you take any web site and turn it be treated as one at the operating browse to a single site. We’ve into a site specific browser: Fluid system level. covered an excellent example of

By Mike Moody (TV Squad) Submitted at 10/29/2009 9:36:00 AM

Smallville really is the show that won't die. After more than eight years, numerous cast departures, and countless recycled plotlines, Smallvill e might be headed for a tenth season, producer Kelly Souders told EW. Somehow, the veteran superhero series manages to stay on the air while shows like Southland and Trauma can't seem to make it past season one. Smallville has experienced a drop in ratings since its recent move to Friday nights on The CW, but Souders says the drop off hasn't been that bad. Last week's episode, " Roulette," attracted 2.5 million viewers, a season high for the series. It shared third place in the ratings with ABC for the 8 p.m. hour. That's not terrible for a CW show

in its ninth season. Continue reading Smallville producers pushing for a tenth season Filed under: Industry, Smallville, Reality-Free Permalink| Email this| | Comments

Wall St set to rise on growth data (Financial Times - US homepage) Submitted at 10/29/2009 5:43:19 AM

US equity futures rose on Thursday as the US economy

emerged from the worst recession since the second world war and mostly better-than-expected corporate results raised hopes that the seven-month rally in stocks can continue.

After four consecutive days of losses, the S&P 500 futures were up 1.7 points at 1,040.30 less than an hour before the opening bell. They were trading above fair value of 1,039.42. Nasdaq

futures were up 1.00 points at 1,681.00, above a fair value reading of 1,680.51. Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average were up 17 points at 9,728.

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How-to: Create Services for Quick Search Box By Bryan Schuetz (TheAppleBlog)

possibilities. Grab text or files in QSB and pass them on to your services to do whatever you want Submitted at 10/28/2009 3:00:39 PM with them, like creating a new To I’ve been playing around with Do item in iCal. I’ve been Google Quick Search Box lately focused recently on replicating and am especially enjoying this functionality that I lost when I services plugin from Martin Kuhl made the switch over from which lets you activate and pass Quicksilver and I think that this input to OS X services right from improved service integration will within QSB. get me about 90 percent of the One snag though has been that way there. services created through the new The bad news is that this means I Automator template included in need to whip up a bunch of Snow Leopard leave out some custom services for myself. The vital bits that limit integration. good news is that ThisService Luckily, a handy application makes that task very easy. Just from Waffle Software called give it a script (AppleScript will ThisService makes creating d o , b u t i f y o u ’ r e m o r e proper services that integrate comfortable with other scripting seamlessly with QSB a lot easier languages you can use those), than you might think. define the type and name of your Being able to extend the service and click Create Service. functionality of QSB with OS X ThisService handles all the fiddly services really opens up a lot of Cocoa bits and spits out a

completed service into your~/Library/Services directory where QSB will see it and serve it up as an available action when appropriate. Actually writing your AppleScript will likely be the

most complicated part, which is why ThisServices comes bundled with some handy starter scripts to put you on the right path. They also make a number of example scripts and services available for download from their site. The

More Chuck sooner: NBC orders 6 additional episodes; likely to return early By Robert Seidman (TVbytheNumbers)

if what The Wrap’s Josef Adalian is hearing pans out. NBC is looking to order up six additional Submitted at 10/28/2009 9:16:07 PM episodes of Chuck and the show Update 2: with the news that could return as early as January: Trauma would not get a full NBC is close to giving “Chuck” season pick-up, Chuck’s early a big thumbs up. return seems certain. The network will likely order as Update The Live Feed reports many as six additional episodes that the six additional episodes is of the comedic spy adventure, The extra episodes would be on a done deal according to sources. two industry insiders familiar top of the 13 hours already Good news, Chuck fans, at least with the situation told TheWrap. ordered for season three.

NBC’s move could be a sign the network wants to bring “Chuck” back on the air in January, splitting its season into pre- and post-Olympics pods. More on The Wrap This content has passed through fivefilters.org.

scripts don’t need to be complicated. For example, here is the one I use for adding To Do items in iCal: on process(input) tell application "iCal" tell calendar "work" make new todo at end with properties {summary:input} end tell end tell end process If you wanted to get fancy you could pass additional properties like the due date, priority, etc., but just getting a new item into the list is all I need. Once you have your service setup accessing them through Quick Search Box is as easy as can be. Because showing seems to be more useful than describing, below is a quick little video clip of the To Do service in action. What kind of services would you like to have? Share your thoughts in the comments.

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Twitter feeds stray puppies (Scripting News) Submitted at 10/28/2009 9:15:40 AM

A bunch of random notes on returing from the#140conf in Los Angeles. Next time I go to a conference I'm taking the Asus, not the MacBook. You're always looking for a power outlet with the Mac and that sucks. I'm also going to actively look for a replacement for the Sprint MiFi and my AT&T iPhone, both of which have terribly spotty coverage. I couldn't get online in LAX last night, even though my iPhone can tether and I had the Sprint. If you can't get online in one of the largest airports in the world, what is the point of carrying this thing with you. SFO wasn't much better. And I couldn't use either of them in my hotel room in the biggest hotel in Hollywood in the middle of a shopping mall and convention center. These are places that by now these cell providers should have the best coverage in. The question is -- is Verizon any better? Great Rebooting The News with Jeff Jarvis as the guest. Lovely rapport betw Jay and Jeff.

At the conference yesterday they explained the vague announcement made by YCombinator and Twitter over the weekend -- YCombinator startups will have access to Twitter's firehose. The audience heard "startups get help from Twitter" which they reacted to as if they said "Twitter feeds stray puppies." I hate to spoil the party, but not all speculative investigations are done by "entrepreneurs" -- and not all entrepreneurs are part of YCombinator. This is just more of the lunacy that comes from building an industry around a company instead of an open format or protocol. Paul Graham hypes it as Twitter having discovered a protocol like SMTP or HTTP. That's pure bunk. When there's a protocol, no one will own the firehose, and no one will be granted access (and no one will not be granted access). I'm continuing to love my linkblog. I've gotten nothing but complaints from readers. Eventually you all will love it too. I'm sure of it. In the meantime, my work is 100 percent more valuable to me, and

I'm starting to depend on this software.) I started to watch the video of my presentation at 140conf, which everyone says went well (it was widely quoted on Twitter, of course). That's good, cause I couldn't stand to watch it because I'm frowning too much because there's a light shining in my eyes. We have to come up with a better way to do this, so it doesn't feel so much like "I'm up here and you're out there." I have to be my incentive to remember a link able to at least abstract the by pushing it through Twitter audience when I'm speaking. (and my linkblog) is greater than That's why I much prefer the ever. So I'll do more work for interview format, because I can you, you'll be better informed, talk to another person. It's part of and happier and more productive. the theme of my talk, we're just I can't promise you'll live longer. people, I'm not Mike Wallace We'll feed some stray puppies and you're not really an audience. It's a brave new world and we too. Reminder to subscribe to this should have the courage to accept feed not the one that WordPress it for what it is. And please provides. (Note to Matt and the believe me that I'm smiling as I WP community and company, as write this. I wish I had been I use WP more and more I'm smiling more while I gave the hitting limits we never had in talk. Radio or Manila. You guys And don't forget to feed the stray should seriously look at stealing puppies. some ideas from those products. I'll help you find them, because

Galleon paid banks millions for â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;edgeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; (Financial Times - US homepage) Submitted at 10/28/2009 4:00:27 PM

The Galleon hedge fund at the centre of an insider trading scandal paid hundreds of millions

of dollars a year to its Wall Street banks and in return regularly received market information that would not have been disclosed to most investors, executives familiar with the matter say. A person familiar with Galleon,

whose founder, Raj Rajaratnam, years of this decade. was charged with insider trading This content has passed through this month, said it paid about fivefilters.org. $250m to its banks last year. Executives who dealt with the fund said it paid more in fees and other charges during the boom

Review: Eastwick - Bonfire and Betrayal By Jane Boursaw (TV Squad) Submitted at 10/29/2009 3:28:00 AM

(S01E06) "It's like you've stepped out of a 70's porno and into my life." - Roxie to Darryl It's Halloween, and there's no better place to be than Eastwick. Unless you've got an insane pastor on your tail who's bound and determined to make you pay for your past sins (see photo above). But first, the celebration! Everyone decorates coffins, fills them up with whatever's been bothering them this past year, brings them to the giant witch statue, and watches them burn. Sounds like a party, doesn't it? Continue reading Review: Eastwick - Bonfire and Betrayal Filed under: Other Drama Shows, OpEd, Episode Reviews, Reality-Free Permalink| Email this| | Comments

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By the Numbers: Nikki Finke vs. The Levi Johnston Spills All Wrap October 21-27, 2009 about Sarah Palin By Robert Seidman (TVbytheNumbers)

the cause of the traffic spike, but our experience is when you say a spike like that, it’s almost always Submitted at 10/28/2009 11:34:40 PM related to only one post. The Wrap’s Sharon Waxman Spikes like that are always nice Deadline.com’s Nikki Finke and when you get them, most sites The Wrap’s Sharon Waxman don’t get them every day. have not been all that shy about Conferences. Definitely feuding in public. Finke must’ve conferences. been miffed that Waxman more But for a day at least, The Wrap or less got the Comcast/NBC Uni nearly doubled Deadline story correct since Finke initially Hollywood’s traffic. And I’m called out Waxman for having it money is! Unfortunately I am not sure Nikki would say something wrong. The burning question a big fan of even attending like “I’m only one person, they now is if and when the deal gets conferences, and though Bill have STAFF, they should be done whether Waxman will bust doesn’t loathe attending them, I doing five times my traffic, every out a big fat TOLDJA! headline. don’t think he has any interest in day!” Finke rapped the well-funded trying to run one. I’d tell you that I thought The Wrap’s relatively small web Anyway, we regularly look at Wrap had a better shot with traffic. Indeed, trying to cash in the Quantcast data for sites that conferences than Finke has, and o n w e b t r a f f i c i s a d i c e y directly measure like The Wrap, as a series of conferences, proposition these days. The and Deadline.com. luncheons, special series and Wrap would likely have a hard I was looking at the numbers for other events, I do think that. But time paying its bills even if it The Wrap, and they had a big I’d be lying if I said I didn’t think increased its normal traffic by spike on Tuesday! Perhaps not a TOLDJA! conference once a more than an order of magnitude. quite a TOLDJA! moment for year had nice prospects for But I wouldn’t write Waxman or The Wrap, but it had to bring p a c k i n g ‘ e m i n . A r o u n d The Wrap off yet either. Web them some joy nonetheless: Halloween seems like a good publishing might be pretty iffy, Apparently it was this story time of year, too. There are but if The Wrap can figure out a a b o u t C r a s h d i r e c t o r P a u l already special masks available! way to make money off of Haggis’ public break with The This content has passed through c o n f e r e n c e s , w h o k n o w s ? Church of Scientology over gay fivefilters.org. Conferences are where the rights. I could be wrong about

(ETonline - Breaking News) Submitted at 10/29/2009 4:55:00 AM

Levi Johnston, the father of former Republican Vice Presidential candidate Sarah Palin's grandson, is going on the record about what he knows about Palin and her family. Johnston, who welcomed son Tripp almost a year ago with Palin's teen daughter Bristol, tells Mark Steines that the public Palin is very different from the private one: "The TV side of Sarah Palin which I am telling you is not the real Palin. She goes out and puts on a big show for you and that is the Palin you

know." He explained that Palin used some surprising terms to describe her son Trig, born with Down Syndrome. Johnston says, "She'd come in from work and she'd be like, 'Hey, where is my retarded baby,' and just something like along those lines. The kids, Bristol and them, didn't think much of it, but the first time I heard it, I was in shock, I didn't know what to say. So, but then she, it kind of became a normal thing for her to say and you know, I guess, but she'd always have a smile on her face, laughing about it."

MediaDailyNews: Havas Bond Renews Aegis Takeover Speculation (MediaPost | Media News) Submitted at 10/29/2009 7:00:22 AM

A $519 million bond offering by Paris-based agency holding company Havas is fueling speculation that it may once again be preparing for a major acquisition, presumably an offer to take over London-based Aegis Group. Havas Chairman Vincent Bollore is the largest shareholder in both agency holding companies, and has been

thwarted in repeated attempts to gain seats on the Aegis board, which some believe would be a prelude to a merger. Aegis is the parent of media networks such as Carat, Isobar, Posterscope and Vizeum, as well as marketing research giant Synovate. Havas is the parent of media networks MPG and Media Contacts, and agencies such as Euro RSCG. This content has passed through fivefilters.org.

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World Series Diary: Phillies 6, Yankees 1 (WSJ.com: The Daily Fix) Submitted at 10/28/2009 2:30:58 PM

The Journal provides minute-byminute analysis of the Philadelphia Phillies’ 6-1 victory over the New York Yankees in tonight’s Game 1 of the World Series. Guest blogger Jonah Keri offers commentary on the game and the Fox telecast, while Journal staffer Matthew Futterman adds insight from Yankee Stadium. Guest bloggers Nando Di Fino (Yankees) and Ken Kalfus (Phillies) give a fan’s perspective. Getty Images Cliff Lee (right), who pitched a complete-game six-hitter, celebrates with catcher Carlos Ruiz after the Phillies’ win. 11:30: Hammer curve whiffs Posada, Lee’s 10th K of the game 6-1 Phillies, final. The postmortem is pretty simple. CC Sabathia was good. Cliff Lee was great. Two homers by Chase Utley were all the Phillies needed. They’ve wrested away home-field advantage and sent a giant statement that they’re the defending champs. Pedro Martinez is a very uncertain commodity in Game 2. But the Phillies at least have a shot to head back home up 2-0. Heady stuff. Tune in tomorrow for more liveblog goodness, and we’ll see how the plot unfolds.* * * Everyone on their feet here, standing under the big screen. Lee gets his last K, and the shouts go up in a single cry.

Someone is waving his rally towel out the window. An exhausting game, so close for so long, but very satisfying on this end of the blog.– Kalfus* * * On the bright side, the Yanks may not have done much better if they were facing Roy Halladay tonight instead. But man…we looked dead out there. A-Rod is going to get blasted by the papers for the three strikeouts, Swisher is playing like he has mono, we didn’t have any excitement until the ninth inning (and that was from two singles and an error)… If we get beaten by an old man tomorrow, who couldn’t even convince a team to sign him until mid-summer, then we deserve to be down 0-2.– Di Fino 11:26: Lee fans A-Rod for the third time. Wow. Two away for Posada. 11:25: Utley with a great play to spear Teixeira’s bounder up the middle, flips to Rollins for the force. Rollins’ relay airmails Howard by about five Ryan Howards. There goes the shutout and Tex to second, but first out of the inning’s more important. 6 -1 Phils. 11:24: Don’t worry, I’m not comfortable.– Kalfus* * * Take that, @Jposnanski. You and your Yankees Game 1 shutout trivia will have to wait another year!– Di Fino 11:22: Damon single. Two on, nobody out. Now I’d be really nervous. Gotta drive the stake through the heart to kill the vampire.

11:21: Joe Buck has decided to read off the names and ages of Cliff Lee’s kids. Has it really gotten to that point?– Di Fino 11:18: Howard lashes a single to right, cashes one run, but Victorino pegged out at home. 60 Phils going to the bottom of the ninth. Still not enough runs to give Cliff Lee a break and bring in Brad Lidge. That’s the state of Philly’s bullpen at this point. Instead, we get to see a pitcher at the height of his powers try to close out a near-historic game. 11:15: Utley flies out to right for the second out against Phil Coke. This is a really long inning. 11:10: From the great Joe Posnanski of SI, on Twitter: “@JPosnanski Number of times the New York Yankees have been shut out in Game 1 of the World Series: Zero.” 11:09: I think the fifth run qualifies as insurance. Here in Philly, on our little piazza, the crowd is getting derisive, shouting expletives at the momentarily hapless Yanks. And, odd, given the heroics of gentlemen named Cliff and Chase, they’re paying homage to the manager: “Let’s go Charlie!”– Kalfus 11:08: Victorino rolls a single to

right. 5-0 Phillies. This still isn’t a big enough lead for a Phillies fan to feel safe should Charlie Manuel go to Brad Lidge, by the way. 11:05: Rollins cues an infield hit up the third-base line. First and third, one out. 11:03: Ruiz clubs a one-out double to center. Booing at Yankee Stadium! Never thought I’d see that in this World Series. 11:02: Popout to second off reliever Brian Bruney to start the ninth. Yankee fans’ reaction sounds like an 11-0 deficit in a meaningless April game. 10:59: Lazy popout to center by Cabrera, Stop me if you’ve heard this before — 1-2-3 Yankees. 4-0 Phils after eight. You’re darned right Lee (106 pitches) is coming out for the ninth. 10:57: That last out began the clearing-out phase from the stadium. Folks are ready to hit the Major Deegan Expressway. Even for this bunch of Yankees, a four-run deficit seems like far too much to overcome. Can’t blame anyone for taking off early after sitting through three-plus hours in this weather.– Futterman 10:56: Lee paints the inside corner on a fastball to freeze Swisher. Strikeout number eight. Two out. Jaw-dropping. 10:54: BEHIND-THE-BACK play by Lee on a grounder back to the box. He’s just toying with the Yankees. Even the most optimistic Phillies fan couldn’t have dreamed this kind of

scenario.* * * If Gary Cooper pitched lefty. he’d be Cliff Lee.– Kalfus 10:50: Robertson induces an inning-ending groundout to third. Too little, too late. 4-0 Phils, going to the bottom of the eighth. Yankees need to get Lee out of the game and test the bullpen to have any semblance of a chance.* * * So… um… in 2007, Cliff Lee had a 6.29 ERA. He has given up runs before. There’s hope!– Di Fino 10:48: And Joe Girardi is now guilty of undermanaging. Ibanez two-run single. 4-0 Phillies. Should’ve been Mo, Joe. 10:47: Robertson gets ahead 1-2 and nearly sneaks an outside fastball by Ibanez. Looking better this at-bat. Crucial out here. 10:44: Dave Robertson pitching change…not as nifty. Four-ball walk to Werth. Bases loaded, Ibanez coming up. This should be Rivera time. But they’re leaving Robertson in. 10:41: Hey, it’s still early. There are fans all over this jittery, heart -in-our-mouths metropolis wondering if Lee will really finish.– Kalfus 10:40: Marte gets Howard on a liner to right. Heckuva job! I sit corrected. 10:38: Terrific curve by Marte freezes Utley for a ginormous strikeout. 10:36: Girardi taps the lefty Marte here to face Utley. I’d WORLD page 49

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have gone to Rivera. They really can’t allow any more runs here. One inning from Rivera tonight, come back ready for Game 2, then day off after Game 2.* * * The more you watch the Phillies this postseason, you begin to wonder how they actually lost 69 games. They’re on the verge of going 8-1 against the best teams in baseball. They have weapons of every sort in the lineup, tough starting pitching and aren’t making many mistakes. The Yankees are going to have their hands full with this team. If it’s any consolation to Yankees fans, the Phillies were only 45-36 at home this season — though they are undefeated there in the postseason.– Futterman 10:34: These DirectTV commercials where actors reenact movie scenes are doing three things: 1. Making me hate Wayne’s World 2. Making me hate DirecTV 3. Making those “Lopez Tonight” and the old “Frank TV” commercials on TBS seem a lot less annoying.– Di Fino 10:33: Hughes misses way inside for a second straight walk. That’s all for Hughes; he’s way too wild. 10:32: You go, Jimmy. See that smile when he came up? These guys are playing like they’re ahead by five.– Kalfus 10:31: Phil Hughes has a lousy move to first, Posada isn’t a great thrower, and Victorino with a 3-0 count. Great call sending Rollins for the stolen base there.

10:29: Hughes misses on a pitch over Rollins’ head for a leadoff walk. Yikes. Last thing the Yankees want to do is yield insurance runs. 10:27: Phil Hughes in for Sabathia. Jimmy Rollins leading off the eighth, launches a ball down the right field line…foul! 10:25: I’m sure it has more to do with his conversion to a reliever and generally being a year older and wiser, but Phil Hughes was pretty bad wearing #34 last year, and has been awesome with #65 this season. You have to like the young Yankees pitchers for that: Hughes wears 65, Joba wears 62, and Aceves wears 91. It’s just very un-corporate, which is refreshing considering how frustratingly corporate and bland the elder Yankees sometimes act.– Di Fino 10:24: Lee needed just nine pitches in that inning. 95 pitches through seven, and he looks completely in control. Complete game definitely a possibility. Beef of the Yankees’ order due up in the ninth, though. 10:22: Matsui with a weak groundout to third. 1-2-3 go the Yankees. 2-0 Phils, end of seven. 10:20: Posada taps back to Lee for out number two. This is a clinic. 10:18: A-Rod grounds out to third to start the seventh. The Yankees just can’t seem to put any good swings on the ball. 10:13: Another groundout to third, and that’s the inning. Can’t fault Sabathia for that effort tonight. Yankees just haven’t

been able to touch Lee.* * * Not in any way to put down Sfc Mary Kay Messenger, who has a really beautiful voice, but it’s kind of weird to not hear Ronan Tynan booming out “God Bless America” here. Then again, the Yankees have won zero titles since Tynan started singing in 2001. Baseball is a notoriously superstitious sport, and I don’t think I would be accused of being a total conspiracy nut job if I suggested that the whole business with Tynan being ratted out to the Yankees by a pediatrician for allegedly making an anti-Semitic joke at an apartment showing (seriously…why go tattle to the Yankees?) was at least a minisetup to get Tynan out and break the possible bad luck.– Di Fino 10:11: Sabathia walks Francisco to start the seventh. 5-4-3 double play quickly wipes that out. Sabathia might be able to get through seven and still be fine for Game 4 after all. 10:10: The crowd actually came to life as Johnny Damon took Lee to a 3-2 count with Jeter on first and one out. That’s what counts for a rally against Cliff Lee in the 2009 postseason. There’s a larger problem at work here for the Yankees. What happens when your ace loses Game 1 at home with a likely Hall of Famer on a hot streak going up against a somewhat inconsistent second starter in Game 2. There’s three innings left to play but, all of a sudden, the idea that the Yankees could

head to Philadelphia down 0-2 doesn’t seem totally out of the realm of possibility.– Futterman 10:09: Still can’t get over that Cliff Lee catch. That’s got to rank as one of my top 10 favorite playoff baseball moments ever. This is the World Series, Cliffy! You can be a little excited. 10:06: Teixeira’s grounder up the middle speared by Utley, races to the bag to beat Jeter. Lee’s cruised through six innings, no runs, just four hits, seven Ks, no walks. Only 86 pitches. He’s not going anywhere. 2-0 Phils after six. 10:05: The crowd loves that little insouciant catch by Lee. Put that on the highlight reel. A great inning.– Kalfus 10:03: Damon jammed again, pops up back to the mound. Cliff Lee makes the single most nonchalant catch I’ve ever seen. He practically yawned. Tim McCarver was cackling.* * * Cliff Lee’s catch was straight out of one of those old TCM blackand-white movies where someone like Gene Kelly is cast in the role of a baseball player, he just finished doing a big musical number, dances around the field, playfully flicks an umpire’s hat, then sticks his glove out and the ball falls in. This is Game 1 of the World Series, Cliff! You barely looked! I’d put 2-to-1 odds that this becomes one of those “iconic catch” moments in the DVD of this series.– Di Fino 10:00: Jeter bounces a single just out of Utley’s reach. As much as

the soggy crowd is deflated, one swing and it’s a tie game. 9:58: Lee still cooking, gets Cabrera to fly out to right to start the bottom of the sixth. 9:55: Sabathia just went over 100 pitches. If Girardi wants him to pitch in Games 4 and 7, this might be it for him. And CC fans Ibanez. Inning over. We’ll see. 9:52: Jayson Werth hits an 82hopper that somehow eludes Cano’s glove for a base hit. Two out, man on first for Ibanez. 9:50: Starting to get the feeling this just isn’t the Yanks’ night — or maybe the Phils are just plain better and Lee is untouchable. The crowd is sort of out of it. Cold weather and a deficit with just three hits send even the diehards to the concession stands.– Futterman* * * The crowd is on their feet here, people are hanging out their windows around the square. And maybe Utley is the best player on the team — he’s really coming through tonight. He may get the chance to be the new Mr. November. Meanwhile, it’s just a two-run lead.— Kalfus 9:48: For the second straight time, a cheesed-off Sabathia fans Howard after giving up a bomb to Utley. Reuters The Phillies’ Chase Utley hits the first of his two solo home runs. 9:44: Sabathia sets down Victorino, goes 0-2 on Utley, then grooves a fat pitch for a monster homer. WORLD page 50

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The Phillies’ best player strikes again. 2-0 Phils. 9:39: Lee gets the inning-ending popout. Down go the Yankees again. 1-0 Phils through five. 9:37: Umps get it right! Your friendly neighborhood liveblogger’s prediction comes true! Dogs and cats living together! 9:36: And right on cue, Cano does hit into a double play. Or does he? Did Rollins catch it in the air or not? Rollins’ throw pulled Howard off the bag… Yup, double play. Umps botched the call, ruled ball hit the ground. Let’s see if they overturn it. 9:35: But is Cano a disputed double-play candidate?– Di Fino 9:32: Lee gets two strikes on Matsui again. But on 3-2, throws a fastball right down the middle instead of that killer change-up. Matsui slaps it up the middle for a leadoff single. First time all night Yanks have the leadoff man on. Cano’s a double-play candidate, though. 9:28: Sabathia climbs the ladder on Rollins, gets him to pop out on a fastball out of the zone. Going to the bottom fifth, 1-0 Philly. 9:26: I can’t stop laughing everytime I see “Ken Rosenthal” on screen, and it’s solely because the folks at Baseball Think Factory nicknamed him “Robothal”– a nod to his ridiculous output of columns and updates during the Winter Meetings and trade deadline.– Di Fino

9:25: Sabathia with a filthy curve on the inside corner catches Feliz with the bat on his shoulder. Oof. Ruiz follows with a groundout to short. Apparently Sabathia and Lee have dinner reservations at 10:30. 9:24: WSJ colleague Nando DiFino reminds me that’s our first Expos reference of the night. That’s only because I held back mentioning that the Yankees should’ve been playing the Expos at this time 15 years ago, in the 1994 World Series. Thanks Bud Selig! 9:22: The Montreal Expos once traded Cliff Lee, Grady Sizemore AND Brandon Phillips for Bartolo Colon. And people wonder why the Nats are still awful. 9:20: Lee fans A-Rod on a change-up, sixth K of the game. This shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone who’s paid attention. Lee doesn’t get the acclaim of Halladay, Lincecum, Sabathia and company. But he’s been a true ace past two years. And Lee fans Posada to strike out the side and end the inning. Seven Ks. Wow.* * * The mist is back, this time in the form of a steady drizzle.– Futterman 9:15: Lee starts the fourth with yet another strikeout, this one taking a little off and fooling Mark Teixeira.* * * There’s an odd dynamic at work here tonight. Three hours before game time, there were still tickets being sold at the box office, and

looking around the stadium it doesn’t appear that they all got sold, no matter what baseball and the Yankees ultimately announce. There are empty seats scattered all throughout the upper deck, too many for all these people to be getting a hot dog or going to the bathroom. Also, visiting teams are supposed to come here and get psyched out by the size of the stage and the history. The Yankees play all sorts of nostalgic footage of the Babe and Yogi while the other team is taking batting practice just to remind them where they are. And yet, the Phillies seem like the more relaxed team out here, taking time with their at-bats, playing workmanlike defense, while the Yankees are rushing and swinging at bad pitches. You get the feeling the Phillies knew exactly what to expect here. Experience must count for something.– Futterman 9:13: As the man who broke the “Swisher endorses chocolate milk” story, I would like — as the appointed representative of Yankee fans here — to append my esteemed colleague’s take on Nick Swisher by saying that a lot of us fans all still kind of love the guy. Especially the ladies. I think it’s because he comes across as human and accessible. Full disclosure, though: I own a “Swisher 33 t-shirt (it was a groomsman’s gift, to be fair) and when I see the“Swisher” sticker on urinals in bars, I snap a photo with my phone and send it to my

Yankee fan friends.– Di Fino 9:12: Down goes Ibanez on a freeze-worthy curve for strike three. Ben Francisco hacks at a 2-0 pitch, flies out to center to end another quick inning. 9:11: Can we stop with the Raul Ibanez fawning? Fantastic first half, then hit .232 with a .326 OBP in the second half, lousy defense throughout the year. He’s a good player, but he costs eight figures a year. This isn’t the Evan Longoria contract here. 9:08: Another darting, diving change-up, this one by Sabathia, strikes out Werth to start the fourth. Wonder if both pitchers perfected that pitch while in the Indians organization. 9:04: Lee saws off Damon with an inside fastball, grounder to third ends the inning. 1-0 Philly after three. 9:02: A friend says, “What I like about these Phils is that none of them look like John Kruk.”– Kalfus 9:01: And right after saying that, Lee misses location with a thighhigh fastball that caught too much of the plate. Slashed down the right-field line for a two-out double by Jeter.* * * Maybe it’s just that we’re close to Halloween and everything is macabre to me right now, but I hope they pick up all those shards of Damon’s bat — it didn’t just break, it exploded — or someone sliding into home later on could become a bloody mess with a huge splinter. I’d like to see that swing again on

one of those super-slow replays just to see how many pieces went flying.– Di Fino 9:00: Nick Swisher is as flaky as they come these days. He believes in his titanium-coated necklaces, credits his hairdo –which he calls the “Swishhawk” — for his hits in the final game of the ALCS, has tattoos aplenty and chats endlessly, mostly about himself, in front of his locker. When he’s cranking home runs it comes off as funloving and charming. When he’s mired in a slump, like he is now, it just seems downright goofy.– Futterman 8:59: Another popout, this one to second, for the second out. What I like about Lee’s approach, aside from how quickly he works, is how he changes the batter’s eye level. He’s getting popups on higher pitches, but scrapes the dirt in two-strike counts, the way he did on the strikeout change-up to Matsui. 8:57: Nick Swisher’s postseason slump now extends to the World Series. Pops out to first against the razor-sharp Cliff Lee for the first out of the third.* * * All right, first blood! But seriously, Nando, thanks. The Phils are a nice team, usually. The best players are homegrown, at least they came up through the farm system, and they’re involved in the community, at least a little beyond the pro forma stuff.– WORLD page 51

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Kalfus 8:55: Sabathia has proven he has something of a rubber arm. The guy throws 113 pitches in Game 1 of the ALCS and comes back three days later and dominates. That said, this doesn’t look to be the most-efficient outing of his career. Through three innings, he’s already thrown nearly 60 pitches. The Utley home run came after Victorino just missed the left-field foul pole, and some other expensive outs. The Yanks should feel pretty fortunate to be down by just one run at this point, and they better hope their middle relief is sharper than it’s been in recent games. They may very well need it.– Futterman 8:52: Sabathia comes back with a terrific low and inside fastball under Howard’s hands for the strikeout. Phils lead 1-0 going to the bottom of the third. 8:50: Utley immediately vindicates that last remark. Popfly homer into the first row of the right-field bleachers. The ballpark’s ludicrous dimensions come back to bite the Yanks. 1-0 Phillies. 8:49: Utley lays off a close pitch just a bit up and in for ball three. Another long, patient at-bat by the Phillies’ best player (you heard me). 8:46: Victorino taps a twohopper to Jeter for the second out. Another off-speed pitch that messed up a hitter’s timing by Sabathia. 8:44: I know, as a Yankees fan, I’m supposed to hate certain things — Red Sox fans, failure,

cheap beers, small-market teams with pluck, World Series opponents — but I think this Phillies team is built so similarly to the Yankees (some affable players, a lifer shortstop, great pitching, famous girlfriends)…I’m finding it hard to dislike them.– Di Fino 8:44: Ryan Howard is either focusing really hard in the dugout, or attempting to drill a hole in his skull with his bat. 8:43: Rollins with the first deep fly of the game, but to the wrong part of the ballpark. Run down by Melky Cabrera on the warning track in center. 8:42: Jimmy Rollins appeared in MC Hammer videos as a child in the late 80s?!?! Is it all right if I drop any pretense of being objective at this point? 8:41: Cliff Lee is God’s gift to late-season baseball. He works so quickly, even these innings are flying by, which, given the inclement weather, is a welcome development. Now if only we could do something about the three-minute commercial breaks between innings, life would be good. Thankfully the mist is slowing down.– Futterman 8:39: It doesn’t look like so much fun out there. Here in the square, we’ve just been passed by a dachshund in Phillies red. It’s lovely here in Philly.– Kalfus 8:38: Cano flies out to center. We’re flying so far, scoreless through two. 8:36: Five Yankees outs, four strikeouts by Cliff Lee. That change-up to Matsui was like a

slow-motion splitter. Filthy. Unhittable. 8:34: A-Rod, apparently having slightly less fun, whiffs to start the inning. Posada follows by dunking a single to right-center. Much better approach than he showed in the clinching game of the LCS, when Posada stranded 10 men on base. 8:32: Tim McCarver: “Alex Rodriguez has rediscovered the joy of baseball.” So what you’re saying is he’s just having fun out there? Does Brett Favre know about this trademark infringement? 8:29: Ruiz grounds out to second. 1-2-3 go the Phils. Fans battling pneumonia applaud lustily. 8:27: Sabathia quickly turns the tide and induces a pair of groundouts to the right side. My colleague Matt Futterman is spot on about the weather. Slips and slides on the basepaths are entirely possible. Fans shivering and miserable is a certainty. 8:24: Sabathia missing his spots early, another three-ball count, this one on Ben Francisco, who’s starting with Ibanez at DH. 8:23: There’s a very unpleasant mist falling here at the stadium. We realize this season got messed up because of the World Baseball Classic, but late October and bad weather in the northeast seem to go together a little too well. The season suddenly started to feel a little too long.– Futterman 8:21: I know a lot has been made

of this whole “Cliff Lee faced Sabathia in the first game ever at Yankee Stadium!” trivia, but here’s something interesting about it: The Yankees’ third baseman that day (a 10-2 Indians win) was…Cody Ransom.– Di Fino 8:20: My favorite Cliff Lee stat this season: 12 starts for the Phillies, 10 walks. The Yankees will have to earn it tonight. Teixeira strikes out to end the inning. Buckle up! 8:18: Cliff Lee doesn’t get the acclaim that Sabathia does, but he’s been every bit as good, or better than CC over the past two seasons. He fans Jeter to start the game. Gotta love the Phillies sending Lee against the leftyheavy Yanks. If Cole Hamels answers the bell this series, that’s a nice hidden advantage for Philly. Damon bunts right back to Lee for the second straight easy out. 8:15: We thought here that CC was about to walk in a run. I guess that was delusional.– Kalfus 8:14: Ibanez does zippy with the 3-1 pitch, taps out to second to end the threat. No score heading to the bottom of the first. 8:13: And Ibanez working Sabathia too. CC throws a surprising 2-1 breaking ball that misses, 3-1 now. 8:11: The Phillies’ non-Rollins patient ways continue. Werth lets a high-outside fastball go by on a full count for the walk. Sacks juiced, two out for Raul Ibanez. 8:09: Whatever problems Ryan

Howard may have had with lefthanded pitching — this season, last season, pretty much his whole career — he’s been that much better against southpaws during these playoffs. He was hitting only .182 in these playoffs vs. LH heading into this game (2 for 11) but with a .400 OBP and .545 SLG. Crank those numbers up, as Howard turns on a pitch and drives it to right for a double. Second and third, two out for Jayson Werth. 8:08: Lot of cheers here, the crowd’s pretty excited already. OK, let’s have a base hit.– Kalfus 8:06: Chase Utley takes a close pitch for ball four, a two-out walk. Normally being extrapatient against Sabathia is a hitor-miss proposition, since the big man may have better stamina than any other pitcher in the game. But racking up big pitch counts against the Yankees’ starters could make it tough for Joe Girardi to go to his preferred three-man rotation. 8:04: A bunt to Teixeira and a pop up to Teixeira to start the game. For those of us who have crafted a drinking game around how many times Joe Buck will say his name tonight, this could turn out to be a long game…– Di Fino 8:03: Sabathia throws a tricky two-strike changeup that completely fools Shane Victorino and induces a lazy popout. Sabathia can dial his WORLD page 54

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A World Series Battle Between the Haves and Have-Mores (WSJ.com: The Daily Fix)

“Two men who won Cy Young awards for the Cleveland Indians should be pitching for the The teams taking the field Cleveland Indians, not for teams Wednesday night for Game 1 of better able to compensate them,” the World Series definitely aren’t Sheridan writes. “The Yankees small-market. Nor will fans see have always had the advantage. the Freeway Series or the When they win, as they did in the nostalgic Yankees-Dodgers series 1990s, the temptation is to throw many had rooted for. European up your hands at the unfairness Pressphoto Agency The Phillies’ of it all. When they fail to win Pedro Feliz tries in vain to keep the title, as they’ve done for his bat warm and dry during his much of this decade, it’s fun to team’s workout at Yankees mock them for trying to buy a Stadium on Tuesday. championship.” Which doesn’t mean Phillies- This series is more than about Y a n k e e s c a n ’ t b e l o n g o r pitching. Much of the focus will compelling, pitting the upper- be on the Yanks’ Alex Rodriguez class Phillies with their$111 and the Phillies’ Ryan Howard, million payroll against the tycoon two stars posting lofty postseason -class Yankees and their$208 numbers. “It’s a dream scenario million roster. Philadelphia’s for MLB, not only because of the mission: defeat the favorites and two players’ name recognition, repeat as champions, becoming but because neither one seems to the first National League team to be close to cooling off at the do so since the Cincinnati Reds plate,” Christian Red writes in in 1976. the New York Daily News. The series opens with a great The bulky, powerful Howard pitching matchup: the Phillies’ wasn’t keen on becoming a oneCliff Lee and the Yankees’ CC dimensional player later in his Sabathia, former Cleveland career, so he began altering his teammates having outstanding diet in the past year, with solid postseasons with minuscule results, Yahoo Sports’s Jeff ERAs. If the series goes the limit, Passan writes. Lee and Sabathia could get three All eyes will be on Rodriguez, starts apiece. who hopes to earn his first World That’s fine for Phillies and Series title. “Rodriguez is no Y a n k e e s f a n s , b u t t h e different than the Jeters or the Philadelphia Inquirer’s Phil Posadas on this team, since no S h e r i d a n s a y s t h e p a y r o l l one who plays this game on the disparity between the haves and highest level hasn’t pushed the have-nots is hurting baseball. themselves to reach this stage,” Submitted at 10/28/2009 7:38:54 AM

the Star-Ledger’s Steve Politi writes. “ Will he continue his torrid streak and lift this team to a championship against the Phillies? Or will he struggle at the plate as the Yankees again fail to win their 27th title?” The spotlight will also shine on managers Joe Girardi and Charlie Manuel. In the Chicago Tribune, Phil Rogers and Dan McGrath write about how the Yanks’ Girardi honed his work ethic over the years. In the Boston Globe, Peter Abraham describes how Manuel has fit in perfectly with the Phillies. A few other worthy clicks: In the Los Angeles Times, Bill Shaikin argues for expanded replay; the New York Times’s Dave Anderson remembers the Yanks’ sweep of Philadelphia in 1950; the Philadelphia Inquirer’s Bill Lyon talks to a Whiz Kid from that ‘50 Phillies team; and the Orlando Sentinel’s George Diaz says Tampa Bay’s trip to the World Series last year defied the economics of modern baseball. Finally, Yahoo’s Tim Brown has a position-by-position breakdown of the World Series. Be sure to come back here

Wednesday evening, as Jonah Keri and Matthew Futterman live -blog Game 1. You can also see all of the Journal’s coverage of the Yankees, Phillies and World Series at our new topics pages.* ** After the Los Angeles Lakers celebrated their 2009 NBA championship with another banner at Staples Center and shiny, diamond-studded rings Tuesday night, they began the new season with a 99-92 victory over the Los Angeles Clippers. Kobe Bryant led the Lakers with 33 points. In the Los Angeles Daily News, Ramona Shelburne notes the team is focused on repeating, hoping their only offseason acquisition, Ron Artest, plays a big role. In Cleveland, Shaquille O’Neal faces enormous pressure to bring the Cavaliers their first championship. O’Neal scored just 10 in his debut, a 95-89 loss to Boston, but the Cleveland Plain Dealer’s Terry Pluto advises fans that it’s only one game and not worth panicking over.* * * David Booth of the Florida Panthers becomes the latest NHL player sidelined by a vicious hit to the head. On Saturday, Philadelphia’s Mike Richards steamrolled Booth just after Booth made a pass in the offensive zone. Booth had to be removed on a stretcher. Debate has raged over whether the hit

was clean or dirty. At the New York Times’s Slap Shot hockey blog (video included), Stu Hackel wonders why the NHL doesn’t mete out more severe punishment for dangerous hits to the head.* * * Minnesota Vikings quarterback Brett Favre returns to Green Bay on Sunday to face the Packers, the team he led for 16 seasons, including to the 1997 Super Bowl title. The hype surrounding the game may reach levels slightly above-average. In the teams’ first meeting in Minnesota in Week 4, Favre’s Vikings scored a 30-23 victory. At CityPages, Judd Spicer says he doesn’t expect Packer fans to cheer Favre. “For Lambeau to embrace their folk hero Favre — Packer fans would only look like suckers,” Spicer writes. Sticking with the NFL, too many lousy teams are costing sports books millions of dollars thanks to blowout after blowout this season, Dan Wetzel writes at Yahoo Sports. – Tip of the Fix cap to reader Don Hartline. Found a good column from the world of sports? Don’t keep it to yourself — write to us at dailyfix@wsj.com and we’ll consider your find for inclusion in the Daily Fix. You can email Garey at ris84rap@gmail.com.

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World Series: Don Zimmer not buying into Pedro Martinez version of brawl By ESPN.com news services (ESPN.com)

told me a couple of bad words about my mom. I just had to react and defend myself. Submitted at 10/29/2009 6:27:45 AM "It was something that we have NEW YORK -- Six years after to let go kind of, and forget about their famous brawl in the 2003 it, because it was a disgrace for playoffs, Pedro Martinez and baseball," he added. "Even Don Zimmer still differ on what though it wasn't my fault, I was exactly happened. involved in it, and it's one of the When a separate altercation moments that I don't like to see. I broke out on the field at Fenway don't like to see it because I'm not Park, Zimmer, then a 72-year-old a violent man." New York bench coach, charged Zimmer, now a Rays senior at then Red Sox ace Martinez, adviser, disputes Martinez's who grabbed Zimmer by the head version of the incident, saying he and tossed him to the ground. was trying to take Martinez The Yankees were annoyed that d o w n , a i m i n g h i s h e a d a t Martinez hit Karim Garcia with a Martinez's chest but Martinez pitch earlier in the game, but the took hold of his neck. 38-year-old Martinez said his "Pedro is full of crap," Zimmer ailing shoulder was giving him told the St. Petersburg Times. trouble. "It's what, six years later? If “ Pedro wants to be a big man, I It was something that we have to don't care what he says." let go kind of, and forget about it, Zimmer, however, was more because it was a disgrace for forgiving in an interview with the baseball. Even though it wasn't New York Daily News. my fault, I was involved in it, and "I told the whole world I was it's one of the moments that I w r o n g a n d t h a t I w a s don't like to see. I don't like to embarrassed by what I'd done see it because I'm not a violent and I apologized for it," Zimmer man.”-- Pedro Martinez told the Daily News. "I was "It was an ugly scene," Martinez definitely wrong and Pedro didn't said Wednesday, adding this was do nothing. I told the whole probably the first time he was world that, even though the discussing it publicly. "Zim Yankees didn't want me to hold a charged me and I think he's going press conference because they to say something, but his reaction w e r e a f r a i d I m i g h t s a y was totally the opposite, [he] was something to stir things up trying to punch my mouth and more."

When he saw Zimmer on the ground, Martinez said he thought about his father, who died last year. “ Pedro is full of crap. It's what, six years later? If Pedro wants to be a big man, I don't care what he says.”-- Don Zimmer "I respect elders; I don't condone anything like that," Martinez said. "But I've got no choice. I've got no choice but to just respond and get away." From that point on, Martinez didn't appreciate the way New York tabloids portrayed him as a villain or monster every time he returned to Yankee Stadium with the Red Sox. "You guys have used me and abused me," he said. "I remember quotes in the paper, 'Here comes the man that New York loves to hate.' Man? None of you have probably ever eaten steak with me or rice and beans with me to understand what the man is about. You might say the player, the competitor, but the man? You guys have abused my name. You guys have said so many things, have written so many things. "There was one time I remember when I was a free agent, there was talk that I might meet with [George] Steinbrenner. One of your colleagues had me in the papers with horns and a tail, red horns and a tail. That's a sign of

the devil. I'm a Christian man. I don't like those things. I take those things very serious. Those are the kind of things that the fans actually get used to seeing, and actually sometimes influence those people to believe that you are a bad person, that you are like an ogre." One of baseball's most colorful characters, Martinez is set to pitch for the Philadelphia Phillies against A.J. Burnett and the Yankees in Game 2 of the World Series on Thursday night. Back in the Big Apple, where he was first a Red Sox villain and then an ace for the Mets, a reflective Martinez threw all his pitches during an anything-butordinary news conference before Game 1. "I don't know if you realize this, but because of you guys in some ways, I might be at times the most influential player that ever stepped in Yankee Stadium. I can honestly say that," Martinez said. "I have all the respect in the world for the way they enjoy being fans. Sometimes they might be giving you the middle finger, just like they will be cursing you and telling you what color underwear you're wearing. All those things you can hear when you're a fan. But at the end of the day, they're just great fans that want to see the team win. I don't have any problem with

that." Martinez spent four injuryplagued seasons with the Mets from 2005-08. Signed by the Phillies in mid-July after sitting out the first half of the season, he lacks the overpowering fastball he used to have. But he still knows how to win. Martinez threw two-hit ball for seven shutout innings in Game 2 of the NL championship series at Dodger Stadium. "As you know, I'm older and wiser. I believe my experience played a big role in that," Martinez said. Thursday will be his second World Series start -- he pitched seven scoreless innings of threehit ball for the Red Sox against St. Louis in 2004. It will be the first World Series outing for the hard-throwing Burnett, who did not receive a decision in three AL playoff starts this year. "I'm excited," he said. "I'm going to prepare, yeah, maybe, as another game, but deep down I know what it's about. I know how real it is, and I don't want to change it." Information from The Associated Press was used in this report. This content has passed through fivefilters.org.

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WORLD continued from page 51

fastball into the mid-90s. If he changes speeds effectively, that would go a long way toward mitigating the swift winds blowing out tonight and the potential homers that could ensue. 8:01: Jimmy Rollins leads off the game by doing what he does best: Not taking pitches. Tries a first-pitch bunt to catch the big man off guard, pushes it instead right to Mark Teixeira for the first out. 7:57: Yogi Berra! There was a great picture of him in the New York Times the other day, making a tag in the 1950 Series. Nice to have that continuity — they had the Phillies pitcher and 1950 season hero Robin Roberts on the radio the other day.– Kalfus 7:40: I’m pretty excited about the game.. I’ve come to watch it at the Piazza at Schmidt’s, a new residential, shopping and dining complex in the Northern Liberties section of Philadelphia. The vast, cobblestoned piazza is an exact, lovingly rendered replica of Rome’s Piazza Navona — the only difference being the 26-foot-high television screen that broadcasts Phillies and Eagles games. I’m sitting on the square now, at the Swift Half bar, which is starting to fill up with

red shirts and red hats. Here we go!.– Kalfus 7:10 p.m. ET: A few pregame notes from Game 1 of the World Series: – If the current weather holds, this could be a seriously highscoring affair. The wind is blowing straight out toward Yankee Stadiums short rightfield porch. During batting practice, basically everything Phillies reserve player Matt Stairs put in the air towards right sailed over the wall, often into the second deck. Sabathia and Lee better keep the ball down. The damp air from the last 36 hours is gone. Its cool and breezy and blowing out — postseason homerun weather. – Pedro Martinez has lost his mind. In a rambling lateafternoon press conference, the Game 2 starter said he might be the most influential player that ever stepped into Yankee Stadium. I can honestly say that. Ruth? Gehrig? Mantle? Youve got nothing on a guy who never wore pinstripes. Pedro claimed he has been used and abused by the New York media for years. Pedro doesn’t mind when the NY fans chant “Who’s Your Daddy!!!” But he said his feelings were hurt when he appeared in a newspaper with

horns and a tail because he is a Christian. He said he felt bad about an on-field altercation with former Yankees coach Don Zimmer but never thought of apologizing to him through the press. You guys have abused my name. You guys have said so many things, have written so many things.” Pedro has earned more than $100 million playing baseball. He practically stole money from the Mets in 2007 and 2008. We hope his feelings arent too hurt to pitch tomorrow night. – Interesting moment during batting practice: Yogi Berra, who has more rings than nearly any other Yankee shaking hands with Dave Winfield, who played here for 10 years without winning one. – The Angels were noticeably uncomfortable warming up for Game 1 here in the cold evening air two weeks ago and it showed once they began playing, committing several errors in the first two games. Not surprisingly, the Phillies showed nothing similar. Jimmy Rollins warmed up in a ski cap, but plenty of guys worked out in shirtsleeves or just a sweatshirt. The cozy confines here arent all that different for them than Citizens Bank Park, which is just 100 miles southwest

from here. – Joe Girardi still isnt talking about whether hell throw CC Sabathia on short rest in Game 4. Theres no rush, the focus is on Game 1 tonight and thats what well worry about.– Futterman Pregame: Two great teams with rich franchise histories, the New York Yankees and Philadelphia Phillies, meet tonight for Game 1 of the World Series. Potential storylines abound. Will the Yankees stay with the threeman rotation that proved so effective in the LCS, even with the tighter World Series schedule forcing short rest for starters? Will the Phillies’ bullpen hold up against the toughest, deepest lineup in the game? How will Yankee Stadium’s short porch come into play? With inclement November weather dampen both ballparks’ offensive environments? Will Joe Girardi continue to overmanage and jeopardize his team’s chances? Can Pedro Martinez, seemingly washed up and out of baseball a few months ago, duplicate his lights-out LCS performance in the World Series, against the Yankees no less? All fascinating plots waiting to unfold. Instead, the big media buzz surrounds Jimmy Rollins’ supposedly brash guarantee that

the Phillies will win the World Series. Gee, what did you think he was going to say? Knowing that Rollins likes to speak his mind and make bold predictions, the media collectively shove a giant microphone in his face and ask him for his prediction. And he didn’t predict that his Phillies would get humiliated in a fourgame sweep! Wow, that’s gutsy! The level of discourse in the world we live in is so low, so often. Is it too much to ask sports writers and broadcasters to do something a little more interesting than spoonfeed a line to a player, then breathlessly repeat it in 64-point type when that player says exactly what everyone expects him to say? I’m looking forward to watching Jimmy Rollins this series, just as I’m excited to see Alex Rodriguez, Chase Utley, Mariano Rivera, Ryan Howard, CC Sabathia, and many others. None of that excitement has anything to do with the dull clubhouse discourse that takes place before the game. Let’s have Rollins, and everyone else, let their play do the talking.

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The Count: An Unusual Bullpen Proposal (WSJ.com: The Daily Fix)

opponents’ bullpens, while the Yankees hit 6% better. Also, as one commenter pointed out at Cardinals pitcher John Smoltz Baseball Think Factory, the suggests the Philadelphia Phillies Yankees’ bullpen is a lot stronger employ a novel bullpen strategy than Philadelphia’s. to beat the favored New York The relative strength of the Yankees in the World Series. His Yankees’ bullpen is just one of i d e a , a s r e l a t e d t o S p o r t s several reasons New York is Illustrated’s Tom Verducci: “I favored to win the series, by would keep bringing in a fresh everyone from psychics to arm to pitch to them, rather than statisticians, and deny the Phillies asking my starting pitcher to go a repeat title. Cyril Morong deep into the game trying to get points out that the Yankees have them out two, three, four times.” an edge in both hitters’ on-baseAssociated Press Should Chan p e r c e n t a g e - p l u s - s l u g g i n g Ho Park get early calls from the p e r c e n t a g e ( O P S ) a n d i n bullpen during the World Series? preventing opponents’ OPS. And Baseball analyst Tom Tango their top three starting pitchers loves the idea, particularly when are better than the Phillies’ in the Phillies are at home and can OPS prevention, as well. pinch-hit for the pitcher’s spot Of course, managing can have each time through the lineup. He an impact on the series outcome. points out that starters generally Writing in Slate, sometime do worse each time through the J o u r n a l c o n t r i b u t o r T i m order. The Yankees’ batters Marchman points out flaws in improved each time through the New York skipper Joe Girardi’s order at about league-average strategic moves. Giradi may have r a t e s , e x c e p t t h a t t h e y benefited from mistakes by his particularly thrived in those rare Angels counterpart in the ALCS, instances where they got a fourth particularly an intentional walk look at the starting pitcher. of Alex Rodriguez that irked This strategy might make even Tango. I noted Tango’s secondmore sense for the Yankees to guessing of managerial decisions use against the Phillies, because during the ALCS and said a the Phillies’ improvement each liveblog by him and ESPN’s Rob time through the order was even Neyer, evaluating strategic greater, and unlike the Yankees, d e c i s i o n s b y p l a y e r s a n d the Phillies didn’t thrive against managers, would be welcome. relief pitching. The Phillies did Well, Tango and his colleague 5% worse than usual against Mitchel Lichtman will be liveSubmitted at 10/28/2009 1:38:09 PM

blogging Wednesday’s Game One, and they’ve invited Rob Neyer and may also be joined by sabermetrics pioneer Bill James. (Jonah Keri and Matthew Futterman, no slouches themselves, will be leading the live-blogging for the Journal.) Meanwhile, iPhone users can do the second-guessing themselves, equipped with new $2.99 apps from FanGraphs and U.S.S. Mariner. Tommy Bennett offers some cautionary notes about such applications at Beyond the Boxscore. More statistical links about the World Series: With umpire gaffes receiving wide attention, Eric Seidman and Larry Granillo offer stats on umps’ ball-strike calling tendencies. These are admittedly early efforts and will need some work; for instance, they get seemingly contradictory answers about whether Joe West is friendly to hitters or pitchers. I mentioned the postseason greatness of Mariano Rivera. Tango also posts about it, and he and his commenters offer numbers indicating that, per

playoff inning, Rivera may have contributed more wins to his team than any pitcher in history. Is Yankees leftfielder Johnny Damon in line to become the worst player in major-league history to collect 3,000 hits? He’s 575 hits shy of the mark and turns 36 next month. Tango examines the numbers and concludes Damon would likely rank as the second-worst, should he reach that mark. The worst? Lou Brock. Meanwhile, Bill Buckner — who will forever be remembered for his own World Series play — was among the worst to reach 2,500, thanks in part to his ability to stay on as a major-league regular despite detracting value from his teams. Five players on championshipwinning teams have recorded a hit in each of their teams’ postseason victories — most recently Manny Ramirez, in 2004. Rodriguez and Philadelphia’s Jimmy Rollins still have a chance, and A-Rod could become the first player ever to record a run batted in in each of his team’s wins. Let’s hope that none of this year’s games makes its way on to this list of the 10 worst World Series games of all time. Software can now write pretty good game stories, though they might bury the lead.

Sidney Crosby Nets Hat Trick In Rout By Adam Gretz (FanHouse) Submitted at 10/29/2009 4:00:00 AM

by Adam Gretz Filed under: Canadiens, Penguins, NHL Press Box Since Gretz was at Wednesday's Penguins vs. Canadiens game for FanHouse, consider this your abbreviated version of Newsmakers in the NHL, our weekday recap of the previous night's action across the league. PITTSBURGH -- I'm not quite sure how it happened, but I'm probably the only hockey fan in the world that had never seen a player record a hat trick in person, whether it be as a fan in the stands, or sitting in the press box. Thanks to Sidney Crosby's three goal effort on Wednesday, I can now cross that off the list. Sidney Crosby Nets Hat Trick In Rout originally appeared on Fanhouse NHL Blog on Thu, 29 Oct 2009 04:00:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink| Email this| Linking Blogs| Comments

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Disgruntled RB Larry Johnson suspended by Kansas City Chiefs By Associated Press (ESPN.com) Submitted at 10/28/2009 10:54:16 PM

Chiefs Suspend Larry Johnson Chiefs Suspend Larry Johnson KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Kansas City Chiefs running back Larry Johnson, who made two gay slurs within a 24-hour period, was given what amounts to a onegame suspension Wednesday night, but Johnson's agent said he would appeal. Agent Peter Schaffer said the game check and other lost revenue would amount to about a penalty of about $600,000 for the former two-time Pro Bowl player. AFC West blog ESPN.com's Bill Williamson writes about all things AFC West in his division blog. â&#x20AC;˘ Blog network: NFL Nation In a three-sentence release, the Chiefs said Johnson would be suspended until Monday, Nov. 9 for conduct detrimental to the team. The Chiefs are on their bye week and will not play again until traveling to Jacksonville on Nov. 8.

The Chiefs had been saying for three days that they were "investigating" the situation. Johnson was told to stay away from the team on Tuesday. Schaffer said he had consulted with the Players Association about the appeal. "We will be filing an appeal on behalf of Larry tomorrow," Schaffer told The Associated Press. "While we respect the Chiefs' ability to try to discipline a player, we disagree and respectfully disagree that the punishment they propose is warranted by the facts or allowable by the collective bargaining agreement. Hopefully, we will be able to work out a mutual and positive resolution with the Chiefs short of a hearing. If we don't, then this will go to an arbitrator." Schaffer said they would try to expedite the matter and get a resolution before the team's next game on Nov. 8. In 2007, Johnson signed a fiveyear contract extension that guaranteed him about $19 million and could be worth as much as $45 million. But because of these

latest problems, his future with the Chiefs beyond Nov. 8 may still be cloudy. Coach Todd Haley and first-year general manager Scott Pioli have repeatedly said they are trying to build a new culture and a new attitude for a struggling franchise, which has sunk to the bottom of the NFL and that disloyalty will not be tolerated. Johnson, who needs just 75 yards rushing to break the team's career record, first used the gay slur on his Twitter account in an exchange with one of his followers on Sunday night. Earlier he had posted comments calling Haley's qualifications into question. Then in a whispered remark on Monday after telling reporters in the locker room he was not talking, Johnson repeated the slur, according to the Kansas City Star which has posted audio of the alleged comment. The three-sentence news release issued Wednesday night by the team said only that Johnson, who turns 30 in a few weeks, was suspended for conduct detrimental to the club. The

Chiefs said they would have no further comment on Johnson's status "at this time." Johnson wrote the objectionable material on his Twitter account several hours after the Chiefs (16) lost 37-7 to San Diego, one of their most lopsided home losses ever. Johnson issued an apology on Tuesday, almost exactly 12 months after apologizing to the team and its fans and ownership for two incidents in Kansas City nightspots that led to his pleading guilty to disturbing the peace. Those problems caused him to be benched for three games in 2008 and suspended by commissioner Roger Goodell for an additional game. Johnson was one of the best running backs in the NFL in 2005 and '06, running for more than 1,700 yards each season and earning Pro Bowl honors. But this season, like the Chiefs, he has struggled. Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press This content has passed through fivefilters.org.

Cavs Fall to Raptors to Remain Winless By Matt Moore (FanHouse) Submitted at 10/29/2009 1:20:00 AM

by Matt Moore Filed under: Cavaliers, Raptors Rome was not built in a day. But in two days, the NBA's version of Camelot sure has looked like the barbarians are at the gate. OK, I'll try not to lob anymore historical metaphors at you. But you might want to get ready for a whole lot of consternation from the great state of Ohio, because the team with the best record in the league last year has started out 0-2. The Cavaliers fell to the Raptors in Toronto 101-91 to remain winless, and the same problems that surfaced Tuesday night in their loss to the Celtics reared their head again. Cavs Fall to Raptors to Remain Winless originally appeared on Fanhouse NBA Blog on Thu, 29 Oct 2009 01:20:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink| Email this| Linking Blogs| Comments

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Coach Jeff Fisher to reveal Tennessee Titans' QB plans on Thursday By Paul Kuharsky (ESPN.com) Submitted at 10/29/2009 7:24:12 AM

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -Tennessee Titans coach Jeff Fisher declined to share the snap distribution of his quarterbacks at practice Wednesday, saying he'd reveal his plan for the position Thursday after practice. "I'm not going to discuss the quarterback situation today for competitive reasons but I'll have an answer for you tomorrow," Fisher said. AFC South blog ESPN.com's Paul Kuharsky writes about all things AFC South in his division blog. â&#x20AC;˘ Blog network: NFL Nation Incumbent Kerry Collins could be pulled for Vince Young. The Tennessean has reported that owner Bud Adams told Fisher he wants Young in the lineup against the Jacksonville Jaguars on Sunday at LP Field. Neither quarterback spoke to the media Wednesday, an unusual development for a team whose players are routinely at their lockers and willing to talk after practice. Collins typically has a media session Wednesday.

Players didn't tip their hands on any information they may have. Keith Bulluck said he has continued faith in Collins and believes he is the guy, but at least one other player, receiver Justin Gage, indicated a change is in the air. Bulluck said Adams can call the shots but pointed out he's seen such decision-making from on high fail to pan out elsewhere. "What do I think about Bud Adams saying that he wants to see Vince Young play?" Bulluck said. "If you are the owner of a team, you have the right to do whatever you want, because you're paying everyone under that umbrella. That's how I look at it. "But what I've seen from other teams when the owner tries to step in and says he wants certain moves made and certain things done, it doesn't always work out the way those teams have wanted it to," he said. The Titans have carried only two quarterbacks since cutting Patrick Ramsey after Week 3 but Wednesday had John David Booty added to the practice squad, presumably to take a share of scout-team reps while the

situation with the starter is sorted out. Young had referred to himself as the scout-team quarterback since Ramsey's departure. Tight end Bo Scaife, a close friend of Young's who was his teammate at Texas, said he expects Young to be ready if called upon. "I know he's been waiting patiently, I know he's excited and if the chance comes I know he's going to make the best of it," Scaife said. "I hope he's ready. Only Vince knows if he's ready. He's been looking good at practice, he looked good at training camp. Practice is different than the game." In other Titans news, RB Javon Ringer hurt his lower back or hip near the end of practice and was carted off the field before being helped inside the team's building. Fisher did not have any information on the severity of the injury, though the rookie was in obvious pain. Paul Kuharsky covers the AFC South for ESPN.com. Information from The Associated Press was used in this report. This content has passed through fivefilters.org.

Kansas Jayhawks top preseason hoops ESPN/USA Today coaches' poll By ESPN.com news services (ESPN.com)

Morningstar was suspended from first-semester games after he was arrested earlier this month on Submitted at 10/29/2009 7:21:19 AM suspicion of driving while Pollsters think Kansas can put intoxicated. distractions aside and dominate The arrest was the latest the college basketball world. embarrassment for the Jayhawks, The Jayhawks topped the as university police opened an preseason ESPN/USA Today investigation into September's Top 25 coaches' poll, which was brawl involving members of the released Thursday. school's football and men's Michigan State, which finished basketball teams. as the runner-up in the 2009 But Bill Self returns a strong NCAA tournament, starts the nucleus from the team that was 2009-10 campaign second in the beaten in the regional semifinals poll. of the NCAA tournament by After a 23-12 finish last season, Michigan State. Texas makes a big jump to the Center Cole Aldrich and point No. 3 spot, while national guard Sherron Collins provide champion North Carolina Tar stability at two key positions. Heels starts out in the fourth Morningstar's void could be position. filled by highly recruited 6-foot-6 Kentucky didn't finish last freshman Xavier Henry. season in the rankings, but John Information from The Calipari's arrival coincides with a Associated Press was used in this No. 5 ranking. report. Villanova, Purdue, Duke, West This content has passed through Virginia and Butler round out the fivefilters.org. top 10. Kansas junior guard Brady

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With Another Epic Performance, Cliff Lee Is Dr. October By Jay Mariotti (FanHouse) Submitted at 10/29/2009 1:10:00 AM

by Jay Mariotti Filed under: MLB NEW YORK -- Ever seen a crowd in this city so quiet, so wet, so stupefied? This was to have been the beginning of another pinstripe coronation, the first in a series of Win One For The Boss vignettes in the House That Ruthlessness Built. Instead, all the puffy hubris was silenced on a rainy, windy Wednesday night by Cliff Lee, who began the year in woeful Cleveland and may end it in a pitching pantheon. It wouldn't be wise to dismiss the Phillies as unworthy of these Yankees and this World Series

backdrop. With Lee outdueling his best pal in baseball, CC Sabathia, consider Game 1 a firm reminder that the Phillies are the defending champions and not the least bit intimidated by the mammoth city to the north, a Taj Mahal ballpark in the Bronx and the massive payroll and talent of the Yankees. We winced when Jimmy Rollins, the mouthy

leadoff man, boosted Jay Leno's sickly ratings when he went on the show and forecast another Philadelphia championship. "Of course, we're going to win," he chirped. "If we're nice, we'll let it go six, but I'm thinking five -close it out at home." More: Moore: Yankees Yuck| Fletcher: Utley Show| Price: CC's Heavy Load With Another Epic Performance, Cliff Lee Is Dr. October originally appeared on Fanhouse - Jay Mariotti on Thu, 29 Oct 2009 01:10:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink| Email this| Linking Blogs| Comments

Alvin & the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel game tie-in coming in early December By Ben Gilbert (Joystiq)

-rhythm game of some form. As you can imagine, we were so entranced by the slurry of colors If there's one wonderful thing we and sounds that it was hard to can say about movie game discern any clear information. trailers, it's that they keep us on We did discover, however, that top of what's happening with the the game will be coming to the kids these days. Take for instance N i n t e n d o W i i a n d D S o n Alvin & the Chipmunks: The D e c e m b e r 1 . Squeakquel-- we didn't even Alvin & the Chipmunks: The know there was a second film Squeakquel game tie-in coming coming out! in early December originally What we can glean from the appeared on Joystiq on Thu, 29 trailer above is that there will be Oct 2009 04:00:00 EST. Please some form of illicit chipmunk see our terms for use of feeds. love affair angle to the film that Permalink| Email this| will play into the game's story. C o m m e n t s Also, it may or may not be music Submitted at 10/29/2009 4:00:00 AM

Fantasy Felony: Rescuing Your Team From Total Nightmare By Tom Herrera (FanHouse)

Forte is just one of many reasons your team might be 2-5, or even Submitted at 10/28/2009 10:10:00 PM 1-6 (yikes territory). Or maybe by Tom Herrera you don't have underperforming Filed under: NFL Fantasy players at all, and have just been Felony, NFL Value Machine hit by bad luck and bitten hard by Fantasy Felony helps you hijack the injury bug. Regardless of the your fellow team owners. scenario, time is running out for Look at Matt Forte over there. all you cellar-dwellers. This is He looks so forlorn, doesn't he? the week you need to make trades of saving, at least you can say Like he's carrying a rotting in an attempt to save your season. you tried. Time to blow this cantaloupe instead of a football. And even if it's beyond the point squad up and go for broke.

Fantasy Felony: Rescuing Your Team From Total Nightmare originally appeared on Fanhouse Fantasy Football on Wed, 28 Oct 2009 22:10:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink| Email this| Linking Blogs| Comments

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Williams Proves Worth What Are Yanks Doing in Magic Win to George? By Tim Povtak (FanHouse)

By Terence Moore (FanHouse)

Submitted at 10/28/2009 11:28:00 PM

by Tim Povtak Filed under: 76ers, Magic ORLANDO -- When the Orlando Magic signed out-of-work Jason Williams this summer to a oneyear, minimum wage contract, they made it sound like he was coming merely to be an insurance policy, giving them a past-hisprime, third point guard in case the bottom fell out on the other two. He's obviously going to be more, a lot more for a real good team. Williams, 33, is no longer the flashy, wrap-around-passing entertainer he was earlier in his career in Sacramento, but he looks refreshed and ready to play at a high level once again, adding another strong weapon to the defending Eastern Conference champs. A year off certainly did him

Submitted at 10/29/2009 12:57:00 AM

well. Williams Proves Worth in Magic Win originally appeared on Fanhouse NBA Blog on Wed, 28 Oct 2009 23:28:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink| Email this| Linking Blogs| Comments

by Terence Moore Filed under: Yankees, MLB Playoffs, World Series NEW YORK -- This was a lousy way for the New York Yankees to hug somebody they supposedly love. You had their listless ways at the plate. Then, if you combine that with a couple of mindless pitches by CC Sabathia and a shoddy bullpen, they spent Wednesday night at Yankee Stadium playing the opener of the World Series as if they wish to choke whatever life is left inside of the ailing George Steinbrenner. OK, Cliff Lee is pretty good, but he isn't that good. Is he? FanHouse World Series Coverage: Mariotti| Fletcher| Price Game 1: Phillies 6, Yankees 1|

Invest wisely. End poverty. | microfinance at MicroPlace By noreply@blogger.com (Ad ServeRSS) (AD ServeRSS) Submitted at 10/28/2009 4:56:00 PM

Box Score| Series Home What Are Yanks Doing to George? originally appeared on Fanhouse MLB Blog on Thu, 29 Oct 2009 00:57:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink| Email this| Linking Blogs| Comments

Socially responsible investments in microfinance can alleviate global poverty. Microcredit helps the billion people who live on less than $1 per day.

DSi LL coming to Europe in Q1 2010 as 'DSi XL' By JC Fletcher (Joystiq) Submitted at 10/29/2009 10:05:00 AM

Nintendo may have announced Japanese plans for the new DSi LL first, but it's not taking long for news about other regions to come out. Nintendo of Europe confirmed to Videogamer that the giant handheld will be released in that region as the DSi XL, in the

already-packed Q1 time frame. "The retail price of the Nintendo DSi XL is expected to be higher than that of the Nintendo DSi," the statement reads. "Further details will be released soon." The Japanese DSi LL will be available in Wine Red, Dark Brown (above), and Natural White, and will come preloaded with Easy Meikyo Kokugo

appeared on Joystiq on Thu, 29 Oct 2009 10:05:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Read| Permalink| Email this| Comments Dictionary, Brain Age Express: preloaded software selection for Arts & Letters and Brain Age the European version. Express: Math. There is no word DSi LL coming to Europe in Q1 yet about the color variation or 2010 as 'DSi XL' originally

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Jay-Z is a gamer; likes Madden and, uh, you know, stuff like Madden By Ben Gilbert (Joystiq)

"Immediately, of course, with the success of Guitar Hero, you know,[DJ Hero] piqued my When celebrities get on board interest, and then on top of that it for a game, the inevitable pitfall was something from the hip-hop is the dreaded interview where culture. So, anytime you can, you said celebrity awkwardly tries know, I can expand the genre and relating to the "gamer" crowd introduce it to new audiences and (trust us, we know all about it.) widen it -- you know, the reach With DJ Hero dropping this of what hip-hop can do -- you week, celebrity sponsor Jay-Z sat know, I'm interested in that," Jaydown with MTV News to talk Z explains in the video interview about how much of a gamer he is (embedded after the break). (hint: not so much) and his As far as Jay-Z's gaming roots, support for the cultural awareness that's another story altogether. "I opportunities inherent in the was really a gamer," Jay-Z urges. recently released turntable title. "Like, ask any of the guys. Like, Submitted at 10/29/2009 5:00:00 AM

I used to -- Madden and all these type of games," Jay-Z awkwardly cobbles together, "I was, like, really a problem. Like, those were my things -- for awhile."

Presumably, until, you know, he got all that other stuff that impresses us, right? It's okay, Mr. Z -- you don't have to impress us with your gaming prowess, too.

It's not like we have the numbers of "the guys" to fact check your claims anyway. Continue reading Jay-Z is a gamer; likes Madden and, uh, you know, stuff like Madden Jay-Z is a gamer; likes Madden and, uh, you know, stuff like Madden originally appeared on Joystiq on Thu, 29 Oct 2009 05:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Read| Permalink| Email this| Comments

Impressions: Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time (the trailer) By Kevin Kelly (Joystiq)

Gemma Arterton and Ben Kingsley -- a lot of bombast and CGI. What usually comes out is a We were invited out to Jerry loud, boisterous film that makes a Bruckheimer Films earlier this lot of money at the box office. week to watch the trailer for The Not that there's anything wrong Prince of Persia: The Sands of with that! Time. The good news? It looks The only hitch is that it's a like a Jerry Bruckheimer film. videogame adaptation, and those The bad news? Well, It looks like just never seem to turn out very a Jerry Bruckheimer film. He's well. It certainly doesn't help that put together a formula that Ben Kingsley, the one who c o m b i n e s s t a r s - - J a k e starred in the ill-fated and illGyllenhaal, Alfred Molina, c o n c e i v e d f i l m v e r s i o n o f Submitted at 10/29/2009 9:30:00 AM

BloodRayne, has returned in another villainous role. Still, we have to admit that what we saw (reminder: just a trailer) looks to

be an exciting jaunt through swashbuckling adventure. Read on for the highlights -- and take your time. The movie that

doesn't come out until May 2010. Continue reading Impressions: Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time (the trailer) Impressions: Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time (the trailer) originally appeared on Joystiq on Thu, 29 Oct 2009 09:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink| Email this| Comments

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Islamist dies in FBI Detroit raid (BBC News | Americas | World Edition) Submitted at 10/28/2009 10:04:59 PM

Nintendo officially New movie-themed announces large-screen Elite bundles for the UK DSi LL, hits Japan Nov. 21 By Richard Mitchell (Joystiq) Submitted at 10/29/2009 6:00:00 AM

VideoGamer.com is reporting that a supplement in this week's issue of MCV is advertising two new Xbox 360 Elite bundles. Both bundles are themed around recent movie releases, specifically Star Trek and Transformers 2. The Star Trek bundle comes with an extra controller, a copy of J.J. Abrams' Star Trek stored on a USB drive - shaped like the Star Fleet logo - as well as 800 with which to buy " Star Trek PDLC." Let's just hope you don't have to waste those points on Star Trek D-A-C. A Transformers 2 bundle is in the works as well, featuring an extra controller, a copy of the movie on a Bumblebee-shaped USB drive and the Transformers 2

game. Release date, pricing, and the size of the included hard drive (120GB or "Super Elite" 250GB) are not specified in the ad. However, as MCV is a UK magazine, it's possible these are only destined for that region. We'd be hard-pressed to tell potential buyers which one bundle is the better but, but we will say that only one of them goes where no one has gone before. And the other one is Transformers. New movie-themed Elite bundles for the UK originally appeared on Joystiq on Thu, 29 Oct 2009 06:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Read| Permalink| Email this| Comments

By Randy Nelson (Joystiq) Submitted at 10/29/2009 4:01:00 AM

It's huuuuge: Nintendo DSi LL (red) versus Nintendo DSi (white) Well, that didn't take long. Just two days after Japan's Nikkei newspaper reported that Nintendo was planning a new variant of the DSi sporting larger 4" screens (which it called "speculation"), the Big N has gone and announced it -- for Japan, at least. Called the Nintendo DSi LL, the hefty handheld will be released in Japan on November 21 for a price of 짜20,000 ($221). The device has so far been

shown only in a burnt red finish and features a full pen-sized stylus. The whole kit's big-- just look at the above comparison image from Nintendo's site-- and really does appear well-suited for an older audience. We'll have more on the DSi LL soon. [Thanks, Dr. NOGAMES!] Nintendo officially announces large-screen DSi LL, hits Japan Nov. 21 originally appeared on Joystiq on Thu, 29 Oct 2009 04:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Read| Permalink| Email this| Comments

The leader of a radical fundamentalist Islamic group has been shot dead in an FBI raid near the US city of Detroit, officials say. Luqman Ameen Abdullah, 53, died in a firefight with agents in Dearborn after refusing to surrender, the FBI says. The agency said it was trying to arrest Mr Abdullah and 10 followers on charges including conspiracy to sell stolen goods and illegal arms possession. The FBI says the group's aim was to set up a Sunni Islamic state in the US. Mr Abdullah, who was also known as Christopher Thomas, had regularly preached antigovernment rhetoric, the agency says. He had also reportedly urged his followers to engage in jihad, or holy war. Officials said an FBI dog was also fatally wounded during Wednesday's raid in the US state of Michigan. Print Sponsor This content has passed through fivefilters.org.

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Musical Mondays at Splash Bar By ELLE.com (ELLE News Blog) Submitted at 10/28/2009 12:17:58 PM

While famed NYC gay hot spot Splash Bar can get just a wee bit seedy on most evenings (especially when those college guys get rowdy on Thursdays!), Monday night found the dance floor occupied by a decidedly mixed crowd all there to enjoy the weekly Broadway sing-along night deemed Musical Mondays. Though any Monday night is a good excuse to gather your gaggle, down a few drinks, and belt your lungs out to video-taped recordings of some of the Great White Way’s most famous performances, this particular evening held the especially high occasion of celebrating the sixyear anniversary of the opening of Wicked. In honor of the show’s almost 2,500 performance run (and certainly

counting) a handful of Wicked cast members took their night off from the Gershwin Theater to lend their voices to some memorable performances for a gathering of their most adoring fans. Dee Roscioli (pictured), who

plays Elphaba on Broadway, ripped through “The Wizard and I” as if the cold she was reportedly nursing didn’t even exist. Chelsea Krombach, currently the Elfaba understudy, blew our ears off with “Defying Gravity,” and Heather Spore, a Galinda understudy, did the dutiful role of bewitching the crowd with Wicked fan favorite, “Popular.” After a performance by the Wicked dancers and a crowed giveaway, night took a, uh, charmingly desperate (?) turn when Craig Jessup, the make-up artist responsible for greenifying Elfaba every night, sang an original number, “Date With Myself.” Naturally, almost everyone in the room identified. At least we’ll always have our musicals. —Seth Plattner, Assistant Editor Follow ELLE on Twitter.

Trend Crush: All Kinds of Cutouts By ELLE.com (ELLE News Blog)

below who’d worn hers over a simple strapless sheath. Topped Submitted at 10/28/2009 1:00:15 PM off with gladiator sandals and Cutouts in the daring, Cushnie et Ray Ban aviators, the look was Ochs sense may not be for u n i q u e , e d g y - p r e t t y , a n d everyone, but as you can see surprisingly, not as trying-toobelow, there are plenty of ways hard as it sounds. to try out this trend without If nothing else, try a fun cutout baring the odd patch of skin or cuff or shoe—they’re everywhere looking too much like an Erin these days (at every price point) and inject instant cool into even Wasson hipster copycat. Over the weekend, I brunched the most conservative outfit. next to a woman who had paired Cutouts at any cost (clockwise the mesh-paneled Alex Wang from top left): cuff by CC Skye, skirt with a slim, rolled-sleeve ankle boots by Velvet Angels, white oxford and simple black mini dress by Helmut Lang, skirt patent flats. For as edgy a skirt as by Alexander Wang, crop top by it is, the overall look came off on White Trumpet, oxfords by t h e c o o l s i d e o f p r e p p y . Opening Ceremony, dress by Similarly, while in LA last week, Silence & Noise I saw a girl sporting a ‘Swiss Follow ELLE on Twitter. cheese’ crop top almost identical to the White Trumpet tee shown

FAA Slow to Alert Military of Wayward Plane (FOXNews.com) Submitted at 10/29/2009 7:35:22 AM

The Federal Aviation Administration violated its own rules by taking more than 40 minutes to alert the military after losing communication with a Northwest Airlines flight last week, according to officials familiar with internal reviews under way at several federal agencies.

The delay has sparked consternation within the military, concern within the FAA and special oversight by the White House, these officials said, particularly because such time lags were supposed to be eliminated as a result of the lessons learned from the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. In the event of a hijacking, the military would order fighters into the air to intercept an aircraft and

possibly shoot it down. SLIDESHOW: Northwest Airlines Plane Mystery In an interview, the man charged with protecting the skies above North America, U.S. Air Force Gen. Victor E. Renuart Jr., said he was displeased with the way the situation evolved, stressing that notification should have been quicker and those involved should have been more agile in their response.

In a statement to The Wall Street Journal Wednesday evening, FAA Administrator Randy Babbitt said air-traffic controllers "should have notified [the military] more quickly that the plane was not responding." Local controllers apparently became so focused on trying to re-establish contact that they failed to alert higher-level FAA managers about the problem in a timely manner.

"We are conducting an internal review," Babbitt said, "and will require retraining on proper notification procedures when we lose radio contact with aircraft." Click here to continue reading at the Wall Street Journal. This content has passed through fivefilters.org.

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Christian Louboutin Serves up Bubbly in Chic Champagne Flutes

In gritty Newark, civilians cruise against crime (AP)

By ELLE.com (ELLE News Blog)

(Yahoo! News: U.S. News)

Submitted at 10/28/2009 12:39:52 PM

Way back when, in the romanticized heyday of the French aristocracy, men used to perform "Le Rituel" at social events to show their undying love and devotion to a woman by drinking from her shoe. Now, in a day and age where you can't even get a suitor to call you back, you might appreciate that Mews of Mayfair is reviving the tradition avec Christian Louboutin. The stylish London spot, along

with Piper-Heidseck, is hosting a chic escape from holiday shopping via a champagne service featuring a bottle of Piper served in a Slovenian crystal Christian Louboutin champagne

flute. You can sip bubbly stylishly from its sleek 5.5 inch heel replete with the iconic red sole. And as James Robeson, the owner of Mews of Mayfair,

describes it, “Drinking from the Louboutin shoe is great fun; we are expecting to be the destination of choice for a true fashionista’s Christmas night out.” And it isn't even that costly, only 90 pounds (roughly 150) for the experience of Le Rituel in one of London's most stylish venues. And if you want the flute all for yourself (don't blame you if you do) you can get them exclusively through Selfridges. —Rebecca Suhrawardi Austin Follow ELLE on Twitter.

Submitted at 10/29/2009 6:46:15 AM

NEWARK, N.J. – Loiterers and criminals on the nighttime streets of New Jersey's largest city have some company — concerned citizens and government workers who are cruising neighborhoods in an effort to reduce crime. Under Newark's "Crime Caravan" program, volunteer convoys have been rolling through the city's roughest neighborhoods a few nights each week since Sept. 29. More than GRITTY page 66

Dieting 'keeps diabetes at bay' (BBC News | Americas | World Edition) Submitted at 10/28/2009 5:09:44 PM

A period of careful eating and regular exercise can stave off diabetes for a decade, a study suggests. US researchers followed up nearly 3,000 overweight people who had taken part in a three year diabetes prevention programme. The group had initially been divided into three - assigned either to a diet and exercise programme, the diabetes drug metformin or a placebo. The Lancet report notes it was the dieters who reaped the most

benefit. All three groups were given access to ongoing lifestyle coaching once the initial three year trial had ended. That trial, carried out by the USbased Diabetes Prevention Program Research Group, had shown a diet aimed at achieving 7% weight loss, combined with half an hour of exercise five days a week, reduced the risk of developing Type 2 diabetes by 58% compared with the placebo group. The group on metformin, a drug which has been used to treat the condition since the 1950s, saw their risk decline by nearly a third.

In the seven years after the trial ended, both the drug and placebo groups - now also eating more carefully and exercising - saw the rate of diabetes fall. But the most significant drop was among those who had started out on a diet and exercise regime - their risk was over a third lower than the placebo group. In an accompanying editorial, Dr Anoop Misra, a specialist in diabetes in New Delhi, described the prevention of the disease as "a long and winding road". 'No short cut' Dr Misra said: "There seems to be no short cut, and a persistent and prolonged intensive lifestyle intervention seems to be the most

effective way to travel on it." But he warned it could not be the only measure: "We need more effective drugs for those who cannot follow intensive lifestyle therapy because of infirmity." Type 2 diabetes usually appears in people over the age of 40, however increasing numbers of children are being diagnosed with the condition, some as young as seven. Although obesity is a risk factor, not all people with type 2 diabetes are overweight. Dr Iain Frame, head of research at Diabetes UK, said: "It is fascinating to read about the 10year follow up studies and of the importance of lifestyle

interventions, with or without metformin, in the prevention of Type 2 diabetes even after 10 years. "There is clearly no easy route to take to prevent Type 2 diabetes but indications are that with further research into the longterm benefits of good dietary advice, physical activity and, where necessary drug therapies, we may be a step closer into helping people at high risk of developing Type 2 diabetes modify their lifestyle choices that are sustainable in the longer term." Print Sponsor This content has passed through fivefilters.org.

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Radical Islamic Group Leader Killed in FBI Raid (FOXNews.com) Submitted at 10/29/2009 7:32:59 AM

Three people were still on the loose Thursday after the FBI raid and deadly shooting of a radical Islam leader whose goal authorities say was to take down the U.S. government. Luqman Ameen Abdullah, 53, was killed in a shootout with federal agents in the Detroit suburb of Dearborn as they tried to arrest him on a number of charges including conspiracy to sell stolen goods and the illegal possession and sale of firearms. Abdullah repeatedly told followers that the U.S. government was their enemy and they should be willing to fight the FBI, even if it meant death, according to the criminal complaint against him. "You cannot have a nonviolent revolution," Luqman Ameen Abdullah said, according to a 2008 conversation secretly recorded by a confidential FBI source. Abdullah was killed Wednesday at a warehouse in Dearborn, where agents were attempting to arrest him. FBI spokeswoman Sandra Berchtold said Abdullah refused to surrender, fired a weapon and was killed by gunfire

from agents. He was one of 11 people named in a criminal complaint after a two-year investigation. Seven of the 10 people charged with Abdullah were in custody, including a state prison inmate, the U.S. attorney's office said. Three still were missing. Another man not named in the complaint also was arrested. The FBI will hold a news conference Thursday morning. More from MyFoxDetroit.com. The 43-page complaint described Abdullah as an extremist who believed the FBI bombed New York's World Trade Center in 1993 and the Oklahoma City federal building two years later. Abdullah beat children with sticks at his Detroit mosque, the complaint claimed, and was trained with his followers in the use of firearms, martial arts and swords. Neither Abdullah nor his codefendants were charged with terrorism. But he was "advocating and encouraging his followers to commit violent acts against the United States," FBI agent Gary Leone wrote in an affidavit filed with the complaint. The FBI said Abdullah, also known as Christopher Thomas,

was an imam, or prayer leader, of a radical group named Ummah whose primary mission is to establish an Islamic state within the U.S. Abdullah told followers that it was their "duty to oppose the FBI and the government and it does not matter if they die" and to "simply shoot a cop in the head" if they wanted the officer's bulletproof vest, Leon wrote. The affidavit also said bombs, guns and even the recipe for TNT were among Abdullah's regular topics with his allies. Group members and former members said they were "willing to do anything Abdullah instructs and/or preaches, even including criminal conduct and acts of violence," the FBI agent wrote. He and his followers were American born, mostly AfricanAmerican converts to Islam. But that description doesn't match what Dawud Walid, executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations' Michigan chapter, said he knew of Abdullah. "He would open up the mosque to homeless people. He used to run a soup kitchen and feed indigent people," Walid said. "I knew nothing of him that was related to any nefarious or

criminal behavior." Walid said Abdullah had a wife and children. A phone number for the family had been disconnected. Ummah believes that a separate Islamic state in the U.S. would be controlled by Jamil Abdullah AlAmin, formerly known as H. Rap Brown, who is serving a life sentence in a federal prison in Colorado for shooting two police officers in Georgia in 2000, Leone said. Al-Amin, a veteran of the black power movement, started the group after he converted to Islam in prison. "They're not taking their cues from overseas," said Jimmy Jones, a professor of world religions at Manhattanville College and a longtime Muslim prison chaplain. "This group is very much American born and bred." Abdullah's mosque is in a brick duplex on a residential street in Detroit. A sign on the door in English and Arabic reads, in part, "There is no God but Allah." The mosque was located elsewhere in the city until the property was lost in January because of unpaid taxes. When the eviction took place, a search turned up empty shell

casings and large holes in the concrete wall of a "shooting range," Leone said. The FBI built its case over two years with the help of confidential sources close to Abdullah who recorded conversations and participated in undercover operations involving the sale of furs, laptop computers, televisions, energy drinks and power tools. Abdullah received at least 20 percent of any profit and claimed the "Prophet Muhammad said that it is okay to participate in theft; as long as that person prays, they are in a good state," Leone wrote in the affidavit. Imad Hamad, regional director of the American-Arab AntiDiscrimination Committee in Dearborn, said the FBI briefed him about the arrests. "We know that this is not something to be projected as something against Muslims," Hamad said. The Associated Press contributed to this report. This content has passed through fivefilters.org.

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Feds: Leader of radical Islam group killed in raid (AP) (Yahoo! News: U.S. News)

extremist who believed the FBI bombed New York's World Trade Center in 1993 and the DETROIT â&#x20AC;&#x201C; A leader of a Oklahoma City federal building radical U.S. Sunni Islam group two years later. Abdullah beat killed in a shootout with federal children with sticks at his Detroit agents near Detroit repeatedly mosque, the complaint claimed, t o l d f o l l o w e r s t h a t t h e and was trained with his government was the enemy and followers in the use of firearms, they must be willing to take on martial arts and swords. the FBIâ&#x20AC;&#x201D; even if it meant death, Neither Abdullah nor his coauthorities said. defendants were charged with "You cannot have a nonviolent t e r r o r i s m . B u t h e w a s revolution," Luqman Ameen "advocating and encouraging his Abdullah said, according to a followers to commit violent acts 2008 conversation secretly against the United States," FBI recorded by a confidential FBI agent Gary Leone wrote in an source. affidavit filed with the complaint. A b d u l l a h , 5 3 , w a s k i l l e d Three of the 11 people were still Wednesday at a warehouse in at large Thursday. The head of Dearborn, where agents were the FBI in Detroit, Andrew attempting to arrest him on Arena, called a news conference charges that included conspiracy for late Thursday morning and to sell stolen goods and illegal also planned to meet privately possession and sale of firearms. with the Council of Islamic He was one of 11 people named Organizations of Michigan. in a criminal complaint after a The FBI said Abdullah, also two-year investigation. known as Christopher Thomas, FBI spokeswoman Sandra was an imam, or prayer leader, of Berchtold said Abdullah refused a radical group named Ummah to surrender, fired a weapon and whose primary mission is to was killed by gunfire from establish an Islamic state within agents. the U.S. T h e 4 3 - p a g e c o m p l a i n t Abdullah told followers that it d e s c r i b e d A b d u l l a h a s a n was their "duty to oppose the FBI Submitted at 10/29/2009 7:08:54 AM

and the government and it does not matter if they die" and to "simply shoot a cop in the head" if they wanted the officer's bulletproof vest, Leon wrote. The affidavit also said bombs, guns and even the recipe for TNT were among Abdullah's regular topics with his allies. Group members and former members said they were "willing to do anything Abdullah instructs and/or preaches, even including criminal conduct and acts of violence," the FBI agent wrote. But that description doesn't match what Dawud Walid, executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations' Michigan chapter, said he knew of Abdullah. "He would open up the mosque to homeless people. He used to run a soup kitchen and feed indigent people," Walid said. "I knew nothing of him that was related to any nefarious or criminal behavior." Walid said Abdullah had a wife and children. A phone number for the family had been disconnected. Ummah believes that a separate Islamic state in the U.S. would be controlled by Jamil Abdullah Al-

Amin, formerly known as H. Rap Brown, who is serving a life sentence in a federal prison in Colorado for shooting two police officers in Georgia in 2000, Leone said. Al-Amin, a veteran of the black power movement, started the group after he converted to Islam in prison. "They're not taking their cues from overseas," said Jimmy Jones, a professor of world religions at Manhattanville College and a longtime Muslim prison chaplain. "This group is very much American born and bred." Abdullah's mosque is in a brick duplex on a residential street in Detroit. A sign on the door in English and Arabic reads, in part, "There is no God but Allah." The mosque was located elsewhere in the city until the property was lost in January because of unpaid taxes. When the eviction took place, a search turned up empty shell casings and large holes in the concrete wall of a " shooting range," Leone said. Seven of the 10 people charged with Abdullah, including a state prison inmate, were in custody,

the U.S. attorney's office said. Another man not named in the complaint also was arrested. The FBI built its case over two years with the help of confidential sources close to Abdullah who recorded conversations and participated in undercover operations involving the sale of furs, laptop computers, televisions, energy drinks and power tools. Abdullah received at least 20 percent of any profit and claimed the "Prophet Muhammad said that it is okay to participate in theft; as long as that person prays, they are in a good state," Leone wrote in the affidavit. Imad Hamad, regional director of the American-Arab AntiDiscrimination Committee in Dearborn, said the FBI briefed him about the arrests. "We know that this is not something to be projected as something against Muslims," Hamad said. ___ Associated Press writers David Runk, Corey Williams, David N. Goodman and Rachel Zoll contributed to this report. This content has passed through fivefilters.org.

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GRITTY continued from page 63

120 volunteers in 45 vehicles hit the streets Monday, breaking off into five groups, called "packs." Each pack was led by an off-duty police officer in an unmarked car with flashing emergency lights. It's about "waving the flag" and stressing that Newark is a city of laws again, according to Mayor Cory Booker, who initiated the trial program to dampen crime this fall. Critics say the patrols are a political ploy by the mayor and could endanger the civilians who participate. "The caravan gives people a sense of strength and security," said Booker, who is trying to fashion a national blueprint for renewal in a former icon for inner -city decay. "They let criminals know we're taking the city back." The cash-strapped city pays nothing for the program, and supporters say it channels community angst about violence into a force multiplier for police. The packs look a lot like the multi-vehicle police impact teams — known to locals as "trains" — that are filled with heavily armed officers. Civilian volunteers aren't allowed out of the vehicles, most of which are white vans paid for with charitable donations. The program also helps Booker politically by harnessing the same popular angst over community violence as his opponents, who have been holding anti-violence protest rallies in key city intersections.

John Sharpe James— son of former Mayor Sharpe James— is part of that movement. The former U.S. Army major views the caravan program as strictly a political ploy. "I see no effect" from them on street violence, James said. Jack Calhoun, a law enforcement consultant for the National League of Cities, said the citizen patrols are a novel way to elevate civic activism — instead of just relying on the police to do everything. "Community fear is a big issue in crime-torn areas," said Calhoun, who manages the California Cities Gang Prevention Network. Jeff Walker, a criminal justice professor at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, said the patrols advance two other law enforcement objectives by raising police visibility and disrupting the street drug trade by increasing "search time," referring to the amount of time it takes an illegal drug user to find a dealer. "Anything that increases search time is good because some people will just give up," Walker said. "My only concern about the caravan is the potential for civilian injury once people on the street realize they're not trains." Both Calhoun and Walker said they were unaware of similar programs in other cities. Monday's caravan left at 11 p.m. — just hours after Newark's 58th homicide of the year — and

returned after three hours on patrol. The five packs didn't make any arrests, but they garnered plenty of attention. For organizers, that's the whole point. "The goal is deterrence," Newark Public Safety Director Anthony Campos said. People loitering on the street moved quickly when the packs rolled through Monday night. Six teenage boys were prowling the streets of a Newark neighborhood at around 12:30 a.m. when Booker's pack pulled up beside them. "Come on guys," said Booker, 40. "It's way too late. Go home." Recognition quickly gave way to smiles. "Hey, it's Cory Booker," said one teen. "Go home," the mayor repeated, impatiently. "We are, we are," a second teen replied, explaining that the group had encountered a similar pack minutes earlier. "We don't want any trouble," a third teen said. The caravan idea is similar to a tactic Booker used as a city councilman, when he parked a motor home in troubled neighborhoods to disrupt drug dealing. The caravan lets people join him. Some civilian participants are looking to make a difference. Others just want to spend time with a popular mayor who has become a celebrity after appearing on NBC's "Tonight

Show," HBO's "Real Time With Bill Maher" and " The Colbert Report" on Comedy Central. Joseph Gallant, 19, and two of his classmates from Rider University joined Monday's caravan after Booker mentioned the program at their school. The Newark native said he likes that the program provides motivated citizens with an outlet. "You don't want a disconnect between citizens and police," Gallant said. Booker hopes the caravan will help preserve the strides the city of 281,000 residents has already made in reducing shootings and killings. The number of Newark shooting victims fell 32 percent to 344 in 2008, from 503 in 2006. Homicides fell 36 percent during the same period to 67. Newark is on pace for fewer shootings this year, but more homicides. Booker took office in July 2006. He succeeded Sharpe James, who is in prison for his role in the cutrate sale of city land to a former mistress. The mayor said the big test for the caravan program will occur on Halloween and "Mischief Night," a night before Halloween long associated with vandalism. "Those are the two nights we're going to roll hard," Booker said. This content has passed through fivefilters.org.

MediaDailyNews: American Music Awards Streams Pre-Show (MediaPost | Media News) Submitted at 10/29/2009 7:00:22 AM

The American Music Awards and its live digital pre-show will align with mobile service SayNow to offer an interactive viewer's experience during the red carpet event preceding the live broadcast Nov. 22 on ABC. SayNow has activated an official AMA SayNow number. The SayNow AMA Hotline will provide fans with the opportunity to call the pre-show hosts and leave questions they would like them to ask their favorite artists. Fans will also be able to receive the latest updates, including red carpet guests, performances, presenters, nominations and voting information. The "Official AMA Pre-Show," presented by Coca-Cola, will feature hosts Julie Moran, Jenni Pulos, Jai Rodriguez and Taryn Southern, will be streamed by dick clark productions. This content has passed through fivefilters.org.

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Phillies Power Past N.Y. in World Series Opener (FOXNews.com) Submitted at 10/28/2009 9:40:17 AM

NEW YORK Look out for Cliff Lee, Chase Utley and this New Red Machine. Lee outdueled CC Sabathia, Utley homered twice and the Philadelphia Phillies kept rolling through October, beating the New York Yankees 6-1 on a misty Wednesday night in the World Series opener. The defending champion Phillies shut down Alex Rodriguez & Co. in the first Series game at the new billion-dollar Yankee Stadium. Trying to become the first NL team to repeat since Cincinnati in 1975-76, the Phils' 17-4 postseason run is the best in league history. Big Red Machine, meet your match. Game 2 is Thursday night, with wily Pedro Martinez pitching for the Phillies against jumpy A.J. Burnett. Ryan Howard reprised his MVP performance, doubling twice and driving in the final run for the Phillies. Rodriguez, however, went hitless and struck out three times in his Series debut. Lee bamboozled the Yankees with a spiked curveball, deceptive changeup and his usual pinpoint fastball, pitching a sixhitter while striking out 10 without a walk. Lee blanked the Yankees until a run scored on shortstop Jimmy Rollins' throwing error in the

ninth inning. The lefty improved to 3-0 with an 0.54 ERA this postseason. He really seemed to enjoy himself, too. If Lee felt any nerves in his Series debut, facing the team that led the majors in wins, homers and runs, it didn't show. And if the Phillies were supposed to be intimidated of the pictures of Babe Ruth and all the Yankees greats on the giant videoboard, it didn't happen. Pitching in short sleeves on a blustery evening, Lee worked a wad of gum while he worked his spell over the Yanks. He stuck out his glove hand for a ho-hum catch on Johnny Damon's popup that left the Phillies chuckling, shrugged after a nifty, behind-the -back stop on Robinson Cano's one-hopper and casually tagged out Jorge Posada on a comebacker. Lee beat his good friend and former Cy Young teammate Carsten Charles Sabathia in the first game at this ballpark back in April, and got this chance after the Phillies traded four minor leaguers to Cleveland in July to get him. Playing in their 40th World Series, and first in six years, the Yankees went quietly. Utley's solo home runs in the third and sixth innings gave Lee all the support he needed. Raul Ibanez hit a two-run single in the eighth and Shane Victorino added an RBI single in the ninth.

The Phillies' may have been a bit overdue — in their only other October meeting, the Whiz Kids from Philadelphia got swept by the Yankees in the 1950 World Series and totaled just five runs. Even though he's an All-Star, Utley was an unlikely candidate to rock Sabathia, the MVP of the ALCS. Utley was 0 for 7 with five strikeouts against the big Yankees lefty going into the game. Utley won a nine-pitch duel with Sabathia in the third, pulling a 95 mph fastball over the right-field wall. The shot was the first by a left-hander allowed by Sabathia at home this year. Utley struck again in the sixth, sending another 95 mph heater deep into the right-center field bleachers. Phillies manager Charlie Manuel had little to do except watch from the top step of the dugout. Yankees manager Joe Girardi was more busy, bringing in five relievers after Sabathia left following the seventh inning. First lady Michelle Obama and Jill Biden were among the crowd of 50,207, as were a few specks of fans dressed in Phillies red. Yankees owner George Steinbrenner watched from an upstairs box — he has yet to see his team win in the palace he built. After a rocky postseason, umpires faced just one tricky call and got it right. They huddled after Rollins trapped a popup and

threw to first, and correctly ruled it a double play. Neither team got a lot of good swings in the early innings. Lee and Sabathia had a lot to do with that, and maybe a light drizzle hurt the hitters. So did the fact that each club had played only 10 games in 3 1/2 weeks because of the scattered postseason scheduling. There was plenty of postseason bunting for the opener. Red, white and blue decorations adorned the upper decks, and both Rollins and Damon bunted into outs in the first inning. The Phillies loaded the bases with two outs in the first inning on two walks sandwiched around Howard's double. Ibanez got ahead in the count 3-1 and swung away, hitting a routine grounder. NOTES: Utley set a postseason record by safely reaching in his 26th straight game, breaking a tie with Baltimore's Boog Powell. ... Rodriguez fanned three times in a game for the first time since July 30. ... The Yankees went 64-36 in Series games at their old park.... The only previous time Cy Young winners met in the Series opener was 1995 when Cleveland's Orel Hershiser faced Atlanta's Greg Maddux. ... The Yankees grounds crew wore Tshirts that said "Win it for the Boss." This content has passed through fivefilters.org.

Storm dumps snow on Rockies, plains, more forecast (AP) (Yahoo! News: U.S. News) Submitted at 10/29/2009 7:32:52 AM

DENVER – A slow-moving autumn storm showed no signs of letting up in Colorado and the western Plains on Thursday, blanketing areas already buried with as much as 3 feet, closing schools and businesses and delaying flights. Roads across Colorado and Wyoming were snow-packed and icy from the first big winter storm of the season in the West, and the snow's not likely to let up anytime soon. The storm spread a blanket of white from northern Utah's Wasatch Front to western Nebraska's northern border with South Dakota. "There's definitely some adverse driving conditions right now, and it's expected to continue throughout a good portion of the day," said Bob Wilson, a Colorado Department of Transportation spokesman. Wilson said although some cars are sliding off roads, not many accidents had been reported. In Colorado, U.S. Highway 6 is closed to Loveland Pass, while Interstate I-25 is closed from Wellington to Cheyenne. Wilson said the closure is to prevent traffic congestion going into Wyoming, where driving conditions are worse than in northern Colorado. Interstate 80 STORM page 70

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San Francisco drivers face day 2 of tough commute (AP) (Yahoo! News: U.S. News)

Department of Transportation attributed the incident to Submitted at 10/29/2009 5:24:21 AM vibrations and grinding on a S A N F R A N C I S C O â&#x20AC;&#x201C; S a n metal tie rod, causing it to snap. Francisco Bay area commuters During a briefing Wednesday, were bracing for another day of state transportation spokesman wearisome commutes as crews Bart Ney said crews were worked on repairs to the San "making several enhancements to Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge. address that issue." A day after 5,000 pounds of He also said strong winds likely metal fell and hit the San played a role in the failure, which Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge heightened concerns by some during an evening rush hour, experts about the integrity of the state transportation officials said repair and the bridge's safety in the bridge would not open in an earthquake. Scientists in 2008 time for the Thursday morning said there is a 63 percent commute. probability of a quake similar to There is no estimate for when the 6.9-magnitude Loma Prieta the bridge will open again as temblor in the Bay area over the crews were scheduled to work next 30 years. through the night and morning. The 1989 earthquake caused a The pieces that failed Tuesday 50-foot section of the bridge's were parts of major repairs done upper deck to collapse onto the last month after state inspectors deck below, causing another d i s c o v e r e d a c r a c k i n a n section to give way. "eyebar," an important structural It took state officials until 1997 beam. The rods that broke were to decide it would be cheaper holding a saddle-like cap that had over the long run to build a new been installed to strengthen the span than retrofit the existing cracked eyebar. Only motorist one. was left with minor injuries after Transit officials said Wednesday the incident Tuesday. that many of the estimated Officials with the California 280,000 commuters that use the

bridge every day jammed alternate routes and crowded into buses and trains as they tried to get into San Francisco. Officials with the Bay Area Rapid Transit District said it saw an increase in ridership of nearly 56,000 passengers, or about 49 percent, Wednesday between the East Bay and San Francisco. BART added extra cars to its trains in anticipation of the increase in riders. Drivers using the other bridges across San Francisco Bay are expected to face delays again as they jam bridges for a second day Thursday. The westbound drive across the San Mateo Bridge, which typically takes about 15 minutes, was a 50-minute drive Wednesday morning. Traffic on the bridge was about 40 percent heavier than usual, according to a bridge supervisor. Traffic is also expected to be heavier on the Golden Gate Bridge for a second day in a row. Abolhassan Astaneh-Asl, a civil engineering professor at the University of California, Berkeley who studied the effects

of the 1989 earthquake on the bridge, called the repair last month a "Band-Aid" that jeopardized public safety to get the bridge open quickly. "When this eyebar fractured, this is very serious element of this part of the bridge. So the safety issue is very serious here," he said. "The repair done, in my opinion, is very unusual to put it mildly." The main contractor on the repairs, C.C. Meyers, Inc., stood by the work, but deferred to Caltrans to determine why the pieces failed, spokeswoman Beth Ruyak said. Meanwhile, the Federal Highway Administration sent engineers on Wednesday to help Caltrans investigate. The federal agency said it had not inspected the Labor Day weekend repairs made to the heavily used span, instead relying on state inspection reports to ensure safety guidelines were met. This content has passed through fivefilters.org.

'Baby Grace' Stepdad Dumped Girl's Body, Lawyer Says (FOXNews.com) Submitted at 10/29/2009 6:47:39 AM

GALVESTON, Texas A man accused of murdering his 2-yearold stepdaughter put her body in the trash and dumped in it the Galveston Bay â&#x20AC;&#x201D; but he didn't kill her, his lawyer told jurors on Wednesday. Royce Clyde Zeigler II, 26, is charged with capital murder in the death 2-year-old Riley Ann Sawyers, whose body was discovered in a plastic box on an island in the bay in 2007. Before her remains were identified, Riley was called "Baby Grace" until news accounts helped relatives in Ohio recognize and identify her. Zeigler's wife and Riley's mother, 21-year-old Kimberly Dawn Trenor, in February was convicted of capital murder and sentenced to life in prison. Prosecutors allege that the couple beat the child and threw her to a tile floor, which fractured her skull. During Wednesday's opening statements, defense attorney Neal Davis III said his client walked into the family's home in Spring, a Houston suburb, to find his wife with her unconscious child in July 2007. "He put her in a trash bag and in another container and put it in the bay," Davis told jurors. 'BABY page 69

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4 charged in alleged gang rape of California girl (AP) (Yahoo! News: U.S. News)

Wednesday. A fifth suspect arrested Tuesday, 21-year-old Salvador Rodriguez of RICHMOND, Calif. – Four Richmond, also remained jailed teens could appear in court as but had not been charged. early as Thursday after being The alleged gang rape and charged in the alleged gang rape b e a t i n g S a t u r d a y n i g h t a t of a 15-year-old girl outside her Richmond High School have high school homecoming dance rattled the city of about 120,000 in Northern California. in the San Francisco Bay area. The four — ages 15, 16, 17 and Police believe as many as 10 19 — were charged Wednesday people ranging in age from 15 to with rape and enhancements that mid-20s attacked the girl for they acted in concert, which more than two hours in a dimly could make them eligible for life lit area. As many as two dozen in prison. people witnessed the rape "These are people who played a w i t h o u t n o t i f y i n g p o l i c e . significant role in the incident," Dara Cashman, head of the Richmond Police Lt. Mark Contra Costa District Attorney's Gagan said. "I'm confident that Office sex crimes unit, told the more arrests will be made." Contra Costa Times, a Bay area Besides rape, the 19-year-old, newspaper, that those who Manuel Ortega of Richmond, witnessed the alleged rape and was charged with robbery and did not report it could face aiding assault causing great bodily and abetting charges — if it can injury. It was unknown if he had be proven that their actions an attorney. facilitated or goaded the The other three face one count p e r p e t r a t o r s . each of felony rape with a foreign Police hope a $20,000 reward object. They were charged as will bring more people forward adults because of the severity of with information. the crime, Gagan said. The 16- Police received a tip about a year-old also faces robbery possible assault on campus from charges. a former student, who heard two All four remained in custody males bragging about it. Officers Submitted at 10/29/2009 6:28:54 AM

'BABY continued from page 68

"There is not one iota of evidence that Royce Zeigler knowingly, intentionally or in any way found the girl semiconscious and c a u s e d t h e d e a t h o f R i l e y naked from the waist down near a Sawyers," Davis said. "He is not only not guilty, he is innocent." picnic table. But Galveston County Margarita Vargas, who was prosecutor Kayla Allen told watching television Saturday night with others at her home two jurors that Zeigler lied repeatedly blocks from the school campus, to investigators, giving them told the newspaper she reported conflicting statements on the the assault as soon as she heard girl's death. about it. The newspaper did not " R o y c e C l y d e Z e i g l e r a n d say whether Vargas was a student Kimberly lied to everyone they could lie to," Allen said. "They at the school. "They think it's cool," Vargas lied to their family, co-workers said of the alleged perpetrators. and police over and over." Prosecutors showed the "They weren't raised to respect Galveston County jury, made up girls." Gagan said the victim, a of nine men and three women, sophomore, left the dance and video of Zeigler admitting to was walking to meet her father dumping the child's body in for a ride home when a classmate Galveston Bay, the Galveston invited her to join a group County Daily News reported. drinking in the courtyard. The After their arrests, Trenor and girl had consumed a large Zeigler offered contradictory amount of alcohol by the time the statements. Trenor said in a videotaped statement that Zeigler assault began, police said. Gagan said the girl's father tried stayed home from work July 25, to call her cell phone, but no one 2007, to make sure Riley was properly disciplined. She said she answered. She was released from the and Zeigler beat Riley with a belt, held her head under bath hospital Wednesday. This content has passed through water and smothered her with a pillow. fivefilters.org. Zeigler, in his first interview, said Riley disappeared after an

Ohio welfare worker snatched her from his home. He abandoned the story in his second interview. Asked repeatedly during the first interview if Riley was Baby Grace, Zeigler said, "I swear to God I do not know that." In his second interview, he acknowledged that Riley was Baby Grace. An autopsy determined that the child died of two skull fractures. Prosecutors have said Trenor and Zeigler beat Riley with belts, dunked her head in cold bath water and threw her onto a tile floor, fracturing her skull and causing her death. "You'll see at the end of the trial Royce Zeigler is full of nothing but lies, and that he and his wife murdered Riley Ann Sawyers," Allen said. As with Trenor, Galveston County prosecutors are not seeking the death penalty for Zeigler. Click here for photos of 'Baby Grace.' Click here for photos from the mother's trial. This content has passed through fivefilters.org.

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STORM continued from page 67

is closed from Cheyenne to Laramie. Wyoming officials said they'd had reports of about 70 crashes, most of them on I-80, before deciding to close the road. Laramie County District 1 schools have closed and some state offices are opening later in the day. High winds were causing drifting snow and reduced visibility, and two or three inches of snow were expected to fall Thursday, said meteorologist John Griffith with the National Weather Service in Cheyenne. The storm that began Tuesday already added enough snow to break records for total snowfall in October for Wyoming. It was the biggest October snowmaker in the Denver area since 1997, said Byron Louis, a National Weather Service hydrologist in Boulder, Colo. At Denver International Airport, all four runways were expected to open after snow crews worked through the night, said spokesman Chuck Cannon. He said airlines had not indicated how many flights would be

canceled. The airport warned of more delays, saying it would see a foot of snow by Thursday afternoon. The Denver metro area will be under a winter storm warning until 6 p.m. Thursday, with snow through the afternoon, blowing snow throughout the day and temperatures in the upper 20s, the National Weather Service said. As much as 7 inches could fall around parts of Denver before the storm ends. "The plows are out, but the roads are kind of icy and snowpacked," said Ryan Drake, traffic operations specialist for the Colorado Department of Transportation. "Be patient and take your time." Many schools in metro Denver remained closed Thursday, but the University of Colorado in Boulder and Colorado State University in Fort Collins, where 17.5 inches fell, decided to reopen, a day after sending students home early. At least three high school football playoff games set for Thursday in Nebraska were postponed. Whiteout conditions were

predicted Thursday for the plains areas of eastern Colorado and Wyoming and western Nebraska. Winds were a concern farther west, too. Winds gusting through Southern California forced a commuter train line to shut down and knocked a tree onto a car, but no serious injuries have been reported. The National Weather Service warned of the possibility of further gusts up to 50 mph through Thursday morning in Los Angeles and Ventura counties. Fire danger warnings were up in some areas. ___ Associated Press Writers Catherine Tsai and Kristen Wyatt in Denver, Mead Gruver and Matt Joyce in Cheyenne, Oskar Garcia in Las Vegas and Scott Sonner in Reno, Nev., contributed to this report. This content has passed through fivefilters.org.

Canadian coyotes kill folk singer (BBC News | Americas | World Edition)

occurrence," Brigdit Leger, a spokeswoman for the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, told Submitted at 10/28/2009 5:23:26 PM Reuters news agency. Two coyotes have attacked and She said the two coyotes were killed a 19-year-old folk singer in "extremely aggressive" when Nova Scotia, eastern Canada, authorities arrived at the scene. officials say. The small wolf-like animals are Taylor Mitchell, a promising found from Central America to musician from Toronto, died in the United States and Canada. h o s p i t a l a f t e r t h e a n i m a l s Ms Mitchell - touted as a rising pounced as she hiked alone in star in the folk music scene - was Cape Breton Highlands National nominated for a Canadian Folk Park. Music Award earlier this year in Walkers alerted park rangers the youth category. after hearing her screams. The "Words can't begin to express the rangers shot one coyote, but were sadness and tragedy of losing still searching for the second. such a sweet, compassionate, Attacks by coyotes on humans vibrant, and phenomenally are rare; they usually prey on talented young woman," Lisa deer and hares. Weitz, Ms Mitchell's manager, Bleeding heavily from multiple s a i d i n a n e - m a i l t o t h e b i t e w o u n d s , t h e s i n g e r - Associated Press news agency. songwriter was airlifted to a "She just turned 19 two months Halifax hospital, but died of her ago, and was so excited about the injuries on Wednesday morning, future." authorities said. Print Sponsor 'Phenomenally talented' This content has passed through "Coyotes are normally afraid of fivefilters.org. humans. This is a very irregular

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Obama honours Afghanistan killed (BBC News | Americas | World Edition) Submitted at 10/29/2009 3:29:28 AM

Please turn on JavaScript. Media requires JavaScript to play. President Barack Obama salutes US servicemen killed in Afghanistan US President Barack Obama has paid his respects to 18 Americans killed in Afghanistan, the first time he has honoured the fallen in this way. The bodies of 15 US soldiers and three Drug Enforcement Agency agents were transferred to a mortuary on the base. The president also met their families privately. His predecessor, George W Bush, visited the families of dead troops but never received the bodies at the base, in Dover, Delaware. Mr Bush also did not go to military funerals, telling the military newspaper Stars and Stripes three years ago that he preferred to meet families privately. Mr Obama, who was wearing a dark coat, was taken to the base, 100 miles (161km) from the White House, by the Marine One helicopter to greet the C-17 aircraft that had brought back the dead. He boarded the plane and

Cuba's exleader Castro 'strong' (BBC News | Americas | World Edition) Submitted at 10/28/2009 3:37:34 PM

watched as a military chaplain prayed for those who had passed away. 'Salute' There has been a ban on the media attending such events for 18 years, but this was lifted earlier this year for transfers when families involved give permission. A small group of reporters were allowed to watch the final transfer, of Sgt Dale R Griffin, from the plane to the van which would take it to the mortuary. Mr Obama saluted as the flagdraped case was moved.

The returned remains were of troops killed this week in three separate incidents. On Monday, 10, including the three drug enforcement agents, died when a US military helicopter crashed in western Afghanistan. Four more US troops died when two helicopters crashed over southern Afghanistan. The remaining eight soldiers were killed on Tuesday in roadside bomb attacks in Kandahar province. It has been the bloodiest month so far in the past eight years for

US troops in Afghanistan - with at least 53 killed. On Monday, Mr Obama told troops at a Florida naval base he would not rush any decision about boosting the number of troops in Afghanistan. He said he would not risk their lives unless it was "absolutely necessary". Print Sponsor This content has passed through fivefilters.org.

Please turn on JavaScript. Media requires JavaScript to play. Dr Margaret Chan: "He looks wonderful" Cuba's ex-leader Fidel Castro is looking strong and remains on top of developments at home and abroad, says a world health chief. Dr Margaret Chan, head of the World Health Organization, was granted an audience with Mr Castro this week. Mr Castro has not been seen in public for more than three years, since a series of major intestinal operations. The only updates on his health come from visiting dignitaries who have been able to meet him. Exactly what he suffers from, and where he is recuperating, remain state secrets. Dr Chan spent more than twoand-a-half hours with Mr Castro on Tuesday evening, when she had a "long talk" with him. CUBA'S page 73

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"He walked me out of the house, that's quite a distance, so pretty strong. And don't forget, I'm younger than him," she said, without discussing specific health issues. Topics ranged from swine flu preparations to the possible health impact of climate change. Speaking at a news conference in Havana, Dr Chan said that Cuba's 83-year-old former leader remained well informed and as demanding as ever. "I have to say Mr Fidel Castro's

understanding of the importance of health, particularly public health, is impressive. "Any one of you, especially the doctors, if you don't know your subject well, don't talk to him. He knows more about the subject than you do." Print Sponsor This content has passed through fivefilters.org.

Health-care reform in America: A public row (The Economist: News analysis)

declared Nancy Pelosi, speaker of the House of Representatives, this week. Her effort to rebrand Submitted at 10/28/2009 11:43:36 PM the hugely controversial proposal Health-care reform in America to add a government-run insurer Oct 29th 2009 (usually called a “public plan”) to From The Economist print the health reforms now being edition Democrats are trying to negotiated seems ridiculous at revive the idea of a government- first blush. In fact, it is part of a run health plan concerted and clever push by the “IT’S not really a public option, political left that could—just it’s a consumer option.” So

MediaDailyNews: Study Finds HDTV Preference Growing, Differences In Fidelity Of Men, Women (MediaPost | Media News)

markedly in two years, and whether, for example, it's a function of more content being American TV viewers receiving available in HDTV. high-definition TV (HDTV) are That could be at least part of the much more likely to watch reason though, as Knowledge programs televised in HDTV on Networks Vice President-Group a daily basis than they were two Account Director David Tice years ago, according to the most notes that there has been a recent findings in an ongoing significant increase in the tracking study being released frequency of viewing of certain today by Knowledge Networks. genres of programming - such as The study, "How People Use "how-to" and news content - that HDTV 2009," shows that the "we wouldn't have associated percentage of HDTV viewers with HD a few years ago." who now watch HDTV The percentage of HDTV programming every day has viewers watching "how-to" increased to 43% from 26% two shows in HDTV has more than years ago. doubled to 26% from 12% two While that's a 65% increase, the years ago. The percentage of findings do not explain why the HDTV viewers watching evening b e h a v i o r h a s c h a n g e d s o newscasts in HDTV has jumped Submitted at 10/29/2009 7:00:22 AM

possibly—revive an idea that had seemed dead and buried. Just a few weeks ago, it looked as though the proposal to tack on a public plan was, despite fervent support among the left, politically doomed. First came Barack Obama’s slippery but clear efforts to back away from HEALTH-CARE page 73

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it. Then came a crucial vote of the Senate Finance Committee, which rejected the public plan. to 31% from 22% two years ago. to purchase brands or products The final congressional health The new study also finds t h a t a d v e r t i s e d u r i n g H D bill must reconcile the versions significant differences in the programs than men (15%). coming out of the full House and c o n s u m p t i o n o f H D T V " T h i s s e n d s a m e s s a g e t o Senate, and the powerful Finance p r o g r a m m i n g b y g e n d e r . advertisers that [HDTV] is C o m m i t t e e ’ s r e j e c t i o n h a d Men are much more likely becoming the new norm for those appeared to be a final nail in the (48%) than women (19%) to with [HDTV] access across all coffin. check HDTV channels first when program types," Knowledge But this week Harry Reid, the turning on their TV sets, and men Networks' Tice states. "An leader of the Senate Democrats (58%) are also much more likely important learning for companies and an ardent fan of the proposal, than women (41%) to choose targeting products to men - who dropped a bombshell. During the HDTV over standard definition are more likely to seek out process of reconciling the output programs when both options are [HDTV] programming and to of the Senate’s Health and available to them at the same recognize the difference between F i n a n c e C o m m i t t e e s , h e time. standard and high-definition ads - overruled the wishes of the latter. W h e n i t c o m e s t o T V is that creating advertising that is So the health bill that the full commercials televised in HDTV, more relevant to the male Senate is likely to consider over men and women are equally split. audience could make you stand the next few weeks now looks likely to include a public plan. Men (42%) are more likely to out from the [HDTV] crowd." notice ads are not televised in This content has passed through In an effort to win over as many sceptics as possible, though, Mr HDTV than women (20%), but fivefilters.org. Reid has circumscribed his public women (24%) are more inclined HEALTH-CARE page 75

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Europe.view: Linguistic discontents (The Economist: Daily columns)

flare-up sooner rather than later. A short list of Hungarian grievances would go like this. Submitted at 10/28/2009 11:08:18 PM Since 1992 the new Slovak state Europe.view has made its largest linguistic Oct 29th 2009 minority feel like outsiders. From Economist.com Slovaks, N a t i v e S l o v a k - s p e a k e r s Hungarians and missing data increasingly dominate the upper THE row is over but the reaches of government; the problems remain. Amid an outcry handful of Magyarphones in the from neighbouring Hungary, and diplomatic service has been discreet pressure from other purged (from ten ambassadors to outsiders, Slovakia’s government one, for example). The parts of has backed away, for the southern Slovakia where moment, from implementing its Hungarians tend to live have badly drafted and intrusive- missed out on foreign investment sounding new language law (see and have the worst public article). services. Bilingualism is Despite the backdown, hopes declining: few mother-tongue that membership of the European S l o v a k s l e a r n H u n g a r i a n ; Union and NATO would bring a Hungarian-language schools p e r m a n e n t e n d t o c e n t r a l teach Slovak remarkably badly. Europe’s tribal conflicts and The rise of the Slovak National historical grudges now look over- Party has made anti-Hungarian optimistic. It would be good if all racism alarmingly acceptable in c o n c e r n e d — t h e S l o v a k public life. government, Hungarians in Slovak grievances read rather Slovakia and Hungary’s political differently. Hungary has a parties—paused for reflection conceptual problem in accepting about the troubling issues that that Slovakia is a real country. divide them. But the economic Public figures there stir up crisis, and the likely victory of Slovakia’s Hungarians with the tough-talking Viktor Orban reheated historical wrongs. The and his right-of-centre Fidesz number of ethnic Hungarians in party in Hungary’s parliamentary Slovakia is exaggerated: many of elections next year, are among them are in fact Gypsies (Roma). the reasons for expecting another All citizens of Slovakia are equal

before the law and talk of discrimination is absurd. All efforts to pamper the Hungarians just make them complain all the more, in an annoying and disloyal way. If Hungarianspeakers really do not feel at home in Slovakia then they can leave. To an outsider, the striking thing is the prevalence of assertion and the absence of facts. How many people in Slovakia are really “ethnic Hungarians” as opposed to, say, Hungarian-speaking Roma, or native Slovak-speakers with Hungarian surnames, or the products of mixed marriages who do not regard themselves as being fully in one camp or the other? Are those who selfidentify as ethnic Hungarians better or worse paid, housed or educated than other population groups? Is this changing over time? Is bilingualism declining? How many go to Hungary for higher education? How do their fortunes compare to Slovak universities’ alumni? What are the statistics on mixed marriages, migration, and life expectancy? And how do all these compare to the comparable population groups in Hungary proper, and to Hungarians living in other places such as Transylvania in Romania

or the Vojvodina province of Serbia? Nobody seems to be collecting this data, either in official statistics or in academic surveys. Lessons could be learned from Britain’s diplomatic service, which makes a big effort to attract applicants from a wide range of class, ethnic and linguistic backgrounds and monitors how successful this has been. But Slovak officials react with shock at the idea that monitoring the composition of the civil service could help settle arguments about prejudice. “It would not be politically correct” says a senior government spokesman. That seems a rather lazy and complacent approach. Consequently, without even the elementary information to know what is right and what to do, the two sides remain entrenched in their silos of ignorance, making myths, and sooner or later, mischief. Back to top ^^ Readers' comments The Economist welcomes your views. This content has passed through fivefilters.org.

Terror in Afghanistan: Murder in Kabul (The Economist: News analysis) Submitted at 10/28/2009 2:03:04 AM

Terror in Afghanistan Oct 28th 2009 From Economist.com The Taliban kill several UN staff in Afghanistan, ahead of a presidential election THE murder of at least five foreign, civilian, UN staff in a private guest house in Kabul, and a near-simultaneous rocket attack on the city’s most prestigious hotel, on Wednesday October 28th, are reminders of the apparently expanding reach of Taliban insurgents in Afghanistan. At least three suicide attackers, wearing explosives and carrying grenades and automatic weapons, made their way into the Bekhtar guest house, reportedly by posing as policemen. Frequented by foreigners, the guest house is in a central area of Kabul that had previously been considered relatively secure. Guards and the intruders exchanged gunfire, guests were killed (and nine more were injured), as well as four Afghans. Three attackers were eventually shot dead. A Taliban spokesman promptly claimed responsibility for the murders, saying that they were “just a start” of an assault on TERROR page 75

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plan in several ways. First, only a minority of Americans (essentially, those without employer-provided coverage) would be eligible. Second, the plan is forbidden from dictating that hospitals accept the same low reimbursement rates given by Medicare, the government scheme for the elderly. Most important, though, is that individual states would be allowed to opt out. Though leftists groused that this was too weak a proposal, the news buoyed the spirits of public -plan advocates in the House. Many conservative Democrats there (including the “Blue Dog” coalition) and moderates from conservative districts are reluctant to cast a vote for any final House bill with the public plan without cover from the Senate: their vote would be in vain, but they would still get pummelled by Republicans back at home for supporting the plan. Anthony Weiner, a liberal congressman from New York, gushes that “Reid was worth 15

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votes!” Perhaps, but it is too early to say whether Mr Reid’s gamble was bold or reckless. That is because it has offended moderates in both chambers. As Mrs Pelosi scrambles to put together a majority of 218 votes in the House, it is too early to say whether the 15 votes she supposedly picked up this week were offset by many more refuseniks. A caucus meeting of House Democrats this week gave an indicator that the latter might be true. Rumours swirled that efforts to promote a “strong version” of the public plan (one which would tie reimbursement rates to Medicare) failed to garner sufficient support in the House. Mr Reid’s gambit has also offended several important moderates in the Senate, who are now considering dropping all support for the health reform effort, which might still deprive the Democrats of the 60 votes they need for normal passage of a bill. This is a grave matter, as Mr

Obama has indicated that he would like health reform to pass without resorting to a hugely provocative procedure known as budget reconciliation, which would require only 50 votes. One senator with his nose out of joint is Joe Lieberman of Connecticut who is now officially an independent but who still caucuses with the Democrats. He said this week that he cannot vote for any Senate bill that contains a public plan. Similar noises were made by Olympia Snowe of Maine, the lone Republican to vote for the bill passing out of the Senate’s finance committee. There are at least three other wavering Democrats in the Senate—Louisiana’s Mary Landrieu, Arkansas’s Blanche Lincoln and Nebraska’s Ben Nelson—who all, unsurprisingly, come from states that voted for John McCain in the last presidential election. Whether a public plan will prevail or not is anyone’s guess. A strong version has no chance

of passing both chambers, but it is now possible that some lesser version could end up on Mr Obama’s desk for signature. He himself has advocated a compromise version that would be triggered only after a few years, and only if private competition failed to achieve affordable universal cover. That plan, which the courageous (and now snubbed) Ms Snowe also supports, may yet emerge at the eleventh hour as a compromise. The only thing that can be said with certainty is that a proposal that seemed close to death is now alive and kicking. Back to top ^^ Readers' comments The Economist welcomes your views. This content has passed through fivefilters.org.

workers might yet provoke the organisation either to reduce its activities in the country or to consider withdrawal, as happened in Iraq in 2003 after 22 staff were killed by bombers at its headquarters in Baghdad. After a deeply fraudulent firstround presidential election in August, and amid rising casualty figures for western armies

engaged in Afghanistan, foreign governments are increasingly hesitant about committing to prolong and expand military engagement in the country. Barack Obama is reviewing military strategy and considering whether to deploy as many as 40,000 extra soldiers to fight a war that is becoming more unpopular in America (and

elsewhere). October has proved to be the bloodiest month so far for American soldiers in Afghanistan since the invasion in 2001, with 53 soldiers killed by October 27th. Mr Obama is unlikely to announce a decision on strategy until after the election. By then, it is hoped, Hamid Karzai, the president and likely winner, can

Karzai’s position bolstered by a claim this week, by the New York Times, suggesting that the president’s brother, who is suspected of involvement in the country’s opium trade, has also been getting regular payments from the CIA. Ahmed Wali Karzai reportedly denied the allegations. The Taliban are most likely to attempt more attacks in the coming ten days in an effort to encourage outsiders to waver further. By attacking the UN (and if the assailants indeed posed as policemen, by the method employed) the Afghan Taliban have followed an approach taken by Pakistani militants across the border, who assaulted an office of the World Food Programme earlier this month, killing five UN workers. Also on Wednesday Pakistan’s Taliban detonated a car bomb in a packed market in the north-western city of Peshawar, killing at least 87 civilians and injuring at least 200. TERROR page 76

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“anyone engaged” in the process of preparing for a run-off presidential election that is scheduled for November 7th. The head of the UN mission, Kai Eide, responded to the worst single attack on his staff in the country by vowing to remain “committed to Afghanistan”. But the Taliban may hope that a bloody enough assault on UN

be more credibly presented as a legitimate partner for outsiders. Stark evidence of ballot stuffing and other manipulation in Mr Karzai’s favour during the presidential election in August, suggest that many—perhaps most—Afghans do not see him as a credible leader. Nor was Mr TERROR page 75

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That assault appears timed to The Economist welcomes your coincide with the arrival in views. Pakistan of America’s secretary This content has passed through of state, Hillary Clinton, although fivefilters.org. it may equally be seen as a response to the Pakistani army’s offensive in South Waziristan, a Pakistani-Taliban heartland. Back to top ^^ Readers' comments

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Research Brief: Two-Thirds of US Adults See Digital Out-ofHome Screens (MediaPost | Media News) Submitted at 10/29/2009 7:00:22 AM

According to a forecast and industry update report from Adcentricity, 42% of agency and brand marketers plan to increase their digital out-of-home (DOOH) advertising spending through 2009 and the first half of 2010. Total DOOH spending is on target to hit $4.53 billion by 2013, up from $2.6 billion in 2009. This projection suggests that DOOH is among the fastestgrowing media in North America and will account for 44.1% of all OOH spending by 2013, the report concludes. The Adcentricity "2010 Digital Out-of-Home Outlook & Planning Guide," also revealed that digital out-of-home advertising currently reaches two -thirds of US residents ages 18+ each month and delivers a fairly representative cross-section of consumers.

Previous Month Digital OOH Audience(Persons Seen Screen x000) Venue Digital OOH Audience Past Month Persons Estimated All listed 67% 155,519 Shopping mall 31 71,957 Grocery store 30 69,636 Retail or department store 29 67,314 Gas station 22 51,066 Movie theater 21 48,745 Airport 19 44,103

Doctors office or hospital 19 44,103 Stadium or arena 18 41,781 Drug store 14 32,497 Restaurant 14 32,497 Office building 11 25,533 Bar 8 18,569 Health club 7 16,248 Elevator 5 11,606 Riding public transit 5 11,606 Waiting for public transit

4 9,285 Source: Adcentricity, October 2009 Of those who recall seeing digital out-of-home displays in the past month, 76% noticed them at multiple venues, the report says. • Digital video screens in retail locations (including grocery stores, large retailer/department stores, drug stores, shopping malls or convenience stores) reach more than half of American adults in an average month. • Digital out-of-home displays at gas stations and movie theaters each reach more than 20% of US adults per month. Digital out-of-home currently has approximately 112 significant network operators (many running multiple networks) in the US and

approximately 45 within Canada who accept third-party advertising. Collectively, there are active media screens in more than 70 venue types each with unique audience and media characteristics to understand. 38% of active digital OOH network operators are planning capital investments of between $1M-$10M to expand their venue and screen capacity in the next 12 months, finds the study. Just less than 20% of them plan on expanding their screen count to more than 1,000 each. Though digital OOH advertising continues to grow, figures from the Outdoor Advertising Association of America for Q209 revealed that out-of-home revenue declined 18% for the quarter, from $2.2 billion in Q208 to $1.82 billion. For additional information, please visit Adcentricity here RESEARCH page 76