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Toshiba Developing No-Glasses 3-D Televisions

2010-08-24T23:45:00.000-07:00

Japanese electronics maker Toshiba Corp. said Tuesday it is developing technology for a 3-D television that won't require special glasses.
Company spokeswoman Yuko Sugahara confirmed such technology was in the works. But she declined to comment on a report in the Yomiuri newspaper that the Tokyo-based company plans to start selling the new TVs by the end of the year.
Mainstream 3-D TVs now on sale, such as those from rivals Panasonic Corp. and Sony Corp., require glasses. But there are already screens that don't require glasses, mainly intended for store displays. They require the viewer to stand in specific spots for the 3-D effect to emerge, and the image quality is much lower than that of screens using glasses.
Yomiuri said Mitsubishi's technology involves transmitting different images at various angles to create an illusion of dimension and depth, a principle used by current glasses-free monitors.
Electronics companies have been investing heavily in 3-D technology for televisions, betting that people will want a 3-D experience at home following the success of blockbuster movies such as "Avatar," which was screened in 3-D.
Some gadgets such as handheld game machines from Nintendo Co. can deliver 3-D images without special glasses.
"Many people don't like to wear glasses to watch TV for a long time, especially people who must wear 3-D glasses over regular glasses," Sugahara said.
Copyright 2010 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

Drinking Water Before Meals Helps Weight Loss

2010-08-24T23:42:00.000-07:00

Drinking two glasses of water before each meal may help you lose weight, according to a new study presented Monday at the annual meeting of the American Chemical Society in Boston.

Obese dieters who drank two 8-ounce glasses of water before breakfast, lunch and dinner lost five pounds more than dieters who didn't increase their water intake. Those who drank more water also kept more of the weight off after a year, said Brenda Davy, an associate professor at Virginia Tech in Blacksburg.

The study included only middle-aged and older adults between the ages of 55 and 75 who were on diet - 1,200 calories per day for women and 1,500 calories per day for men. Half of the people were told to drink 16 ounces of water before every meal. After three months, the dieters who drank water had lost an average of about 15.5 pounds, while those who didn't lost just 11 pounds.

It's a popular anecdote that drinking more water will help you lose weight. Davy's study is the first randomized controlled trial to test the theory.

But Davy isn't sure why drinking water before meals helps with weight loss. But according to the Health.com report, a reason might be that it helps fill your stomach, making you less hungry

Dell debuts first U.S. smartphone at $100

2010-08-24T23:38:00.000-07:00

The long-anticipated move by the computer manufacturer puts Dell in competition with Apple Inc, the market leader in smartphones, and with a clutch of other phones that use Google Inc's Android operating system.

Round Rock, Texas-based Dell said its new smartphone will sell for $99.99 with a 2-year contract from AT&T, or $299.99 without the contract.
Dell said the Aero will be one of the lightest Android smartphones in the United States, and will support Adobe Systems Inc's Flash software. That sets Dell apart from Apple, which has declined to use Flash on its mobile devices.
The personal computer maker entered the smartphone market in late 2009 with the release of its Mini 3 in China. The company also released a 5-inch tablet called the Streak this month, which also runs on Android and uses the AT&T network for phone calls. That will compete with Apple's iPad.
The worldwide smartphone market is expected to grow 36 percent to 247 million units in 2010 from 182 million in 2009 according to IT research outfit iSuppli.

Man, shot in head, notices five years later

2010-08-24T23:36:00.000-07:00

Presented with the 5.6mm projectile, the man recalled he had received a blow to the head around midnight at a New Year's party "in 2004 or 2005," but had forgotten about it because he had been "very drunk," a police spokesman said.
"He told us he remembered having a sore head, but that he wasn't really one for going to the doctor," the spokesman said.
The wound later healed around the bullet and it was not until the man decided to have the lump examined due to recurring pains that the discovery was made.
Police said they were not treating the incident as suspicious as the bullet might have got lodged in the man's head when a reveler fired a gun in celebration.
"It may have been a shot fired up in the air which entered his head on the way down," the spokesman said.
The resident of Herne, who has lived in Germany for several years, was expected to be released from hospital later this week after the bullet was removed on Friday, police said.

New York governor seeks peace on mosque issue

2010-08-24T23:33:00.000-07:00

Muslims hoping to build the $100 million cultural center and mosque have met fierce opposition from conservative politicians and those who call it offensive to families of the nearly 3,000 people killed in the September 11 attacks by al Qaeda militants in 2001.
The debate over putting the center so close to what is now called Ground Zero has turned national ahead of November elections as Republicans seek to wrest control of Congress from Democrats.
Republican politicians largely oppose the project, a sentiment shared by at least 60 percent of Americans, according to polls.
Some commentators have raised concern the opposition could be providing a propaganda victory to extremists in the Muslim world who preach that the United State hates Islam.
Democratic Governor David Paterson criticized mosque opponents for tolerating what he called ignorance and stereotypes by more strident foes who liken all of Islam to the al Qaeda suicide hijackers who destroyed the World Trade Center.
"People can't hear each other anymore," Paterson told a news conference. "I find it heart-wrenching. I hate to see New Yorkers squaring off against each other."
Mayor Michael Bloomberg has defended the project on grounds of religious freedom. He was hosting his annual iftar -- the evening meal when Muslims break their Ramadan fast -- with two of the project's leaders on the guest list.
Over the weekend, supporters and opponents of the project rallied near Ground Zero but were kept apart by police.
More than 40 religious and civic groups -- including one group of families whose relatives died on September 11 -- announced the formation of a coalition on Tuesday to push back against opposition to the mosque.
The coalition called New York Neighbors for American Values planned to introduce its campaign formally on Wednesday.
"We stand together today to reject the crude stereotypes meant to frighten and divide us," the coalition said.
Paterson, who will leave office at the end of the year, has offered himself as a peacemaker seeking to find an alternate site. He met on Tuesday with religious leaders, including New York Roman Catholic Archbishop Timothy Dolan, to find a solution to the controversy.
Developers of the mosque have said they want to remain at the proposed location, partly because they believe moving the project would be a concession to what they consider religious intolerance.

China crash kills 42 as plane overshoots runway

2010-08-24T23:31:00.000-07:00

A passenger plane overshot a runway while landing at a new airport in northeast China late on Tuesday, bursting into flames and killing 42 people of 96 on board, the nation's worst air disaster since 2004.

The accident will be a jolt for China's fast-growing aviation sector, which has had no major accident in recent years, thanks to stricter safety rules, better training and relatively young fleets of mainly Western-made aircraft.

The Henan Airlines plane crashed at 9.36 pm (1336 GMT) in Yichun, a remote city of one million in Heilongjiang province surrounded by forests, after flying from provincial capital Harbin, the Civil Aviation Administration of China said.

The airline has grounded all flights for the next three days, an official told Reuters by telephone, declining further comment.

Yichun has a small domestic airport that only opened last year, one of an increasing number of airports built in distant parts of China to help boost economic development.

While the cause of the crash is still being investigated, Caijing magazine cited local rules as saying that Yichun airport is "in principle" not supposed to operate at night.

State media initially said 43 people had died but later revised down the death toll by one. Seven of the 54 survivors were severely injured, Yichun mayor Wang Aiwen was quoted as saying.

Their injuries included burns, cuts and broken limbs.

"When I looked out the window, I couldn't see anything. There were no lights at all," Xinhua quoted survivor Xue Xilai as saying. "Soon after that, the plane bounced heavily on the ground and then broke in two."

There were 91 passengers, including five children, as well five crew members on board the ERJ-190, built by Brazil's Embraer (EMBR3.SA) (ERJ.N), Xinhua said. The passengers appeared to be mainland Chinese, except for one person from Taiwan.

"When the back part of the plane landed, I felt a strong jolt, and then the plane seemed to begin to come apart," another survivor told state television from his hospital bed.

"I began to run, but there was no way out ahead or behind. Then we saw a crack and ran through it to escape," he added.

Xinhua said one of those seriously injured was vice-minister of human resources Sun Baoshu, who was heading to Yichun for a meeting.

HP enters talks with 3PAR in bidding war with Dell

2010-08-24T23:15:00.000-07:00

PAR has determined that HP's proposal was "reasonably likely" to lead to a superior offer over Dell's $1.15 billion bid and has informed Dell of its intention to enter talks with HP, the company said in a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
If 3PAR's board endorses the bid by HP, it will give Dell 3 business days to sweeten its offer, 3PAR said in the filing, adding that it has not yet made such a determination.
The filing comes a day after HP offered to buy the high-end data storage company for $24 per share, topping Dell's bid by a third in a surprise move that could spark a rare bidding war in the technology sector.
3PAR said its board met on Monday to discuss HP's offer and decided to open its books to the company.
"3PAR intends to engage in discussions with HP promptly regarding its unsolicited acquisition proposal, and share nonpublic information with HP regarding 3PAR, in order to more fully evaluate HP's proposal with a view to establishing whether it is a 'superior proposal'," the company said in the filing.
Investors have been expecting Dell to come back with a more attractive offer, but the looming bidding war raised fears that it might overpay, as the world's two largest PC makers vie for a pivotal asset to broaden their scope.
A Reuters survey of 9 fund managers and analysts on Tuesday found most expect another bid or two, and a final price of around $29 per share -- nearly three times where they were before Dell's first public offer for $18 billion a share.
Earlier on Tuesday, Bloomberg reported Dell may convey a higher offer price within days to counter HP's offer, citing a person familiar with the matter, sending its shares down 3 percent. Dell was not available for comment.
3PAR shares rose 3.6 percent to $27.04, above the $24 a share HP has offered -- which was about 33 percent higher than Dell's $18 a share bid.
ENCROACHMENT
Tech giants such as HP and IBM Corp are expanding rapidly into new areas, hoping to offer more comprehensive products, but encroaching increasingly into each other's traditional markets.
3PAR is one of a few candidates that could help Dell expand from computers to corporate solutions in both software and hardware, but bids for the company already look expensive, said Jeffrey Fidacaro, an analyst at Susquehanna Financial Group, a market maker in shares of Dell.
"These are pretty high valuations to be paying for this asset, so now it comes down to who strategically needs this the most," Fidacaro added.
Dell's shares fell 3 percent, or 36 cents, to close at $11.59 on the Nasdaq stock exchange.
HP shares ended 1.7 percent lower at $38.39 on the New York Stock Exchange.
Bidding wars are rare in the tightly knit technology sector, where deals are often made behind closed doors, with a few exceptions such as the 2009 battle between Oracle Corp and IBM for Sun Microsystems. Oracle eventually bought the computer maker for $7 billion.
For 3PAR, a deal with a large company such as Dell or HP would give it a broader sales reach, helping it compete against rival EMC and smaller players such as Isilon Systems Inc and Compellent Technologies Inc.
IBM, HP and Oracle have been boosting investment in cloud computing and virtualization technology, which allows users to access data and software over the Internet and corporate networks.

Low Prices and Rates Can't Slow Fall in Home Sales

2010-08-24T23:13:00.000-07:00

Home prices in many parts of the country scream bargain, and mortgage rates haven't been this low for decades. So why are houses across the nation sitting on the market for so long?
Sales of previously occupied homes in the United States fell 27 percent in July, the weakest showing in 15 years, the National Association of Realtors said Tuesday. It was the largest monthly drop in the four decades that records have been kept.
Potential buyers are hesitating because they think home prices still have further to fall. Potential sellers — those with the stomach to put their homes on the market at all, anyway — are reluctant to lower their prices.
"It really is a self-fulfilling prophecy," said Aaron Zapata, a real estate agent in Brea, Calif. "If all buyers perceive that home prices are coming down, then they will stop making offers — and home prices will come down."
While the standoff plays out, home sales are plummeting.
Sharp declines were recorded in each of the four regions the group tracks. Yet the pain is being felt unevenly from state to state and city to city. Some markets are rebounding even as others languish.
Sellers in sluggish markets like Las Vegas and Chicago can expect to wait an average of more than five months to sell their homes, according to real estate brokerage ZipRealty Inc. It's even worse in Palm Beach, Fla., where it takes nearly six months, longest in the nation.
In healthier markets such as San Francisco and Denver, the average wait is only about two months. Sellers in Washington appear to have the nation's best major market; they are waiting only about a month and a half.
Beyond geography, the sales numbers vary depending on the price of the home.
The biggest drops in sales are among homes in the low and middle price ranges. For example, 47 percent fewer homes in the Midwest priced between $100,000 and $250,000 sold in July, compared with July last year. By contrast, sales of million-dollar-plus homes in that region actually rose slightly year over year.

Saudi says agreement close on BlackBerry services

2010-08-07T05:15:00.000-07:00

Negotiations between Saudi Arabia and the Canadian maker of BlackBerry telephones are going well and an agreement is imminent, said a Saudi regulatory official Saturday.
The Saudi telecommunications regulatory agency announced earlier this week that BlackBerry's messenger service would be halted on Friday over concerns that its data could not be monitored. Last minute talks, however, staved off the ban.
If an agreement is reached it could have wide-ranging implications for several other countries, including India and the United Arab Emirates, that have issues with the company over how it stores its data.
"Negotiations are ongoing. We agreed to continue the service," said Ahmed Ali, a director with the Saudi telecoms regulatory authority. "The Canadian firm is on its way to agreeing to Saudi requests."
The Saudi-owned, Dubai-based news channel Al-Arabiya also reported Saturday that the crisis had been averted and a deal had been reached to give authorities access to BlackBerry data.
The report said the agreement involved installing servers inside the country that could be monitored and tests were under way. The information could not be independently verified.
The kingdom is one of a number of countries expressing concern that the device is a security threat because encrypted information sent on the phones is routed through overseas computers — making it impossible for local governments to monitor.
The United Arab Emirates has announced it will ban BlackBerry e-mail, messaging and Web browsing starting in October, and Indonesia and India are also demanding greater control over the data.
Analysts say RIM's expansion into fast-growing emerging markets is threatening to set off a wave of regulatory challenges, as its commitment to keep corporate e-mails secure rubs up against the desires of local law enforcement.
RIM says it does offer help to governments, but says its technology does not allow it, or any third party, to read encrypted e-mails sent by corporate BlackBerry users. The consumer version has a lower level of security.
In Saudi Arabia — which local media say has some 750,000 BlackBerry users — the ban has raised accusations the government is trying to further curb freedom of expression.
Saudi Arabia's telecommunications regulator, known as the Communications and Information Technology Commission, announced the imminent ban on Tuesday, saying the BlackBerry service "in its present state does not meet regulatory requirements," according to the state news agency SPA.
Saudi security officials fear the service could be used by militant groups. The kingdom has been waging a crackdown for years against al-Qaida-linked extremists.
Saudi Arabia also enforces heavy policing of the Internet, blocking sites both for political content and for obscenities.
Expectations of the ban have pushed some to sell their devices. At Riyadh's main mobile phone market, dozens of young men on the street were trying to sell the devices, some in their original packaging, and some running at more than half the normal price.
BlackBerry phones are known to be popular both among businesspeople and youth in the kingdom who see the phones' relatively secure communication features as a way to avoid attention from the authorities.

More rain lashes Pakistan, deepening flood crisis

2010-08-07T05:13:00.000-07:00

More rain soaked flood-ravaged Pakistan on Saturday and even heavier downpours were forecast for coming days, deepening a crisis in which hard-line Islamists have rushed to fill gaps in the government's patchy response.
Pakistani officials estimate as many as 13 million people throughout the South Asian nation have been affected by the rising waters. About 1,500 people have died, most of them in the northwest, the hardest-hit region. Mass evacuations are under way in the southern province of Sindh after the Indus River rose there.
The intense flooding that began about two weeks ago has washed away roads, bridges and many communications lines, hampering rescue efforts. Incessant monsoon rains have grounded many helicopters trying to rescue people and ferry aid, including six choppers manned by U.S. troops on loan from Afghanistan.
The national government's response has appeared chaotic at times, and confidence in its ability to cope has been shaken by the decision of President Asif Ali Zardari to visit France and England amid the crisis.
Floodwaters receded somewhat Friday in the northwest, but downpours in the evening and early Saturday again swelled rivers and streams. Pakistani meteorologist Farooq Dar said heavy rains in Afghanistan were expected to make things even worse over the next 36 hours as the bloated Kabul River surged into Pakistan's northwest.
That will likely mean more woes for Punjab and Sindh provinces as well, as new river torrents flow east and south.
Authorities have given varying tolls for the number of people among Pakistan's 175 million impacted by the floods.
The United Nations said 4 million people had been affected, including 1.5 million severely, meaning their homes had been damaged or destroyed. But Pakistani officials have put the figure much higher.
In the northwest and Punjab, floods have displaced 12 million people, said Amal Masud, an official with the National Disaster Management Authority. In Sindh province, about 1 million people have been evacuated or are currently being helped out of their homes, said Jam Saifullah, the provincial irrigation minister.
An Associated Press reporter saw many people walking on foot and using trucks to migrate to safer places in Sindh. Some, however, refused to leave their lands, crops and homes.
"Let the flood come. We will live and die here," said Dur Mohammed, 75, who lives in a mud brick home in Dadli village.
Mohammed was one of 250 people in Dadli resisting evacuation, even though floodwaters have already began touching the embankments of the Indus River less than one mile (two kilometers) away. Many feared that if they left and the floods never came, their household items would be stolen.
The United Nations said the disaster was "on a par" with the 2005 Kashmir earthquake — which killed about 73,000 people — in terms of the numbers of people needing assistance and damage to infrastructure.
Some 30,000 Pakistani soldiers are rebuilding bridges, delivering food and setting up relief camps in the northwest, which is the main battleground in the fight against al-Qaida and the Taliban. Foreign countries and the United Nations have donated millions of dollars.
The U.S. has tapped soldiers from its war effort in Afghanistan to operate four Chinook and two Black Hawk helicopters to evacuate people from the northwest's Swat Valley and carry aid there. Around 85 U.S. soldiers are involved, though the rain has limited their flights.
Also helping in the relief effort are Islamist charities, including the Falah-e-Insaniat Foundation, which Western officials believe is linked to Lashkar-e-Taiba. Lashkar is the militant group blamed for the 2008 attacks in Mumbai, the financial capital of India, Pakistan's regional archrival.
The Falah-e-Insaniat Foundation says it is running 12 medical facilities, providing cooked food for 100,000 people every day, and plans to open shelters soon.
"The magnitude of this tragedy is so severe, and the area affected is so vast, that the government alone cannot meet the needs of such a large number of affectees," said Atique Chauhan, a spokesman for the foundation. "The U.S. efforts for rescue and relief are good, and we will appreciate help from all of humanity, whether it is the U.S. or even India."
Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani appealed for national unity during the crisis.
"I request that all the political parties be united and work together to help the flood victims," he told reporters on Saturday, adding that the government is doing everything it can to move people to safer ground.
"The next two days are very critical in this regard," Gilani said. "Our top priority is to rescue people, to save their lives. But we will also provide them all facilities, and we will work for their rehabilitation."

Disgraced HP CEO to get nearly $28 million

2010-08-07T05:10:00.000-07:00

Lauded for making Hewlett-Packard Co. the world's biggest technology company, CEO Mark Hurd was in negotiations for a new contract worth about $100 million, according to a person familiar with the negotiations.

Instead, he's getting about a third of that to just go away.
In a stunning announcement Friday, HP said it ousted Hurd after an investigation of a sexual harassment complaint found that he had falsified expense reports and other documents to conceal a relationship with a contractor. Hurd also allegedly helped the woman get paid for work she didn't do.
In recent weeks, Hurd was in negotiations for a new three-year contract worth about $100 million when a woman who worked for HP as a host at high-profile events accused him of sexual harassment, a person with intimate knowledge of the case told The Associated Press. The person requested anonymity because this person wasn't authorized to speak publicly about the details of the case.
News of Hurd's abrupt departure sent HP's stock tumbling nearly 10 percent. Shares of the world's biggest maker of personal computers and printers have doubled in value during his five-year stewardship, and HP became the world's No. 1 technology company by revenue in that time.
Hurd's "systematic pattern" of submitting falsified financial reports to hide the relationship convinced the board that "it would be impossible for him to be an effective leader moving forward and that he had to step down," HP general counsel Michael Holston said on a conference call Friday with analysts.
"The facts that drove the decision for the company had to with integrity, had to do with credibility, had to do with honesty," Holston said, declining to elaborate.
Holston said the inaccurate financial reports related only to Hurd's personal expenses.
Hurd, 53, acknowledged there were "instances in which I did not live up to the standards and principles of trust, respect and integrity that I have espoused at HP."
High-profile Los Angeles attorney Gloria Allred said she is representing the woman and "there was no affair and no intimate sexual relationship" between her client and Hurd. Allred, reached by The Associated Press late Friday, declined to comment further.
The person close to the case told the AP that the woman worked as a host for more than a dozen events for CEOs that Hurd attended between 2007 and 2009. The person said the disputed expenses range from $1,000 to $20,000 each for travel, lodging and meals.
The person said many of the expenses were for meals after the events and that Hurd insists they were legitimate business expenses. The total amount of the expenses in dispute could not be learned.
Hurd has offered to repay expenses that were incorrectly filed, this person said.
The married father of two will get a $12.2 million severance payment and nearly 350,000 shares of HP stock worth about $16 million at Friday's closing price. The company also extended the deadline for exercising options to buy up to 775,000 HP shares.
The company's chief financial officer, Cathie Lesjak, 51, was named interim CEO. She has been with the company 24 years but has taken herself out of the running to fill the position permanently. HP has set up a search committee to look for a permanent replacement.
HP's shares, which closed Friday on the New York Stock Exchange at $46.30, tumbled 9.7 percent after hours to $41.85 as investors reacted to the news released after the close of markets.
Beloved by investors for his relentless cost-cutting — and scorned by thousands of laid-off employees for the same — Hurd was seen as rescuing the company from the mess left behind by his predecessor, Carly Fiorina.
Hurd has transformed the 71-year-old company from a computer and printer maker hooked on profits from printer cartridges into a company that looks a lot like its archrival IBM Corp., a major player in technology services and other fast-growing areas.
Though their underlying stories are very different, Hurd's departure is like Fiorina's in one key way: Both were forced out with the company about to reap the benefits of sweeping changes they made at the Silicon Valley institution.
Fiorina left in 2005 in the wake of her decision to acquire Compaq Computer and an ensuing upheaval over her personality and her business strategies, but the divisive deal proved instrumental in HP's ascendance under Hurd.
By comparison, Hurd is departing after cutting tens of thousands of jobs and launching an expensive expansion, including the $13.9 billion acquisition of technology-services provider Electronic Data Systems, the $2.7 billion takeover of computer-networking equipment maker 3Com Corp. and the $1.4 billion deal for mobile phone maker Palm Inc.
To reassure investors, HP, based in Palo Alto, previewed its third-quarter results late Friday in advance of a detailed report Aug. 19.
The company said it expects to report earnings of 75 cents per share, compared with 67 cents a year earlier. Excluding one-time items, the company says results will be $1.08 per share, a penny ahead of analysts' current expectations. Revenue is expected to rise 11 percent from last year to $30.7 billion, slightly higher than analysts' expectations.

6 Americans on medical team killed in Afghanistan

2010-08-07T02:08:00.000-07:00

KABUL, Afghanistan – Six Americans and two other foreigners on a medical mission were shot and killed by the Taliban who ambushed their vehicles in a remote part of northern Afghanistan, a charity said Saturday.
Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid told The Associated Press in Pakistan that they killed the foreigners because they were "spying for the Americans" and "preaching Christianity."
Dirk Frans, director of the International Assistance Mission, said the eight-member medical team, which also included one German, one Briton and two Afghan interpreters, was driving to Kabul from an eye clinic in northeastern Nuristan province when they were killed in Badakhshan province to the north.
The group had decided to head through Badakhshan to return to the capital because they thought that would be the safest route, Frans said.
"This tragedy negatively impacts our ability to continue serving the Afghan people as IAM has been doing since 1966," according to a statement released by the nonprofit Christian organization. "We hope it will not stop our work that benefits over a quarter of a million Afghans each year."
Among the dead was team leader Tom Little, an optometrist from Delmar, New York who has been working in Afghanistan for more than 30 years, Frans said.
Little was expelled by the Taliban government in August 2001 after the arrest of eight Christian aid workers — two Americans and six Germans — for allegedly trying to convert Afghans to Christianity. He returned to Afghanistan after the Taliban government was toppled in November 2001 by U.S.-backed forces.
Provincial police chief Gen. Agha Noor Kemtuz said the victims, who had been shot, were found Friday next to three bullet-riddled four-wheel drive vehicles in Kuran Wa Munjan district. He said villagers had warned the team that the area was dangerous, but the foreigners said they were doctors and weren't afraid. He said local police said about 10 gunmen robbed them and killed them one by one.

He said the two Afghan interpreters were from Bamiyan and Panjshir provinces. A third Afghan man, who had been traveling with the group, survived.

iPhone 4 Sales Top 1.7 Million

2010-07-02T04:34:00.000-07:00

Apple® announced that it has sold over 1.7 million of its iPhone® 4 through Saturday, June 26, just three days after its launch on June 24. The new iPhone 4 features FaceTime®, which makes video calling as easy as one tap, and Apple’s new Retina display, the highest resolution display ever built into a phone, resulting in stunning text, images and video.

“This is the most successful product launch in Apple’s history,” said Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO. “Even so, we apologize to those customers who were turned away because we did not have enough supply.”

iPhone 4 also features a 5 megapixel camera with LED flash, HD 720p video recording, Apple’s A4 processor, a 3-axis gyro and up to 40 percent longer talk time—in a beautiful all-new design of glass and stainless steel that is the thinnest smartphone in the world.

iPhone 4 comes with iOS 4, the newest version of the world’s most advanced mobile operating system, which features Multitasking, Folders, enhanced Mail, deeper Enterprise support and Apple’s new iAd mobile advertising platform.
Pricing & Availability

iPhone 4 is available in the US for a suggested retail price of $199 (US)* for the 16GB model and $299 (US) for the 32GB model in both Apple and AT&T’s retail and online stores, Best Buy, Radio Shack and Wal-Mart stores. iPhone 4 is also available in the UK, France, Germany and Japan and will be available in an additional 18 countries by the end of July—Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Finland, Hong Kong, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, New Zealand, Singapore, South Korea, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland.

*Qualified customers only. Requires a new two year AT&T rate plan, sold separately.

Apple designs Macs, the best personal computers in the world, along with OSX, iLife, iWork, and professional software. Apple leads the digital music revolution with its iPods and iTunes online store. Apple reinvented the mobile phone with its revolutionary iPhone and App Store, and has recently introduced its magical iPad which is defining the future of mobile media and computing devices.

Barbie girl- Aqua

2010-06-27T05:51:00.001-07:00

Inna - Love

2010-06-27T05:48:00.000-07:00

Akcent - Kylie

2010-06-27T05:46:00.000-07:00

Selena Gomez & The Scene - Naturally

2010-06-27T05:37:00.000-07:00

Miley Cyrus - Party In The U.S.A

2010-06-27T05:31:00.000-07:00

Cricket-mad Indian touted as next Deutsche Bank CEO

2010-06-20T03:52:00.000-07:00

Anshu Jain already captains Deutsche Bank's cricket team, and a boardroom reshuffle last week means that the Indian big-hitter is now seen as a prime candidate to be chief executive too.
Jain, 47, has just been appointed sole head of the German lender's most powerful division, its corporate and investment banking division, which accounts for the lion's share of group revenues and profits.
Previously Jain, who until recently owned a stake in the Mumbai Indians, the all-star Indian Premier League cricket team owned by the super-rich Mukesh Ambani, ran the division in tandem with Michael Cohrs, who is retiring.
He will run all Deutsche's sales and trading operations, including government and corporate bonds, commodities, emerging markets, equities, foreign exchange, money markets, interest rate and credit derivatives.Armed with a degree from Delhi University and an MBA in finance from University of Massachusetts Amherst, Jain first cut his teeth at Merrill Lynch in New York before moving to his present employer in London in 1995.
And despite running a division that earned its crust using the kind of opaque investment bets that brought the global financial system close to collapse in 2008, Jain is generally seen as having had a "good" crisis.
He is credited with having managed rapidly to re-organise his division post-crisis and get it back to making money. In the first quarter of 2010, it generated 2.7 billion euros (3.3 billion dollars) in pre-tax profits.
Since 2002 he has been on the bank's executive committee and since April 2009 a member of the management board, earning an estimated 9.7 million euros last year, 200,000 euros more than the man he might succeed, Josef Ackermann.
"Of all the internal candidates, Jain has the best chances," Konrad Becker, analyst at private German bank Merck Finck, told AFP.
But Deutsche Bank is no ordinary bank, and being selected to fill the Swiss Ackermann's shoes will not be easy. And a strong candidate from outside the bank, which employs 77,000 people worlwide, may yet emerge.
For one thing, Germany's biggest bank also has significant private and retail banking operations, not least in Germany, areas which are being expanded via acquisitions and which the investment banker Jain would also have to run.
More importantly, though, the position of Deutsche Bank boss is a highly visible one in Germany, a high-profile job that requires its holder to hobnob with politicians and business leaders.
Ackermann, 62, is perhaps one of Germany's best-known chief executives, dining with Chancellor Angela Merkel and appearing on television chat shows.
Fluent German is indispensable and Jain's is thought to be weak at best.
"The extent to which Mr. Jain is able and willing to perform this role is a question mark," Becker said.
"His Indian origins are an issue. It wouldn't be a problem with Deutsche Bank's customers or with employees ... The problem might be with the German public."

Miley Cyrus Pics

2010-06-20T03:50:00.000-07:00

Michaele Salahi, White House gate crasher, to appear on 'Real Housewives'

2010-06-20T03:46:00.000-07:00

Michaele Salahi will appear on 'Real Housewives' next season.
The White House gate crasher is shown here meeting President
Obama after crashing a State Dinner last year.

China says no major changes in exchange rate

2010-06-20T03:42:00.000-07:00

China's central bank said Sunday it would maintain a stable exchange rate and didn't anticipate major changes in the value of the yuan, a day after saying it would manage the currency more flexibly.
In a commentary on Saturday's announcement, the People's Bank of China attempted to assuage fears of a major strengthening of the yuan, also known as the renminbi, or "people's money."
"There is at present no basis for major flucuation or change in the renminbi exchange rate," the bank said on its website.
Keeping the rate at a "reasonable, balanced level" would contribute to economic stability and help restructure the Chinese economy with greater emphasis on services and consumption, the statement said.
The yuan's value has been pegged to the U.S. dollar for two years, a major source of friction with countries who say the yuan is undervalued to China's own benefit. The bank's statement said it would rely more on a basket of currencies that includes the U.S. dollar to determine the exchange rate.
Chinese officials have long said reforms to the currency would be gradual. While no specific policy changes were mentioned, financial markets will be watched closely Monday for any effects.
President Barack Obama said China's move would help protect the economic recovery, while the European Commission said it would benefit "both the Chinese economy and the global economy."
The announcement, timed just before President Hu Jintao's trip to the G-20 summit in Toronto, Canada, follows warnings from Beijing last week against making its currency policies a main focus of the meeting. China has come under heavy pressure to reform from G-20 member countries, including South Africa and Brazil as well as the United States and those in Europe, who argue that the yuan is deliberately undervalued to keep Chinese exports unfairly cheap.
Industrial Bank economist Jiang Shu said the timing of the announcement marked an attempt to divert criticism of China at the meeting.
"It's a way of throwing out the carpet for the G-20, displaying again to international society the Chinese government's determination on the exchange rate issue," Jiang was quoted as saying on the website of the National Business Daily, a leading financial newspaper.
However, some Chinese experts and commenters on Internet message boards criticized the announcement as a cave-in to foreign pressure that would ultimately damage China's crucial export sector.
"From an economic angle, the appreciation of the renminbi will have a definite effect on exports, but in terms of politics and macroeconomic policy, it can be seen as a result of the need for balance," said Zhao Xijun, deputy dean of the School of Finance of Renmin University.
Also writing on the National Business Daily website, economist Ye Tan said the move would pile pressure on exporters already contending with a roughly 15 percent appreciation of the renminbi against the euro, as well as rising labor costs.
"China's exports are unstable and this is having a major impact on the actual economy," Ye wrote. "Appreciation of the renminbi needs to wait until economic readjustment is certain and China's domestic demand has truly expanded," Ye said.
On the message boards at the popular Sohu.com portal, commentators vilified the move as a sellout that betrayed long-standing government claims that the exchange rate was not a problem. Some commentaries on there and other forums were quickly removed by censors drilled to stymie criticism of the government or discussion of sensitive topics.
Beijing has kept the yuan frozen against the dollar to help Chinese manufacturers compete amid weak global demand. Under pressure from its trading partners, China began letting the yuan appreciate gradually against the U.S. dollar in 2005, but halted that abruptly in 2008 as the global financial crisis took effect.
Since then, the yuan's value has remained at roughly 6.83 to $1.

Santos highly favored in Colombia vote

2010-06-20T03:41:00.000-07:00

A once-tight presidential race threatened to turn into a rout Sunday, with polls showing a huge lead for former Defense Minister Juan Manuel Santos.
Santos, who oversaw a major weakening of leftist rebels, had a 37-point advantage in pre-election polls over former Bogota Mayor Antanas Mockus, who was neck-and-neck with him in some surveys before a series of gaffes torpedoed his eccentric campaign.
Santos won 47 percent of the vote in the May 30 first round — just shy of the simple majority needed for victory. Since then, he has gained the endorsement of most of Colombia's political establishment.
Santos, a 58-year-old economist, promises to build on the security gains of outgoing President Alvaro Uribe, who remains hugely popular but was barred from seeking a third consecutive term.
The former defense chief also may benefit from the military's recent rescue of three police officers and an army sergeant who had been held for nearly 12 years by the leftist Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, the country's main rebel band.
But he is also trying to broaden his appeal by vowing to help the poor in a nation notorious for income inequality, where more than four of every 10 of its 44 million people live on less than $2 a day.
"I'm going to give priority to the social aspect, to employment, to the fight against poverty since I don't need to prioritize security," Santos told The Associated Press in a pre-election interview. Colombia's annual per-capita social spending is about $400, less than half that of Mexico or Chile.
Mockus' clean-government campaign, a steamrolling sensation three months ago, lost its luster after he won just 21 percent of the vote in the first round.
The Green Party candidate, a former university rector and son of Lithuanian immigrants, made a series of comments that led Colombians to question his ability to manage the military and foreign relations of a country still mired in a half-century-old conflict with guerrillas.
Mockus at one point suggested Colombia should dissolve its military, then backtracked. He also suggested he would have no choice but to extradite Uribe if an Ecuadorean court convicted him of wrongdoing in a 2008 cross-border raid. In fact, presidents can deny extradition requests.
The mathematician and philosopher also alienated voters by promising a tax increase.
"The general sensation that he leaves is that he is not as well prepared to lead the country as Santos," said Andes University political scientist Arlene Tickner.
Being a political outsider was Mockus' strength — but also proved his weakness, said Michael Shifter, president of the Washington think tank Inter-American Dialogue.
"He challenged politics as usual but also needed to play the political game to build support. He wasn't willing or able to do that," Shifter said.
Santos, who was educated in the U.S., is a Colombian political blueblood despite making his first run for elected office. He was a Cabinet minister in three administrations and is a great-nephew of a president whose family long ran the country's leading newspaper, El Tiempo.
Santos may have benefited politically from a government welfare payment program called Accion Social that grew under Uribe from 320,000 recipient families to 2.2 million.
But Santos said no one can prove a gain in votes for him or other candidates from his National Unity party — which dominated March 14 legislative elections — resulted from Accion Social's growth.
"People are very grateful — above all in the most poor sectors — that we have decreased the violence, from which the poor suffer most," he said. Indeed, Santos has polled better among Colombia's poor than its rich.
As Uribe's defense minister in 2006-09, he helped knock the wind out of the FARC, Latin America's last remaining major rebel army. He also clashed often with leftist Presidents Hugo Chavez of Venezuela and Rafael Correa of Ecuador.
Last month, a judge in Ecuador ordered Santos' arrest for authorizing the 2008 cross-border raid on a FARC base inside Colombia's southern neighbor that killed the rebel group's No. 2 commander, Raul Reyes.
Santos called the arrest warrant absurd because the Colombian state — not him individually — carried out the raid.
He said it wouldn't prevent him from visiting Ecuador as president if invited. Further, Santos said he would invite Chavez and the Venezuelan leader's leftist allies to his Aug. 7 inauguration if he won the presidency.
"We're going to invite all the countries with which we have relations. I want good relations with all our neighbors," Santos said.

Gulf Coast residents brace for more oil

2010-06-20T03:40:00.000-07:00

BURAS, Louisiana (Reuters) – Residents of the Gulf Coast braced for more oil from a ruptured BP Plc well to hit their beaches on Sunday as oil washed ashore at Panama City, a popular Florida tourist destination.
The city's beaches remained open after clean-up crews removed the tar balls from shore, authorities said. Even so, the sight is a worry for a state with an annual tourism industry worth $60 billion.
"The vast majority (of tar balls) disappeared with the tide. Our beaches are open and clean," said Valerie Lovett, spokeswoman for Florida's Bay County.
The largest spill in U.S. history threatens the coastal economies of four states including hard-hit Louisiana. It has also severely dented the British energy giant's finances and reputation and tarnished President Barack Obama's popularity.
The White House criticized BP CEO Tony Hayward for taking time off from dealing with the leak's consequences to watch a yacht race on Saturday off the south coast of Britain. BP said he was taking some much needed downtime.
To minimize the leak's environmental impact, BP is capturing as much as 24,000 barrels (1.008 million gallons/3.81 million liters) a day of crude using two containment systems but that is a fraction of the 35,000-60,000 barrels the U.S. Coast Guard says is pouring from the well.
BP restarted its containment effort on Saturday after one system was shut down for 10 hours to fix a technical issue and to let a storm pass. It was the latest in a series of problems to bedevil attempts to halt the oil flow now in its 62nd day.
A second system remained running. BP's long-term solution is to drill a relief well that will relieve pressure on the leak, thus stopping its flow, but that is not due for completion until August.
Under pressure from the White House, BP has set up a $20 billion damages fund but that figure could be increased if it proves insufficient, said Kenneth Feinberg, the fund's federal administrator.
After falling 6.8 percent in a volatile week driven by Washington politics, BP's shares are down 26 percent so far in June, their worst month since the October 1987 market crash.
And in a further complication, Anadarko Petroleum Corp, part owner of the well, accused BP of "reckless" conduct leading up to the accident.
BP said it "strongly disagrees" with the accusation of gross negligence but would keep focusing on cleaning up the spill, which has triggered a huge response from federal, state and local authorities to try to protect the Gulf coastline.
Hayward was conspicuously absent from a gathering of global oil industry leaders on Saturday in St Petersburg, Russia, where his company's woes were a constant topic of discussion.
In fact, he was spending time with his teenage son watching a yacht race around the Isle of Wight, off the south coast of Britain, after almost two months away from home and family, according to BP spokeswoman Sheila Williams.
So far, Louisiana's wetlands and its fishing industry have suffered the worst damage from the spill and downcast fishermen say times are harder than in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, which battered the Gulf Coast in 2005.
(Additional reporting by Kristen Hays in Houston, Vladimir Soldatkin in Russia, Tom Bergin in London and Jane Ross and Robert Green in Florida;)

For U.S., yuan talk is good, action is better

2010-06-20T03:39:00.000-07:00

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – China's unexpected pledge on Saturday to allow its currency to rise more rapidly will probably make for a less contentious meeting with Group of 20 world leaders in Toronto next week.
Unless Beijing swiftly follows up talk with action, however, the vow will not defuse a fight brewing in the U.S. Congress over whether to penalize China for what some lawmakers see as unfair trade practices.
China's central bank said it would gradually make the yuan's exchange rate more flexible, indicating it was ready to break a 23-month-old dollar peg that had become a growing source of friction with the United States.
Washington wants a stronger yuan to make its own exports more competitive with China's. Many economists say the yuan is undervalued by as much as 40 percent, giving China a trading advantage and swelling its reserves to more than $2 trillion.
"This is an important step but the test is how far and how fast they let the currency appreciate," U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said in a statement.
Some private analysts doubted China would act quickly.
"Just these words are not going to be enough to satisfy the U.S. Congress and Treasury," said Marc Chandler, head of global currency strategy at Brown Brothers Harriman & Co in New York.
"I am skeptical. I am not convinced that these words mean what they seem to mean."
U.S. Democratic Senator Charles Schumer, who has led a congressional charge to get tougher on China, called the move "vague and limited" and typical of China's response to pressure.

Al Qaeda network severely degraded: U.S. envoy

2010-06-20T03:37:00.000-07:00

ISLAMABAD (Reuters) – Al Qaeda's network had been "severely degraded" by joint U.S.-Pakistani efforts, the U.S. special envoy for Afghanistan and Pakistan said on Saturday.
A few hours before Richard Holbrooke spoke, a U.S. drone killed 12 militants in Pakistan's North Waziristan region on the Afghan border which Washington says is used by the Afghan Taliban to attack U.S.-led NATO troops in Afghanistan.
"The al Qaeda network has been severely degraded in recent years in efforts that both our countries work on," Holbrooke told a joint news conference with Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi.
Asked whom he would hold responsible if al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden and the Afghan Taliban chief, Mullah Mohammad Omar, were hiding somewhere along the border between Pakistan and Afghanistan, Holbrooke demurred.
"Many of their associates have been apprehended or killed. Even those two people ... are still at large but they are under intense pressure," he said.
Holbrooke praised Pakistan's sacrifices in the fight against militants on its soil and said he hoped more would be achieved.
"In regard to the war itself, Pakistan has made progress, but it doesn't mean that we've reached the end of the road. This is a tough, long struggle and much more needs to be done," he said.
Pakistani action against militants on the border is seen as important for bringing stability to Afghanistan, where U.S. forces are leading a major NATO offensive against the Taliban.
Pakistan, fighting its own home-grown Taliban, is under growing U.S. pressure to crack down harder on Afghan Taliban using Pakistani sanctuaries to attack NATO forces in Afghanistan.

U.S. officials said this week the United States had given Pakistan evidence about the growing threat and reach of a militant faction, the Haqqani network, which Washington suspects has ties to Pakistani intelligence.

Summer music preview: Five tours you really need to see live

2010-05-26T03:09:00.000-07:00

USA TODAY's music writers suggest five tours you shouldn't miss:

1. Rihanna

Rude Boy is the Barbados native's 14th hit to go top 10, tying her with Beyoncé for most by a female artist since 2000.

Setting the stage: Rihanna's 25-date Last Girl on Earth tour of arenas and amphitheaters starts July 2 in Auburn, Wash., and wraps up Aug. 28 in Syracuse, N.Y. She'll also appear July 12 at Lilith Fair in Salt Lake City.

Why it's a tour de force: Rihanna's North American jaunt will come hot on the heels of two months of sold-out shows in Europe, which wrap up June 5 at the Rock in Rio festival in Madrid. The sultry star's show includes elaborate sets, special effects, sexy choreography and a plethora of eye-popping, skin-baring get-ups. Ke$ha — herself a chart-topping hitmaker — is the opening act. — Steve Jones

Cost: $20-$105

2. Adam Lambert

The dashing and colorful American Idol runner-up headlines his first North American tour.

Setting the stage: Lambert's Glam Nation tour kicks off June 4 in Wilkes-Barre, Pa., with more than 30 concerts to follow. Shows are currently scheduled through Sept. 18 in St. Petersburg, Fla.

Why it's a tour de force: Lambert, a dazzling singer, set the Idol standard for showmanship, and his devoted fan base will turn out in full force. The tour's support acts — flame-haired fellow Idol finalist Allison Iraheta and Australian guitarist Orianthi — make the package especially promising: Orianthi played on Lambert's album, and Iraheta's Slow Ride duet with Lambert was a highlight of their Idol season and the subsequent tour. — Brian Mansfield

Cost: $29-$73.50

3. Justin Bieber

Pop music's latest tween sensation has been inescapable in recent months, with a No. 1 album (My World 2.0) backed by appearances on Oprah, Saturday Night Live and American Idol.

Setting the stage: The 16-year-old's headlining tour kicks off June 23 in Hartford, Conn., and will reach 40-plus cities before wrapping Sept. 4 in Allentown, Pa. Sean Kingston and Jessica Jarrell are featured guests.

Why it's a tour de force: Like, are you kidding me? Bieber proved his pubescent charisma on YouTube before landing a record deal, and recent appearances had to be canceled after screaming girls got out of control. Just ask your 12-year-old how cool it would be to have Bieber pull her on stage to croon One Less Lonely Girl to her — as he'll do for one lucky fan at each show. — Elysa Gardner

Cost: $46.50-$75.50

4. Carole Kingand James Taylor

The beloved trailblazers of the singer/songwriter movement in the early 1970s.

Setting the stage: Their Troubadour Reunion tour includes a 45-date American leg, wrapping July 20 in Anaheim, Calif. It will feature some stageside table-for-two seats (proceeds go to charity) meant to create a club feel.

Why it's a tour de force: The tour evolved out of the pair's shows marking the 50th anniversary of West Hollywood's Troubadour club. With Art Garfunkel's ailing voice forcing postponements on his tour with Paul Simon, this is the best bet for reunion-minded Boomers. — Jerry Shriver

Cost: $95-$179

5. Eagles, Dixie Chicks and Keith Urban

One of the biggest rock acts of the '70s and '80s, the Eagles reunited in 1994 after a 14-year hiatus. They've remained a top-grossing force whenever they've hit the road.

Setting the stage:The Eagles and the Dixie Chicks flock together for eight stadium dates, from June 8 in Toronto to June 24 in St. Louis. Keith Urban joins for shows in East Rutherford, N.J.; Foxborough, Mass.; and Chicago.

Why it's a tour de force: The three shows with Urban put one of the biggest country-rock groups of all time on the same stage as two broad-appeal country acts capable of headlining arenas. Plus, they'll put the Chicks in front of live audiences for the first time in four years. — Brian Mansfield

Cost: $50-$225

Evan Lysacek: Winning Dancing With the Stars Wasn't My Goal

2010-05-26T03:06:00.000-07:00

Evan Lysacek insists he won't be disappointed if he doesn't bring home the disco-ball trophy tonight.
"We are so excited to have gotten this far," the Olympian told us this morning during our weekly exclusive one-on-one. "What I said coming into this competition is, regardless of what anyone says—I did not know how to dance. My motives for doing the show were really simple and honest—I wanted to do something fun and I wanted to dance. At this point I feel like: mission accomplished."
But just how hard was it having to learn four dances this past week? Read on to find out, plus what he's saying about Kate Gosselin's finale performance…
Would you say that this week of practice was the most strenuous because you had to prepare four dances?
For sure it was, just because everything is heightened and we want to do our best and show that we belong in this finale. It's always difficult to find the time because my schedule is so tight with touring with Stars on Ice. We really were just using every free second we had and we ended up with four dances that we're really, really happy with.

Apple's Music Dealings Under Anti-Trust Scrutiny

2010-05-26T02:59:00.000-07:00

The Department of Justice is making preliminary inquiries about Apple Inc.'s practices in the music business, people familiar with the situation said, the latest indication of the government's increased scrutiny of the company and others in Silicon Valley.

These people said the agency's antitrust staff has contacted music labels and Internet music startups about Apple, whose iTunes music service plays a dominant role in the distribution of digital music. The questions are not part of a formal investigation, these people said, but rather a routine initial attempt to learn whether complaints the agency has received deserve further examination.

One person familiar with the matter said the questions focus in very general terms on iTunes pricing practices.

The New York Times reported Tuesday that investigators were probing whether Apple has tried to persuade music labels to not give rival Amazon.com Inc. exclusive access to soon-to-be released music, an issue that surfaced in March in an article in music-trade magazine Billboard.

A spokesman for the Justice Department declined comment, as did a spokesman for Apple. Amazon representatives could not be reached.

The latest inquiry comes as both the Justice Department and the Federal Trade Commission are holding discussions over which agency would handle a possible antitrust inquiry into recent changes that Apple made to its licensing agreement with iPhone application developers. Last year, the FTC investigated whether Apple sharing directors with other companies violated antitrust laws. That triggered Google Inc. CEO Eric Schmidt's resignation from Apple's board.

While the latest inquiries appear to be in the very early stages, the interest in Apple's businesses by regulators point to the Cupertino, Calif., company's growing importance in the technology industry.

Now the good news: it's turning out gloriously for Chelsea

2010-05-26T02:55:00.000-07:00

The Chelsea Flower Show opens today, the signal that the British summer is here, that the London Season has begun (if one cares about such things) and that at least 2,000 bottles of champagne and 47,000 glasses of Pimms are about to be downed by 157,000 visitors.

Tickets for Chelsea sold out days ago – a record, despite one of the worst winters in living memory. So what is the allure?

Well, there's the timing for a start. Just before half-term and at the end of the spring, a sunny Chelsea puts everyone in a summery mood. Temperatures yesterday were 27.4C, though it is forecast to cool down a bit by the end of the week.

Jasper captures first game of Hudson series 13-7

2010-05-26T02:44:00.000-07:00

Jasper overcame a struggling performance by ace pitcher Derek Sowell to claim a 13-7 victory over Lufkin Hudson. The victory gives Jasper a 1-0 lead in the best-of-three game series with Hudson.

Game two will be Friday in Woodville at 7:30 p.m. Game three will be Saturday in Woodville starting at 4 p.m.

Sowell struggled in the first three innings of the game as the senior lefty walked four while striking out seven batters. But Sowell came undone in the third inning. With Jasper leading 5-0, Hudson bunched together a single and two hit batters to load the bases.

Jasper Head Baseball Coach Shawn Mixon brought in Colton Burleson to relieve Sowell and the junior right-hander responded in fine fashion by striking out Hudson's Ethan Edwards and Jeremy Lowe to end the threat.

Hudson pulled to within 5-2 in the bottom of the fourth inning but Jasper came right back in the fifth to push the lead back out to 8-2. A Sowell double plated Sam Alvis and Parker Phillips to push the lead out to 7-2. A following RBI single off the bat of Tyler Ernest scored Sowell and gave the Bulldogs their 8-2 lead.

But Hudson came right back in the bottom half of the frame. With the aid of back-to-back triples, the Hornets cut the lead back down to 8-4.

When Burleson tired in the seventh inning, Mixon brought in Alvis to finish out the game and give Jasper the first game of the three-game series.

Latest Gas Line Proposal Runs onto Donlin Creek Gold Mine

2010-05-26T02:41:00.000-07:00

Another gas line proposal is being floated in the state, but it’s not aimed at getting North Slope gas to markets. This latest proposal would run from Cook Inlet, across a portion of the Iditarod trail and onto the proposed Donlin Creek gold mine near the Kuskokwim River.

Shane Iverson, KYUK – Bethel

Bocanegra latest U.S. injury concern

2010-05-26T02:39:00.000-07:00

LONDON (Reuters) – Latest Group C news ahead of the World Cup in South Africa which starts on June 11.

ENGLAND England's last home game before the World Cup, a friendly against Mexico at Wembley on Monday, could see Wayne Rooney deployed as lone striker with Steven Gerrard behind him.

"Wayne and I are good friends off the pitch," Gerrard told reporters at England's training camp in Austria where manager Fabio Capello has experimented with Rooney in the solo role. "Before games we are always talking about what where we want each other.

"Football is about relationships on the pitch and because Fabio has given me license to get forward from the left and go inside, he wants me to link with Wayne."

England fans will be keeping their fingers crossed that Rooney and his team mates emerge unscathed from the troublesome Wembley pitch.

UNITED STATES The U.S. head into Tuesday's friendly against the Czech Republic in East Hartford with all members of the 30-man squad having participated in the training camp at Princeton University.

The latest injury worry surrounds skipper and defender Carlos Bocanegra who reported to camp while recovering from a hernia injury.

With center halfs Oguchi Onyewu not having played since suffering a knee injury in October and Jay DeMerit having had to deal with an abdominal strain, coach Bob Bradley will be hoping his defense look strong and healthy against the Czechs and then Turkey in Philadelphia on Saturday.

SLOVENIA

Defender Bosjan Cesar said Slovenia will not be overawed by the finals in South Africa.

"We are neither nervous nor afraid of the challenge because Slovenia have performed on the big stage already," said Cesar, who broke into the country's first team after their group stage exits in Euro 2000 and the2002 World Cup.

"We are probably not fully aware of what awaits in South Africa but we are confident because we have enough experience as players to compete in an event like this," he told local media.

ALGERIA

Four players remained sidelined at Algeria's pre-World Cup training camp in Switzerland but coach Rabah Saadane told reporters they were not serious injury cases.

Defender Majid Bougherra, midfielders Ryad Boudebouz and Mourad Meghni and striker Rafik Djebbour all missed weekend workouts in Crans-Montana.

"There is nothing serious. These are players who have suffered minor injuries and we only wanted to avoid risk of possible relapse during our training. They will be back with their team mates in two days at most," Saadane said.

I don't make films for reviews': Rakesh Roshan

2010-05-26T02:34:00.000-07:00

Are you happy with the reviews you are getting for Kites?
I don't make a film for reviews. I don't make films with any expectation or deliberation. I make films that touch my heart...not run-of-the-mill Bollywood films that have six songs; and Kites is a film that is close to my heart.

You have invested an amount as huge as 30 million dollars in Kites. Do you think the film has finally been worth it?
See, when we decided to make a global film, we knew that we had to compete with a lot of films because the world has become smaller now. People are aware of the kind of films being made in Hollywood. So if you have even one action sequence that has to be able to meet the standards of those films. We released the film in that world too. So the expense was required by the script. And the film has justified the expense.

You have become a trendsetter in Bollywood with films like Koi Mil Gaya and Krissh. Do you think Kites has been successful in carrying forward your signature style?
Yes, I can say that. The main motive when we started Kites was to bring in a new era of cross-border collaborations. Hopefully we should achieve it in the coming days because it is a film that is different from what Bollywood has seen so far.

Every filmmaker says his film is 'different'...
(Smiles) True; everyone says that. But Kites is different in many ways... from location to music to taking of photographs, lighting...everything is different....and above all, it's an unconventional narration.

Was it a conscious decision to make Kites a cross-over film?
It was not a conscious effort (to make a cross-over film). But it's just that we thought if they (Hollywood) can make a global film, why can't we? We didn't stress upon it...that let's take a story that's different, make it in Hollywood style. We decided to put our own emotions inside...after all we Indians are really rich in emotions.

From Kaho Naa Pyar Hai to Krissh; and let's say, even Kites, Hrithik has got to play the most varied roles and been most successful when he is starred in your films. Do you make films for Hrithik?
Not really. Hrithik has been successful with a lot of films made by other filmmakers, say, Jodhaa Akbar. He will also surprise you in Sanjay Leela Bhansali's Guzaarish. It's just that he first got noticed as an actor in Koi Mil Gaya...nobody thought he can play such a role (of a mentally-challenged boy), and I knew if there is anyone to play Rohit, it has to be him. And yes, when I work on a new script, I do think of Hrithik, but only cast him if he fits the role.

In your earlier interviews you said it's high time that the world market recognizes Hrithik's talent. Was Kites an effort on your end to put him on a global platform with Mexican actress Barbara Mori?
Kites is a project that was made aiming at global audience. But Barbara's presence in the film is purely out of the script's demand. We could have well cast someone from Bollywood to play the role Barbara has played; but then, I thought it would not look real.

Kites has some really intimate scenes between Hrthik and Barbara. Was it difficult for you, as the father, to watch the shooting of those scenes?

Not at all. Why should it be difficult? We are shooting a film. When I can see Hrithik jumping from 50 feet in Krissh, why can't I see him making some intimate scenes! That's the part of the film. And it's not Hrithik Roshan but the character who is doing it.

Hollywood's VFX Sweatshops: Boom Times, Troubled Business

2010-05-26T02:27:00.001-07:00

If you want to see the names driving Hollywood's growth, you have to stay for the movie's credits. The very end of the credits. After the actors and electricians — sometimes even after the people who serve the tacos on set — come the visual-effects artists. These are the people who make superheroes fly and cities fall into the ocean, and the effects-reliant films they work on, like Avatar and the Harry Potter franchise, are Hollywood's biggest moneymakers.(See the 100 best movies of all time.)

Read more: http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1990803,00.html?xid=rss-topstories#ixzz0p1gE5NtV

Fergie accepts award in Hollywood

2010-05-26T02:25:00.000-07:00

Britain's Sarah Ferguson has accepted an award in Hollywood for her charity work amid a swirl of scandal.

US television footage of the gala event showed Ferguson as she accepted the award from the Variety International group, despite the media storm around her back home in Britain.

Ferguson in brief remarks at the soiree confessed late on Sunday to having had 'quite a heavy day,' after the News of the World went public with its story of having set up the duchess

'I hate grown ups, and I love children. Thank you very much,' she said as she accepted her award at the Hollywood event, without directly alluding to the payola scandal which has become huge news on both side of the Atlantic.

Ferguson, who divorced from Queen Elizabeth II's second son in 1996, apologised Sunday for a 'serious lapse in judgment' after the release of the film footage.

The video released by News of the World shows Sarah promising to provide a reporter posing to be a businessman extensive access to Prince Andrew in exchange for STG500,000 ($A874,584).

ESPN to Erin Andrews Stalker: Pay Up You Perv!

2010-05-12T02:29:00.000-07:00

Creepy Michael David Barrett stalked Erin Andrews last year. He ended up costing ESPN a lot of money in extra security costs for its employee as a result.
Money the network wants back.
ESPN wants the perv who shot the peephole video of Erin Andrews nude to cough up more than $300,000 to help pay for the mess he's caused everyone.
Andrews, a sideline reporter for ESPN and current Dancing with the Stars hopeful, received an unrelated round of death threats earlier this year as well.

DANCING HEAT: Erin Andrews' profile has only grown since.

According to federal documents filed yesterday in California, the network claims they have to cough up a ton of cash to pay for extra security for Andrews.
ESPN also claims they incurred losses "from assisting the government in its investigation" and demands Barrett pay back ALL of the $327,442.27.
Michael David Barrett pleaded guilty to one count of being a dirty individual stalking Andrews last year and began serving a 30-month sentence May 3.
A hearing on the ESPN matter is set for June 7.

Miley Cyrus Lap Dance Video: Reportedly in Existence!

2010-05-12T02:24:00.000-07:00

Miley Cyrus has tried to warn people: she can't be tamed!
According to a new report, this was never truer than at a wrap party last year for The Last Song. Radar Online states the actress gave producer Adam Shankman a lap dance at the event - and a tape of the performance is currently on the market!
“The video was taken about seven months ago,” a source says. “The worst part is that there were little kids at the party and the dancing between Miley and Adam was so dirty that some of the parents actually left the party and took their kids home.”
Not Billy Ray Cyrus, we presume. He probably loved his daughter's dirty work.

Those that have witnessed the video have relayed its contents:

Shankman is allegedly on the dance floor with a drink in hand, grinding against Miley's rear end.
She reciprocates the move.
Soon, Cyrus turns around to face the producer and unbuttons the top layer of her shirt, teasing Shankman and those around her.
In a separate scene, Miley is giving Shankman a lap dance while children under the age of 10 sit just a few feet away.

When photos of this moving and shaking appeared on Twitter in late 2009, Shankman (who is gay) defended Cyrus and wrote:
“Miley is a sweet angel who works tirelessly and endlessly, and is allowed to have fun in the make up room! Lighten up or no more behind the scenes pics! She’s my little angel sister.”
Others, however, fear that Cyrus won't be very angelic for much longer.
"[She's] heading down the same path as Lindsay Lohan and Britney Spears," an insider said, insulting Miley in pretty much the worst way possible.
We'll have more on this video as news breaks and anonymous sources reveal more details about it.

Bollywood Wallpapers

2010-05-10T04:08:00.000-07:00

iPad hospital, iTunes Festival, iPad user, ARM rumor

2010-05-10T04:04:00.000-07:00

Kaweah Delta Health Care District in Visalia, CA is preparing to deploy more than 100 iPads for use by healthcare workers. Network World reports that the while the Nick Volosin, Keweah’s director of technical services, has bought three iPads for testing already, roughly 20 of the hospital’s doctors had already purchased one. “This is going to make my day easier and patient safety better,” Kidney Specialist Dr. Roger Haley said during an interview with a local ABC news station. “Now, I don’t have to find a workstation to do what I need to do; I do it right there, right then, right now.” The 100-plus iPads planned for deployment will be used by all manner of healthcare workers, including home health and hospice care workers, nurses, dietitians, and pharmacists.

Apple has announced the dates for its 2010 London iTunes Festival, to be held at Camden’s Roundhouse in London. As in past years, the Festival will feature 62 bands playing over the 31 nights of July, kicking off with Scissor Sisters on the 1st, Tony Bennett on the 2nd, and Ozzy Osbourne on the 3rd; more artists are expected to be announced in the coming days. For more information, visit the official iTunes Festival website. [via TUAW]

99-year-old Virginia Campbell has become the subject of a recent television segment and a YouTube tribute thanks to her new iPad. In an interview with Fox 12 in Oregon, Campbell revealed that while she had been an avid reader, and enjoyed writing, she had been unable to do either recently due to her glaucoma, which made it impossible for her to read large-print library books or even her own handwriting. Since receiving the iPad, Campbell has been able to read again, thanks in part to the high contrast of the device’s screen, and has been using Pages for composition. Continue reading to see both videos below in embedded form.

Apple may be considering an acquisition of chip designer ARM Holdings, if a curiously-sourced London Evening Standard report is to be believed. Citing “gossips,” the report claims that Apple would be interested in ARM due to its use of ARM’s designs in its iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad processors; these same speculators suggest a deal for ARM would cost around £5.2 billion, or roughly $8 billion. ARM CEO Warren East sees the situation differently, however, telling The Guardian, “Exciting though it is to have [our] share price pushed up by these rumours, common sense tells us that our standard business model is an excellent way for technology companies to gain access to our technology. Nobody has to buy the company.”

Wallpapers

2010-05-10T03:52:00.000-07:00

Reggie the gator, new mate go public at LA Zoo

2010-05-10T03:49:00.000-07:00

Reggie the celebrity alligator and his new female companion are going public with their relationship.

The 7 1/2-foot gator is now sharing space at Los Angeles Zoo with Cajun Kate, and the couple's habitat is open to visitors for the first time Monday.

The female gator moved in with Reggie after Methuselah, the zoo's oldest animal, died in March at 70-plus.

Before arriving at the zoo, Reggie was illegally raised as a pet, then made headlines after he was dumped in Harbor City's Machado Lake several years ago.

He drew large crowds, found himself in songs and on T-shirts. Los Angeles County spent thousands of dollars staffing the lake to warn people.

He eluded trappers for two years before wranglers caught him in 2007.

Celebrity Apprentice: Bret Michaels ‘Lucky To Be Alive’

2010-05-10T03:46:00.000-07:00

After spending 10 days in the ICU with a massive brain hemorrhage, Bret Michaels, star of NBC’s Celebrity Apprentice, has been releasedfrom the hospital and is expected to make a full recovery. The rock star opens up about the ordeal for the first time, telling PEOPLE magazine that he feels “lucky to be alive.” Keep reading for more details on his terrifying days in the hospital and his fatherly concerns…

After suffering a massive subarachnoid hemorrhage, Bret Michaels spent 10 days in intensive care, being closely monitored by doctors as they searched for the source of the bleeding. The Celebrity Apprenticestar’s prognosis wasn’t looking good as he spent over a week in critical condition, but the former Poison frontman has been released from the hospital and is expected to recover completely. Despite his lengthy hospital stay, Michaels is grateful and says he’s “lucky to be alive.”
He also opens up to PEOPLE magazine about the terrifying night he checked into the emergency room, complaining of a major headache. The Celebrity Apprentice competitor remembers the doctor asking if he had any children. The rock star is father to two daughters, Raine, 9, and Jorja, 5. When Michaels told the doctors this, he was told to have his daughters brought to the hospital. ”And I said in these exact words, ‘Am I dying? If I’m dying, I want to see my kids, but if I have a chance, I don’t want them to see me in this condition,’” Michaels recalls.
Surprisingly, Michaels was released from the hospital this week and is expected to be just fine. His neurosurgeon, Dr. Joseph Zabramski said, ”He is making a good recovery. I really expect that he will make a 100 percent recovery. He is one of those lucky people, the 20 percent who have a subarachnoid hemorrhage, who make a full and complete recovery.”

wallPapers

2010-05-07T06:55:00.000-07:00

Jobs up 290,000; jobless rate rises to 9.9 pct.

2010-05-07T06:49:00.000-07:00

WASHINGTON (AP) -- More confident employers stepped up job creation in April, expanding payrolls by 290,000, the most in four years. The jobless rate rose to 9.9 percent as people streamed back into the market looking for work.
The hiring of 66,000 temporary government workers to conduct the census helped overall payroll growth last month. However, private employers -- the backbone of the economy -- boosted jobs, too. They added a surprisingly strong 231,000 positions last month, also the most since March 2006, the Labor Department reported Friday.
"Clearly companies have a newfound confidence in the future of the economic recovery and on the part of their own business prospects," said Joel Naroff, president of Naroff Economic Advisors. "The broadbased job gains are an indication that businesses are feeling more comfortable about expanding their work forces," he said.
The unemployment rate rose from 9.7 percent in March to 9.9 percent in April, mainly because 805,000 jobseekers -- perhaps feeling better about their prospects -- resumed their searches for work.
Many economists have predicted the unemployment rate would rise as people come back into the labor force. The jobless rate hit 10.1 percent in October, a 26-year high. The rate could climb back up to the 10 percent range in the months ahead, Naroff said.
Friday's employment report sketched out a picture of a healing jobs market and an economy picking up momentum in the early spring. The improvements, however, were taking place before the stock market plunged this week on concerns that the European debt crisis could spread. There are fears the crisis could make companies more cautious about hiring in the future, economists warned.
The surprisingly high number of jobs added in April offered the latest evidence that businesses are feeling more confident in the recovery. Consumers increased their spending in March by the largest amount in five months. Factory production grew in April at the fastest pace in nearly six years and demand grew briskly for a variety of services in that same month.
Job gains in April were widespread. Manufacturers, construction companies, retailers, professional and business services, education and health services, leisure and hospitality, and government all showed gains. Among the weak spots: transportation and warehousing, and information companies, which all cut jobs last month.
Also encouraging: The employment picture in both February and March turned out to be stronger than previously thought. Payrolls grew by 230,000 in March, better than the 162,000 first reported. And, 39,000 jobs were actually added in February, an improvement from the previous estimate of 14,000 losses.
All told, 15.3 million people were out of work in April.
Counting people who have given up looking for work and part-timers who would prefer to be working full time, the so-called underemployment rate rose to 17.1 in April. That's close to the record high of 17.4 percent in October and shows just how difficult it is for jobseekers to find work.
Another grim statistic: The number of people out of work six months or longer reached 6.7 million in April, a new high. These people made up 45.9 percent of all unemployed people, also a record high.
Hiring isn't expected to be robust enough anytime soon to lower the unemployment rate much. Economists think it will remain above 9 percent by the November midterm elections. That could make Democratic and Republican incumbents in Congress vulnerable.
Just 21 percent of Americans consider the economy in good condition, according to an Associated Press-GfK Poll conducted April 7-12.
Nationwide, average hourly earnings edged up to $22.47 in April, from $22.46. Lackluster wage gains are a big reason consumers are still hesitant to spend lavishly, making for a more subdued economic recovery.
For employers to boost hiring significantly, the economy would need to grow at an annual rate of 6 percent to 8 percent a quarter, rather than the 3.2 percent pace logged in the first three months of this year, economists say. Such growth would mean shoppers were spending much more freely. That would give companies confidence that sales gains would last.
That scenario isn't likely.
High unemployment and sluggish wage gains are likely to prevent consumers from going on spending sprees any time soon. Small businesses, which usually help drive job creation during recoveries, are having trouble getting loans. That tight credit is crimping their ability to expand operations and hire.
Europe's debt crisis will probably dampen demand for U.S. exports. And the debt crisis may continue to weigh on markets. Thursday's stock market plunge -- the Dow Jones industrial average dropped nearly 1,000 points before recovering two-thirds of its losses -- introduced fresh uncertainties.
Many economists think it will take until at least the middle of the decade to lower the unemployment rate to a more normal 5.5 percent to 6 percent.

MIley Cyrus - Party In The U.S.A.

2010-05-07T06:45:00.000-07:00

Julia Louis-Dreyfus Starred on Hollywood Walk of Fame

2010-05-07T06:44:00.000-07:00

Julia Louis-Dreyfus is getting her due – and a do-over. The Emmy-winning "New Adventures of Old Christine" actress got a star Tuesday on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. But it read "Luis" instead of "Louis," and there was no hyphen between Louis and Dreyfus.

Louis-Dreyfus, the first "Seinfeld" cast member to make the Walk, was philosophical about the flub, The Spokesman Review informs.

"The misspelling was so perfectly apt, a great metaphor for show business," Louis-Dreyfus said after the Tuesday-morning ceremony. "Right when you think you've made it, you get knocked down," she continues. "It's an ideal metaphor for how this business works."

Iron Man 2' Gets Widest Release In Hollywood History

2010-05-07T06:42:00.000-07:00

Say what you will about his dubious personal ethics and his abundant supply of arrogance, but it's impossible to deny that Tony Stark knows how to attract an audience — just check his international records for proof. Now, as "Iron Man 2" prepares to fly into theaters all across the United States this weekend, the superhero is poised to draw a crowd the likes of which Hollywood has never seen before.
With a few short hours to go before its U.S. release, the Marvel Studios superhero sequel is already carving out a spot in the domestic box office's history books — according to Deadline Hollywood, "Iron Man 2" will have the widest initial release in Hollywood history, with a walloping 4,380 venues to its name, courtesy of distributor Paramount Pictures. The previous record holder was Warner Bros.' "The Dark Knight," which boasted 4,366 locations in 2008.
Although Iron Man has already defeated Batman's record for most opening locations, he'll have a higher bar to clear when it comes to topping the Caped Crusader's initial box-office intake. In its first weekend in theaters, "The Dark Knight" secured an unprecedented $158.4 million record. Analysts predict that "Iron Man 2" could land close to that number — somewhere between $150 and $160 million by Sunday's
conclusion — presenting Tony Stark with the opportunity to pluck another trophy off of the considerably stacked shelf located in the Bat Cave.
Already, "Iron Man 2" has performed fantastically overseas. It currently sits atop a money pile worth $121.1 million after its release in 53 foreign territories, including the United Kingdom, South Korea, France, Australia and Russia. By Monday morning, American moviegoers will probably have donated few hundred million more to the Stark Industries bank account.
Check out everything we've got on "Iron Man 2."

Jon Favreau's a comic-book hero with 'Iron Man' franchise

2010-05-06T18:44:00.000-07:00

Every morning when he walks into his office, Jon Favreau gets a touch melancholy.

He's greeted by walls that, save for a poster from the Western Shane and from John Wayne's The Searchers, are stark, white and bare. So each morning, Favreau hangs his favorite artwork from his comic-book adaptation, Iron Man 2, which kicks off the summer movie season today. He puts up stills, masks, teaser posters, elaborate concept sketches.

TRAILER: Get a sneak peek at 'Iron Man 2'

'IRON MAN 2' PRIMER: Meet the characters

REVIEW: The wizardry wows, but a dense plot pulls things down

And every night, he takes them all down.

"It makes me a little sad, to tell you the truth," Favreau says this chilly April morning, dropping his coat in favor of coffee. "As a director, you want to immerse yourself in the world you're creating, to walk around and be inspired by the artwork. The pictures, the models, you know, the toys. You can't do that now with the Internet, not with this kind of movie. One image will wind up all over the place. It's a new world we live in."

And it's one in which Favreau does not cleanly fit. Though he's among a handful of directors accepted by Internet dwellers and comic-book devotees as worthy of directing the hottest genre in the industry, Favreau is an old-school guy.

He grew up on West Side Story and Martin Scorsese films. Where some directors save and showcase set props, Favreau lets his kids play with (and occasionally break) his. He resents that studios routinely put release dates and posters ahead of story.

So what's he doing with the most anticipated movie of summer? Sometimes, even Favreau is dumbstruck.

"I had done big movies before," says the director of 2003's Elf. "But nothing prepared me for Iron Man. Suddenly people were writing me from the other side of the planet. Bloggers were going crazy. There was this amped-up energy that felt like things had changed."

Including expectations. The downside of making a superhero flick that rakes in $318 million, as Iron Man did in 2008, is coming up with a following act.

Reviewers have been kind to the new film, though they haven't gushed over IM2 as they did the original. Roughly three-fourths of the nation's critics recommended the movie, according to RottenTomatoes.com. (The original drew raves from 93% of critics, more than many Oscar contenders.)

But the difference of opinion, both in the traditional press and the Web, is stark. "Everything fun and terrific about Iron Man ... has vanished in the sequel," The Hollywood Reporter says. Counters Roger Ebert: "Iron Man 2 is a polished, high-ozone sequel."

And while fans may debate the merits of the movie, few doubt IM2 will be a hit. Fans and industry observers expect the movie to kick-start the summer movie season, Hollywood's most important, accounting for more than 40% of ticket sales.

"There's a lot on (Favreau's) shoulders," says Julian Chambliss, an associate professor at Rollins College in Winter Park, Fla., who teaches history as reflected through comic books, particularly Iron Man, a Cold War hero who first appeared in the Tales of Suspense comic in March 1963.

Tony Stark — the man behind the mask — was never an A-lister like Spider-Man or the Hulk. That changed two years ago, Chambliss says.

With the original Iron Man, Favreau "joined the ranks of directors like Chris Nolan and Sam Raimi— people who have the trust of the comic-book audience because (the directors) know the source material," Chambliss says. "Of course, now the pressure is on him because he raised the bar."

Not a role Favreau envies.

"I prefer low bars," he cracks. "But you can't take all of this too seriously. If I have joined that class of (comic-book) directors, I'm the class clown."

Worked his way up

Maybe. But like all good comic-book directors, Favreau has an inner geek. A native New Yorker, Favreau attended the Bronx High School of Science and kept himself busy at home with toy monsters and his father's 8mm camera, which he used to create stop-motion carnage.

Still, filmmaking wasn't a priority for Favreau even as a young adult, when he worked for a year as an account assistant for Bear Stearns before abruptly quitting.

"I just wasn't having fun," he says. "I was feeling kind of lost." So he bought a used Harley-Davidson and headed West, determined to find a passion. A stop in Chicago uncovered it.

"There's Mike Myers and Chris Farley, doing their things on the comedy circuit," Favreau says of the comedians, veterans of Chicago's Second City Theater troupe. "I had never even seen improv. But the energy, the interaction. I'll admit it — I was an only child raised with a lot of attention. And the stage made me feel special and appreciated. I knew that's what I wanted to do."

He cut his teeth writing and acting in local commercials. A small role in the 1993 surprise hit Rudy gave him some recognition and a little money — enough to write, co-produce and star in 1996's Swingers, about struggling actors trying to work the lounge scene. The $200,000 film was a hit with critics and took in$5 million — the kind of profit that earns a filmmaker bigger budgets. He went on to direct Made (2001), Zathura(2005) and his biggest hit before Iron Man, Elf, which did $173 million.

Favreau says he's now a "tent-pole director." He enjoys the fervor of comic-book fanatics and considers bloggers the new tastemakers of cinema. Sometimes he hops onto fan sites like DarkHorizons.com or AintItCoolNews.com to engage in a little debate or check the rumors constantly surrounding his movies.

It's a confidence he didn't have when he came to Comic-Con in San Diego in 2007 to introduce Iron Man in what has become a now-legendary splash at the comic-book convention.

With little more than six minutes of footage and the Black Sabbath song Iron Man rattling the auditorium, Favreau won the crowd by doing one thing: becoming one of them. He prowled the stage, promising a comic-book movie that would be true to its roots but still have the pyrotechnics the YouTube generation demands in its flicks. By the time Favreau walked offstage, bloggers already had the word out: Iron Man is for real.

The film, in addition to doing a half-billion worldwide, made Robert Downey Jr. a summer action hero and opened the door for future comic-book projects, including Thor, Captain America and an Avengers movie that will bring the superheroes together.

When it was announced that Iron Man would move to the big screen, the reaction was " 'Oh, now Marvel is bringing out the B team,' " says Marvel chief Kevin Feige. "I can't tell you how good it felt when Jon got up there. All I could think was, 'How's that for a B-team?' "

He gets actors

Favreau has since joined the A-team. He got a reported $200 million budget and an all-star cast in Downey, Gwyneth Paltrow, Mickey Rourke, Don Cheadle and Scarlett Johansson— most of whom sought Favreau out.

"I've been a huge fan of Jon's forever and loved the first Iron Man," Johansson says of her first meeting with Favreau and Feige. "I pretty much just geeked out for two hours and tried to think of a way I could do Jon's catering." Instead, she'll play Black Widow, one of three new characters in IM2. Favreau also nabbed Rourke as the villain Whiplash and Rockwell as the scurrilous arms dealer Justin Hammer.

What he doesn't have yet is a sense of whether fans will like the movie. And that drives him a bit nuts. During the opening weekend of the first film, he and Downey couldn't wait for bloggers and box office reports, so they trekked to a half-dozen Los Angeles theaters, offering introductions to the film.

"I'm not sure I ever saw that much energy for a movie, except maybe Comic-Con," Favreau recalls. "I knew I was going to want to continue Tony Stark's story after that."

But big-budget sequels can be tricky, especially when your source material is a half century old and beloved by the Twitter generation.

"There were some times when you wanted to improvise, break out of your character a little, but couldn't because that's not what happened in the comic," Rourke says. "But you have to hand it to Jon. He let us experiment as much as he could."

Which included giving Rourke a Russian accent and pet cockatoo, both the actor's idea. "I don't think Jon saw that coming," Rourke jokes.

"I think that coming from acting, Jon gets what actors are trying to do," Rockwell says. "There isn't much he hasn't done in this business, and you want that in a director."

Ironically, the film, which is as popcorn-flavored as any you'll see this summer, may be Favreau's most personal film to date. He shot several exteriors from the roof of the Brooklyn tenement he lived in until he was 12.

Favreau recalls looking out the living room window and seeing remnants of the 1964 World's Fair. And the kid thought: What would that look like now?

Today, the kid still wonders, which is why he created his own World's Fair, referred to in the film as the "Stark Expo." While the modern gala features plenty of laser lights and buxom hostesses, Favreau threw in childhood memories, including a nod to the World's Fair's Tent of Tomorrow, Observation Deck and prominent globe.

"I still have to have fun making the movie, or what's the point?" Favreau says. "Some directors are looking to make something iconic, or that's going to win awards. Really, I don't care about that. I'm not looking to outdo The Dark Knight. I like being in the middle of the pack, doing my thing."

If he's not careful, he may break from that pack, Downey says. "This is my first sequel, and it's largely because of Jon," he says. "Well, that and the money. Seriously, he's had real-life experiences, his ups and downs. So have I. He's grounded, which makes him pretty damn easy to work for. That's why so many actors want to."

Favreau demurs. "I know it's clichéd and old-fashioned, but the secret is just finding work you love. It doesn't feel like work. I haven't worked since I left Wall Street."

By midmorning, Favreau finishes his coffee and begins another 12-hour day. He still has to add final touches to the film and talk ad campaigning.

Plus, he has art to hang.

Olivia Newton John gets 'physical' as she makes hilarious 'Glee' cameo

2010-05-06T18:43:00.000-07:00

The all-singing and dancing hit series Glee is arguably the hottest thing on television right now. Skip related content

Related photos / videos

Olivia Newton John gets 'physical' as she makes hilarious 'Glee' cameo Enlarge photo

With celebrity fans including Madonna and Britney Spears, it seems that most of the stars are clamouring for a spot on the show.

That said, there are not many famous faces who would throw themselves into a cameo quite like Olivia Newton John.
The Grease star slipped into a tracksuit and donned a sweat band to join Glee's hilarious villain Sue Sylvester in a recreation of Olivia's hit song, Physical.
Looking fabulous in the video, the 61-year-old blonde plays a more obnoxious version of herself in the show.
Her debut episode – titled Bad Reputation – sees Sue, played by Jane Lynch, become the laughing stock of the school when members of the Glee club find an embarrassing personal video of her dancing to Physical on the internet.
But she gets the last laugh when Olivia finds out about the clip and asks Sue to help her remake the song.
One clip sees the actress phoning the gym teacher from the back of her limo saying: "It's Olivia Newton-John…star of Grease, the most successful musical movie of all time."
In a state of disbelief, Sue responds: "Nice try…and that is a ridiculous accent."

Australia-raised Olivia certainly enjoyed working on the show, recently saying: " Just the experience of being dressed up in exercise gear and dancing and singing with Jane was funny."
"I've never laughed do hard, my jaw was sore by the time I left."

Hottest Cocktail on Earth' at Mercadito today, if you dare

2010-05-06T18:41:00.000-07:00

One way to keep from overdoing it at today's Cinco de Mayo revels is to order the "Vato Loco" cocktail at Mercadito (108 W. Kinzie St., 312-329-9555).
Odds are good you'll be one and done. Maybe one and really done.
Developed in concert with the Tippling Bros., the $12 Vato Loco is billed as the "Hottest Cocktail on Earth," so insanely hot that Mercadito requires customers to sign a liability waver.
The drink is made with tequila, smoky chile pepper syrup and puree of pineapple and something called the “seven deadly chile peppers.” The glass is rimmed with ground chiles and the whole is garnished with a hollowed out jalapeno filled with sweetened milk and high proof rum and flamed. The waiver, a tongue-in-cheek document, includes wording such as, "I am aware that participating in this activity can result in serious tearing of the eyes, a severe burning sensation on the tongue ... and possible fire shooting out of the mouth."
It's available at lunch and dinner, so one has the option of ruining one's evening or the entire day.
Consider it a call to arms, or possibly tonsils, for macho dipwads everywhere.

Toshiba Satellite A505 (S6004)

2010-05-02T16:13:00.000-07:00

This 16-inch notebook sports a premium design and sound system, but the performance doesn’t quite match the price tag.

Design

The A505’s design is a departure from the blander (and cheaper) Satellite L505, but it lacks the ostentatiousness of a Qosmio system. Its styling is similar to that of the larger P505; the black lid is accented by Toshiba’s Fusion Finish (a wave of thin lines) as well as the company’s name splashed in chrome in the center. The deck, too, has the same finish, and while both are glossy, they do a fairly good job of hiding your fingerprints. The deck and lid are bordered with a silvery plastic trim, and the speakers above the keyboard are accented by chrome borders.

Above the keyboard are several touch-sensitive buttons: Eco Utility, Windows Media Player, Play/Pause, Back, Forward, Mute, and Volume. All are backlit, and responded quickly to our finger when we pressed them. On the less expensive L505, these are physical buttons, and the volume control is an old school wheel on the front edge.

Weighing 6.4 pounds and measuring 15.1 x 10.2 x 1.6 inches, the A505 isn’t a notebook you’ll be carrying around much. While its size and weight classify it as a mainstream system, it probably won’t leave your desk often.

Heat

Like other notebooks in this line, the A505 stayed fairly cool during our testing. After playing a Hulu video at full screen for 15 minutes, the touchpad measured 93 degrees Fahrenheit, the space between the G and H keys was 91 degrees, and the middle of the underside registered 100 degrees. We consider anything over 100 degrees to be too hot.

Keyboard and Touchpad

The A505’s black, glossy keys provided very good feedback, and Toshiba was able to fit in a number pad without compromising the size of the layout.

Like the L505, the A505’s touchpad is nicely sized, and its slightly gritty surface—a contrast to the glossy palm rests—enabled our fingers to move about with little friction. However, it blends almost too well into the deck; we often had to look down to locate it. The silver mouse buttons are positively huge; unlike the L505, they’re not oval-shaped, and have a flat bottom edge that blends into the silvery accent around the edge.

Display and Audio

While the glossy finish on the 15.6-inch display returned a fair number of reflections, we were impressed with the contrast and colors on the 1366 x 768-pixel screen. When watching aSaturday Night Live sketch on Hulu, there was little noise in darker areas. However, Tina Fey’s red sweater really popped when she stood in front of a green chalkboard, and we could pick out individual strands of Justin Beiber’s hair. (Not that we were necessarily looking.)

Audio, too, was well above average. While playing videos and listening to music, the Harman Kardon-powered speakers were able to fill a room easily at full volume without becoming distorted. When playing Van Morrison’s “Brown Eyed Girl,” we could clearly hear the guitar through the right speaker while the bass line thrummed along in the left; neither drowned the other out.

Ports and Webcam

On the right are two USB ports, modem, power, and a tray-loading DVD drive. On the left is a third USB port, VGA, Ethernet, HDMI, eSATA, headphone and mic, and an ExpressCard/54 slot. Underneath the front lip is a 5-in-1 memory card reader.

The A505’s webcam recorded crisp video that displayed colors accurately in bright light, but struggled a bit when it had to rely just on fluorescent lighting; while colors were still decent, video became much grainier. Regardless, there was virtually no motion blur when we waved our hand in front of the camera, and the microphone (to the right of the webcam) picked up our voice clearly during a Skype call.

Iomega iConnect Review

2010-05-02T15:59:00.000-07:00

The Iomega iConnect Wireless Data Station is a sort of DIY-type NAS unit that allows you to share any USB-connected storage across your network. If you are the type of person with a few computers and a handful of USB external drives, the iConnect allows you to share storage to all of your computers over gigabit Ethernet or Wi-Fi. In this review we take an in-depth look at Iomega iConnect to see how well it performs in a home environment.

Iomega iConnect Wireless Data Station Specifications:

Marvell Kirkwood 88F6281 CPU at 1GHz with 256MB DDR RAM
1 x RJ45 10/100/1000Mbps (GbE) Ethernet port. LAN standards: IEEE 802.3, IEEE 802.3u
Ralink RT3090 Wi-Fi (802.11b/g/n)
4 x USB 2.0 ports (to connect external HDD, printers)
AC Voltage 100-240 VAC
Power consumption - 5 Watts
Dimensions: 6.3 x 5.2 x 1.1 inches
Support for torrents, DLNA AV Media Server, Picture Transfer Protocol, Apple Time Machine, and Print Server

Build and Design
The Iomega iConnect looks like an oversized 2.5-inch external hard drive. Standing just over an inch in height, the iConnect can hide near your homes router or easily blend in next to your computer. The design is basic with a matte-black plastic finish with USB 2.0 ports located on the front and back. Each USB port has a status indicator that shows when a device is plugged in and when it is active. The only plainly visible branding is the name "iConnect" embossed on the cover. The power brick is a small 24w switching power supply that is horizontally oriented so it can plug into an outlet without blocking another plug above or below it.

Build quality is pretty good although for its intended use it doesn't need to be built to withstand being stood on or dropped repeatedly. The plastic cover is pretty durable although it does have some mild flex. Cooling is entirely passive since under normal use and the power consumption is around 5 watts. This allows the case to be designed without vents or the need for special mounting orientations to dissipate heat.

Setup
The Iomega iConnect Wireless Data Station is very easy to setup. While the name suggests it is targeted directly at wireless users, it works best when connected directly to a gigabit network. For the purposes of this review, we focus primarily on its use inside a home with a wired network.

The iConnect is incredibly easy to get up and running out of the box. Even without any sort of instruction manual or setup guide, you can get it working on your home network in minutes. As soon as you connect it to your network and power up, it shows up under the network devices on your computer. From there, click the device, which automatically loads up its web page interface. The same can be accomplished if you know what its IP address is by typing it into your web browser.

The first step is setting up an administrator password and creating user accounts. To make file sharing simple I used the same name and password on the iConnect as I do with my computer. Once that is done, any connected USB storage device or printer is at your fingertips ready to use. You can either connect to these locations through the network connections area on your computer or permanently map one of the shared located to a network drive on your computer. I opted for the latter option since it easier for benchmarking purposes and so I wouldn't need to navigate through the network area each time I wanted to access files.

The Iomega iConnect also supports Apple Time Machine, DLNA AV Media Server, and can even manage uploading and downloading torrents. Out of the box once the iConnect had a USB drive attached all supported media files located on it were visible and playable through my Xbox 360 and Playstation 3. The torrent manager was very basic and could use some minor tweaking to make it more useful. To test its torrent support out out I chose the latest DVD-image of Knoppix from their public server. Once you have the torrent file downloaded you browse to the iConnect's torrent manager in through the web interface, and add the torrent file. The initial process is very slow compared to uTorrent, since it fully allocates the downloaded file on the attached storage before it starts to download. For our 3.6GB DVD-image, it took 5 to 10 minutes for the allocation process to complete before it started to actually download the file. When it finally started going, the torrent manager saturated my cable Internet connection, peaking between 1.0 -1.1MB/s.

Downloading torrents had no discernable impact on the NAS storage beyond what bandwidth the torrent manager was using to download the file.

Performance and Benchmarks
We were actually very surprised when we ran our first file transfer benchmark on the Iomega iConnect to test its gigabit connection speed. Generally speaking, most low-end NAS units can't keep up with true gigabit speeds which hover around 60-70MB/s. We have seen many network connected storage devices max out below 10MB/s in tests, which is around the speed of a standard 10/100 LAN. The iConnect easily made it into the 30MB/s range with its "slow" USB 2.0 storage interface holding it back. As a DIY consumer NAS, 30MB/s is nearly perfect since it is just as fast as what the average person would see with a USB external drive connected to their computer.

Most Popular Laptops for April 2010

2010-05-02T15:55:00.000-07:00

Each month we compile data for the number of times a particular notebook is viewed on this site's product pages to get an idea for what mainstream consumers are looking at and thinking about buying. While these laptops aren't necessarily the most popular in terms of sales, they are the most popular based on the number of times our visitors clicked on them.
In that sense, think of this list as the "most clickable laptops of the month" ... the notebooks that most of the people visiting this site are interested in learning about. Keep in mind that clicks directly on the "Most Viewed Laptops" list do not count toward the total in order to keep the list as fair as possible each month. The only clicks that count toward the monthly totals come from web searches like Google or from visitors who have clicked on a laptop after visiting our "Notebook Database" or inside our forums.
The Lenovo G550 still holds the most popular spot this month as one of our preferred value notebooks by a wide margin. The Dell Studio XPs 16 moved up to #2 and the ASUS G73JH gaming notebook moving up to #4. Two newcomers this month are the Lenovo ThinkPad Edge 14 and Lenovo ThinkPad X100e taking the #9 and #10 spots respectively.

1. Lenovo G550 (Still #1) - The Lenovo G550 is an update to the Value Line G530 with the primary difference being the shift from a 16:10 to a 16:9 screen. Configurations include either Intel Pentium or Core 2 Duo processor and up to 4GB DDR3 installed memory. (52,947 unique views)
View NotebookReview.com Review for Lenovo G550
2. Dell Studio XPS 16 (Previously #4) - The Studio XPS 16 features premium design with genuine leather accents, anodized aluminum, edge-to-edge display and backlit keyboard, 16" ultrawide 16:9 aspect ratio with 1080p HD support & optional RGB-LED for brighter and more vivid colors, the latest Centrino 2 platform for blazing fast performance, amazing battery life and go anywhere wireless connectivity and premium ATI 512MB graphics delivers incredibly lifelike videos, movies and gaming. (28,100 unique views)
View NotebookReview.com Review for the Dell Studio XPS 16
3. Lenovo ThinkPad X201 (Previously #2) - The Lenovo ThinkPad X201 is a 12.1-inch screen ultraportable laptop that offers the latest Intel Core i3, i5 and i7 processors. The X201 has an amazing 6+ hour battery life, integrated touchpad and pointing stick, full sized keyboard and the typical excellent ThinkPad build quality users have come to expect. (23,563 unique views)
View NotebookReview.com Review for the Lenovo ThinkPad X201

4. ASUS G73JH (Previously #6) - The ASUS G73JH is a 17.3-inch monster that has a Core i7 processor, 8GB of RAM, and the most powerful mobile video card available, the ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5870. (21,130 unique views)
View NotebookReview.com Review for the ASUS G73JH
5. Apple 13" MacBook Pro (Previously #7) - This 13 inch notebook is the smallest of the Apple MacBook Pro family. It features an Intel Core 2 Duo processor, NVIDIA GeForce graphics with 256MB of DDR3 SDRAM shared with main memory, up to 8GB DDR3 sysetm memory, and 160 or 250GB SATA hard drive. This system is also equipped with a FireWire 800 port, two USB 2.0 ports, and SD card slot. (18,937 unique views)
View NotebookReview.com Review for the Apple MacBook Pro
6. Alienware m11x (Previously #3) - The Alienware m11x notebook is an 11.6" portable gaming notebook with an Intel Core 2 Duo processor and Nvidia dedicated graphics. The Alienware m11x is the most portable gaming laptop on the planet, or universe for that matter! (17,419 unique views)
View NotebookReview.com Review for the Alienware m11x
7. Lenovo ThinkPad T410 (Previously #8) - The ThinkPad T410 is a 14-inch screen portable laptop targeted at business users. The new Lenovo ThinkPad T410 model features a sleek, industrial design, clean lines, a symmetrical display and wider hinges. Plus, a next-generation keyboard and touchpad that not only has a more modern look, but is also easier to use. The ThinkPad T410 comes equipped with an Intel Core i5 or Core i7 processor and optional NVIDIA switchable NVS3100M 512MB graphics. (16,511 unique views)
View NotebookReview.com Review for the Lenovo ThinkPad T410
8. HP ProBook 4510s (Previously #9) - The HP ProBook 4510s offers a 15.6-inch diagonal 16:9 HD widescreen LED backlight display and optional HP Mobile Broadband connectivity with built-in Gobi technology or standard Wi-Fi certified and optional integrated Bluetooth wireless technology. Choose from integrated or dedicated graphics and 6 or 8-cell lithium ion battery. (15,471 unique views)
View NotebookReview.com Review for the HP ProBook 4510s
9. Lenovo ThinkPad Edge 14 (New to the Top 10) -The ThinkPad Edge with Intel processors features a progressive design with color options, simplified keyboard layout and worry-free manageability with great Intel CPO performance and battery life. (15,046 unique views)
View the NotebookReview.com Review for the Lenovo ThinkPad Edge 14
10. Lenovo ThinkPad X100e (New to the Top 10) -The Lenovo ThinkPad X100e is an 11.6-inch screen ultraportable laptop. It is available in black and red color lids. The ThinkPad X100 is powered by AMD 1.6GHz Athlon Neo Single-Core MV-40 processor and AMD M780G with ATI Radeon HD 3200 graphics. The X100e comes with Windows 7 installed, has up to 5 hours of battery life and weighs only 3lbs. (15,042 unique views)
View the NotebookReview.com Review for the Lenovo ThinkPad X100e

Laptop technologies explained

2010-05-02T15:51:00.000-07:00

Centrino Laptops
Centrino is an Intel notebook technology that consists of various components to enhance performance and prolong battery life:

These components include the Intel® Pentium® M processor, the Intel® 855 chipset family and the Intel® PRO/Wireless Network Connection Family.

You can view more information on Centrino Technology here
Duo / Dual core processors
Duo /Dual core processors have two processing cores, which allows for better resource usage when multiple applications are running simultaneously. New software already use the full capabilities of dual core processors.
AMD Processor
AMD processors have been at the forefront of performance for several years now, offering higher performance and lower power usage. AMD tend to run cooler than their Intel counterparts. TheAcer Ferrari laptop uses the AMD processor.
Intel Processor
The Intel processor is South Africa's best known processor in main stream computers and laptops. With the largest market share, the Intel processor dominates the market and is found on the majority of laptops.
The Intel Pentium M is the procesor used in laptops and offer enhanced battery power saving capabilities.
Laptop wireless technology
Wireless connectivity allows for connection at hot-spots such as at airports, certain coffee shops and in office blocks.
802.11b Wireless technology allows for connection speeds of up to 11Mbps while 802.11g increases the speed to 54Mbps.
Wireless technologies offered on laptops is not the same as the mobile 3G / GPRS / EDGE.
Bluetooth
Bluetooth is a wireless technology that allows a user to connect to wireless keyboards, mice, printers, pocket computers and cell phones.

What Are Direct Laptops And Why Should I Buy One?

2010-05-02T15:50:00.000-07:00

Direct laptops are simply laptops that are shipped directly from the manufacturer to your door step.This allows you to purchase a laptop without having to pay the additional costs that companies who sell through a retailer are forced to have.
The companies that avoid these extra costs carry the savings onto you the customer. So you can have the confidence that you are getting the most out of your investment.
Another great advantage to buying a direct laptop is that you can customize it to perfectly match your needs and wants. Since a laptop doesn't get made until you tell them to, you decide what gets placed into your laptop. So it can be built exactly the way that you want it to be.
There are many other reasons to buy direct. You can get the newest technology much faster. Once they get the newest parts they can place them into the laptop that you ordered and ship it out to you immediately.
Now your laptop will last much longer because you have this latest equipment.
If you don't know much about laptop parts or what to look for then there is nothing to worry about. Here you will find all of the information that you need to be a well-informed laptop buyer. This site will help you get a laptop much cheaper then you ever thought possible.

ASUS UL30A A2 - Core 2 Duo SU7300 1.3 GHz - 13.3" TFT

2010-05-02T15:46:00.000-07:00

SPECIFICATIONS

The ASUS UL30A is a harmonious blend of form and function. Powered by an Intel Core 2 Duo ultra-low voltage processor, it boasts an impressive 12-hours battery life for all-day computing, user-centric features such as multi-gesture touchpad and impressive multimedia entertainment with Altec Lansing and SRS Premium Sound. These features can be found in an ultra-light notebook that is generously cloaked in brushed aluminum and measuring less than 1-inch in profile

General
System Type	Notebook
Built-in Devices	Stereo speakers, wireless LAN antenna
Width	12.7 in
Depth	9.2 in
Height	1 in
Weight	3.3 lbs

Processor
Processor	Intel Core 2 Duo SU7300 / 1.3 GHz
Multi-Core Technology	Dual-Core
64-bit Computing	Yes
Power Efficiency	Consumer Ultra Low Voltage (CULV)
Chipset Type	Mobile Intel GS45 Express

Cache Memory
Type	L2 cache

RAM
Installed Size	4 GB / 4 GB (max)
Technology	DDR3 SDRAM - 1066 MHz

Storage Controller
Type	Serial ATA
Serial ATA Interface	Serial ATA-150

Storage
Hard Drive	500 GB - Serial ATA-150 - 5400 rpm

Card Reader
Type	5 in 1 card reader
Supported Flash Memory Cards	SD Memory Card, Memory Stick, Memory Stick PRO, MultiMediaCard, xD-Picture Card

Display
Display Type	13.3" TFT
Max Resolution	1366 x 768 ( WXGA )
Widescreen Display	Yes
Features	Zero Bright Dot, Color Shine, LED-backlit, glare

Video
Graphics Processor / Vendor	Intel GMA 4500MHD Dynamic Video Memory Technology 5.0

Audio
Audio Output	Sound card
Compliant Standards	SRS Premium Sound
Features	Altec Lansing speakers

Notebook Camera
Camera Type	Integrated
Sensor Resolution	0.3 Megapixel

Input Device(s)
Type	Keyboard, touchpad
Features	Multi-touch technology

Networking
Networking	Network adapter
Wireless LAN Supported	Yes
Wireless NIC	Intel WiFi Link 5100
Data Link Protocol	Ethernet, Fast Ethernet, IEEE 802.11b, IEEE 802.11g, IEEE 802.11n (draft)
Compliant Standards	IEEE 802.11b, IEEE 802.11g, IEEE 802.11n (draft)

Expansion / Connectivity
Expansion Slots Total (Free)	2 ( 0 ) x memory - SO DIMM 200-pin
Interfaces	1 x microphone - input - mini-phone 3.5 mm \| 1 x headphones - output - mini-phone stereo 3.5 mm \| 3 x Hi-Speed USB - 4 pin USB Type A \| 1 x network - Ethernet 10Base-T/100Base-TX - RJ-45 \| 1 x display / video - HDMI - 19 pin HDMI Type A

Power
Power Device	External
Voltage Required	AC 120/230 V ( 50/60 Hz )

Battery
Technology	8-cell
Installed Qty	1
Capacity	5600 mAh
Run Time (Up To)	10 hour(s)

Operating System / Software
OS Provided	Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium
Microsoft Office Ready	Includes a preinstalled image of select 2007 Microsoft Office suites. Purchase a Medialess License Kit (MLK) to activate the software.
Software	Drivers & Utilities, Altiris Recovery, ASUS Splendid, ASUS Live Update, ASUS Screen Saver, ASUS Fancy Start, ASUS Express Gate 1, ASUS Wireless Console, ASUS Net4Switch, ASUS MultiFrame, ASUS WinFlash, ASUS NB Probe +, ASUS Data Security Manager, ASUS SmartLogon, Virtual Camera, ASUSDVD 6-in-1

Environmental Standards
ENERGY STAR Qualified	Yes

Manufacturer Warranty
Service & Support	2 years warranty
Service & Support Details	Limited warranty - 2 years \| Accidental damage coverage - 1 year \| Limited warranty - battery - 1 year

CTL 2go Convertible Classmate PC NL2 Reviewed: An Education-Friendly Tablet Netbook

2010-05-01T15:22:00.000-07:00

The next generation of the Intel Classmate PC — sold in the US as the 2go Convertible Classmate PC NL2 — is a rough and tumble netvertible that’s all about the kid-friendliness. Inside you’ve got software that focuses on learning (and a bit of fun), plus tools for parents and teachers to monitor what younger kids are up to and keep them on track when they’re supposed to be working. Outside, the rubberized exterior, spill-resistant keyboard and touchpad, and scratch-resistant LCD mean the NL2 will survive the 3rd grade. The convertible tablet action allows kids to interact with the PC in a way that feels natural for any activity, including writing and taking notes. Unfortunately, this netvertible is a bit on the sluggish side, and the features that make it great for kids also make it more expensive.

ASUS Posts Pics of Stylish New Eee PC 1218. Netbook Protects You from Spying on Yourself.

2010-05-01T15:20:00.000-07:00

Though ASUS has yet to officially announce the Eee PC 1218 or fill in details like specs, price, and availability, pictures of the fancy-looking netbook have appeared on asusdesign.com, which says the Eee PC 1218 has won a Red Dot Design Award for 2010. The only description we have for the netbook is what appears in the image above:

The ultra-slim EeePC 1218 series delivers an optimal balance of usability and portability. A unique internal layout allows for a full array of ports to be positioned on the rear of the device. This means that the front and sides of the device are completely smooth making it easy to carry and visually uncluttered. The visual simplicity continues inside with the one piece aluminum palm rest and keyboard frame, a sliding cover on the webcam assures privacy.

We can tell a few things from this text and the accompanying pictures. This picture of the ports on the back clearly shows an Ethernet jack, VGA-out, 3 USB ports, and what looks like HDMI-out. Engadget’s Sean Hollister speculates that this HDMI-out port means that the system will have Nvidia Ion graphics, maybe even Ion 2.

Asus Lamborghini VX5 Comes With A 1TB SSD

2010-05-01T15:18:00.000-07:00

During CES the first laptop with a 1TB SSD has been launched by Asus and it’s the Lamborghini VX5. They just announced that the VX5, which is a system with a 16 inch screen, an Intel Core 2 Quad processor, an NVIDIA GeForce GT 130M GPU video card and 4GB of RAM, will also have an option for a 1TB SSD. This SSD is four times larger than the one offered with the 17 inch MacBook Pro.

Dell Latitude E6400 XFR

2010-05-01T15:17:00.000-07:00

The Del Latitude E6400 XFR laptop is designed in a way that meets the military standards and more. It has an Intel Core 2 Duo processor, 5 hours of autonomy for the battery, up to 8GB of RAM and the option of a 64GB SSD. The screen has a 14.1 inch display with a special coating that allows you to view it even if there is direct sunlight on it.
This laptop can withstand a 70 miles per hour torrential rain and can function in temperatures between –20 and 140 Farenheit. It’s also protected against liquids and dust and can be dropped from a height of 3 feet if the lid is open and 4 feet if it’s closed.
The price of the E6400 XFR starts from $4,299. You can find more details about it here.

Asus reveals next-gen Eee PCs-14 Hrs battery life

2010-03-04T02:19:00.001-08:00

At the CeBIT tradeshow in Germany, Asus has unveiled the next lot of Eee PC netbooks that it'll be thrusting upon the world. There's the Eee PC 1018P, the Eee PC Seashell 1015 range and the Eee PC 1016P.

The Eee PC 1018P has a metal shell, with a mere 18mm of thickness. It has a 10.1-inch display, comes in four different colours and will be equipped with next-generation USB 3.0, for blinding 4.8Gbps transfer speeds. It should manage up to 14 hours of battery life, and there's 500GB of cloud storage bundled.

Alongside, there's also the Eee PC 1015P - which has a removable battery, wider touchpad and wide range of colour options, and the EE PC 1016P - which also has the aluminium shell, but specs slightly lower. We're trying to get more details of what those specs are, exactly. When we hear back from the company, we'll let you know.

Asus unveils DR-900 E-Reader

2010-03-04T02:16:00.000-08:00

At the CeBIT 2010 technology tradeshow, Asus has unveiled the DR-900 - an e-Reader product that joins similar models from the company's technological rivals.

We know some information - it'll have a SiPix 9-inch e-paper touchscreen display, a profile about the thickness of a pencil, and connectivity options that include Wi-Fi and optional 3G. It'll have a battery life of about 10,000 pages and an auto-rotate function that allows you to choose exactly how you'd like to orient your device.

What we don't know, though, is what file formats it'll support, how much onboard storage it'll have, how much it'll cost, and when and where it'll be available. We've got in touch with Asus to ask all of those questions, and when we get a response we'll be sure to let you know.

Asus exhibits Xonar Xense headset

2010-03-04T01:56:00.000-08:00

At the CeBIT tradeshow in Hannover, Germany, Asus has announced a range of gaming products. Of particular note is the mildly-unpronounceable Xonar Xense headset - which is a combo soundcard and pair of gaming headphones.

It's able to push out a startling 7Vrms of power, thanks to an inbuilt headphone amplifier that'll no doubt do some serious damage to your ears. Of course, an explosion in real life might do the same thing, so you could argue that this just provides greater realism.

There's 118dB sound clarity, and a number of standards are supported - EAX, DirectSound, Dolby and several others. Asus is also talking up its GX 2.5 audio engine, which allows users to customise the sound profile of their cans to a particular game genre - emphasising different frequencies.

It's not clear when it'll be available in Britain, or how much it'll cost, but when we hear back from the company we'll let you know.

Acer reveals Aspire One 752 multimedia netbook

2010-03-04T01:46:00.000-08:00

Acer has launched what appears to be the Jacques Kallis of laptops at CeBIT 2010 - a high end all-rounder. It looks to provide mobility as well as some decent power as well. Unlike Kallis, however, the Acer Aspire One 752 is nicely lightweight at 1.4kg which is where the analogy falls down.

Branded a netbook, this unit rather spans that grey area with an 11.6-inch LED backlit screen with 1366 x 768 HD resolution and a 16:9 aspect ratio. It has an Intel Celeron processor 743 ULV; an integrated Intel GMA 4500MHD graphics unit for HD playback and 3D gaming; up to 4GB of RAM and all the Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, 3G, HDMI, and Gigabit Ethernet connectivity you could need.

On top of that lot, there's an impressive 320GB HDD given the size, a built-in webcam, gesture control mouse pad, 5-hour battery life and Dolby-optimised audio to complete the multimedia but portable profile.

No prices as yet - don't expect it to be a gift - and we should be seeing its 22mm-thick frame on UK shelves in black, white, blue and red come May.

Acer updates laptop ranges with Core CPUs

2010-03-04T00:04:00.000-08:00

i3s, i5s & i7s all over the place...

Acer has unveiled a whole host of laptops at CeBIT 2010 - a technology tradeshow in Hannover, Germany. There's the Acer Aspire 8942, Acer Aspire 5942, Acer TravelMate 6594, Acer TravelMate 7740, Acer TravelMate 5740, and the Acer TravelMate 8x72. Almost all of them are slightly-updated versions of old models with an Intel Core i3, i5 or i7 processor inside.

We'll start at the top. The Aspire 8942 and 5942 are large desktop-replacement machines that come in 18.4- and 15.6-inch screen sizes. The larger offers a full HD 1920 x 1080 resolution, and the smaller comes in 1366 x 768. Both have Intel Core processors, and integrated TV tuners, Blu-ray disc drives and a multi-touch, gesture-recognising trackpad. They come with upto 8GB of memory, and upto 2 x 640GB of hard disk space.

Then there's the slightly more-mobile TravelMate 8x72 timeline series, which comes in 13.3-, 14-, and 15.6-inch screen sizes. They have Intel Core i3, i5 and i7 processors available, as well as energy saving LCD displays that promise more than 8 hours of battery life on one charge. The lightest model weighs just 1.6kg, and the machines come with upto 640GB of HDD or 160GB of SSD.

Moving on down the list, the Acer TravelMate 6594 has the choice of Intel Core i7 and i5 processors, and there's also the option of discrete graphics in the form of the ATI Radeon HD 5670. The screen size is 15.6 inches, with a 16:9 aspect ratio, and there's upto 8GB of DDR3 RAM and a "spacious" hard drive. There's an optical drive that can be swapped out for a second hard disk or extended battery. Without, the machine should manage upto 5 hours of battery life.

Lastly, there's the Acer TravelMate 7740 and 5740. These contain Intel Core i5 or i3 processors, upto 8GB of DDR3 RAM, and the option of either integrated graphics or the ATI Radeon HD5470. The difference between the two models is screen size - 17.3-inch in the 7740 and 15.6-inch in the 5740. There's a 16:9 aspect ratio, and a high-brightness LED backlit panel. 5 hours of battery life is promised.

Unfortunately, we don't have any pricing details for Britain - and with the exception of the 5942 and 8942 which are available now, all other products will be unavailable in the UK until at least mid May. When we hear more about Acer's plans on that front, we'll let you know.

Predator G7750 unleashed by Acer

2010-03-03T22:20:00.000-08:00

Acer has updated its desktop hot rods at CeBIT 2010 with the launch of the Predator G7750 desktop gaming PC.

Typically, this beast comes with all the mod cons and usually in triplicate just to make sure. At the heart is, of course, an Intel Core i7 CPU which you can overclock with software and use to process a total of eight threads at a time in the four cores.

It comes with the option of either an ATI CrossFireX GPU or Nvidia SLI, up to 12GB of RAM, and four slots for 3.5-inch 3Gbps HDDs of up to 2TB each in either RAID 0,1, 5 or 10 formation that can be removed while the machine is still on.

Naturally, you might be afraid that this monster will burn its way through your carpet, so there's a liquid cooling system included which can run for 5.7 years of continuous operation without fear of pump failure or coolant evaporation - both comforting and precise.

The faceplate lifts to reveal 6 x USB slots, 2 x eSATA ports, an optional Blu-ray drive and two LAN ports if you happen to want to be on multiple networks at any one time. This machine is designed to be perfect for 3D gaming with the Acer 3D monitor and Nvidia 3D system and it'll process sound very nicely too with a Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Titanium sound card and THX support. It'll also make a colourful door stop once it's outmoded.

It's out in the UK from May and will cost lots

Asus announces most pretentious router ever OR RT-N56U

2010-03-03T22:15:00.000-08:00

Asus has launched what appears to be a tray in a spaceship designed circa 1974. Not content with a ridiculous silvery-grey metallic sheen, the company has added a quilting effect on the case, and a star filter on the lights that wouldn't look out of place in Dynasty. It practically oozes shoulderpads.

It's a wireless router which has been announced at tech tradeshow CeBIT 2010 by Asus, which calls it the RT-N56U. It offers 30,000 concurrent sessions, dual band support and simultaneous printing and scanning so that you can wirelessly hook up a printer. It's got what Asus describes as a plug-and-surf interface. Pretty high spec, really.

But we're not too bothered about any of that. It's pretty much the glitziest, gaudiest router that we've ever laid eyes on. What's next - satin power strips? snake skin USB cables? Porsche-designed USB hard drives? Oh.. wait...

	1. Lenovo G550 (Still #1) - The Lenovo G550 is an update to the Value Line G530 with the primary difference being the shift from a 16:10 to a 16:9 screen. Configurations include either Intel Pentium or Core 2 Duo processor and up to 4GB DDR3 installed memory. (52,947 unique views) View NotebookReview.com Review for Lenovo G550
	2. Dell Studio XPS 16 (Previously #4) - The Studio XPS 16 features premium design with genuine leather accents, anodized aluminum, edge-to-edge display and backlit keyboard, 16" ultrawide 16:9 aspect ratio with 1080p HD support & optional RGB-LED for brighter and more vivid colors, the latest Centrino 2 platform for blazing fast performance, amazing battery life and go anywhere wireless connectivity and premium ATI 512MB graphics delivers incredibly lifelike videos, movies and gaming. (28,100 unique views) View NotebookReview.com Review for the Dell Studio XPS 16
	3. Lenovo ThinkPad X201 (Previously #2) - The Lenovo ThinkPad X201 is a 12.1-inch screen ultraportable laptop that offers the latest Intel Core i3, i5 and i7 processors. The X201 has an amazing 6+ hour battery life, integrated touchpad and pointing stick, full sized keyboard and the typical excellent ThinkPad build quality users have come to expect. (23,563 unique views) View NotebookReview.com Review for the Lenovo ThinkPad X201
	4. ASUS G73JH (Previously #6) - The ASUS G73JH is a 17.3-inch monster that has a Core i7 processor, 8GB of RAM, and the most powerful mobile video card available, the ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5870. (21,130 unique views) View NotebookReview.com Review for the ASUS G73JH
	5. Apple 13" MacBook Pro (Previously #7) - This 13 inch notebook is the smallest of the Apple MacBook Pro family. It features an Intel Core 2 Duo processor, NVIDIA GeForce graphics with 256MB of DDR3 SDRAM shared with main memory, up to 8GB DDR3 sysetm memory, and 160 or 250GB SATA hard drive. This system is also equipped with a FireWire 800 port, two USB 2.0 ports, and SD card slot. (18,937 unique views) View NotebookReview.com Review for the Apple MacBook Pro
	6. Alienware m11x (Previously #3) - The Alienware m11x notebook is an 11.6" portable gaming notebook with an Intel Core 2 Duo processor and Nvidia dedicated graphics. The Alienware m11x is the most portable gaming laptop on the planet, or universe for that matter! (17,419 unique views) View NotebookReview.com Review for the Alienware m11x
	7. Lenovo ThinkPad T410 (Previously #8) - The ThinkPad T410 is a 14-inch screen portable laptop targeted at business users. The new Lenovo ThinkPad T410 model features a sleek, industrial design, clean lines, a symmetrical display and wider hinges. Plus, a next-generation keyboard and touchpad that not only has a more modern look, but is also easier to use. The ThinkPad T410 comes equipped with an Intel Core i5 or Core i7 processor and optional NVIDIA switchable NVS3100M 512MB graphics. (16,511 unique views) View NotebookReview.com Review for the Lenovo ThinkPad T410
	8. HP ProBook 4510s (Previously #9) - The HP ProBook 4510s offers a 15.6-inch diagonal 16:9 HD widescreen LED backlight display and optional HP Mobile Broadband connectivity with built-in Gobi technology or standard Wi-Fi certified and optional integrated Bluetooth wireless technology. Choose from integrated or dedicated graphics and 6 or 8-cell lithium ion battery. (15,471 unique views) View NotebookReview.com Review for the HP ProBook 4510s
	9. Lenovo ThinkPad Edge 14 (New to the Top 10) -The ThinkPad Edge with Intel processors features a progressive design with color options, simplified keyboard layout and worry-free manageability with great Intel CPO performance and battery life. (15,046 unique views) View the NotebookReview.com Review for the Lenovo ThinkPad Edge 14
	10. Lenovo ThinkPad X100e (New to the Top 10) -The Lenovo ThinkPad X100e is an 11.6-inch screen ultraportable laptop. It is available in black and red color lids. The ThinkPad X100 is powered by AMD 1.6GHz Athlon Neo Single-Core MV-40 processor and AMD M780G with ATI Radeon HD 3200 graphics. The X100e comes with Windows 7 installed, has up to 5 hours of battery life and weighs only 3lbs. (15,042 unique views) View the NotebookReview.com Review for the Lenovo ThinkPad X100e