Liberty Newsprint Dec-10-09 Edition

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09/12/09 - 10/12/09

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Holder huddles with New York team on 9/11 trials
By Jeremy Pelofsky (Front Row Washington)
on Tuesday that a grand jury was hearing evidence against the selfprofessed mastermind of the Submitted at 12/9/2009 12:02:38 PM attacks Khalid Sheikh U.S. Attorney General Eric M o h a m m e d . Holder on Wednesday flew to The five men are not expected to New York to huddle with his arrive in New York until early team that will be in charge of next year at the earliest because prosecuting and imprisoning the first the Obama administration five men accused of plotting the must give Congress 45 days Sept. 11, 2001 attacks. advance notice about how they The closed-door meeting at the will secure the prisoners and federal courthouse in downtown address any security issues. Manhattan included the Holder has come under prosecutors from the Southern b l i s t e r i n g c r i t i c i s m f r o m District of New York and Eastern Republicans for deciding to try District of Virginia as well as the accused 9/11 conspirators in representatives of the FBI, U.S. criminal court instead of a Bureau of Prisons, the Marshals military court, arguing that they Service, and the New York s h o u l d n o t b e b r o u g h t t o Police Department, according to American soil from the U.S. an administration official. military prison at Guantanamo A spokeswoman for Holder Bay, Cuba. declined to provide details about One tangent concern has been the meeting. NBC News reported whether the terrorism suspects Homeland Security. “For a detainee who is brought here for purposes of prosecution, they are paroled — and that’s the technical term used — but they are paroled into the country only for purposes of prosecution,” DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano told the Senate Judiciary Committee. “There are no immigration benefits that accrue to that.” She said that if a detainee was acquitted in a trial, the Obama administration would proceed to deport the individual. For more Reuters political news, click here. - Photo credit: Reuters/Kevin Lamarque (Holder testifies to Congress last month)

Is $200 a Reasonable Cost For Enhancing an iPhone's 3MP Photos? [IPhone]
By Kat Hannaford (Gizmodo)
Submitted at 12/10/2009 9:32:05 AM

from Guantanamo would be afforded any immigration status — and therefore some rights — when they are in the United States, an issue Republican Senator John Cornyn raised on Wednesday during an oversight hearing for the Department of

Facebook in Vietnam: Social-networking blues
By Dong Ngo (Webware.com)
Submitted at 12/9/2009 1:00:00 PM

$200 is a fair wedge of cash for any iPhone accessory, but Factron has something special tucked up its little aluminum casing. Fisheye, super-wide and close-up lenses can be screwed on, enhancing those 3-megapixel photos you like taking so much. Of course, they're sold separately, securing Factron even more of your dosh, but it's a heck of a lot easier than duct-taping an SLR lens to your iPhone. [ Factron via CrunchGear]

CNET's Dong Ngo reports from Hanoi on troubles that local users have been facing in accessing the

social network. But is the government to blame? Originally posted at News -

Digital Media

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Obama picks Palin foe for Alaska pipeline job
By Patricia Zengerle (Front Row Washington)
Submitted at 12/9/2009 2:13:46 PM

President Barack Obama picked Larry Persily, a former-aideturned-critic of former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin, to be federal coordinator for Alaska Natural Gas Transportation Projects. In that position, Persily — who became one of Palin’s most vocal in-state critics — would oversee plans for a massive, long-desired Alaska natural gas pipeline. Obama asked Drue Pearce, the Republican who held the job in the Bush administration, to leave the post last month. Persily is a former Alaska journalist who has worked for both Democratic and Republican politicians. He worked for more than a decade on oil and gas issues for three Alaska governors, including Palin. He resigned from her office before she was picked as John McCain’s running mate on the ticket that lost to Obama and Joe Biden. Since then, he has been quoted repeatedly

FACTRON SIMPLEX: $200, lens-friendly duralumin iPhone case
By Serkan Toto (CrunchGear)
Submitted at 12/10/2009 7:42:25 AM

criticizing Palin. For example, Persily called Palin a flamethrower, telling CNN: “She yelled fire in a crowded theater. She really did, in some of her speeches –’palling around’ with terrorists and some of the other slurs she was hurling in the way of Obama and the Democrats.” “That turned off an equally big chunk of the American public that found it distasteful, destructive, divisive, mean and

ignorant. Whereas others said, ‘Way to go girl. You stick it to them,” he said. On the Huffington Post website, Persily questioned Palin’s assertions in her stump speech and during her debate with Biden. Some conservatives criticized the appointment as payback for Persily’s harsh comments about Palin. Click here for more Reuters political coverage

Picture credits: A section of the Trans-Alaskan Pipeline is seen heading south near Glenallen, Alaska August, 10 2008. REUTERS/Lucas Jackson and Former Alaska governor and 2008 Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin attends a signing for her book “Going Rogue”, in Fairfax, Virginia December 5, 2009. REUTERS/Mike Theiler

Ultra Petroleum is undervalued
By Joseph Lazzaro (BloggingStocks)
Submitted at 12/10/2009 10:40:00 AM

Filed under: Stocks to Buy Independent oil/gas company Ultra Petroleum Corp's ( UPL) stock has meandered since my

June 4, 2009 buy recommendation at a price of $46, but I'm reiterating the call, and investors should view the sideways action as chance to scoop-up shares. Here's why: Ultra's growth prospects are strong, with three-year reserve

replacement rates that are among the best in its class; belowcompetitor operating expenses represent another UPL advantage. Likely firming, then rising, natural gas prices in 2010 adds to the positive story. Continue reading Ultra

Petroleum is undervalued Ultra Petroleum is undervalued originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 10 Dec 2009 10:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink| Email this| Comments

Duralumin, an aluminum alloy used in airship frames and auto body panels, isn’t necessarily the first material springing to one’s mind when it comes to cell phones cases. But Japan-based Factron actually used it for its socalled FACTRON SIMPLEX, an iPhone case that lets you use a number of lenses (sold separately) with your iPhone camera. The case is both designed and made in Japan and has “the same precision screws used in wristwatches”. It weighs 48g (the iPhone itself weighs 133g) and can be used both for the 3G and the 3GS. The main selling point, apart from the nice design, is that the FACTRON SIMPLEX is lensfriendly, meaning it lets you mount several lenses and use them with your iPhone camera. And, what a coincidence, Factron sells those, too. Factron sells the case in their international online store for $199.80. Scroll down the product page to see which lenses are compatible to it.

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Can Obama keep Democrats in line on healthcare to the end?
By Tabassum Zakaria (Front Row Washington)
Submitted at 12/9/2009 2:18:45 PM

Analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations: AOL, CKR, DKS, GEF, MLM, TROW ...
By Eric Buscemi (BloggingStocks)

So President Barack Obama goes to Capitol Hill over the weekend and late Tuesday Senate Democrats reach a healthcare compromise on a public insurance option (Republicans oppose the legislation so every Democrat vote is needed to move it along). Lots of day-after grumbling from both sides of the political spectrum: The Chamber of Commerce still opposes it and liberal activist group MoveOn.org said senators had “bargained away the heart of healthcare reform.” Well, for critics it’s not likely to get any better on the public option front. If the bill makes it to the final stages before becoming law, the Senate version would need to be melded with the House version. And a true compromise would require the Senate to take on a stronger public option and the House to weaken its hand. One lesson from covering Capitol Hill is that nothing is a done deal until the final vote is

in. So that leaves plenty of room for lobbyists to meddle — because on the Hill the finished version of major legislation is rarely anything like what the bill looked like at the start. As a common paraphrase of the John Godfrey Saxe quote goes — laws and sausages are two things you don’t want to see made. Obama basically just wants Congress to enact something he can call healthcare reform, and claim victory on his signature domestic issue. If he is able to continue keeping his Democrats in line, he may

for revenue growth in 2010, partly due to MoCA deployments from new customers and design Submitted at 12/10/2009 11:40:00 AM wins for its silicon tuner product. Filed under: Analyst reports, The firm set a $5 target. A n a l y s t u p g r a d e s a n d • T. Rowe Price ( TROW) was downgrades, Analyst initiations upgraded to buy from hold at Analyst Upgrades Jefferies. • Dick's Sporting Goods ( DKS) • Stephens upgraded Martin was upgraded to buy from neutral Marietta ( MLM) to overweight at BofA/Merrill. from equal weight on valuation • Massey Energy ( MEE) was a n d e x p e c t a t i o n s t h a t upgraded to overweight from infrastructure and highway neutral at JPMorgan. spending will increase. The firm raised its target on shares to $105 Continue reading Analyst just get it. from $95. upgrades, downgrades and But it is by no means a done • Janney Montgomery upgraded initiations: AOL, CKR, DKS, deal, and if this were a Broadway Shutterfly ( SFLY) to buy from GEF, MLM, TROW ... show it would be close to neutral to reflect valuation and a Analyst upgrades, downgrades intermission… reduced pricing overhang after and initiations: AOL, CKR, Do you want Obama to succeed Kodak ( EK) raised its 4x6 DKS, GEF, MLM, TROW ... in getting healthcare reform? prices. The firm raised its target o r i g i n a l l y a p p e a r e d o n Click here for more Reuters on shares to $21 from $18. BloggingStocks on Thu, 10 Dec political coverage • Thomas Weisel upgraded 2009 11:40:00 EST. Please see Photo credit: Reuters/Jason Reed Entropic Communications ( our terms for use of feeds. (Obama announcing funding for ENTR) to overweight from Permalink| Email this| Comments community health centers), market weight. The firm thinks R e u t e r s / R e i n h a r d K r a u s e the company is well-positioned (sausage factory).

See what's new in Chrome beta
By Seth Rosenblatt (Webware.com)
The new Chrome beta makes rocket-powered browsing more accessible to Apple's computers-but it still lacks some key features. And just how does it compare with Safari? Watch and find out. Originally posted at The Download Blog

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How Obama’s Nobel speech played in Washington
By Deborah Zabarenko (Front Row Washington)
Submitted at 12/10/2009 6:36:36 AM

For a man who just won the Nobel Peace Prize, President Barack Obama didn’t look all that happy as he strode to the lectern in Oslo. He had that downturned smile that was almost an acknowledgement of all the critics who say the award is premature — especially for a commander-in-chief who has just vowed to send 30,000 more U.S. troops into harm’s way in Afghanistan. The speech itself didn’t make much of a splash on morning television in Washington. None of the major TV networks carried it live, though CNN did, cutting away from Obama from time to time to show an audience listening attentively, with a few eyelids drooping. But viewers didn’t have many options if they wanted to see the speech as it

happened. They could see a blink of Obama sandwiched in between the televised feature stories — Dillie the Deer, a taped interview with first lady Michelle Obama, a duel interview with Clint Eastwood and Morgan Freeman to promote their new movie. The Washington Post ran a live feed on its Web site; after the speech ended, there was a story

and a photo slide show. The New York Times posted a text of the address. The Drudge Report– a one-stop online gateway for some in Washington — ran two small headlines about the Nobel ceremony (”Obama defends US wars as he accepts peace prize…” and ”Norwegians Incensed Over Obama Snubs…”) over the main story. Just after the speech it was “SNOW DRIFTS TO 15FT!” but later it changed to “DEMS TO LIFT DEBT CEILING BY $1.8 TRILLION!” Before the chattering classes start weighing in on how he did, let’s hear what you think? Was it statesmanlike or disappointing? Or something in between? Photo credit: REUTERS/John McConnico/Pool (President Barack Obama poses with Nobel Peace Prize medal and certificate, Oslo, December 10, 2009)

Google ups search market share in November, keeps competitors guessing
By Brian White (BloggingStocks)
Submitted at 12/10/2009 12:00:00 PM

Filed under: Competitive strategy, Google (GOOG) Microsoft ( MSFT) has been touting its "decision engine" Bing since this past summer, and it recently became the standard search engine underneath Yahoo!'s ( YHOO) massive user database. Although Bing has been well-received and grew almost immediately after being released, Google ( GOOG) has finally quashed some of the enthusiasm by increasing its market share for Internet search in November back above 70%. Google's share rose to 71.6%, an increase of 1.4% from the prior month. While that may sound small, a single percent in Internet search market share can be hundreds of thousands more searches (or tens of millions). At

the same time, both Microsoft's Bing and Yahoo! declined in November. All this according to web metric firm Hitwise. Continue reading Google ups search market share in November, keeps competitors guessing Google ups search market share in November, keeps competitors guessing originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 10 Dec 2009 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink| Email this| Comments

Chinese New Year rally? A lesser-known seasonal indicator
By Steven Halpern (BloggingStocks)
In his Next Inning newsletter, however, Paul McWiliams looks at a less well-known seasonal Submitted at 12/10/2009 11:00:00 AM pattern involving the Chinese Filed under: International New Year. markets, Newsletters, S and P "With the growth of Asian 500, DJIA consumerism we've seen a Investors are familiar with the progressive shift in holiday "While the Christmas holiday concept of a "Santa Claus" rally. shopping patterns. shopping season still dominates these seasonal patterns, the Chinese New Year has significantly grown in importance during the last decade. Continue reading Chinese New Year rally? A lesser-known seasonal indicator Chinese New Year rally? A lesser-known seasonal indicator originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 10 Dec 2009 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink| Email this| Comments

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The other Nobel prize winners
By Mark Tran (World news and comment from the Guardian | guardian.co.uk)
Submitted at 12/10/2009 8:36:14 AM

Barack Obama picked up his Nobel peace prize in Oslo today, but less high-profile recipients have also been rewarded Barack Obama was the centre of attention when he picked up the Nobel peace prize in Oslo, Norway, today. But there were also prizes for physics, literature, medicine and chemistry, in a parallel event in Stockholm, Sweden. In Charles Kuen Kao, Woolwich Polytechnic in east London – now part of Greenwich University – has its first Nobel laureate. A Chinese-born Briton, Kao studied at Woolwich before joining a phone company in Essex. He shares half of the prize for physics with two Americans, Willard Boyle and George Smith. Kao made a discovery that led to a breakthrough in fibre optics in 1966, when he calculated how to transmit light over long distances via optical glass fibres. Optical fibres are the basis for high-speed communications – without fibre optics, there would be no broadband for example. The transfer of enormous amounts of data – text, music, images and video – around the globe in a split second is possible thanks to fibre optics. Boyle and Smith share the award

because of their work in digital imagery. They invented the first successful imaging technology using a digital sensor, a CCD (charge-coupled device). The CCD revolutionised photography, as light could now be captured electronically instead of on film. CCD technology is also used in many medical applications – imaging the inside of the human body, both for diagnostics and for microsurgery – and in barcode readers in supermarkets. Herta Müller, the German novelist, is only the 12th woman in 108 years to win the Nobel prize for literature. Born in Romania in 1953, Müller refused to co-operate with Nicolae Ceausescu's secret police, lost her job as a teacher and was the subject of repeated threats until she emigrated in 1987. She now lives in Berlin, where she has won several literary awards, including Germany's most prestigious, the Kleist prize. Oppression, dictatorship and exile figure prominently in Müller's novels, including Herztier (published in English as The Land of Green Plums), considered by many to be her best novel and Atemschaukel (Everything I Possess I Carry With Me). The Nobel prize for economics is shared by two Americans, Elinor Ostrom and Oliver

Williamson, for their pioneering work on how individuals cooperate and share common resources, and work together within companies. Ostrom – the first female winner of the economics prize – was recognised for her work on how "common property can be successfully managed by user associations". She has examined how politics, economics and the legal system affect how natural resources are used – and has shown that community-driven projects can be more efficent than privatisation or socialism. Williamson's work explores how conflicts of interest are handled in different ways by hierarchical organisations, such as firms, compared with stock markets. It explains why it is sometimes better for a company to develop a product or service inhouse, rather than buying it from outside. The award for medicine marked another milestone for women as it was the first time that it was won by two women at the same time. Elizabeth Blackburn at the University of California, San Francisco, Carole Gredier at Johns Hopkins University, and UK-born Jack Szostak at Harvard University were joint winners. They solved a major problem in biology – how the chromosomes can be copied in a complete way during cell divisions and how they are protected against degradation.

The discoveries by Blackburn, Greider and Szostak, the awardgivers said, added a new dimension to the understanding of the cell, shed light on disease mechanisms, and stimulated the development of potential new therapies. The award for chemistry was awarded to three scientists for unravelling the mechanism by which cells make proteins. The process is fundamental for life and describes how cells use genetic code to produce the building blocks of living organisms. The prize went to Venkatraman Ramakrishnan, a US scientist at the Medical Research Council's prestigious Laboratory of Molecular Biology in Cambridge, Thomas Steitz at Yale University, and an Israeli, Ada Yonath at the Weizmann Institute of Science in Rehovot. • Nobel peace prize • Nobel prizes • Nobel prize for literature • Medical research • Physics • Barack Obama Mark Tran guardian.co.uk© Guardian News & Media Limited 2009 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions| More Feeds

The Sony motion controller is named “Gem”?
By Matt Burns (CrunchGear)
Submitted at 12/10/2009 7:00:45 AM

Here’s what we know. John Riccitiello, the CEO of EA, spoke yesterday at the UBS 37th Annual Global Media Conference and said this, “In the coming year, both Sony and Microsoft have announced new controllers. Motion sensor controls, Natal and Gem, these are likely to bring new consumers into the marketplace”. Kind of sounds like he knows what he’s talking about, eh? Of course Sony isn’t stating anything, but the company really should. We need something to call their motion controller. Microsoft codenamed its system Project Natal, which makes it easy to write about. Without a codename for Sony’s system, we’re forced to call it something like the motion-wand-wiimoteclone-with-the-blue-ball thing. So, Sony, can we just call the thing Gem and get on with it?

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Copenhagen: Barack Obama backs NorwayBrazil forest protection plan
By John Vidal (World news and comment from the Guardian | guardian.co.uk)
hopefully to plant new trees." The president is not due at the conference for another week but his intervention comes at a Submitted at 12/10/2009 9:26:24 AM critical time in the summit where US president endorses scheme negotiations on deforestation are proposed by Norway and Brazil moving rapidly. that would protect the world's The scheme is seen as attractive rainforests with funding from because pilot studies have shown rich countries which cannot cut it to be effective and has the their emissions at home backing of Prince Charles's The US president, Barack Rainforest Project. Obama, made his first public Countries are more or less intervention in the Copenhagen unanimously behind finding a climate summit today by backing way to reduce deforestation, a plan put forward by Norway which accounts for 16% of world and Brazil which would protect greenhouse gas emissions, but the world's rainforests with are encountering sticking points funding from rich countries that which require the intervention of cannot meet their commitments heads of state. to cut emissions domestically. At least 20 different plans for Speaking after he accepted the Reduced deforestation and Nobel peace prize in Oslo, degradation (Redd) plans have Norway, Obama said: "I am very been put forward by many impressed with the model that different countries, but talks are has been built between Norway in the balance over the rights and and Brazil that allows for safeguards for people who live in effective monitoring and ensures or depend on the forests; how the that we are making progress in money can be prevented from avoiding deforestation of the falling prey to corruption; how to Amazon. measure and verify claims of "It's probably the most cost- protection and the future of effective way for us to address existing forest industries. the issue of climate change - Rich countries are eager to find a having an effective set of solution because a successful mechanisms in place to avoid deal will provide them with a f u r t h e r d e f o r e s t a t i o n a n d solution to "offset" hundreds of millions of tonnes of carbon. Poor countries, especially in the tropics, are equally keen because they stand to receive vast cash flow for protecting their forests. Brazil is critical in forest talks because it not only is responsible for nearly 20% of all global forest emissions, but it has the largest swath of trees in the world and therefore stands to make more money than anyone else by protecting them. Today, the talks were moving quickly. The EU has proposed a 50% cut in the rate of deforestation by 2020 and a complete halt by 2030. But Brazil said it did not want a specific target or timetable, arguing that Redd would be voluntary, and that developing countries needed to see how much money they might receive before committing themselves to such an ambitious global scheme. Obama's endorsement of the Brazil-Norway plan was welcomed by non-governmental organisations who said that it indicated that money had a good chance of being found to set up Redd schemes. A global deforestation initiative would take many years to establish, and would cost hundreds of millions of dollars to set up because it would require satellite technology and pilot projects. In addition, governments will have to pass domestic legislation before it begins. Also in Copenhagen, Google demonstrated a new technology prototype that enables online, global-scale observation and measurement of changes in the Earth's forests. The technology, which combines satellite photography, area-measuring software and a "cloud" processing engine, will be offered as not-for-profit service to all nations. • Copenhagen climate change conference 2009 • Climate change • Forests • Deforestation • Brazil • Norway • Barack Obama • Conservation • Endangered habitats John Vidal guardian.co.uk© Guardian News & Media Limited 2009 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions| More Feeds

Onkyo DX Laptop Gives You Two Screens for Under $1000 [Laptops]
By Mark Wilson (Gizmodo)
Submitted at 12/10/2009 9:16:47 AM

Dual screen laptops are nothing more than a novelty. But I mean, what a novelty! Onkyo's DX laptop features two, 10.1-inch screens, both of which run at a respectable 1,366×768 resolution. They're complemented by a 1.6GHz Athlon processor, 2GB of RAM, ATI Radeon HD 3200 graphics, 320GB hard drive and Bluetooth/Wi-Fi n. It's preloaded with Windows 7. (Yes, the astute among you will notice that this laptop looks quite familiar, but under the Onkyo brand, we've seen the best price to performance ratio yet.) Of course, you'll need to import the DX to own one, but for $960, you can almost justify the tacky extravagance.[ Onkyo and PCWatch via Engadget]

Google Mobile app for iPhone gets an update
By Don Reisinger (Webware.com)
The new version of its the Google Mobile app for Apple's smartphone includes customization options and faster access to search results.

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Iran rights abuses 'worst for 20 years'
By Ian Black (World news and comment from the Guardian | guardian.co.uk)
assembly, association and religion." According to official figures, 36 people died in violence after the Submitted at 12/10/2009 9:47:16 AM election, but the opposition puts Human rights group criticises the figure at more than 70. At increase in political repression in least 4,000 people were arrested six months since reelection of after the poll on 12 June and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad some 200 remain in jail. This Human rights abuses in Iran are week, 200 people were arrested now as bad as at any time in the during protests around university p a s t 2 0 y e a r s , A m n e s t y campuses on national students International reports tomorrow in day. a survey marking six months Protests began when the sitting since June's disputed presidential p r e s i d e n t , M a h m o u d election. Ahmadinejad, claimed victory Amnesty documents "patterns of over the leading opposition abuse" by the Basij militia and candidate, Mir-Hossein Mousavi, revolutionary guards involving amid claims that the result had beatings, rape, death threats, been rigged. forced confessions, intimidation Amnesty quotes an unnamed and official cover-ups. Many former detainee who was held detainees have been subjected to with 75 others for more than show trials and five have been eight weeks in a container at the sentenced to death. notorious Kahrizak detention "The authorities have resorted to centre in Tehran. He was told his exceptionally high levels of son would be raped if he did not violence and arbitrary measures " c o n f e s s " a n d w a s b e a t e n to stifle protest and dissent," says unconscious with a baton . the 80-page report. "The courts Last month, Ramin have not been an instrument of Pourandarjani, a young doctor justice to hold police, security who had treated inmates at forces and other state officials to Kahrizak and had reportedly been account … or to protect the rights forced to certify the death of at t o f r e e d o m o f e x p r e s s i o n , least one torture victim as resulting from meningitis, died in suspicious circumstances. Ebrahim Mehtari, a 26-year-old student, described being held in a tiny cell, interrogated while blindfolded and accused of "working with Facebook networks" and tortured into making a confession. He said: "They frequently beat me on the face; I was burned with cigarettes under my eyes, on the neck, head. I was beaten all over … They threatened to execute me and they humiliated me." An independent medical examination substantiated his claims. But all the relevant documents disappeared, the authorities refused to investigate and his family were warned not to talk about the case. Amnesty says Iran refused to cooperate with its investigation and has denied the organisation entry into the country since the 1979 Islamic revolution. Many of the cases have been documented previously, but the cumulative effect of the data underlines what Amnesty calls "a clear pattern of systematic gross human rights violations by Iranian security forces condoned or even encouraged by powerful political and religious figures in Iran." The report says government officials "have done their utmost to ensure that accounts of rape are discredited and not circulated further". Amnesty has harsh words for the show trials of leading opposition figures. "The trials, broadcast to the nation, featured coerced 'confessions', 'apologies' and incrimination of others. Rather than bringing people to justice, the purpose was to validate the authorities' account of the postelection unrest and to make clear the severe consequences of opposing the authorities." • The caption to the picture with this article was amended on Wednesday 10 December 2009. Mashhad is in north-east Iran, not north-west as it originally said. This has been corrected. • Iran • Human rights Ian Black guardian.co.uk© Guardian News & Media Limited 2009 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions| More Feeds

iHandstick Doesn't Solve the iPhone's Touchscreen Gaming Controls Problem [Iphone Gaming]
By Adam Frucci (Gizmodo)
Submitted at 12/10/2009 9:40:00 AM

The biggest thing keeping the iPhone from rendering the Nintendo DSi and Sony PSP Go obsolete is its lack of physical buttons. You just can't play some games with a touchscreen. And this wacky iHandstick does nothing to solve that. Instead, it pops the iPhone or iPod Touch into a Playstationlike grip, allowing you to hold it like a controller you're used to. But the controls will remain the same, and will maybe even be harder to manipulate when holding it like that. But hey, if you want to try your luck it's only $17. [ USB Fever via Engadget]

Yahoo joins the real-time search parade
By Tom Krazit (Webware.com)
Submitted at 12/10/2009 9:00:00 AM

Three Twitter posts related to a

specific query will begin popping Originally posted at Relevant up on Yahoo later on Thursday, Results although they won't appear as quickly as in Google's approach for real-time search.

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Manuel Zelaya refuses to leave Honduras as asylum seeker
By Rory Carroll (World news and comment from the Guardian | guardian.co.uk)
government wants." The de facto authorities withdrew their offer of safe passage when his terms became Submitted at 12/10/2009 9:30:24 AM clear. There would be no further Ousted Honduras president talks with Mexico and Brazil insists on travelling to Mexico as unless Zelaya accepted asylum, a guest, causing offer of safe s a i d R e n e Z e p e d a , t h e passage to unravel information minister. A dispute over political asylum "If these countries want to get today hindered a plan to fly the Zelaya out of Honduras, they will ousted Honduran president have to do it according to the Manuel Zelaya to exile in law: by giving him asylum in Mexico. their territories, but without a The leftist leader was set to t i t l e . I f t h a t h a p p e n s , o u r leave his Brazilian embassy government will accept that and refuge in the Honduran capital, they can take him immediately Tegucigalpa, in a deal with the without any problem." country's de facto rulers which A Mexican government jet would have ended an at times which was on its way to fetch the surreal three-month siege. president was redirected to The plan unravelled after Zelaya neighbouring El Salvador. insisted that he travel to Mexico Brazil condemned the de facto as a "guest" rather than asylum g o v e r n m e n t ' s s t a n c e a s a n seeker, as the latter category attempt to humiliate Zelaya. "It is would curb his efforts to be totally unacceptable," said the reinstated as president. foreign minister, Celso Amorim. He told Honduran radio he The fiasco is the latest twist in a would leave on condition he crisis which has bedevilled Latin could continue political activities. America since soldiers rousted " I w a n t t o l e a v e a s a Zelaya from his bed on 28 June distinguished guest, not as and bundled him into exile. The political refugee like the interim traditional ruling elite – the army, congress and the supreme court – had become alarmed at the president's alliance with Venezuela's socialist leader, Hugo Chávez. Zelaya snuck back into Honduras in September and surfaced at the Brazilian embassy. Security forces surrounded it, blasted music and recorded pig grunts, and dispersed pro-Zelaya supporters with clubs, teargas and water cannons, leaving the president marooned in his diplomatic refuge. His options have dwindled since a 29 November election cemented the coup as a political reality and chose a new president, Porfirio Lobo, who is due to be inaugurated next month. Congress rejected a proposal to allow Zelaya's temporary return to power to hand over the presidential sash. Brazil, Venezuela and other leftist governments in the region said they would not recognise the election but the US and several Latin American governments signalled they would work with Lobo, leaving Zelaya marginalised. A way out of the impasse seemed imminent last night when soldiers began clearing barriers from around the Brazilian embassy. The de facto regime said it would overlook corruption and treason charges to allow the president to leave. Zelaya said he would take the opportunity to leave Honduras – with his wife and two children – and seek a neutral site for a meeting with Lobo to "find a peaceful solution to the situation in the country". The presidentelect has proposed an amnesty for Zelaya and the coup-plotters who deposed him. Before the exile deal collapsed Zelaya was reportedly expecting to meet Mexico's president, Felipe Calderón, and to attend a summit of leftist leaders in Cuba. • Honduras • Mexico Rory Carroll guardian.co.uk© Guardian News & Media Limited 2009 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions| More Feeds

Samsung bringing its familiar charging stations to colleges around the U.S.
By Nicholas Deleon (CrunchGear)
Submitted at 12/10/2009 9:30:06 AM

Well here's ones way to get your “brand” out there. Samsung will install its mobile chargers (you might have seen them at airports here and there) at 15 colleges around the U.S. That's just step one. Step two is installing said chargers at more than 50 colleges around the country.

Study: You'll wolf down 34GB of data today
By Don Reisinger (Webware.com)
Researchers at UC San Diego information. And yes, you still say Americans have a voracious, watch a lot of TV. a n d g r o w i n g , a p p e t i t e f o r Originally posted at The Digital Home

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Copenhagen diary: Mystery guests, taxpayer travel, and cheering up Yvo
By John Vidal (World news and comment from the Guardian | guardian.co.uk)
Submitted at 12/10/2009 9:44:37 AM

Day four: As the UN releases its full conference accreditation list, the UK government is vague over its travel plans and Yvo de Boer remains as gloomy as ever Who or what - are TheCompensators? The UN has just released the list of people accredited to the official conference so it is possible to see for the first time exactly who is here or is due to come. Actually it's quite difficult. The list extends to three volumes and more than 300 pages. But just dipping in, we find that an organisation called TheCompensators has brought nearly 150 people, including the likes of her excellency Ms Princess Haya Bint Al Hussain of Jordan, Prince Albert of Monaco, as well as George Clooney, Tommy Lee Jones, Sir David Attenborough, Werner Herzog, the head of US chemical company DuPont, the Bishop of London and someone called "Mr Richard Benson, the "founder of

Virgin Unite". That could be Mr Branson, but no one will confirm it. But who - or what - are TheCompensators? They might sound like a rock band but their their website is vague: "TheCompensators collects money to buy and then delete emission allowances from the European Union emission trading scheme. By doing this we decrease the number of emission allowances available on the markets". Hmm. To keep 150 of the great and the good in the style to which they are accustomed in Copenhagen - the most expensive city in Europe - suggests they have been doing rather well. Taxpayer travel The multitudes at Copenhagen, or on their way here, include two ministers and 36 officials from the UK's very own Department of Energy and Climate Change (Decc). When Lib Dem MP Simon Hughes asked about their travel arrangements in November, the department said that all 19 that had thus far arranged their travel were planning to fly. Decc estimated the total bill to the taxpayer at

£17,500. Still, at least they gave an answer. The Department for the Environment Food and Rural Affairs and the Department for International Development both dodged the question by saying they hadn't decided yet (or could it be they preferred not to let on). No 10 said it would reveal the information later. When Hughes travels to the conference at the weekend he will be taking the train. Day four rumours Wild and substantiated rumours swirling around the conference: • The giant business lobby is being briefed every evening by European negotiators off the premises in a quiet Copenhagen bar. • The US is going to offer a paltry $800m as its contribution to the $10bn a year quick-start fund to help poor countries adapt to climate change • Much of the text of the Mexican, British and Norwegian proposal for a green fund came from Climate Change Capital, (CCC) a London-based investment and consultancy firm specialising in the low-carbon

industry. Just about everything that the British are pushing seems to have been proposed at some point by CCC. Earlier this year CCC said the government should issue "carbon bonds". Cheer up, Yvo Will someone please hug Yvo de Boer, the head of the talks. He always looks a bit stressed at these meetings but this year he has a particularly gloomy air. "It's like moving into a new house. You do not know where the books are, you can't find anything in the kitchen, you haven't put the curtains up. There is a lot of nervousness and uncertainty," he said today. • Copenhagen climate change conference 2009 • Climate change • Yvo de Boer John Vidal guardian.co.uk© Guardian News & Media Limited 2009 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions| More Feeds

Sweet Deliverance, a MenuPages iPhone App Is Coming [IPhone Apps]
By matt buchanan (Gizmodo)
Submitted at 12/10/2009 8:56:06 AM

Whining for the 431st time that there's no MenuPages iPhone app—basically, an app with every menu for every restaurant in major cities—I got a reply from who appears to be Greg Barton, the founder of MenuPages. "Soon guys, soon." Oh yes. [ Twitter]

Compare The Process Between Engstrom's Internet Bill Of Rights And ACTA
By Mike Masnick (Techdirt)
Submitted at 12/10/2009 5:26:00 AM

A year on, Facebook Connect shows fast growth
By Don Reisinger (Webware.com)
The social identity service has attracted major sites and even more platforms. But where Facebook is planning to take Connect is a big unknown.

As a bunch of countries and lobbyists continue to debate ACTA in secret, it's interesting to compare that to an ongoing effort by Christian Engstrom, one of two Pirate Party representatives in the European Parliament, to create an Internet Bill of Rights by asking people what they want. Which one sounds more like government for the people, by the people? Permalink| Comments| Email This Story

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Bond prices fall on fears that UK next for credit rating cut
By Katie Allen (World news and comment from the Guardian | guardian.co.uk)
case of any big surprises," said Mohit Kumar, UK strategist at Deutsche Bank. "There's all the sovereign Submitted at 12/10/2009 9:03:27 AM concerns. The UK is obviously Budget deficit could see Britain next in line and seen as the most could lose AAA credit rating and at risk sovereign. We don't join Greece and Spain on credit expect anything to happen [from danger list the ratings agencies] before an UK government bond prices election but still it's at risk and have fallen sharply after the the market knows that." chancellor's pre-budget report did Yields, which move inversely to little to allay fears over the prices, had initially slipped back country's creditworthiness. further in the wake of the PBR Investors say Britain is next on given that the chancellor's ratings agencies' radar after estimate for Britain's budget Greece's credit rating was cut deficit this year came in slightly earlier this week and Spain came lower than expected at £178bn. under their spotlight. Alistair There was a brief fillip as Darling's reaffirmation in the planned gilt issuance was revised PBR that he would halve the UK up less than expected. d e f i c i t w a s n o t e n o u g h t o But analysts said the chancellor reassure jittery bond markets and had failed to come up with a analysts are predicting more price strong enough plan to tackle falls for gilts. Britain's record black hole in its City analysts say yields on UK public finances and worries government bonds – or gilts – i n t e n s i f i e d t o d a y o v e r t h e have been out of kilter with the government's AAA lender status. economy for some time and Bond prices slid, with March gilt investors were waiting for the future contracts down more than P B R b e f o r e t a k i n g s h o r t a full point. The spread for UK positions in the gilt market. bonds against euro zone bonds "We know a lot of accounts were jumped to its widest in a year. looking to go short but didn't The concerns about the UK's want to do it before the PBR in credit rating follow a cut to Spain's outlook by ratings agency Standard and Poor's yesterday and a downgrade to Greece's debt by Fitch. Immediately following Darling's pre-budget speech, bookmaker Paddy Power cut the odds on Britain maintaining its AAA credit rating from 3/1 to just 6/4. In an analysis, published after the PBR, Barclays Capital warned of a "long, hard winter" for the gilt market. Simon Hayes and Moyeen Islam said: "For the gilt market, the PBR will come to be seen as the first chapter of the story that will unfold over the next year: that of the fiscal credibility of the Treasury. "The issuance profile remains heavy, and there is little to suggest that the necessary fiscal consolidation is in place." • Pre-budget report • Financial crisis • Economic policy • Spain • Greece Katie Allen guardian.co.uk© Guardian News & Media Limited 2009 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions| More Feeds

California tops U.S. for green jobs
By Tom Johansmeyer (BloggingStocks)
Submitted at 12/10/2009 12:20:00 PM

Filed under: Economic data, Green Stocks If you still doubt that the next bubble will be green, check out the latest from California. Green and clean technology gigs surged 36% from 1995 to 2008, beating the state's overall 13% jobgrowth rate for the same period, according to Silicon Valleybased research firm Collaborative Economics. Since California's on the leading edge of this sector, many see it as a sign of things to come for the rest of the country. As of January 2008, there were only 159,000 green jobs in California, less than 1% of the state's total, following year-overyear growth of 5%. But, during that same period, total jobs in the state dropped 1%, suggesting that jobs in sustainability just might

be more sustainable. Though these may seem like small numbers, keep in mind that the green sector job market is twice the size of the state's biotech presence and two-thirds the size of the software industry. Continue reading California tops U.S. for green jobs California tops U.S. for green jobs originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 10 Dec 2009 12:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink| Email this| Comments

Video: Environmentalists Disrupt Climate Deniers' Conference
(Little Green Footballs)
Submitted at 12/9/2009 4:00:31 PM

Twitter working on fix for 'misdirected' tweets
By Don Reisinger (Webware.com)
Submitted at 12/9/2009 2:43:00 PM

The microblogging service says it is looking into a problem causing users to see tweets in their timelines that don't seem

intended for them.

Young environmentalists crash a climate change denier’s conference in Copenhagen organized by industry front group

Americans for Prosperity, and Lord High Denier Christopher Monckton (fresh from his appearance on the bat guano crazy Alex Jones conspiracy radio show) goes ballistic, calling them “Hitler youth:”[Video]

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'King of the paparazzi' jailed in Italy Dell: Twitter has for trying to extort money from generated $6.5 million celebrities in sales for us
(World news and comment from the Guardian | guardian.co.uk)
Submitted at 12/10/2009 8:55:16 AM

Fabrizio Corona found guilty of blackmailing footballers A notorious Italian photographer has been jailed for three years and eight months after trying to extort thousands of euros from celebrities in return for not selling embarrassing photos of them to gossip magazines. "King of the paparazzi" Fabrizio Corona was found guilty today of blackmailing sports stars including the Brazilian footballer Adriano, from whom he asked €40,000 (£36,000) not to publish pictures taken at a private party where the former Inter Milan star was entertaining several female guests. Corona's other victims were former AC Milan footballer Francesco Coco, who was photographed shirtless at a Milan disco, and MotoGP rider Marco Melandri, photographed at a nightclub standing next to a porn star. But the Milan court

acquitted Corona of trying to extort €200,000 from Lapo Elkann, a member of the Fiatowning Agnelli family, and of attempting to blackmail another Italian footballer, Alberto Gilardino. Corona, 35, said he was "ashamed to be Italian" after his jail sentence was read out. "It's an embarrassment. It means they should condemn all the photo agencies in Italy, who do exactly the same as I do," he said, adding that he would appeal against the decision. None of Corona's victims turned up at the trial. Corona has always claimed he was doing the celebrities a favour by offering them the photos at the same rates he would have asked from the gossip magazines. "I offered the photos at a good price just to my friends. I could have earned a lot more," he said. Corona was backed up earlier in the trial last year when a lawyer representing Barbara Berlusconi, the prime minister's daughter, insisted a €20,000 deal to buy photos showing her client leaving

a nightclub looking the worse for wear was not blackmail but "almost a courtesy". Corona has become a celebrity in his own right since the blackmail plot first hit the headlines in 2006, dating Argentinian model Belen Rodriguez and making regular television appearances including a stint on a reality show, The Farm, where he was voted off by the public in the third episode. In January judges will decide whether Corona should stand trial in Potenza for trying to extort money from a host of other Italian showbiz names. • Italy • Privacy & the media • MotoGP • Milan • Internazionale • Brazil guardian.co.uk© Guardian News & Media Limited 2009 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions| More Feeds

By Brian White (BloggingStocks)
Submitted at 12/10/2009 12:40:00 PM

Filed under: Competitive strategy, Dell (DELL) Dell ( DELL) has been beat up in the last few years as it has struggled to gain market share, compete at retail with its consumer PCs and take on a resurgent Acer, which recently replaced it as the world's secondlargest manufacturer of PCs. One thing Dell is doing right: using social networking to make sales that would have been most likely lost otherwise. Dell's Twitter account for its outlet (used and returned) product has generated $6.5 million for the company since its inception. A hundred or so of Dell's employees tweet at its outlet account daily as a way to move product at a discount.

Apparently, it works well. Dell also uses Twitter accounts in Brazil and Canada, which contributed to that sales figure as well. Continue reading Dell: Twitter has generated $6.5 million in sales for us Dell: Twitter has generated $6.5 million in sales for us originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 10 Dec 2009 12:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink| Email this| Comments

Air Force Joins CIA as Drone War Over Pakistan Grows
(Wired Top Stories)
Submitted at 12/10/2009 6:12:00 AM

Over the past year and a half, the

U.S. has stepped up drone strikes against militants in Pakistan -killing as many as a thousand people. Press accounts have

largely credited the Central Intelligence Agency with running these missions. But the U.S. Air Force also plays an important

role in the drone missions over Pakistan. The military supplies the aircraft. It monitors the flights in and out of Pakistan. And, on

occasion, Air Force pilots remotely fly their own drone missions over Pakistan.

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Dick's Sporting Goods scores an upgrade
By Beth Gaston Moon (BloggingStocks)
Submitted at 12/10/2009 11:20:00 AM

Filed under: Analyst upgrades and downgrades, Good news Dick's Sporting Goods ( DKS) was shot out of a proverbial cannon Thursday morning, gaining more than 5% in the first minute of trading. Ahead of the opening bell, Merill Lynch/Bank of America upgraded the stock to buy from neutral and lifted its price target by five bucks to $28. The bank noted that fourthquarter sales could be better than expected, as recent cold weather trends might send people into the stores looking to supplement their cold-weather wear. (Side note: negative 16 wind chill in

Opera Mobile Browser Is Finally Coming to Android [Android Apps]
for months now: Opera Mini is a Java-based browser originally intended for dumbphones, which With the impending arrival of isn't that great; Opera Mobile, on Chicago today, and yes, I still the fantastic Opera Mobile, the the other hand, is a full, love living here). Android browser wars have extremely capable browser, C o n t i n u e r e a d i n g D i c k ' s officially kicked off. But wait, which has long been Windows S p o r t i n g G o o d s s c o r e s a n Opera on Android? That sounds Mobile's answer to the likes of upgrade sort of familiar! Here's what's M o b i l e S a f a r i a n d M o b i l e Dick's Sporting Goods scores an actually going on, and why this is Chrome. upgrade originally appeared on great news: If the Android version is BloggingStocks on Thu, 10 Dec Opera has announced that it's anything like the Windows 2009 11:20:00 EST. Please see o f f e r i n g O p e r a M o b i l e t o Mobile versions of late—and it our terms for use of feeds. OEMs—the people who actually looks like it is—this is worth Permalink| Email this| Comments make your phones—to replace, getting excited about. It's based or ship alongside, Android o n a c o m p l e t e l y d i f f e r e n t default browser. This is very rendering engine than Android's different from Opera Mini, which default browser, supports serverhas been in the Android Market side page compression for faster
Submitted at 12/10/2009 9:48:37 AM

By John Herrman (Gizmodo)

loading, and has too many useful small features to list, making it the first genuine competing browser on the platform—the others are just variations on the default browser. The only hangup is that as of now, the browser is only available to OEMs, meaning that it wil come with some new phones, but won't make an appearance in the Android Market, at least for now. We'll have to leave it up to the likes of XDA and Modaco to make it more broadly available, which, let's face it Opera, they absolutely will. [ TechCrunch]

Give Gaming Gear for the Greater Good
By David Diaz (CrunchGear)
Submitted at 12/10/2009 8:00:06 AM

Cool merchandise. A great cause. Pretty much a match made in Valhalla. Today only, Major League Gaming will be donating 50% of the proceeds from the sale of MLG Merchandise and purchases from Xbox Live to the Histiocytosis Association of

America. This is the third year that the competitive gaming league has held its Give Back Day. Here’s what MLG has to say about Histiocytosis: One in 200,000 children and one in 560,000 adults are diagnosed every year with this disease. They have an abundance of white organs and tissue. Tumors erode blood cells that attack healthy bone away and grow rapidly

throughout their bodies. Langerhans Cell Histiocytosis is an orphan disease which means not enough people have it so the government doesn’t fund research for it. There is no known cure. It is not transmittable or hereditary and the only treatments out there are the same they use for cancer patients: radiation therapy, chemotherapy,

and surgery. If you want to learn even more about this disease and the Histiocytosis Association of America click here. So if there’s a gamer in your family or group of friends, check out the store here or hop on Xbox Live and help out a great cause. It’s a clear win-win.

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Review and giveaway: Thirsty Light Snowflake
By Scott Merrill (CrunchGear)
Submitted at 12/10/2009 9:00:26 AM

Short Version: Much like the original Thirsty Light, the Thirsty Light Snowflake is a single purpose gadget designed to tell you when your Christmas tree is thirsty. Drop the dongle into your tree’s water, and hang the ornament somewhere on the tree. It blends in nicely with your other ornaments, and blinks when there’s no more water. It runs on two AA batteries, and has an on/off button should you decide to try to kill your tree. Review: Unlike a lot of single-purpose gadgets we review here at CrunchGear, the Thirsty Light Snowflake is surprisingly useful. It doesn’t take up much space, it’s easy to store with your other Christmas ornaments throughout the year, and it saves you a lot of time and energy when it comes to keeping your tree watered. Of course, if you’re one of those Scrooges with an artificial tree

Sungale introduces 4.3inch Kula: the WiFienabled portable TV
By Darren Murph (Engadget)
Submitted at 12/10/2009 10:19:00 AM

then you won’t need this. The Thirsty Light Snowflake a fine looking ornament — not at all chintzy or cheap — and won’t attract any undue attention to itself when the tree is fully watered. The blinking is not overly bright, nor rapid, so it’s not going to cause seizures when the tree is dry. At $9, this is a terrific stocking stuffer. Heck, grab two, and use

one for yourself! Product Page: Thirsty Light Snowflake Trident Design, creator of the Thirsty Light Snowflake has given us five to give away to loyal CrunchGear readers! Leave a comment here, and we’ll randomly select five winners at 5 PM tonight. Be sure to include your email address, so we can contact you!

Saturn's Hexagon May Be Solar System's Coolest Mystery
(Wired Top Stories)
Submitted at 12/10/2009 8:09:00 AM

The very mysterious haxagonally shaped jet stream that circulates around Saturn's north pole has been spotted for

the first time since it was discovered almost three decades ago. Astronomers still don't know what causes the flow to take such unusually sharp turns.

WiFi, there's no mention of any other protocol to tap into various channel "packages," though we're Not so keen on coughing up a not completely shutting out that month's worth of WoW coinage possibility until we see this in order to pay for FLO TV bugger at CES. Other specs services? If so, and you can include 2GB of internal memory, s o m e h o w k e e p y o u r s e l f an SD / MMC expansion slot and surrounded by WiFi waves at all support for a slew of file formats. times, Sungale just might have a Hop on past the break for the full cheaper alternative. The outfit release, which naturally omits has just revealed what it says is any semblance of a price tag in its "first IPTV," though frankly it keeping with the elusive theme. sounds more like a WiFi-enabled Continue reading Sungale PMP with a knack for finding introduces 4.3-inch Kula: the web programming. The 4.3-inch WiFi-enabled portable TV Kula is described as an "ultraSungale introduces 4.3-inch portable WiFi-enabled IPTV that Kula: the WiFi-enabled portable allows users to access a large TV originally appeared on n u m b e r o f l i v e s t r e a m i n g Engadget on Thu, 10 Dec 2009 television programs from all over 10:19:00 EST. Please see our the world, selectable by country, terms for use of feeds. Permalink| language and topic like News, | Email this| Comments Sports and Finance all without the high rates." Aside from using

Got 5 Benjamins to Burn? We've Got 10 Awesome Gifts
By Wired Staff (Wired Top Stories)
When 500 smackers blaze a hole in your pocket, use some of these pricey toys to help snuff out the heat.

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Philips E-Skins Could Have Your Gadgets Changing Colors Like a Chameleon [Gadgets]
By Sean Fallon (Gizmodo)
Submitted at 12/10/2009 9:09:00 AM

Wireless Brain-toComputer Connection Synthesizes Speech
By Brandon Keim (Wired Top Stories)
Submitted at 12/9/2009 4:40:00 PM

This isn't the first time the concept of color-changing electronic skins has been tossed around, but Philips is a big name, and they have big plans that extend beyond your portable gadgets. Electronic paper(e-paper) looks like conventional paper and the bright wash of color it generates uses the ambient light for rendition, just like conventional paint, so no backlight is needed. Which means that the vividness of the color is maintained, even in bright outdoor conditions. Philips' technology allows

different colors of ink to be built into one layer with each color controlled separately. This means the layer can be transparent, the same color as any one of the inks or even a mixture of multiple colors. Moreover, the saturation

less expensive to realize, it enables new applications. And because e-skin makes use of the ambient light, it is an inherently energy-efficient system, making it particularly suitable for application in portable devices as well. While portable devices might be the focus in the short-term, this sort of technology could also be used for larger equipment and even wallpaper in your home. In of each individual color can be other words, it might not be long controlled accurately – so any before we can change the color shade can be produced. Recently, and the entire ambiance of a Philips successfully realized a room with the push of a button. [ simplified, yet advanced version Philips via Pocket-Lint] of its e-paper technology: e-skin. Since it is less complicated and

For the first time, a braincomputer interface has wirelessly translated brain waves into sounds. It's a major step toward mobile, wireless systems that can help paralyzed people express themselves.

The Chevy Volt will of course support Blackberry and iPhone apps
By Matt Burns (CrunchGear)
Submitted at 12/10/2009 8:30:03 AM

GM has a lot riding on the Chevy Volt. It’s not the vehicle that will save the company from failure, (the Chevy Cruze will do that) but it’s huge PR halo car. It will be the car that draws everyone’s attention back to the auto maker and having the car work with a flashy iPhone and

Blackberry app should help with that. Not much is known about the apps right now. In fact, the image above was flashed on the screen during the Volt’s presentation at the L.A. Auto Show. It’s probably a good guess that the meter is referring to the Volt’s batter life and the button might even be able to start up the gasoline engine remotely to

charge the battery. But of course apps like these can do so much more.

Mercedes-Benz recently announced its iPhone and Blackberry app that can unlock

doors, call for roadside assistance, and even locate the vehicle. No doubt the Volt’s app will be similar, but hopefully doesn’t cost $280 like the MB option. Don’t expect anything too crazy though. It’s not like GM has the know-how to install a system like the one in James Bond’s BMW 750i. GM-Volt via Jalopnik

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15

Heated portable chair costs $120, makes being outside slightly less miserable
By Doug Aamoth (CrunchGear)
Submitted at 12/10/2009 7:30:00 AM

Ask TUAW: Simple spreadsheets, partitioning with Time Machine, iTunes with a NAS, and more
By Mat Lu (The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW))
Submitted at 12/10/2009 11:30:00 AM

If you’ve ever spent an extended period of time outside during the late fall or winter watching some sort of parade, sporting event, or interpretive dance, you’ll have no doubt A) had plenty of time to reexamine your life and B) wished you’d brought a chair. Now add C) to that list: wished the chair you didn’t bring was heated. According to Hammacher Schlemmer, “This is the only portable folding chair with a heated seat.” It costs $120 and “undetectable carbon fiber heating elements woven into the chair heat from 120º F to 140º F to warm your legs and posterior.” Now we’re talking. The built-in battery is good for four hours on the lowest setting and two and a half hours on the highest setting. Recharge time

Dec. 10, 1944: Web Visionary Passes Into Obscurity
By Evan Hansen (Wired Top Stories)
Submitted at 12/9/2009 9:00:00 PM

Belgian bibliographer Paul Otlet

Filed under: Features, Troubleshooting, Ask TUAW Welcome back to Ask TUAW, our weekly troubleshooting Q&A column. This week we've got questions about sharing peripherals, simple spreadsheets, backup configurations, using a NAS, and more. takes about two hours and can be As always, your suggestions and done via standard AC or using questions are welcome. Leave the included automobile adapter. your questions for next week in Last but not least, the chair the comments section at the end supports up to 275 pounds, of this post. When asking a there’s a fold-out cup holder, and By Laura June (Engadget) D D R 3 R A M , a n d G S 4 5 question, please include which three pockets for stashing some integrated graphics -- will be machine you're using and what Submitted at 12/10/2009 11:06:00 AM snacks, magazines, and anything available there as of today, for version of Mac OS X is installed else that’ll make the time spent If you're lucky enough to live in the base price of£1750 (that's on it(we'll assume you're running w a t c h i n g 2 2 s i x - y e a r - o l d s the US, buying the super slim about $2,800). For a better idea Snow Leopard on an Intel Mac if chasing a soccer ball in the Adamo XPS is just a matter of of what this bad boy looks like, you don't specify). wrong direction go faster. hitting up Dell's website -- and c h e c k o u t o u r h a n d s - o n Continue reading Ask TUAW: The Only Heated Portable then ponying up nearly $2,000, impressions video after the break. Simple spreadsheets, partitioning Chair[Hammacher Schlemmer] of course. Those in the UK, Continue reading Dell Adamo with Time Machine, iTunes with however, have been sorely out of XPS: Exclusive to John Lewis in a NAS, and more TUAW Ask TUAW: Simple luck. Luckily for them, we're the UK for the holiday season hearing that the much lusted-after Dell Adamo XPS: Exclusive to spreadsheets, partitioning with laptop will be available at John John Lewis in the UK for the Time Machine, iTunes with a Lewis department stores in time h o l i d a y s e a s o n o r i g i n a l l y N A S , a n d m o r e o r i g i n a l l y dies, and with him his dream of for holiday shopping. That's appeared on Engadget on Thu, 10 appeared on The Unofficial the Mundaneum. It was to be a right, this hinged baby -- which Dec 2009 11:06:00 EST. Please Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Thu, universal -- and interlinked -- boasts a 1.4GHz Core 2 Duo see our terms for use of feeds. 10 Dec 2009 11:30:00 EST. weblike compendium of all the SU9400 processor, a 128GB Permalink| Pocket Lint| Email Please see our terms for use of world's knowledge. feeds. SSD, a 13.4-inch WLED panel, a this| Comments Read| Permalink| Email this| 2 megapixel camera, 4GB of Comments

Dell Adamo XPS: Exclusive to John Lewis in the UK for the holiday season

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AAXA P2 pico projector gets tested and lauded
By Darren Murph (Engadget)
Submitted at 12/10/2009 12:26:00 PM

Director Of New Moon Says Jailing Of Girl For Snippets Of Video Of His Movie Is 'Terribly Unfair'
By Mike Masnick (Techdirt)
Submitted at 12/10/2009 9:29:00 AM

The first batch of pico projectors weren't exactly world-beaters; the resolution was low, lumens were lacking and MSRPs were startlingly high. Such is life on the cutting edge. But AAXA's P2 is riding the second wave, boasting a higher-than-average 800 x 600 resolution, 33 lumens of brightness, 1GB of onboard storage, a microSDHC expansion slot, VGA / AV inputs, a built-in speaker and an integrated media player to boot. Our good pals over at Gadling just got their paws around one, and they seemed duly satisfied with the performance. Unlike many firstgeneration units, this one managed to throw up a respectable image even in dimly lit rooms, and while the 40-inch

image was understandably the best, it did manage to toss up a 100-inch visual when pressed. Hit the source link for the full writeup, and if you're planning on buying in now, it's available for a sale price of $319. AAXA P2 pico projector gets tested and lauded originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 10 Dec 2009 12:26:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink| Gadling| Email this| Comments

Sony says PS3 motion controller was codenamed 'Gem,' might or might not actually be called Gem
By Donald Melanson (Engadget)
Submitted at 12/10/2009 11:58:00 AM

'1000 Comic Books You Must Read' Digs Into Pulp's Past
By Hugh Hart (Wired Top Stories)
Submitted at 12/9/2009 3:12:00 PM

Tony Isabella's book maps the

We never heard much more of the rumored Sphere codename for Sony's PlayStation 3 motion controller since it cropped up a few months ago, but it looks like we now finally have another name for it besides "PlayStation Motion Controller." That word initially came from EA's John colorful galaxy of superheroes, Riccitiello, who let slip the name both well-known and obscure, "Gem" during his talk at the UBS with whom you should become 37th Annual Global Media acquainted. Leave a comment for Conference when speaking about Sony's and Microsoft's new your chance to win a copy. motion controllers. Just odd enough to work? Well, not so

While he has no official say in the matter, it is still worth noting that Chris Weitz, the director of the movie New Moon has said that he thinks it's "terribly unfair" that a 22-year-old girl was jailed and now faces felony charges because her attempt to film some of her sister's birthday celebration caught less than four minutes of New Moon on her video camera (found via fast, as Sony would only go so Copycense). Weitz is not the far as to confirm to Kotaku that copyright holder and has no real Gem was "an early code name say in what happens, but he does for the product," adding that they note that he's talking to Summit "haven't announced final name at Entertainment, the studio who this point." Not exactly a full-on made the film, to let them know non-denial denial, to be sure, but of his concerns, to see if there's it would seem that the door for anything that can be done. Gem is at least open a tiny crack. Of course, what should be done [Thanks, Aaron] is that the law should be changed Sony says PS3 motion controller so we don't have these ridiculous was codenamed 'Gem,' might or situations at all. And hopefully might not actually be called Gem he would stand behind such a originally appeared on Engadget proposal. In the meantime, it's on Thu, 10 Dec 2009 11:58:00 just yet another in a long line of EST. Please see our terms for examples of the law creating use of feeds. Permalink Engadget punishment that is way out of Spanish| Softpedia, Kotaku| proportion with the "crime" when Email this| Comments it comes to copyright and copying of content. Permalink| Comments| Email This Story

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Yobo's handheld SNES gives your old carts a new lease on life (video)
By Joseph L. Flatley (Engadget)
built-in joypad, TV outs and two wireless 2.4Ghz controllers. Powered by either a replaceable, Submitted at 12/10/2009 11:31:00 AM rechargeable battery or the If you've been lusting after the included AC adapter. Check out various one-off SNES portable the video after the break to see mods we've been posting 'lo what you've been missing. these many years, this next item's Continue reading Yobo's all you: Yobo, a company known handheld SNES gives your old for its various game system carts a new lease on life (video) clones and accessories, is now Yobo's handheld SNES gives offering a little something called your old carts a new lease on life t h e F C 1 6 G O . A r i f f o n (video) originally appeared on Hyperkin's FC Mobile II(we're Engadget on Thu, 10 Dec 2009 assuming they share an OEM) 11:31:00 EST. Please see our this guy accepts SNES cartridges terms for use of feeds. Permalink for classic game play, and ups the Nowhere Else| Stone Age Gamer| display size to 3.5-inches to boot. Email this| Comments Your hard-earned $60 gets you a device with a fully functional

ASUS Eee PC 1201N dons burgundy garb, you still can't have one
By Vladislav Savov (Engadget)
Submitted at 12/10/2009 9:52:00 AM

Say hello to the little friend you already know and want, this time dressed in a more extrovert red attire. We don't yet know whether this 1201N variant will be finding retail shelves or if it's just a pretty prototype, but that doesn't make too much difference

at this point. With the classical black model still only available on a pre-order basis (with a midJanuary landing date) the closest you'll be getting to ASUS' Ionpowered 12-incher is glamor shots like these. Well, either that or a forthcoming Engadget review, both are good. See one more snap of the burgundy bruiser after the break. Continue reading ASUS Eee PC

1201N dons burgundy garb, you still can't have one ASUS Eee PC 1201N dons burgundy garb, you still can't have one originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 10 Dec 2009 09:52:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink| mobile + notebook| Email this| Comments

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Mecha, Hovercycles and Flying Bikes: Meet the Tony Stark of Wasilla, Alaska [Inventors]
By John Herrman (Gizmodo)
We've spotlighted Owen's work before, back when he unveiled Submitted at 12/10/2009 9:04:43 AM his 20-foot fire-breathing mech. Wasilla, Alaska: Home to As impressive and imposing as m o o s e , h u m a n , a n d m o s t that was, I think it might be his notoriously, one Sarah Palin. Its least ambitious project. How most famous resident may be a about a hovering bike? A flying divisive one, but I think we can bike? With guns, potentially? all agree that Carlos Owen, A n d t h a t ' s j u s t w h a t h e ' s backyard roboticist and aspiring tinkering with in his backyard who went to visit him in his outdoor workshop. mad scientist, is a hero. right now, according to VBS.TV, You can sum up the whole interview, and my unabashed Carlos enthusiasm, with his closing quote: The ones I'm dong now blow my mind, so I can't even imagine what I'll be building in 30 years. Damn straight, guy. You are America. [ Neogentronyx via VBS.TV]

Geeky Math Equation Creates Beautiful 3-D World
By Alexis Madrigal (Wired Top Stories)
Submitted at 12/9/2009 9:00:00 PM

An attempt to take the 2-D fractal art known as the Mandelbrot set into three dimensions yields strange and beautiful results.

Dell's Adamo XPS now shipping to some (and we've got pics to prove it)
By Darren Murph (Engadget)
Submitted at 12/10/2009 10:47:00 AM

Dell's 9.99mm thin Adamo XPS wasn't supposed to ship to even the earliest orderers until December 22nd, but it seems as if a minor Christmas miracle has

happened over at Adam's office. In fact, those ordering one of these slimsters today won't see it until mid-January, but if you got in early, there just might be hope for you yet. Oh, and if you're pretty certain that your order will Old Man Winter holds you down, simply be delayed indefinitely as

feel free to cheer yourself up by perusing the gallery below. Or slip into an infinite loop of depression -- your call. [Thanks, Adam] Gallery: Dell's Adamo XPS now shipping to some (and we've got pics to prove it)

Dell's Adamo XPS now shipping to some (and we've got pics to prove it) originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 10 Dec 2009 10:47:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink| | Email this| Comments

Editorial On Why The Patent System Should Be Abolished
By Mike Masnick (Techdirt)
Submitted at 12/10/2009 7:00:00 AM

CSMonitor, explaining why they think the patent system should be abolished. If you've read their We've certainly discussed the work, there's nothing surprising, work of David Levine and but if you have not, it's a quick Michele Boldrin plenty of times summary of the key points: As a before -- and both were kind matter of theory, intellectual enough to participate in our property is a double-edged CwF+RtB experiment earlier this sword. On the one hand, giving a year. If you haven't read their reward increases the incentive to book, then you are missing out. innovate. On the other, allowing Now, Levine and Boldrin have a the monopolization of existing n e w e d i t o r i a l u p i n t h e ideas taxes the creation of new

ones, thereby decreasing the incentive to innovate. The bottom line: Contrary to widespread belief, economic theory does not provide support for the continuous extension of IP. The only answer to the question of whether IP serves the desired purpose must be empirical. Does it work in practice? A great deal of applied economic research has tried to answer this question. The short answer is that

intellectual property does not increase innovation and creation. Extending IP rights may modestly boost the incentive for innovation, but this positive effect is wiped away by the negative effect of creating monopolies. There is simply no evidence that strengthening patent regimes increases innovation or economic productivity. In fact, some evidence shows that increased

protection even decreases innovation. The main finding is that making it easier to get patents increases ... patenting! No matter what your stance on this topic is, you have to admit it's impressive to see it getting attention in a mainstream publication like the CSMonitor. Permalink| Comments| Email This Story

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Facebook’s New Privacy Push Concerns Experts
By Adam Ostrow (Mashable!)
Submitted at 12/10/2009 8:36:31 AM

Here’s what the Electronic Frontier Foundation concludes in a lengthy commentary on the That didn’t take long. Just 24 changes: hours after Facebook began “The Facebook privacy transition r o l l i n g o u t a p r i v a c y tool is clearly designed to push announcement and settings tool users to share much more of their to its more than 350 million Facebook info with everyone, a users, a number of privacy worrisome development that will experts and security firms are likely cause a major shift in already out with statements p r i v a c y l e v e l f o r m o s t o f advising against using the social F a c e b o o k ’ s u s e r s , w h e t h e r network’s new recommended intentionally or inadvertently … settings, which encourage users Even worse, the changes will t o s h a r e m o r e d a t a w i t h actually reduce the amount of “everyone.” control that users have over some The issue, as we highlighted of their personal data.” yesterday, is that while Facebook A spokesperson from security is spinning the changes as firm Sophos says in a statement “setting a new standard in user to Mashable: control,” another goal is clearly “ T h e s e c o u l d b e t h e m o s t getting users to share more important clicks you ever make information publicly, which on Facebook. If you don’t read makes its search partnerships carefully you could find that with Google and Bing all the e v e r y p o s t y o u m a k e o n more valuable. And security Facebook, and your personal experts are seeing right through i n f o r m a t i o n , i s v i s i b l e t o it. everyone in the world who has a Experts Weigh In computer rather than just your Here’s what the ACLU of Facebook friends. Northern California said in the Let’s make this clear. If you comments of our post yesterday: make your information available “As you’ve pointed out, the to ‘everyone,’ it actually means ‘privacy’ changes are all about ‘everyone, forever.’ Because encouraging [users] to share even if you change your mind, more stuff publicly.’ It’s great it’s too late — and although that Facebook is making all users Facebook say they will remove it think about privacy, but we are from your profile they will have concerned that the transition tool no control about how it is used and other changes actually outside of Facebook.” discourage or eliminate some The company has also produced p r i v a c y p r o t e c t i o n s t h a t this video demonstrating the new F a c e b o o k u s e r s c u r r e n t l y privacy transition tool while employ.” providing some security

All of these sources are essentially saying the same thing: The privacy changes at Facebook have the potential to create significant issues for those who don’t carefully review them, which, let’s be honest, is likely to be most users. Like other controversial commentary: decisions the company has made, A spokesperson from Web security firm Trend Micro adds Facebook surely weighed the risks and rewards of this move. in a statement to Mashable: “It’s laudable that Facebook has Their analysis likely concluded taken continuous interest in this, that the benefits of being more but I would remind Facebook p u b l i c ( a n d s e a r c h - e n g i n e users that it is just not a private friendly) far outweighed the risk place. If you require strict of a lot more “Scandalous privacy for y o u r Facebook photos cost so and so communications, photos, etc., his/her job” stories. find some other medium to share But really, there’s no turning them. I would encourage all back now. Millions of users have Facebook users to read and already been greeted by the new understand the privacy guidelines privacy tool, made changes and/or ignored it and moved on to be found on the site. Second, what gets revealed in using Facebook how they always my FB page is entirely up to me. h a v e , u n a w a r e o f t h e I choose the photo, I make the ramifications of a change they comments. Striking a balance might spend 30 seconds thinking between utter security (no about. visibility at all, and if that’s what If it turns out that millions of you need may I suggest a diary) users ultimately screw up their and entirely publicly visible and l i v e s s o m e h o w t h a n k s t o archived statements (as we have Facebook’s privacy settings, the with Twitter) must lie the happy stigma that gets attached to the medium we seek. Getting there site could end up being a is not going to be instant because catastrophic blunder that sees the we don’t yet know what there s i t e l o s e i t s s e e m i n g l y insurmountable lead, much like means.” I like that there is controversy MySpace and Friendster before about these settings. It shows it. Reviews: Bing, Facebook, people at least notice that there is Friendster, Google, Mashable, something going on.” A Huge MySpace, Twitter Tags: facebook, privacy Mistake?

AOL Relaunches: Will Monsters and Goldfish Boost the Stock Price?
By Pete Cashmore (Mashable!)
Submitted at 12/10/2009 5:17:24 AM

Today, AOL comes back on the NYSE following its spinoff from Time Warner (TMX) — and the one-time Web titan is marking the transition with a rebrand. Gone is the blue AOL of old, replaced with goldfish, monsters, butterflies and the partially lower case “Aol” branding we previewed previously. These symbols represent themes on the site; pick one to change the color scheme and background. At the core of this new independent strategy: content, content, content. Not only is the homepage customizable to the content you want, but a “News Feeds” tab provides an RSS reader one click away from the homepage. What do you think? Is the new AOL a step in the right direction or the wrong one? And how will AOL perform on its own? Tags: aol, nyse, tmx

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Nokia to close its two U.S. flagship stores
(CNET News.com)
Submitted at 12/10/2009 8:40:00 AM

Nokia, the world's largest maker of mobile handsets, said Thursday that it plans to close two flagship stores in the U.S. as it refines its sales strategy and struggles to get a bigger foothold in the North American market. Nokia also said it plans to close one of two stores in London. And it will look for a new location for its Sao Paolo store. The U.S. Nokia stores that will be closed are in New York and Chicago. Nokia has 12 stores worldwide. It opened the first store in Moscow in 2005. Nokia said closing the stores is part of a new retail strategy that includes more cooperation with operators and other retailers. Nokia's shift in strategy comes as the company indicates it plans to focus more on services and applications through its online Ovi store. Last month, the company said it plans to limit the number of devices it will launch

as hardware has become less important to consumers and services and applications have become more important. It's hardly a surprise that Nokia would shut down the U.S. stores as it refines its retail strategy, since this is one of the company's weakest markets. While Nokia still dominates the worldwide cell phone market with about 37 percent market share, the company's market share in the U.S. is only in the single digits. For years, the company has said that it plans to focus on the North American market, particularly the U.S. But little progress has been made. Nokia executives say that the company is developing new products for the U.S. market and that it's working with wireless operators to get Nokia devices on those networks. This is important for Nokia since about 90 percent of all cell phones sold in the U.S. are sold through an operator. And most are subsidized. Nokia doesn't offer many products

through carriers in the U.S., a fact that has hurt the company in the U.S. market. But Nokia is making some progress. Earlier this year, it launched its E71x smartphone on AT&T's network. That said, other high-end devices, such as the N97, are still not offered by a U.S. operator. Meanwhile, Nokia's competitors, namely Apple and Research In Motion, have taken advantage of forming relationships with carriers and their devices are offered with hefty subsidies. As a result, Apple and RIM have much higher market penetration than Nokia with respect to smartphones. Apple, which makes the popular iPhone, has also been far more successful with its retail strategy than Nokia. The company now has 279 stores that it's opened in the past eight years since it opened the first Apple store in 2001. These stores have become a big revenue driver for the company, generating about $6.6

billion of the company's $29.9 billion in revenue in fiscal 2009. Apple's flagship stores, or as the company calls them "significant stores," are especially designed to draw in visitors with eyecatching design and architecture. Some of the stores, such as the Fifth Avenue store in Manhattan, which sits below a glass cube across the street from the Plaza Hotel, have become tourist destinations. Worldwide some 170 million visitors entered an Apple store in fiscal 2009. Apple plans to open between 40 and 50 new retail stores in 2010. More than half of these new stores are expected to be outside the U.S. Some of the countries where Apple will open new stores include the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, Italy, Switzerland, Germany, France, and China. fivefilters.org featured article: Normalising the crime of the century by John Pilger

Heartland data breach lawsuit dismissed
(CNET News.com)
Submitted at 12/10/2009 9:20:00 AM

Google Mobile app for iPhone gets an update
(CNET News.com)
According to the company, the improved application features a redesigned search results page, Google Mobile App receiving with more results than in the s e a r c h f r o m v o i c e . ( C r e d i t : previous version. The app also Google) opens Web pages from those A new version of Google Mobile results within the program, which for the iPhone is now available in Google says should help users Apple's App Store, the search get where they want to go sooner. has also made its Bells and giant announced in a blog post T o m a k e t h e a p p m o r e Whistles feature more prominent Wednesday. customized to the user, Google in the new Google Mobile
Submitted at 12/10/2009 8:57:00 AM

Report offensive content: If you believe this comment is offensive or violates the CNET's Site Terms of Use, you can report it below (this will not automatically remove the comment). Once reported, our staff will be notified and the comment will be reviewed. Select type of offense: Offensive: Sexually explicit or offensive language Spam: Advertisements or commercial links Disruptive posting: Flaming or offending other users Illegal activities: Promote cracked software, or other illegal content Comments(optional): Report Cancel fivefilters.org featured article: Normalising the crime of the century by John Pilger

version. Users can change the color of Google Mobile and turn on a moving waveform when By Hamilton Nolan (Gawker) users search by voice. fivefilters.org featured article: Submitted at 12/10/2009 8:45:48 AM Normalising the crime of the Today in 'Things That Can Shut century by John Pilger Down the NYC Subway System:' Delicate fallen leaves.

Our Trains Are Very Delicate Okay? [Nature's Fury]

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Study: You'll wolf down 34GB of data today
(CNET News.com)
Submitted at 12/10/2009 9:08:45 AM

Got a case of information overload? You're not alone. A study released Wednesday from the University of California, San Diego, reports that the average American consumes a whopping 34GB of data and 100,000 words of information per day. Over the course of 2008, Americans as a group gobbled up 3.6 zettabytes of data. (In case you missed the definition of "zettabyte" in your daily data binging, that's a million million gigabytes.) For all you visual learners out there, the researchers helpfully point out that 3.6 zettabytes is equal to the "information in thick paperback novels stacked seven feet high over the entire United States, including Alaska." Between 1980 and 2008, the number of bytes consumed by Americans increased 350 percent. The average annual growth rate was calculated at 5.4 percent. Here's how TV and the Internet stack up in the "How Much Information? 2009 Report on American Consumers."(Credit:

University of California, San Diego) Dubbed the How Much Information? project, the study measured data consumption both at home and away from home. It includes several information sources, "including going to the movies, listening to the radio, talking on the cell phone, playing video games, surfing the Internet, and reading the newspaper." Besides bytes and words, the study also noted the number of

hours spent consuming information. In terms of time, traditional media still has a strong hold on the U.S. The study reported that "a large chunk of the average American's day is spent watching television." On average, 41 percent of an American's day is given over to watching television shows, viewing recorded TV, or watching DVDs. Noncomputer sources, the study says, account for more than three

consoles, which have the equivalent of special-purpose supercomputers from five years ago," report author Roger Bohn, director of the Global Information Industry Center at UC San Diego's School of International Relations and Pacific Studies, said in a statement. "Games today generate their bytes inside the home, rather than having to transmit them over cables into the house, but gaming is increasingly moving online." The study found that 16 percent of daily information consumption comes from the Internet. A staggering 79 percent of all American two-way communications is done through -quarters of U.S. households' the Internet. If you want to see what else UC information time. But if bytes are the standard by San Diego found in its study, which American days are judged, click here. it's the video game that takes the fivefilters.org featured article: top prize. Researchers found that Normalising the crime of the the average American consumes century by John Pilger 18.5GB of gaming data per day, representing 67 percent of all bytes they consume daily. "Games are almost universal, but most of the gaming bytes come from graphically intensive games on high-powered computers and

Carrie Underwood Says Ex Tony Romo Did Her Wrong
(ETonline - Breaking News)
Submitted at 12/10/2009 6:55:00 AM

Country singer Carrie Underwood opened up to Esquire magazine, revealing what she

really thinks of her ex-boyfriend and NFL player Tony Romo. The publication asked the country crooner if her song "Cowboy Casanova" was about Dallas Cowboy quarterback,

Romo, who had a very public breakup this year with another performer, Jessica Simpson. Underwood responded, saying, "No. I would never immortalize a guy that did me wrong. I would

never give him that much credit." The former "American Idol" contestant also offered her opinion about the outspoken reality show judge Simon Cowell, saying "Simon's

obviously very smart. But he's not the smartest person I know."

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Yahoo joins the real-time search parade
(CNET News.com)
cut a deal with Twitter for access to the "firehose," an automated feed of data from Twitter. Yahoo is ready to integrate real- Instead, it's using Twitter's public time results from Twitter directly A P I a n d a d d i n g i t s o w n onto its search pages.(Credit: algorithms to figure out which Yahoo) tweets are most relevant to the Not to be outdone by its rivals, query. Yahoo is getting into the real- The thorniest problem with realtime search business as well. time search is relevancy. So Days after Google announced its much content is created every plan for integrating content from second on the Internet--from sources such as Twitter and tweets to status updates to new blogs, Yahoo on Thursday plans blogs to new news stories such as to launch its own feature to this one--that it's a challenge to integrate tweets into search simply capture that data, let alone r e s u l t s . M i c r o s o f t a l r e a d y decide which sources of data are displays Twitter results for more relevant and authoritative queries placed on its Bing search than others. engine, although they displayed Yet there's clear demand for on a separate page that is not answers to the question, "What is directly integrated into the main happening right this second?" search results. And search engines are Yahoo will join Google witih presumably in the best position to integrated results as of Thursday, deliver those answers, but unless said Larry Cornett, vice president they are able to find a way to of product management and harness the flood of real-time design at the company. But in a information and make sense of it, crucial difference between the these services are unlikely to be two approaches, Yahoo has not very useful.
Submitted at 12/10/2009 9:00:00 AM

the user must manually refresh the page to get new results. Google's approach not only refreshes automatically due to its use of Twitter's firehose feed, but it also brings in content from sources other than Twitter. The other major problem for Yahoo, of course, is that its search share is dropping, something Yahoo CEO Carol Bartz blamed on expiring toolbar deals during an investor conference Tuesday. While Yahoo says it is committed to remaining a player in the search market by coming up with new ideas for search presentation, this week shows just how easy it is for Google to take a similar idea (real-time search) and put out a For hot topics, such as Obama or associated with that query, similar-if-not-better take on the Tiger Woods, Yahoo plans to use Yahoo will surface three tweets same idea. the Twitter tab it added to the related to the topic and chosen by fivefilters.org featured article: News Shortcut feature already its algorithms, Cornett said. Normalising the crime of the found in Yahoo search results. The main problem with Yahoo's century by John Pilger For other topics that are gaining approach is that it's not exactly traction but don't necessarily real-time: the most recent results have a huge amount of news, surfaced during a demonstration p h o t o s o r v i d e o s a l r e a d y were 15 to 20 minutes old, and

Apple to Launch iTunes on the Web
By Pete Cashmore (Mashable!)
Submitted at 12/10/2009 6:04:31 AM

Following Apple’s acquisition of Web-based music service Lala, it didn’t take much to connect the dots: Apple wants to take iTunes to the Web. Today the WSJ confirms as much, citing “people familiar

with the matter.” The Journal adds that the Web-based service would negate the need to download the iTunes software. You wouldn’t need to download your music either; it could live on the cloud, accessible anywhere with a Web connection. Lala users current pay 10 cents to iTunes’ model – Apple might s t r e a m a t r a c k f o r e v e r , choose to keep that model intact. significantly undercutting

It’s interesting, too, to consider the integration with Apple’s devices: 10 cents per song for music streamed to your iPhone, iPod touch or Apple tablet sounds like a compelling proposition, does it not? Tags: apple, iphone, ipod, Lala, trending

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How to cram the entire Internet Movie Database into your iPhone
By Steven Sande (The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW))
Submitted at 12/9/2009 5:00:00 PM

More on Apple, LaLa and the future of iTunes
By Dave Caolo (The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW))
Submitted at 12/10/2009 12:00:00 PM

Filed under: Freeware, iPhone, App Store, iPod touch, First Look, App Review The Internet Movie Database(IMDb), an Amazon.com company, has just released a free iPhone app [ iTunes Link] that puts the power of the huge repository of movie facts, fables, and trivia into the palm of your hand. I use IMDb regularly, so when I saw that the app had been released, I downloaded it immediately. Upon launching, the app will ask if you wish to let it use your location -- this is used to display show times and movies for local theaters. While IMDb doesn't exactly have a beautiful interface, it's perfect for navigating the huge amount of information that is available. The first page of the app displays three major areas: Movies, TV, and People. There's also an Application area, which is used only to display information about the App. Movies is subdivided into Showtimes, Coming Soon, US Box Office

synopses of what has happened on top TV shows during the previous week. Under the People heading, there's both STARmeter, which shows a listing of the top 25 stars as measured by the number of times that they've been searched for on IMDb, and Born Today, which lists actors (living and dead) who were born on the current day. If you love movies and TV, or searching trivia about roles, actors, and directors, then you probably already spend a lot of time with IMDb. The iPhone app is just the icing on the IMDb cake, and as a free app it should Results, MOVIEmeter, and the be on the home screen of every T o p 2 5 0 M o v i e s . T a p p i n g movie fan's iPhone. Check out Coming Soon brings up details the gallery for screenshots of about upcoming movies releases, IMDb in action. including trailers that can be Gallery: IMDb App for iPhone viewed on the phone. I love the TUAW How to cram the entire Top 250 Movies, which is a list Internet Movie Database into of the movies rated highest by your iPhone originally appeared IMDb readers. It's a treasure on The Unofficial Apple Weblog trove of information about many (TUAW) on Wed, 09 Dec 2009 of the classic movies of all time. 17:00:00 EST. Please see our IMDb's TV section is split into terms for use of feeds. US TV Tonight, which is a Read| Permalink| Email this| schedule of upcoming shows on Comments the major networks, and US TV Recaps, which provides full text

Filed under: Apple Corporate, iTS, Rumors, Internet, Internet Tools, iTunes There's an interesting article at The Wall Street Journal(WSJ) today (subscription required) suggesting that Apple's recent acquisition of LaLa could mean a web-streaming model for a future version of iTunes. The speculation began last week, and today more information has emerged. Quoting a source "...who has been briefed on Apple's plans," the WSJ reports that LaLa executives have been given key roles at Apple, and that members of the existing iTunes team will report to them. The article also reiterates the $85 million price tag, which TechCrunch recently disputed. While a streaming model makes sense for both Apple and consumers -- Apple could sell music through search engines, etc. while customers could eliminate space-hogging libraries from their computers -- such a move would be a radical departure for Apple, which has insisted that customers want to "own" a physical copy of their music.

Lala's service scanned your hard drive for songs you own to stream at will (think a web-based version of Apple's Home Sharing). Songs you don't own could be streamed for $0.10 each with a download "upgrade" available. All of this would require huge amounts of storage and bandwidth from Apple. Perhaps that's what the new North Carolina server facility is for. As for Apple, mum's the word. "Apple buys smaller technology companies from time to time and we generally do not comment on our purpose or plans," said Apple spokesman Steve Dowling. [Via Mac Rumors] TUAW More on Apple, LaLa and the future of iTunes originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Thu, 10 Dec 2009 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Read| Permalink| Email this| Comments

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Before there was Boot Camp, there were DOS Compatibility Cards
By Steven Sande (The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW))
Submitted at 12/10/2009 9:30:00 AM

Become JetBlue’s Facebook Fan, Win Free Travel For a Year
By Jennifer Van Grove (Mashable!)
Submitted at 12/10/2009 8:50:28 AM

Filed under: Hardware, Apple History, This Old Apple With our zippy Intel Macs able to eagerly boot up Windows 7 in Boot Camp, VMWare, Parallels, and VirtualBox, it's difficult to fathom that it was ever a problem to run Microsoft operating systems on our Apple boxes. The situation wasn't that good just a scant 15 or so years ago. Back in the bleak days before the triumphant return of Steve Jobs to 1 Infinite Loop, Apple had a broad and confusing product line. Since DOS and Windows 3.1 were already entrenched in business worldwide, Apple knew that they had to have a way for Macs to run Microsoft operating systems in order to gain any sort of traction in the corporate world. Edible Apple ran a wonderful retrospective yesterday that looked at Apple's DOS Compatibility Cards. These were basically PCs on a NuBus or PCI cards that were inserted into a slot in the Mac, using the Mac's power supply, floppy and hard drives, and keyboard and mouse.

With nearly 1.5 million followers on Twitter, JetBlue [@JetBlue] has mastered the formula for success on the micromedium. With barely 60,000 fans on Facebook, however, the brand’s social media savvy Sporting such amazing CPUs as Macs (they didn't). doesn’t appear to translate on the the Intel 486SX running at a Today's Windows compatibility world’s largest social network. whopping 25 MHz clock speed, is the best it has ever been on the Rather than wait for their the original cards worked with Mac platform, and usually the Facebook fan count to climb the Centris 610 and Quadra 610 o n l y " h a r d w a r e u p g r a d e " organically, JetBlue [ Facebook and were released in 1994. By r e q u i r e d i s t o a d d s o m e Page] has just launched a the next year a second edition inexpensive RAM to the host carefully crafted campaign to was released with an Intel Mac. Things might sometimes engineer Facebook fan inflation. 486DX/66, and was targeted at change slowly, but at least in the The fan-focused campaign, t h e P o w e r M a c 6 1 0 0 a n d world of technology, the change dubbed the All-You-Can-Jet Fan Performa 6100. is usually for the best. Sweepstakes, revolves around an Further research shows that there TUAW Before there was Boot ongoing promotion where being were several subsequent cards C a m p , t h e r e w e r e D O S a fan of the brand on Facebook that included even faster Pentium Compatibility Cards originally could net you either free roundand Cyrix 6x86 processors, were appeared on The Unofficial trip tickets, comped airfare and a called "PC Compatibility Cards," Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Thu, vacation for you and three friends and were designed for use in 10 Dec 2009 09:30:00 EST. for five days and four nights, or other PowerMac models. I can Please see our terms for use of even unlimited free travel on recall acquiring one of the feeds. JetBlue for a year. Pentium-based cards and using it Read| Permalink| Email this| Becoming eligible for the grand to try to entice our one DOS Comments prize — the JetBlue All-You-Can holdout department to move to -Travel-Jet pass — and the round -trip tickets is simple: Become a fan of JetBlue and submit a ballot via their JetBlue Sweeps Page tab. Fans can also enter daily for extra chances to win these prizes. In order to win the team prize,

which is the four round-trip tickets and a vacation, registrations need to create a travel team using JetBlue’s Facebook application. The team creator can then invite three friends to join their team, and while fans can only create one team, they can join the teams of other fans to become eligible for more chances to win. In addition to the above prizes, JetBlue will giveaway an additional All-You-Can-TravelJet pass for every 250,000 fans they accrue during the promotion period, which ends January 31, 2010. Check JetBlue’s Facebook Page for official rules and eligibility requirements. While the campaign isn’t the most innovative Facebook brand strategy we’ve seen, it is sure to encourage Facebook users to fan the airline in the hopes of free travel for a year. Reviews: Facebook Tags: facebook page, jetblue, sweepstakes

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Four free Christmas screen savers to Posterous Makes a Play get your Mac in the holiday spirit for Business Blogs
By Michael Grothaus (The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW))
Submitted at 12/9/2009 5:17:00 PM

By Jennifer Van Grove (Mashable!)
Submitted at 12/10/2009 9:00:13 AM

Filed under: Software, Freeware, Holidays I love this time of year. I love the lights and the snow and the holiday cookies. I also love getting my Mac in the festive spirit. From widgets to desktop pictures to icons, there are countless ways to dress your Mac for Christmas. Here are four festive screen savers. Best of all, they're free. Jubilee by Idle Time Software displays Christmas or Hannukah lights like you'd see them if you were rocketing through your neighborhood in a Ferrari. There are four color schemes, including a beautiful blue and white Hanukkah theme. It requires Mac OS X 10.4 + (including Snow Leopard) and the Flash plugin. XMas Tree by Joe Hillman is an interesting 3D screen saver that decorates your desktop with textured ornaments. It's strangely hypnotic as the screen rotates around a beautifully generated 3D tree while Christmas music plays in the background. Mac OS X 10.5 + (including Snow Leopard). Silver Snow Clock is a simple little saver that shows an ornate pocket watch ticking the time

away as the holidays pass up by. This gets a mention as one of my favorites because of the 3D snow that gently drizzles down the screen. Mac OS X 10.5 + (including Snow Leopard). Last but not least is everyone's favorite, Snowfall by Russel Warnebolt. We first reported on this almost three years ago, but it still deserves top marks. Contrary to popular belief, this screen saver was never used in Apple's retail stores (that one was, sadly, Apple-internal only). Since updating to 10.6.2, Snowfall experiences slight jitters. According to the dev: 'This appears to be a newly introduced bug in Quartz Composer on 10.6.2 that causes very poor

Posterous has long supported group blogging functionality, which is 100 percent manageable via a clever and simple method: e -mail. Perhaps the one downside to Posterous group blogs has been that the original group creator’s bio and information appears front and center on the group page. Today the super-simple blogging platform is remedying that and introducing the Group Profile. frame rate. On 10.6 and 10.6.1 By enabling the Group Profile things are as usual, at least on my feature, you can now display machines. Unfortunately this may group-specific — in lieu of require a fix from Apple.' person-specific — information Nonetheless, it's still the most on your Posterous site and even beautiful Christmas screen saver automatically update a distinct I've ever seen. Mac OS X 10.4 + group Facebook Page and/or Twitter account. (including Snow Leopard). TUAW Four free Christmas The addition of this feature screen savers to get your Mac in shows the maturity of the the holiday spirit originally blogging platform and highlights appeared on The Unofficial the company’s ambition to serve Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Wed, more than just personal accounts; 09 Dec 2009 17:17:00 EST. now it caters to businesses, teams Please see our terms for use of and professional users as well. To configure your Group feeds. P e r m a l i n k | E m a i l t h i s | Profile, you’ll want to first select the appropriate blog from the left Comments -hand sidebar in your Posterous settings dashboard. Then click on

the Group Profile tab and select the button to enable the Group Profile. Now you can enter a name for your group, add a group photo, pen a group bio and input group social media account information for autoposting everywhere. With the latter feature, any of your individual contributions to the group will be distributed via your Twitter and Facebook accounts as well as the group’s accounts. With every new update, Posterous adds value without complicating the core simplicity that appeals to most users. Posterous’ Group Profile functionality is yet another indicator of progress in the evolution of the platform, and we think that business users will be more than pleased with the new feature set, especially now that they can also apply their own branding. Reviews: Facebook, Posterous, Twitter Tags: group blog, posterous

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Gaming Faceoff: Nintendo DS vs. Sony PSP vs. iPhone/iPod Touch
By Ben Parr (Mashable!)
the social media universe. For portable gaming, do you Submitted at 12/9/2009 11:01:53 PM prefer the dual screens of the The convergence of social media Nintendo DS, the raw power of and gaming is becoming harder the Sony PSP or the versatility to deny. The domination of the and touchscreen of the iPhone FarmVille Facebook game, the and iPod touch? We want your blockbuster acquisition of vote (and your comments) on the Playfish by EA and the rise of the You may not think it, but the matter. The polls are open until iPhone as a gaming platform iPhone and iPod touch are Sunday, December 13, at 12:00 immediately come to mind as gaming forces to be reckoned p.m. Get to it! examples of social media’s with. Who would win in a fight: impact on the game industry. That’s why gaming is the subject Nintendo DS, Sony PSP, or the The latter especially interests us. of this week’s Web Faceoff, iPhone/iPod Touch?( online In September, Apple SVP Phil where we take key tech, Web and surveys) Schiller shared some interesting social media tools and pit them ` stats on the iPhone and iPod against one another for your vote. Tags: apple, gaming, ipod, iPod touch as gaming platforms. Not only do we like to find out Touch, Nintendo, nintendo ds, While the Nintendo DS and Sony whether you prefer Windows 7 or sony, Sony PSP, web faceoff PSP had 3,680 and 607 games Snow Leopard, but it’s also our respectively, the iPhone app store opportunity to gauge the pulse of had over 21,000 different games.

Blockbuster, Netflix Found Not To Have Infringed On Patent For Notifying You Of The Status Of Your Rental Queue
By Mike Masnick (Techdirt)
Submitted at 12/10/2009 3:26:00 AM

possibly approved. It's patents like this one that make people question what patent examiners Slashdot points us to the news actually do. So it's nice to see the that a lawsuit against Netflix and patent holder sent packing, B l o c k b u s t e r f o r p a t e n t though you have to wonder if infringement has been dismissed GameFly, who had previously by a California court. At issue settled a lawsuit over the same was a patent, 7,389,243, that is patent is now regretting that for a method for alerting users to decision. the status of their rental queue. Permalink| Comments| Email Read through the claims and look This Story at the drawings and try to figure out how such a patent was

Apple maintains "Think Different" trademark
By Dave Caolo (The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW))
television ads, print ads and slogans printed on Apple packaging. Submitted at 12/9/2009 6:00:00 PM The phrase was replaced with Filed under: Apple Corporate, the " Switch" and " Get A Mac" Steve Jobs, Apple History When campaigns, but didn't disappear Steve Jobs returned to Apple in for good. A portion of the poem 1996, the public's perception of from the TV ad can be found on the company was grim. To make the high-res version of the a long story short, Steve's plans TextEdit icon in Leopard and f o r r e s u r r e c t i o n i n c l u d e d Snow Leopard. Earlier this year, This week, Patently Apple changing that, and the"Think " T h i n k D i f f e r e n t " b e g a n reports that the US Patent & Different" campaign was among appearing on 21.5" and 27" iMac Trademark Office has published the first steps. There were boxes. Apple's new trademark application for Think Different (it's application 77882684 if you were wondering). It could mean a revitalization of the campaign, but it's more likely that Apple just wants to keep it in their stable. Many consumers still think of Apple when hearing "think different." Like most iconic aspects of pop culture, there have been many parodies. Here's my favorite. [Via MacNN] TUAW Apple maintains "Think Different" trademark originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Wed, 09 Dec 2009 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Read| Permalink| Email this| Comments

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Astroturf Health Insurance Lobbying Group Paying Social Gamers To Oppose Health Reform
By Mike Masnick (Techdirt)
Submitted at 12/10/2009 8:13:00 AM

After Forcing Down Some Sites For Revealing Postal Codes, UK Decides To Open The Data Up
By Mike Masnick (Techdirt)
Submitted at 12/9/2009 11:23:00 PM

We've seen plenty of stories of"astroturf" campaigns by lobbyists looking to influence public policy by pretending that there's grassroots support for some corporate position. And, we've seen stories of virtual goods scams taking place on various social networks, which are used to get unsophisticated social gamers to sign up for subscriptions to things that they don't want. But what happens when you combine the two? Nicholas Carlson has an

That was Qik! After Ustream's debut in App Store, Qik submits streaming app
By Steven Sande (The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW))
Submitted at 12/10/2009 8:35:00 AM

Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Video, Odds and ends, Developer, iPhone, App Store We were all a bit surprised when Ustream's free Live Broadcasting iPhone app [ iTunes Link] was approved by Apple and tossed into the App Store yesterday. After all, it wasn't that long ago that it seemed that no streaming

are realizing this. Starting next year, the UK will free up postal astounding story about a health not solve the ones we have." In code data so that anyone can use insurance astroturf group that is exchange, you get some virtual It really was just a couple it. There are still some questions using those social gaming "offer" currency to spend. months ago that the Royal Mail as to how this will be done, but services to get gamers to contact The group behind this virtual in the UK was using a copyright it's a huge step forward from their elected officials to oppose bribery astroturfing effort is claim to stop websites from shutting sites down to actually health care reform in exchange backed by a who's who of offering public postal code data. freeing up the data. for virtual currency in games. insurance trade associations... It made no sense that such data Permalink| Comments| Email Yes, health insurance companies and when Carlson tried to contact should be proprietary, and it This Story are basically trying to bribe a them for comment, the email appears that, finally, UK officials bunch of Farmville and Mafia bounced. Nice to see that some Michael Jackson Present Wars players on Facebook to of the scammiest lobbying in Spirit at 'A Family s e n d m e s s a g e s t o t h e i r groups out there have found representatives, that say: "I am some of the scammiest marketing Dynasty' Premiere concerned a new government techniques out there as well. (ETonline - Breaking News) plan could cause me to lose the Permalink| Comments| Email employer coverage I have today. This Story Submitted at 12/10/2009 3:02:00 AM More government bureaucracy The Jackson brothers cope with will only create more problems, the loss of brother Michael and offer fans a rare peak into the lives of the traditionally private famous family in "The Jacksons: A Family Dynasty." Jackie, Jermaine, Tito, and Marlon video apps would ever be jailbroken iPhones will certainly celebrated the launch of their approved for the iPhone platform open up a new chapter in the reality show on Wednesday night in Los Angeles. due to AT&T's reluctance to have iPhone story. their network overwhelmed by TUAW That was Qik! After Marlon told ET that Michael is self-produced live vidcasts of Ustream's debut in App Store, with them "always in spirit." e m o g u i t a r p l a y e r s the app store, which allows Qik submits streaming app Jermaine said the late King of " b r o a d c a s t i n g " f r o m t h e i r recording and eventual uploading originally appeared on The Pop "would be very, very proud unheated rent-controlled flats. of video to their site, but not live U n o f f i c i a l A p p l e W e b l o g because we kept it real." To get a glimpse of the No sooner had the Ustream app video streaming. According to a (TUAW) on Thu, 10 Dec 2009 magically appeared than we blog post on the Qik site, the app 08:35:00 EST. Please see our dynamics of the brotherly love, we asked which brother takes the began to receive emails from Qik has been resubmitted and the terms for use of feeds. stating that they were submitting wait is on. Read| Permalink| Email this| longest to get ready. Marlon ragged on Jermaine, saying, their streaming video app for Having a choice of legal video Comments "Jermaine takes three hours. He's approval. Qik currently has Qik streaming apps that don't require worse than a female." for 3GS [Free, iTunes Link] in

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Is Everyone Who Received Monday's Metro Toronto Guilty Of Child Porn Possession?
By Mike Masnick (Techdirt)
Submitted at 12/10/2009 1:25:29 AM

who will post almost anything -removed the photo realizing that under current laws, it was likely We were just talking about how child pornography. Jesse points current child porn laws that make out that this would appear to y o u a c r i m i n a l b a s e d o n make a bunch of people at the incidental possession alone can Metro, all the recipients of the be quite problematic. Reader paper on Monday, many people Jesse highlights an example of who visited blogs like Torontoist this. If you happen to have been and Gawker while they had those in Toronto on Monday, and photos displayed... potentially at r e c e i v e d a c o p y o f M e t r o risk for possessing child porn Toronto, a popular commuter (and in the case of Metro paper, buried a few pages in was employees and these blogs, for a "featured picture" of some kids distributing it as well) -- making celebrating at an annual parade them all potential felons who by jumping around in a hot tub. could be required to sign up to be The only problem? The male in on sex offender lists for the rest the photo appears to be, well... of their lives. Isn't something having a wardrobe malfunction. wrong with the law when that Not unexpectedly, a bunch of happens? sites were having some fun with Permalink| Comments| Email this... until some realized that This Story these were high school students. At that point, even Gawker --

Nicole Richie Posts Fun Family Pics
(ETonline - Breaking News)
Submitted at 12/10/2009 7:19:00 AM

New Pics! Nicole Richie posted some adorable photos of her

If you're venturing into freelance work for the first time, or juggling quite a few contracts, By Pete Cashmore Demand standard definition Web Worker Daily has a helpful (Mashable!) version as a gift with purchase. step-by-step on building a You’ll be able to instantly enjoy spreadsheet that will help you Submitted at 12/10/2009 6:35:56 AM the video on demand version on track who's biting, who you're This makes perfect sense: your Mac, PC, compatible device waiting on, and more. Amazon is launching Disc+ On or compatible TV when it is If, like certain red-faced Demand, allowing customers available.” Lifehacker editors, your who purchase selected DVD or The downsides: Disc+ on spreadsheet jujitsu isn't quite up Blu-ray movies to immediately Demand is only available on a to black belt levels, Celine stream their purchases through very limited number of titles Rogue's explainer should help Amazon Video on Demand. right now, and Amazon is you set up a table with dropSuch movies can be streamed promoting it as a “limited time down boxes, all the right fields, from the Web or downloaded to offer” — we fully expect that and standardized data for easy your TiVo, PC or Mac. demand will be high, and that the future input. With such a sheet in The site reads: service could (and should) place, you can get a Getting“When you purchase select DVD become a permanent one. Things-Done-like handle on who a n d B l u - r a y t i t l e s f r o m [via NewTeeVee] Reviews: Blu you've accepted work for and Amazon.com you will also when it's due, who you're still receive an Amazon Video On waiting to hear back from, and who you can move past. How to Track Freelance Job Leads Via Spreadsheet[Web Worker Daily] family on her Web site and baby daughter Harlow and new son up about her new bundle of joy, Sparrow was also striking a pose! Sparrow goofing off for the telling the publication, "I'm glad I The photo post titled "Happy camera. had a girl before I had a boy. ... Wednesday" featured four pics of In this past November issue of She just loves him so much." Nicole, husband Joel Madden, People magazine, Richie opened

Amazon Disc+ On Demand: Buy a DVD, Stream it Immediately

Track Freelance Job Pitches with a Spreadsheet [Freelancing]
By Kevin Purdy (Lifehacker)
Submitted at 12/10/2009 8:05:00 AM

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Hot Air Comments of the Day
(Little Green Footballs)
thread, no matter what the topic. Tick … tick … tick … it’s getting closer to the time when Time for another episode of people will simply begin to take “Hot Air Comments of the Day,” matters into their own hands. I a look into the pestilent sewer of hope most of the military and law hatred, racism, talk of violent enforcement will be on board. overthrow of the government, I have no idea what Obama’s calls for the murder of President thinking, but not all people will Obama and “liberals” in general, simply accept his dictate to spend and all-around evil-minded the rest of their lives in misery nastiness that is the Hot Air kissing his communist a$$. comments section. darwin on December 9, 2009 at This isn’t “cherry-picking.” 3:01 PM Every single thread of comments […] at Hot Air is full of the kind of I find the idea that the US stuff you’re about to read. government should be Starting with someone who overthrown slightly less radical wants to personally take part in and wacky than stating that lynching President Obama. prudent people suffer an unjust I couldn’t care less what the and unConstitutional Congress Obamunist’s view is, I intend to until the Supreme Court okays put the rope around his neck the Revolution. when Obamunist hangs and I Chris_Balsz on December 8, DARE for him or his lackeys to 2009 at 10:09 PM send anyone after me. I guarantee […] our military will support me in Time has past for words. I’ll get this, why?, because I work with back involved once the civil war these good folk every day. begins in earnest. Most media nelsonknows on December 8, liberals should be killed or 2009 at 7:34 PM imprisoned. That ought to be good for a call Griz on December 9, 2009 at from the Secret Service. 2:06 PM Here’s someone pining for the Lots of Hot Air’s denizens think good old days. Obama is exactly like Hitler, but I miss a good lynch mob. some of them disagree. They Shy Guy on December 9, 2009 think Obama’s worse than Hitler. at 1:50 PM Yes, but Hitler was able to get There are people calling for the Olympic games for Berlin. violent revolution against the US Obama couldn’t match that! ;-) government in almost every UltimateBob on December 9,
Submitted at 12/9/2009 1:30:17 PM

2009 at 12:07 PM He also lifted Germany from a depression. Obama’s trying to plunge us further into one. Darth Executor on December 9, 2009 at 12:08 PM Raving misogyny is also a common theme. In a thread about Barbara Boxer: Hey Boxhead you sick racist f**k ! I wish your parents had the same attitude back in the day about abortion as you do now! What a c**t!!! The best part of her hit the sheets! cableguy615 on December 8, 2009 at 9:23 PM […] If only Boxer had been aborted. Gregor on December 8, 2009 at 5:42 PM […] Pfizer doesn’t half the V!@gra I’d need to sleep with Babs. TXUS on December 8, 2009 at 6:08 PM […] Abortion Kills! And, we are NOT going to pay for the two bags that your husband has to put over your head to have sex with you, ma’am. HornetSting on December 8, 2009 at 6:21 PM […] Well said, but I would add that if your woman’s so ugly you can’t get it up, run her for the Senate of Calfornia or Maine, and get

yourself a chipee like one of Tiger’s. TXUS on December 8, 2009 at 6:40 PM […] Libs are vile vermin, not only out to kill babies, but hungry for it. Liam on December 8, 2009 at 8:51 PM […] M A D A M E MENGELE,oops,thats, SENATOR MADAME MENGELE !! canopfor on December 8, 2009 at 10:09 PM Racial slurs and comparisons to African dictators abound. A popular slur for President Obama is “Ogabe.” No longer will “Hail to the Chief” be played when Ogabe enters the room, it will now be the theme music from ‘The Benny Hill Show’. Bishop on December 9, 2009 at 10:56 AM […] Sometimes I just want to lock the doors, pile up my food in the basement and wait it out until Ogabe is gone. Bishop on December 9, 2009 at 11:17 AM […] –Hitler only had one ball. And he’s dead. Jimbo3 on December 9, 2009 at 12:02 PM That’s a myth, but even if it was

true, it’s one more than Ogabe has. Plus, Hillary has enough balls to replenish O’s and Adolf’s and still keep a pair for herself (Slick Willy’s). Darth Executor on December 9, 2009 at 12:07 PM […] Ogabe will sign anything and the media scumbags will proclaim it the greatest event since time began. Bishop on December 8, 2009 at 3:46 PM A thread about Planned Parenthood brings out the kind of people who supported antiabortion murderer Scott Roeder: Nazism at it’s finest……… repugnant, disgusting, foul, perverted, lying mo fo’s…. honest to god…i have less that zero sympathy for these people….none…. they get what they get and deserve it… i will never shed a tear for abortionists…..never JJKRN on December 9, 2009 at 2:38 PM Ugh. Now you’ll have to excuse me while I go take a shower. Anyone still wondering why I don’t want anything to do with the right wing? (Hat tips: KT, simoom, Alouette, Gus 802, Sharmuta.)

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You're Being Duped By the Climate Denial Industry
(Little Green Footballs)
shifts makes sense. Solar cycles have been out of synch with the temperature record for 40 years. Since a whole lot of right- The Milankovic cycle, which wingers gleefully trumpeted describes variations in the Earth’s George Monbiot’s article in orbit, doesn’t explain it either. which he called for CRU head But the warming trend is closely Phil Jones to resign, I wonder if correlated with the accumulation they’ll be equally eager to of heat-trapping gases in the promote his latest article — atmosphere. The impact of these which documents the enormous gases can be demonstrated in the amounts of money the climate laboratory. To assert that they do denial industry is spending to not have the same effect in the trick people into believing there’s atmosphere, a novel and radical no threat from global warming: theory would be required. No The climate denial industry is out such theory exists. The science is to dupe the public. And it’s not fixed – no science ever is – working. but it is as firm as science can be. I’m guessing … not. The evidence for man-made Even if you were to exclude global warming remains as every line of evidence that could strong as the evidence linking possibly be disputed – the proxy smoking to lung cancer or HIV to records, the computer models, the Aids. complex science of clouds and The third observation is the ocean currents – the evidence for contrast between the global man-made global warming would s c a n d a l t h e s e e m a i l s h a v e still be unequivocal. You can see provoked and the muted response it in the measured temperature to 20 years of revelations about record, which goes back to 1850; the propaganda planted by fossil in the shrinkage of glaciers and fuel companies. I have placed on the thinning of sea ice; in the the Guardian’s website four case responses of wild animals and studies; each of which provides a plants and the rapidly changing shocking example of how the crop zones. denial industry works. No other explanation for these Two of them are drawn from
Submitted at 12/9/2009 9:00:32 PM

Climate Cover-Up, the fascinating, funny and beautifully written new book by James Hoggan and Richard Littlemore. If every allegation it contained could not be traced back to leaked documents (I have checked all the sources), their findings would be unbelievable. Nothing exposed by the hacking of the Climatic Research Unit’s server is one tenth as bad as the least of these revelations. When I use the term denial industry, I’m referring to those who are paid to say that manmade global warming isn’t happening. The great majority of people who believe this have not been paid: they have been duped. Reading Climate Cover-Up, you keep stumbling across familiar phrases and concepts which you can see every day on the comment threads. The book shows that these memes were planted by PR companies and hired experts. The first case study I’ve posted reveals how a coalition of US coal companies sought to persuade people that the science is uncertain. It listed the two social groups it was trying to reach – “Target 1: Older, less

educated males”; “Target 2: Younger, lower income women” – and the methods by which it would reach them. One of its findings was that “members of the public feel more confident expressing opinions on others’ motivations and tactics than they do expressing opinions on scientific issues”. Remember this the next time you hear people claiming that climate scientists are only in it for the money, or that environmentalists are trying to create a communist world government: these ideas were devised and broadcast by energy companies. The people who inform me, apparently without irony, that “your article is an ad hominem attack, you four-eyed, big-nosed, commie sack of shit”, or “you scaremongers will destroy the entire world economy and take us back to the Stone Age”, are the unwitting recruits of campaigns they have never heard of. The second case study reveals how Dr Patrick Michaels, one of a handful of climate change deniers with a qualification in climate science, has been lavishly paid by companies seeking to protect their profits from burning

coal. As far as I can discover, none of the media outlets who use him as a commentator – including the Guardian – has disclosed this interest at the time of his appearance. Michaels is one of many people commenting on climate change who presents himself as an independent expert while being secretly paid for his services by fossil fuel companies. The third example shows how a list published by the Heartland Institute(which has been sponsored by oil company Exxon) of 500 scientists “whose research contradicts man-made global warming scares” turns out to be nothing of the kind: as soon as these scientists found out what the institute was saying about them, many angrily demanded that their names be removed. Twenty months later, they are still on the list. The fourth example shows how, during the Bush presidency, White House officials worked with oil companies to remove regulators they didn’t like and to doctor official documents about climate change.

President Obama Accepts Nobel Peace Prize
(ETonline - Breaking News)
Submitted at 12/10/2009 5:09:00 AM

Barack Obama and wife Michelle Obama traveled to Oslo, Norway for the president to

receive the Nobel Peace Prize on Thursday. In his acceptance speech he acknowledged, "I am the Commander in Chief…in the midst of two wars." In an effort

to achieve peace and prevent attacks, Obama defended his decision to deploy additional troops. He said, "The belief that peace is desirable is rarely enough to

achieve it…Peace entails sacrifice." The president explained that the troops are honored as "wagers of peace."

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Glenn Beck: Shill for Gold Merchants
(Little Green Footballs)
with Goldline International, a precious metals vendor that features the TV and radio host’s Glenn Beck is in trouble again, endorsement prominently on this time for his blatant shilling their website. Critics charge that for the gold merchants who Beck is guilty of misleading his c a p i t a l i z e o n m i s e r y a n d audience by often advising them discontent. The weeping, ranting to purchase gold in advance of Beck is fleecing his flock, the potential collapse of the value preaching extreme right wing of the dollar on the world apocalyptic idiocy and getting c u r r e n c y m a r k e t , w i t h o u t rich off the gullible: Glenn disclosing that he is in fact a Beck’s gold-gate problem. “paid spokesman” for Goldline. Yet another controversy appears Beck’s on-air promotion of gold, to be brewing around Fox News which includes advising viewers host Glenn Beck. Some are to construct “fruit cellars” and to accusing him of a blatant conflict rely on a “three G system” of o f i n t e r e s t c o n c e r n i n g h i s “God, Gold, and Guns” in the frequent on-air promotion of an event of America’s collapse, investment sold by one of his dates back to his time as a host main advertisers: Gold. for CNN Headline News. For some time Beck critics have Glenn Beck also regularly talks cried foul over his relationship u p g o l d o n h i s n a t i o n a l l y
Submitted at 12/9/2009 10:41:37 AM

Five DC-Area Muslims Arrested in Pakistan
(Little Green Footballs)
Submitted at 12/9/2009 10:13:53 AM

syndicated radio show, where he often endorses Goldline during live commercial segments. Additionally, Beck has had the company’s CEO on as a guest. Advertisements for Goldline are also featured prominently on Beck’s own website, where he recently promoted gold in an audio clip warning of an apocalyptic future: “When the system eventually collapses, and the government comes with guns and confiscates, you know, everything in your home and all your possessions, and then you fight off the raving mad cannibalistic crowds that Ted Turner talked about, don’t come crying to me. I told you: get gold.”

Google Mobile App for iPhone Updates for Speedier Results [Updates]
By Kevin Purdy (Lifehacker)
Submitted at 12/10/2009 7:30:00 AM

Google's Mobile App has an update available in the App Store that does a few things better. Most significantly, it opens browser for quicker browsing. It search results in the app's own also offers a live-updating

waveform and other neat-looking visual tweaks, and settings to pick a particular accent of your language—like Australian, Irish, U.K., or U.S.—for better voice search recognition. [ Official Google Mobile Blog]

Five Muslims apparently from the Washington DC area have been arrested in Pakistan: Breaking News: Pakistan Reportedly Detains Five D.C.Area Muslims on Suspicion of Terror. A Pakistani newspaper reports the arrest of five foreign nationals after a raid in a town called Sargodha. The raid took place at the home of a member of the Jaish-e-Muhammad, a Pakistani movement designated as a terrorist group by the U.S. Treasury Department in 2001. According to the report, “The DPO told that these people had been living in Sargodha since Nov 30 and it was quite a possibility that they were engaged in acts of terrorism.” It names the five as Ahmed Abdullah, Waqar Hassan Khan, Eman Hassan, Yasir and Rami Zamzam and describes them as two Yemenis, an Egyptian, a Swede and a U.S.-born Pakistani. [Earlier…] The identities of two of the

missing men, Howard student Ramy Zamzam and Waqar Khan, have been mentioned in online postings, including a Facebook page that was set up Monday for friends to offer their support. Some of those pages, however, appear restricted to friends and associates. It is not clear where the men are believed to have gone, but an informed source told the IPT that at least one left behind a farewell video. According to the Facebook and Twitter postings, Zamzam is among the missing. He has been active in the Muslim Students Association, serving as president of the MSA DC Council. A Howard University spokeswoman has not responded to questions from the IPT. The disappearance comes as U.S. officials are increasingly concerned about the threat of homegrown Islamist extremism. This concern is prompted by a spike in attacks like the Fort Hood massacre, and conspiracies broken up by law enforcement before any attacks took place.

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The Jewish Star: Losing the Right To Discovery Channel’s “Dirty Jobs” Tops Tuesday Night Be Right
(Little Green Footballs)
post entitled “ Why I parted ways with the Right” listed his dissatisfaction, which included Here’s a great editorial at Long the right wing’s support for I s l a n d ’ s T h e J e w i s h S t a r , fascists like Pat Buchanan and responding to my post about white supremacists like Robert “Why I Parted Ways with the Stacy McCain. Johnson also Right:” Editorial: Losing the wrote about the Right’s support right to be Right. for anti-government conspiracy Something unheard of happened theories, anti-science craziness on the Internet on November and the hatred reserved for 20th. President Obama, which goes, in Defying all historical precedent, his words, far “beyond simply someone actually changed his criticizing his policies.” mind. “The American right wing has Charles Johnson, the popular pro gone off the rails, into the -Israel, rightwing blogger of bushes, and off the cliff,” L i t t l e G r e e n F o o t b a l l s , Johnson wrote. “I won’t be going announced he had severed his over the cliff with them.” ties with the political Right. A Despite our generally
Submitted at 12/9/2009 9:50:29 PM

conservative stance, we can’t help agreeing with Johnson on a number of points. The right wing’s embrace of Buchanan is disturbing, to say the least, as is their wholehearted denial of climate change without allowing for any sort of compromise or reasoned discussion. Johnson’s post made us ask, in turn, where has the sensible rightwing gone? While the left has always had its share of crazies (ever met a cardcarrying Republican with a PETA membership?) it seems the Right has begun to match them kook for kook, loon for loon. Read the whole thing…

Among Key Demos
By Robert Seidman (TVbytheNumbers)

JOBS was the #1 primetime cable telecast among Persons 2554 and 18-49, and Men 25-54 Submitted at 12/9/2009 4:20:50 PM and 18-49 in delivery and ratings. Last night’s “Dirty Jobs” Strengthened by DIRTY JOBS, averaged a 1.3 rating with adults Discovery was the #1 primetime 18-49 and 2.917 million viewers cable network for Men 25-54 overall. ratings and delivery. Via Discovery: GHOST LAB, in its first season DISCOVERY CHANNEL’S on Discovery Channel and airing DIRTY JOBS TOPS TUESDAY directly following DIRTY JOBS NIGHT at 10PM, ranked in the top ten AS #1 CABLE TELECAST IN among Men 25-54 on primetime PRIMETIME AMONG KEY cable. DEMOS fivefilters.org featured article: On Tuesday, December 8, 2009, Normalising the crime of the the 9PM premiere telecast of century by John Pilger Discovery Channel’s DIRTY

How Do You Explain Computer Concepts to Non-Tech Types? [Ask The Readers]
By Kevin Purdy (Lifehacker)
Submitted at 12/10/2009 6:00:00 AM

User, reader Allan sent in this explanation of computer basics he'd heard a sales person use If you've ever been called on to while helping a couple pick out a diagnose, fix, upgrade, or shop computer for their grandchild: for a new computer, you know He used the library analogy: The that hardware and software hard drive size was compared to features can be hard to convey in the amount of shelving for books. plain English. We're searching T h e C P U s p e e d w a s t h e f o r t h e b e s t n o n - g e e k librarian's quickness on his/her e x p l a n a t i o n s y o u ' v e h e a r d . feet (this was a full service In response to the How-To library), and the RAM was the could be opened simultaneously. Geek's roundup of explanations size of the table at which one sat. When the table had been covered at the Q&A tech forum Super Larger table meant more books with books, each time a new

book was to be opened, one from the table would have to be closed (pagefile). The last part seemed superfluous in this scenario, but the overall description, with a few stated benchmarks and questions about the grandchild's habits, seemed a much better than average sales transaction. That's pretty clean and simple, and a good variation on the "desk covered with folders and files" metaphor I can recall from my early school days.

Now it's your turn: How would you explain why Firefox or Google Chrome are so much better than Internet Explorer, if you'd already covered the security angle? Why do 64-bit processors and operating systems matter to the average user? Let's hear the best explanations you've used, or received from others, in the comments.

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Most Popular How-To Features of 2009 [Best Of 2009]
By Adam Pash (Lifehacker)
Submitted at 12/10/2009 9:00:00 AM

We cover a lot of tips every day on Lifehacker, but we get our greatest pleasure from putting together in-depth, step-by-step guides. From Windows 7 to Hackintoshes and beyond, here's a look back at our most popular how-to features of '09. How to Do Everything with Windows 7 Windows 7 was a huge part of 2009, and the Lifehacker crowd was eager to try it out early on—but not necessarily ready to ditch XP or Vista outright to do so. This guide got you up and running with a Windows 7 and Vista/XP dual-boot system. Once you got it up and running, our complete guide to Windows 7 got you started with the most important parts of tackling your new operating system. We toured Windows 7's best, most underhyped features, schooled you on its impressive list of cool new shortcuts, and detailed how to pull a little XP mode in Windows 7. It was a pretty good year for Windows users. How to Build a Hackintosh with Snow Leopard, Start to Finish The Apple tax is always a little higher than a lot of people are willing to pay, so this year's guide to building a Hackintosh with Snow Leopard, start to finish, followed up by the simplified guide to install Snow Leopard on your Hackintosh PC, no hacking required made a pretty big splash. How to Crack a

Wi-Fi Network's WEP Password Whether you're verifying the security of your own network or up to something a little more dubious in nature, this guide to cracking a Wi-Fi network's WEP p a s s w o r d w i t h BackTrack—followed by this WEP cracking redux post that took WEP cracking out of the command line realm proved popular. Google Wave First Look Google Wave made a serious splash this year, and while a lot of people still aren't sure how to best put it to use, there's no doubt that there's a lot of interesting technology going on there. We did our best to help you understand how you might use it yourself, starting with our Google Wave first look, moving

computer hardware? Building a computer from scratch is easier than you think, and it's also one of the most satisfying projects a tech enthusiast can tackle. Programmer 101: Teach Yourself How to Code Whether you just want to do some simple scripting or you want to start down the road to an entirely new skill set, our 101 guide for teaching yourself how to code is a great place to get started. How to Fix Your Relatives' Terrible Computer If you didn't already fix every one of your relatives' computers over Thanksgiving, don't worry—the holidays are quickly approaching, and you know your the resident IT person for your friends and family. Our guide to onto a few best use cases for Silent, Standalone XBMC Media fixing your relatives' terrible Wave, and rounding it our with a Center On the Cheap computer can help. Photo by guide to Wave keyboard T h e f u t u r e o f h o m e Justin Marty. Cut the Cable For shortcuts, filters, searches, and entertainment isn't in your cable Good with Boxee and Apple TV more with our Google Wave 101 box as you know it today—it's in If our above guide to building a guide. Clean Up and Revive powerful home theater PCs. silent, standalone XBMC media Your Bloated, Sluggish Mac There was a time when you'd center wasn't quite your bag of Feel like your Mac isn't the need a big, noisy box next to chips, consider our step-by-step speedy little box it used to be? your computer if you wanted to guide to cutting the cable for Our guide to cleaning up and impress with your HTPC, but this good with Boxee and Apple TV. reviving your bloated, sluggish guide to building a silent, You remember Boxee, right? Mac will get your machine back standalone XBMC media center They're the killer media center to running like a champ. (PC o n t h e c h e a p t u r n s a n folks who had to fight it out with users, we've got you covered i n e x p e n s i v e , t i n y n e t t o p Hulu all year, and they just here.) Prep Your Mac for Snow computer into a standalone updated with an impressive new Leopard XBMC set-top box. The First- l o o k a n d f e e l . P h o t o b y W i n d o w s u s e r s h a d t h e Timer's Guide to Building a philcampbell. Six Ways You Windows 7 release, Mac users Computer from Scratch Should Be Using Twitter (that had the Snow Leopard upgrade, Ever been interested in building Don't Involve Breakfast) and this guide detailed how to your own PC from the bottom up Twitter may be taking the world prep your Mac for Snow Leopard but always been a little scared of MOST page 34 for a painless transition. Build a rolling up your sleeves with

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by storm, but it's often- and much -maligned by many of our readers. (47 percent of you say you'd never even use it.) Say what you will about tweeting, but if you're not using Twitter for at least search, we think you're missing out. Properly Erase Your Physical Media A whopping 40% of the used hard drives on eBay contain easily recoverable personal data. This guide details how to properly erase your physical media when you get rid of anything containing a hard drive so your personal data doesn't end up in someone else's hands. Photo by Robert Scoble. The Definitive Guide to Finding Free Wi-Fi Spend a lot of time on the road and out of the comfort of your home or office? Our definitive guide to finding free Wi-Fi can help you find some fast internet while you're out of your home territory. Photo by°Florian. The Beginner's Guide to Creating Virtual Machines with

VirtualBox We play around a lot with various pieces of new software and even entire operating systems around these parts. Play it safe or just play around with our beginner's guide to creating virtual machines with VirtualBox, a free, open-source virtualization tool. Use Firefox to Fix the Web's Biggest Annoyances The web is an amazing place. It can also be an extremely annoying place. Skip the annoying flashing ads, turn off auto-playing movies and sounds, skip the auto-refreshing pages, and more with our guide to fixing the web's biggest annoyances with Firefox. How to Build a Web Site from Scratch with No Experience Ever wanted to try your hand at building a web site you've been dreaming about—but have no experience with web development? We've been there (I was proud to release MixTape.me earlier this year),

and this guide for building a web site from scratch with no experience will point you in the right direction. You're Backing Up Your Data the Wrong Way Your data is the most important thing you've got on your computer—in fact, it's everything. If you aren't backing it up correctly, one bad move and all that information—and all those memories—goes the way of the dodo. If you're not sure if you're backing up the right way, this how-to will steer you in the right direction. Ten Must-Have Gmail Filters Available for Download If your inbox is overflowing and you feel like you've lost control, these 10 must-have Gmail filters will get you started slicing and dicing your inbox into a more manageable place. An Exhaustive Guide to Saving Your Smartphone's Battery If you spend a lot of time outside your home or office, your smartphone is likely your lifeline to the rest of the world. Problem

is, your pesky battery can die pretty quickly if you're not mindful of how you're using it. Follow our exhaustive guide to saving your smartphone's battery and you may be able to squeeze a few more hours out of that gadget of yours. Photo by[177]. Make Free VoIP Calls from Google Voice Soon free-calling functionality may be built into Google Voice (now that Google's bought Gizmo5), but in the meantime, here's how you can make free phone calls using Google Voice. Which Is Your Favorite Lifehacker How-To Feature of 2008?( polls) Got a favorite Lifehacker guide on or off this list that we covered in '09? Let's hear about it in the comments.

ABC to Air “The Deep End” Thursdays at 8pm while “Flash Forward” Is On Hiatus
By Robert Seidman (TVbytheNumbers)
Submitted at 12/9/2009 6:25:29 PM

Josef Adalian reports that ABC will air six episodes of the 20th Century Fox Television produced legal drama“The Deep End” Thursdays at 8pm beginning January 21. Still no word on “Happy Town”… After last Thursday’s telecast of “Flash Forward’s” fall finale, ABC promoted that the show would return March 4th. Originally, it was set to return in January. This seems like a “let’s throw the 20th Century show to the dogs during the Olympics and do whatever we can to protect Flash Forward” move. fivefilters.org featured article: Normalising the crime of the century by John Pilger

It's Jon Gosselin vs. TLC, Round 312
By Brad Trechak (TV Squad)
Submitted at 12/10/2009 12:02:00 PM

wants Gosselin to stop making media appearances and Gosselin argues that his job as a "media Granted, I'm making a joke with personality" is his sole source of the "Round 312" thing. It only income. feels like Round 312. However, Yes, Jon Gosselin's career is the legal fight between Jon now that of "media personality". Gosselin and TLC, the network While in the courtroom, I that made him famous, is going sincerely hope that the judge Mr. Gosselin to determine his to a Maryland courtroom. TLC orders a psychological test on fitness as a parent. Honestly, I

don't even know who to side with in this divorce. Both of them seem like unfit parents these days. For example, if Gosselin didn't want his children to be exploited on television, why star in a reality television show in the first place? Is "media personality" even a career? Can one put the

title on a W2 form? Sound off in the comments. Filed under: Other Reality Shows, OpEd, Celebrities, Reality-Free Permalink| Email this| | Comments

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MyWords Saves Common Words and Phrases in Firefox [Downloads]
By Jason Fitzpatrick (Lifehacker)
Submitted at 12/10/2009 6:30:00 AM

Video: Fergie & Husband Josh Duhamel On the Run
(ETonline - Breaking News)
Submitted at 12/10/2009 8:21:00 AM

Firefox: Have a phrase or snippet of code you use all the time in Firefox? Assign a text or keyboard shortcut to it in Firefox and never have to write it all out again. Once you've installed MyWords, a menu option is added to your right-click context menu any time you click in a dialogue box or after highlighting text. From the menu you can add words or phrases to MyWords or tweak the general setup of MyWords. To use the phrases stored in

MyWords you can either use a simple keyboard shortcut to scroll through them (handy if you only have a few) or if you have many shortcuts stored you can turn the keyboard shortcut into an auto complete flag. In the

screenshot above we've assigned "teotwawki" to "IT'S THE END OF THE WORLD AS WE KNOW IT". If we had MyWords set to autocomplete we could hit the shortcut trigger and then type "teo" to give it a hint and it

would auto complete the full phrase. MyWords is handy if you're only using auto complete in Firefox, if you want to use it elsewhere on your PC check out homegrown Texter and previously reviewed PhraseExpress. MyWords is free and works wherever Firefox does. Have a text-replacement or time-saving tool that makes Firefox even more awesome? Let's hear about it in the comments. MyWords[Mozilla]

HTV cameras caught up to Fergie and her husband Josh Duhamel as they worked up a sweat with an afternoon run. The couple made headlines this fall after an Atlanta stripper alleged that she had a sexual encounter with the actor. Josh and Fergie seemed to be in good spirits during their run but avoided questions from photographers. The two also stepped out together for the Los Angeles premiere of Fergie's new film 'Nine' on Wednesday night.

Run Google Wave Inside Thunderbird 3 [Thunderbird 3]
By Kevin Purdy (Lifehacker)
Submitted at 12/10/2009 7:15:00 AM

inside Thunderbird. The Quetzalcoatal blog hacked together a little code that opens Google's Wave tool suffers from Wave cleanly and conveniently a "just another inbox" problem. inside one of these tabs, and even So it's great to see Wave running keeps it open after you restart inside a tab in Thunderbird, right Thunderbird. next to your email inbox, with a To load it up, head to the Tools single JavaScript line. menu, select Error Console, and Among Thunderbird 3's new enter this line (be sure to select features is Content Tabs, a way a l l o f i t ) : to monitor other web sites and Components.classes['@mozilla.o web-based messaging from r g / a p p s h e l l / w i n d o w -

mediator;1'].getService(Compone nts.interfaces.nsIWindowMediato r).getMostRecentWindow("mail: 3pane").document.getElementBy

Id("tabmail").openTab("contentT ab", {contentPage: "https://wave.google.com/wave/? nouacheck"});

Hit the "Evaluate" button when you're done, and you'll see a new tab asking for your Wave login. Log in, click "Remember" to have Thunderbird remember your password, and now it's just like having a little browser tab opened on Wave. Google Wave in Thunderbird 3[Quetzalcoatal via Kabatology]

1 dead, 12 injured in Chicago high-rise fire (AP)
(Yahoo! News: U.S. News)
Submitted at 12/10/2009 8:37:53 AM

April buzzed up: Exports up for 6th straight month, boost recovery (AP)

10 seconds ago 2009-12- Normalising the crime of the 10T09:57:03-08:00 century by John Pilger fivefilters.org featured article:

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Says danah boyd, Leverage the Web's Most Disturbing Content
Google Quick Scroll Finds Your Search Terms on Clicked Results [Downloads]
By Kevin Purdy (Lifehacker)
Submitted at 12/10/2009 5:30:00 AM

Google Chrome: Missed during our launch day roundup of Chrome extensions, Google's Quick Scroll extension is a nifty little tool for power searchers. It offers in-page links to the terms you searched for when you click on a Google result. In other words, it saves you the trouble of Ctrl+F searching for an exact phrase that you saw in Google's little snippet when you click and arrive on that page. It can pinpoint multiple occurrences of a phrase, or clusters of words occurring close

fairly continuously, both to add to the number of effective eyes on the street and to induce a Submitted at 12/10/2009 5:16:00 AM sufficient number of people in Microsoft researcher danah boyd buildings along the street to took a decidedly different watch the sidewalks." approach when considering boyd believes this same concept social networking at today's can be applied to online safety LeWeb conference. In speaking and health. She explains, "The to a room packed with more than activities. Nevertheless, boyd web makes available all parts of a t h o u s a n d e n t r e p r e n e u r s , believes the visibility of violence, society and it's up to us to find a investors and journalists, boyd drug use and criminal activity way to make it constructive." explained how we tend to focus can also be used by regular With Facebook's user base often t o g e t h e r . A s t h e G o o g l e on the positive aspects of social n e t i z e n s f o r c o n s t r u c t i v e cited as being bigger than the Operating System notes, it's not n e t w o r k i n g s e r v i c e s . p u r p o s e s . population of all but 4 countries always available, in part because Technologists tend to praise web She references "eyes on the in the world, netizens have the some Google search results text publishing for its ability to street" - a concept coined by visibility to do more than simply snippets come from meta tags encourage artistic expression and urban sociologist Jane Jacobs in c o n s u m e c o n t e n t . b o y d ' s and other data not shown on a public dialogue. In contrast, boyd her book The Death and Life of presentation reveals that while page. makes the point that negative and Great American Cities. the internet has the power to Here's Google's seven-slide disturbing web content can also Writes Jacobs: uncover the abuses and explanation of how it works: serve as a vehicle for change. "There must be eyes on the street, oppressions that are happening Google Quick Scroll requires a Sponsor eyes belonging to those we might around us, ultimately it's up to us development version of Chrome boyd explains how those who call the natural proprietors of the to decide whether or not to running on Windows, or a beta m o n i t o r o n l i n e p r o f i l e street. The buildings on a street acknowledge and help remedy (or daily build) version on Linux, i n f o r m a t i o n , t e n d t o h a v e equipped to handle strangers and them. with Mac betas soon to follow. something to gain from it in a to insure the safety of both Photo Credit: Ewan McIntosh G o o g l e Q u i c k S c r o l l ( b y negative way. For example, residents and strangers, must be * For more updates on LeWeb, G o o g l e ) [ G o o g l e C h r o m e oppressive governments often oriented to the street. They follow along on the Social Media Extensions via Google Operating monitor the web for signs of cannot turn their backs or blank Club House Discuss System] criminal activity in order to sides on it and leave it blind. The enforce laws or suppress certain sidewalk must have users on it

By Dana Oshiro (ReadWriteWeb)

Darn: Steroids Have a Downside [Science]
By Hamilton Nolan (Gawker)
for your body. The outside of your body, yes, totally ripped Submitted at 12/10/2009 9:36:37 AM bro. But inside, ripped in the bad Oh shoot, unexpected setback: sense, like "your kidney has a rip Steroids may not be 100% good, in it, bro, ugly." Intensive steroid use appears to cause serious kidney damage, it looks like, if you believe "doctors" and "case studies" and " the New York Times" rather than the T-Nation message boards. Either way, steroids do give you beautiful breasts. [Pic via]

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Top 10 Real-Time Technologies of 2009
By Marshall Kirkpatrick (ReadWriteWeb)
Submitted at 12/9/2009 7:23:16 PM

The real-time web was hot this year and it's likely to become a standard expectation on sites all around the world next year. We've tracked this trend extensively with a face-to-face summit of industry leaders and an 84-page research report on The Real-Time Web and Its Future. Who were the big movers and shakers in real time this year? Check out our list of the top 10 below and let us know if there are any important ones we missed. Sponsor ReadWriteWeb's Best Products of 2009: Pubsubhubbub Pubsubhubbub, created as a 20% project by Googlers Brett Slatkin and Brad Fitzpatrick, is described as "a simple, open, server-to-server web-hook-based pubsub (publish/subscribe) protocol as an extension to Atom and RSS." It delivers updated content in realtime from a pinged hub server out to all subscribers that have requested updates. Real-time PubSubHubbub feeds are already being published by FeedBurner, Blogger, LiveJournal, LiveDoor, Google Alerts, Feedoor and the feed republishing service Superfeedr. Facebook's FriendFeed, LazyFeed and the newest version of Netvibes are consuming

Hubbub feeds so far, as are a number of small sites and services that are using the feeds for machine-to-machine communication. Hubbub consuming applications are reporting server traffic savings of up to 85% and engineers love it. RSSCloud RSSCloud is a technology that's been a part of the RSS 2.0 spec for years but got a new burst of development energy this year when creator Dave Winer began working on it in part as a way to create a decentralized Twitter experience. RSSCloud is similar to Hubbub, is often implemented in conjunction with it but doesn't deliver full content updates with the notification of changes to a feed. The first major move to adopt RSSCloud was by blog publisher WordPress. The latest addition to the technology is a new feature called CloudPipe, which will enable delivery of real-time feeds to desktop and mobile clients, even behind a firewall. Creator Dave Winer has been a key figure in an incredible number of the most important technologies of the read/write era of the web. He created the first popular blogging software (Radio Userland), was the first to enable podcast delivery in an RSS feed visa-vi the now standard method of enclosures, he built the web's leading blog ping server (weblogs.com), he ushered RSS into the mainstream, he created

feature. It kills what Bing and Yahoo are doing. It's simple but elegant and effective. For certain search queries, real time web pages, Twitter updates, Facebook content, MySpace updates and more will appear in a subtle, streaming box in your results page, with a pause button. It's not live on the public site yet, it's just a demo, but it's going to be very, very big next year. Big the format for sharing bundles of enough that it belongs on the list RSS feeds and other outlines this year just for being demoed. (OPML), he wrote the XML- Twitter search RPC framework (predecessor of Whether you're watching brand SOAP) and the MetaWeblog API mentions for your work or participating in a semi-obscene for remote blog management. Now Dave Winer is working on public ritual of riffs on a trending real-time web technology and meme - millions of people now we'd be fools to not watch what regularly watch the real-time updates on Twitter search results he's doing. Facebook F a c e b o o k , f o r a l l i t s pages. shortcomings, has turned more Twitter bought a search engine than 200 million new people on called Summize in July of 2008, to real-time streams of content built by a group of former AOL pushed to their browsers in 2009. scientists and originally intended If you think this paradigm is to be a sentiment analysis important, Facebook deserves a technology. It has become medal. Google Real-Time Search incredibly important this year. When the site's new GeoLocation Honorable Mentions • Echo- real-time comment API gets put to more substantive use, that search engine is going to aggregation • Evri- real-time semantic news become all the more important in ways that could change our tracker • Lazyfeed- topical discovery day-to-day lives. Next page: Top 10 Real-Time engine Technologies of 2009 6-10 • Netvibes- now probably the m o s t p o p u l a r r e a l - t i m e Superfeedr consuming feed reader in the Julien Genestoux's Superfeedr is a service that pulls in content world feeds from around the Web and Just this week the Big G showed then offers updates for those in XMPP or of its new real-time search f e e d s

PubSubHubbub format. It's like FeedBurner for the real-time web and in fact just added publisher analytics ala FeedBurner today. Superfeedr is a key enabler for other applications and if you want an interesting view into the nitty gritty of the real-time web, you should go subscribe to the Superfeedr company blog right now. Genestoux says the companies using his service so far include SixApart, Adobe, Twitterfeed, StatusNet and a number of small services such as Webwag, E v e n t V u e , Q u u b , AppNotifications, Excla.im and SmackSale. That's an impressive list and your company could well be on it by next year. Tornado This September, Facebook opensourced the newly acquired FriendFeed's real-time infrastructure. It's a fast, relatively easy way to add realtime flow to your application and developers around the world are excited about it. We're all about the potential here at ReadWriteWeb and we think Tornado has a lot of it. We hope to see big things from this project next year. Breaking News Online's iPhone App Breaking News Online is an international news organization founded by now 19 year old Netherlands native Michael van Poppel. Van Poppel somehow sold a video of Ossama Bin Laden to Reuters two years ago and has since built TOP page 39

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wikiHow vs. eHow: Is The Wiki Way Better Than Content Farms?
By Richard MacManus (ReadWriteWeb)
model when he realized that "it would fill the web with a bunch of mediocre content.""It's like Submitted at 12/9/2009 2:00:00 PM eating a McDonald's burger vs. a Jack Herrick knows a bit about wonderful, home cooked meal." Demand Media, one of the top 20 At the time Herrick thought that web properties in the U.S. and the mediocre content production t h e s u b j e c t o f s e v e r a l would hurt eHow's long term ReadWriteWeb articles about b r a n d . A l t h o u g h h e n o w sites that are pumping thousands c o n c e d e s h e m a y ' v e b e e n of pieces of content into the Web mistaken on that point, given every day. Herrick sold the Demand Media's success over the business he founded, eHow, to past couple of years. Demand Media in 2006. eHow is When Herrick sold eHow in one of Demand Media's flagship 2006, he began to work on properties, but Herrick became wikiHow - a wiki how-to manual frustrated with the focus on which now competes with eHow. quantity over quality. So he wikiHow currently generates 19 c r e a t e d a n o t h e r b u s i n e s s , million unique visitors per wikiHow, which he claims month, according to the company produces higher quality articles. (it's about to hit 20 million wikiHow has today unveiled a monthly uniques). Demand redesign (screenshot below). Media's eHow is still the market However we were more leader in how-to content, interested in the content quality however wikiHow is a small question, so we asked founder unfunded company with only 7 Jack Herrick what makes him employees. think wikiHow is any better than Herrick is convinced that the Demand Media's content farms? wiki model for producing content Sponsor attracts "passionate volunteers." The newly re-designed wikiHow He thinks that the wiki way will How Jack Herrick Went From "ultimately result in a higher eHow to wikiHow quality product," compared to "When I ran eHow," Herrick told eHow. us via email, "we produced The other prong of Herrick's content in a manner somewhat argument is that eHow gets what similar to the way Demand it pays for in terms of content Studios does today (although at a quality. "When you pay $15 for much, much smaller scale.)" a n a r t i c l e , y o u g e t a $ 1 5 However Herrick ultimately product...and nothing more," he became frustrated with that noted archly. Wikis Aren't has a Creative Commons license, the company profits directly by it. The company vs. non-profit Perfect Either issue may not be a big influence Jack Herrick admits that "wiki on many of wikiHow's current content typically starts out as low volunteers, but it may prevent quality," but claims that "once it w i k i H o w f r o m s c a l i n g t o matures and receives enough W i k i p e d i a ' s s i z e . edits it can be amazing." And that Next page: We compare i s r e a l l y t h e c r u x o f t h i s wikiHow to eHow and ask which argument. is better... Comparing wikiHow A quality wiki article, whether to eHow it's found on Wikipedia or Although by no means a perfect wikiHow, will generally be one approach, I decided to choose a that has received a number of random topic and compare edits from people who know the wikiHow and eHow. The topic I topic well. wikiHow itself has chose was: decorating a room done research which shows this. using Feng Shui. Herrick told us that in previous The wikiHow article had been research, wikiHow found that contributed to by 8 authors and it "the more people who edit an was a comprehensive, helpful article, the more readers it article - complete with diagram attracted and the higher quality and video. the article became." A comparable eHow article was The problem is, there's no helpful too, although much less guarantee any given article will comprehensive and with no attract passionate volunteers to accompanying media. edit it. Wikipedia is a non-profit The verdict? In this case the organization and so it's more wikiHow article was better. But l i k e l y t o b e a t t r a c t i v e t o your mileage may vary per topic volunteers - they're contributing and article. Which Approach is to the world's knowledge base Better, Wiki or Paid Content? and no corporation is profiting When done on a large scale, is from that. wikiHow, on the other paid-for content (such as Demand hand, is a commercial enterprise. Media's eHow) better than I t c a l l s i t s e l f a " h y b r i d volunteer wiki content? Herrick organization," meaning a "for- makes a good case, but in reality profit company focused on it isn't black and white. creating a global public good." The most famous example of a But it's a company nonetheless. wiki, Wikipedia, generally While the content of wikiHow produces quality content although there have always been instances of contentious content on the site. wikiHow founder Jack Herrick: eHow content "lacks soul." Herrick contends that wiki content is inherently better because "volunteer writers are passionate about their topics and we allow anyone to continuously edit articles." In comparison, he claims that sites like eHow produce "static, low quality" content that "lacks soul." Herrick even used the ol' McDonalds analogy: "it's like eating a McDonald's burger vs. having your friend who happens to be a great chef cooking you a wonderful, home cooked meal." Ultimately I don't completely buy Jack Herrick's argument that wiki-produced content is necessarily better than paid-for content from "content farms." Both types of content could be either good or poor quality, depending on the quality of the people who write and edit it. How-to content needs to be precise and well-researched, which requires time. The best wiki how-to content is likely to be articles which have been edited by multiple people. But equally, well-informed writers can easily produce quality how-to articles in one go. WIKIHOW page 39

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39

Smart Phones Show How the Times are a Changing

TOP
continued from page 37

up the fastest, smallest news organization on the planet. The American Red Cross watches By Alex Williams information and applications. BNO closely for notices of new (ReadWriteWeb) Serving as a police agency is natural disasters. MSNBC paid ineffective. The real answer is to what have been a hefty sum for Submitted at 12/10/2009 9:15:30 AM control over the Breaking News develop a cooperative culture. Look at how smart phones are F o r e x a m p l e , M o b i l e I r o n Online Twitter account this reaching into the enterprise and provides the capabilities for an month, but the organization's same time creating a cooperative it's clear a cultural shift is taking enterprise to establish its own iPhone app lives on in the hands environment with users. place that is transforming the "app stores." IT can manage what of the original organization. Sponsor relationship between IT and applications may be accessed by It's a simple app but one that will MobileIron uses the data from keep you on top of world events business users. users. smart phones to help IT Smart phones in the enterprise The MobileIron methods allow around the clock like nothing administrators create social are a user-driven phenomena. for all sorts of opportunities. else. It's a great use of the graphs for users that gives People buy smart phones to do Costly roaming charges can be iPhone's new Push feature, insights into the business. Call work, but also for personal use. monitored as can service quality. implemented this year. Aardvark histories and SMS messages are IDC is estimating that by 2013, a MobileIron demonstrates how Aardvark is a social search no longer locked in the phone. billion mobile devices will access smart phones are becoming an engine that combines artificial Instead, the information can be the Internet. icon for cultural change in the intelligence, natural-language aggregated and analyzed. In light of this onslaught, how enterprise. In many ways, the processing and presence data to IT is slowly learning that the do IT managers keep things in social Web is changing how we create what the company calls days of using command and check? MobileIron believes the view the way we work. The "the real-time Web of people." control tactics are ending. As trick is in treating smart phones a d v e n t o f s m a r t p h o n e s It's got some heavy engineering smart phones become ubiquitous, as computers. By employing a accelerates that shift and will behind it and this author uses it IT is struggling to keep up with data-centric model, IT can force the enterprise to alter the almost every day. Google is security and the costs of manage and control how smart way IT has historically worked reportedly in the process of managing how employees access trying to buy it. Cliqset We love phones are used, while at the with business users. Discuss a good technical standard and stream reader startup Cliqset is

blazing new trails with its new real-time ActivityStreams feed normalization API. The API means activities from 70 different social services can be read in a common language and 3rd party services can slice and dice them to create new user experiences. Several high-profile applications have already begun consuming activity feeds republished through Cliqset and the company says many more consumers are in the works. This is the stuff that distributed, interoperable platforms are built on, where small innovators have access to economies of scale. Those are our picks! Check them out, let us know who we missed and get ready for a coming time when most of the web will be running in real time! Discuss

WIKIHOW
continued from page 38

However, the feng shui examples above showed that (in this case) multiple wiki authors produced better results than a single paid contributer. Let us know your thoughts about which is better: wikiHow or eHow? Or neither? Discuss

So You Think You Can Dance returning to once a year format?
By Robert Seidman (TVbytheNumbers)
Submitted at 12/9/2009 5:44:41 PM

The Wrap’s Josef Adalian writes that at the So You Think You Can Dance live results show tonight, executive producer Nigel Lythgoe told audience member’s

during the warm-up that the twice a year back to back season format is too much for him. According to Adalian FOX tried to downplay his comments, but didn’t dismiss it completely giving a fairly standard boilerplate response about season schedules not being locked down,

etc. If true, it will be interesting to see whether they keep SYTYCD as a summer show only, or take the ratings hit and keep it in the fall. For now, I’d guess even though SYTYCD has helped FOX with its year over year ratings gains in the fall, that the show would return to the

summer. For now, all we can do is speculate. Joe Adalian has some additional speculation about what FOX might air instead next fall. fivefilters.org featured article: Normalising the crime of the century by John Pilger

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E-reader Newspaper

Netvibes Launches Ultimate News and Lifestyle Dashboard
By Dana Oshiro (ReadWriteWeb)
In addition to a number of magazine-style themes, some of the features designed for the realSubmitted at 12/10/2009 8:56:00 AM time web include: I n l a t e N o v e m b e r , Multipurpose Navigation: Users R e a d W r i t e W e b a s k e d t h e will enjoy the ability to read their question, Can Netvibes pull off feeds and insert widgets directly integration of real-time feeds into into the Wasabi home page its existing dashboard product?. Smart Reader: In addition to At the time, early testers were delivering users' RSS feeds, just gaining access to Wasabi Netvibes Smart Reader lets users beta. As of today the service will check their Twitter, Facebook, go live to the public with CEO widget apps, notifications, Freddy Mini's presentation at the podcast subscriptions, photos and Le Web conference. notifications. Sponsor The Real-Time RSS: As allows users to monitor real-time brand conversations. Drag and Follow Widgets: Facebook, Twitter and MySpace widgets allow users to drag hashtags or usernames out of existing widgets in order to instantly create new specialized ones. To test the product visit netvibes.com. Discuss

promised, Netvibes' feed delivery engine updates with full PubSubHubBub support. Publishing: In addition to being able to create more than 185,000

widgets, users can take advantage of the site's no-code push publishing and notification tools as well as free hosting. The company's premium product also

Queen of Jordan Calls on Blogger Friends
By Dana Oshiro (ReadWriteWeb)
In participation with the 1Goal project, the Queen appealed to bloggers for their help. In a Submitted at 12/10/2009 7:59:00 AM campaign to collect more than This morning in her address to 300 million signatures in support LeWeb conference attendees, her of universal childhood education, majesty Queen Rania Al she is asking bloggers to devote Abdullah of the Hashemite one day of tweeting and blogging Kingdom of Jordan asked the to the 1Goal project. question, "Did Michael Jackson Said Rania, "The classroom can change the fate of the green be a chrysalis for change...We revolution?" While CNN was can be lifestreaming and life slow to report on this year's changing." surprised to find that 60% of For more information on how Iranian election protests, Twitter Sponsor became a powerful news vehicle. Interested in the power of those who replied answered no. y o u c a n p a r t i c i p a t e v i s i t Nevertheless, after a week of activism and social change, As one way to rally netizens to j o i n 1 g o a l . o r g . " T e h r a n " a s T w i t t e r ' s t o p Q u e e n R a n i a t w e e t e d t h e participate in life changing social Photo Credit: Chris Heuer t r e n d i n g t o p i c s , M i c h a e l question, "Can the real-time web action, Rania called upon today's Discuss Jackson's sudden death quickly change the world?" Inundated attendees to join in her mission of with answers, the Queen was universal education for children. replaced it.

Another 'Good Morning America' Anchor Set to Exit Show
(ETonline - Breaking News)
Submitted at 12/10/2009 6:39:00 AM

ET has the latest... Just days after Diane Sawyer announced this was her last week on "Good Morning America," another anchor has decided to leave the show. After three years with the popular morning show, news anchor Chris Cuomo announced on Thursday that he will also be exiting the program on Friday. Cuomo will be staying with the ABC family and heading over to "20/20," where he will anchor alongside Elizabeth Vargas.

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Tech News/ Apple/

41

New Google App Approved for iPhones
By Jolie O'Dell (ReadWriteWeb)
Submitted at 12/9/2009 7:05:56 PM

Apple Looking to Hire In-House Video Game Talent
By Darrell Etherington (TheAppleBlog)
Submitted at 12/10/2009 7:46:04 AM

We've just heard from our friends at Google that their mobile app is now available in the App Store for iPhone users everywhere. In the new version of Google Mobile, everyone's favorite search company has redesigned their results display to show more results at one time. Also, users will be able to open web pages from search results from inside the app. Other new features are pretty impressive, too. Sponsor Users can now customize the application by any color they choose. Users with speedy iPhone models can also choose to turn on a moving waveform for voice-activated searches. These mods are available under a "Bells and Whistles" setting for fancy gizmodgery. And speaking of searching by voice, Google has worked out a special sort of magic for sussing out not only the language but also the accent of the speaker. "For example," writes software

Apple’s posted job listings seem to provoke no end of exciting speculation, and one of its latest open calls for applications is certainly no exception. New job postings call for a software engineer for the iPhone Gaming Group, and a video game artist. Last month’s call for a game/media software engineer was somewhat open to interpretation, but this time around, there’s no ambiguity involved. engineer Alastair Tse, "if you're Not that Apple hasn’t made Australian but live in London, games in the past, as The iPhone you can improve the recognition Blog points out. Texas Hold’Em accuracy by selecting Australian is a game, after all, if not a particularly ambitious one. But in the Voice Search settings." Google has also added such that casual game was a one-off, languages as Mandarin and and was probably designed more Japanese to its list of supported to get the ball rolling for thirdparty developers than as a languages. For more information about the meaningful entry point into the Google iPhone app, check it out gaming industry for Apple itself. at Google's page or download it The new job postings, however, free from the App Store. Discuss seem to indicate that Apple wants to start taking gaming much more seriously. The skill sets asked for definitely go beyond what’s required to create a simple video poker simulator, at least. From the call for an artist: The interactive media group is looking for a skilled artist who wants to work as part of a small highly motivated team to work

on interactive multimedia experiences on the iPhone and iPod touch. The position on the team is to help design, visualize, enable and implement interface, 3-D characters/environments, animation, texturing as well as original concept artwork. Requirements also include the “ability to model, animate, texture and produce bump/normal maps for 3-D scene graph environments.” The software engineer position is less obviously game-related, but the description does specifically mention the iPhone Gaming Group, and lists “experience with game development” as an asset: Please join us in taking the revolutionary iPhone to the next level. The iPhone Games Group is looking for a proactive, highly motivated engineer with 5+ years experience, to share their expertise in application and framework development…You will be responsible for

implementing new features in existing applications as well as developing complex applications from top to bottom (user interface design to design and implementation of supporting frameworks.) Two job calls does not exactly a gaming studio make, but it shows that Apple is thinking about that area. And how could it not, really? It’s been pushing the iPod touch as a gaming device, and witnessed first-hand the success of games on both it and the iPhone, so it knows that’s a space where money can be made. I still believe the primary purpose of any software effort on Apple’s part is selling hardware, so I’d expect to see new games from the company to make especially good use of the newer hardware and software features of the iPhone and iPod touch, including peer-to-peer networking.

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Dragons and Dictation Software: How the Failure Continues
By Liam Cassidy (TheAppleBlog)
single-word utterances either, but fluid, organic sentences. Natural speech, they like to call it. Submitted at 12/10/2009 9:30:12 AM It all sounds fantastic. But the In late November, Gear Diary h a r d w a r e w a s a l o n g - t i m e ran a short video sneak-peek of c o m i n g . P r o c e s s o r s w e r e Dragon Dictation for the iPhone, underpowered. Microphones an app that, like its big brother w e r e t o o l o w - f i d e l i t y f o r M a c a n d P C c o u n t e r p a r t s , dictation software to do its converts spoken words into job reliably. written text. The teaser video Image courtesy of begins with the words “An app S u m m e r R a i n 8 1 2 o n F l i c k r that will transform your iPhone Sadly, higher quality usage.” microphones tend to be It’s now available in the iTunes prohibitively expensive or must Store, and for a limited time, it’s be strapped to the head during free. But don’t rush to download use. (Not exactly user-friendly.) it just yet. While this is not a In any case, even when speech review of the Dragon Dictation recognition and dictation works app, it is a cautionary tale to be well, it’s a control mechanism skeptical of the hype. Because, m o s t o f u s f i n d h o r r i b l y unless you already have a very u n c o m f o r t a b l e . specific need for speech-to-text What do I mean by that? If t e c h n o l o g y ( s u b s c r i p t i o n you’ve never tried dictating an required), this app fails where all email, letter, article or essay, go dictation software has failed do it right now. I guarantee you’ll before. A Quick Recap be returning to the keyboard in In the early 90’s people started next to no time. t a k i n g d i c t a t i o n s o f t w a r e Dictation tools still require you s e r i o u s l y , a n d d e v e l o p e r s to explicitly dictate punctuation dreamed of a not-too-distant Star (an awkward skill to master). The Trek-inspired world in which our fact is, until computers really are primary method of interaction as smart as those in Star Trek, the with our computers would be via biggest problem with dictation the spoken word. Not just stilted software is not with the software at all, but with you, the user. You see, you need to be carefully retrained not only in how you go about the task of ‘writing,’ but also in how you control your computer. It’s deliciously ironic that, after a while spent training yourself to speak the right words, the right way, at the right speed and with the right tone of voice, you sound more like a robot than your computer ever could. Challenges No one writes an essay or lengthy document knowing in advance exactly the words they will use and in precisely what order. If you’re anything like me, you write a few lines here, an edit there, a quick jump back to the beginning to add something you forgot… Writing is a creative process that requires a lot of flexibility. Just try moving your carat around a page using only your voice, and you soon realise that in the time it took to navigate successfully to that one particular spot on the page, you could have reached for the mouse, clicked, made your edit, completed your sentence and wandered off to watch last night’s episode of Stargate Universe. Dragon Dictation is nothing special unless you already have a very specific need for such software, like I said at the start of this ranticle (a portmanteau of ‘rant’ and ‘article’ I suspect would take an eternity to type using dictation software). The problems with dictation technologies can’t be blamed on Dragon Dictation; rather, they belong to those human interface challenges that are the product of our bias towards using our hands for most activities. If your hands and arms work sufficiently well, you’ll just prefer a mouse or keyboard. For what it’s worth (even though I did promise this was not a review) Dragon Dictate has some noteworthy limitations; Dictation has to occur in short bursts of 2030 seconds, which will swiftly become a nuisance if you happen to speak s-l-o-w-l-y. There’s no realtime visual feedback, so you can’t tell whether the speech-totext conversion was successful until after you’ve finished dictating. Most importantly, the Dragon Dictate app doesn’t itself perform the speech-to-text conversion; those short 20-odd seconds of speech are recorded by the iPhone and transferred via the web to a server which does all the real work, sending the text results back to your iPhone. So not only is there an unavoidable processing delay, but you also have to be online to use it in the first place. So, is this really the app that’s going to transform how you use your iPhone? If you constantly use Voice Control then perhaps you’ll love it. But for everyone else, this is likely one of those apps left to gather virtual dust, another victim of the harsh reality of current voiceinteraction technologies. I look forward to a Star Trek future in which we all talk to our computers and receive intelligent, useful responses. But don’t forget that the crew of the Starship Enterprise does the bulk of their computer work with their hands. (And it’s all dignified tapping and swiping, mind you, not comically-impractical Minority Report arm-waving!)

LeAnn Rimes vs. Shanna Moakler: Stars Show Off Same Sexy Style
(ETonline - Breaking News)
Submitted at 12/10/2009 6:40:00 AM

It's a fashion face-off for stylesavvy celebs! From country crooner LeAnn Rimes and former

beauty queen Shanna Moakler's revealing mini-dresses, to Fergie and Gwyneth Paltrow's show-

stopping ensembles, see which stars are working the red carpet in a similar fashion.

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Logos for the iPhone: Portable Biblical Heaven
By Matthew Bookspan (TheAppleBlog)
Software is working to improve this over time. I personally ran into this issue with the Jewish Submitted at 12/9/2009 11:00:22 AM Publication Society Tanakh, as it Carrying physical scripture with is not available yet for mobile y o u c a n b e c h a l l e n g i n g , distribution. The Application especially when you consider the The Home Page displays any sheer physical space a Bible or recent news from Logos as well many Bibles require. Thankfully, as any custom reading plans you there are options now available have defined. for portable scripture. And, one Logos Home Screen of the most recent newcomers for Logos Library Screen the iPhone is Logos Bible Search is also wonderful with Software. Logos as you can: Logos is considered one of the • Find relevant verses within the premier Bible study software current text, across all bibles, or companies, especially if you own your entire library (and it is fast) a PC. Its desktop Macintosh • G o d i r e c t l y t o a What’s nice is that when you are offering is still in alpha, however book/chap/verse (very handy). in the reader, you have multiple its iPhone App is really options: something you should consider. Logos Search Screen • If you swipe up, you can use Why? The biggest benefit is that The reader is very beautiful. the Text Comparison to quickly the app is free and that it has a Here are some of the things you see a verse in multiple versions, plethora of features that make it can do within the reader: with differences highlighted. really shine. How it Works • If you tap-and-hold on a Bible • One of the new features in v1.1 Based upon the type of account word, you can see the linked is that you can now share your you have with Logos, you get the cross references, which allows thoughts with others via following content with the you to click footnotes and reveal Facebook or Twitter by swiping iPhone App: the reference text. up in the Reader and then • No account (free): One sample • Again, if you tap-and-hold on a pressing the Share button. book (30 Bible texts) word, the Reader will display the • Registered account (free): 31 underlying Hebrew or Greek (if Logos Sharing Conclusion sample books (the 30 Bibles + 31 available). I spent the better part of the past additional books) few weeks using the app and I • Registered account (free) + Logos Reader with selected admit that I am very impressed paid product (whichever package word highlighted with it. I used it during both of you own*): All of your books If you have multiple books my Temple visits and found the (sources), you can tap to switch app to be responsive, even over * Some books that you might to different verses (via the slider) 3G (and without performing the have for your desktop software or via the book list: caching trick below). are not available on the iPhone Logos Reader + Tap to Change Positives due to licensing. Logos Bible Source • It is a free App, and with a free registered account, you have 31 books available to study/search/share. • It has excellent overall usability for reading and searching. • The content you own with your Logos account/destkop application is shared with the iPhone app (with some caveats).

Changing of the Guard in Detroit?
By Adam Gretz (Fanhouse Main)
Submitted at 12/10/2009 2:30:00 AM

Filed under: Red Wings If there's been one question mark in regards to the Detroit Red Wings over the past two seasons -especially last season -- it's been Negatives • Requires a live connection for the performance of veteran goaltender Chris Osgood. No true usability. • Requires an account to access matter how much he's struggled additional free content (this is in the regular season, he's still moot if you have an account and been able to elevate his game in the playoffs, posting save want to view your own books). • Not all of the content you’ve percentages of .930 and .926 paid for is available due to during his past two postseason licensing/distribution constraints. runs, helping lead the Wings to a • No offline mode — you must Stanley Cup championship (the be connected to browse the third of Osgood's 16-year career) content. (There is a workaround: and to the deciding seventh game get the content while online and of another Stanley Cup Final series. then it is locally cached). Even with all of his postseason Until now, BibleReader 4 from success, it's worth asking if the OliveTree was my preferred performance of 2003 secondmobile application. However, round pick Jimmy Howard is with so much more flexibility in starting to push Osgood to the the application, I can honestly bench in the Motor City. say that I prefer Logos. I do hope that Logos can provide an offline story that is more useful, although if you do have a 3G or Wi-Fi connection (especially WiFi), the app is still very usable.

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MacUpdate Winter Bundle: $450 Worth of Mac Apps for $50
By Darrell Etherington (TheAppleBlog)
prospective to-buy list, there’s no better time to snatch them up. Here’s a quick look at what’s Submitted at 12/10/2009 8:15:47 AM included in the deal: If you’re looking for a gift to • Path Finder– Finder buy yourself this holiday season replacement. Looks like Finder, (or someone else, I suppose, b u t f e a t u r e s n u m e r o u s though I never find that people enhancements, including a dual much like software gifts), the p a n e f i l e b r o w s e r , t a b b e d MacUpdate Holiday Bundle has browsing, easy Mac package just arrived and is well worth navigation, disk image creation considering. Like MacHeist and and OS X command line access. many other software bundles, • S o c i a l i t e – U s e d t o b e MacUpdate’s offers a heaping EventBox. It’s an aggregator for helping of software at a bargain your social networks and news basement price. sources, including Google The bundle includes 11 quality Reader, Facebook, Twitter and Mac apps, including both utilities RSS. Learn more in our recent and games, and if you’re lucky article about the program. enough to be one of the first • Yep– PDF and document 10,000 buyers, you also get three management app. It’s described additional pieces of software at by the developers as an iPhoto or no extra charge (around 1,200 iTunes for your iWork, Office had been sold at the time of this and PDF files. You can navigate writing). Best of all, if you’re your file structure to find them unsure about any of the apps and move them, and also preview included, you can download a them within the app. preview package that includes • Radio Gaga– Nothing to do trial versions of each. with the Lady of the same name. The total cost of the Holiday It’s an internet radio player and Bundle is $49.99, which is a recorder. You can add your own nearly 90 percent discount from stations or use the built-in the cumulative regular price of directory of more than 10,000. $446.77. Even if two of the apps • Garage Sale– eBay auction o n o f f e r a r e p a r t o f y o u r creator and client. You can build application. Features support for hex, octal and binary calculations and unit conversions, and is completely scriptable. Also your auction using templates and includes a companion dashboard a WYSIWYG editor, broadcast widget. them using Twitter, and also keep • Machinarium– The muchan eye on auctions you’re loved Mac puzzle/adventure bidding on. PayPal support is game. You’re a robot who has to also built-in. travel through a world of robots • D r a g T h i n g – A n O S X to find your robot lover. On the launcher. It’s a dock, but more way, you’ll run into countless versatile than the one that ships puzzles and brain teasers. with OS X, and you can have • iRip– A utility for getting more than one using DragThing. music from your iPod onto your Billed as a way to keep your Mac. This is the one that made desktop clean, so that you can headlines a little while ago when have your files available without it had to change its name to iRip wasting all that space and because Apple took issue with its memory. original name, “iPodRip.” • Speed Download– Download manager and accelerator. I’ve That’s the basic bundle, but as never used one of these, but this mentioned, you also get three one does have the advantage of other apps if you buy it soon. doubling as a full-featured FTP T h o s e three are client, which is good enough for PowerTunes(manage multiple me. iTunes libraries), Holiday DVD • HealthNut– Calorie tracker and Templates(self-explanatory) and food diary. Just in time for FlagIt!(flag add-on for Apple helping exacerbate the guilt of Mail). The MacUpdate Holiday stuffing your face over the Bundle is only available for holidays, and helping you stay on around 12 more days, so if you’re track with your consequent New going to bite, you’ve got less Year’s resolution to lose weight. than two weeks to do it. • PCalc– Scientific calculator

Puck Talk: Hockey in the Music City
By Bruce Ciskie (Fanhouse Main)
Submitted at 12/10/2009 4:00:00 AM

Filed under: Predators, Western, NHL Fans Going into the season, the NHL's Central Division was assumed to be the league's toughest. We're past the quarter pole, and the teams who emerged as playoff teams last year -Columbus and St. Louis -- are floundering. Meanwhile, the Nashville Predators, underfunded and probably underappreciated in their home market, keep on playing solid, competitive hockey. To find out how they're doing it, we figured we'd ask someone who knows. Dirk Hoag writes the popular On The Forecheck blog, and he joins us to discuss the chances of Nashville being a legitimate playoff threat in the Western Conference. Listen to the podcast above, or click here to download the file.

Police end SF State Univ sit-in; 33 arrested (AP)
(Yahoo! News: U.S. News)
Submitted at 12/10/2009 7:05:41 AM

Tony A buzzed up: New health care benefits come at a price (AP)

12 seconds ago 2009-12- Normalising the crime of the 10T09:55:04-08:00 century by John Pilger fivefilters.org featured article:

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Rumor Has It: Foxconn Receives Order for Next-Gen iPhone
By Darrell Etherington (TheAppleBlog)
Submitted at 12/10/2009 7:37:41 AM

What's On Tonight: Survivor, Bones, The Office, It's Always Sunny
By Bob Sassone (TV Squad)
Submitted at 12/10/2009 12:22:00 PM

The inevitable iPhone update is looming ever closer in the distance, and accordingly, the iPhone rumor mill is heating up. Today, news came that frequent Apple manufacturing partner Foxconn, a Taiwanese hardware company, received an order to build the new iPhone, which still won’t arrive in consumer hands until mid-2010. News of the iPhone order comes via Mobile Review’s editor in chief, Eldar Murtazin, who tweeted simply, “Foxconn received order for next generation iphone” early Thursday morning. Murtazin is known to have good connections in the mobile phone industry, so there’s a good chance that there’s something solid behind the

report. Engadget went so far as to call him “the ultimate insider when it come to all things mobile,” which is no small praise. It also makes sense time-wise, since Apple basically now has about six months to ramp up production enough to deal with the massive demand that usually accompanies the launch of its iPhone products. It’s also worth noting that this time around, many people who got the iPhone 3G on contract through AT&T will be at the end of their 2-year agreement, and thus fully eligible for a new hardware deal, which should help boost sales even

further. Thus far, details regarding what the next iPhone will have that the current generation doesn’t have been scarce. But that hasn’t stopped the rumor mill from working overtime. Some suggest we could see a CDMA or dualmode CDMA/GSM model, or one that supports RFID technologies. If it’s true that production on parts of the iPhone is going to begin soon, we likely won’t have to wait long to see these rumors multiply and resolve into a more definite picture of what’s to come.

The Playoff Plan: Five Tips and Ten Players to Take You to the Title
By R.J. White (Fanhouse Main)
Submitted at 12/9/2009 2:45:00 PM

Filed under: NFL Sleepers, NFL Waiver Wire So here we are, in the playoffs. You've overanalyzed your Week 14 matchups the one thing that'll lock you in as to no end, and you still feel your a 2 0 0 9 f a n t a s y f o o t b a l l missing a key part of the puzzle, champion. Since we never leave

you hanging, we've come up with a list of ten concepts to keep at the forefront of your mind for the next few weeks. Following these steps won't guarantee success -nothing will -- but I do hope they help out.

• Travel Channel has a Man vs. Food marathon all night. • At 8, CBS has a new Survivor, followed by new episodes of CSI and The Mentalist. • NBC has a new Community at 8, then new episodes of Parks and Recreation, The Office, 30 Rock and The Jay Leno Show. • FOX has new episodes of Bones and Fringe. • At 9, Bravo has a new Real Housewives of Atlanta, followed by a new Real Housewives of Orange County. • Comedy Central has a new Jeff Dunham Show at 9. • TLC has a new American Chopper at 9. • Cartoon Network has a new Total Drama Action at 9, then a new Johnny Test. • Spike has a new TNA Wrestling at 9. • Also at 9: Current has a new SuperNews. • At 10, FX has the season finale of It's Always Sunny in

Philadelphia, followed by the season finale of The League. • ABC Family has A Flintstone Christmas at 10. Check your local TV listings for more. After the jump, the late night talk shows. Continue reading What's On Tonight: Survivor, Bones, The Office, It's Always Sunny Filed under: Late Night, Programming, Celebrities, Talk Show, What To Watch Tonight, Reality-Free Permalink| Email this| | Comments

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TV Ratings: Modern Family returns strong; Glee exits at highs
By Robert Seidman (TVbytheNumbers)
Submitted at 12/10/2009 9:03:54 AM

A very tight night with CBS winning with adults 18-49 over FOX and ABC by a very narrow margin. FOX ruled the night with adults 18-34, and CBS had the most viewers overall. It was a good night for the comedies with Old Christine, The Middle, Gary Unmarried and Modern Family all improved versus their season averages. Only Cougar Town, with a 2.8 rating with adults 18-49 was down from its prior average. Criminal Minds and CSI: NY were also up a bit from season averages on CBS. Glee’s fall finale tied with last week’s season high with a 3.6/9 rating/share with adults 18-49 and was Glee’s highest-rated episode ever with teens. Though So You Think You Can Dance’s numbers weren’t as good as Glee’s, SYTYCD’s performance with Women 18-34 (3.4/10) was second on the night only to Glee’s 5.4. A distant second to be sure, but ahead of everything else on the night in that demo. At 10pm CSI: NY edged out the Barbara Walters Special on the “100 Most Fascinating People of 2009. The special was down 26 percent with adults 18-49 from last year’s airing on 12/4/08. Though we’re no longer posting the individual show data for Univision, the blurb this morning from Univision PR was

headlined “Univision has Mercy on NBC,” En Nombre del Amor beat both of CBS’ comedies and Mercy with adults 18-34 in the 8pm hour, and Sortilegio bested Law & Order: SVU with adults 18-34. In Late-Night Local People Meters Wednesday night: • Conan O’Brien (1.0/4 in 18-49 in local people meters) topped CBS’s LATE SHOW (0.9/4) in Nielsen’s 24 local markets with People Meters.

• At 12:35 a.m., Jimmy Fallon (0.5/3 in 18-49 in local people meters) tied CBS’s LATE LATE SHOW (0.5/3). Full Details: = Nielsen TV Ratings: ©2009 The Nielsen Company. All Rights Reserved. You can see TV ratings from other recent Overnight ratings reports here. Definitions:

Fast Affiliate Ratings: These first national ratings, including demographics, are available at approximately 11 AM (ET) the day after telecast, and are released to subscribing customers daily. These data, from the National People Meter sample, are strictly time-period information, based on the normal broadcast network feed, and include all programming on the affiliated stations, sometimes including network programming, sometimes not. The figures may

include stations that did not air the entire network feed, as well as local news breaks or cutaways for local coverage or other programming. Fast Affiliate ratings are not as useful for live programs and are likely to differ significantly from the final results, because the data reflect normal broadcast feed patterns. For example, with a World Series game, Fast Affiliate Ratings would include whatever aired RATINGS: page 47

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Criminal Minds draws largest audience since premiere; Christine hits season high
By Robert Seidman (TVbytheNumbers)
(2.9/07, -0.1 behind ABC) and tied for second in adults 18-49 (2.2/07, with FOX). Compared Submitted at 12/10/2009 9:27:12 AM to the last first-run episode (Nov. via CBS: 25), THE NEW ADVENTURES “ C R I M I N A L M I N D S ” OF OLD CHRISTINE was up D E L I V E R S L A R G E S T +19% in households (from A U D I E N C E S I N C E I T S 4.2/08), +26% in adults 25-54 SEASON PREMIERE AND (from 2.3/07), +29% in adults 18H I G H E S T A D U L T 1 8 - 4 9 49 (from 1.7/06) and added RATING SINCE OCTOBER +850,000 viewers (from 6.86m, “The New Adventures of Old +12%). This is THE NEW Christine” Attracts Largest A D V E N T U R E S O F O L D Audience in a Year CHRISTINE’s best deliveries in All Four CBS Series Post both households and viewers Increases Over Last First-Run since December 10, 2008. Episode GARY UNMARRIED (4.5/07, CBS Wins Wednesday in All 7.16m) was tied for first in adults Key Rating Categories 25-54 (2.9/07, with ABC) and CRIMINAL MINDS delivered tied for second in adults 18-49 its largest audience since its (2.4/07, with FOX, -0.1 behind season premiere, THE NEW ABC). Compared to the last first A D V E N T U R E S O F O L D -run episode (Nov. 25), GARY CHRISTINE attracted its largest UNMARRIED was up +13% in audience in a year and all of the households (from 4.0/07), +26% C B S ’ s s e r i e s s c o r e d h u g e in adults 25-54 (from 2.3/06), increases over their last first run +33% in adults 18-49 (from episode, according to Nielsen 1.8/06) and added +470,000 preliminary live plus same day viewers (from 6.69m, +7%). ratings for Wednesday, Dec. 9. CRIMINAL MINDS was first in THE NEW ADVENTURES OF households (8.9/14), viewers OLD CHRISTINE was first in (14.31m), adults 25-54 (5.0/12) households (5.0/08), second in and adults 18-49 (3.8/10). viewers (7.71m), adults 25-54 Compared to the last first-run

RATINGS:
continued from page 46

episode (Nov. 25), CRIMINAL MINDS was up +9% in households (from 8.2/14), +19% in both adults 25-54 (from 4.2/11) and adults 18-49 (from 3.2/09) and added +700,000 viewers (from 13.61m, +5%). This is CRIMINAL MINDS’s best deliveries in households, adults 25-54 and adults 18-49 since Oct. 21, 2009, best viewers deliver since Sept. 23, 2009 (the season premiere). CSI: NY was first in households (8.4/14), viewers (13.00m), adults 25-54 (4.2/11) and adults 18-49 (3.2/09). Compared to the last first-run episode (Nov. 25), CSI: NY was up +6% in households (from 7.9/15), +11% in adults 25-54 (from 3.8/11), +14% in adults 18-49 (from 2.8/09) and added +320,000 viewers (from 12.68m, +3%). For the night, CBS was first in households (7.3/12), viewers (11.58m), adults 25-54 (4.0/10) (Yahoo! News: U.S. News) and adults 18-49 (3.1/08). Updated Wednesday ratings will Submitted at 12/10/2009 9:36:36 AM be available this afternoon. fivefilters.org featured article: Matthew buzzed up: New health Normalising the crime of the care benefits come at a price (AP) century by John Pilger 3 seconds ago 2009-1210T09:56:26-08:00 fivefilters.org featured article: Normalising the crime of the century by John Pilger

from 8-11PM on affiliates in the Pacific Time Zone, following the live football game, but not game coverage that begins at 5PM PT. The same would be true of Presidential debates as well as live award shows and breaking news reports. Rating: Estimated percentage of the universe of TV households (or other specified group) tuned to a program in the average minute. Ratings are expressed as a percent. Share (of Audience): The percent of households (or persons) using television who are tuned to a specific program, station or network in a specific area at a specific time. (See also, Rating, which represents tuning or viewing as a percent of the entire population being measured.) Time Shifted Viewing– Program ratings for national sources are produced in three streams of data

– Live, Live+Same Day(Live+SD) and Live+7 Day. Time shifted figures account for incremental viewing that takes place with DVRs which are currently in approximately 24.4% of all U.S. TV households. Live+Same Day(Live+SD) include viewing during the same broadcast day as the original telecast, with a cut-off of 3:00AM local time when meters transmit daily viewing to Nielsen for processing. Live+7 Day ratings include incremental viewing that takes place during the 7 days following a telecast. For more information see Numbers 101. fivefilters.org featured article: Normalising the crime of the century by John Pilger

Police: Fla. workers Wall Street sees opening bounce feared accused office shooter (AP) (Financial Times - US homepage)
Submitted at 12/10/2009 9:17:19 AM

Wall Street sees opening bounce By Jamie Chisholm, Global Markets Commentator Published: December 10 2009 07:15 | Last updated: December 10 2009 17:17 fivefilters.org featured article: Normalising the crime of the century by John Pilger

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All Brad wants for Festivus
By Brad Trechak (TV Squad)
Submitted at 12/10/2009 11:02:00 AM

Review: The New Adventures of Old Christine - Old Christine Meets Young Frankenstein
By Jason Hughes (TV Squad)
Submitted at 12/10/2009 11:47:00 AM

Restructuring layoffs hit Harmonix, the band plays on
By Alexander Sliwinski (Joystiq)
Submitted at 12/10/2009 12:37:00 PM

Another year come and gone, and now I have to give another wish list regarding the state of television and what I view as my ideal. Since I know that my tastes are very different than those of the general public, I'm not expecting much in the way of agreement. But that's okay. We're all different, and that's a good thing.

(S05E10) When a bully is revealed at the school Little Ritchie attends, Christine is clearly worried that her son is being victimized. But while Old Christine followed the traditional sitcom formula for a bit at the beginning, by the time we reached the end of the episode, it had gone somewhere only Christine Campbell can take it. Even better we got a surprise • The end of reality television - I return, though it's something I've just want this genre to die a kind of been waiting for all horrible, slow, painful death, season, and a hilarious guest preferably involving leeches. I recognize that there are some Moffat is behind the show and appearance by Amy Sedaris. I gems in this pile of crap, but I my expectations are very high. can't understand why Sedaris loathe those sorts of shows that And disappointing a man with a hasn't blown up even bigger than appeal to the worst and most television blog at his disposal is a she has. If Michael Strahan can get a big network comedy built gossipy nature within us. Get rid bad idea, Steven. around him, why they hell can't of them all. Except for those on the Food Network, because that Continue reading All Brad wants Amy Sedaris? She took what could have been a channel is cool. for Festivus • A stellar fifth year of the new Filed under: OpEd, Festivus, pretty ordinary guest appearance, Doctor Who- Admittedly, I was Reality-Free hesitant when they hired Matt Permalink| Email this| | Smith as The Doctor, who only C o m m e n t s yesterday just learned to walk. However, the brilliant Steven

and turned it into a powerhouse performance all on its own through sheer force of will and talent. Continue reading Review: The New Adventures of Old Christine - Old Christine Meets Young Frankenstein Filed under: Other Comedy Shows, OpEd, Reality-Free Permalink| Email this| | Comments

Street Chic: New York
By ELLE.com (ELLE News Blog)
Submitted at 12/10/2009 4:00:00 AM

White high-tops brighten up an

edgy black ensemble. . Photo: Anne Ziegler Think you are Street Chic? Email us your photo and you could

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

MTV Games has confirmed to Joystiq that 39 positions at developer Harmonix were eliminated today. The move was part of a restructuring to "better align [the] staffing to best suit [Harmonix's] product development plans and schedules moving forward." The publisher claims that "those affected were primarily in QA. The others affected ranged from administrative to other various roles within the company." At least one staff designer seems to have fallen under the "other" category. Although Electronic Arts has a partnership with Harmonix, these layoffs are "totally and completely unrelated" to EA's issues. Restructuring layoffs hit Harmonix, the band plays on originally appeared on Joystiq on Thu, 10 Dec 2009 12:37:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink| Email this| Comments

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FX renews The League
By Jonathan Toomey (TV Squad)
Submitted at 12/10/2009 12:38:00 PM

UBS unveils broker retention scheme
(Financial Times - US homepage)
Submitted at 12/10/2009 9:28:12 AM

Review: Nip/Tuck Benny Nilsson
By Jonathan Toomey (TV Squad)
plans were obviously not on the table when Ryan Murphy and Co. shot these final episodes and Submitted at 12/10/2009 10:25:00 AM as far the creative team was ( S06E09)"Being related by concerned, it was business as blood doesn't make a family." - usual. Despite a few odd plot Christian choices, "Benny Nilsson" set-up As Nip/Tuck's penultimate w h a t c o u l d a r g u a b l y b e season winds down, I'm having a M c N a m a r a / T r o y ' s b i g g e s t hard time getting excited for next challenge yet -- staying in week's finale knowing that the business. final season kicks off right after Continue reading Review: the New Year on January 6th. Nip/Tuck - Benny Nilsson With only a few weeks in- Filed under: OpEd, Nip/Tuck, between the episodes, next week Episode Reviews, Reality-Free doesn't feel like the event that a Permalink| Email this| | Nip/Tuck finale usually is. C o m m e n t s Regardless, FX's scheduling

Looks like FX has finally found a friend for It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia-- the network announced yesterday that it was renewing The League for a thirteen episode second season. While this doesn't come a surprise, I'm still not 100% sold. In my initial review of The League, I wasn't high on it for numerous reasons. There was far too much reliance on one-off jokes only intended to create buzz (vaginal hubris, anyone?) and Jon Lajoie seemed like he had no purpose other than singing YouTube-friendly pottymouthed songs. Factor in the utter lack of meaningful football references and the show was all over the place.

The wealth management division of UBS unveiled a new compensation programme for its financial advisors on Thursday designed to reward brokers for staying with the embattled Swiss bank. Robert McCann, chief executive of UBS’ wealth management business in the Americas, Continue reading FX renews announced the new programme The League in New York at a gathering of the Filed under: Other Comedy Zurich-based bank’s topShows, Sports, Programming, producing 300 US advisors. Pickups and Renewals, Realityfivefilters.org featured article: Free Normalising the crime of the Permalink| Email this| | century by John Pilger Comments

Watch Shanghai blow up in Army of Two: The 40th Day's intro
By Andrew Yoon (Joystiq)
Submitted at 12/10/2009 11:45:00 AM

Modern Warfare 2 has made blowing up American capitals so passé. EA Montreal is far more visionary, preemptively blowing up the largest city of our future masters: Shanghai. The explosive

intro to Army of Two: The 40th Day certainly fits the studio's new " blockbuster-type" focus and reassures doubters that this game will be a more serious affair than the first. Perhaps you've noticed the deliberate lack of bromance in this clip? Watch Shanghai blow up in

Army of Two: The 40th Day's intro originally appeared on Joystiq on Thu, 10 Dec 2009 11:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink| Email this| Comments

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Review: Cougar Town - Israeli Group Waging Actual War on Mystery Man Christmas [War]
By Joel Keller (TV Squad)
Submitted at 12/10/2009 11:28:00 AM

By Pareene (Gawker)
Submitted at 12/10/2009 8:48:22 AM

(S01E10) It's interesting; the entire time I was watching this episode, I really couldn't pinpoint any comedic highs or annoying lows. It was just a "nice" episode. But that's not a bad thing. After spending nine episodes careening from one kind of show to another, it was good to see an episode that just slowed down, let the characters breathe, and showed why this is becoming such a good ensemble. Oh, and it gave us a chance to see another one of the Bill Lawrence Players: Scott Foley. Forget The Unit or Felicity; I always thought Foley's best job

In the United States, the " War on Christmas" is a weird fantasy in which people pretend that the mere acknowledgment of other religious/ethnic traditions is an attack on Christianity/American was as the awkward Sean on Values. In Israel, though, the War Scrubs. So it's good to see him on Christmas is real. back in the fold again. And If American conservatives want judging by the story he's in, he's to know what a real War on going to be around for awhile. Christmas might look like, they Continue reading Review: should probably visit the Holy Cougar Town - Mystery Man Land. Something called the Filed under: Episode Reviews, "Lobby for Jewish Values" is Reality-Free, Cougar Town actually, for real, campaigning P e r m a l i n k | E m a i l t h i s | | against restaurants that display Comments Christmas trees and wreaths. And it is just not just the nuts! Every year, the Jerusalem Rabbinate threatens to revoke the kosher certification of restaurants that

Fliers and ads distributed among the public read, "The people of Israel have given their soul over the years in order to maintain the values of the Torah of Israel and the Jewish identity. "You should also continue to follow this path of the Jewish people's tradition and not give in to the clownish atmosphere of the end of the civil year. And certainly not help those businesses that sell or put up the display "Christian symbols." foolish symbols of Christianity." And they have kick-ass fliers: A c c o r d i n g t o t h e l o b b y ' s The "clownish atmosphere" of Chairman, Ofer Cohen, they have Christmas? That is too far. It is received backing by the rabbis, time for the United States to "and we are even considering invade Israel and topple their publishing the names of the tyrannical government, in order businesses that put up Christian to protect the rights of their symbols ahead of the Christian Christian minority. holiday and call for a boycott against them."

Barry Bonds' agent says slugger's career is over
By ESPN.com news services (ESPN.com)
on with another team. But that hasn't happened, and his agent doubts that it ever will, according Submitted at 12/10/2009 7:15:40 AM to the report. Barry Bonds still has yet to "It's two years since he played his formally retire from baseball. But last game, and if there was any the career of the major leagues' chance he'd be back in a majorreigning home run king is over, league uniform, it would have his agent says, according to the happened by now," his agent, Jeff San Francisco Chronicle. Borris, said Wednesday, Bonds has insisted he won't a c c o r d i n g t o t h e r e p o r t . r e t i r e , l e a v i n g o p e n t h e Bonds, now 45, last played in possibility that he might yet catch 2007, when he led the National League in three offensive categories with the San Francisco Giants. But in November of 2007, a federal grand jury indicted him on perjury charges, alleging he lied when he testified he had never knowingly used performance-enhancing drugs. No free agent offers came the following winter and spring. "When 2008 came around, I couldn't get him a job. When 2009 came around, I couldn't get him a job. Now, 2010 ... I'd say it's nearly impossible," Borris said, according to the report. "It's an unfortunate ending to a storied career." If it's truly over for Bonds, his career ends with 762 home runs, 1,996 runs batted in and seven National League MVP awards. fivefilters.org featured article: Normalising the crime of the century by John Pilger

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The Final Harvest: A Tragedy in Four Dishes [Top Chef]
By Joshua David Stein (Gawker)
received Ashley and Jennifer, who should have taken from him the knife with her name therein Submitted at 12/10/2009 9:55:15 AM transcribed and stabbed Juiced and crushed like a repeatedly Mike Voltaggio about Concord grape, it is my solemn the head and heart and stood in duty to report from the Top Chef his spot—Michael meanwhile Season VI Finale Part II held in bodily picked up like so much Napa. I, Joshua David Stein, karmic dry cleaning and dragged shall not fail you. by Hell's hounds With a heavy heart and a s o u t h b o u n d — g r i n n e d quivering hand write I this tale of maniacally, her red face covered woe. Season VI has fallen before in red blood justly spilled. Mike us. Its crowning moment and Voltaggio received Fat Cry Baby incandescent guillotining cruelly Boy Eli and Fat Cry Baby Girl coincided. Now there's nothing Jess. Friar Kevin received Ash, a left but remnants and leftovers, benediction, and Preeti, the Top day old hardened regret to skim Chef equivalent of the Five Point from the surface and reserve for P a l m E x p l o d i n g H e a r t stock. Three chefs and four Technique, tuberculosis or of a dishes, four judges and two profound disagreement between brothers. Knives were drawn h u s b a n d a n d w i f e a b o u t there, between the vines, yonder. circumcision. Blows all latent, For this the final finale, at the patiently waiting, felt only later very moment when it was most in action and application but important all variables remained when felt fatal. constant as to distill the plasma The chefs' courses numbered of the the remaining three three and their choices somewhat competitors, as to avoid tainting circumscribed: For the first the original source, that which course chefs would be forced to would be judged, with the use all the ingredients from their b a c k w a s h o f m a s s e s o f identical mystery boxes. For the q u e s t i o n a b l e m o l a r i t y , b y second course, chefs could do definition a flawed and uneven whatever they please. The third bunch, Bravo rounded up the course must be dessert. Into the once dismissed chefs of episodes kitchen to see the box. Not much past and, through the cruel illogic doing: a rockfish, a crab, some of knife block paired them in anise hysopp, a man, a plan, a malevolent covalent bonds with canal, Panama. Mighty were the the remaining three. So from prep lists; scant was the time. Fat behind the vine they came, feet Cry Baby Eli creamed his pants first, like benighted children of w i t h s e r v i l e O u i , C h e f s , the corn, The brothers Voltaggio delighting like the old ghost of fared not too poorly. Bryan Foucault on the Tenderloin, in pregnant"+"indian"+"hirsute" Bryan, I am shocked!" The chefs look around uncomfortably. Kevin starts giggling and buries his head in his hands. Bryan looks helpless, wide-eyed and scared. A mischievous smile creeps across Padma's face. "Well," she says, "you sought it and here you have it," stepping from the hallway into an erotic coupling no words could capture save, perhaps, in a magic combination "iridescent" "filthy" "weird" and "creepy". No! It would be neither of those things. Instead, there are two nice looking old ladies at the door. Shit's either about to get real f u c k e d u p ["grandmother"+"senior'+"swing ers"] or real warm. Thankfully it w a s t h e l a t t e r . ["mothers"+"reunion"+"crying"]. Mama Gillespie hugs Baby Kevin Gillespie. Mama Voltaggio hugs both the boys. the erotic charge of the self- Top Chef, there's another prize. The stakes are raised. Moms are abnegation. Jennifer expertly We'll be inserting a glass rod into now involved. It's like when cleaned Bryan's rock fish. Preeti, the urethras of the erect penises you're a kid in Junior High s t u c k i n s w e e t m o l a s s e s , of the losing two chefs. Then School, say Abington Junior pondered the carrot, considered we'll be screening for the new High School, and you see a kid the lobster, sought satori in the R o b e r t D e N i r o c o m e d y who makes fun of you at the hysopp and left Kevin in the Everything's Fine. A note to the Willow Grove Mall and you're weeds, his tender angel belly to chef who loses his erection first: with your Mom coming out the be feasted upon by vultures. We'll take a small hammer and World of Science and he sees you That night, toothsome Kevin break that glass rod inside his (he's coming out of Challenges, stewed in a funk and the brothers penis. To avoid a similar fate, the the arcade) and your eyes meet Voltaggio planned their range other chef must maintain an and you just hope that the bully management. There was a knock erection for life." Or would it be respects the rules of adolescent at the door. Would it be Tom Padma, not wearing much of warfare and doesn't humiliate adding a twist. "Good evening, anything at all. "Good evening, you in front of your parents Chefs. Here's the thing: In chefs. The producers forwarded FINAL page 52 addition to winning the title of me your Google searches. "9 mo

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FINAL
continued from page 51

because what could be more devastating to a child than to be a loser in the eyes of his parents? But his eyes are dead to you, glazed over by one too many rounds of Street Fighter, and you exhale as you walk away and walk towards the Wall because Ugly Kid Joe has a new single you want to get on cassette. And then the word "Loser!" hits you like shrapnel, peppering your skull. Your palms sweat and the cookie scent piped out of Mrs. Fields is now mixed with the acrid tingle of fear. But you don't dare turn around because for all your mother knows, that "loser" wasn't meant for you but some other loser, hopefully a Momless one. You are still simply the Secretary of the Key Club, well loved and eager to please. Or at least you hope you are. To lard the good cheer of unexpected mom presence, that fortifying maternal element, the judges demand the contestants create a fourth dish: A Mom Dish. Sigh. Let's cut the crap and skip ahead. The producers have now roped in a Voltaggio Mom as an anabolic boost to a fading season and a fraternal rivalry assiduously cultivated at great cost. This brings the body count that has fallen victim to this belabored narrative to two: Jennifer Carroll and now this

Lady. Not cool: Moms are civilians. As for their food, the best I can remember: Kevin's red balls in yellow custard was the best Mom dish. Toby Young liked Bryan's sardines but that's because he's an asshole. No one really liked Mike's broccoli. For the second course, Kevin's dish was, again, the clear favorite except he botched his mushroom. Bryan's was bland and Michael won by default. Third dish, Bryan's venison was hands down the favorite and for dessert, his again was the only offering both well executed and well thought out. Kevin's was lacking a central focus and Michael's flavors, though bold and strong, were offset by an over and improperly cooked cake. The breakdown of judges' opinions is illustrated in this amateur grid below. As the diagram makes heartbreakingly clear, Bryan should have been the winner. Kevin pulled a Casey, unfortunately, and though he could blame Preeti he doesn't and, furthermore, shouldn't have. The fault was his own. He had, by his own admission, a bad day on the worst day to have one. Instead the winner is Michael, the Roman-looking one. Certainly a good chef, Michael Voltaggio, but not worthy of the by now dubious honorific of Top

Chef and certainly not by the logic to which the show itself supposedly clings. I'm not quite sure now, sorting through my gripes, which ones are valid and which ones aren't. I suppose, for example, that it doesn't matter that Mike is a dickhead for this is, after all, a cooking show. He isn't, in the reality tv show cliche, "there to make friends." On the other hand, character is the currency and the bungee that bind us week after week to the show's and Padma's heaving bosom even though, increasingly, other things happening at Wednesday night at 10 pm seem more appealing [cf. toe clipping, looking for an accountant, reading up on circumcision.] Furthermore, character, as much as salt and pepper, is what gives food flavor. In dinner too, character is the narrative. But good artists are often crummy people. Alexander Pope was a bitter little man. Picasso was no great shakes himself. Celine was a fucking Nazi for Christ's sake. I love Roald Dahl but he wouldn't love me because I'm a Jew but do I still read The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar? I do. I suppose, therefore I can dismiss that gripe. Though if I see Andy Cohen, I'll tweak his nads (in a not nice way) for cross contamination of two currencies in a single market. But that

Michael won in a way that was so clearly at odds with both reality and the completely isolated but nonetheless selfcontained terrarium of reality television is a gripe that has the added, if coincidental, value of being true. Is it only the $125,000 prize awarded to the wrong Voltaggio that so irks me? No, it is not. The crushing moment isn't when Michael wins but from when his mother from the shadows comes to embrace her son, the winner, while Bryan, back to the camera, with his neck stiff—for heavy is the crown and heavier is not having onewatches stoically at a distance. Though it is Michael Mama Voltaggio embraces, it's to Bryan her eyes turn and there they stay. And as Mother and Sons leave the studio, the thunderous fact that one's a loser, no matter how unjust the outcome or the panel deciding it, surely crashes heavy on Bryan's soul, sweeping him and us out to sea. This is Joshua David Stein. Thank you for reading. I'll see you next year and thank you to Yoni Lotan, again, for your wonderful work.

1 Dead, Several Injured in Chicago High-Rise Fire
(FOXNews.com)
Submitted at 12/10/2009 7:48:44 AM

CHICAGO Hundreds of Chicago firefighters worked to put out a high-rise fire that left one person dead and 12 people injured. The fire sent flames shooting out of the condo building in the city's Streeterville neighborhood. More than 200 residents ran out into a bitterly cold Chicago morning after the fire broke out shortly before 1 a.m. Thursday. The 12 people injured included five firefighters, but authorities say none of the injuries appear to be life-threatening. Authorities say the fire started on the 36th floor in the unit of the woman who died. Fire Commissioner John Brooks says she was found near the front door of the apartment, apparently trying to get out. The cause of the blaze is under investigation. More from MyFoxChicago.com. fivefilters.org featured article: Normalising the crime of the century by John Pilger

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New York Times Afghanistan Ex-Bureau Chief Goes AWOL After She's Promoted [Internal Memos]
By John Cook (Gawker)
contact with her colleagues at the Times for a week-and-a-half. Not that there's anything wrong with As the war in Afghanistan that—as far as we're concerned, intensifies, the New York Times Gall has earned the right to blow has relieved its Kabul bureau off steam any way she pleases by chief Carlotta Gall of her duties, breaking the story of a taxi driver ostensibly so she can do more n a m e d D i l a w a r w h o w a s reporting. She's not happy about murdered by U.S. forces at and hasn't been showing up for Bagram Airbase in 2002. That work. story was later expanded into a According to a memo from lengthy dispatch by Gall's Times foreign editor Susan colleague Tim Golden that got Chira, Gall will stay on at the much more attention than her bureau as a "senior Afghanistan original report and became the correspondent" focusing on "the basis for the documentary Taxi to intersection of Pakistan with the the Dark Side. A f g h a n c o n f l i c t . " F o r m e r Still, as is often the case with Baghdad bureau chief Alissa foreign correspondents, Gall has Rubin will take over running the a reputation as a difficult person bureau, which is usually staffed to work with, and the Times' by a small rotating handful of decision to pull her out of the Times reporters and a larger bureau chief role at the very n u m b e r o f l o c a l A f g h a n moment that Kabul becomes the reporters. paper's most crucial foreign Chira's memo portrays the move outpost doesn't look like a vote of as an attempt to take the day-to- confidence in her leadership day management of the bureau abilities. We hope she returns to off Gall's plate so she can write the bureau soon and gets to work. more stories. But we're told Gall Chira's full memo is below; ewas furious at the decision—so mails to Gall and to the Times much so that she's "gone off the s e e k i n g c o m m e n t w e r e n ' t reservation" on an unplanned i m m e d i a t e l y r e t u r n e d . vacation and has been out of It is widely acknowledged, even
Submitted at 12/10/2009 9:51:33 AM

To those duties, especially in the past year, Carlotta has given heart and soul. We have a bureau that continues to produce scoops and works in close collaboration with Washington. And Carlotta has helped ensure that our dedicated and talented Afghan staff has received continual among our competitors, that there training in journalism, video and is no reporter who knows more writing for the Web. But the about Afghanistan than Carlotta price has been been fewer bylines Gall. For eight years, even while by Carlotta Gall. So now she will the world's attention shifted to b e c o m e S e n i o r A f g h a n Iraq, Carlotta continued to live in Correspondent, and her brief will Kabul, where her brave and include the intersection of prescient reporting kept breaking P a k i s t a n w i t h t h e A f g h a n new ground - and was an conflict. essential contributor to our We are very lucky that Alissa Pulitzer Prize for coverage of Rubin has agreed to shoulder the Afghanistan and Pakistan in daunting task of bureau chief. 2008. Now that all eyes are S h e b r i n g s t o t h i s t a s k focused on Afghanistan again, exceptional journalistic skills, as a n d A m e r i c a n t r o o p s a n d her acute and wide-ranging journalists are surging back, reports from Iraq demonstrated. Carlotta's knowledge is more Alissa also has considerable valuable than ever. That's why experience in the security and we've agreed that she will return logistical challenges posed by a to reporting full time, after years wartime bureau, acquired in Iraq when she has also assumed the as bureau chief for us and for the increasingly time-consuming Los Angeles Times. duties of bureau chief presiding As Baghdad Bureau Chief, she over a rapidly-expanding bureau. w a s a b l e t o j u g g l e t h e considerable journalistic task of

thinking strategically about a rapidly-changing conflict with the harrowing demands of keeping Western and local staff safe in what was certainly the most dangerous war zone our journalists had ever operated in. Afghanistan is beginning to challenge Iraq's record on that score, and Alissa's dual experience will be a sure guide. Her time in Iraq showed her to have a sure sense of the big themes of a big story, She is no stranger to Afghanistan,where she reported with great rigor and compassion about the war and the toll it took on Afghans and their society, beginning in 2001 for the Los Angeles Times. Alissa and Carlotta are members of a very strong team in Afghanistan and Pakistan that includes some of our finest and most seasoned war correspondents. We will be well positioned to continue our searching coverage of this conflict in a crucial year.

Obama defends war in Afghanistan
(Financial Times - US homepage)
Submitted at 12/10/2009 6:07:48 AM

Barack Obama on Thursday

defended the US military operation in Afghanistan as he accepted his Nobel peace prize with a speech that came a week after he announced plans to send

30,000 additional troops to the war-torn country. The US president insisted that “the instruments of war do have a role to play in preserving the

peace” as he sought to reconcile Normalising the crime of the the prize with his status as the century by John Pilger commander-in-chief of a nation in the midst of two conflicts. fivefilters.org featured article:

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What the New York Times Lost in the Buyout [Media]
By Hamilton Nolan (Gawker)
Submitted at 12/10/2009 8:25:02 AM

Weak dollar and oil demand shrink US trade gap
(Financial Times - US homepage)
Submitted at 12/10/2009 7:30:01 AM

The New York Times buyouts are done, leaving only a round of layoffs to get up to 100 staff cuts before the year's end. In January, the paper will be a different place. A look at what was lost, below. The New York Times needed to cut its staff. Its newsroom staff is too big for the paper to survive for the long term. And with a newsroom that large, there is inevitably dead weight. Still, every person that leaves is something lost for the paper. Metro Section: It was bloated, with 50 reporters but no standalone section in the paper. Buyout takers from the section were Ralph Blumenthal, Nicole Collins, Paul Nielsen, Tina Kelley and Jenny 8. Lee, who was the biggest individual brand name to take the (meager) money and run. With such a relatively modest news hole, it's doubtful that the departures will be very visible in the print product; the question is whether the NYT can keep its City Room blog (which Lee had a hand in) as excellent as it's been. It could soon become more important than the print Metro section, in terms of influence. Other, smaller blogs by Metro staffers could well get

cut in the NYT blog purge, so they're not as much of a worry.(The same goes for every other section, of course). Business: It was also big, with 85 staffers, but more justifiably so. But they lost some serious quality reporters. Buyout takers include Louis Uchitelle, Alex Berenson, Jonathan Glater, Leslie Wayne, Edmund Andrews, and Geraldine Fabrikant. Andrews and Fabrikant would probably be

Lewis, David Johnston, and David Stout are all leaving. Also, the Business desk in DC has been rather decimated, we hear. The paper will have to staff back up. Between pressure from the WSJ on a national scale, and the increased DC focus of the weakened Washington Post, and Politico, the Times can't afford to lose any ground in its DC coverage. More broadly, these buyouts signal the end of the classic New York Times culture. The paper used to be a job for life, with tenure as strong as the most bureaucratic college and a bureaucracy as entrenched as The Pentagon's. Those days, by necessity, are ending for good. Slowly, NYT employees are being forced to show and prove to justify their own paychecks. Just like employees of normal media outlets! considered the two biggest names A year from now, many more leaving. newsroom employees will be Sports: They lost Jack Curry, a gone. And things will be tighter big name, and Giants reporter Joe at the NYT. For better or worse, Lapointe. The sports section is they're going to lose some flab. expected to get hit hard in the And a fair amount of mystique. round of layoffs, mostly because [Special shout out to the many the connection between the NYT departing members of the NYT and the very concept of "sports" copy desk. Copy editors will has always been tenuous. soon be a luxury remembered Although it's a very good section! wistfully.] It will survive. DC: Stephen Labaton, Neil

The weaker dollar and slumping demand for oil narrowed the US trade gap and signalled that the US economy could be growing faster than anticipated, commerce department figures showed on Thursday. Separately on Thursday, labour department figures showed that new US jobless claims rose unexpectedly last week. fivefilters.org featured article: Normalising the crime of the century by John Pilger

Facebook Wants to Steal Your 55 Facebook's new "privacy" FACEBOOK page
settings are even more nefarious By Ryan Tate (Gawker) The than they first appeared: social network has formally

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FACEBOOK
continued from page 54

nationalized your friends list, like some Cuban sugar plantation, and published it to people who hate you. You have no choice. That's because the social network has codified this new state of affairs right there into its written "Privacy Policy." A comparison of the new and old policies reveals this addition: Certain categories of information such as your name, profile photo, list of friends and pages you are a fan of, gender, geographic region, and networks you belong to are considered publicly available to everyone, including Facebook-enhanced applications, and therefore do not have privacy settings. You can, however, limit the ability of others to find this information through search using your search privacy settings. Facebook users have just begun to realize this is happening. Reuters' aggressive financial columnist Felix Salmon took note of this exciting new "privacy" feature when his critics

on an investor website published a list of his Facebook friends, presumably for hate-mailing. Former Gawker editor Doree Shafrir blogged this morning about how her once-hidden friends, network and fan-page subscriptions have suddenly been published. I've now set my privacy settings so that only friends can search me [ and find out you're a fan of Howard Kurtz! Oy! Ed.]…which seems sort of counterproductive to the whole enterprise, doesn't it? Indeed it does, and it's scant protection: Shafrir's friends are still listed to strangers on her profile page, if you can find it. There's a way to turn this off, too, according to Salmon (see update to his column), but anyone who shares a friend with you will still be able to see all your friends (I'm looking at Salmon's now, and we're not friends). Really, as gossip bloggers, we at Gawker should be happy about

all this; it certainly makes it easier to hunt down people willing to confirm gossip about their acquaintances. And it's satisfying to have our conspiracy theories confirmed— and quoted by civil libertarians at the Electronic Frontier Foundation who, along with the ACLU, have raised serious objections these "privacy" changes. But there's something maddening about watching Facebook bumble its way into another privacy debacle, one approaching in its disastrousness the launch of the Beacon advertising/stalking system a few years back. If only Facebook's investors agreed. But then they're not exactly a pack of civil liberties advocates, now are they? (Top pic: Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, by Simon Doggett)

Backchecking With ... Claude Giroux
By Christopher Botta (Fanhouse Main)
Submitted at 12/10/2009 4:00:00 AM

France to impose tax on bank bonuses
(Financial Times - US homepage)
Submitted at 12/10/2009 8:03:51 AM

President Nicolas Sarkozy is to follow Britain’s lead and impose a one-off tax on bonus pay-outs by banks operating in France. The French government is still

working out the details, but intends to bring Paris in line with London by forcing banks to pay 50 per cent in tax on bonus payouts for 2009 above €27,000. fivefilters.org featured article: Normalising the crime of the century by John Pilger

Filed under: Flyers We get to know NHL players with some quick questions. Today's subject: Flyers forward Claude Giroux, the highly-skilled second-year right wing who's a big part of Philadelphia's present and future. What is your first hockey memory? Winning the championship game in the Pee Wee provincial tournament in Burlington, Ontario as a ten-year-old. My town -- Hearst, Ontario -- is very small, so winning that tournament was a big surprise for a lot of people and an incredible thing for the town. What's your favorite thing about playing in the NHL? My first pre-season game in the NHL was against New Jersey. The Devils started Martin Brodeur, which blew me away. He was one of my favorite players growing up. Playing with so many great players and playing against the best in the world like Brodeur...that was always the dream for me. We kid around about this, but I really am living the dream. What's the toughest aspect of life in the NHL? Last season I suffered a concussion and I was out for a

month. I had headaches. There were a few days when I just felt lost. That was horrible. I would not wish it on anybody. Do you have any game-day rituals? If I have a good game, I'll wear the same suit, shirt and tie to the next game. I'll have everything cleaned, don't worry. I'm very superstitious. If you could hit one opponent with a clean, hard check, who would it be? Georges Laraque. It's not like I don't respect him or anything. I do. It's just that he's a real big guy who plays hard and I'm not the biggest guy. If I could get him with a good hit, I think that would be fun. If you could be one of your teammates, who would it be? Simon Gagne. Sick hair.

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Wall Meets the Garden, Leaves a Memory
By Jay Mariotti (Fanhouse Main)
Submitted at 12/9/2009 5:12:00 PM

Filed under: NCAA Basketball NEW YORK -- The stinkeye, they call it. John Wall, driven to aggravation by his maniacal, foot -stomping coach, flashed the dirty look at least a couple of times Wednesday night at John Calipari. This will be a fascinating sociological study, the relationship between basketball's next special player and the college game's $31.65million, NCAA-defiant, diamond -watch-glittering madman, a coach further burdened by the pressure of working at the unforgiving insane asylum known as the University of Kentucky. "He's the greatest kid,'' said Calipari, painting a pretty picture. "He'll walk into my office and come in just to give me a hug. He'll come in, not say a thing, hug me and leave. He's unique and special.'' "I wanted to play for him,'' Wall said. Is he sure? With 7:16 left in his introduction to mainstream America, Wall intercepted a Connecticut pass, drove to the basket without a challenge and jammed home the ball with a semi-whirlybird dunk. Upon finishing, the freshman didn't look at the Kentucky fans behind the basket or slap hands with his teammates. No, the first thing he did was look at his

coach and give him a long stare. This is no news flash: Calipari has a tough-love bond with his players, sometimes on the edge of mutual hatred. But what this early-season test told us, in the SEC/Big East Invitational, is that Wall and his fellow freshmen could survive a mean experience in the big city, including the serial screamer in the Italian leather loafers. For all the starpower around him -- including Calipari and Jim Calhoun, two coaches who should settle their longstanding issues in a nearby Octagon -- the silhouette was framed only on Wall. Every so often, a celebrated hoops phenom converges upon the world's most famous arena for the first time. Such is what this event was about in Madison Square Garden, history and pomp, a mecca welcoming a teenaged point guard with otherworldly gifts and a boundless future. Barring illness, scandal or a kidnapping by Rick Pitino or Roy Williams, Wall will be the No. 1 pick in the next NBA draft. Anyone who doubts the assertion should have seen the wall of NBA executives and scouts analyzing his every twitch, movement and explosive step in a blue uniform that he'll wear until March or April, then discard for the franchise fortunate enough to win the draft lottery -did someone say the New York Knicks? -- and a pro career sure to be filled with legendary battles

program based a three-hour drive from Manhattan up I-95, close enough for fans to stampede the Garden. "John right now is farther along today than they were," Calipari said. "Those two -- when they got it and they felt the offense, they were unleashed and they weren't afraid to make the play. When we're in a tough game and it's on the road, is he going to make the play that those two did?" The answer came in the final minutes of a sloppy but exciting December game that whets the against Derrick Rose, Chris Paul, appetite for college hoops. Rajon Rondo, Brandon Jennings Struggling with youth and and other contemporaries. Did inexperience, Kentucky needed a Wall notice them? "I try to block surge. "We decided to ride John that out,'' he said, wisely. Wall is Wall at the end of the game,'' so spectacularly quick and Calipari said. "We were groping powerful in the open court that for offense. We gave it to him he's just about unguardable. He and said, 'Make some baskets.''' has to work on the same issues He did just that, scoring 12 of his that dog other phenom guards, team's final 15 points. With three his jumpshot and his defense, but minutes left, Wall had the ball in he has plenty of time to massage the open court and chose to stop and pop a jumper. Bang! So and uplift his game. For now, I advise one and all to flabbergasted was Calhoun, he enjoy his introduction to the turned to his bench and shrugged. American hoops consciousness. Wall was only starting. UConn All in all, this is not just another rallied behind its own point brick in the Wall, as his coach guard, Kemba Walker, to take a eagerly emphasizes. Remember 61-60 lead with 72 seconds left. how good Rose and Tyreke "Come on, John Wall!'' a female Evans were in their lone seasons Kentucky fan drawled from for Calipari at Memphis? Wall behind the Seventh Avenue already is better than both, he baseline. Even she knew what says. What Calipari has wanted w a s c o m i n g , a m e m o r a b l e to know all along is how Wall moment from a player who would respond in a difficult already is a legend in the environment: such as inside the Commonwealth. G a r d e n a g a i n s t U C o n n , a At the top of the key, Wall

waited for his crease. With 40 seconds left, he drove hard to the basket, got pounded by UConn's Alex Oriakhi ... and spun the shot off the glass and through the hole. Blessed with a hardbody, he peeled himself off the floor and flexed a muscle. "It was pretty hard,'' Wall said of the hit. "I was just trying to make a play. At the end of the game, coaches want players who can make plays and win games.'' Wall made the free throw and gave his team the lead for good in a 64-61, soulstrengthening victory. He wound up with 25 points, 19 in the second half after an admittedly selfish and foultroubled first half. He added six assists, prompting statistical minds to ask this question: Who was the last Knicks player to have 25 points and six steals in a game at Madison Square Garden? Would you believe Johnny Newman, in 1988? "Before the season, I said he was at least as good as Derrick Rose,'' Calhoun said. "Now that I've seen him in person, he's all of that. Simply a tremendous, tremendous player. He's no freshman, there's no name like that beside him. He won the game tonight.'' Naturally, Calipari was harder, more discriminating. After a painful first half, he told Wall that he was "trying to do it all himself.'' The tone wasn't soft. "We drank the poison in the first half, listened to all the hype WALL page 60

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Wonder Wall: Kentucky Freshman Takes Over the Garden
(WSJ.com: The Daily Fix)
Submitted at 12/10/2009 7:25:50 AM

John Wall first visit to Madison Square Garden indicated that there will be plenty more in his future. Kentucky’s freshman guard pumped in a season-high 25 points, including the gamewinning basket in the No. 4 Wildcats’ 64-61 victory over No. 12 UConn on Wednesday night. Through the early weeks of Wall’s college career, the results have matched the hype. Wall has played in eight of the Wildcats’ nine games — all wins — and is averaging 19 points per game. Getty Images Can you think of a Wall pun worse than the one we used in the headline? Cue the accolades. “How can a guy so young keep being so clutch?” John Clay writes in the Lexington Herald-Leader. “He did it in his debut, making the final shot to beat Miami of Ohio. He did it Saturday against North Carolina, putting together a phenomenal first half that had the visitors back on their Heels. He did it again Wednesday night. Bright lights. Big city. Big deal.” “It is almost impossible not to get swept up into the euphoria,” ESPN’s Dana O’Neil writes. “After two years of mediocrity, Kentucky is good again. No scratch that. Kentucky is really good again.” In the Hartford Courant, Jeff

Jacobs sees promise in the Huskies despite the loss.* * * They won’t be mentioned in the same breath as the defending champion Los Angeles Lakers or Denver when discussing the NBA’s western contenders, but the Houston Rockets are building a pretty good season without injured stars Yao Ming and Tracy McGrady. On Wednesday, Houston scored a 95-85 win over Cleveland, an Eastern Conference power, to improve to 12-9. In the Houston Chronicle, Richard Justice sees a promising development. “One night, its Trevor Ariza; the next, its Aaron Brooks or Carl Landry or Chase Budinger,” Justice writes. “ Down the stretch, they look for the hot hand instead of the big salary.” With Yao out, enter Chuck Hayes, who at 6-foot-6 is the shortest regular center in NBA history, Fanhouse’s Chris Tomasson writes.* * * It’s not as if Congress had anything else to worry about. A House subcommittee passed a bill that would prevent the BCS from promoting a game as a national championship unless it came about from a playoff. The Washington Post’s Michael Wilbon sees a lot of good should the bill become law. “One, it’s symbolic. It puts The Cartel on notice that somebody its size is watching,” Wilbon writes. “Two,

it says people in general are fed up with the BCS’s arrogance and sense of entitlement.” At CBS Sports, Ray Ratto isn’t sure much will come of the bill, but it might bring about honest debate about the BCS.* * * The Tiger Woods story seems to get more salacious every day. No need to recap the alleged misdeeds here of the universe’s top golfer, whose image has taken a beating in recent weeks. Many are now reconsidering, in the light of his “transgressions,” how much of a role model he is. In the Los Angeles Times, Chris Erskine reminds readers of a role model from the Showtime Lakers who kept his virginity until marriage despite the temptations of playing in Tinseltown: A.C. Green. The Washington Post’s Tracee Hamilton advises anyone who feels slighted by an athlete’s lessthan-pristine behavior to forget the moral outrage.* * * South-central Florida is a great repository for talented football players, among them Steelers wideout Santonio Holmes, Patriots running back Fred

Taylor and Cardinals wideout Anquan Boldin. Holmes and Taylor played at Glades Central, Boldin at Pahokee, two high schools that, despite being in a poor part of the state, have won numerous state championships and have churned out many NFL players. Better still, the two schools are bitter rivals that meet annually in the Muck Bowl, Sports Illustrated’s Austin Murphy writes.* * * The Fix picks the NFLs Thursday game, ahead of its Friday picks for the weekend: Are you ready for some feeble football? Like many others games during Week 14 of the NFL season, this one features two mismatched teams and a double-digit line. It’s the kind of game that makes you grudgingly want to see whether anything more interesting is happening on “Survivor: Samoa.” Pittsburgh (-10) at Cleveland: There’s no denying the Steelers, only 6-6 and on a four-game tailspin, aren’t the same team that won the Super Bowl in February. But their competition is Cleveland, which they’ve defeated a dozen straight times. Bad enough that the Browns can’t beat Pittsburgh, but they’ve lost eight straight at home to Pittsburgh, too. Look at the gaudy stats: Steelers QB Ben Roethlisberger is perfect against Cleveland — 10-0. Pittsburgh’s

playoff hopes will vanish with a loss. The Browns have a monopoly on mediocrity this season, winning only once in 12 games, and they’re on a sevengame skid. Still, QB Brady Quinn has tossed seven TDs and no picks in his past three starts. And they’re due. Somebody’s due, anyway. Pick: David: Cleveland, Garey: Cleveland, Al Toonie: Cleveland* * * It didn’t happen on Wednesday night, but soon Martin Brodeur will have the all-time NHL regular-season shutout record to himself. He shares the mark with Terry Sawchuk, at 103, a lofty number that had stood since the 1969-70 season. Many thought that record would never be broken, but Brodeur’s mark will be almost impossible to break no active goalie has half as many. In the New York Times, Jeff Z. Klein writes that Sawchuk and Brodeur were the best of their eras. – Tip of the Fix cap to reader Don Hartline and Fixer emeritus Carl Bialik. Found a good column from the world of sports? Don’t keep it to yourself — write to us at [email protected] and we’ll consider your find for inclusion in the Daily Fix. You can email Garey at [email protected].

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Report: Boston Red Sox trade Mike Lowell to Texas Rangers for Max Ramirez
By Gordon Edes (ESPN.com)
responded to requests for comment. Submitted at 12/10/2009 9:19:52 AM Passing a medical exam may not Red Sox Trade Mike Lowell Red be the formality it is in many Sox Trade Mike Lowell VIDEO trades. Lowell, who turns 36 on PLAYLIST Feb. 24, underwent surgery after • Red Sox Trade Mike Lowell the 2008 season for a torn labrum Red Sox Trade Mike Lowell in his right hip, which drastically • Winter Meetings Update affected his mobility in the field Winter Meetings Update last season. Lowell played in 119 games, but missed a dozen games INDIANAPOLIS -- The Boston when he went on the disabled list R e d S o x h a v e r e a c h e d a because of a strained hip. preliminary agreement to trade Lowell also missed nearly a third baseman Mike Lowell to month at the start of the 2008 the Texas Rangers for catcher season with what was called a Max Ramirez, sources told sprained left thumb. ESPN. Asked if the remaining hurdles The Red Sox will pay $9 million to the deal were health or of Lowell's $12 million salary. financial issues, Daniels said The trade was first reported by "Any of the above. Both clubs FoxSports.com. have the ability to pursue other A c a s h t r a n s f e r o f t h a t options." magnitude would also require Asked about the financial approval from t h e portion of the deal, Daniels said c o m m i s s i o n e r ' s o f f i c e . "The general parameters are However, on Thursday morning, understood and both clubs need Rangers GM John Daniels said to decide whether it's the right the deal is not yet done. fit." "Reports of the deal were "There's a financial component to somewhat overstated," Daniels it, but I'm not going to address said. that specifically. Both clubs Red Sox GM Theo Epstein left know what's on the table and the winter meetings before the we'll continue to talk and work R u l e 5 d r a f t a n d h a s n o t through it." But an official of another club that had been talking with the Red Sox about Lowell said Thursday that it was his understanding that an agreement had indeed been reached. The official's belief was that the Red Sox were prepared to pick up $9 million of the $12 million owed Lowell in 2010. Lowell, who attended David Ortiz's charity golf tournament in the Dominican Republic last weekend, said at the time that he had not "missed a single moment of sleep" because of rumors that the Red Sox -- uncertain that he would make a full recovery -were planning to trade him. Lowell, who reiterated that doctors had told him he would require a year to heal, said he felt much better than he had last season. The Rangers, if the deal goes through, would use Lowell as a right-handed designated hitter and part-time first baseman, a position he has never played in the big leagues. Lowell has played 1,470 games at third base, winning the Gold Glove in 2005. Red Sox manager Terry Francona, asked last week about flipping Lowell to first and returning Kevin Youkilis to third, rejected that idea. "I'm not for it," Francona said. "The guy has played third base his whole life. He could do it, but I don't know if it's as easy as people think, and I don't know if it's in his best interests." Francona said moving Lowell to first base could actually increase the stress on his surgically repaired right hip, since it would introduce a whole different set of movements at a new position. Ramirez, a 25-year-old native of Venezuela, was originally signed by the Braves and has played parts of the last two seasons with the Rangers. He is considered a better hitter than catcher. Gordon Edes is ESPNBoston.com's Red Sox reporter. He has covered the Red Sox for 12 years and has reported on baseball for 25 years. Information from ESPN The Magazine's Buster Olney and ESPNDallas.com's Richard Durrett was used in this report. fivefilters.org featured article: Normalising the crime of the century by John Pilger

Around the Net In Media: Bonnier To Expand Into Book Publishing
(MediaPost | Media News)
Submitted at 12/9/2009 9:25:11 PM

The Swedish-owned Bonnier Corp. has acquired Weldon Owen Publishing and will create a book division to manage it. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. Weldon Owen has annual revenues of approximately $20 million. Bonnier said adding Weldon Owen will allow the company to expand its existing magazine brands and content into book publishing projects. The company said it is considering bookazines, collectible yearbooks and other book products for sale on newsstands and online. Weldon Owen Publishing develops and publishes illustrated reference, lifestyle and education books and has worked with several specialty retailer clients, including Williams-Sonoma and Pottery Barn. fivefilters.org featured article: Normalising the crime of the century by John Pilger

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Around the Net In Media: Capital One Adds To Agency Relationships
(MediaPost | Media News)
Submitted at 12/9/2009 9:17:20 PM

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The Count: Carmelo Anthony’s 20-Point Streak Not Quite Jordan-esque
(WSJ.com: The Daily Fix)
games if he hadn’t sat after scoring 16 points in 12 minutes Submitted at 12/9/2009 2:17:54 PM in the 2004-2005 season finale. Allen Iverson’s second debut The next year, Iverson started with the Philadelphia 76ers strong but Kobe Bryant finished wasn’t a successful one in most stronger, scoring at least 20 respects — Philly lost Monday to points in each of his last 62 the Nuggets, 93-83, and Iverson games. The next season, though, missed seven of 11 shots from Bryant scored just 15 points in the field. But in one personal t h e s e c o n d g a m e . N o t respect, the game was successful: surprisingly, Michael Jordan tops Philly limited Denver star them all. His best streak was 69 Carmelo Anthony to 14 points, games near the end of the 1990ending his season-opening streak 91 season. He scored 18 points in of games with 20 points or more 30 minutes in the season finale. at 20. (He scored 34 points And 20 years ago Karl Malone Tuesday night.) That leaves started the season with a streak of Iverson’s 21-game streak of 20 24 games. points or more from four seasons I found these streaks by using ago intact. That was Iverson’s Basketball Reference’s seasonlast full season with Philly — the finder tool to identify players’ next year he played alongside seasons with the most games Anthony for the Nuggets. Getty with 20 points or more in the last I m a g e s A l l e n I v e r s o n a n d 24 seasons, and then searching Carmelo Anthony have had through some of them for streaks. notable scoring streaks, but have Jordan holds the top four spots they helped their teams? on the list, including two seasons W h i l e b o t h s t r e a k s a r e with 79 20-point games, and impressive, Iverson had an even seven of the top 10. (Malone and better one the year before his 21- Bryant have the others.) Among game streak: He scored at least active players, Iverson has the 20 points in 57 straight games. most seasons with at least 70 That streak would have extended such games — three. into the next season and run to 80 Basketball Reference’s game holds up. Meanwhile, David Berri, an economist at Southern Utah University, reported in a 2006 book that Iverson hadn’t even been a Top 100 NBA player during his career to that point. This week, Berri wrote that logs don’t go back far enough to Iverson hasn’t played as well as find the true record-holders in the average NBA player. this category. Wilt Chamberlain Defense has been both players’ averaged 50.4 points per game in chief problem. Over the last three 1961-62, and according to this years, Anthony has ranked 12th site he scored at least 26 points in in the league in a measure of how all 80 games that season. (He well a player’s team did while he also averaged more than 48 was on the floor in four key offensive factors — effective minutes per game.) In addition to Iverson’s and field-goal percentage, freeAnthony’s prodigious scoring t h r o w s m a d e p e r 1 0 0 and Nuggets pedigree, both p o s s e s s i o n s , o f f e n s i v e players also share the burden of rebounding percentage and critics who question whether they turnover percentage. But he’s contribute much to their teams. ranked 369th— well below Wayne Winston, who analyzes average — in terms of team players by how well their teams d e f e n s e i n k e e p i n g t h o s e do with and without them on the measures to a minimum while floor, reported earlier this season he’s been on the floor. And that the Nuggets have been better Iverson has ranked 51st and w i t h o u t A n t h o n y — a f t e r 301st, respectively, in offense adjusting for the strength of his and defense. Only Tim Duncan teammates and opponents who and Kevin Garnett ranked in the have shared the floor with him. top 30 in each category. Earlier this week Winston wrote on his blog that the trend still

Capital One Bank has enlarged its relationship with MDC Partners' Kirshenbaum Bond Senecal + Partners, awarding the agency advertising chores. KBS+P, through its specialized marketing unit, has handled direct for Capital One Credit Cards and digital duties. Last year, Capital One Bank spent $27 million in measured media, per Nielsen. Through September, it spent $28 million. KBS+P will handle print, out-ofhome, radio, digital and nontraditional marketing. fivefilters.org featured article: Normalising the crime of the century by John Pilger

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about John Wall,'' he said. "We didn't make three passes in the first half.'' At one point, Calipari was looking for a straitjacket, unable to handle this team of kids who are learning not only to play the game but simply perform the fundamentals with common sense. "I'm gonna look like Dick Vitale by the time the season is over,'' he said. "Or I'll be solid gray and look like Bobby Cremins. We do stuff and I'm like, 'What are you doing?' We got up and one point and celebrated like we won the national title. Are you kidding? I told them, 'Guys, if we don't start getting better, we're setting ourselves up.' '' For what, John? It's the second week of December, three months before March Madness. That's what Wall seemed to be conveying with his eyes when he stared down his coach, who said afterward that his 9-0 team should be "4-5.'' Sheesh. But in his quirky way, Calipari got to his star and penetrated his

psyche. What came out when it mattered was Wall's extraordinary poise and desire to have the ball in the crunch. "There's no one who works harder,'' Calipari raved. "He hasn't missed a class, hasn't missed a tutorial. No one works harder in the weight room. No one works harder in practice. All of that is building his self-esteem and confidence,'' The arrival of Wall coincides with the Calipari experience, which is greeted with glee in Bluegrass country despite his dubious record of dirt: He's the only coach who had to vacate two Final Four berths, at Memphis, pending appeal, and Massachusetts, because of wrongdoing in his programs. Of course, the UK faithful don't care, having dismissed their own scandals -- academic fraud and recruiting under Eddie Sutton in the late 1980s and a 1949 pointshaving scandal in the Adolph Rupp era. Even Wall was nailed, suspended for a game and

required to pay back $800 in expenses after he took unofficial visits to schools with an agent. The fans simply don't care. At Lexington bars, they order a drink called the "John Wall,'' a blend of blue raspberry vodka, sour mix and Sprite. There's also a Wall Dance, based on his little manuever during the Big Blue Madness coming-out party. Seen the show "Cougar Town'' on ABC? Actor Josh Hopkins, a Kentucky fan, performed the Wall Dance on the show recently. All of which compelled Calipari to ask his players a question the other day: "Anyone got a problem with John Wall getting all the press?'' He looked at big man Patrick Patterson, an AllAmerican and prime NBA prospect in his own right. "Patrick, you have a problem not being talked about?'' Nope. "He's phenomenal, one of the best basketball players out there,'' Patterson said. "If we need a crunch-time basket, we know

who will knock down the shot. John wants the ball. We get it to him.'' Whenever he is asked to assess himself, Wall rarely does. Wisely, he deflects the attention to the team or toward his own deficiencies. How did he feel about playing so well in the Garden? "It feels good,'' he said. "In the first half, I was struggling and trying to do my thing. I made turnovers and got into foul trouble. In the second half, I ran the plays.'' He did so much more than that, of course. What he managed was a shout-out to a sports world that will be admiring him for, oh, the next 20 years. We just wish Calipari would leave him alone sometimes. If not, the stinkeye awaits. Follow Us on Twitter Friend Us on Facebook

UFC 107 Workout Photos
By FanHouse Newswire (Fanhouse Main)
Submitted at 12/9/2009 2:42:00 PM

Filed under:@gallery http://xml.channel.aol.com/xmlp ublisher/fetch.v2.xml?option=ex pand_relative_urls&dataUrlNode s=uiConfig,feedConfig,localizati onConfig,entry&id=795764&pid =795763&uts=1260417715 http://www.aolcdn.com/ke/media _gallery/v1/ke_media_gallery_wr apper.swf KE Media Gallery Feed Cheerleaders perform during an NFL football game between the San Francisco 49ers and Jacksonville Jaguars in San Francisco, Sunday, Nov. 29, 2009. (AP Photo/Paul Sakuma) AP PHILADELPHIA UFC page 61

Pats linebacker Adlius Thomas discusses being sent home
By ESPNBoston.com (ESPN.com)
Submitted at 12/10/2009 9:32:35 AM

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. -- Of the four New England Patriots players that according to a league source were sent home from Gillette Stadium for being late for an 8 a.m. meeting

Wednesday, three were spotted in the locker room Thursday. Randy Moss, Gary Guyton and Adalius Thomas were spotted during media availability. Derrick Burgess was not seen while the media was present. When asked to talk about what happened, Thomas said, ""I got sent home. That's pretty much it,

for being late. "I think everyone woke up to the snow yesterday. I didn't know it was going to snow. There was traffic. I can't run people over getting to work. I don't do that. I actually almost had a car accident. It is what it is. He did what he thought was best for him. That's what he did."

Thomas broke out a cartoon reference when asked about being stuck in traffic saying, "What do you do? It's not the Jetsons, I can't jump up and just fly." Bill Belichick wouldn't confirm the decision to send the players home on Wednesday. "Anything that happens with

discipline on the team will stay between me and the players," Belichick said Wednesday morning. ESPNBoston.com Patriots reporter Mike Reiss contributed to this report. fivefilters.org featured article: Normalising the crime of the century by John Pilger

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NOVEMBER 29: A Philadelphia Eagles cheerleader performs during a game against the Washington Redskins on November 29, 2009 at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The Eagles won 27 -24. (Photo by Hunter Martin/Getty Images) Getty Images PHILADELPHIA NOVEMBER 29: A Philadelphia Eagles cheerleader performs during a game against the Washington Redskins on November 29, 2009 at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The Eagles won 27 -24. (Photo by Hunter Martin/Getty Images) Getty Images HOUSTON NOVEMBER 29: Houston Texans cheerleaders perform at Reliant Stadium on November 29, 2009 in Houston, Texas. (Photo by Bob Levey/Getty Images) Getty Images ATLANTA - NOVEMBER 29: A cheerleader for the Atlanta

Falcons performs during the game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Georgia Dome on November 29, 2009 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images) Getty Images PHILADELPHIA NOVEMBER 29: A Philadelphia Eagles cheerleader dances before the game against the Washington Redskins during their game at Lincoln Financial Field on November 29, 2009 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Al Bello/Getty Images) Getty Images CINCINNATI - NOVEMBER 29: A Cincinnati Bengals cheerleader is pictured during the NFL game against the Cleveland Browns at Paul Brown Stadium on November 29, 2009 in Cincinnati, Ohio. (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images) Getty Images Buffalo Bills cheerleaders perform during the first half of an NFL football game against the Miami Dolphins

in Orchard Park, N.Y., Sunday Nov. 29, 2009. (AP Photo/David Duprey) AP DENVER NOVEMBER 26: A member of the Denver Broncos cheerleaders performs during a break in the action against the New York Giants during NFL action at Invesco Field at Mile High on November 26, 2009 in Denver, Colorado. The Broncos defeated the Giants 26-6. (Photo by Doug Pensinger/Getty Images) Getty Images ARLINGTON, TX NOVEMBER 26: Cheerleader of the Dallas Cowboys perform at halftime during a game against the Oakland Raiders at Cowboys Stadium on November 26, 2009 in Arlington, Texas. The Cowboys defeated the Raiders 24 -7. (Photo by Wesley Hitt/Getty Images) Getty Images

Jack Nicklaus wants to respect Tiger Woods' privacy
By Associated Press (ESPN.com)
championships, the most in golf history. Woods is second with 14. Submitted at 12/10/2009 9:13:36 AM Woods has remained out of the PALM BEACH GARDENS, public eye since the crash Fla. -- Jack Nicklaus said the Thanksgiving weekend and the fallout over Tiger Woods' car scandal that quickly followed. He crash and allegations of h a s acknowledged extramarital affairs is "none of "transgressions" on his Web site. my business." "He's a great athlete," Nicklaus “ said. "He'll figure it out." Time usually heals all wounds. I Nicklaus' first public comments t h i n k t h e h a r d e s t t h i n g i s about Woods' situation came obviously his family. That's a after an event honoring The private matter for him and his Benjamin School's golf team, family. ... He'll figure it out.”-- recent winners of a Florida state Jack Nicklaus championship. Son Gary "Our public is pretty forgiving at Nicklaus played on a state title times," Nicklaus said Thursday. team at the school 26 years ago. "Time usually heals all wounds. I Copyright 2009 by The think the hardest thing is Associated Press obviously his family. That's a fivefilters.org featured article: private matter for him and his Normalising the crime of the family." century by John Pilger Nicklaus won 18 major

Texas Could Lose Earl Thomas to NFL
By Tim Povtak (Fanhouse Main)
their national championship game next month against Alabama. Submitted at 12/9/2009 2:55:00 PM Sophomore safety Earl Thomas, Filed under: Alabama, Texas, who wears the No. 12 on the Bowl Games ORLANDO -- defensive side of the ball, could Senior quarterback Colt McCoy be close behind McCoy in the might not be the only No. 12 the NFL draft. season, he changed his tune Texas Longhorns lose to the Although Thomas said last week Wednesday night after arriving in National Football League after that he planned to return next Orlando for Thursday's College Football Awards show. He is one of three finalists for the Jim Thorpe Award, given annually to the best defensive back in college football. The other finalists are Eric Berry of Tennessee and Joe Haden of Florida. Thomas is a third-year sophomore, who is draft eligible and finishing a better-thanexpected season that has propelled him up the mock draft boards.

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New York Yankees negotiating to re-sign Johnny Damon, sources say
By ESPN.com news services (ESPN.com)
Submitted at 12/10/2009 8:37:02 AM

The New York Yankees have begun contract negotiations with free agent outfielder Johnny Damon, major league sources tell ESPN The Magazine's Buster Olney. If the Yankees are unable to resign Damon, they are likely to look at free agents Mark DeRosa and Mike Cameron as options for their outfield, sources said. Damon made $13 million in the final season of a four-year, $52 million deal he signed after leaving the Boston Red Sox in free agency. New York's acquisition of center fielder Curtis Granderson from Detroit, as part of a seven-player, three-team swap that included

Arizona, was finalized Wednesday. "I don't think it affects what I can still do. Either they come out and pursue me or they don't," Damon told the New York Post. "I still know how to play baseball and will make any team better." Damon was New York's primary left fielder in 2009 and averaged 144 games in the last four years. He hit .282 with a career-hightying 24 home runs, 82 RBIs and 107 runs scored as the Yankees won their first World Series since 2000. Information from The Associated Press was used in this report. fivefilters.org featured article: Normalising the crime of the century by John Pilger

Riccitiello addresses EA morale, effects of negative press
By Alexander Sliwinski (Joystiq)
Submitted at 12/10/2009 10:36:00 AM

With a second year of major layoffs at publisher Electronic Arts, questions about morale and investor perception surround the company. EA CEO John Riccitiello told IndustryGamers that in the case of morale, those who survived "understand the logic, they agree with it and support it and think we're a stronger company for the

moves." The exec stresses that those who remain are "all excited about [EA's] move into digital and direct-to-consumer" -something that may not have been true when he brought up the strategy two years ago. Riccitiello also feels that there was a lot of bad press relating to EA's Q2 results -- the one with all the layoffs -- and that "a lot of negative articles were written that entirely missed the point that [EA] felt [it] had a great first half ... sometimes people almost

believe more what they read in a newspaper than what they hear from their own company." In fairness, that seems rather understandable, given recent events in corporate America. Riccitiello addresses EA morale, effects of negative press originally appeared on Joystiq on Thu, 10 Dec 2009 10:36:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Read| Permalink| Email this| Comments

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Interview: Blizzard's Frank Pearce on Warcraft milestones
By Kevin Kelly (Joystiq)
Submitted at 12/10/2009 11:00:00 AM

Blizzard's Frank Pearce has been with the company since cofounding it in 1991 as Silicon & Synapse, along with Michael Morhaime and Allen Adham. Today, he's the senior vice president and serves as the executive producer of World of Warcraft, which probably By JC Fletcher (Joystiq) interested in trying it out, we includes the duty of swimming in suggest picking it up with the Submitted at 12/10/2009 11:30:00 AM pools filled with gold coins, a la kind of haste reserved for click for Super Pac-Man size running from ghosts -- the $3 Scrooge McDuck. Namco Bandai has just released starting price is a limited-time We talked to Frank about the its fourth Pac-Man game to the sale. Might as well save your milestones that Warcraft recently iPhone/iPod Touch App Store -- money for the DLC you know hit: 15 years for Warcraft and five for World of Warcraft, and but it's Pac-Man Championship you'll be dipping into. Edition, so it's somewhat more Pac-Man Championship Edition how those games have changed the company. Read on beyond interesting than the usual lineup ($2.99): of classic ports that flood every Gallery: Pac-Man Championship the break for the details and find out what he thinks the developer platform. And it's only $3! Edition (iPhone) has failed at, why another The iPhone version of the [Via AppShopper] revamped XBLA hit includes a Pac-Man CE now on iPhone, company might be able to do it time-limited Championship starting at $3 originally appeared better and when you can expect a Mode with 5 courses, and a on Joystiq on Thu, 10 Dec 2009 Blizzard theme park to open. Mission Mode with 20 missions. 11:30:00 EST. Please see our Gallery: Blizzard Warcraft 5 & 15 Year Anniversary Images D L C e x p a n d s t h i s t o 1 5 terms for use of feeds. Continue reading Interview: Championship courses and 120 Permalink| Email this| missions, and adds a third C o m m e n t s Challenge Mode. If you're

Ranking the Players In the Private Race to Space
(Popular Science - New Technology, Science News, The Future Now)
Submitted at 12/10/2009 9:15:37 AM

Pac-Man CE now on iPhone, starting at $3

Who's on top? Find out in our subjective ranking of the crowded field of competitors gunning for space The bustling private-space industry is full of big-dreaming, thrifty innovators. Here we've ranked 15 of the most serious Blizzard's Frank Pearce on contenders in order of their progress toward the goal of Warcraft milestones Interview: Blizzard's Frank bringing cargo and human Pearce on Warcraft milestones passengers to space. originally appeared on Joystiq on In our subjective ranking, the Thu, 10 Dec 2009 11:00:00 EST. companies furthest along appear Please see our terms for use of first in the list, weighted with consideration for their ultimate feeds. P e r m a l i n k | E m a i l t h i s | goal: suborbit, orbit, the moon or beyond. Click here to launch the Comments gallery .

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Sartorial Sitdown With Cintra Wilson
By ELLE.com (ELLE News Blog)
Submitted at 12/9/2009 12:24:54 PM

Nintendo appealing French flash cart ruling
By JC Fletcher (Joystiq)
In the statement, Nintendo noted that Divineo still owes the company damages from a ruling A Paris criminal court recently made in Nintendo's favor in ruled in favor of Divineo, a Hong Kong last year. Last company that sells DS flash carts. month, a Spanish criminal case In a statement, Nintendo said that was dismissed against a company it was "extremely disappointed selling DS flash carts, with the with the decision by Paris judge in that case ruling that the Criminal Court to find Max carts are not illegal since they can Louarn, his company, Divineo, be used for many non-infringing and other co-defendants not purposes. guilty in the criminal case Nintendo appealing French flash i n v o l v i n g t h e s a l e a n d cart ruling originally appeared on distribution of game copying Joystiq on Thu, 10 Dec 2009 devices," and that the company 12:30:00 EST. Please see our "welcomes the prosecutor's terms for use of feeds. decision to appeal the judgment. Read| Permalink| Email this| As a victim Nintendo will join Comments his appeal."
Submitted at 12/10/2009 12:30:00 PM

Dante's Inferno 'Divine Edition' heading exclusively to PS3
By Ben Gilbert (Joystiq)
Submitted at 12/10/2009 12:00:00 PM

EA has detailed a special edition of Dante's Inferno, titled the "Divine Edition," which is coming exclusively to the PlayStation 3 next February. For the same $60 the Xbox 360 version costs, EA will give you the "special edition," which includes a developer commentary, a Wayne Barlowe "digital art book," the game's soundtrack, and ... wait for it... a digitized "complete Longfellow translation of Dante Alighieri's Inferno." That's right, folks -you can read the classic work on

Though perhaps best known for her biweekly "Critical Shopper" column in the Thursday Styles section of the New York Times—a post she’s held for several years—writer Cintra Wilson is far more than just a crafty wordsmith or, as some may think when reading her words ripped out of their carefully constructed context, a provocateur. Cintra the woman, the same system that's being used though first and foremost a to tear it apart. The demo is tough, platinum-bobbed cookie, c u r r e n t l y a v a i l a b l e o n t h e is also a supremely likeable, selfPlayStation Network and will effacing woman who, no matter land on Xbox Live on December who you are or what you do, is 24th. 100% locked-in to learning more Gallery: Dante's Inferno about you, and how the hell you C o n t i n u e r e a d i n g D a n t e ' s both ended up at the same Inferno 'Divine Edition' heading random party. When she’s not exclusively to PS3 hosting her monthly literary Dante's Inferno 'Divine Edition' group at Pasita(the members of heading exclusively to PS3 which range from writers of all originally appeared on Joystiq on kinds to doctorates in rocket Thu, 10 Dec 2009 12:00:00 EST. science to theater actors to the Please see our terms for use of occasional question-dodging feeds. friend up from DC who we all Read| Permalink| Email this| know isn’t really a Foreign Comments Service Officer), Cintra is either scouring eBay for clothing her boyfriends hate or actively SARTORIAL page 65

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disobeying her friend Simon Doonan’s advice to never earn a living as a writer. She’s been one of the most influential writers in my short career as a fashion journalist, and fortunately, she agreed to open up a little about herself, whether she actually likes shopping, and what we can look forward to reading from her in the near future. Because your Critical Shopper column often features fashionforward clothing boutiques, readers tend to assume you’re really into the stuff. Are you? I’m crazy about fashion, and if I had the means, I’d follow Daphne Guinness around like a toddler and imitate everything she does. But I am an underpaid writer, so I really can’t afford any of that stuff. I try to keep impulse -purchases under control. Even the occasional, smart, “investment” buys I justify for myself have been quite debtenhancing. I think of fashion as a very immediate and fluid art form, so I try to look at top-shelf, couture boutiques the same way I look at art galleries - I don’t need to own the stuff to appreciate what it means, and what it makes me feel. What about fashion girls, in general? What is your impression of women in the industry? Honestly, I am such a weird, rogue anomaly in the fashion world. I barely know any of those chicas. In my very limited experience, the girls you see

running around at fashion week tend to be quite smart, fretfully beautiful girls who are perhaps a little more tightly-wound and insecure than their less-fabulous counterparts. It seems they’re rather cruelly competitive with each other, which I presume is a motivational habit they picked up back in the nation’s top prep schools. The people I really enjoy and admire, on the scant occasions I happen to be hanging around the fashion scene, are the hardcore fashion lifers like Lynn Yaeger and Mr. Mickey [Boardman]. They have a great way of metabolizing fashion ideas with their own creative enzymes. Which has been the most fun Critical Shopper installment to write? The one you’re most proud of? Writing that column is always very fun for me. The structure of the column is pretty tight and specific, but since it is critical and therefore subjective, there is a certain contained rumpus area where I am allowed to really fool around with language. I try to open myself completely to the experience when I go to the different boutiques, take in as much information as I can, and let the spaces themselves dictate the column--so they’re all very different to me, and I like different pieces I’ve written for different reasons. But certain stores have inspired me to get into rhapsodic fugue states. I’d have to say the Dolce & Gabbana article remains one of

my personal favorites; their Madison Avenue space was so over-the-top, it inspired a really bonkers, somewhat ecstatic piece of writing, which was also informed by a certain paranoid, political edginess that was in the air at the time (it was written shortly before the 2008 presidential election.) Lately I am enjoying the pieces I get to write about stores that have a lot of history to chew on, like Beretta or Tiffany. When you go to a store in preparation for writing the column, do you ever tell the people working there who you are and what you’re up to? I mostly succeed in doing it anonymously, but sometimes I have no choice. You can’t really hang around high-end jewelry stores trying on $37,000 tennis bracelets and jotting down notes for hours when there’s three nervous attendants, you’re the only person in the store, and you don’t seem particularly interested in buying anything. Sometimes I lie to people and give them a fake name, since there aren’t a whole lot of Cintras running around, but that always feels dirty to me. If I really go nuts for a store, I will sometimes tell them who I am before I leave, because I know they’ll be happy with the review. Whenever someone tells me fashion/style writing is inherently vapid, I always forward your latest column to them. How would you respond to someone who tried to tell you what you write isn’t as elevated,

intellectually, as say, a column in the Politics section of the paper? Well, fashion isn’t an obviously brainy thing to write about--it is a fairly hermetic world that exists in its own froofy bubble. I think homophobia and sexism may play a role in the trivializing of fashion; I think it is regarded as being something of a feminine ghetto, to the extent that it is tethered to the beauty industrial complex and women’s magazines (the stock in trade of which tends to be largely inane articles about How Getting My Teeth Veneered Helped Me Have Better Orgasms, etc.) But I think it’s a mistake to write off fashion as being devoid of intellectual content. Do you think it’s at all an important subject to write about? I don’t see fashion as separate from the rest of society; it’s a very eloquent voice in the cultural dialogue and a really strong indicator of what direction the socio-politico-economic winds are blowing. All of our most immediate feelings about the world we live in are reflected in fashion, so yes, I do think it’s important. You can pick up a surprising amount of social information from the runway. The prevailing themes in new designs can be read like texts they contain quotes from history; shapes and cuts from the past that are intended to evoke the cultural attitudes of certain eras that seem to be repeating themselves. A good example of this was the

windows of Barney’s right after the Obama election. Most of the looks during the last administration were very buttoned-up, Barry Goldwaterrevisited, modest suits and dresses that were direct visual quotes from the non-hippy, establishment-wife looks of the mid-60’s. It seemed like the very minute Obama won, Simon Doonan splashed out and filled the Barney’s windows with big dopey flowers, Women’s Libtype images of female rock stars like Carly Simon, and various other peacenik, free love, flowerpower symbols. Fashion had been repressing its anti-war, hippy protest looks before the 2008 election. Previous to the administration change, designers seemed to be collectively drawing their inspirations from socially conservative looks that represented the other side of the Vietnam conversation -- the dress code of the ruling powers, as opposed to the style of the opposition. Things look a bit more loose now than they did just over a year ago. What is the best advice you’ve ever gotten from someone on making it as a professional writer? It actually came from Simon Doonan, who said, “Have a real job on the side.” It’s a great piece of advice that I’ve never followed. Writing is a terrible way to make a living. Any upcoming projects you can SARTORIAL page 66

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share? Actually, I am very excited about a new book I am working on. It’s called Fear and Clothing: Unbuckling the Belt Regions to Expose America’s Fashion Destiny. It’s going to be a big road-trip fashion research project about the Bible Belt, Rust Belt, Frost Belt, Sun Belt, Cotton Belt, etc. It’s about how a region’s political economy is reflected in its fashion, and how fashion affects how people feel about themselves and their possibilities for the future. It’s about “fashion determinism”: you are what you wear. That sounds incredible. You’ve had a big, pretty high-profile year in 2009—what lesson have you

learned over the past 12 months, if any? (yes, that is a leading question) I think it really began to make more than just abstract sense to me that if you stare at anything long enough you will eventually see the face of God. Everything becomes everything and nothing simultaneously if you zoom in or out on it enough. Does that sound like I’ve been drinking the wrong kombucha? No more than usual, but let’s talk about something more concrete: you have 5K to blow at Barneys—where do you go first, and how do you spend it? For the record, I have never in my life had 5K to blow at Barneys, but if I did, I’d probably end up buying something boring,

sensible, indestructible thing that I thought would last the rest of my life for about 2K… and then I’d buy all my Christmas presents. If there was a gun to my head and I was forced to be frivolous and self-indulgent, I’d head right for the Rick Owens, Lanvin and Givenchy and probably end up with a long, bruise-colored garment, platform bondage boots and/or some tarted-up variation on a big black bowling bag. Photo: Courtesy of Dr. Redacto

Obama defends war at Nobel award
(BBC News | Americas | World Edition)
Submitted at 12/10/2009 7:05:29 AM

Please turn on JavaScript. Media OBAMA page 67

FKIA's Daily Double: Tongue in Chic
By ELLE.com (ELLE News Blog)
Submitted at 12/9/2009 11:47:11 AM

Tis the season to promote charitable shopping so why not wear your message with something like this William Tyler cartoon chicken tank for Creative Growth with a classic tweed

jacket like Nicolas Ghesquière’s cheeky riff on a Chanel tweed jacket? With jeans or skirt, it all works wonders when sporting a pair of metallic peep-toe faux lizard Chanel pumps. Check out Creativegrowth.org for more funny tanks. Its 'this holiday’s best insider secret and all proceeds go to support emerging

young artists. Fashion loves art! You should too!

— Anne Slowey Let me know what you love—and if you have any questions, e-mail me at AnneSloweyFashionKnowItAll @elle.com. Follow ELLE on Twitter. Become our Facebook fan!

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requires JavaScript to play. President Obama receives his Nobel Peace Prize medal Copyright Nobel Media AB 2009/NRK President Barack Obama has said the US must uphold moral standards when waging wars that are necessary and justified, as he accepted his Nobel Peace Prize. In his speech in Oslo, he defended the US role in Afghanistan, arguing the use of force could bring lasting peace. He also said his accomplishments were slight compared with other laureates. Mr Obama was given the prize in October for his "extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and co-operation between peoples". Thursday's ceremony in the Norwegian capital came days after Mr Obama announced he was sending 30,000 extra US soldiers to the war in Afghanistan. He is careful to say that America respects the cultures and traditions of others - again, trying to project the US as a defender not an aggressor. But he also wants to stand up for "universal values". It is a difficult balancing act. His statement that "America has never fought a war against a democracy" might raise the issue as to whether it has fought on the side of non-democracies.

There was a mixed reaction when he was named as the winner of this year's prize, becoming the fourth US president to be given the honour. Mr Obama's elevation to the rank of fellow laureates such as Nelson Mandela, Mother Teresa and Martin Luther King, before he has even spent a year in office, has sparked fierce debate. Critics also said it was inappropriate for the honour to go to the commander-in-chief of a country involved in conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan. Acknowledging the controversy, Mr Obama said he accepted the award with humility, adding: "Compared to some of the giants of history who have received this prize... my accomplishments are slight." He could not argue with those who said many previous laureates were "far more deserving" of the honour than him, he said. Defending his Afghan troop deployment, Mr Obama said there were times when "the use of force [was] not only necessary but morally justified," as long as force was proportionate and civilian casualties minimised. "Instruments of war do have a role to play in preserving the peace", he said. "A non-violent movement could not have halted Hitler's armies," he added. "Negotiations cannot convince al-Qaeda's leaders to

lay down their arms." He said the US "must remain a standard bearer in the conduct of war" to differentiate it from "a vicious adversary that abides by no rules". Mr Obama also emphasised alternatives to violence, stressing the importance of diplomacy and sanctions to confront nations like Iran and North Korea over their nuclear programmes. While Russia and America were working to reduce their nuclear stockpiles, he said the international community must ensure Tehran and Pyongyang did not "game the system". "Let us reach for the world that ought to be," Mr Obama said. "We can understand that there will be war, and still strive for peace." He paid tribute to antigovernment demonstrators in Iran, Burma and Zimbabwe, and said the US would always stand on the side of those who sought freedom. Protests Some anti-war demonstrators gathered outside city hall, where the ceremony was held. "We are protesting against him because... we don't think he is a man of peace," one of them told AFP news agency. Amid high security, the US president earlier signed the Nobel Prize book of previous laureates after arriving in Oslo with his

wife, Michelle. There has been some disappointment in Norway at Mr Obama's decision to stay only one day, even though Nobel ceremonies are usually held over three, and decline a traditional lunch with the king. At a news conference with Norwegian Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg, Mr Obama said he and his wife wished they could stay longer. In the evening, Mr Obama is due to wave to a torchlight procession from his hotel balcony and attend a banquet. The Nobel Prizes for chemistry, literature, medicine, physics and economics are also being presented, in the Swedish capital Stockholm. Each laureate, including Mr Obama, receives a diploma, a medal and 10m kroner ($1.4m; £865,000). Coinciding with the Nobel ceremony, a statue of Mr Obama as a young boy was unveiled in the Indonesian capital, Jakarta, at a park, near where the president lived between 1967 and 1971. Print Sponsor fivefilters.org featured article: Normalising the crime of the century by John Pilger

At Least 16 Die as Huge Snowstorm Batters U.S.
(FOXNews.com)
Submitted at 12/10/2009 7:34:15 AM

DES MOINES, Iowa Frigid temperatures iced the Upper Midwest on Thursday as a deadly massive storm that dumped more than a foot of snow in several states from Iowa to New England neared the end of its crosscountry trek. The storm was blamed for at least 17 deaths, most in traffic accidents, in the Upper Midwest and New England. Hundreds of schools were closed, power was knocked out to thousands of people from Missouri to New York and hundreds of flights were canceled. Commuters from Des Moines to Chicago were warned of morning temperatures reaching 10 degrees at best and icy roads. Wind chill values could dip to as low as minus 25 in parts of Wisconsin, Iowa and Illinois, according to the National Weather Service. "It's already very cold across the entire region," said Casey Sullivan, a weather service meteorologist in Romeoville, Ill., adding that parts of northern Illinois may hit only 2 degrees. Des Moines, which saw 16 inches of snow by Wednesday, could see a high near 9 degrees but wind chill values could make temperatures feel like negative LEAST page 68

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Zelaya's exile move 'postponed'
(BBC News | Americas | World Edition)
On Wednesday, there were conflicting reports about the negotiations between the Submitted at 12/10/2009 8:22:09 AM government and Mr Zelaya for Plans for ousted Honduran him to leave the country. President Manuel Zelaya to leave Sources close to the ousted for exile in Mexico are on hold, leader initially said he wanted to the interim government of g o b u t h a d n o t c o n f i r m e d Honduras has said. whether he would be allowed Mr Zelaya was removed from safe passage and under what power in June and forced into terms he would travel. exile but later returned and took Mr Zelaya told BBC Mundo he refuge in the Brazilian embassy would not leave the country as an in the capital. asylum seeker. Officials said Mr Zelaya had to "I haven't requested asylum, I apply for political asylum before don't want asylum and I won't leaving. accept asylum," he said. Mr Zelaya, who insists he is still Correspondents say that the president, said would not claiming asylum could reduce Mr leave the country as a political Zelaya's ability to conduct refugee. political activities from abroad. He has refused to accept the Mr Zelaya said he wanted a l e g i t i m a c y o f p r e s i d e n t i a l negotiated solution that would elections held last month, which allow him to continue political were won by Porfirio Lobo. actions abroad before agreeing to The Honduran Congress voted leave. not to allow Mr Zelaya to serve "When the dignity and the office out his last two months of office. of the president are respected, I 'Electoral fraud' will be ready to have talks with those interested in seeking a solution for Honduran democracy," he said. A Honduran foreign ministry spokesman said a safe-conduct pass had been signed, which would have enabled Mr Zelaya to leave. But reports later emerged that no agreement had been reached on the means and terms of Mr Zelaya's departure. Mr Zelaya has been living in the Brazilian embassy since returning to Honduras from exile on 21 September. Conditions inside the embassy are reported to be uncomfortable and the building is surrounded by soldiers and armed police. 'Honduran reality' After his election victory on 29 November, Mr Lobo pledged to form a unity government and seek dialogue. He also urged the international community to "understand the Honduran reality and stop punishing the country". The US said the election were "a necessary and important step forward" for Honduras, and indicated it would accept the result, but some Latin American nations, including Brazil, refused to recognise the poll. Mr Zelaya was forced into exile on 28 June after trying to hold a vote on whether a constituent assembly should be set up to look at rewriting the constitution. His critics said the vote, which was ruled illegal by the Supreme Court, aimed to remove the current one-term presidency limit and pave the way for his possible re-election. Mr Zelaya has repeatedly denied this and pointed out that it would have been impossible to change the constitution before his term in office expired on 27 January. Print Sponsor fivefilters.org featured article: Normalising the crime of the century by John Pilger

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25. In Madison, Wis., near where almost 19 inches of snow fell, the wind chill could hit minus 20, according to the weather service. New England, also pounded by heavy snow and strong winds on Wednesday, expected temperatures to hover around freezing. The storm was expected to move off the coast of Maine by Thursday night, having affected about two-thirds of the country since hitting California earlier this week, meteorologists predicted. Wind gusts that reached more than 50 mph and built snow drifts between 8 and 15 feet tall had died down by Thursday, but officials still warned of blowing snow and treacherous driving conditions. "Take some extra time because the roads are gonna be slick," said Lori Getter, spokeswoman at the Wisconsin Emergency LEAST page 69

MediaDailyNews: New Group Buys Nielsen Titles
(MediaPost | Media News)
Submitted at 12/10/2009 8:07:15 AM

It's official -- eight Nielsen brands, including The Hollywood Reporter and Adweek, have a new home. e5 Global Media, a new joint venture of Pluribus Capital, a media partnership, and Guggenheim Partners, a global financial services firm, have acquired several iconic titles

from Nielsen Co. Lachlan Murdoch, head of Illyria, a private investment company, dropped out of the bidding. He was initially expected to participate in the sale. The purchase, for an estimated $70 million, includes both the magazines and Web sites of Billboard, Brandweek, Mediaweek, Back Stage and Film

International and CineAsia trade shows, as well as the Clios, as part of the deal. James A. Finklestein, who cofounded Pluribus, will become chair of e5 Global Media. Nielsen said it continues to assess the strategic fit of other Journal International. Plus, e5 p u b l i c a t i o n s . G r e g F a r r a r , gets Nielsen's film expo business, president of Nielsen Business which includes the ShoWest, Media, stated that divesting the S h o w E a s t , C i n e m a E x p o titles is an opportunity for the

company to "focus its investment on its core businesses and those parts of our portfolio that have the greatest potential for growth, including our leading trade show group." fivefilters.org featured article: Normalising the crime of the century by John Pilger

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Psychologist: Accused Smart Kidnapper Isn't 'Rational'

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Operations Center. In northern New York, up to a foot fell on Wednesday and more (FOXNews.com) when DeMier raised issues U.S. District Judge Dale Kimball than 3 feet was expected by the related to his mental competency, will ultimately decide if Mitchell week's end. Areas in Maine and Submitted at 12/10/2009 8:31:20 AM the psychologist said. can proceed to trial in the federal New Hampshire received up to a SALT LAKE CITY A federal Mitchell also directed staff at the s y s t e m . A r u l i n g i s n o t foot of snow. Up to 7 inches of prison psychologist says that the Missouri hospital to refer to him immediately expected when the s n o w f e l l i n n o r t h e a s t Pennsylvania. suspect in the abduction of by his religious name, Immanuel hearing ends. Elizabeth Smart understands the D a v i d I s a i a h , t h e p r o p h e t , Earlier in the day, Dr. Paul The storm drenched California accusations against him but isn't D e M i e r s a i d . Whitehead, a Utah State Hospital in rain, blanketed the mountain competent to stand trial. But DeMier said that Mitchell psychologist, said the treatment West in snow and shattered Dr. Richart DeMier of the U.S. does understand the charges team that cared for Mitchell snowfall records in Flagstaff, Medical Center for Federal against him, the court process believed he was close to being Ariz. earlier this week. Wind Prisoners in Springfield, Mo., and the roles of the judge, f o u n d c o m p e t e n t f o r s t a t e gusts of up to 100 mph were reported in New Mexico, wind said he had determined that Brian p r o s e c u t o r s a n d d e f e n s e p r o c e e d i n g s i n 2 0 0 5 . David Mitchell is suffering from a t t o r n e y s . Mitchell's refusal to cooperate chills as low as minus 40 hit paranoid schizophrenia. Mitchell, 56, has been indicted with an evaluator, however, southern Montana, and heavy D e M i e r s a i d d u r i n g a on federal charges of kidnapping ultimately forced the hospital to rain and flooding affected parts competency hearing for Mitchell and unlawful transportation of a say it was impossible to make a of the South, according to the in U.S. District Court Wednesday minor across state lines. d e t e r m i n a t i o n a b o u t h i s National Weather Service. The storm felt like a rude that Mitchell is not making Smart was 14 when she was c o m p e t e n c y , W h i t e h e a d surprise after an unseasonably rational decisions about his t a k e n f r o m h e r h o m e a t c o n c e d e d . criminal defense. knifepoint in June 2002. In Whitehead said that as Mitchell's warm and dry November in parts "If he believes he's going to be October, she testified she was treating physician, he had no of the Midwest. The massive miraculously delivered from raped after being forced into a official opinion about Mitchell's system is the first major blast of wintry weather for many parts of prison by God in two years time, religious marriage with Mitchell competency. that's not a rational thought within hours of the kidnapping. However, he said he was the region. process," said DeMier, who Federal prosecutors contend initially skeptical in 2005 that "I've been dreading this day," evaluated Mitchell over 45 days a Mitchell is competent. A New Mitchell had mental illness, but said Kim Brust, shoveling the year ago. York forensic psychiatrist said he after nine months of observation s i d e w a l k i n f r o n t o f h i s SLIDESHOW: The Elizabeth i s f a k i n g o r e x a g g e r a t i n g he diagnosed Mitchell with Minneapolis home before sunrise Wednesday. "I was starting to Smart Saga symptoms of mental illness to delusional disorder. Mitchell participated in less than avoid prosecution. fivefilters.org featured article: enjoy the global warming." While an inconvenience for five hours of formal interviews M i t c h e l l ' s f e d e r a l p u b l i c Normalising the crime of the many, others took an opportunity and talked at length about his defenders claim he is unable to century by John Pilger to play. religious beliefs but shut down assist them with his case. At least 3,000 University of Wisconsin-Madison students

took advantage of an unplanned day off and hurled snowballs at each other in a massive snowball fight. Classes were canceled for the first time in 19 years due to weather. Some came holding trays as shields. Others were bundled up to protect themselves from the below-freezing temperatures and winds that gusted to more than 20 mph — though several went shirtless, while at least one had on pajamas. "I figured with the day off, there was no better way to spend it than with a snowball fight," said Matt Moerel, 19, of Vadnais Heights, Minn. Many New England residents braced for bone-chilling winds after digging out from a foot or more of snow. The weather was welcomed by 8-year-old Gavin Graham of Concord, N.H. He spent two hours sledding. "It was really good sledding. The snow was puffy, and that was really good because we had little jumps already made," he said. "It was awesome having the day off from school." fivefilters.org featured article: Normalising the crime of the century by John Pilger

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Promotion day arrives for white Conn. firefighters (AP)
(Yahoo! News: U.S. News)
Submitted at 12/10/2009 9:18:53 AM

plaintiffs, said Wednesday that his clients congratulate the newly promoted firefighters. NEW HAVEN, Conn. – A group "Nobody is going to say these of white firefighters who won a guys are unqualified," Thompson discrimination case before the said. U.S. Supreme Court are receiving But Thompson, who is trying to their promotion badges Thursday intervene in federal court in New in a ceremony that provides Haven to challenge the validity symbolic recognition of their of the exams now that they have victory. been certified, said the fight is The high court ruled in June that not over because the black New Haven officials violated firefighters were not heard. In white firefighters' civil rights other cases cities have been when they threw out 2003 test r e q u i r e d t o m a k e m o r e r e s u l t s i n w h i c h t o o f e w promotions than planned, he said. minorities did well. "They understand this is a 15The case became an issue in round fight," Thompson said of c o n f i r m a t i o n h e a r i n g s f o r his clients. "You don't decide Supreme Court Justice Sonia who won in Round 3." Sotomayor, who ruled against the That prompted an angry reaction white firefighters when she from Karen Torre, attorney for served on a federal appeals court. the white firefighters. Fourteen firefighters who sued " A t t o r n e y T h o m p s o n ' s are being promoted Thursday to provocations and promise, to me, lieutenant and captain. Another only demonstrates the need for 10 firefighters, including four the Supreme Court to take up the minorities, who took the 2003 issue of the constitutionality of tests but were not plaintiffs in the that provision of Title VII that court case also will be promoted. allows such people to paralyze Dennis Thompson, an attorney local governments and the civil for black firefighters who tried service and hold the public unsuccessfully last month to hostage to endless litigation over block the promotions of the the issue of race," Torre said in a

statement. David Rosen, an attorney for a black New Haven firefighter who is suing the city and arguing he was unfairly denied a promotion, said Wednesday that his client, Michael Briscoe, is happy for the firefighters being promoted and has congratulated several of them. "He's not trying to take a slot away from one of the people being promoted," Rosen said. "There are other vacant positions." Frank Ricci, the lead plaintiff among the white firefighters who won and is being promoted, told the Senate in July during Sotomayor's confirmation process that the lower court ruling against him "divides people who don't wish to be divided along racial lines." Ricci told the panel that "achievement is neither limited nor determined by one's race but by one's skills, dedication, commitment and character." fivefilters.org featured article: Normalising the crime of the century by John Pilger

Serial Killer Suspect Agrees to Fencing Off of Home
(FOXNews.com)
premises. Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Judge Timothy McGinty CLEVELAND A registered approved defense requests to sex offender charged with killing provide money to hire a private 11 women and hiding their investigator and mental-health remains in and around his home consultant. But the judge stopped agreed Wednesday to let police short of issuing a defensefence off the house with barbed requested gag order that would wire to preserve evidence. have barred attorneys and police Anthony Sowell, who pleaded i n t h e c a s e f r o m p u b l i c l y not guilty last week by reason of c o m m e n t i n g . insanity, appeared in handcuffs Authorities say Sowell, 50, lured and dressed in an orange jail women to his home and attacked jumpsuit at the pretrial hearing. them. The remains of 10 women He responded with few words to and a skull were found in the the judge's questions, waiving his residence or buried in the yard. r i g h t t o a s p e e d y t r i a l t o Sowell faces 85 counts including accommodate his new defense murder, rape, assault and corpse team. The waiver pushes back abuse in the slayings and in the any trial until mid-2010. attacks on three women who Cuyahoga County assistant survived. He could get the death prosecutor Richard Bombik said penalty if convicted of any of the the state hasn't ruled out asking killings. the court to allow the trial jury to Also Wednesday, Mayor Frank visit the Cleveland house. Health Jackson appointed a commission considerations would be a factor to review police policies for in any decision about a jury handling sexual assault and walkthrough, he said. He did not missing-person reports, but it will elaborate. not look into the Sowell case. During the hearing, both sides S o m e r e l a t i v e s o f v i c t i m s agreed to let the city halt the 24- c o m p l a i n e d a b o u t p o l i c e hour police guard outside the handling of missing-person home and fence it off. Bombik reports. Police say some victims said the security arrangements were never reported missing. would allow the defense to make fivefilters.org featured article: its own check of the house. Normalising the crime of the Police have said they have century by John Pilger completed their search of the
Submitted at 12/9/2009 11:32:01 PM

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Storm blows east, leaves Midwest in Hacker to appeal over bitter cold (AP) US extradition
(Yahoo! News: U.S. News)
Submitted at 12/10/2009 9:38:44 AM

overturned on the New York State Thruway when the driver made an unsafe lane change as BUFFALO, N.Y. – A deadly, snow and high winds blew windy storm that tortured a wide through Buffalo before dawn swath of the country for days Thursday, state police said. threatened to drop a foot or more Everyone on board had minor of snow on parts of New York, injuries. Pennsylvania and New England "The winds were just whipping Thursday before finally blowing the snow back across the road off the coast of Maine. and you couldn't get a lane or two Commuters from Des Moines to cleared or kept cleared," State Chicago braced for single digit Police Capt. Michael Nigrelli temperatures and icy roads, while said. wind chill values as low as While less than three inches of negative 25 were forecast for snow fell on Buffalo, with winds parts of Wisconsin, Iowa and gusting between 50 mph and 60 Illinois. mph it was enough to blind "Like I stuck my face in the drivers, ground flights and force freezer," was how Bincy Mathew most area schools to close. described the Chicago air. Frequent thunder and lightning lit The storm will have affected up the sky. about two-thirds of the country "Yesterday we were on the warm b y t h e t i m e i t m o v e s o u t side of the storm but now the Thursday night, and has been storm has moved away into the blamed for at least 17 deaths, Quebec province so we've got most in traffic accidents. cold air floating across the lakes In New York, a double-decker right now. Everything that's bus carrying 12 passengers from going on right now is pure lakeNew York City to Toronto effect snow," National Weather

Service Meteorologist Tom Paone said. The storm was still lingering over some sections of the upper Midwest on Thursday. Parts of Michigan were under a blizzard warning as the coldest air of the season crossed Lake Michigan and travelers were warned of below-zero windchills and whiteouts. As the storm moved on, its remnants continued to torment travelers, utility workers and people headed to work and school in hard-hit areas from the mountain West eastward. In Northern Arizona, 25 to 30 elk hunters remained stranded for a fourth day in below-freezing temperatures and searchers worried they were running low on food and heating fuel. The Coconino County sheriff's office said the hunters were trapped by the 2 to 3 feet of snow that fell Monday. fivefilters.org featured article: Normalising the crime of the century by John Pilger

(BBC News | Americas | World Edition)

'Severe depression' Ms Todner said there was new evidence from psychiatrists with Submitted at 12/10/2009 8:56:17 AM experience of prisons - one C o m p u t e r h a c k e r G a r y English and the other American McKinnon is mounting a fresh t o s u p p o r t h i s c l a i m t h a t High Court challenge to stop his extraditing him would violate the extradition to the US. European Convention on Human Solicitor Karen Todner said Rights. papers were lodged with the High She said his removal would Court seeking a judicial review breach his right to life, not to be of the home secretary's decision s u b j e c t e d t o i n h u m a n a n d not to block his transfer. degrading treatment and his right The home secretary has 14 days to private and family life, to respond before a judge contrary to articles 2, 3 and 8 of considers it. the convention. Mr McKinnon, 43, who has After the 14 days in which Mr Asperger's syndrome, is accused Johnson can respond, the case of breaking into the US military will then go before a single judge computer system. He says he was to be considered on paper. seeking evidence of UFOs. A court hearing may be needed The computer systems he is before a decision is reached on accused of breaking into include whether a judicial review will be the Pentagon. granted. The Glasgow-born man, now of Mr McKinnon's lawyers say he Wood Green, north London, is suffering from "very severe faces 60 years in prison if depression" and is in danger of convicted. killing himself in preference to Last month Home Secretary being extradited. A l a n J o h n s o n t o l d M r They have fought a series of McKinnon's family he could not long-running court battles and block the move on medical the latest move is expected to be grounds, leaving the way open h i s l a s t a t t e m p t t o a v o i d for a trial in the US. extradition. The latest legal submissions Print Sponsor include an up to date medical fivefilters.org featured article: report on his situation and two Normalising the crime of the reports about the ability of the century by John Pilger US prison service to deal with his circumstances.

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Pakistan confirms US men arrested
(BBC News | Americas | World Edition)
this week in the city of Sarghoda, about 190 km (120 miles) southeast of the capital, Islamabad, Submitted at 12/10/2009 7:01:23 AM officials said. P a k i s t a n i p o l i c e s a y f i v e They were detained in a raid on suspected militants arrested a house belonging to an uncle of during a raid on a house in one of them, the Pakistani Punjab province are US nationals embassy in Washington said. wanted by the FBI. Dr Usman Anwar, Sarghoda's Officials said they were the same police chief, said laptops, mobile men who disappeared from their phones and maps of Pakistani homes in the US state of Virginia cities were recovered from the late last month. property during the operation. Their families reported them Dr Anwar said the men had been missing after finding a farewell in direct contact with various video message, showing scenes militant groups in Pakistan since of war and urging for Muslims to August. be defended. "They were offering their service Police said the men were to carry out attacks, although we arrested after offering their don't know what their target was services for attacks. at the moment," he told the BBC. The men hold US passports. He said the FBI was in Sarghoda Two of them are Pakistani- and was examining the evidence Americans, while the remaining retrieved from the scene of the three are of Eritrean, Ethiopian raid. and Egyptian origin, officials Video message said. The five men, all students, were US authorities have not yet reported missing from their confirmed the men's identities. homes in northern Virginia by Phones and laptops their families in late November. The five were arrested earlier The families reportedly passed on a video to members of the US Council on American-Islamic Relations (Cair). Nihad Awad, the council's executive director, said the video appeared to be "like a farewell". "One person appeared in that video and they made references to the ongoing conflict in the world, and that young Muslims have to do something," Mr Awad told Associated Press news agency. He said the video had made him "uncomfortable" and he had advised the men's families to contact the FBI. The BBC's Syed Shoaib Hasan in Islamabad says that while it is not unusual for foreigners with suspected hardline Islamic links to be arrested in Pakistan, it is unusual for Americans who may be wanted by the FBI to be detained. Print Sponsor fivefilters.org featured article: Normalising the crime of the century by John Pilger

COOL-ER: New ereader allows sharing for free (Sun-Sentinel)
(Yahoo! News Search Results for e-readers)
average novel 15 times over. Cost: $259. My favorite feature, however. is Submitted at 12/9/2009 11:32:49 AM anything that saves consumers One of my favorite tech gadget cash, in this case being the ability niches this year is e-readers, to share a copy of a copyrighted electronic book-reading devices. ebook up to five times with They make great gifts for anyone of your choosing - no students, professionals on the go extra cost. That's the equivalent and any avid reader. of buying a DVD movie and And there are bargains to be had being able to share up to five with so many manufacturers copies with someone. Nice deal. (some of which are well-known ebook bargains: Save 25 percent retailers-turned-manufacturers) off www.cooler-books.com until now in the game, including Dec. 22. Amazon.com, Sony, Barnes & Wait for the next model? Noble and others. Interead and AT&T today One to consider: If you want to announced an agreement that will share ebooks with friends and deliver users of the COOL-ER family for no cost, check out the 3G ereader, scheduled for release COOL-ER, made by South in mid-2010. Florida-based Interead. It has a 6- What do you say? Want to share inch, E-ink screen, stores up to 1 your thoughts about an e-reader GB internal membory (which y o u b o u g h t ? O r s h a r e holds about 300 ebooks) and e x p e r i e n c e s ? expands up to 4 GB, and uses fivefilters.org featured article: low-energy technology so a Normalising the crime of the single charge can last up to 8,000 century by John Pilger clicks - enough to read an

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The Copenhagen climate talks: Filthy lucre fouls the air
specific actions taken by developing countries to curb emissions. Embarrassed Danes Submitted at 12/9/2009 10:37:42 PM said the text was one of several The Copenhagen climate talks unofficial papers that had been Dec 10th 2009 | floated, not a basis for real COPENHAGEN bargaining. The lead negotiator From The Economist print for the “G77 plus China” group edition Arguments over money o f d e v e l o p i n g c o u n t r i e s , dampened the euphoria at the L u m u m b a D i - A p i n g , w a s start of the Copenhagen climate unsoothed. “This text…is a major talks violation that threatens the DESPITE the gloomy talk that success of the Copenhagen p r e c e d e d t h e U N c l i m a t e negotiations,” he fumed, saying conference, the opening was two years’ work had been swept upbeat. Most big countries had aside. vowed to cut or limit emissions Can there still be a deal? The (BBC News | Americas | a snowstorm. (50mph) created snow drifts of during the previous few weeks. m a i n o b s t a c l e m a y n o t b e World Edition) Blizzards, which are heading 4 . 5 m ( 1 5 f t ) , t h e N a t i o n a l As delegates arrived, America’s emissions cuts, which will not E n v i r o n m e n t a l P r o t e c t i o n change much, but the closely eastwards, have been blamed for W e a t h e r S e r v i c e s a i d . Submitted at 12/10/2009 9:41:32 AM at least 16 deaths, most in traffic In northern Arizona, officials say Agency announced that carbon- linked issues of the shape of a Please turn on JavaScript. Media accidents. they are searching for some 25- dioxide emissions were an deal and how much money it requires JavaScript to play. Trapped 30 hunters trapped by up to 3ft of “endangerment” to health. This involves. allows Barack Obama to regulate Everyone agrees that poorer Heavy snowfall has caused In one such incident, a 28-year- snow that fell earlier this week. countries, including India and chaos across America's Midwest old woman was killed in Omaha, Across the country, flights have them, whatever Congress does. states Nebraska, on Tuesday night been cancelled, roads closed and The happiness did not last. On China, need cash for climate Blizzards in the Midwest of the when a lorry ploughing snow in a power cut off to thousands of December 8th a draft agreement “mitigation”—adopting green which had been discussed some technology and new approaches U S h a v e b r o u g h t r e c o r d car park backed into her, police people. snowfalls, burying cars, closing said. The snowstorm is forecast to weeks ago was leaked to the t o l a n d u s e a n d f o r e s t schools and causing power cuts. In Iowa, meteorologists recorded continue eastward on Thursday, Guardian, a British newspaper. It c o n s e r v a t i o n — a n d f o r Wisconsin declared a state of the highest snowfall there since bringing 3 to 5 inches of snow to caused a furore. The “Danish “adaptation”: coping with the emergency after being hit by up 1988, which left motorists New England and the north-east. text” had been circulated by the anticipated effects of climate hosts, but not to all parties; and it change, some of which (like a to 48cm (19in) of snow on stranded. Print Sponsor Wednesday, while Iowa recorded Meanwhile in Madison, the fivefilters.org featured article: seems to confirm the futility of degree of sea level rise) look its worst snowfall for 20 years. University of Wisconsin was Normalising the crime of the moves towards the legally unavoidable. America has joined binding treaty that many still the list of countries accepting Illinois was also hit, and in forced to cancel classes for the century by John Pilger want. such transfers, saying it will pay Arizona, in the south-west, up to first time since 1990. It also seems to link any rich-toCOPENHAGEN page 74 30 hunters have been stranded by In Illinois, gusts of 80km/h poor transfers of money to

(The Economist: News analysis)

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Europe.view: The neighbour from hell
(The Economist: Daily columns)
seriously. Some wags even suggested that a “Primakov prize” be established to mark the Submitted at 12/9/2009 9:37:10 PM boost he had given to the cause. Europe.view Now the same tactics are at work Dec 10th 2009 again. As readers of this column From Economist.com Cack- may know, the black hole in handed Russian tactics are NATO’s security guarantee is boosting NATO in eastern that it has no formal contingency Europe plans to defend its weakest IN THE 1990s, when enlarging members: the Baltic states of N A T O t o t a k e i n t h e e x - Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. If communist countries still seemed Russia is NATO’s friend—so the perilous and impractical, help thinking went in the early years came from an unexpected source. of this decade—no such plans are Yevgeny Primakov (pictured), a necessary. America has its own steely old Soviet spook who military plans: chiefly putting became first head of Russia’s powerful naval forces in the Foreign Intelligence Service, then North Atlantic to, if necessary, foreign minister and even, sink Russian warships and shoot briefly, prime minister, liked to down planes menacing the Baltic s a y t h a t i t w o u l d b e states. But NATO is paralysed by “impermissible” for the alliance the fear, felt strongly in countries to admit ex-communist states. such as France and Germany, that His remarks, and others in any real military planning will be similar vein by leading Russian intolerably and destructively politicians, p r o v e d provocative towards Russia. counterproductive. The more the Faced with that constellation of Kremlin huffed and puffed about f o r c e s , a s e n s i b l e R u s s i a n ex-captive nations deciding their response might be to adopt softly own future, the harder it became -softly tactics. Make it clear that to dismiss those countries’ fears: the war in Georgia was a one-off if your neighbour terms it (and a response to provocation). “impermissible” for you to install Give the Baltics and the Poles no a burglar alarm, people will start reason to worry. Keep on using taking your security worries economic ties to make friends and influence people. The pressure for NATO to take a firmer stand will soon fizzle out. Instead, Russia is adopting the opposite course. It habitually violates Baltic airspace. It maintains a vocal propaganda offensive (such as a report being launched in Brussels this week by a Russian-backed think-tank, which criticises Baltic language and citizenship laws). This autumn, it scandalised NATO opinion by running two big military exercises, without foreign observers, based on highly threatening scenarios (culminating in a Strategic Rocket Forces drill in which Russia “nuked” Poland). The exercises demonstrated weakness and incompetence, as well as force of numbers and nasty thinking. But they made life hard for peacemongers and strengthened the arguments of NATO hawks and the twitchy eastern Europeans. Russia’s latest political move adds insult to injury. It has formally proposed a new security treaty to NATO, which would specifically prohibit the alliance from making military plans or positioning forces in a way that Russia does not like. This is the latest iteration of what is commonly known as the “Medvedev Plan”—the idea of creating a new, realpolitik-based, security architecture for Europe which would weaken NATO, bypass the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe, and sideline America. Apart from the ever-enthusiastic Silvio Berlusconi, Italy’s prime minister, there seems little enthusiasm for any version of this plan in Europe. It might have had a better chance when the Bush administration was testing Atlanticist loyalties to destruction, and when Gerhard Schröder was running Germany and Jacques Chirac was president of France. Now it looks like a non-starter. It is just what Polish, Czech and Baltic politicians need to bolster their arguments. But it is hard to see how this sort of thing helps Russia. Back to top ^^ Readers' comments The Economist welcomes your views. fivefilters.org featured article: Normalising the crime of the century by John Pilger

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its “fair share”. Rich countries have talked of a “quick start” fund. The leaked Danish text has it starting in 2010-12 at a value to be determined; the UN has suggested $10 billion. To poor countries, this sounds paltry: responses range from “bribery” to “it will not even pay for the coffins”. Instead, the G77 has asked for 0.5% to 1% of the rich countries’ GDPs. That implies hundreds of billions of dollars on top of existing development aid. The idea that rich countries will hand over 1.2% to 1.7% of their wealth in perpetuity is not going to fly. Some transfers occur already. Rich states meet emissions targets by paying poor countries to do the cutting, under Kyoto’s Clean Development Mechanism. This system is under fire in Copenhagen for being too choosy or too arbitrary in the projects it backs. It is also too small: it abates only 330m tonnes of carbon dioxide per year, and billions of tonnes must be cut. On Thursday, George Soros, a philanthropist, proposed turning on a much bigger tap: he wants a new use of Special Drawing Rights, effectively the IMF’s inhouse gold-backed “currency”, mainly held by the rich countries. The IMF extended an extra $153 billion to rich countries last year to help them with the financial crisis. Most of it was unused. Mr Soros wants rich countries to lend $100 billion-worth to poor COPENHAGEN page 75

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ones, creating a “green fund” to jump-start mitigation. The IMF’s gold reserves could pay the (small) interest amounts that poor countries would otherwise owe. Other proposals abound. The REDD initiative on forestry should move lots of money to countries which avoid felling trees. If emissions from ships and aircraft are cut, using a tax or an emissions market, that could provide cash. Less promisingly, France wants a levy on financial transactions. And the European Climate Foundation, a think-tank, says more could be taken from existing carbon markets: cash could be winkled from traders who arbitrage the price difference between green projects in poor places and the “allocation” paid by rich-world emitters. The question of who gets paid what, and how, feeds back into the main issue in these and inevitable future talks: to what

extent will obligations under the Kyoto protocol be extended beyond the developed countries to developing ones? Rich countries account for most of the past emissions that now fill the air, but less than half the world’s current emissions. Settling this question will mean some differentiation between developing countries, a term that includes both industrial giants and hapless victims, whose interests are very different. Some people think this was the reason for the leaking of the Danish text. Those most offended by it are the smallest, weakest countries, which are vulnerable and emit very little. They are more interested in strong action than in who pays for it or who has to make the cuts. The calculus is different for the larger, more industrialised emerging markets, at least four of which—Brazil, India, South Africa and

China—saw the text before it was leaked. They have more to gain from keeping the onus of action and payment on the developed world alone. These countries have produced their own draft document, which would absorb any new agreement into the existing Kyoto framework. If the leak serves to firm up resistance to a deal that spreads the duties of reduction wider, China and other large developing states may be the gainers Back to top ^^ Readers' comments The Economist welcomes your views. fivefilters.org featured article: Normalising the crime of the century by John Pilger

Research Brief: No Apocalypse For Global Newspapers
(MediaPost | Media News)
Submitted at 12/10/2009 5:15:17 AM

MediaDailyNews: Nielsen: U.S. Ad Spend Falls 11.5%
(MediaPost | Media News)
Submitted at 12/10/2009 9:22:39 AM

Only three media advertising areas have shown growth through the first three-quarters of this year: cable TV, Spanishlanguage cable TV and freestanding newspaper inserts. The Nielsen Company says overall U.S. advertising spending declined 11.5% from January

through September -- compared to the same time period a year ago -- to $83.4 billion. Cable TV climbed 9.1%; Spanish-language cable TV improved 36.7%; and freestanding insert coupons rose 11.2%. Sixteen other main categories declined anywhere from 0.5% for the Internet to 48.3% for local Sunday

supplements. While cable generally posted better numbers, other TV areas showed mostly double-digit declines. Broadcast networks sank 13.9%; syndication TV dropped 15.9%; Spot TV in the top 100 DMAs sank 16%; and spot TV in smaller markets, 100 MEDIADAILYNEWS: page 76

According to the World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers, in its annual world press trends update, at no time in the foreseeable future will digital advertising revenues replace those lost to print, making the search for new business models, including paidfor online access for news, a pressing concern for the news publishing industry. In a 182-billion dollar press advertising industry, digital revenues of newspapers accounted for less than 6 billion dollars last year and are forecast by PricewaterhouseCoopers to grow to no more than 8.4 billion dollars by 2013. With print advertising expected to decline, PwC predicts that by 2013, combined print and digital ad revenues will be less than print only ad revenues were in 2008. Timothy Balding, co-CEO of WAN-IFRA, said "These... forecasts... demonstrate quite simply that at no time soon will digital advertising revenues come close to achieving... revenues required... to compensate for falling print revenue... Should these forecasts come close to being true, new business models

will have to be invented." Yet "Despite the endless predictions about the death of newspapers, they actually continue to grow, at least on a global scale... the global newspaper industry is far from facing an apocalypse," Mr Balding said. The survey showed that newspaper circulation grew, on a global scale, by 1.3% in 2008, the last full year for which data exists, and almost 9% over five years. The data shows consistent newspaper growth in Africa, Asia and South America, a long-term slowdown in the US and European markets. Over five years, according to our survey, newspaper circulation increased in 100 of the 182 nations for which we have reliable data." And, "...newspaper companies in the 'old' markets have embraced digital platforms and new forms of print publishing and, in doing so, have actually grown their audience reach and revenues, even while their print circulations have come under pressure," Mr Balding observed. "But even here, a sense of proportion demands that we deny the idea that the apocalypse is upon us," said Mr Balding. "A circulation drop in Europe, RESEARCH page 76

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through 210, were 12.6% lower. One lesser hit TV area was Spanish-language network TV, down 4.6%. Radio generally fared a bit better than TV. Spot radio was down 9.6%, while network radio was off 10.2%. Nielsen says many of the same declining advertising categories continue to hurt media sales results. Automotive factory/dealer advertising was chopped 30.9% to $5.4 billion, and local auto ad dropped 26.9% to $2.4 billion. Wireless phone media lost 5.4% to $2.5 billion; pharmaceutical was down 4.6% to $3.2 billion; and motion picture advertising slipped 1.7% to $2.5 billion. Improving categories included fast -food restaurants, up 1.8% to $3.1 billion and direct response commercials, 3.3% improved to $1.8 billion. The overall top 10 categories have fallen 12.7% to $25.7 billion. Year-to-Year Change in Ad Spend, by Media Media Category* 1Q-3Q 2009 vs. 1Q-3Q 2008

Change Spanish Language Cable TV 36.7% FSI Coupon 11.2% Cable TV 9.0% Internet** -0.5% Spanish Language Network TV -4.6% Spot Radio -9.6% Network Radio -10.2% Spot TV 101-210 DMAs -12.6% National Sunday Supplement -13.6% Network TV -13.9% Local Newspaper -14.0% Outdoor -15.1% Syndicated TV -15.9% Spot TV Top 100 DMAs -16.0% National Magazine -21.4% National Newspaper -21.6% Local Magazine

-25.0% B-to-B Magazines -33.1% Local Sunday Supplement -48.3% Grand Total -11.5% Source: The Nielsen Company * All data from non-Internet media pulled from Nielsen's Ad*Views database ** Internet advertising expenditures pulled from AdRelevance database and account for CPM-based, imagebased advertising. These reported estimated expenditures do not account for paid search advertising, text only, paid fee services, performance-based campaigns, sponsorships, barters, in-stream ("pre-rolls") players, messenger applications, partnership advertising, promotions and email campaigns, or house advertising activity. fivefilters.org featured article: Normalising the crime of the century by John Pilger

for example, is less than 3% over five years. Some of the highlights from the presentation: • Globally, 1.9 billion people choose to read a newspaper every day, or 34% of the world population, while 24% use the internet. • The biggest newspaper market in the world is India, with 107 million daily sales. India, China and Japan account for more than 60% of the world's newspaper sales, with the USA taking 14%. • In terms of sales per 1,000 adult population, Japan leads the world with 612, followed by Norway with 576, and Finland with 482. In terms of reach, 91% of Japanese continue to read a newspaper daily, remarkable in such a technologically advanced and wired society. • Advertising revenues fell an estimated 20% in North America, 19% in eastern Europe, 16% in western Europe, and 11% in the Asia Pacific in 2009, according to PwC.

• The US market has been hardest hit, with advertising revenues in the third quarter of 2009 falling nearly 29% in print and nearly 17% on digital platforms over the same quarter in 2008. But revenue declines mirror declines in other industries. "....there still remains outside forces, namely the economy, that we have little control over," concluded Mr. Balding. For more information from WAN-IFRA, the organization created by the merger of the World Association of Newspapers and IFRA, the research and service organization for the news publishing industry, please visit them here. Or, access the magazine here. fivefilters.org featured article: Normalising the crime of the century by John Pilger

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Nook E-Reader Has Potential, but Needs Work (AllThingsD Online via Yahoo! Finance)
(Yahoo! News Search Results for e-readers)
Submitted at 12/9/2009 6:03:50 PM

Amazon’s Kindle has been the king of the nascent, much-hyped, category of wireless e-readers since it came out in 2007. Now, numerous companies are determined to challenge the Kindle with dedicated, massmarket gadgets for reading digital books and periodicals. The latest, and potentially most important, of these is a contender called the Nook, produced by the giant bookstore chain Barnes & Noble Inc. (BKS), which started shipping it this week. The two devices look very similar, but have key differences in capabilities, user interface and polish. Overall, after testing the Nook for about a week, I don’t think it’s as good as the Kindle, at least not yet. At launch, the Nook has the feel of a product with great potential that was rushed to market before it was fully ready. Like the latest standard-size Kindle, which came out earlier this year, the Nook is a roughly 8 -inch by 5-inch, ivory-colored plastic tablet that costs $259 and connects wirelessly to an online store. The two devices have essentially identical reading screens, 6 inches when measured diagonally, that allow for only monochrome text and gray-scale

graphics, not color. Both come with two gigabytes of internal memory, enough to hold about 1,500 digital books. Nook’s most obvious difference from Kindle is that it also boasts a second, smaller color screen beneath the main reading screen. This touch screen is used for navigating and for typing via an on-screen keyboard when performing searches or adding notes to books. Also, when the touch screen is dark, it can be swiped to turn pages instead of using the physical page-turning buttons at the sides of the main screen. The competing Kindle (formerly called the Kindle 2, but now back to just Kindle) uses a joystick, Menu and Home buttons, and pop-up menus on the main screen for navigating. It has a physical keyboard below the screen for typing and can turn pages only using physical buttons. A customer tries a Nook e-reader at a Barnes Noble store in Manhattan on Monday. Also, unlike the Kindle, the Nook lets you lend certain digital books to others for a limited period, an innovation that removes one of the most common complaints about buying books electronically instead of on paper. Another big difference: Nook claims a catalog of just over one million digital books, versus

389,000 for the Kindle. But this is somewhat misleading, because over half of the Nook catalog is made up of free out-of-copyright titles published before 1923, the vast majority of which are likely to be of little interest to average readers. Barnes & Noble refuses to say how many modern commercial titles it offers, or even whether it has more or fewer of these than Amazon (AMZN). Amazon says it already has nearly 20,000 of the most popular such older books available and plans to add hundreds of thousands more in the coming months, to bring its total selection to more than one million. Amazon also offers well over 100 newspapers and magazines

and 7,500 blogs. Barnes & Noble says it will have about 45 periodicals in the coming weeks, but no blogs. The Nook has a small color screen for navigating and typing notes. Both devices offer downloads of most best-sellers, but in a random, unscientific test I performed using print books from around my house, I found Amazon’s commercial e-book catalog superior. Barnes & Noble lacked digital versions of two recent historical biographies I own, and had no digital editions of the works of one of my favorite contemporary mystery writers, Donna Leon. Amazon had all these books in Kindle editions. Barnes & Noble says titles like these are being added. During my tests, I found the Nook slower, more cumbersome to use and less polished than the Kindle. I ran into various crashes and bugs. And, while the Kindle’s navigation system isn’t exactly world class, it ran circles around the Nook’s, despite the great possibilities offered by the latter’s use of the touch screen. The Nook may be wonderful one day, but, as of today, it’s no match for the Kindle, despite advantages such as lending, because it’s more annoying to use. For instance, the Nook constantly delayed taking me to

books while the main screen displayed a message that said “formatting.” Its standard practice is to open books you select not at the actual start of the book, but at a description of the book. Turning pages inside books was slower than on the Kindle. Looking up a word in the built-in dictionary, a quick process on the Kindle, was far harder on the Nook. Even swiping the touch screen to turn pages would suddenly stop working for periods of time. The good news for those who have ordered a Nook, which is currently sold out, is that its software can be updated, and Barnes & Noble is promising to fix the problems, starting with a wirelessly delivered patch next week that it says will improve the speed a bit, get you closer to the start of the book, and repair some of the bugs. Two things are worth noting here. First, I also criticized the design of the original Kindle and the original Sony (SNE) e-reader, both of which have improved in subsequent iterations. (Sony, which was in this market early, is promising to release its first wireless e-reader later this month.) Second, the entire e-reader market is still in its infancy. The lack of color in books and NOOK page 79

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Paperbacks and hardcovers are giving way to e-readers (San Jose Mercury News)
(Yahoo! News Search Results for e-readers)
Submitted at 12/10/2009 8:49:25 AM

Victoria McNary usually finds romance and mystery in the paperback shelves at the grocery store. But one recent day she stopped into Barnes & Noble to consider curling up with a good Nook. Bigger than an iPhone, smaller than a netbook, the Nook is Barnes & Noble's entry into what might be the next great gadget war. It is challenging Amazon's pioneering Kindle and Sony's Reader in the quest to lure book readers from paperbacks and hardcovers to a digital device. Amazon, Sony and Barnes & Noble all report strong interest in e-readers this holiday season, with demand outpacing supply for both the Kindle and Nook. Meanwhile, with dozens of ereaders already on the market, Silicon Valley startups Spring Design and Plastic Logic are planning to unveil their own models in January. And anticipation is building that mighty Apple, secretive as ever, will put its big foot into the fray with a pricey tablet in the spring. Publishers of books, magazines and newspapers are paying close attention to the evolving market that envisions tablet devices as an alternative to paper. So is

Google, angling to build a massive online store of e-books. E-readers, some analysts predict, will soar in coming years, changing the dynamics of the publishing industry much as Apple's iPod changed the music industry. A recent report by Credit Suisse suggested that ereader sales will soar from 1 million in 2008 to 32 million in 2014. Amazon doesn't disclose Kindle's revenues but the report said they could climb from $624 million in 2009 to $1.8 billion in 2014. For the moment, the competition is for mainstream consumers like McNary, a 59-year-old Sunnyvale resident who had dropped by the Barnes & Noble on Stevens Creek Boulevard. "I just ran out of room in my house. I can't put another bookshelf anywhere," she said. Her doctor, she said, recommended the Kindle after noticing she was never without a paperback. But McNary said she prefers the Nook's colorful touchscreen control panel, which enables her to browse through book covers. She listened as a clerk explained that the Nook, priced at $259, would pay for itself in months because typical e -book bestsellers are priced at $9.99, below both paperback and hardcover prices. Another customer, Suha

While the Que will be able to load e-books from Barnes & Noble, Plastic Logic is marketing the device primarily as a business tool. The business "road warrior," explained Plastic Logic marketing executive Daren Benzi, typically lugs a heavy load Askaroglu, was disappointed that of reports along with a laptop and the Nook demo wasn't set up for smart-phone. an audio e-book. The Turkish The Que provides a superior immigrant explained that, to m e a n s o f p r e s e n t i n g improve his English, he likes to PowerPoints, PDF files, Excel listen on earphones as he reads. s p r e a d s h e e t s a n d o t h e r He covets Amazon's top-of-the- d o c u m e n t s , h e s a i d . Spring Design, based in line Kindle DX, which boasts s y n t h e s i z e d t e x t - t o - s p e e c h Fremont, is developing a dualtechnology capable of reading the screen device called the Alex to daily newspaper, but winces at its combine e-reading with Web surfing. A six-inch screen $489 price. Some technologically savvy provides the glare-free reading consumers may also be waiting experience common to other for devices from Plastic Logic r e a d e r s b a s e d o n E I n k and Spring Design, which have technology. Another, smaller t i m e d t h e r e l e a s e o f t h e i r screen employs Google Android products to coincide with the technology to allow readers to annual Consumer Electronics augment the text by, say, calling up a relevant map or YouTube Show in January. Plastic Logic, based in Mountain video. View, has pioneered what it calls Looming in the wings is Apple, "plastic electronics" based on known for such taste makers as technology developed at the the iPod to the iPhone. Yair University of Cambridge in Reiner, an analyst with the England. It is creating a f i n a n c i a l r e s e a r c h f i r m lightweight touch-screen tablet Oppenheimer, recently predicted called the Que (pronounced Apple will ship a 10.1-inch touch "cue") proReader with the -screen tablet in spring priced at familiar size of 81/2 by 11 about $1,000. Apple is offering book publishers a better deal than inches. Amazon, he said.

Apple's tablet is envisioned as a more media-rich experience than the e-readers now on the market, employing the liquid crystal display (LCD) technology now used in the iPhone, not the E Ink common to other readers. Andrew Eisner, director of content at Retrevo, an electronics research and shopping Web site, said the improving highdefinition technology is reducing the eye strain often associated with the LCD reading experience. The Nook, however, seemed to suit McNary's needs. After decades of devouring pageturners, she acknowledged that an e-reader would take "a bit" of adjustment. E Ink, unlike oldfashioned ink on paper, takes a moment to materialize with every turn of the virtual page. In the end, McNary suggested, the tale matters more than technology. "When you lose yourself in a book," she explained, "it's like you live the story." Contact Scott Duke Harris at 408 -920-2704. fivefilters.org featured article: Normalising the crime of the century by John Pilger

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periodicals alone is a huge drawback. One day, I suspect both of these products will look like a 1996 Palm (PALM) PDA does compared with an Apple (AAPL) iPhone. The Nook is a bit shorter and narrower than the Kindle, but it is an ounce heavier and significantly thicker. It has a cleaner look, because the bezel around the screen is narrower and there is no physical keyboard. The touch screen adds a dash of color, though it often goes dark to save battery life. Like the Kindle, the Nook has built-in cellular connectivity with no monthly charges. But it also adds Wi-Fi, which is free at Barnes & Noble stores, though mostly unusable at other commercial hotspots, because the Nook lacks a Web browser that would allow you to log in. The Kindle has a crude Web browser, but no Wi-Fi. Speaking of battery life, the Nook’s is worse than the Kindle’s. It claims about 10 days of typical use with wireless off, and just two days with wireless

on. In my week of tests, with wireless on constantly, I had to charge it three times. Amazon rates the Kindle at 14 days of typical use with wireless off and seven days with wireless on, which squares with my own Kindle experience. The Nook beats the Kindle in a few areas. Lending is a key one, though only about half of the commercial titles are eligible for lending, you can lend each one only once to a given person, and loans expire after two weeks. In my tests, lending worked OK after a couple of false starts. Another is that Barnes & Noble takes advantage of its stores. In addition to getting free Wi-Fi, Nook owners who enter a Barnes & Noble store can read books on their Nooks for free, and get help from staff members. Unlike the Kindle, the Nook also has a slot for expandable memory cards and a replaceable battery. Barnes & Noble also has companion PC, Mac, iPhone and BlackBerry software for reading e-books, even if you don’t own a Nook. Amazon has such

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a "new normal" spending pattern, staying within a tight $4 spending range that has persisted during the past four months. "While the spending 'new normal' may not be good for the larger economy in the short-term, it may be seen as a strong positive for individual consumer households."

Spending among upper-income consumers (those making at least $90,000 a year) had reached its highest level of 2009 in October and had closed the gap to -6% compared to the same month a year ago. The hope was that the surge on Wall Street and the seeming stabilization of housing values had encouraged some

software, so far, only for the iPhone and PC. But, while Amazon will synchronize your last page read if you switch from reading a book on one device to using another, Barnes & Noble lacks that capability yet, though it says it will have it soon. One more thing: The latest standard-size Kindle allows wireless book purchasing in multiple countries. The Nook does so only in the U.S. My recommendation on the Nook is to wait, even if you prefer its features to the Kindle’s. It’s not fully baked yet. Find all of Walt Mossberg’s columns and videos online, free, at the All Things Digital Web (All Gallup Headlines) site, walt.allthingsd.com. Email Submitted at 12/9/2009 8:00:00 PM him at [email protected]. fivefilters.org featured article: PRINCETON, NJ -- In a sign Normalising the crime of the that the new normal in consumer century by John Pilger spending continues unabated, upper-income Americans' selfreported average daily spending in stores, restaurants, gas stations, and online fell 14% in November, reverting to its relatively tight ($107 to $121) pre-October 2009 average monthly range. Middle- and upper-income consumers to l o w e r - i n c o m e c o n s u m e r abandon the 2009 spending new discretionary spending increased normal. November's results by 7% last month but remained dashed these hopes, as upper- in its tight 2009 average monthly income consumers joined their range of $52 to $61. Still, m i d d l e - a n d l o w e r - i n c o m e consumer spending by both counterparts in spending 20% income groups continues to trail less than they had during the year-ago levels by 20%, even as those comparables have gotten UPPER-INCOME page 80 easier to match -- possibly

Upper-Income Spending Reverts to New Normal
dashing hopes that upscale retailers and big-ticket-item sales will do better this year. Self-Reported Spending Down Across Incomes Consumers' self-reported spending on discretionary items among middle- and lowerincome Americans (those making less than $90,000 a year) was down 20% in November from the depressed spending levels of a year ago. As expected, this percentage decline from November 2008 is more modest than the year-over-year declines of earlier in the year as year-ago comparables have become easier to match. Although average daily spending among this group was technically at its high for 2009 last month, it continues to reflect UPPER-INCOME page 79

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financial crisis days of 2008 and returning to the relatively tight 2009 daily spending range for this group prior to October. Self-Reported Spending Down Across Age Groups Consumers in the child-rearing ages of 30 to 49 showed the smallest November-overNovember discretionary spending decline at 15% -possibly because they have the least ability to downshift their spending as the holidays approach. Younger consumers aged 18 to 29 experienced a larger decline of 23%. Those 50 to 64 years of age reduced their year-over-year spending by 29%, while those 65 or older had a decline of 32%. Overall, those in the 30 to 49 age group had the highest average daily spending level in November ($81), while those 65 or older spent the least per day ($52). Self-Reported Spending Down Across Regions Year-over-year consumer spending declined the least on the two coasts, with the East cutting average daily spending by 13% and the West cutting spending by 17%. The declines were largest in the Midwest -- down 38% -while the South was in between, at 24%. Overall, consumer discretionary spending was highest in the East and West ($71 and $75 average per day, respectively) and lowest in the Midwest ($56). Self-Reported Spending Down Across Genders

Overall, men claim greater average daily spending than women, possibly as a result of having higher average incomes and perhaps tending to more aggressively report joint spending. Men also report a larger decline in discretionary spending, at 27%, compared to the 17% self-reported by women. Spending New Normal Overall self-reported consumer discretionary spending has been essentially flat on a monthly basis throughout 2009 even when broken out by age, income, region, and gender. It has also been down significantly compared to the same months in 2008. The year-over-year differences have declined somewhat during recent months, but much of this closure in the 2008-2009 spending gap is a result of the easier spending comparables from last year's financial crisis. Gallup's analysis of the relationship between job creation and consumer spending suggests that these lower spending levels are attributable, at least in part, to today's dismal job-market conditions. Further findings show that the current lack of job creation has its greatest impact on middle- and lower-income consumer spending. In this regard, October upperincome spending provided new hope that the surge in the stock market and the increased stability of housing prices might be encouraging these consumers to

break out of their year-long and relatively tight spending range. Instead, November's results show that upper-income spending reverted back to its new normal range. Given the greater discretionary spending flexibility of upper-income Americans, this reversion to the pre-October spending range tends to give added face-validity to the argument that a consumer spending new normal exists -independent of the job situation - as 2010 approaches. On a national level, the spending new normal suggests slower economic growth than otherwise might be expected in the years ahead. In turn, reduced consumer spending will complicate the jobcreation problem, not to mention fiscal and monetary policies. For example, one might argue that the federal government and monetary authorities (the Fed) need to take emergency actions to offset a temporary spending shortfall due to job losses, but the same arguments do not necessarily hold true when the spending reduction results from a new normal spending pattern -generally speaking, the private sector needs to adjust to such changes in consumer behaviors. For retailers, small businesses, and the companies that supply and support them, a new normal spending pattern can mean complex changes involving downscaling, upselling (people taking advantage to buy upscale for less), inventory management,

and people-related adjustments. The U.S. economy is designed to allow the private sector to make such adjustments in order to optimize performance when faced with such a rapidly changing business environment. Of course, the same does not apply to maintaining the social safety net, particularly in the face of double-digit unemployment and even higher underemployment. While the spending "new normal" may not be good for the larger economy in the short-term, it may be seen as a strong positive for individual consumer households. Consumers, like their business and banking counterparts, would be wellserved to de-leverage by spending less, saving more, reducing their use of credit, and thereby strengthening their personal balance sheets. While this may not provide the immediate-term returns to the economy of the over-leveraging of recent years, a financially stronger U.S. consumer implies only good things for the longerterm well being of both the U.S. and global economies. Review and export the complete daily trends on these measures: Economic Indexes; Consumer Spending; Economic Outlook; Economic Conditions; Job Market Learn more about Gallup's economic measures. Sign up for Gallup e-mail alerts or RSS feeds

Get Gallup news on Facebook and Twitter Survey Methods For Gallup Daily tracking, Gallup interviews approximately 1,000 national adults, aged 18 and older, each day. The Gallup consumer spending results are based on random half-samples of approximately 500 national adults, aged 18 and older, each day. Results for November are based on telephone interviews with more than 14,000 adults. For these results, one can say with 95% confidence that the maximum margin of sampling error is ±1 percentage points. Results for the various breakout reported here are based on interviews with more than 1,000 respondents with a maximum margin of error of ±3 percentage points. Interviews are conducted with respondents on land-line telephones and cellular phones. In addition to sampling error, question wording and practical difficulties in conducting surveys can introduce error or bias into the findings of public opinion polls. fivefilters.org featured article: Normalising the crime of the century by John Pilger

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WISE Telescope, Launching Friday, Will Scope Out Universe's Darkest Objects
By Rebecca Boyle (Popular Science - New Technology, Science News, The Future Now)
Pasadena, Calif. That includes the closest brown dwarfs, small nearby asteroids and distant galaxies. "We will find those things, but Submitted at 12/10/2009 6:32:46 AM we won't be able to tell you more The wide-field telescope is details about them," he said. intended to create a catalog of The other space telescopes will, interesting items for Spitzer, however. When its mission is Hubble, and company to inspect complete, WISE's legacy will be more closely like any explorer's -- paving the If the weather holds, NASA's way for others to accomplish newest space telescope will lift even more. o f f F r i d a y m o r n i n g f r o m Like an atlas, or Google Maps, it Vandenberg Air Force Base in will offer a broad picture and California, on a mission to map a l l o w m o r e p o w e r f u l the cosmos. observatories to zoom in to the The Wide-Field Infrared Survey "street view" level. Explorer, or WISE, is unlikely to "It's like looking at the United see the fanfare granted to the States and picking the Grand m o r e f a m o u s o r b i t i n g Canyon on a map, but then you observatories, especially Hubble, actually go there to do more Spitzer and Chandra. But the detailed sightseeing," said Jon small satellite is expressly Morse, Astrophysics Division designed to make each of them director at NASA headquarters in smarter. Washington. "This will be our WISE will catalog hundreds of infrared data motherlode that millions of the darkest objects in astronomers will mine for years the universe, seeking them out to come, looking for interesting through their warmth. It will take objects in order to do detailed note of every object farther away follow-up observations with from the Sun than Earth is, said other observatories." Peter Eisenhardt, WISE project NASA's "great observatories," s c i e n t i s t a t N A S A ' s J e t the Chandra x-ray telescope, the P r o p u l s i o n L a b o r a t o r y i n Spitzer infrared telescope and the dawn to help it reach its orbital destination, high above the dividing line between day and night on Earth. From that perch, the $320 million telescope will snap a picture every 11 seconds, taking about six months to map the entire sky. WISE scientists will review data every day, and plan to notify other space telescope teams if they come across something particularly interesting. The telescope has a fourmegapixel array, about four times the capability of the newest infrared instrument installed in the Hubble servicing mission earlier this year. By contrast, the first infrared sky survey, taken with the IRAS satellite in 1983, had a 62-pixel array, said Ned Wright, the project's principal investigator at the University of California-Los Angeles. Eisenhardt said the full extent of discoveries in WISE's survey may not be known for years. "By no stretch of the imagination will the WISE science team be finding out everything in the WISE survey. That's why we are turning the data over to everybody else," he said.

Hubble telescope, are each uniquely suited to make discoveries in specific areas of the electromagnetic spectrum. But put them together -- as scientists did last month to show the most complete image yet of the Milky Way's center -- and you get something really powerful.

Morse said it's an exciting time for space telescopes, and WISE will make them even stronger. "Our access to space allows us to do these surveys and find out more about the cosmos across the electromagnetic spectrum," he said. "These types of sky surveys help us put the puzzle together." WISE is scheduled to launch at

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Video: NASA Drops A Helicopter From Midair to Test New Anti-Crash Tech
By Clay Dillow (Popular Science - New Technology, Science News, The Future Now)
Submitted at 12/9/2009 2:49:18 PM

No stranger to rough landings, NASA just engineered a crash of its own design to test a new crash countermeasure for helicopters. NASA dropped a donated Army MD-500 carrying four crash test dummies from 35 feet, to determine whether a new honeycomb cushion made of Kevlar strapped to the bottom of the copter could absorb the brunt of the impact. The result: a more or less intact MD-500, and the cool impact video below. The helicopter swung by cables from a 240-foot-tall structure once used to teach moon-bound

astronauts how to delicately impact the lunar surface. As it approached the ground at a 33degree angle, pyrotechnics were used to sever the guide cables so the aircraft would impact and react as though in a real crash. All said, the impact simulated a

crash landing at about 33 miles per hour vertical speed. Aside from the test dummies -one of which contained simulated organs within its torso -- the aircraft was fitted with instruments recording 160 different channels of data. While

all that data still needs to be crunched and compared, the initial outlook appears to be good. As for the dummies, NASA said they appeared "only a little worse for wear." The honeycomb cushion was developed as a way to protect the next generation of spacecraft, but NASA quickly realized it could just as well save the lives of aerial travelers here on Earth. Though the skid landing gear took a beating, the deployable energy absorber preserved the MD-500 well enough that engineers plan to recycle it so they can drop it again sometime next year -- this time without protection. [ NASA via Network World]

Mysterious Light Display Leaves Norwegians and Astronomers Puzzled
By Jeremy Hsu (Popular Science - New Technology, Science News, The Future Now)
Submitted at 12/9/2009 10:39:45 AM

A Russian missile test or a meteor remain the top guesses for a strange spiraling light phenomenon A bizarre spiraling light show over Norway has raised MYSTERIOUS page 83

German Zoo's Bears Struck With Mystery Baldness
By Stuart Fox (Popular Science - New Technology, Science News, The Future Now)
bear as well. For almost two years, three bears at the zoo have been going bald. And what began gradually has become a strange and worrying Submitted at 12/10/2009 8:29:05 AM sight. Zoo keepers are stumped C o u n t l e s s h o u r s w a s t e d by the cause, although they are watching Locked Up have taught familiar with the problem. me that prison changes a man. The spectacled bears, also And based on developments in a known as Andean bears, are Ecuador, Peru, and Bolivia have zoo in Leipzig, Germany, it South America's only indigenous dealt with balding spectacled seems like captivity changes a ursine species. Zoo keepers in bears in the past by varying the diet and cage contents to create a more stimulating environment. However, the German zoo keepers are stumped. While they are applying an ointment to the bear's skin to prevent irritation (I bet there weren't a lot of volunteers for that job), they don't know whether the balding results from malnutrition, some kind of disease, or simply the stress of doing hard time in animal lock down. All I know is that if one of the bears appears with "Thug Life" tattooed across her paws, the zoo keepers should probably start worrying. [ National Geographic]

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Partial-Hand Amputees Get Better Bionic Fingers
By Clay Dillow (Popular Science - New Technology, Science News, The Future Now)
Submitted at 12/9/2009 12:12:25 PM

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It seems like every few weeks someone claims to have built the newest and most revolutionary prosthetic hand, and while breakthroughs on that front are amazing, what about all the partial-hand amputees, those that have only lost a finger or two, or perhaps a thumb? UK firm Touch Bionics has introduced a system geared directly toward those that, though missing a digit or four, still have working muscle and tendon in their hands. These bionic fingers let their wearers--a 1.2-million-strong group that, until now, has been largely

ignored--regain the ability to type, use a fork and knife and more. Touch Bionics' ProDigits system can be customized regardless of a particular hand’s shape or which digits are missing, allowing clinicians to mimic the missing

digits. For people like Maria Antonia Iglesias, a former concert pianist in Catalonia, Spain, who lost her fingers to illness, ProDigits have allowed here to do simple things like hold a glass and write for the first time. Though Iglesias was one of the first amputees outfitted with the system, there are now more than 30 patients taking advantage of ProDigits enhanced dexterity and control. As you’ll see, it sure beats a static prosthetic. Check out the anatomy. Each digit can bend, prosthesis in the video below, touch, and point individually, and and see more photos in the can take command from either a gallery here. myoelectric sensor that registers [ Touch Bionics via Fox News] muscle signals from residual nerves and muscle in the hand, or pressure activated switches that are actually pushed by remnant

speculations ranging from a Russian rocket test to an odd meteoric display. The Norwegian Meteorological Institute remains unsure of the phenomenon's origins, but astronomers have said that it does not appear connected to the Aurora Borealis, also known as the Northern Lights. A blue light first appeared from behind a mountain, and created a giant spiral in the sky within seconds. Perhaps even more baffling, a green-blue beam of light appeared to shoot from the center. The entire display remained in the sky for a good ten to twelve minutes--enough time for photographers across Norway to shoot hundreds of MYSTERIOUS page 84

Cassini Sends First Full Images of Saturn's Mysterious Giant Hexagon
By Jeremy Hsu (Popular Science - New Technology, Science News, The Future Now)
Submitted at 12/9/2009 1:42:40 PM

Scientists suspect that the hexagon pattern may represent an unusually controlled jet stream Saturn's north pole holds something even more strange than a globe-trotting Santa Claus -- a giant hexagon shape within the planet's atmosphere. Now

NASA's Cassini spacecraft has imaged the whole hexagonal pattern in visible light for the first time. The hexagon has remained a mystery ever since NASA's Voyager spacecraft first discovered it in the early 1980s. Cassini has used its spectrometer to observe the hexagon in both visual and infrared light since 2006, but at lower resolution than sided shape represents the path of the newest visible-light images. a jet stream, but still don't Scientists speculate that the six- understand what controls the jet

stream in such a rigid manner. The latest image mosaics created by Cassini show waves radiating from the hexagon corners, and also reveal a multi-walled structure within each hexagon side. One of the most unusual features within the new images is a large spot inside the hexagon. The spot could have connections to an earlier large spot located outside the hexagon, which was imaged by Voyager but eventually

disappeared in 1991. That's the year when Saturn entered its long winter polar night, with emphasis on long – a whole Saturn year lasts about 29 Earth years. Cassini's latest photo opportunity only came about after Saturn's August 2009 equinox, which signaled the start of northern spring. [ NASA]

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images and capture video: Universe Today raises the possibility that the spiraling pattern represents a tumbling rocket stage spewing fuel. But Russia denied having conducted missile tests in the area. Update It's also worth noting that a similar phenomenon apparently appeared over China back in April 2009: We're still betting on some rocket test gone awry, or else a really far-out art display by a guerilla artiste with a penchant

for science. Inter-dimensional research or the beginning stages of an alien invasion remain farther down the probability list. Check out more photos of the phenomenon here [via The Daily Mail, Universe Today and Norwegian Meteorological Institute]