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Can Lady Gaga Change the Way Best New Artist Grammy Is Chosen?

12/02/2009 01:07:00 PM kenmouse , Posted in , , , 0 Comments

With only one day left before nominees are announced for the 52nd annual Grammy Awards, the industry is buzzing about who’ll make the cut – and why one of the year's biggest hitmakers is ineligible.

Lady Gaga sold more than 1.5 million copies of The Fame, but the costumed diva won’t be recognized in the Best New Artist category due to her nomination in the Best Dance Recording category for "Just Dance" last year. However, we’ll most likely see her in the Album, Record or Song of the year categories.

Gaga’s exclusion mirrors last year’s snub of Jennifer Hudson in the same category due to her 2007 nomination in the Outstanding Motion Picture Soundtrack Compilation category for Dreamgirls.

Could it be time for the Grammys to consider changing their rules? "This particular issue in the Best New Artist category is on our radar and I would expect changes to address it in next year's voting," Grammy president Neil Portnow tells PEOPLE.

Other artists to watch this year include Taylor Swift, U2, Beyoncé, Maxwell, Green Day, the Black Eyed Peas, Keri Hilson and Kings of Leon.

But, don’t expect to see Michael Jackson as a major contender. Though he won big at the American Music Awards, the soundtrack for This Is It missed the Sept. 1 cutoff date. But, the release of Motown box set Hello World The Complete Motown Solo Collection could very well make the cut in historical categories.

Robsten "So on Board" for Breaking Dawn Double-Feature

12/02/2009 01:06:00 PM kenmouse , Posted in , , , , , 0 Comments

Variety reported last night that Summit was tempted to go the "two-film route" when deciding how to bring Breaking Dawn to the big screen.

Uh, darlings, such old news, really. Summit is more than tempted. Making B.D. two movies is the game plan as of now.

The fourth flick has been in the works for a while. After ensuring that the main cast would be back for Twilight 4, Summit asked Melissa Rosenberg to pen the script for B.D. in September, to which she obviously agreed.

Once execs realized Twilight fever wasn't dying down anytime soon, they decided to swipe a move from Harry Potter: Why Not Make It Two Scripts? It's an idea that's been going back and forth over at Summit for a while.

So will the suits ever officially announce this so we can stop having to reassure all you Twi lovers that Robsten will be in it for the long haul—onscreen, too?

Says Deep Twi:

"Nothing official yet, but knowing Summit [the announcement] will be soon with the giant success of New Moon. Why would they not stretch it out and make as much money as possible from this franchise?"

As to Robsten's future in all this?

"They are so on board, still," promises another member of Team Deep Twi. "But the money has to be right. If it is, it'll happen—especially now that [Rob and Kristen] are learning better how to handle the press."

Uh, not sure I agree with that last statement. As it's the press who seem to be learning how better to handle Robsten, if you ask us.

Even though the main Twilight players only agreed to a fourth movie, they will be down for a fifth. Not just because Summit basically owns their asses and they wouldn't totally have a choice, but because it's pretty much guaranteed Robert, Kristen and Taylor Lautner will be getting a big pay raise.

Like one of our Summit insiders told us a while back, they just tell Robsten & Co. to count their millions when they get fame frustrated.

Getting New Moon director Chris Weitz back would probably be the biggest obstacle. Remember, Summit and the cast l-o-v-e-d him, and they all want him to direct again. Chris told us he'd be stupid not to do Breaking Dawn(s), but he wants to take a break from directing for a bit, and Summit wants to peddle these bad boys out as fast as possible 'cause the cast can't keep their fangs off each other.

So what do you think—good news that Rob and Kristen would be contractually bound for a few more years together? Now you can see why Summit was wary at first of their leads shacking up together. Good thing Robsten is doing better than fine! Happy stars mean more money...for everyone.

Especially the paps.

Microsoft shifting internal focus to Windows 8 in July 2010

12/02/2009 01:06:00 PM kenmouse , Posted in , , , 0 Comments



Ah, the tormented life of a Microsoft employee. You spend a few years of your life nurturing a product, teaching it some new tricks, and before you know it you have to release it into the wild and start all over again. Coincidentally, Microsoft also seems to do a lot of hiring during that tumultuous switchover period, and its latest round of job postings have offered a few clues as to what we can expect in Windows 8, and when the company plans to focus on it in earnest. That will apparently happen at the start of the company's 2011 fiscal year, which translates to July, 2010 for everyone else. As for Windows 8 itself, it seems that Microsoft is particularly interested in finding a few folks to work on how Windows Update works in the latest iteration of the OS, including things third-party application updating, updating virtual machines when they're turned off, and delivery of full applications -- Windows 8 Server and a "new UX framework" also garnered a brief mention. Hit up the link below for some additional details, and links to the actual postings if you happen to be looking for a job.

Joanna Krupa Unveils Cross-Bearing Nude PETA AD To Fury Of Catholic Church

12/02/2009 01:06:00 PM kenmouse , Posted in , , 0 Comments

After a season of high-stepping on Dancing With The Stars, Playboy model Joanna Krupa is stripping off in an effort to make animal lovers think twice before buying a pup from a pet store.


Unfortunately for the Polish-born blonde, The Catholic Church isn’t as gung-ho about animals as she is. Some church officials are beside themselves with fury that Joanna is showing her privates under the guise of a Heavenly Angel.

Joanna, who bared all for the December issue of Playboy, appears as a winged angel, covered by a carefully-placed crucifix, in a saucy new billboard in conjunction with animal rights group People For The Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA). The stunner — who own four pooches of her own — unveiled the poster outside a Barkworks Store in Los Angeles on Tuesday.

“It’s totally inappropriate,” said Deal Hudson, publisher of InsideCatholic.com, an online magazine. “It’s another instance of disrespect toward Christianity and another example of the kind of abuse that would never occur with any other major religion, because the outcry would be so immediate and so loud that the people behind it would immediately retreat.”

Nonetheless, Joanna stands by the PETA poster: “We’re trying to spread the word that breeding isn’t the way to go. Somebody needs to put their foot down and stop this breeding and these puppy mills… It makes me so angry that our government doesn’t do anything about it. So I am!”




"Hot Summer Days" for New Year : Vivian Hsu and Daniel Wu Hot love !

12/02/2009 01:05:00 PM kenmouse , Posted in , , , , , , 0 Comments

Hua Yi Bothers, 20th Century Fox and Star join together to produce a hot romantic movie : "Hot Summer Days", they held a press conference in Bei Jing Hua Yi's CEO, 20th Century Fox Asian CEO, Daniel Wu, Vivian Hsu, BoBo , Michelle Wai, director Chen Guo Hui and producer Fruit Chan attended the Bei Jing press conference, while director Wing Shya, producer Zheng Zhenbang, Nick Tse, DaS and Angelbaby attended to the Hong Kong press conference, using sattelite connection to be part of the Bei Jing one The movie will premiere on next year's 11th of February, with Daniel Wu and Vivian Hsu's hot live story for new Year.


Vivian Hsu and Daniel Wu kissed for a whole day

Vivian appeared on a very sexy black attire, the role she incarnates is "Wasabi" a lovestruck heiress, her lover being "Soy Sauce" Daniel Wu. Viavian laughed saying she never had such a good treatment while filming : "The sushi shop in the movie is owned by Daniel and the director, it's really delicious, because I'm a wealthy girl, everyday, I'd wear really pretty clothes and eat delicious sushis, then at night, I stay at a 5 star hotel. But because I didn't want to gain weight, as soon as the director said "cut!" I'd throw the sushi up, because I ate too much" Then the investor who was beside her said "No wonder this time's investment was so high !"

Even though she stayed in a good hotel and had good food, it wasn't without a price : Vivian and Daniel kiss scene was filmed a whole day until it was good, "Daniel and I kiss became mechanical, the two of us standing there, when we didn't need to kiss, we'd talk about his girlfriend, I'd ask him what they like to do... and when the director said to begin, we'd kiss again..."


Hottie Daniel Wu extolled by the press

Even though Daniel comes every year in Bei Jing for his new movie's promotion, he still is very much welcomed by the press, comparing to Bobo who got very excited fans on the set, the female reporters were more biased towards Daniel. Daniel introduced his character as a japanese food cook about 40 years old "This man is very serious about his work, he doesnt understand love very much and thus almost missing real love. But actually it's because he doesn't want to change himself for the name of love, not wanting it to become somthing unnatural."

Finding yourself will make you find real love, this is what Daniel and Vivian's characters will realise in the movie, "Women get hurt too easily, in the movie, I try to mend a broken heart, but then I realise that how it was before is best." says Vivian.

In the movie, Daniel has to use refined sushis to attract Vivian, so he especially spent 2 weeks to learn making sushis, "I learned making sushis for 2 weeks, but since the shop is ours, it was really convenient."
And when reporters asked him if he cooks at home, he says that he likes cooking but is too busy and never have time to do so.

DaS and Nick Tse appear from long distance


On that day 2 press conferences were held respectively in Bei Jing and Hong Kong, when very cool DaS with black attire and smoky eyes and Nick Tse appeared on the big screen, many fans screamed !
DaS said that this time "Smoky" style was the most daring she ever tried, and Nick Tse, her partner in the movie stated that he only wore sleveless shirts and acted as a grassroot character. The director reavealed that on the first day, DaS didn't dare to get out of the changing room, because she was wearing too little, "DaS told me that she never wore that little clothes !"

Jing Boran and Fu XinBo act as "father and son"

Bobo attracted many fans screams as soon asthey appeared in the airport, the two popularity is very high ! when asked about their roles in the movie, Jing Boran revealed that he acts as Fu XinBo's father, they'll act opposite to Michelle Wai and Angelbaby, displaying love in two different ages.

Side By Side: A Look At The Top Search Trends From Yahoo, Bing, And Google

12/02/2009 01:05:00 PM kenmouse , Posted in , , , , 0 Comments

The results are in: Bing, Yahoo, and Google have all released their top search trends for 2009. We’ve been following them over the last few days, and decided we’d put them side by side to see if any interesting patterns emerged. Note that Bing’s results are US only (and Yahoo’s exclude other English-speaking properties) so we’re including Google’s US results for the most apples-to-apples comparison.

Before we draw any conclusions, it’s important to note that the methods employed are neither consistent between search engines, nor are they scientific to begin with. Aside from the obvious removal of porn and other NSFW related queries, the search engines generally ignore items that are always popular in favor of more timely keywords. I’ve included the methods used by each company below, but the theme here is “really vague”.



That said, we can still make a few observations. First, the obvious: the late Michael Jackson and Twitter dominate the top two slots (Jackson takes the top spot on Bing and Yahoo, but takes second to Twitter on Google).

It looks like Yahoo appeals to a mainstream, less tech-oriented audience. It may also be skewing younger than the other engines. Pop culture queries like Twilight and Britney Spears are dominant, with only two tech-related queries (RuneScape and Twitter). And Yahoo’s list stays consistent over the years: half of the queries (WWE, Britney Spears, Naruto, American Idol and RuneScape) made Yahoo’s top list last year. And most of those repeats were on 2007’s list.

Bing seemed to shy more towards current events, though these were influenced by celebrities as well. Four out of Bing’s top ten queries were related to celebrities who passed away during 2009. And “Swine Flu”, “Stock Market”, “Cash for Clunkers”, and kidnap victim “Jaycee Dugard” are all related to major news stories over the last year, some of which are still ongoing.

Google’s list has more of a tech slant, which appearances made by Hulu, Facebook, Twitter, and Hi5. Three of its top queries were related to celebrity deaths (Jackson, Natasha Richardson, and Farrah Fawcett). And three of the top trends are related to breakthrough artists and entertainment content: Glee, Lady Gaga, and horror film Paranormal Activity.

You can find more Google trends at its Zeitgeist site. Here’s how it compiled its results:

To compile the 2009 Year-End Zeitgeist, we studied the aggregation of billions of queries people typed into Google search this year. We use data from multiple sources, including Insights for Search, Google Trends and internal data tools. We also filter out spam and repeat queries to build out lists that best reflect “the spirit of the times.”

You can find more Yahoo trends here. Here’s how they gathered their data.

To develop the Yahoo! Year in Review, our editors analyze Search queries
based on a number of factors, including absolute volume and growth
versus previous periods, to see which themes and trends bubble to the
surface. Individual users and their Search queries always remain
anonymous.

Bing hasn’t revealed any more trends yet, but it gives this awesomely nebulous description of its methods:

“If you’re curious how we determined the top searches, we analyzed billions of search queries and developed the list based on searches made with Bing.”

Windows 7 Black Screen of Death? (It's not as bad as it sounds)

12/02/2009 01:04:00 PM kenmouse , Posted in , , , 0 Comments



Well, maybe it's not as bad as it sounds, but it's still not so good. As you're probably aware, over the last week or so Windows users of all stripes (not just Windows 7 users, as it turns out) have been complaining of a plain black screen that appears upon login -- at which point the systems lock up, and... that's it. Aside from some users getting an additional My Computer window (lucky devils) the system grinds to a halt. According to a Microsoft email that's making the rounds, the company is "investigating reports that its latest release of security updates is resulting in system issues for some customers." Until that time, what's a poor PC user to do? Prevx, a UK developer of anti-malware software, has surmised that a recent Windows security patch changed Access Control List (ACL) entries in the registry, preventing some software from running properly and prompting Engadget to whip up a Bergman-inspired graphic. If your machine should find itself afflicted, Prevx has put together a fix that it claims will do the trick. Keep in mind that we don't know these guys, so don't blame us if it blows up your computer -- or gives you the Bubonic plague. We'll let you know when we hear back from Microsoft on this one. Good luck!

Update: Microsoft says this isn't its fault, and that it's likely some nasty malware to blame.

'Bourne' director confirms he won't do fourth film

12/02/2009 01:04:00 PM kenmouse , Posted in , 0 Comments

Paul Greengrass, who directed the second and third installments of the $945 million grossing franchise — The Bourne Supermacy and The Bourne Ultimatum — has confirmed that he will not be making the fourth film. Greengrass, who also directed the controversial 9/11 drama United 93, issued this statement: “You won’t find a more devoted supporter of the Bourne franchise than me. I will always be grateful to have been the caretaker to Jason Bourne over the course of The Bourne Supremacy and The Bourne Ultimatum. I’m very proud of those films and feel they express everything I most passionately believe about the possibility of making quality movies in the mainstream. My decision to not return a third time as director is simply about feeling the call for a different challenge. There’s been no disagreement with Universal Pictures. The opportunity to work with the Bourne family again is a difficult thing to pass up, but we have discussed this together and they have been incredibly understanding and supportive. I’ve been lucky enough to have made four films for Universal, and our relationship continues. Jason Bourne existed before me and will continue, and I hope to remain involved in some capacity as the series moves on.”

The story, which originally broke earlier this week on the blog The Playlist, cited script challenges and Greengrass’s schedule as mitigating factors. (Greengrass has been busy making Green Zone, a big-budget Iraq-based thriller, with Bourne star Matt Damon.) Variety’s Michael Fleming reports today that Damon is not yet attached to make the fourth Bourne film, either, and posits that Tony Gilroy, who wrote all three previous Bourne films and recently directed Michael Clayton and Duplicity, could now possibly step in to write and direct. It’s also possible that Georg Nolfi –who co-wrote Ultimatum with Gilroy and is now making his directing debut, Adjustment Bureau (based on a Philip K. Dick short story) with Damon in the lead — might also consider stepping in as director. Nolfi has already written a version of the script for the fourth Bourne, but when he left to do Adjustment, the studio brought in writer Joshua Zetumer to script a different version. It remains to be seen which script, and which director (if any), will persuade Damon to sign his name on the dotted line.

4minute releases new “Jingle Jingle” holiday track!

12/02/2009 01:03:00 PM kenmouse , Posted in , , 0 Comments



4minute is just full of surprises this holiday season! From the announcement of HyunA and Jiyoon's solo albums and now this new holiday special track "Jingle Jingle" featuring Mario. Actually, the track isn't that much of a surprise, because we did notice the listing on Mnet here, but still, we kind of forgot about it until now.

Gotta love the holidays, much love to everyone and enjoy!

Make sure to support 4minute at the 4minutes fan forum!

Facebook and MySpace delete NY sex offenders

12/02/2009 01:02:00 PM kenmouse , Posted in , , , 0 Comments

New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo announced Tuesday that more than 3,500 sex offenders from his state have been purged from Facebook and MySpace.

Both companies have long had policies against registered sex offenders using their services, but the implementation of New York's new Electronic Securing and Targeting of Online Predators Act ("E-Stop") has made it easier for the sites to identify perpetrators from the Empire State.

Facebook, according to Cuomo, was able to identify and disable the accounts of 2,782 registered sex offenders. MySpace deleted 1,796 accounts.

Cuomo has long been concerned about predators on social-networking sites. In January 2008, New York was one of 49 states that entered into an agreement with MySpace that resulted in a set of principles to combat harmful material on MySpace and other sites. In October 2007, Cuomo's office said Facebook could face a consumer fraud charge for misrepresenting the site's safety for minors, but two weeks later Cuomo and Facebook Chief Privacy Officer Chris Kelly held a joint press conference to announce a "cooperative effort."

The E-Stop law bans many registered offenders from using social-networking sites while on parole or probation and requires all registered offenders to disclose their e-mail addresses, screen names, and "other Internet identifiers." That data is provided to social-networking sites to run against their roles.

The state of New York, according to Facebook spokesman Barry Schnitt, "built its database with the idea of social-networking companies running it against their user base." He said the way it was coded, made it a lot easier to find matches. Other states, said Schnitt, "sometimes just fax over a list. Their databases are designed to help people find out if there is a sex offender living on their street. This is a very different use case."

Sex offender data is collected by states and there is no currently official federal database. The federal Adam Walsh act calls for such a database but it hasn't been funded. In 2006, MySpace contracted with Sentinel Safe to build a national and searchable registered sex offender database.

While praising Facebook and MySpace's cooperation, Cuomo said that "many other social-networking sites remain slow at adopting available new protections against sexual predators online." He said his office "sent letters urging them to take action now to similarly purge sex offenders from their sites."

As always, it's important to put this news into perspective. It only involves registered sex offenders, which, of course, is a good start, but it only includes people who have been caught and convicted. And, while the companies do their best to ferret out registered offenders who try to hide their identity, there is no way to know how many people succeed in alluding them.

Also, we know of very few children who have been sexually molested by someone they met on social-networking sites or any Internet sites. The vast majority of child sex abuse victims know the offender from the real world. I'm not aware of any cases of a pre-pubescent child being harmed by someone he or she met online and it's even rare among teens.

And, based on conversations with security officials at social-networking companies, I am not aware of any cases where a registered sex offender has been convicted of using the site to aid in harming a child he or she met on that site.

"There are still zero cases reported of any registered sex offender who was booted off MySpace being prosecuted for illegal contact occurring on MySpace," said Hemanshu Nigam, chief security officer for MySpace parent company News Corp.

In January, the Harvard Law Berkman Center's Internet Safety Technical Task Force issued a report that children and teens are less vulnerable to sexual predators than many had feared, though that report was initially met with some skepticism from some attorneys general.

IE8 can't stem bleeding of Microsoft's browser market share

12/02/2009 01:02:00 PM kenmouse , Posted in , , , , , , , 0 Comments

IE's share falls to new low; Firefox, Chrome and Opera post solid gains

Internet Explorer's market share ebbed again last month, a Web measurement firm said today, more proof that Microsoft's release of Internet Explorer 8 (IE8) hasn't stopped desertions to rival browsers.

Mozilla's Firefox, Google's Chrome and Opera Software's Opera all posted solid gains, according to Calif.-based Net Applications.

Overall, IE dropped to a 63.6% share, a new all-time low, as it lost just over 1 percentage point of market share. November marked the third straight month Microsoft's browser has declined by a point or more; in the last year, IE has fallen 8 percentage points.

The only bright spot for Microsoft is that it's made some headway in an unsubtle campaign to convince users to abandon the eight-year-old IE6 for this year's edition, IE8. When Net Applications accounts for IE8's "compatibility view" -- a feature that lets users display sites as rendered by the older, and often Web standard-incompatible IE7 and IE6 -- Microsoft's newest browser accounted for 22.1% of all browsers, a virtual dead heat with IE6 and several points above IE7's 16.9%.

Microsoft has been aggressively promoting IE8 for several months, most famously last August when Amy Bazdukas, the general manager for IE, said "Friends don't let friends use IE6." Yesterday, Microsoft continued that campaign as it touted IE8 as a safer browser than the earlier editions for holiday online shopping. "We've said it before and we'll say it again, to advance the Web we need to move people to a modern version of Internet Explorer," said Ryan Servatius, a senior product manager in the IE group, during an interview Monday.

But even with calls to action like those, Microsoft has had trouble retaining the users who have ditched IE6 and IE7. By Net Applications' tally, IE6 has lost 3.2 percentage points in the last three months, and IE7 has fallen 4.2 points; IE8, however, has gained only 4.2 percentage points in the same period.

The seemingly inexorable slide in IE's share has left the door open for rivals, including Firefox, Chrome and Opera.

Last month, Firefox added about 0.7 of a percentage point to its share, finishing November with 24.7%. Chrome grew by 0.4 of a percentage point and Opera increased by 0.1 of a percentage point, to end the month at 3.9% and 2.3%, respectively. All three browsers' shares were records.

Most notable were the gains by Firefox and Chrome. Firefox neared the 25% milestone, which it should pass this month, and Google's browser closed in on Apple's Safari, which lost market share for the first time since last April. If the trend from the past three months continues, Chrome will pass Safari and take the No. 3 browser spot in January 2010.

Chrome's growth is impressive, in part because it's been fueled almost exclusively by the Windows version, the only edition that has made it out of developer and beta testing. Google plans to issue a beta of the Mac version this month, which could add even more to its momentum going into the new year.

Opera also gained ground on Safari last month, and now accounts for more than half the market share controlled by Apple's browser.

Mozilla has enjoyed additional success in migrating its users to Firefox 3.5, the upgrade launched last June, although its uptake pace continued to slow. In November, Firefox 3.5 increased its share by another 1.3 percentage points to 15.2%, in line with October's 1.25-point increase but dramatically less than the 3.8-point surge of September. Firefox 3.0 slipped 0.7 of a percentage point to end at 8.1%.

Firefox 3.0 users face the retirement of their browser in January 2010, when Mozilla will stop serving up security updates for the 18-month-old application. Before then, Mozilla should have wrapped up Firefox 3.6, a minor upgrade that Mozilla said last week is still on track for a 2009 ship date.

IE, however, remains the browser to watch, if only to track its decline, which Microsoft has not managed to stem with the March 2009 release of IE8. Since then, IE has lost 4.8 percentage points, almost as much as the 5.8 points it fell in the same eight months of 2008.

Projecting IE's slide using Net Applications' data, Computerworld estimates that IE will slip under the 50% share mark in December 2010 if the loss trend of the last three months holds.

Net Applications measures browser usage by tracking the machines that visit the 40,000 sites it monitors for clients, which results in a pool of about 160 million unique visitors per month.

November's browser data is available on Net Applications' site.

Eminem Talks Michael Jackson, Addiction, 'Different' New Songs

12/02/2009 01:00:00 PM kenmouse , Posted in , , 0 Comments

'That's exactly what used to happen to me,' he says of stories of the late Michael Jackson's alleged pill addiction.

Eminem made his triumphant return earlier this year with Relapse, but has yet to rest on his laurels, putting all of his energy into the soon-to-be-released follow-up, Relapse 2.

In the December/January issue of Complex magazine, the iconic rapper looks back on the splash his comeback created, from the buzz he's built for the Relapse sequel to, more seriously, comparisons to Michael Jackson's ills.

Em, in a moment of reflection, opened up about his battle with addiction, comparing it to Jackson's struggle with pills — although he cautioned it's hard to decipher what reports about the Gloved One were true, much like his own life.

"Oh, 100 percent," Em said when asked about parallels between Jackson's demise and his own hard times. "When you read things about Michael Jackson it's hard to decipher what the f--- is true, but there's the story of how he woke up at whatever time and he needed something to go back to sleep because he has this or that and it didn't work — that's exactly what used to happen to me," Em continued. "I would take a couple of pills and I would be up an hour later and I'd want more.

"It's one of the pitfalls of fame," he added. "I could just say, 'Yo, I need this and this and this,' and they're going to give me whatever I want."

Since Eminem has been sober for the past 20 months, he's said his addiction has been channeled away from drugs into things like jogging (hence the weight loss) and studio time (hence the quick follow-up album). Just Blaze is helping Slim Shady out on Relapse 2, Dr. Dre recently joined Em in the lab to work on new material.

He's aiming to make a better-rounded album with the Relapse sequel, he explained.

"When I finished Relapse, I had a whole album of material that didn't make it that I wasn't ready to throw away, so that was going to be Relapse 2," Em offered. "But then I got with Dre in Hawaii and started recording more, and now the new material has knocked out all the old songs. But yeah, the new material is definitely different.

"Making Relapse, I was still working the drugs out of my system, so there was a lot of ... just jokey sh--," he explained. "It was a lot of punch line-y, funny, shock value — kind of going back to The Slim Shady LP. And that was cool, but I've kind of flipped the page. Now I'm going for songs instead of one-liners. I don't want to make sh-- that you hear once and then the joke's over — I want to make records that you could play a hundred times, a thousand times."

Nick Jonas Announces Solo Tour for January

12/02/2009 01:00:00 PM kenmouse , Posted in , , 0 Comments

Teen idol Nick Jonas is stepping away from his brothers and going on tour in January with his new band The Administration.

Jonas, 17, the youngest member of the boy band the Jonas Brothers, told fans in a Twitter message that he would play 14 dates with his solo project, starting in Dallas on January 2 and ending in Berkeley, California on January 30.

"I am so excited!" Jonas tweeted late on Monday. "I just have to say thanks to my brothers for being as supportive as they've been."

Called Nick Jonas and The Administration, the band releases their first single on Wednesday and their debut album, "Who I Am" in February. The teen singer and songwriter formed the band to work on songs "not quite right for the Jonas Brothers", his representatives said.

But Jonas assured fans that his side project does not mean the end of the Jonas Brothers, one of the most successful U.S. boy bands of recent years and stars of their own Disney Channel TV show "JONAS".

"This is something that can definitely co-exist with the Jonas Brothers," he told People magazine on Tuesday. But he said performing without his brothers Joe and Kevin will be strange. "I've never really stood center stage before. It's going to be different but I'm looking forward to it."

Nick Jonas and The Administration will be making their national TV debut on Wednesday in Los Angeles at a Grammy Awards nominations concert.

Character Posters Released for "True Legend"

12/02/2009 12:59:00 PM kenmouse , Posted in , , , , , 0 Comments


Six character posters for kung fu flick "True Legend" have been launched. The Yuen Woo-ping film, starring Hong Kong action actor Chiu Man-Cheuk, mando-pop megastar Jay Chou and mainland actress Zhou Xun, will open in cinemas across China during the upcoming New Year season.



51st Japan Record Awards announced

12/02/2009 12:58:00 PM kenmouse , Posted in , , 0 Comments

On Tuesday, most of the winners of the 51st Japan Record Awards were announced. On December 30, when the awards show is broadcast live, one of the 11 Best Song winners will be given the grand prize (the Japan Record Award) and one of the four New Artist Award winners will be named Best New Artist.

Best Song:

* "Aki no Miyajima" - Kaori Mizumori
* "Infinity" - GIRL NEXT DOOR
* "YELL" - Ikimono Gakari
* "Omae wo Tsurete" - Daisuke Kitagawa
* "Someday" - EXILE
* "Stand by U" - TVXQ
* "Tegami ~Shinai Naru Kodomotachi e~" - Ryoichi Higuchi
* "Tokimeki no Rumba" - Kiyoshi Hikawa
* "Mata Kimi ni Koi Shiteru" - Fuyumi Sakamoto
* "Lick me" - Kumi Koda
* "Rain Is Fallin'" - w-inds. x G-DRAGON (BIG BANG)

New Artist:

* Maya Sakura
* SCANDAL
* BIG BANG
* Hilchryme

Album Award:

* "Ainowa" - Hanaregumi
* "Sayuri IV" - Sayuri Ishikawa
* "Shio, Kosho" - GReeeeN
* "Box Emotions" - Superfly
* "my Classics!" - Ayaka Hirahara

Best Album:

* "Shio, Kosho" - GReeeeN

Best Singer:

* Hiroshi Itsuki

Special Awards:

* Alice
* AKB48 / Yasushi Akimoto
* Nobuyuki Tsujii

Using tunes to tout Windows 7

12/02/2009 12:58:00 PM kenmouse , Posted in , , 0 Comments

Borrowing a tactic it has used to tout Internet Explorer, Microsoft on Tuesday launched a music tie-in to help promote Windows 7.


Dubbed Section 7, the site offers discount concert tickets and is being done in conjunction with music promoter Live Nation. Among the things the site features are $7 concert tickets and $7 merchandise for select artists.

"Section 7 offers music lovers a host of insider benefits, including exclusive ticket buying options, discounts, and opportunities to meet their favorite artists, fan clubs, great deals on tickets, merchandise and more," Microsoft said in an e-mail.

The first 37,000 people who sign up also get a voucher for a free pair of tickets to a concert at a Live Nation club or theater.

Microsoft says it is trying to "simplify the music experience one concert at a time." That seems a stretch, but hey, free concert tickets sounds pretty good. Locations are limited, though, so not everyone will have a local option.

AT&T and LG quietly announce the LG eXpo, 1GHz projector-capable phone

12/02/2009 12:58:00 PM kenmouse , Posted in , , 0 Comments



Fresh from South Korea and heading stateside is the new LG GW820 eXpo. This side slider will feature a 3.2 inch, 800×480 touchscreen display, 1 GHz processor, quad-band GSM, tri-Band UMTS/HSDPA, 5 megapixel autofocus camera with flash, slide out QWERTY keyboard, GPS, Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR, Wi-Fi and a 1500 mAh battery. Designed for the business-minded individual, the eXpo is powered by Windows Mobile 6.5 and includes both a fingerprint sensor and an optional integrated pico projector capable of displaying a 40 inch image. AT&T is expected to start selling the LG eXpo through business channels starting on December 7th. Any takers?

No Sex in Jennifer Lopez 'Sex Tape'

12/02/2009 12:58:00 PM kenmouse , Posted in , 0 Comments

That Jennifer Lopez honeymoon tape just went from Rated X to PG.

"There wasn't anything close to sex in it," Lopez's attorney John Lavely tells PEOPLE. "We never alleged that. But it's still private and personal to my client."

A Los Angeles judge agreed Tuesday, upholding a ruling that Lopez's ex, Ojani Noa, is forbidden from using 11-plus hours of home video – 20 percent of which allegedly features Lopez – for a mockumentary about his life as a Cuban immigrant, previously titled How I Married Jennifer Lopez: The JLo and Ojani Noa Story.

"They're trying to stop me from making my documentary and I'm fighting for my rights," said Noa outside the courtroom. "They're not being fair." The aspiring actor and model denies he ever tried to peddle the footage as a sex tape.

The footage has scenes from the ex-couple's marriage in Florida and honeymoon in Cuba, Noa's film partner Claudia Vazquez tells PEOPLE, but the project was misrepresented by a tabloid as being sexual, she says. Vazquez adds the project's title has since been changed to The Escape in reference to Noa having fled his home country.

Noa, 35, who's also being sued for $10 million by Lopez for breach of contract, insists that two confidentiality agreements he previously signed about their relationship "should be voided" because he claims he was taken advantage of and was misinformed.

He said he plans to take the videotape case to trial.

Calendar Girl Kelly Brook looks chilly as she poses with nothing but skis

12/02/2009 12:57:00 PM kenmouse , Posted in , , 0 Comments

It might look a bit chilly, but several of the cast of Calendar Girls appear to be fighting over the title of Miss December.


Kelly Brook and other actresses from the London stage play posed among festive scenes that could have come straight from a calendar shoot.

The actress and model, who plays Celia, is Miss September in the play about the real life W.I. women who posed with artfully arranged products for a charity calendar.

In the Christmas shoot, the modesty of the 30-year-old is covered by a pair of branded skis as she stands in front of a tree decked with sunflowers and baubles.

Perhaps the large item was chosen to cover her cleavage.

Previous promotional shots of Kelly covering it with two iced buns had to be altered so that the cakes covered more of her figure.

Leon Lai, Michelle Reis Reunite on, off-screen

12/02/2009 12:57:00 PM kenmouse , Posted in , , , 0 Comments

Hong Kong celebrities Leon Lai and Michelle Reis pair up for a photo shoot for the December issue of Madame Figaro China magazine.


Echoing the mag's "Blue" theme for the month, this melancholy photo spread features the two characters in muted poses, unwilling to talk or make eye contact.

The two old on- and off-screen friends reunite after several years in Teddy Chan's upcoming blockbuster "Bodyguards and Assassins," in which Reis plays opposite her rumored ex-boyfriend Lai.



In the film, Reis plays a ravishing Chinese beauty who inspires a beggar, Lai, to turn his life around and make good.

Once recognized as the best-matched couple, Reis, the previous Miss Hong Kong, and Lai walked away from their unconsummated love affair in 1996 and started their own families.



Reis told the magazine how grounded Lai has always been and joked about his dramatic change in acting style for the new movie.

She also talked about her current relaxed and happy life as a married woman, while Lai shunned the question about marriage, as he always does in public.



Super Junior attracts 32,000 Thai fans to concert

12/02/2009 12:56:00 PM kenmouse , Posted in , , 0 Comments

Korean boy band Super Junior attracted approximately 32,000 fans to their concert in Thailand over the weekend, according to their agency on Monday.


The concert, titled "Super Junior THE 2nd ASIA TOUR 'SUPER SHOW 2' in Bangkok" was held at the city's largest indoor stage the Impact Arena on November 28 and 29, SM explained.

"We had to sell the tickets off-line because we had technical difficulties with the website that sold tickets when they last performed here," associates of the concert's promoter True Music was quoted as saying. They also added, "There were more than 5,000 fans waiting in line to buy the tickets a day before the tickets went on sale."

Heechul, a member of Super Junior, gave a solo performance during the concert and the group sang their hit songs including "Sorry Sorry" and "U". Their subunits -- namely Junior-K.R.Y., Super Junior-M, and Super Junior-T -- also performed their songs for fans.


Super Junior's Asia tour will continue on into several cities in China including Nanjing on December 12, Beijing on January 23 of 2010 and Guangzhou on January 30. They will also perform in Taipei of Taiwan on February 20.

Super Junior is a thirteen-member idol group in Korea, and also one of the most popular K-pop acts in Asia since their debut in 2005. Their song "Sorry Sorry" stood atop Taiwan's online chart for 30 consecutive weeks and Super Junior-M's mini-album ranked No. 1 on many charts in Taiwan, China, the Philippines and Thailand.

Fring for iPhone and iPod touch adds video calls

12/02/2009 12:56:00 PM kenmouse , Posted in , , , , , 0 Comments

Less than one week after launching a Symbian S60 app with video calling support, fring has now announced that its app for iPhone and iPod touch has also been updated to enable video calls.


The video calls are made through Skype, over your Internet connection (3G or WiFi).

Unlike the fring video calls on S60 devices, the ones made on iPhone and iPod touch are not two-way calls, since Apple has yet to put a front-facing camera in its two popular devices.

To download the latest version of fring for iPhone, go here.


HTC Touch.B aka Rome spotted in France

12/02/2009 12:54:00 PM kenmouse , Posted in , , 0 Comments



There’s very little to report alongside this one other than the device you see before you is a prototype of the HTC Touch.B. Also known by its codename “Rome”, the Touch.B is said to be running Android despite its strong resemblance to HTC’s current Windows Phone offerings. The guys and gals at MobiFrance haven’t a clue about any other specs but have promised they should have more information tomorrow.

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