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Lily Allen: ‘Britney Spears is Better Than Lady GaGa’

12/29/2009 11:53:00 AM kenmouse , Posted in , , , , , 0 Comments

LILY Allen prefers Britney Spears to Lady GaGa.

The Smile hitmaker was asked by Harper’s Bazaar magazine which of the two singers she likes the most — and insisted Spears is a legend.

“You can not compare Britney with Lady GaGa,” she said. “Why? You are putting Lady Gaga at the same level of Britney Spears? I really cannot believe it.

“Lady GaGa is good, but she’s a new artist, Britney Spears is a legend.

“They are two different artists, two forms of entertainment but very different, is like comparing Picasso to Dali.”

Russell Brand and Katy Perry Might Be Engaged

12/29/2009 11:53:00 AM kenmouse , Posted in , , , 0 Comments

He's a notorious ladies' man; they just started dating in October; and no named sources have gone on record with confirmation of their engagement.

For those reasons, we're hesitant to officially announce that Russell Brand and Katy Perry have agreed to marry - but that's exactly what Great Britain's The Daily Mirror is reporting.

“Russell knows Katy’s the one for him," an insider told the newspaper, saying Brand popped the question during a pre-Christmas ski trip. “He’s never been into a girl like he has with her and they’re besotted. He asked her to marry him last week and she quickly said yes."

Brand and Perry will tie the knot in 2010, the source claims.

If this article is true, we'll be one of the first to congratulate Brand and Perry. They do look cute together, don't they?

“Katy’s thrilled with Russell and how he is making so much effort," the insider said. "Russell also has the approval of Katy’s parents and everyone in the pair’s close circle knows about the engagement.”

Consider yourselve part of the close circle now, THG readers. Send Berry your best wishes on a happy future today!

You Don't Need to Regularly Reinstall Windows; Here's Why

12/29/2009 11:52:00 AM kenmouse , Posted in , , 0 Comments

One of the most persistent myths about Windows is that you need to reinstall the operating system regularly to keep it running at top performance. Let's take a look at the real problem and how to fix it.


Today we're talking about the myth that Windows slows down over time, and how to solve the problem. The reality is that Windows doesn't slow down if you just take care of your PC a little more. Follow these procedures, and you won't have to wonder if spending hours backing up data, installing from disc, and re-installing your essential applications is really necessary.

What Does Slow Windows Down Over Time?

I'm not going to sit here and tell you that your Windows PC will never slow down—because for many people, they almost always do. What actually slows your PC down are too many poorly written applications that stay resident in memory and waste CPU cycles, having too many badly written low-level applications that hook into Windows, or running more than one antivirus application at a time. And of course, if you've run your PC's hard drive out of space, you can hardly blame Windows for that.

If you aren't getting the picture, the problem is usually the person behind the keyboard that installed too many junk applications in the first place. More gently put, it's often that (very well-meaning) person's gradual easing of their safeguards and cleaning regimens as time goes by.

Stop Installing Junk Applications

Installing software should be thought of like feeding your PC. If you constantly feed your PC garbage apps, it's going to get sick and won't be able to run fast anymore. These poorly written applications clutter your drive with unnecessary DLL files, add always-resident Windows services when they don't need to, bloat up your registry, and add useless icons to your system tray that waste even more memory and CPU cycles. Usually you can get away with using a few terrible applications, but as you continue to install more and more of them, your PC will slow down to a crawl.

Be Smarter About What You Do Install



We feature and recommend a lot of software applications around here, but you should keep in mind that we aren't trying to tell you to install every single one of them at the same time-just install the applications that you actually need and you'll generally prevent the dreaded format and reinstall.

Here's a few tips to help you know what applications you should be careful with:
- Apps that function as an Explorer plug-in, because they directly hook into the shell and any problem will make your entire PC slow or in the worst case, crash repeatedly.
- Antivirus applications are notorious for slowing your PC down, and you should never, ever, ever use more than one real-time antivirus application at a time. We recommend Microsoft Security Essentials as a free, fast, and awesome antivirus tool.
- Anything that says it will "Speed Up Your PC" or "Optimize Your RAM" will most likely slow it down, or best case, do nothing at all. Avoid these like the plague.
- Make sure to install official system drivers from the manufacturer website. Drivers have a huge impact on performance, and you want to have stable, updated drivers.
- Registry cleaners are a mixed bag, and really aren't going to speed up your PC in most cases. The biggest problem, however, is that too many of the commercial registry cleaners set themselves to run at startup in the system tray, wasting your memory and CPU cycles.
- You should strongly consider the idea of using portable applications wherever possible, since their self-contained nature means they won't clutter up the rest of your PC with things you don't need.

Keep Your Computer Clean and Trim



Once you've rid yourself of your junk application habit and resolved to only use healthy, useful applications, you'll want to make sure to keep your PC clean of any remaining clutter that doesn't need to be there. You can set up a shortcut to manually run CCleaner silently with the push of a button, but your best bet is to set up CCleaner to run automatically on a schedule, so you don't have to remember to do it.

Since CCleaner is only going to clean up temporary files, you'll still need a good solution for keeping the rest of your PC clean-and Lifehacker's own Belvedere can help you automate your self-cleaning PC or automatically clean up your download folder.

With all of this automated file deletion going on, your hard drive is likely to get a bit fragmented. If you're already running Windows 7 or Vista, automatic defrag comes out of the box and probably shouldn't be messed with, but Windows XP users will need to use Windows Tasks to setup a schedule and automatically defrag their drives.

Use a Virtual Machine or Sandbox to Test Software



If you still want to test out all of the latest software, including apps that look a bit rough around the edges, your best bet is to use a virtual machine to test out anything before putting it onto your primary operating system. You can install all of your software in an XP or Windows 7 VM just like it was a real PC, and with the latest VMWare player releases, you can even enable Windows Aero in a guest VM. If you are new to the idea and need some more help, you should check out our beginner's guide to creating virtual machines in VirtualBox, or Windows 7 users can check out our guide to using XP Mode. If you don't want to go the virtual machine route, Windows XP and Vista users can alternatively use Windows SteadyState to protect their PC and roll back all of the changes on a reboot.

VanNess Wu’s drama rises, album falls, plans to release Japanese single "Reason"

12/29/2009 11:52:00 AM kenmouse , Posted in , , 0 Comments

The rise in popularity of Van Ness Wu’s current idol drama “Autumn’s Concerto (Next Stop, Happiness)” has been meteoric, yet the data for his next full album release has not been able to achieve such happiness. Neither has he been able to find a music label to be his backer for his upcoming album, leaving him to find “the next stop” for his music.

Back in March of this year, Van Ness signed a two-year deal to produce 20 songs, rumored to have a signing bonus of NT$10 million, but ever since he signed on for his current idol drama, the F4 member has been focusing all his attention on the drama itself. Even though Van Ness has spent time recording for his new album, he hasn’t had time to promote the new album due to his busy idol drama schedule. Because of this, Van Ness and his music label backing ended without penalty, as his manager Katie made the statement, “We broke it off peacefully.”

Despite the termination of his music deal with his label on his upcoming album, Van Ness’ manager was quoted as saying about Van Ness that music remains his first love, and that he would look for a new record company. In the mean time, Van Ness released word on his blog on a new Japanese single titled “Reason”, the third one to be released off his planned album for a targeted March release. The single's release is geared for a January 20th release next month.

When to Buy Apple Products

12/29/2009 11:51:00 AM kenmouse , Posted in , , , 0 Comments



If you're even thinking about buying an Apple product, wait until after you've read this guide to product cycles and refreshes. It's not always a good time to buy—and now might be an especially bad one for some.

We've taken a good look at the handy Buyer's Guide over at MacRumors and given you some background and our own recommendations for safe shopping. Enjoy, and try not to throw too many elbows out there.


iPod Shuffle

Whether a major revamp or a new selection of colors, Apple has updated Shuffle twice a year, like clockwork, every year since 2006. A new generation should debut in February, and given our issues with the current Shuffle's form factor it's probably best to hold out a few more months. Recommendation: WAIT

iPod Nano

This was just updated in September, the fourth year in a row that their only refresh has been in the fall. You should be fine to buy for now; expect new models to show up again in another nine months. Recommendation: BUY

iPod Classic

Same story as the Nano. You're fine for now, if you absolutely need 160GB of storage from a PMP. Since it's unlikely that you or anyone does, just get an Touch or (or even a Zune HD) instead. Recommendation: DON'T BUY, unless you somehow need to watch TV show made since 1995 on that teeny-tiny screen

iPhone

Even if it hadn't already been 200 days since the last update, there are also plenty of rumors out there about a 5MP camera coming in June. Hold off until then if you can. Recommendation: WAIT

iPod Touch

The iPod Touch has been on the same product cycle as the Classic and Nano since its 2007 debut, but the first generation model also received a memory upgrade five months after its initial release. The 5MP camera rumor applies here, as well, so it's best to see what happens.
Recommendation: WAIT

Mac Mini

Apple's no-frills desktop just got a spec increase and added a server model in late October. It shouldn't be getting any more updates any time soon, which is a shame, because it's still not a very competitive product for the price. Check out the Acer AspireRevo R3610 as a more than viable alternative. Recommendation: DON'T BUY unless you insist on Apple, even when it flies in the face of all logic

Mac Pro

While it hasn't gotten an official refresh since March, Apple did just add a 3.33GHz Quad Core processor option on Dec. 4tth. There should still be another upgrade this spring worth waiting for, especially with rumors that the Mac Pro is about to get a Core i7-980X processor.
Recommendation: WAIT

iMac


The iMac was updated at the same time as the Mini, but widely reported display problems make us cautious. Roll the dice if you want, but it's probably best to see if and when these issues are resolved. Which as of today, they're clearly still not.
Recommendation: WAIT

Cinema Display


Apple added a 24" model in 2008, but the rest of the Cinema Display line hasn't seen a spec change since fall of 2006. There's no indication that new models are in the offing, so if you want that 30-inch screen you should be all right. Keep in mind, though, that the 27" iMac screen has 90% of the resolution of the 30-inch Cinema, making it a solid replacement once they get the bugs sorted out.
Recommendation: CAUTIOUS BUY

MacBook


Apple's basic laptop model was just updated with multitouch, an LED display and a unibody form on October 20th, and it's not likely to be revamped again any time soon. If you'd prefer a more powerful notebook it might be worth waiting to see if the MacBook Pro gets a price drop in a few months. Recommendation: BUY, if you definitely don't want a MacBook Pro

MacBook Pro


The MacBook Pro line gets a refresh every 200 days, on average, and we're just about there now. More importantly, there have been rumors that Apple's going to upgrade to Intel's new Core i5 and i7 processors as soon as early January. You can hold off until then, right?
Recommendation: WAIT

MacBook Air


It's hard to say about the MacBook Air; it's a newer product, so there's less precedent to work with. We do know that the light-as-a-feather notebook last got an upgrade in June, and we can speculate Apple may wait until a ULV i5 or i7 processor is available before ushering in next-generation models. It's worth waiting to see if those processors get announced at CES next week.
Recommendation: WAIT

Sony PS4 to use multi-core CPU not Cell?

12/29/2009 11:51:00 AM kenmouse , Posted in , , 0 Comments

Sony are considering replacing the PS3’s Cell architecture with a more mainstream multi-core processor in the PlayStation 4, according to PC Watch, after game developers have reported greater than average problems developing for the current-gen console. Based on rumors and speculation coming out of Japan, the company also considered – but decided against – a combination Cell/Intel Larrabee setup.

That combination was discarded over fears it might not prove powerful enough. Another suggested – but abandoned – possibility had been a modified version of the Synergistic Processor Unit. PC Watch expect the new PS4 to arrive in late 2012 or early 2013.

Nichkhun and Yoon Eun Hye grind it up

12/29/2009 11:51:00 AM kenmouse , Posted in , , , , 0 Comments



Yoon Eun Hye and Nichkhun get down in a club. Why? For the newest Cass CF, the same brand Sandara Park filmed with Lee Min Ho.

The two grind it up on the dance floor and prove they are one good looking couple. And judging from the still shots, it seems like there's going to be some interesting drama in this one, just like there was for Dara and Lee Min Ho.



The Cass CF music video featuring Dara and Lee Min Ho gained a lot of love and attention - we're sure this one will as well.

Yoon Eun Hye is sporting a sexy low cut club dress and Nichkhun is wearing some kind of sparkly jacket, which Yoon Eun Hye should've been rocking instead.



Check back soon, the music video will be released in early Jan 2010.

Charmaine Sheh continues to work hard to maintain Number 1 Sister status

12/29/2009 11:50:00 AM kenmouse , Posted in , , 0 Comments

Due to Charmaine not receiving any awards at TVB's anniversary Award Ceremony there were rumours that claimed she had disputes with Tavia Yeung. Also both celebrities fans started attacking each other verbally. Charmaine didn't let the rumours or news get to her and she continued working hard shooting a new series. Hoping to maintain her Number 1 sister status and compete for the TV Queen award next year for the series "Here Comes the Princess.

Charmaine was shooting TVB series "Heaven and Earth" the other day. She went to a lawn cemetery in Happy Valley to shoot some scenes however mosquitoes constantly bit her. She started scratching everywhere but still smiled through the whole process. She was very professional and serious during the shoot. She appeared in black clothing and used her own handbag. When it was Cheng Chi Shing's turn to shoot, she sat at a corner and used the audio technicians equipment to listen to her previous take. She deliberately covered her legs using equipment as she was wearing a short skirt and to avoid exposing herself.

JFK Photo Features Then-Senator On Boat With Naked Women

12/29/2009 11:50:00 AM kenmouse , Posted in , 0 Comments

The bunny-logoed pop culture staple tells TMZ.com, which posted the photo on Monday morning, that the black-and-white photograph originally ran alongside an article titled, “Playboy’s Charter Yacht Party: How to Have a Ball on the Briny with an Able-Bodies Complement of Ship’s Belles.”


TMZ has gotten its hot little hands on a photograph which allegedly features President John F. Kennedy frolicking on a yacht in the Mediterranean with several naked women. Forensic experts say the photo appears to be genuine and was likely taken in 1956. JFK — whose philandering and alleged affair with Marilyn Monroe have been rumored for decades — was the Senator of Massachusetts and his wife Jackie was pregnant at the time the shot was reportedly snapped.



Forensic photo expert Jeff Sedlik says the actual print appears authentic, as the paper on which the photo is printed appears consistent with the brands used in the ’50s. The shot is now being dubbed “The Image That Could Have Changed History:” If the photo had emerged when Kennedy ran for President in 1960, his shot at the Oval Office would have likely vanished.

UPDATE: A representative for Playboy is calling foul on TMZ’s JFK photo exclusive. According to Playboy bosses, the iconic men’s mag first ran the image as part of a photo spread in Nov. 1967, four years after JFK was assasinated.

Adam Senn Receives Lohan Stamp of Misguided Approval

12/29/2009 11:49:00 AM kenmouse , Posted in , , , 0 Comments

According to reports, both Dina Lohan and Michael Lohan approve of Adam Senn. Based on their history of decision-making, that doesn't say anything good about the model.



Senn, a former star on MTV's The City, is Lindsay Lohan's latest sex toy. The pair attended Ali Lohan's 16th birthday party together last week, where witnesses spotted them cuddling, smiling and actually not snorting cocaine.

"Dina really likes him," a source told The New York Daily News. "She thinks he is good for her."

As for Michael, the dangerous dad wasn't invited to Ali's celebration. But he jumped at the chance to get his name in an article, telling the newspaper about Senn:

"If he's a good guy unlike me and he has no addictions unlike me, and he's a good influence on her unlike me, then God bless him. It's a good thing."

Whose Oscar hopes has 'Avatar' killed?

12/29/2009 11:49:00 AM kenmouse , Posted in , , , 1 Comment

I’ve never been a believer in the theory that Oscar voters have “slots” that they look to fill in the Best Picture race each year — the indie film, the blockbuster, the biopic, etc. That would imply that the entire voting body somehow decides on these things together, which obviously isn’t the case. But I do think the argument can be made that Avatar’s newly-cemented status as a Best Picture frontrunner along the lines of The Hurt Locker and Up in the Air does have ramifications for other contenders that push similar buttons. For instance, Avatar’s popularity among Academy members is likely the death knell for Star Trek and District 9’s Best Picture hopes, since there probably won’t be room for two sci-fi films in the list of 10. Likewise, other box-office smashes like The Hangover and The Blind Side now seem quite pale by comparison to James Cameron’s visionary work.

The question everyone is now asking: Can Avatar win? Gregory Ellwood over at Hitfix.com is raking me over the coals for still having Up in the Air as my No. 1 contender on Movie City News’ Gurus o’ Gold chart. One thing’s for sure, though: With a bona fide blockbuster squarely in the hunt for the biggest Oscar of all, you can guarantee the telecast’s producers are doing cartwheels right now.

The App Store Holiday Effect In Action

12/29/2009 11:49:00 AM kenmouse , Posted in , , , 0 Comments

We knew that the holidays were going to be super busy for iPhone developers — in a good way. Gaming community platform PlayHaven and mobile ad exchange Mobclix released data yesterday saying that iPhone game usage is likely to set record in the week between Christmas and New Year’s Day, called a “Game Rush,” with usage 28 times greater than the same weekly period last year.

One developer, Oliver Cameron of Taptivate, the developer of Voices (an application that morphs your voice into different sounds like Darth Vader, Chipmunks, etc), sent me an email saying that sales have been through the roof for them, and their app is now in the 44th spot because of the “Game Rush” as they’re calling it. It’s one of those “it’s stupid but fun” kind of apps that usually move well when people are looking for quick apps to download.

Cameron mentioned that sales were as high as 18,769 downloads of the $0.99 app on December 25th. So if you do the math, that’s $18,581.31 in sales, not including Apple’s 30% cut. If you included Apple’s cut, the app made $12,688 in one day. Those are some pretty crazy numbers, regardless. Check out a graph of Voice’s sales numbers below as well.

The app in total has made a little more then $250,000 sales, which got me thinking: If this app is #44 on the App Store, imagine what the number one and two apps were doing (Skee-Ball and Live Cams). We also just spoke with Colin Smith, Vice President of Freeverse, which said that their application, Skee-Ball sold 47,926 units — which is about 10x what it did the previous Friday. Another one of their apps, Flick Fishing, sold 31,741 units on Christmas day.

We’re also hearing that an app which has been one of the most popular since the launch of the App Store 18 months ago, saw its downloads on Christmas Day double its previous record for a single day.

All of this could well point to the possibility that Apple itself set a record in the amount of iPhones and iPod Touches sold during the holiday season.

Update: More numbers are coming in. Lima Sky’s Doodle Jump, which just hit the 1 million download mark about a week ago, managed to sell 80,000 units on Christmas day alone. Two days prior, they were pushing around 15,000 per day; two days later, they were hovering around 35,000. All in all, they sold 197,821 copies between 12/23 and 12/27 – at .99c a pop, we’re calculating that they took in just shy of $139,000 after Apple’s cut.

Update: Even more numbers to report as Tapulous, developers of the popular Tap Tap Revenge series, check in with good news. They’ve pulled down over 2 million installs of Tap Tap Revenge 3 since going free last Wednesday, 700,000 of which came on Christmas day. Between Tap Tap Revenge 1/2/3 and the Metallica/Lady GaGa editions, Tapulous now has 5 applications in the Top 100 grossing apps.

Philips D908 with Windows Mobile 6.5 is official in China

12/29/2009 11:46:00 AM kenmouse , Posted in , , , 0 Comments



Philips D908 is, as far as I know, the first handset to come out under the Philips brand and run Windows Mobile 6.5.

The smartphone appears on Microsoft China’s official website (with detailed specs), and we know that it should be launched soon by China Telecom.




Looking at its features, we can easily say that the Philips D908 is a high-end device.

It comes with: a 3.2 inch WVGA touchscreen display, GSM and CDMA/EV-DO connectivity, Wi-Fi, GPS, Bluetooth 2.1, 5MP camera, 1GB of RAM, 2GB of ROM, and MicroSD card support (up to 32GB).

Now word yet on the price of Philips D908.

2PM TaecYeon on ‘couple’ performance with YoonA, “It is just for business”

12/29/2009 11:46:00 AM kenmouse , Posted in , , , , , 0 Comments

2PM TaecYeon talks about the upcoming couple performance with So Nyeo Shi Dae YoonA, “It is just for business.”


TaecYeon wrote on his minihompy diary at 5am on 29th December, “It is just for business.” and emphasized, “Please think of it as Ok TaecYeon’s edition of Mnet Scandal.”

It has been known on 28th December that TaecYeon and YoonA will be putting a ‘lovers’ performance for upcoming MBC Gayo DaeJun on 31st December. And with the content to the performance revealed, there were discussions amongst fans on love rumours between him and YoonA, and he had personally came out to explain about it.

Meanwhile MBC Gayo DaeJun will take place on 31st December at 9.55pm.

Charlie Sheen's Wife Panics in 911 Call: He Has a "Knife!"

12/29/2009 11:46:00 AM kenmouse , Posted in , , 0 Comments

In a panicked 911 call, Charlie Sheen's wife Brooke Mueller tells a dispatcher that the 44-year-old actor -- who was booked Christmas Day for second-degree assault, menacing and criminal mischief -- has a "knife." Pausing occasionally to cry, she says she is "scared" for her life after he "threatened" her.

She tells the dispatcher that Sheen is "in the back room" with the knife -- which she describes as a "switch blade" -- and fears that he is trying to "sneak out the back" of the house in Aspen. (Listen to the call here.)

"I gotta file this report," Brooke says in the call.

After spending most of his Christmas Day behind bars, Sheen, 44, was released on $8,500 bond late Friday. (A rep for the actor tells UsMagazine.com, "Do not be misled by appearance.")

Chief Deputy District Attorney Arnold Mordkin said Monday the menacing charge is the most serious; it carries two to eight years in prison and a fine of $2,000 to $500,000.

Prosecutors say they probably won't decide until Sheen's next court appearance Feb. 8 whether to file charges against the actor.

While Mueller, 32, remains in Aspen (she was photographed smiling during an outing Monday), Sheen is back in Los Angeles.

The two welcomed twins, Bob and Max, this year.

Carrie Underwood: Santa Brought Me a "Fiance!"

12/29/2009 11:45:00 AM kenmouse , Posted in , , 0 Comments

Carrie Underwood says she got some great presents this year -- among them, "a pair of pink warm fuzzy socks to keep my tootsies nice and toasty," she writes on her fan club site.

Her best gift?

"I think you all know what Santa left under the tree for me this year...a fiance! Woo hoo!" writes the singer, 26, who announced last week that she and hockey player Mike Fisher are engaged.

She adds that her rat terrier, Little Ace, "is finally going to have a dad! We all couldn't be happier!!!"

She says that the "mess of snow and ice" cut their holidays travel plans short, but they still "got to spend a little time in good ole' Checotah," she writes, referring to her Oklahoma hometown. "Not that I needed another day of all that food! I ate so much on Christmas Eve that I thought I might actually get sick! But it was sooooo goooood! Ace got lots of good stuff, too, from his poppy. Now I have to retrain him not to beg at the dinner table."

Underwood and Fisher, 29, have yet to set a date, but he said they're aiming to wed next summer.

Apple Tablet Could Attract Business Users

12/29/2009 11:45:00 AM kenmouse , Posted in , , 0 Comments

Apple's presumed tablet computer may be more than a breakthrough consumer device. It may also--finally--make tablets a standard part of the business computing arsenal.

OK, before I am corrected, I know that specific tablets have been used in specific enterprise applications for many years. I have also been a big supporter of tablets, yet the quality of the user experience has been lacking. Handwriting recognition, a key for many business applications, has been sore point.

I don't think Apple will solve that problem. In fact, I'd be pleasantly surprised if the new Apple tablet does handwriting. Rather, I expect a device that starts as a consumer product the same business applications as the iPhone, optimized for the larger screen.

Over time, tablet-specific business apps will be developed and some enterprises may find Apple's tablet a cost-effective replacement (or enhancement) to what they have been using. The Apple tablet is likely to cause developers to take a serious look at developing specific vertical market applications that don't exist for the iPhone.

This will be another case where Apple didn't invent something--like MP3 players or smartphones--but did manage to humanize and popularize the devices.

I am still not sure how this will all work out. There are features that may be included or excluded from the tablet that will make business adoption easier or more difficult. For example, if the tablet lacks decent battery life, it will be hard for business users to carry around with them.

I am not expecting a 3G tablet, though the idea of a giant iPhone is intriguing and might improve its adoption by businesses, especially for the types of mobile applications that tablets are used for today.

I am also not saying that the tablet will be a runaway business success, but just as users have accepted business applications for their iPhones, the tablet will likely be accepted as well. It will also be interesting to see the sorts of business apps that will be developed specifically for the larger screen and whatever capabilities Apple builds around it.

Mostly, I am counting on Apple finally creating the tablet that consumers will want and expecting that business use will naturally follow. Having thus opened the door, the Apple tablet might also give a boost to PC laptop tablets and other form factors.

'Don't-be-evil' Google spurns no-evil software

12/29/2009 11:45:00 AM kenmouse , Posted in , , 0 Comments

Google, the company that made "don't be evil" its corporate motto, is shunning use of an open-source license variation that precludes use of software for evil purposes.

The matter illustrates the tensions between the sometimes free-wheeling ways of open-source programming world and the buttoned-down corporate realms where open-source software is no longer unusual. This particular issue bubbled up at Google Code, a site that hosts open-source projects from Google and others.

Google only permits software governed by a limited list of widely used open-source licenses to be hosted at Google Code; one that's permitted is the MIT License. Douglas Crockford picked a variation of the MIT license for his JSMin program to shrink JavaScript programs so that Web browsers can download them faster, and Ryan Grove carried that license over for his variation called JSMin-PHP rewritten in the PHP language.

JSMin-PHP had been hosted at Google Code until earlier in December, when it came to the attention of Chris DiBona, Google's open-source honcho, that the software's license had an extra requirement added to the regular MIT License:

"The Software shall be used for Good, not Evil."

"As Google (and some others) interpret it, this additional requirement constitutes a vague use restriction and thus makes the license non-free. Chris [DiBona] explained that if I were to remove that line from the license and 'return to a proper open source license that we support,' then jsmin-php could stay on Google Code. Otherwise, he said, 'we can't host you,'" Grove said on his blog. "Of course, I can't change the license, because it's not my license. It's Douglas's license...All derivative works and copies of jsmin.c either include this license or are in violation of it."

Consequently, Grove moved JSMin-PHP to the GitHub collaborative programming site. "If you currently have a project on Google Code that is derived from or includes jsmin.c, you might want to consider migrating to a new host with less restrictive policies," Grove added.

How did this all come about? According to a July speech by Crockford, who works for Yahoo and describes himself as a heretic, the license was an artifact of the George Bush administration's war on "evildoers." He uses the licenses for all the projects he's created, he said.

"This was late in 2002, we'd just started the war on terror, and we were going after the evildoers with the president and the vice president, and I felt like I need to do my part," he joked. "So I added one more line to my license, which was that 'the software shall be used for good, not evil.'"

"About once a year I'll get a letter from a crank who says, 'I should have a right to use it for evil! I'm not going to use it until you change your license.' Or they'll write to me and say: 'How do I know if it's evil or not? I don't think it's evil, but someone else might think it's evil, so I'm not going to use it,'" Crockford said. His conclusion: "My license works, I'm stopping the evildoers."

He's willing to grant an exception, though, he said.

"Also about once a year, I get a letter from a lawyer, every year a different lawyer, at a company--I don't want to embarrass the company by saying their name, so I'll just say their initials: IBM--saying that they want to use something I wrote," he said. "They want to use something that I wrote in something that they wrote, and they were pretty sure they weren't going to use it for evil, but they couldn't say for sure about their customers. So could I give them a special license for that? Of course. So I wrote back... 'I give permission for IBM, its customers, partners, and minions, to use JSLint for evil.'"

These days, though, lawyers are a real force in the programming world, and I can see how the line, however jokingly it might have been added, might cause corporate indigestion. Perhaps Crockford has no intention of enforcing the license, but perhaps some contributor to a project farther down the path of derivative works might have a more humorless interpretation.

After all, there have been efforts to add political elements into open-source and free-software licensing--for example, one variation of the GNU General Public License that prohibited military use of the software. And deeply held philosophical and ethical beliefs are certainly no stranger to the open-source and free-software realm.

Even if a company, project, or individual does conclude the license isn't onerous, that extra line adds a lot of busywork to the collective and never-ending task of evaluating software. I'm all for humor, principled positions, and honest debate, but I prefer it to take place where it won't hobble some other software project's prospects.

I know I sound stuffy (or perhaps "risk-averse" and "disconnected from the community," as Aaron Boodman would have it), but I hate to see good work fall by the wayside for what seems to me a reason that's secondary at best.

Angelina Jolie: “Fidelity Isn’t Essential….”

12/29/2009 01:15:00 AM kenmouse , Posted in , , , 0 Comments

Angelina Jolie doesn’t believe fidelity is essential in a relationship. The Oscar-winning actress — who raises six children with her long-term partner Brad Pitt — believes open romances can work just as well as monogamous ones, just as long as both partners agree to it.

“I doubt that fidelity is absolutely essential for a relationship. It’s worse to leave your partner and talk badly about him afterwards. Neither Brad nor I have ever claimed that living together means to be chained together. We make sure that we never restrict each other,” Jolie told Das Neue Magazine last week.

Now that's how to do geek chic! Pixie Lott goes clubbing in sexy specs

12/29/2009 01:15:00 AM kenmouse , Posted in , , 0 Comments

She's one of pop's more down-to-earth personalities, and Pixie Lott showed exactly why she's become so popular on a night out in London this week.


The chart-topping singer stepped out at the Boujis nightclub in Mayfair last night wearing a geeky pair of glasses, and a cheeky smile on her face.

Wearing a waist-length white jacket and a short black mini dress with tights and a matching black handbag and ankle boots, the blonde beauty seemed to be having a whale of a time as she pulled faces in the back of her waiting taxi.

Although she is rarely seen in them, Pixie wears glasses - it's not yet clear whether the specs she donned at Boujis were real or worn just for fun.

Real or not, the Kent-born popstar looked great in the leopard print frames.

Pixie, who turns 19 in January, has had an amazing year hitting the number one spot in the charts with her debut single Mama Do in June as well as picking up two MTV European Music Awards.



The teen star recently reflected on her "crazy year", and revealed her personal highlight.

She told ITN: 'My highlight? I guess my album launch, it was amazing and I got to do my first headline show.'

Pixie also said she is looking forward to getting back in the studio next year, adding: 'It's going to be a busy year again, writing some more stuff.'

The singer has also revealed 2010 might be the year she leaves home.

She currently lives with her parents in Brentwood, Essex.

Goo Hye Soo, Lee Min Ho, Kim Hyun Joong nominated as 'Best couple Award' in the 2009 KBS Drama Award

12/29/2009 01:14:00 AM kenmouse , Posted in , , , , 0 Comments

Goo Hye Soo bring good luck to the men.

On 31st noon, at Seoul Yeouido KBS new building, in the 2009 KBS Drama Award Ceremony, Goo Hye Soo, Lee Min Ho and Kim Hyun Joong are nominated under the 'Best Couple Award' category.

Goo Hye Soo acted in the popular drama in KBS 2TV 'Boys over Flowers' as 'Geum Jan Di' and was involved in the love triangle between F4 leader 'Goo Jun Pyo' acted by Lee Min Ho and Kim Hyun Joong. It has attracted the support of many viewers.

During the broadcast of 'Boys over Flowers', a portion of the viewers supported Goo Hye Soo and Kim Hyun Joong's as a couple, there's also another portion of viewers who were greatly concerned of Goo Hye Soo and Lee Min Ho's love. The F4 members and Goo Hye Soo continued to maintain their close friendship after the drama filming has completed.

In this award ceremony, the nomination for 'Best Couple Award' include 'Invincible Lee Pyung Kang' Gir Yong Woo - Choi Myeong Gil, 'My Precious Child' Kim Sung Soo - Lee Tae Ran, 'Hot Blood' Park Hae Jin - Jo Yoon Hee.

The 'Best Couple' will be selected based on 40% netizen votes, 30% professional judge group, 30% reporters vote to decide the final winner.

Also, Goo Hye Soo other than nominated in the 'Best Couple Award', she was also nomintated in the netizen selection 'Most Popular Actress Award'.

Mozilla pushes back Firefox 3.6, 4.0 deadlines

12/29/2009 01:14:00 AM kenmouse , Posted in , , , 0 Comments

Mozilla won't make a 2009 deadline for releasing Firefox 3.6 and is giving itself more time to complete a major update, version 4.0.

The organization behind the open-source Web browser had predicted a final release of Firefox 3.6 in December 2009, but the Mozilla Web site now includes "ship Firefox 3.6" as a goal for the first quarter of 2010.

In addition, Firefox 4.0, which had been due in 2010, now is "aimed at late 2010 or early 2011," with a beta due in the summer of 2010, according to Mozilla.

Schedule delays are common in the software world, but browser development is furious these days with the arrival of Google's Chrome into the market, Apple helping to expand the frontiers of what the browser can do, Opera trying to dramatically speed up JavaScript execution and display performance, and Microsoft getting more ambitious again with Internet Explorer. "We've always been more quality-driven than time-driven, but we understand timing in the market matters to our users and our competitiveness," said Mike Shaver, Mozilla's vice president of engineering, in an October interview.

There's a lot on tap for Firefox, though. The big new feature in version 3.6 is incorporation of the Personas plug-in that lets people easily customize the browser's appearance, though behind the scenes there's also been work to speed up the browser's launch time, improve security, and make some other changes. Mozilla has release five beta versions so far but not the release candidate that signals that work is nearly done; Mozilla programmers are "done with all blockers," bugs or other problems that stand in the way of a release, according to Mozilla's Web site.

So what exactly is coming next for Firefox?

For version 3.7, Mozilla plans several changes. One goal is better performance, for example with a 25 percent reduction in start-up time on Windows. Another is incorporation of Jetpack (now up to version 0.7), an interface for plug-ins that are easier to write, install, and upgrade.

To get quick access to sites that have been bookmarked or previously visited, Firefox already lets people type text into the "awesome bar," formally but hardly ever actually called the smart location bar. Soon to arrive in test versions of Firefox will be a new ability called tab matching that lets people get access also to Web sites already open in other tabs.

Also in development is the first phase of work called Electrolysis to separate various computing processes into separate compartments for better stability. Firefox 3.7 should benefit from the first phase of Electrolysis, which moves plug-ins to a separate process from the main browser computing process.

That should help isolate problems with Adobe Systems' Flash plug-in, for example, that previously crashed the whole browser. However, the initial work only is for Windows and Linux, not Mac OS X.



Another likely addition will be Weave, a plug-in that synchronizes bookmarks, passwords, plug-ins, and open tabs across different instances of Firefox. Weave integration is scheduled for the first quarter of 2010.

For version 4.0, expect deeper changes in Electrolysis to split each browser tabs into a separate process, too. And version 4.0 should get significant user interface changes.

In earlier planning, Mozilla had expected to mimic some of Chrome's design, with tabs across the top of the browser and a location bar below and a menu bar replaced by some drop-down menu buttons that take up less room. Now, in a refresh of the Firefox 4.0 look, Mozilla designer Stephen Horlander introduced a new way to replace the menu bar, the Firefox app button.



In Mozilla's first attempt to replace the menu bar, "we were informed by how Safari and Chrome had handled this problem by paring down all menu items into two separate Page and Tools buttons. This approach has a few advantages but also some disadvantages. The new proposed approach to this problem is an App Button which is similar to the single menu approach taken by Windows 7 native applications (Paint, WordPad) and by MS Office," Horlander said in a blog post.

Google’s Chrome OS netbook specs revealed

12/29/2009 01:14:00 AM kenmouse , Posted in , , , , , 0 Comments

Back when a Google-branded Chrome OS netbook was tipped for late 2010, we were still in the dark regarding potential specifications for the web-centric ultraportable. Now IBTimes is claiming to have the official spec sheet, and as speculated there’s both an ARM-based CPU and NVIDIA’s Tegra chipset among the components. There’s also a 10.1-inch display with multitouch-capable touchscreen mentioned, able to display HD – likely 720p – video, together with a 64GB SSD and 2GB of RAM.

Connectivity is believed to include WiFi, Bluetooth and 3G, together with ethernet, audio in/out and a multiformat memory card reader, and there’s a webcam too.

A sub-$300 price tag is tipped, thanks to both Google and carrier subsidies, and the search giant are expected to preload their usual batch of applications including Google Maps, Google Voice and Google Docs. The only unusual element is the relatively large amount of local storage; Google have previously said that cloud storage will be primarily used.

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