Taylor Lautner ‘Plans to Win Back Taylor Swift’

TAYLOR Lautner is hoping to win back former flame Taylor Swift, insiders claim.

The Twilight star — who split from the Love Story singer in December after a two-month romance — will reportedly try and persuade Swift to give him another chance when they’re both in Los Angeles.

“He plans to overwhelm Taylor with four dozen red roses, a diamond friendship ring and a romantic dinner date when they’re both in Los Angeles,” a source told American tabloid the National Enquirer.

What Will Happen to 'Idol' and 'Factor' Now?

With word that Simon Cowell is leaving 'American Idol' after this season to start 'The X Factor' in the U.S., the fate of the 'Idol' juggernaut is uncertain. If Cowell wants to, he could offer up some stiff competition to his 'Idol' alma mater, leaving the show with a big "how do we compete against Simon?" conundrum. However, if he plays nice, he could work closely with FOX and 'Idol' on how to differentiate the two very similar shows. Also, does this open up the door for a triumphant return for Paula Abdul? We explore all of the 'Idol' and 'Factor' scenarios (including Paula) after the jump.

'Idol' and 'X Factor' go as such: Unknowns audition among a panel of judges, are then selected to compete, and then it's in the hands of the viewers to pick their favorite crooner. So without some major changes to one show's format, it doesn't seem like there's enough space for both right now. Cowell says he left 'Idol' because he "wanted to do something different. I wanted a new challenge." Aside from a title change, we'll go ahead and assume Simon's got some tricks up his sleeve to make 'Factor' its own animal ... because otherwise, what's different?

As for 'Idol,' they're losing their main voice and the reason that a good portion of its audience even watches the show. Face it: Simon's insults and overall grouchiness makes for good television whether you like it or not. So what does 'Idol' need to do?

Bumpin'! Katy Perry fuels pregnancy rumours on her Twitter page just days after getting engaged to Russell Brand

Katy Perry and Russell Brand stunned fans when they announced their engagement after just four months of dating.



But after the American singer dropped several cryptic hints on her Twitter micro-blogging page, there could be another announcement on the horizon.

Perry, 25, has fuelled speculation she is pregnant with 34-year-old Brand's baby with a series of clues on her Twitter.

Sasha Grey PETA Ad

Adult film “actress” Sasha Grey rarely needs an excuse to take off her clothes, but the star of This Ain’t The Brady Bunch XXX is disrobing for a good cause as part of PETA’s latest Animal Birth Control (ABC) ad.




The porn darling has starred in hundreds of adult films and recently starred in Academy Award–winning director Steven Soderbergh’s film The Girlfriend Experience. Now the self-professed “sexpert” is encouraging pet owners to spay and neuter their animals in her new campaign for the animal rights group. Sasha’s PETA ad was revealed at the Adult Entertainment Expo in Las Vegas on Sunday.

Spotted Together: Adam Lambert and Ferras Alqaisi

After initial reports surfaced that Adam Lambert was hooking up with Ferras Alqaisi, all has remained quiet on that dating front.

Until now!



The American Idol finalist was spotted at Hotel Cafe in West Hollywood this weekend, attending a Ferras concert. The pair were then seen exiting the building and walking closely together:

Soon after American Idol ended, Lambert went public with his sexuality and then with his relationship with Drake LaBry.

But those two broke up in late October and Adam wasted little time in getting close to Alqaisi. Are they an official item? It's unclear at this time.

Android 2.1 SDK Released

One of the key features of the Nexus One has nothing to do with its hardware. The latest and greatest Android phone also is the first device to come with the new Android 2.1 OS. And while other phones, like the Droid, are going to get it too (likely later this month), for now, if you want to play around with it, you’ll need a Nexus One. Or, starting today, you can also download the Android 2.1 SDK.



As noted on the Android Developers Blog, the team is releasing it before most devices have it so that developers can play around with and build for the new features introduced in 2.1. Though Google calls 2.1 a “minor platform release” over Android 2.0, there are a number of new elements such as voice recognition, live wallpapers, a new launcher, more home screens, and some WebKit changes. Those who have ported it over to the Droid note that the new OS is also faster.

Microsoft Office 2007 migration aches foreshadow 2010

It has been predicted Microsoft's Office 2010 will cause migration headaches, but for some, the pain is already here.

Customers speaking with The Reg are experiencing major delays in their move from Office 2003 to 2007, more than three years after Microsoft released the latest version of its suite.

Problems include having to rewrite and test old VBA Office macros because they won't work in Office 2007, file incompatibilities, major interface changes, and instances where Outlook won't work on different versions of Microsoft's Exchange Server.

And while Microsoft has documented known problems, customers have complained it's the undocumented stuff they are uncovering that's really tripping them up and where Microsoft is not being helpful.

It seems that with 2010 on the horizon, some organizations are either only now moving to Office 2007 or are still struggling with Office 2007 more than three years after it shipped.

Directions on Microsoft managing vice president of research Rob Helm tells The Reg he expects more customers will experience problems as they too make the move to Office 2007.

Helm said some organizations are only now upgrading after postponed the move because of the changes involved.

Ella in [Down With Love] Takes A Leaf to Copy [Apple Daily]’s Dong News

GTV and CTV’s have an array of publicity gimmicks for their latest drama serial – [Down With Love]. Recently they even imitated Apple Daily’s Dong (*lit transl: Move) News to mask Ella’s face to create a mysterious feel to attract viewers. In addition, the TV stations also launched the serial’s MV showcasing photos from the serial to feature the theme song sang by Jerry for [DWL]. Since the launch of the song, netizens were full of praise for the sweet romantic feel conveyed through his vocals. According to sources, he was thinking about Ella when he recorded the song in the studio.



Apple Daily’s Dong News has attracted much attention and discussions from all walks of life and now [DWL] also launched their version of “Lai” News (Click to watch the news). The attempt seems to be an imitation from the recent Apple Daily’s creativity. But GTV Deputy Director Cai Fei Qiao clarified in response, “We named the publicity as ‘Lai’ News as it was taken from our serial’s title ‘Jui Xiang Lai Zhe Ni’. We are inspired to do these series of ‘Ad-Publicity’ from the many kuso (innovative, spontaneous - slang in Taiwan) self-recordings posted by members of the public on the internet which attracted many viewers. These clips also bring out the current affairs and bread and butter issues of our citizens’ daily lives, yet drawing parallel to our storyline.” Lai News will adopt a reporting style to bring out 3 pieces of news – the 1st being [Economy Downturn, Girls Ought To Be Self Reliant]. Ella is featured as the main character in this news, as the newscaster described about her hectic and difficult life of having to take on 4 jobs in a day – being a construction worker, fridge mover etc. Other than not letting viewers hear Ella’s voice, the TV stations also masked her face. Some audience actually thought the news was real and even commented, “Why, the girl resembled Ella very much!” When they later learnt of the TV stations’s publicity creativity, they were full of praise for it too.

Super Junior confirms fourth album!



Super Junior traded the cute look for sexiness in 2009’s Sorry Sorry, a hit track that launched the thirteen-member group to the top of charts last spring. Music-wise, the boys have mostly been on the DL as individual members have been working on their own activities, but it looks like the boys will be reuniting soon for another album!

Members Leeteuk, Shindong, Siwon, Eunhyuk and Donghae traveled to Thailand recently to make an appearance on KPN Awards, an American-Idol-esque reality show for aspiring singers. During their guest appearance, the boys were interviewed and revealed their recent experiences in Thailand through a translator. When the MC told the boys that one of the contestants covered SuJu’s track It’s You in a recent episode, leader Leeteuk complimented the contestant for singing in a foreign language.

Google to sell 5 to 6 million Nexus One phones this year?

We don’t know how many Google Nexus One superphones have been sold until now (almost one week after launch), but the handset certainly has what it takes to become a commercial hit – since Google itself is selling and advertising it.

Barclays Capital analyst Doug Anmuth believes that Google might sell 5 to 6 million Nexus One units in 2010 only, which would make the handset the best-selling Android device until now.

And while 5 to 6 million units is still far from the Apple iPhone’s projected sales for 2010 (more than 30 million units), it’s definitely an impressive number – it’s about half the projected phone sales of Motorola and Sony Ericsson for this year.

Microsoft Word injunction goes into effect

Although Microsoft was largely ready for an injunction that went into effect on Monday against selling certain versions of Microsoft Office, there were a few visible impacts.

The injunction stems from a verdict in which the custom XML function in recent versions of Microsoft Word was found to infringe on technology patented by Toronto-based I4i. A judge later issued an injunction barring sales of Office 2003 and Office 2007 versions containing the feature.



Most versions of Office were unavailable from Microsoft's online store Monday, as Redmond worked to comply with an injunction barring sales of versions of the product that contain a custom XML feature found to infringe on a Canadian company's patent.

Tobey Maguire, director won't return for Spider-Man 4

It’s official: director Sam Raimi and star Tobey Maguire will not continue on with the fourth installment of the uber-successful Spider-Man franchise. The news comes after several weeks of wrangling between Sony and Raimi.

There is no word yet on a new director or star.

Now Sony will proceed with a new filmmaking team for Spider-Man 4, with a script from James Vanderbilt that puts the conflicted young super hero back in high school.

Lady Gaga “Oprah” Debut Confirmed




O’s Gone Gaga! Eccentric pop sensation Lady Gaga will tape her inaugural appearance on The Oprah Winfrey Show this Friday, Jan. 15, series executive producer Sheri Salata has confirmed.

Box Office Review: Avatar Just Won't Quit!

So where is this going to end?

Final figures released Monday show Avatar actually broke $50 million over the weekend. The movie's overall domestic take stands at $430.8 million. And counting. And counting. And…

The world's No. 2 movie of all-time as of last week, the James Cameron epic used the weekend to pass Spider-Man and Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest on the domestic list, and set itself up to rise to No. 3 in those rankings perhaps as soon as next weekend. (Bye, Star Wars, E.T. and friends…)

So, no, Leap Year never really had a chance. Titanic, however, does.

Even at the fantastic rate Avatar is raking in the bucks overseas—it's worldwide haul stands at about $1.3 billion now—the film is still a long $500 million away from matching the No. 1 movie of No. 1 movies (also made by Cameron, natch).

$20 Million Award In Illicit Taping Of Michael Jackson Overturned

A state appeals court in Los Angeles overturned a $20 million award in a lawsuit against a man and his company for secretly videotaping Michael Jackson and his attorneys during a private-jet flight.

The 2nd District Court of Appeals stated the award against XtraJet and its owner was too much. The money was to go to celebrity attorney Mark Garagos and his associate, Pat Harris.

An attorney representing Garagos stated a new trial would likely be sought in the case.

Jackson rode the charter plane from Las Vegas to Santa Barbara in 2003 to surrender to authorities in a child molestation case that ended with Jackson's acquittal on all charges. The King of Pop was seen chatting with Garagos on the video.

XtraJet owner Jeffrey Borer and an associate pleaded guilty in 2006 in a federal case accusing them of secretly recording Jackson and his lawyers.

The court argued that Borer's actions were "reprehensible," but not enough to warrant such a large award.

Brangelina Skipping the Golden Globes

Golden Globes presenter Jennifer Aniston can breathe easy—there will be no showdown between her, Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie at this year's awards show.

Angie's stylist, Jen Rade, broke the tragic news to us—Brangelina is sitting out the red carpet!—at last night's Audi party.

Brad's manager also confirmed this morning that he won't attend, although his movie Inglorious Basterds is nominated for an award.

But wait...

Brad and Quentin Tarantino are BFFs! You'd think they'd show up for support?

Unless the golden couple is trying to avoid a redux of last year's Oscars, when Jen presented and they were seated directly in front of her?

Or maybe Angie's just busy working on Salt reshoots in NYC and taking her adorable brood to Broadway shows?

The couple may be "over" Hollywood, but we're not over them. Hope to see you two for Oscars!

Microsoft adds Office, Windows rental option

Although there are plenty of places that rent out time on Windows-based computers, doing so had never been strictly, speaking, legitimate.


The licensing terms for Windows (and Office) prohibit such use even though there are thousands of Internet cafes, business centers, and kiosks that do so. Starting January 1, though, Microsoft added an option for those that wish to rent out Windows or Office to do so by paying an extra fee.

"Windows desktop operating system and Microsoft Office system licenses do not permit renting, leasing, or outsourcing the software to a third party," Microsoft notes on its Web site. "As a result, many organizations that rent, lease, or outsource desktop PCs to third parties (such as Internet cafes, hotel and airport kiosks, business service centers, and office equipment leasing companies) are not compliant with Microsoft license requirements."

The new "rental rights" option adds a waiver of the licensing terms, allowing such use in exchange for a one-time license fee for each Windows PC or Office copy being rented out.

"Rental Rights are a simple way for organizations to get a waiver of these licensing restrictions through a one-time license transaction valid for the term of the underlying software license or life of the PC," Microsoft said.

In an effort to boost initial sales of the option, and perhaps ease the burden of having to pay for something that many organizations were doing for free, Microsoft is offering 30 percent off the license fees for those that sign up by June 30.

News of the new option was reported earlier on Monday by, among others, ZDNet blogger Mary Jo Foley.

Foley quotes Directions on Microsoft analyst Paul DeGroot as saying that the rental add-on for Office Professional, with the discounts, is $58, while Office Standard costs $45, and Windows is $23. Those are one-time fees good for the life of the PC or underlying Office license and are in addition to the cost of the copy of Office or Windows itself.

Update: I had a chance to catch up with DeGroot and get some additional thoughts on Microsoft's move.

Until Microsoft added this option, DeGroot said, Microsoft really only had the option of threatening to shut down a business or potentially pushing rental businesses toward Linux and OpenOffice.

Plus, he said, kiosks and business centers serve an important role for business people and consumers.

"One of the problems with enforcing this was there wasn't an easy way for people to do this, yet it is incredibly useful," DeGroot said. "As a result I think Microsoft kind of tolerated this."

DeGroot said the new option stemmed from Microsoft's antipiracy efforts in emerging markets, where much of the focus was to keep such places from using pirated copies of Windows and Office. Technically though, even buying legit Office and Windows still wasn't making customers legal. With the rental option, Microsoft has a way, particularly in mature markets, to allow such businesses to be legitimate.

The discount and the fact that the fee is one-time and not an annual bill, could help ease the cost of the rental license. "They are not all that expensive," DeGroot said, noting the fees are less than the cost of the original software.

One of the key questions is that, now that it has such an option, how aggressive will Microsoft be in making sure business centers and cafes are actually paying the extra fee.

"I think that you may see more enforcement," DeGroot said, but added the company may still ignore smaller infractions.

HTC admits customers have Nexus One 3G trouble, not yet blaming the phone

If samples from customer support threads are an accurate indicator, hundreds and perhaps thousands of early adopters of Google's Nexus One phone aren't looking for humanity from some pinstripe or tapered edges, so much as from customer support.

A spokesperson for HTC, the manufacturer of the Nexus One phone sold by Google and deployed thus far on T-Mobile's GSM network, told Betanews late Monday evening that it is aware of the magnitude of 3G connectivity problems reported by customers nationwide since last week. As of Monday evening, several hundred messages were posted to Google's support Web site, many reporting essentially the same problem: For the most part, their 3G connections are spotty and variable; and for some, 3G is non-existent.

Contrary to reports, however, HTC is not acknowledging a problem with the phone. As of now, the T-Mobile network remains equally suspect, especially amid the complete lack of much news whatsoever, including to its customers, from Google.

"While the majority of Nexus One owners have been thrilled with their experience, HTC is aware that some owners have reported having some technical issues with their Nexus One devices," the spokesperson told Betanews. HTC, Google, and T-Mobile take all such reports very seriously, and are working closely together to determine what issues may be behind these reports."

Late Monday morning, T-Mobile's customer support site did include a thread started by support personnel, who appeared to be actively interested in collecting information on the problem. "Let's see what we can learn about this," the thread began. "Maybe we can uncover some commonalities among those experiencing issues."

But although blogs today reported that this thread was an admission of problems with T-Mobile's network, actually, T-Mobile made no such admission. It merely acknowledged the issue and its personnel (unlike Google's) are interacting with customers in search of a resolution.

Customers who did manage to get through to HTC support personnel report having been told that a software patch of some sort is in the works; some who received that message last week were told they would receive a patch as soon as today. It does not appear certain that such a patch, if it exists, specifically addresses this problem.

All that Google will say on the subject is as follows: "We are investigating this issue and hope to have more information for you soon. We understand your concern and appreciate your patience."

Nexus One is far from the first smartphone with 3G problems in the early going. The first US-based Apple iPhone 3G models were plagued with network trouble initially, as was the BlackBerry Bold 9000 -- both on the AT&T network. Early troubles with the BlackBerry Storm on the Verizon Wireless network were traced back to the phone.

Some information from Nexus One early adopters tends to point toward the network, not the phone, as the possible culprit. One fellow reports having swapped SIM cards with a friend with an iPhone, and immediately receiving faster 2G EDGE service from AT&T on Nexus One than 3G service from T-Mobile. Another customer who also owns a T-Mobile G1 noted similar 3G connectivity problems on both the G1 and the Nexus One, since last Tuesday when Nexus One was launched.

One story indicative not only of customers' problems but of their bewilderment over the lack of an obvious solution, comes from user scotty1024, who works in Redmond, Washington, just blocks from the Microsoft campus. "This morning I went into a conference room and no one else had shown up yet so I killed time in the Amazon MP3 store. The phone kept telling me it lost connection and to press here to retry. You'd retry and it would flip to Edge and I was able to pull up lists of titles. But about 2 minutes later it would flip back into non-working 3G and kill the connection. Spin, wash, repeat."

One would think, scotty1024 goes on, that the phone would be smart enough to route calls via Wi-Fi using Google Voice when 3G service goes dead.

2PM releases new single Tik Tok



One of the biggest success stories of 2009 has got to be the boys of 2PM. Not many can pull off a trio of hits like they did with Again & Again, I Hate You and Heartbeat. And just before their promotions end, they present us with yet another single titled Tik Tok.

Composed by Tommy Park, Tik Tok is a song that expresses the secretive love of 2PM. JYP did promise that 2PM would be going for a new unique concept for their next album; could this be it? One thing for sure is that this song smells of another hit.



They’ll be putting on their last live performance on the 17th but don’t worry, they won’t be out of the limelight for too long as their next album will be coming out in April, so stay tuned!

Sakurai Sho Talks About the Great Hanshin Earthquake

On the 11th, Arashi's Sakurai Sho (27) appeared at the preview event for his Fuji Television special drama "Hanshin・Awaji Daishinsai Kara 15 Nen: Kobe Shimbun no Nanokakan~Hisaichi ni Ikita Kishatachi no Tatakai~" which airs on Saturday January 16th at 9:00pm. In the docudrama, employees at Kobe Shimbun must confront the crisis they are faced with during the aftermath of the earthquake. While the office building housing the newspaper suffered damages, they are determined to keep the paper running. Sakurai plays the role of a photographer who has been working at the newspaper for the past four years.

Sakurai is very grateful for the chance to play this role, "There was a sense of fear that was unearthed [from the victim's feelings]. Afterwards, there was also the Sarin Incident that occurred. The coverage of the Sarin Incident overshadowed the earthquake, so there was a side of the earthquake disaster that was never brought to light. I'm happy for the chance to uncover [the reality of the situation]." Playing his colleague, a new photographer, Fukiishi Kazue (27) was in Nara at the time of the earthquake and recalls being awakened by the tremors. "I still remember it. When I went to where my mother and brothers were, I could feel the place shaking."

+++
Note: The Great Hanshin earthquake occured on January 17, 1995. The Subway Sarin Incident occured two months later on March 20, 1995. This act of domestic terrorism killed twelve people when sarin gas was released on the subway. (Information from wiki)

ASUS UL80JT spotted with automatic switchable graphics, brags 12 hour battery life



How we missed this at the ASUS booth is beyond us, but leave it to the eagle-eyes at Ars to hone in on the ASUS UL80JT with an overclockable Core i7 processor and NVIDIA GeForce 310 graphics. So it's just a run-of-the-mill gaming rig, right? Wrong. The 14-inch laptop has switchable graphics like we have never seen before; the laptop automatically switches, "second-by-second" between the NVIDIA card and the integrated Intel one, instead of the "standard" switchable graphics we've seen on laptops like the MacBook Pro 15 or ASUS UL80Vt which require users to switch manually. The major foreseeable benefit of this is longer battery life even when the system is using the discrete card, and ASUS touts 12 hours with the automatic solution turned on. No word on price or availability, but we're guessing ASUS will have more details soon and that we'll start seeing this this in more and more laptops as NVIDIA spreads the love around to the rest of the industry.

We jumped the gun here, we've actually seen this new automatic switching technology in the recently announced Sony Vaio Z.

Are slates going hurt Microsoft's bottom line any more than netbooks?

Are all slates tablets? Are all tablets netbooks? Does the distinction between slates, tablets, netbooks, smartbooks and e-readers matter to anyone — or do anything beyond confuse customers more than they are already)?

The real question in all this, for Microsoft watcher, customers and partners, is whether slates will ding the profits of the Windows client business any more or less than netbooks have.

As Microsoft officials make sure to point out, netbooks can run any version of Windows 7. So can the soon-to-be-released slates from HP, Pegatron, Archos and other Microsoft partners, I’d assume. (Microsoft officials said last week the HP slate that Ballmer showed, but which seemed to be non-existent at the show, was running Windows 7, and will include a customized interface created by HP.)

It’s up to PC makers which version of Windows 7 they preload on new machines and devices. Many netbooks are preloading the cheapest, lowest end version of Windows 7, Starter Edition. Microsoft gets less per copy for Starter from its OEMs than it does for Premium or Ultimate or any of the other SKUs. (It’s unclear exactly how much less.)

Netbooks have been a double-edged sword for Microsoft. The robust sales of netbooks helped keep the bottom from completely falling out of the Windows business in 2009. But the growth of netbooks also cut into Windows’ profits. Microsoft ended up offering Windows XP to netbook makers at the firesale price of about $15 per copy, according to many estimates, in part to convince PC makers not to preload Linux on those machines. Microsoft’s argument: Even though Linux, at $0 per copy, is cheaper than Windows at $15 per copy, there will be far fewer support calls from customers accustomed to Windows than those unfamiliar with Linux. And there are a lot more Windows apps than netbook apps. So why not just go with Windows?

What’s going to happen with slates, the multi-touch-optimized successors to the stylus/digital-ink-dependent tablet PCs? Will Microsoft have to cut the price of Windows 7 that it offers PC makers so as to keep them from doing a Dell, which provided a quick glimpse of an Android-based, 5-inch handheld at CES? Or from coming out with a Chrome OS/ARM-based slate later in 2010? Competition is good for Microsoft’s partners: It provides them with a new bargaining chip to be used when negotiating the price per copy of Windows with Microsoft.

On the TechFlash blog last week, Todd Bishop quizzed Tammi Reller, the Chief Financial Officer of Microsoft’s Windows and Windows Live business unit, about the potential impact of slates. Not surprisingly, Reller said Microsoft is envisioning slates the same way it does netbooks: As a PC companion, not a replacement.

While the “companion not a replacement” motto is a good one for Microsoft, I’m not sure it reflects reality. For some consumers, netbooks are a second or third PC; for many who bought the devices at the holidays, netbooks were purchased as a replacement for aging desktop/laptop PCs. If slates are nothing more than fancy e-readers that can also play music, they might be supplemental. But if they are full-fledged computing devices (as the rumored Apple iSlate supposedly is), with souped-up media-consumption capabilities, they may become PC replacements.

What’s your prediction? Will the new class of slates/tablets or whatever you call them help or hurt Microsoft, in terms of Windows revenues/sales?

Tila Tequila Twitter Ticker: Possible Pregnancy Ahead!

Breaking, almost definitely made-up news: Tila Tequila is pregnant!



In her latest stream of Tweets - which follow last night's God-based barrage - Tila claims she is taking the high road; that haters are pissing off the Almighty; and hints strongly that she has a bun in her warped oven.

Like Tina Fey impersonating Sarah Palin, the most damning, hilarious evidence of Tequila's publicity-inspired madness is simply to list her Twitter messages word-for-word. Shake your head over them (listed from latest to oldest, all within an hour) below...
  • Thank u everyone for your kind words. I am off to bedrest again now. I have let go of all anger inside of me. It feels so good! TTYL! xoxo
  • My Wife has passed away and all I have left is the baby. I wish mean people can just respect the dead and respect a new life growing inside!
  • The doctor i visited says that all this stress and negative people around me getting me upset, can affect the baby in a bad way. Pls stop.
  • Yes I promised myself and my wifey that we WILL NOT discuss anymore thing about this. SO with that said. I have AMAZING NEWS 2 SHARE W/U!!!
  • I just want to go back to the way things were. Let me mourn my wife in private. I want to talk about the FUN things that I wanted 2 tell u!
  • As for me, I am so tired. I have no energy to defend my wife anymore. I faint, Im tired & this is not good for my baby. Leave us alone pleas
  • & for the haters. Please stop. Enough with this vile vindictive behavior. Respect my Wife please. She is dead. Let her rest in peace please!
  • My only wish is 4 all the negative people to leave me alone please. I dnt want to talk to media, I dnt want 2 deal w/haters. Leave me alone.
  • I love my wife and will always forever. I'm not doing a press tour like those other people "AHEM" we know who they are. Gross! Whatever.
  • Those disgusting people who talk shit about my wife are upsetting God right now, and that is who she's with. I'm taking the high road now.

Eva Mendes For Calvin Klein Jeans S/S 2010





Get ready for Calvin Klein’s latest soon-to-be banned campaign: Eva Mendes is baring all for Calvin Klein Jeans — again. The highly-steamy ads for the brand’s Spring/Summer 2010 collection feature a topless Eva frolicking in the sand with cK newcomer Jamie Dornan!



Google News Pulls The AP’s Content As Contract Comes Up For Renewal



Through much of last year, the Associated Press threw public barbs and veiled threats at Google, while in private it was renegotiating its licensing agreement with Google News. That agreement is believed to be up for renewal at the end of this month, yet no new AP stories have appeared directly on Google News since December 23, 2009. (AP stories licensed by other news sites such as ABC News or the New York Times do continue to appear, however). So what’s going on here? Is that the end of AP stories on Google News?

I’ve been doing some sniffing around, and it is not the AP that is withholding its content. This conclusion is also supported by the fact that older AP content from before Christmas continues to be available on Google News. If the AP were no longer licensing its articles to Google, those older articles likely would also no longer be available. (The AP has talked about withholding news from certain licensees for a set period of time, but those were measured in minutes and hours, not weeks, and it would operate on a rolling basis. The AP stories on Google News just stop on December 23).

So it appears that Google made a unilateral decision. What’s going on here reminds me of what News Corp does to Time Warner Cable every four years or so when the contract for all the Fox television channels comes up. Fox threatens to pull its channels in a very public manner, and then at the eleventh hour a deal is struck, just like what happened on New Year’s. Google is trying its own Foxy negotiating tactic here. It is showing the AP in a very visible way what will happen if Google News no longer carries AP stories, and they are doing this before the negotiations are up so that the AP can measure the loss in readership that Google News brings.

In the TV world, it’s the content companies such as Fox, which have the negotiating leverage because they bring the audience. It almost seems like Google is trying to prove the opposite is true with online news: that distribution is king, not content. Meanwhile, on Friday, Google News gussied up its home page by adding its Fast Flip project at the bottom (see screenshot below), and is highlighting other newspaper partners with its “Living Stories” project. Whether or not we ever see AP headlines on Google News again depends on which one needs the other one more, and who concedes first in the negotiations.

Which would you rather live without, Google News or the AP?

Sony Ericsson Xperia X2a appears on US site screaming 'I'm coming!'



Whoa! After two months of delay Sony Ericsson's finally done something with the Xperia X2 -- giving it an extra 'a' (for North America) instead of pushing it out to us mere mortals. Mind you, the number of times we've seen this thing -- even as a KIRF -- may fool you into thinking it's been out forever, but the reality is it's slowly morphing into a unicorn. You know what though? If we wait for another two months, the X2 / X2a might even get a piece of that Windows Mobile 7 action. Or Windows Mobile 8, when SE's eventually done with its siesta.


Jay Chou’s ‘Pandamen’ airing permit finally granted; confirmed to broadcast on all major television stations in China from January 17th!

Beijing Jiu Zhou Culture Communication Co., Ltd, general manager Tian Jing Quan yesterday happily confirmed that Jay Chou’s self-directed drama ‘Pandamen’ will begin broadcasting on all the major television stations in China beginning from January 17th. Last month, Jay had rushed back to Taiwan to re-film some scenes, and less than 2 weeks after that, the airing permit has finally been granted. Rumours suggest that China’s SARFT is giving special treatment to Asia’pop King but yesterday, Tian Jing Quan laughed: “There weren’t really any problems in the first place, some editing was not done smoothly, but now everything is complete, so it’s been approved.”

But it’s also because of the name ‘Jay Chou’ that as soon as the airing permit for ‘Pandamen’ was granted, mainland China’s 8 major television stations and 4 Home Satellite channels immediately tossed their original series broadcast aside, and changed to ‘Pandamen’ as 2010’s biggest drama! From January 17th, Shan Dong, Guang Zhou, Beijing & Shanghai will first broadcast, and then from February 2nd, Jiang Su, Zhe Jiang, Chong Qing & Shen Zhen will then broadcast. The premiere event is set to be on January 28th or 29th. However, Taiwan’s side previously did not want to set a date until the airing permit was granted, and now the broadcast date has temporarily been delayed to April.

Recently, Jay Chou has just finished promoting his film ‘The Treasure Hunter’, and his Hollywood film ‘The Green Hornet’ has also wrapped up. Currently, he is busy preparing for his new album. JVR expressed that ‘Pandamen’ means very much to Jay, and so he will definitely co-operate with all promotional activities. Yesterday, Tian Jing Quan also expressed that ‘Pandamen’ total costs are estimated to be $25million rmb (NT$1200million). It is the cross-strait (China & Taiwan) collaboration drama with the highest production costs to date, and there will definitely be grand premiere events!

Nokia N900 gets first software update, but don't expect much



Nokia has announced that it has started pushing the N900's very first post-launch update, but apparently it's not anything crazy like Maemo 6 (yeah, we know it's not even close to ready, but you know you want it) or system-wide portrait orientation support -- instead, it's just a minor bump designed to prepare the set for the upcoming launch of the Maemo-flavored Ovi Store. That's great news for anyone looking for a more unified way to get paid apps on the phone, a significant step towards making Maemo a more consumer-friendly platform than it is at the present. Look for the update to be available globally within the next day or so, both over-the-air and via Nokia Software Update on your desktop.

Update: We're being told that the Ovi Store's now accessible from the device at store.ovi.mobi -- anyone care to share stories of success or failure? Thanks, Matija!

Microsoft's Bach says 'there are other places where Zune logically could go'

So that meeting a few days ago where financial analysts physically beat a few choice WinMo 7 nuggets out of Robbie Bach yielded something else that's pretty interesting, too: the expansion of the Zune franchise. Virtually everyone and their mother has been calling for a Zunephone since the day the first Zune 30 rolled off the assembly line, and a very, very carefully-worded statement by Bach in the meeting has us believing that we could finally see it make the bold leap to GSM (or CDMA, or both) this year. In response to a question about how Zune fits into Microsoft's mobile strategy, Bach had this to say:

"Now, your other question was about I'm getting old. Zune, so Zune has been critically successful. And the way Zune is going to be successful for us in the future is you should think of that as our media service across multiple screens. We'll continue to have the Zune device screen. But, we now have Zune on Xbox. We have Zune on the PC. There are other places where Zune logically could go that we don't get to talk about yet. And I think lots of different screens with that capability can go."

If you read between the lines there, it certainly sounds like Robbie's got his eyes on the prize -- but whether Zune will come to Windows Mobile or live as its own brand remains to be seen. No guarantees, but we're hoping all will be revealed at MWC next month.

Could A Tablet Replace Your Notebook?

Hardware vendors at last week's Consumer Electronics Show showed off numerous new tablet and notebook designs. Some offerings, including the Lenovo Skylight Smartbook, earned cheers. Others -- yeah, we're looking at you, Microsoft-HP tablet -- heard mostly jeers. Apple wasn't at CES, of course, but the neverending rumor mill assures us that Steve Jobs's bound-to-be-cool tablet will debut by the end of this month.

All the CES hardware chatter led me to wonder if a tablet/slate would work as a suitable notebook replacement. For many consumers, particularly those who use a standard laptop -- or maybe a netbook -- primarily for e-mail and Web browsing, the answer may be yes.

This depends, of course, on the capabilities of said tablet. As last week's CES announcements indicate, the tablet remains a nebulous category. The Lenovo Ideapad U1 hybrid, with its removable display, is both tablet and notebook, as is the not-quite-ready Freescale Semiconductors tablet. And Asus displayed a two-screen tablet prototype that unfolds into one large OLED display.

Notebooks? Well, we know one when we see one -- unless, of course, you're referring to the Lenovo and Freescale hybrids, in which case things are a little less clear. But for sake of argument, let's define the laptop/notebook device as one with a physical (QWERTY) keyboard attached to a flat-panel display. Yes, I'm including netbooks, which are really just tiny notebooks, in this genre too.

Could You Go Tablet?

Many people hate the QWERTY keyboard, a 19th-century relic that somehow survived the transition to the digital age. After decades of use, I'm a decent touch typist, but millions of computer users -- the two-fingered tappers -- yearn for something better.

If you use a physical keyboard only to tap out short e-mail messages, Twitter or Facebook posts, and other quick text blurbs, you may be ready to deep-six QWERTY. But what should take its place?

Ideally, tablets need excellent handwriting or voice recognition to garner mainstream acceptance, but we're years away from data input that mirrors Star Trek-style simplicity. That said, a mobile professional may prefer today's tablets to complete online forms, browse the Web, and send quick messages.

Students? There's a market segment that could really benefit from fast, accurate handwriting recognition. Voice imput wouldn't work in the classroom. For now, a laptop is the better choice. Plus, students tend to write a lot of papers, and the QWERTY keyboard is the best choice for long-form writing. (Sure, cut-and-paste plagiarism works well too, but that's another story.)

A tablet may have ergonomic drawbacks, too. When you're sitting at a desk, a notebook is more ergonomic than a slate-like device that must be held or cradled. And touch input can be tiring when you're holding your arm in an elevated position for hours at a time.

It's doubtful that tablets will replace laptops anytime soon. They likely replace standalone e-readers, however, as tablet prices start to fall.

Ellen Reacts To Simon Cowell’s Departure From “American Idol”

First Oprah, now Simon! Sharp-tongued British mogul Simon Cowell is leaving American Idol – marking the end of an era for throngs of TV talent show fans. But none more than Idol newcomer Ellen DeGeneres. The Emmy-winning daytime host-turned-A.I. -judge began filming scenes for American Idol Monday — the same day Simon announced he’s leaving the show!


“He announced he’s leaving on my first day. I’m trying not to take it personally. But seriously, I am going to be very, very sad to see him go, because I think he’s made the show what it is,” DeGeneres told her studio audience on The Ellen DeGeneres Show today. “He’s a huge part of that show but he wanted a change. I wish him all the luck in the world hosting ‘The Tonight Show,’” she joked.

Simon Cowell Confirms He's Leaving American Idol

Simon Cowell is leaving American Idol.

No, really. It's official now and everything.

Simon just told reporters at the TV Critics Assocation winter press tour:

"There's been a lot of speculation [about my future], partly because we didn't have an agreement. We reached an agreement formally about half past 11 this morning. Where we have come to is that The X Factor will launch in America in 2011, with me judging the show and executive producing the show, and because of that, this will be my last season on American Idol this year."

Cowell then signed his X Factor contract live onstage at the TV event in Pasadena. So why is he leaving, who might replace him and what's this about joining forces with Paula Abdul? Here's what we just learned from Cowell himself and his bosses at Fox...

First things first, The X Factor is a British-format reality talent competition produced and developed by...Simon Cowell! There are 17 international versions. It's not unlike American Idol or its British counterpart Pop Idol, but contestants of all ages are welcome, and the judges also do some mentoring as well as just critiquing. So what kind of stars are they trying to find? Simon says, "Right now, Lady Gaga's got the biggest X factor in the world. We'd love to find somebody like her." The X Factor will air in the fall, while Idol will continue airing in the spring.

That's in Simon Cowell's future, but what about his past and present on American Idol? "I've always said this was my last year," Simon told us. "Everyone thought I was negotiating, but that wasn't the reason behind it. I felt like doing something different. I like the challenge. I want to leave Idol this year, bigger and better than it’s been before...I hope it's going to be higher than it was last year."

He says he's leaving now while the show remains on top: "I've had the best eight or nine years of my life doing this job...I never would have wanted to walk out when the show was number 21 in the ratings. I wanted to leave on a high. It's been a fantastic time.. I think right now America needs a second, different type of show, and I'm going to put my absolute heart and soul into this."

So who might take Simon's chair at the Idol judging table? Cowell's take is this: "I'm going to suggest that Ryan [Seacrest] does it, because he can have another job then—so he just jumps off the stage into the chair and back again...I say just get somebody who knows what they're talking about."

Fox entertainment chairman Peter Rice took a more serious approach to the question, but didn't actually profer any substantial names: "The reason we're making the announcement in January is we want to give ourselves time. We want to allow people to come forward, we were frankly surprised at the enthusiasm in replacing Paula [Abdul]—and when we we first started our conversations with Ellen [DeGeneres]. We have to take our time on that, we have to make sure the chemistry is as good as it can be, we want to take our time."

Speaking of Paula, it's entirely possible that Simon will ask the daffy popster to join forces with him on his new project. When asked whether or not Paula Abdul might be involved in The X Factor in some capacity, Simon said: "I adore Paula...I will work with her in some capacity...because I miss her."

For his part, Seacrest tweeted this afternoon, "this is simon's last season on idol. He's working on US version of x-factor! He is one of the most brilliant people in our biz! Congrats" and then, "i'm gonna interview simon tomorrow on the radio show...will ask him if @paulaabdul will be on x-factor. I'll link u guys audio after." (We'll be waiting!)

Meanwhile, Ellen DeGeneres addressed Simon's exit on the episode of her talk show airing Tuesday, saying, "I got some news for you. So this just happened, Simon Cowell just announced that he's leaving Idol. This will be his last season...He announced he's leaving on my first day. I'm trying not to take it personally...But seriously, I am going to be very, very sad to see him go, because I think he's made the show what it is. He's a huge part of that show, but he wanted a change...I wish him all the luck in the world hosting The Tonight Show." Nice.

So do you think Simon Cowell is replaceable? Will you watch Idol sans Simon?

Nick Jonas Covers Taylor Swift “You Belong With Me”

Good to know that Taylor’s still pals with at least one JoBro. Nick Jonas gave a shoutout to the country charttopper and performed a verse of her hit single, “You Belong With Me,” during a performance on the Nick Jonas & The Administration Tour last weekend.

In Nov. 2008, Taylor wrote a diss track following her split from Nick’s older brother, Joe, who allegedly dumped Taylor in a two-minute phone call.

“Rita Rocks” Cancelled; “Glee” Renewed

Rita will no longer be “rockin’” on Lifetime. The Network for Women has cancelled Rita Rocks — a quirky comedy featuring Nicole Sullivan — after two seasons, The Hollywood Reporter said Monday.



Rita, which starred the Mad TV alum as a mom who launches her own garage band, premiered to solid ratings in Oct. 2008, with 1 million viewers tuning in for the show’s debut episode. It was Lifetime’s first original comedy series in over 10 years. However, ratings fell significantly in its second season, with the Oct. 13 season finale attracting just 489,000 viewers, according to Futon Critic.

“Glee” Renewed For Second Season; Nationwide Talent Search Kicks Off For New Stars

Gleeks rejoice! FOX has ordered a second season of its hit musical comedy, Glee, network entertainment president Kevin Reilly announced on Monday.

“We loved ‘Glee’ ever since it was a pilot script, so it’s been an incredible thrill to watch the show take root and see audiences embrace these characters in such a huge way this season,” Reilly, said in a statement. “The show is a true and rare gem in television.”



Glee focuses on a group of high school misfits who are marching to the beats of the drums by trying to revive the school’s glee club. The show is up for four awards at this weekend’s Golden Globes including Best Actor in a Comedy Series for Matthew Morrison, and Best Actress in a Comedy Series for Lea Michele.

In addition to the renewal news, Glee executive producers are holding a nationwide casting call to fill three new roles that will be added to the series in its second season. The casting search will air as a multi-part special leading up to the premiere of season two.

“’Glee’ has always been about finding new fresh exciting voices. Our second season search for young talent will be in the vein of our first season. We launched a nationwide search for talent for our first season with great unexpected results, and Season Two expands that search in an even bigger way,” said executive producer and creator Ryan Murphy.

Auditions will be open to “amateur individuals,” between the ages of 16 and 26. For more details, log on to www.fox.com/glee.

All-new episodes of Glee return April 13 @ 9 PM on FOX.

Orange deny Apple iSlate blunder: VP “taken out of context”

It comes as little surprise that Orange – or at least the carrier’s UK arm – are leaping all over today’s speculation that Orange France exec Stéphane Richard accidentally confirmed the Apple iSlate tablet on French radio. According to a statement given to paidContent – and as SlashGear predicted – Richard’s comments were “taken out of context”, and in actual fact the VP was merely stating that yes, indeed, he was aware of the ongoing rumors.



“These responses in no way reflect Orange’s confirmation of the existence of the rumoured device. The spokesperson was merely confirming that he is aware of the speculation surrounding a launch and that Orange would be delighted to have such a product were it ever to be available” Orange statement

Once again, too much reading between the lines and – dare we say it – wishful thinking caused many to jump to conclusions. The Europe1 interview didn’t help matters, with unclear questions that made (in one interpretation, anyway) it seem like Richard was confirming the iSlate.

However we’re still expecting Apple to announce an event on January 27th, at which the near-legendary iSlate will get its official launch. Right now there’s no word from Apple on the event, but we’re used to the company waiting until only a week prior to invite press along; if that holds true, we shouldn’t expect to hear anything until sometime next week.

Adam Lambert Is A 'Bigger Personality' Than Kris Allen, Randy Jackson Admits

'But I think they're both equally talented,' judge says of season-eight 'American Idol' finalists.

While "American Idol" has been the launching pad for a lot of singers, it's what contestants do after the season ends that separates the Kelly Clarksons from the Kevin Covaises.

With the ninth season starting Tuesday at 8 p.m., last year's contestants are officially out of the "Idol" nest and exploring their new careers. What does judge Randy Jackson think of their progress so far? He's optimistic — but he's worried runner-up Adam Lambert might have tried to tackle too much, too soon.

"Adam is a giant personality," Jackson said Friday. "He's unbelievably talented. The AMA thing, I guess, was something he wanted to do and try. An artist is really left up to their own ideas of how they want to do things."

Kris Allen, meanwhile, hasn't really been able to capitalize on the "Idol" crown with his debut album so far, but Jackson isn't giving up hope.

"[Adam is] a far bigger personality, probably, than Kris, but I think they're both equally talented," Jackson said. "Kris obviously won for a reason."

Jackson also hasn't ruled out success for a few other finalists: "You got Allison [Iraheta], she's got her record out too. I wish them all well and the best. They're all immensely talented. Danny Gokey — we had a lot of talented kids [last] season."

With those big shoes to fill, Jackson was expecting some season-eight clones at the auditions, but he was pleasantly surprised.

"You would have thought there would have been a lot more theatrical Adam Lambert or Kris Allen types that would have showed up for the auditions, but that's not what happened at all this time," he said. "Usually, whoever wins or comes in one and two, the next season of auditions, you have a lot of those kinds of people. It's almost like it was a signal to all the people at home who were like them: 'Now it's time to try out for "American Idol"!' [Laughs.] But it didn't happen like that this time, so I think we got a very interesting, unique cast that's really only unique to this season nine."

Rihanna Not Dating Matt Kemp

RIHANNA isn’t dating Matt Kemp — despite recent reports to the contrary.

The pair sparked romance rumors when Matt followed the Umbrella singer to Abu Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates, where she had a gig performing at the Emirates Palace on New Years Eve.

Rihanna was then snapped smooching the 25-year-old LA Dodgers star during a romantic vacation in the Mexican resort of Cabo San Lucas.

The rumor mill then went into overdrive when Kemp’s representative said the pair had been “having fun” together.

But the same rep now insists that the word “dating” was pushing the envelope.

“I think dating might be a stretch at this point,” said the spokesman. “They are in Cabo, but past that they are just good friends, and I don’t think we can label it as anything other than friendship right now. Who knows what will develop past the friendship.”

Orange France VP confirms Apple Tablet on-air?

Securing a deal with Apple is the kind of thing any carrier executive would want to crow about, but we’re still somewhat dubious about Orange France VP Stéphane Richard’s apparent on-air confirmation of the Apple iSlate tablet. Interviewed by French radio station Europe1, Richard is asked about the persistent rumors that Apple will announce a webcam-enabled Tablet in a few days time, something to which he answers yes; he then – in one interpretation – goes on to confirm that Orange customers would benefit from such a device.



Jean Pierre Elkabbach: “According to the weekly Le Point, a few days your partner Apple will launch a Tablet with a webcam”

Stéphane Richard: “Yes”

Jean Pierre Elkabbach: “Is that Orange users will also benefit”

Stéphane Richard, “Sure!”


Now, SlashGear’s French is of the rudimentary variety, and the above exchange comes courtesy of Google Translate. We’re cautious about accepting this at face value for a number of reasons, not least that we’d expect a carrier exec to be more media-savvy when it comes to prematurely scooping Apple’s always-secret wares.

There’s also some room for interpretation in his answers. The way interviewer Elkabbach phrases his initial question, Richard’s “Yes” could be an agreement that yes, an Apple tablet is on the way, or merely that yes, newspaper Le Point did suggest that fact. What little French we do know – yes, we can recognize “le webcam”! – confirms that when asked about Orange customers benefitting, Richard talks about how they can use webcams for video calls, rather than how they could benefit from a tablet.

Confirmation of an Apple iSlate headed to Orange France? We’re not sure about that; we’ll have to wait and see whether Apple’s rumored January 27th launch event pans out. We’ve snipped out the relevant section of the interview in the video below:

Is Vicky Zhao Wei Pregnant?

Is Vicky Zhao Wei pregnant? Southern Metropolis Entertainment Weekly Monday published a snapshot of the actress seemingly beginning to show signs of pregnancy.


Zhao Wei,who has not been seen in public for months, looks much plumpier in the photo, donning an oversized loose outfit.

Tabloids report Vicky Zhao was expecting a child with property tycoon Huang Youlong and is staying in Singapore during the pregnancy to hide from paparazzi.

Earlier in July, there were rumors that Vicky, 33, secretly registered her marriage with Chinese businessman boyfriend Huang Youlong in Singapore.

West China City Daily said according to close sources in showbiz circles, Vicky Zhao is already five months pregnant.

Zhao was absent for the latest promotional event for new film '14 Blades' co-starring alongside Hong Kong Kung Fu star Donnie Yen on January 6, neither did she show up for some other important occasions she was supposed to attend recently.

Despite the rumored pregnancy that has hit the headlines of many Chinese online media outlets, Vicky Zhao seems to be unaffected and doesn't discuss the issue in her latest blog entry, according to Sohu.com.

Jason Trawick: Cheating on Britney Spears?

For months now, the only Britney Spears rumors we've seen involve her getting engaged to Jason Trawick. Not true, but all has been well in Britneyville.

Today's Britney gossip marks quite a departure from that trend.

According to the Mirror (UK), she is furious after discovering that her agent and boyfriend has been out frolicking with other girls behind her back.

The couple are now thought to be on a "trial split," and a heartbroken Brit has supposedly dyed her hair black. That'd be better than going bald ...

Ella Davis, who was in the bar, said: “Jason Trawick left the bar with two bottles of water – and a stunning girl who looked like Britney did five years ago."

That's rough.

Word spread to Britney who called her man and tore him a new one. She then allegedly turned her phone off and checked into a five-star hotel suite. Solo.

“This isn’t the first time Britney has been let down by a man in her life," said a source, stating the obvious. "She was absolutely gutted and feels betrayed."

“She called her mom who flew in from Louisiana to be with her. They checked into the Mondrian and Brit had black hair dye, saying she needed a change."

Rumors of an impending engagement have run wild for months, but recently we reported a story of Britney smothering him. Could he be looking to escape?

Google named Word of the Decade

Tweet makes Word of the Year, while Google beats blog for top word of the '00s

If you had any lingering doubts that social networking is pervading our lives, doubt no longer.

The American Dialect Society, an association that studies the English language late last week announced that "tweet" is the top word of 2009, and "Google" -- the verb, not the noun - is the top word of the past decade.

"Both words are, in the end, products of the Information Age, where every person has the ability to satisfy curiosity and to broadcast to a select following, both via the Internet," said Grant Barrett, chair of the society's New Words Committee, in a statement. "I really thought 'blog' would take the honors in the word of the decade category, but more people google than blog, don't they? Plus, many people think "blog" just sounds ugly. Maybe Google's trademark lawyers would have preferred it, anyway."

The Twitter microblogging site definitely is getting a lot of attention among wordsmiths.

Last November, the Global Language Monitor announced that it had selected "Twitter" as the top word of 2009 based on its annual global survey of English words and phrases that appear in the media and online. And the New Oxford American Dictionary in November announced that "unfriend" -- a word meaning to remove someone from a list of friends on a social network like Facebook -- was its 2009 Word of the Year.

The American Dialect Society compares its word of the year to Time magazine's Person of the Year. The society noted that it tries to show that language change is a naturally ongoing process.

Runners up in the 2009 Word of the Year category included Dracula sneeze, which means to sneeze into the crook of your elbow, much as Dracula did when he was hiding part of his face with his cape. Other potential winners were H1N1, fail, and -er... as in birther, truther and deather.

The society also noted that other words or phrases up for Word of the Decade were: 9/11, blog, green, wi-fi, text and war on terror.

The American Dialect Society began choosing Words of the Year in 1990.

The 2008 Word of the Year was "bailout". The 2007 word of the year was "subprime", which describes a less than ideal loan or mortgage. The 2006 word or phrase of the year was "to be plutoed", as in to be demoted or devalued. And the 2005 word of the year was "truthiness", which is from Stephen Colbert's the Colbert Report, meaning what one wants to be true regardless of the facts.

Microsoft Word and Office 'sales ban' begins

A ban on Microsoft selling certain versions of its flagship products Word and Office has begun.

The software firm was made to change elements of the software by US courts after a patent dispute with Canadian firm i4i.

Microsoft said that it had complied with the court's ruling and would now offer "revised software" in the US.

The court ruling means that Microsoft must also pay i4i damages of $290m (£182m).

However, the firm said on 8 January that it had filed another appeal against the injunction.

The firm wants a panel of 11 judges of the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit to review the case in the hope of overturning the original judgment.

Microsoft has already challenged the ruling once. But in December last year, a panel of three judges rejected its arguments and upheld the original decision of a Texas court that ruled that Microsoft had infringed a patent belonging to i4i.

The disputed patent relates to the use of XML, a language that allows formatting of text and makes files readable across different programs.

XML is used in recent versions of Microsoft's word-processor Word.

Microsoft has now removed the disputed feature from all available versions of Microsoft Word and Microsoft Office on sale in the US from today.

"This process will be imperceptible to the vast majority of customers," the firm said in a statement.

Despite the firms compliance, Microsoft has said it will still challenge the case.

Kevin Kutz, director of public affairs at Microsoft, said the latest appeal had been filed because the firm believed the decision in December conflicted with "established precedents governing trial procedure and the determination of damages".

"We are concerned that the decision weakens judges' authority to apply appropriate safeguards in future patent trials," he added.

Wonder Girls gets a bloody letter! and YoonA is next

The words “원더걸스 돌아와” on the letter means, “Wonder Girls come back”


Recently, a strong fan of girl group ‘Wonder Girls’ left a picture of a bloody letter. Late last year 2pm’s Taekyeon and Mblaq’s Lee Joon, this is now the third time a bloody letter was shown. For what reasons do these fans show such passionate behavior?

A bloody letter is a more passionate and fanatical way of showing one’s feelings. Most of the fans for idol groups usually start with Junior High students who have not matured yet and are going through puberty.

Idol stars usually receive gifts such as: letters, drawings, perfume, and other items to show their love. In order for the stars to recognize them, they tend to find large and expensive gifts.

The fans that left the bloody letters probably wanted the stars to recognize their love for them more strongly. Instead of just blood, these fans choose to cut their wrists to demonstrate their love more.

The internet culture has strongly influenced this type of behavior by comments such as “I was able to do this much, but you can only do that much?”. These kind of comments have created competition amongst the fans online. This could be seen as a factor.

After seeing this kind of behavior, netizens have been responding with “They are out of their mind. I don’t understand.”

Just recently a member of a popular idol group said “Although receiving gifts are great, please refrain from giving gifts. Instead give me letters written with sincere thoughts only.” To some fans, leaving bloody letters seem to show their sincerity and their love, thus choosing to leave the letters are better.

After TaecYeon and WonderGirls, YoonA is next to receive a bloody fan letter


Another photo of a bloody letter has been uploaded on DCInside comedy Gallery, and this time the message written was “YoonA, don’t film for Family Outing”.

It has been announced recently that So Nyeo Shi Dae YoonA has been confirmed on the team for Family Outing 2.

Some netizens commented after seeing the photo, “This is fandom going overboard” while some said, “looks like fake to me”, “looks like it is made using paint”.



Meanwhile, YoonA is not the first celebrities to receive a bloody letter, earlier it has happened to TaecYeon, the WonderGirls and Lee Joon.

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