When asked by interviewer whether he likes teenage girls, Kelly says, 'I don't like anybody illegal.'
In the first — and what he claimed would be his last — interview regarding his recent child-pornography trial, R&B singer R. Kelly sat down with BET News for a special that aired Tuesday, to say he has had been punished enough and that people should respect the not-guilty verdict he received three months ago.
"It's time for me to move on," Kelly told interviewer Touré during "R. Kelly Speaks." "I can't keep answering these questions. If you was charged with something and you was found innocent, then you can't be found guilty for being found innocent."
However, with that statement, Kelly failed to distinguish the difference between not guilty and innocent — no jury has the power to declare anyone innocent, only the power to say that the state did not meet its burden of proof to find someone guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. And in this particular case, the members of Kelly's jury still had some doubts. Kelly expected his fans and public to have some doubts as well, but he hoped to overcome them with the interview, in which he claimed his sex-god image was just that, an image — not his real life.
"I wish people wouldn't connect the R. Kelly image — of champagne, girls ... sex, sex, sex — to Robert," Kelly said. "R. Kelly is an image, a brand. That's my job. There's a whole other side of me that's Robert, who is a father, a friend. But then I put on the game face and go into the studio and do the music. That's just another day at the office."
When asked directly if he likes teenage girls, Kelly asked in response, "How old are we talking?" Touré responded, "Girls who are teenagers." Kelly then asked, "Nineteen? I have some 19-year-old fans. I don't like anybody illegal, if that's what you're talking about." (The subject of his annulled marriage to a 15-year-old Aaliyah did not come up.)
(Head here for more questions R. Kelly could have been asked but wasn't.)
Touré countered that some of the singer's former employees (including an assistant and a publicist) and his brother Carey Kelly had raised "issues of concern" in this area. "Issues of concern?" Kelly asked. "What do you mean? Let me put it to you this way, man. People who don't work for me say that. The people who do work for me don't say that. The people who don't work for me were fired. ... Do not listen to the people who was fired. Don't even listen to the people who was hired. Listen to the facts."
But what about his own brother, who could hardly be considered just another disgruntled employee? "Doesn't matter," Kelly said. "I fired him too." Why? "I can't get into that," Kelly said. "But I fired him 1,000 times and I rehired him."
Kelly also claimed that he had been blackmailed, a claim he had made previously when a sex tape purporting to depict him and an underage girl was first made public, only now he said the blackmail attempts happened before, during and after the trial. (Kelly did not specify who had allegedly blackmailed him, but Kelly's own lawyer had dispelled the notion that ex-manager — and Aaliyah's uncle — Barry Hankerson was involved in any such attempt in his interview with MTV News immediately following the verdict.)
"I've been blackmailed a billion times," Kelly said. "I've been sued for ridiculous things. At one point in my life, I was an ATM machine. But I'm used to that. You don't get used to it, but I'm used to the fact that people will do this, even your own family members, and I don't hate none of them. A lot of people are out to get me, especially when I was vulnerable [because of the trial and public scandal]. When you're R. Kelly, they want a piece of you."
Kelly said the ordeal of the trial and the years leading up to it made him feel like he had already been given a guilty verdict. "I feel like I was in jail for the last seven years," he said. "A lot has been taken away from me. Going through that whole thing was hell, man. I wouldn't wish it on nobody."
Now that it's over, he wants to concentrate on his music (which he said would remain sexually explicit), his children (although he didn't mention his estranged wife) and humanitarian efforts. He's planning a trip to Africa — his first.
"I'm trying to put it all together," Kelly said. "I want to get over there not just to tour, but get into doing some humanity stuff. I don't know what that is yet."
Kelly said the trial and scandal experience has taught him a lot, including to be more humble, to be more spiritual and to separate his professional and private life.
"If it had an impact, I hope it to be a positive impact," he said. "If the 12 people who didn't know me, after hearing the facts and listening to everything, could find me innocent, [I hope that] people around the world could do the same thing."
R. Kelly Speaks Out About Child-Pornography Trial For First — And Possibly Last — Time
The Official Papal SkateBoard
Krystal Melendez, 14 from Mother Cabrini HS, Manhattan, took first place on the Papal Skateboard Art Design Contest. The contest had children aged 11 to 18 design skateboards that include the official papal colors of gold, black, white and red. Krystal Melendez's skateboard will be presented to the Pope at an upcoming papal youth rally in Yonkers. Replicas of her design will be sold online for $94.99 and all of the proceeds will go to Catholic charities. Buy ONE Now!
SwitchBlade v3.0.3b Free Download
Switchblade is FREE cutting-edge software that brings a fully configured game controller experience to the most popular PC gamers, beginning with World of Warcraft. SwitchBlade provides all the functions of a mouse and keyboard, providing an exciting new way to play World of Warcraft. More freedom. More comfort.
Before you can enjoy Switchblade make sure you have the following:
-An Xbox 360 Controller
-The Xbox 360 Driver Installed
-An Active WoW Account
-For Wireless controllers, an Xbox 360 Wireless Receiver for Windows
Local Download:
SwitchBlade v3.0.3b (9.51MB)
Kobe Bryant Jumps Over A Pool Full Of Snakes
Kobe Bryant has done it again using his new Hyperdunks jumping over a pool full of snakes with the jackass crew.
Sarah Palin Sexy Photo, Real Or Fake?
Vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin sexy photo has created a buzz in both media and blogosphere. But is this real or fake? View her sexy photo after the jump. 
Fake Sexy Photo Of Governor Sarah Palin
The Real Photo That Been Altered
Search For Me Baby, One More Time
I'm sure that Britney Spears would agree that, philosophically speaking, when one door closes, another opens--and I don't just mean driver-side car doors, either. There is a certain symmetry to finding out that, on the high heels of her successful (as in no one got hurt) appearance on MTV's Video Music Awards show a little over a week ago, the release of Spears' new CD has just been bumped up to an "Xmas stocking stuffer purchase opp" date of December 2--which just happens to be Brit's birthday.
Now it probably should be noted that the new CD, entitled Circus, reportedly is not completely finished yet. And with the kind of track record Britney's had over the last few years, her label Jive Records must be pretty darned sure it'll be ready; either that or they've got a great insurance policy. In any event, Spears does seem to be in good, capable creative hands--or at the very least a good, capable small army of them. Working on the project are everyone from the Outsyders (who produced the first single "Womanizer," coming 9/22 to a ringtone near you), Keri Hilson, Sean Garrett, Rodney Jenkins, Guy Sigsworth, Dr. Luke, and Lil' Jon, and Nate "Danjahandz" Hills, to such past Brit content providers as Bloodshy & Avant ("Toxic," "Piece Of Me") and Max Martin ("Oops," "Baby One More Time"). One way or another, one presumes, that sucker will be out the door on time.
Of course, when it comes to Britney Spears, it is all about the buzz, isn't it? And proof of that comes with another (non-paparazzi-lensed) Britney flash--this time from none other than the Guinness Records people, who've just announced they're naming Spears "The Most Searched Person On The Internet" in the new 2009 Guinness Book Of World Records. Having not seen the book (it's out on 9/17), I can't tell you how they might quantify that assertion (and are there subdivisions for categories like, say, "holding clippers," or "driving over feet"?). Suffice it to say, however, that the proclamation comes with the telling additional info that Britney, who previously "won" the title in 2007, has reclaimed it from last year's champ: none other the uniquely and immensely Internet-searchable Paris Hilton. Click Here to Read More..
Possible First Photo of Planet Around Sun-Like Star
Astronomers have taken what may the first picture of a planet orbiting a star similar to the sun.
This distant world is giant (about eight times the mass of Jupiter) and lies far out from its star (about 330 times the Earth-Sun distance). But for all the planet's strangeness, its star is quite like our own sun.
Previously, the only photographed extrasolar planets have belonged to tiny, dim stars known as brown dwarfs. And while hundreds of exoplanets have been detected by noting their gravitational tug on their parent stars, it is rare to find one large enough to image directly.
"This is the first time we have directly seen a planetary mass object in a likely orbit around a star like our sun," said David Lafrenière, an astronomer at the University of Toronto who led the team that discovered the star. "If we confirm that this object is indeed gravitationally tied to the star, it will be a major step forward."
Further study will be needed to prove that the planet is in fact orbiting around the star, as opposed to the possibility, however unlikely, that the two objects just happen to lie in the same area of the sky at roughly the same distance from us.
"Of course it would be premature to say that the object is definitely orbiting this star, but the evidence is extremely compelling," Lafrenière said. "This will be a very intensely studied object for the next few years!"
The researchers used the Gemini North telescope on Mauna Kea in Hawaii to glimpse the planet and its star, 1RXS J160929.1-210524, which lies about 500 light-years from Earth. Though the star has about 85 percent the mass of the sun, it is younger than our star. In order to image the far-flung system, the team utilized adaptive optics technology, which uses flexible mirrors to offset the distortion light suffers as it passes through Earth's atmosphere.
The strange planet so far from its parent star is unexpected based on current theories of star and planet formation. For comparison, the farthest planet in our solar system, Neptune, lies only 30 times the Earth-sun distance away from the sun.
"This discovery is yet another reminder of the truly remarkable diversity of worlds out there, and it's a strong hint that nature may have more than one mechanism for producing planetary mass companions to normal stars," said team member Ray Jayawardhana, also of the University of Toronto.
The distant exoplanet, at about 1,800 Kelvin (about 1,500ºC), is also much hotter than our own Jupiter, which has a temperature of about 160 Kelvin (-110ºC).
The team discovered the new planet as part a survey of more than 85 stars in the Upper Scorpius association, a group of young stars formed about 5 million years ago. The researchers have detailed the study in a paper submitted to the Astrophysical Journal Letters and also posted online.
"This discovery certainly has us looking forward to what other surprises nature has in stock for us," said University of Toronto team member Marten van Kerkwijk.
‘The Women’ star Eva Mendes used to force people to kill spiders because she was so scared of them.
Eva Mendes used to force people to kill spiders because she was so scared of them.
‘The Women’ actress suffered from arachnophobia – a profound fear of spiders – as a child and was so terrified of the eight-legged nasties she would ask her family to execute them if one came near her.
She would then insist on being shown the “dead carcass” of the arachnid to prove her wishes has been carried out.
Eva said: “Spiders scare me a lot, ever since I was a little girl. If I ever saw one I would have a physical reaction and just freak out. I was a real arachnophobe. I was like that up until about a year ago.
“If I saw a spider I would have to have somebody kill it and even then I could not take their word for it. I would have to see the dead carcass before I could relax.”
The 34-year-old actress – who admits her fear became so bad she would not even sleep in a room if she had seen a spider there - decided to visit a hypnotherapist to overcome the phobia.
She said: “There was no swaying clock or anything like that - so I was disappointed by that. I do not know what she did but it really helped because now I will see one and I will be cool with it.”
Eva added she was so pleased with the outcome of the treatment she is contemplating re-visiting her hypnotist.
She joked: “Now I want to do it for everything. I was thinking can she help me with road rage or snacking or foul language? It is amazing.”
Wall Street awakes to 2 storied firms falling
NEW YORK - When Wall Street woke up Monday morning, two more of its storied firms had fallen.
Lehman Brothers, burdened by $60 billion in soured real-estate holdings, filed a Chapter 11 bankruptcy petition in U.S. Bankruptcy Court after attempts to rescue the 158-year-old firm failed. Bank of America Corp. said it is snapping up Merrill Lynch & Co. Inc. in a $50 billion all-stock transaction.
The demise of the independent Wall Street institutions came as shock waves from the 14-month-old credit crisis roiled the U.S. financial system six months after the collapse of Bear Stearns.
The world's largest insurance company, American International Group Inc., also was forced into a restructuring.
And a global consortium of banks, working with government officials in New York, announced a $70 billion pool of funds to lend to troubled financial companies.
The aim, according to participants who spoke to The Associated Press, was to prevent a worldwide panic on stock and other financial exchanges.
Ten banks — Bank of America, Barclays, Citibank, Credit Suisse, Deutsche Bank, Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan, Merrill Lynch, Morgan Stanley and UBS — each agreed to provide $7 billion "to help enhance liquidity and mitigate the unprecedented volatility and other challenges affecting global equity and debt markets."
The Federal Reserve also chipped in with more largesse in its emergency lending program for investment banks. The central bank announced late Sunday that it was broadening the types of collateral that financial institutions can use to obtain loans from the Fed.
Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said the discussions had been aimed at identifying "potential market vulnerabilities in the wake of an unwinding of a major financial institution and to consider appropriate official sector and private sector responses."
The European Central Bank, the Bank of England, and the Swiss central bank also made more short-term credit available to banks. European stocks fell sharply, with the FTSE 100 Index off 3.42 percent in London, the CAC-40 down 4.27 percent in Paris, and Germany's blue-chip DAX 30 falling 3.38 percent. Asian stock markets also tumbled, with India's Sensex sinking more than 5 percent. Japan and Hong Kong were closed for holidays.
Financial stocks were hard hit and the dollar fell against the pound and the euro.
Futures pegged to the Dow Jones industrial average fell more than 250 points in electronic trading Sunday evening, pointing to a sharply lower open for the blue chip index Monday morning. Asian stock markets also tumbled, with India's Sensex sinking more than 5 percent. Japan and Hong Kong were closed for holidays.
The stunning weekend developments took place as voters, who rank the economy as their top concern, prepare to elect a new president in seven weeks. It likely will spur a much greater focus by presidential candidates — Republican John McCain and Democrat Barack Obama — and members of Congress on the need for stricter financial regulation.
Samuel Hayes, finance professor emeritus at Harvard Business School, said the Bush administration may get a lot of blame for the situation, which could benefit Obama.
"Just the psychological impact of this kind of failure is going to be significant," he said. "It will color people's feelings about their well-being and the integrity of the financial system."
Lehman Brothers' announcement that it is filing for bankruptcy came after all potential buyers walked away. Potential suitors were spooked by the U.S. Treasury's refusal to provide any takeover aid, as it had done six months ago when Bear Stearns faltered and earlier this month when it seized Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
Employees emerging from Lehman's headquarters near the heart of Times Square Sunday night carried boxes, tote bags and duffel bags, rolling suitcases, framed artwork and spare umbrellas. Many were emblazoned with the Lehman Brothers name. Its businesses in Britain were placed in administration Monday, said the administrator, accounting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers, and employees carrying boxes and bags were walking out of Lehman's London offices.
TV trucks lined Seventh Avenue opposite the building, while barricades at the building's main entrance attempted to keep workers and onlookers from gumming up the steady flow of pedestrians flowing in and out of Times Square.
Some workers had moist eyes while a few others wept and shared hugs. Most who left the building quietly declined interviews.
People snapped pictures with cameras and their phones. Observers pressed up against a police barricade drew the ire of one man who emerged from the building and shouted: "Are you enjoying watching this? You think this is funny?"
Merrill Lynch, another investment bank laid low by the crisis that was triggered by rising mortgage defaults and plunging home values in the U.S., agreed to be acquired by Bank of America for 0.8595 shares of Bank of America common stock for each Merrill Lynch common share.
That values Merrill at $29 a share, a 70 percent premium over the brokerage's Friday closing price of $17.05, but well below what Merrill was worth at its peak in early 2007, when its shares traded above $98.
Charlotte, N.C.,-based Bank of America has the most deposits of any U.S. bank, while Merrill Lynch is the world's largest brokerage. A combination of the two would create a global financial giant to rival Citigroup Inc., the biggest U.S. bank in terms of assets.
Strategically, most industry analysts say it's a good fit. If the deal goes according to plan, Bank of America will be able to offer Merrill's retail brokerage services to its huge customer base. There is not a great deal of overlap between the two companies — Bank of America does have an investment bank already, but it has never been terribly strong.
Where there is duplication, however, the combination of the two companies could result in more layoffs. Both Merrill and Bank of America have already cut thousands of investment banking jobs over the past year.
The deal would not come without risks, however. Merrill Lynch, like many of its Wall Street peers, has been struggling with tight credit markets and billions of dollars in assets tied to mortgages that have plunged in value. Merrill has reported four straight quarterly losses.
Bank of America's own finances are far from robust. As consumer credit deteriorates, the bank has seen its profits decline, and the company is still in the midst of absorbing the embattled mortgage lender Countrywide Financial, which it acquired in January.
Insurer AIG, hit hard by deterioration in the credit markets, said Sunday it is reviewing its operations and discussing possible options with outside parties to improve its business after a week when its stock dropped 45 percent amid concerns about the company's financial underpinnings.
The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times both reported early Monday on their Web sites that the American International Group is seeking an additional $40 billion in emergency funds — possibly from the Federal Reserve — to help it avoid a credit rating downgrade, which would make it more expensive for AIG to raise money. The insurer has already raised $20 billion in fresh capital this year.
AIG was working with New York Insurance Superintendent Eric Dinallo and a representative of the governor's office through the weekend to craft a solution that protects policyholders, according to Dinallo's spokesman David Neustadt.
"It's clear we're one step away from a financial meltdown," said Nouriel Roubini, chairman of the consulting firm RGE Monitor.
The meetings that began Friday night were a who's who of financial heavyweights: Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson, Timothy Geithner, president of the New York Fed, Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Christopher Cox, and a host of CEOs, including Vikram Pandit of Citigroup Inc., Jamie Dimon of JPMorgan Chase & Co., John Mack of Morgan Stanley, Lloyd Blankfein of Goldman Sachs Group Inc., and Merrill Lynch & Co.'s John Thain.
For all their efforts, Lehman had to file for bankruptcy.
The end of Lehman may not stop the financial crisis that has gripped Wall Street for months, analysts said. More investment banks could disappear soon.
The independent broker-dealers "are going the way of the dodo bird," said Bert Ely, an Alexandria, Va.,-based banking consultant.
That's partly because some of the firms, particularly Merrill, made bad bets on real estate. But several analysts said that investment companies will need the deep pockets of commercial banks to survive the next few years.
On Sunday, there was also an emergency trading session being held at the International Swaps and Derivatives Association to "reduce risk associated with a potential Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. bankruptcy." The ISDA, which arranges trades for derivatives, said it was allowing customers to make trades and unwind positions linked to Lehman.
Roubini said it's difficult to accurately gauge the health of companies like Merrill because their financial health depends on how they value complex securities. As a result, their finances aren't very transparent, he said.
That can lead to a loss of confidence in the financial markets, he said, which can overwhelm an investment bank even if it is financially healthy by some measures.
"Once you lose confidence, the fundamentals matter less," he said.
The common denominator of the financial crisis, analysts said, is the bursting of the housing bubble. Home prices have dropped on average 25 percent so far. Roubini predicted they could drop another 15 percent.
The crisis has begun to slow the broader economy as banks make fewer loans and consumers have begun cutting spending. Many economists are now forecasting that the economy could slip into recession by the end of this year and early next year.
That, in turn, could cause additional losses for commercial banks on credit cards, auto loans and student loans.
The Fed is widely expected to keep interest rates steady at 2 percent, below inflation, when it meets Tuesday. It was possible, however, that the central bank might decide in coming weeks to cut rates if such a move is seen as needed to calm turbulent financial markets.
The International Monetary Fund predicted earlier this year that total losses from the credit crisis could reach almost $1 trillion. So far, banks have only taken about $350 billion in losses.
Commercial banks are also starting to feel the pinch. Eleven have closed so far this year, including Pasadena, Calif.-based IndyMac Bank, which had $32 billion in assets and $19 billion in deposits.
Christopher Whalen, managing director of Institutional Risk Analytics, a research firm, predicts that approximately 110 banks with $850 billion in assets could close by next July. That's out of 8,400 federally insured institutions, he said, which together hold $13 trillion in assets.
Individual customers are starting to get nervous about the financial health of their banks for the first time in generations, he said. Whalen's firm analyzes the safety and soundness of banks for business clients, but began receiving inquiries from individuals in the past two months for the first time, he said.
"If we don't get ahead of this, we are going to face a run on the retail banks by election day," he said.
___
AP Business Writers Madlen Read, Tim Paradis and Stephen Bernard in New York, Martin Crutsinger in Washington, Ieva Augstums in Charlotte and Michael Liedtke in San Francisco contributed to this report.
Time Magazine: Top 25 Blogs For 2008
Here are The 2008 Top 25 Blogs According Poll Results:
1.Indexed
2.Ace of Spade HQ
3.TechCrunch
4.LifeHacker
5.BoingBoing
6.Engadget
7.The Reverse Cowgirl
8.PostSecret
9.Freakonomics
10.The Consumerist
11.Wired Threat Level
12.Daily Kos
13.Tree Hugger
14.Radosh.net
15.The Huffington Post
16.Metafilter
17.Gawker
18.The Sartorialist
19.Velveteen Rabbi
20.Web 2.Oh...really?
21.The Dullest Blog in the World
22.Blog Di Beppe Grillo
23.The Daily Dish by Andrew Sullivan
24.Gigazine
25.Bad Jocks
source: TIME Magazine
RIP David Foster Wallace
The writer David Foster Wallace was found dead at his home in Claremont, California on Friday evening. His wife told authorities that he hung himself.
There have always been two fairly well-populated camps of opinion about Wallace and his work.
There are those who consider him brilliant and perhaps the most important literary figure of his generation. And there are those who find him unreadable.
Cases can be made for both schools of thought.
But whatever you think, it's hard to deny that Wallace's was a unique voice in a literature that has grown somewhat homogeneous in the past decade. Whatever you might think about his opus, Infinite Jest, Wallace's work within shorter forms, in stories and essays, more often then not succeeded in blending absurdest observation with insightful comments on our culture and the way we live now.
And since this is a travel blog, I'll mention my favorite piece of Wallace writing, his hysterical lampooning of cruises and those who take them in the essay "A Supposedly Fun Thing I'll Never Do Again." It's a masterwork of reporting and as a piece of travel writing -- which it most certainly is -- it's an example of just what the genre is capable of if given an imaginative writer bent on breaking new ground.
I just took his essay collection of the same name off the bookshelf and want to re-read the piece this afternoon as a sort of quiet tribute. For this essay alone I'll miss Wallace.
Don't call me Magic, call me Monkey King - China's Sun
BEIJING (AFP) - Los Angeles-bound guard Sun Yue has said he does not want to be known as "China's Magic Johnson" as he seeks a spot on the Laker's roster, but is happy to be known as the "Monkey King."
Sun is expected to depart for the Laker's training camp as soon as the US Embassy here issues his visa, and he is confident that he can make a roster that is led by superstars Kobe Bryant and Pau Gasol.
"I don't want to be called the next Magic Johnson," Sun told the China Daily of the nickname given him to by the Chinese sporting press.
"He was a great player, and he has everything you could ask for in a coach but I don't think I am going to pattern my game after him in my rookie year," he said of the legendary player and Lakers part-owner.
The 23-year-old Sun was signed by Los Angeles to a multi-year contract after he helped China to an eighth place finish at the Beijing Olympics, averaging 6.8 points and 2.5 assists a game.
The six-foot-eight inch (2.06 metre) guard was originally selected by the Lakers in the second round of the 2007 NBA draft, but was not given a contract or an invitation to training camp last year.
Already Chinese fans in Los Angeles are calling him "Sun Wukong," after the mythical "Monkey King," the legendary simian hero of the Chinese Buddhist literary classic "Journey to the West."
"If they want to name me after the fighting Buddhist master then I guess that will make me a bit more literary," Sun told journalists.
"For the fans to already have these kinds of plans (to name me Monkey King) is really great support for me."
Jobs: iPhone 2.1 update due Friday, fixes 'lots of bugs'
September 9, 2008 (Computerworld) Apple Inc. will release an iPhone update Friday that CEO Steve Jobs promised today "fixes lots of bugs," including the dropped call problem that's plagued users since July.
User reaction was mixed on Apple's support forum, where some took a wait-and-see approach while others remained skeptical.
Near the end of Tuesday morning's rollout of new iPods, Jobs announced iPhone v2.1's delivery date and gave a quick overview of its contents.
"It's a big update," Jobs said. "It fixes lots of bugs. You'll get fewer call drops, you will get significantly improved battery life for most customers. We have fixed a lot of bugs where [when] you have a lot of apps on the phone, you're not gonna get some of the crashes that we've seen." He also said that iPhone 2.1 would dramatically cut the time it takes users to synchronize their phones to iTunes.
Users have complained about all four problems Jobs mentioned, but the one that has gotten the most attention from both customers and the media is the dropped-call issue.
Within days of the July 11 debut of the iPhone 3G, buyers began posting messages on Apple's support forums detailing weak signal strength -- even in areas supposedly covered by AT&T Inc.'s 3G network -- slow download speeds and frequently dropped calls.
Three weeks ago, Apple released iPhone 2.0.2, an update the company said improved the phone's 3G functionality, a claim most users disputed. Since then, Apple has been hit by at least two lawsuits seeking class-action status that accuse the company of deceiving customers by claiming the iPhone reliably connected to 3G networks.
Reaction to the news of the impending iPhone update was mixed on Apple's support forum.
Some took Jobs' announcement at face value, and were willing to withhold judgment until they can download and install the update. "We should at least wait and see if the update lives up to his word," said a user tagged as "Ansuz82" on the iPhone support forum.
Others, however, were still angry that Apple had not been more forthcoming about the iPhone 3G problems and were skeptical that the company would be more transparent on Friday. "Let's see if those statements or any further detail actually make it into the firmware release notes," said "DaddyK" on a different thread. "Further bug detail would be the responsible thing to do."
A few wondered why the iPhone 2.1 update had been scheduled for Friday when a similar update, also dubbed 2.1, was available today for the iPod Touch, the iPhone look-alike. "Why do we have to wait till Friday when people can buy an iPod Touch today with 2.1 already on it?" asked "deimos256" just before the Apple event concluded. "Talk about deflated expectations, all this big update is gonna do is fix problems that never should have happened."
Ansuz82 pitched in with a possible answer. "More than likely it's a server load issue. I remember the last big update where iTunes and the iPhone/Touch were updated. Downloads were going at a crawl. Staggering will help with that."
The user was referring to the Version 2.0 update that Apple issued on the same day it launched iPhone 3G, when AT&T was forced to suspend in-store activations because Apple's servers had been overwhelmed.
Apple did post a 2.1 update for iPod Touch users today. The update included patches for seven vulnerabilities, among them a fix for the DNS bug that was first disclosed in July and patched by Apple the last day of that month. Some researchers, however, maintained that Apple's July 31 fix didn't patch the vulnerability on Mac OS X clients.
America’s Got Talent Chooses The Top 10 With America’s Help
America’s Got Talent gave us the first “Results Show” that we love, but they have been kind to us as they announce the Top 10 and have kept it shorter than most of its kind does. Jerry Springer announced that the Top 10 will be set tonight and than ten acts will see their journey end this evening. Here at RTM, we have our favorites and it has been surprising how America has not really shocked us too much with who has been sent home. There is a lot to do in a short period of time, so lets get to it.
With the group stretched across the stage, the group cheered with Jerry, even though ten of the acts would be gone soon. Jerry chatted up the judges quickly and then got to it and saw the Tuesday performances recapped. Jerry called forth The Wright Kids and Zooperstars, sans their costumes for the first time, and we saw The Wright Kids, who rocked the place the other night, advance over the cartoon characters.
In a huge upset, one of the favorites of the judges between Neal E. Boyd and Queen Emily looked like they were being sent home, which had Sharon Osbourne’s jaw dropping in disbelief. OK…I was just fooling you because they did it to us to make us think it to be true. Jerry announced that the next act was “Both of them.”
Extreme Dance FX and the James Gang were then paraded to the front of the stage and Jerry announced that after America’s vote, they were both leaving the competition.
The next two acts to come forward were the drummers, Cadence and Frank Sinatra clone, Paul Salos, to see who would be advancing to the Top 10 and in a bit of a shocker, Paul Salos advanced over the drummers.
The second group of ten acts, who performed last night, were now on stage and Jerry called SickStep and Kaitlyn Maher to the front of the stage for the results. I gotta admit it was a weird site to see all of these boys standing overshadowing the tiny four-year-old, but in the end it was like David and Goliath as she slew the Hip-Hop lads in their tracks.
It seems it gets tougher and tougher as The Taubl family and Nuttin But Stringz were pulled forward to find out their fate next. With the obvious talent going to NBS as far as performances go, America indeed got it right and sent NBS into the Top 10.
Sarah Lenore and Eli Mattson strode to the front and knowing that there was already one blond singer too many in the competition and that the obvious talent of Eli was overwhelming, Eli was indeed America’s choice.
For the final decision, the Baton Twirling, Jonathan Burkin and the Elvis wanna-be, Joseph Hall’s fate was left in the hands of the judges with what had to be the most difficult decision yet. Piers started it off saying it was a difficult decision but decided to go with Joseph because he saw more potential in him. Sharon quickly evened the vote up by saying she wanted Jonathan, leaving The Hoff with the unenviable decision for the last spot. Jerry went to a commercial to give the two contestants time to sweat even more and when the commercials ended, David gave the last spot to…Joseph Hall.
Next Wednesday we will have our first glimpse of what they will all bring to the AGT stage.
Come back to Reality TV Magazine for all your America’s Got Talent news and be sure to come and chat about the show and your favorites on our message boards! For more great information please visit SirLinksAlot: America’s Got Talent. Click Here to Read More..
Air Ambulance
Ambulance transport can save the life of ordinary citizens faced with extraordinary circumstances. The primary reason for the transport is medical, and that the person is being transported to, or from, a facility where they are to receive medical treatment. It is a life saving measure that can mean the difference between life and death in many situations.
An air ambulance service is used for emergency medical assistance in situations where either a traditional ambulance cannot easily or quickly reach the scene or the patient needs to be repositioned at a distance where air transportation is most practical. It is also indispensable when the patient is in a remote area and time is critical.
Air ambulances can be airplanes or helicopters. Air ambulance operates both, domestic and international, providing inter-facility medical transport of patients requiring various levels of assistance. They are often loaded with the most important equipment for emergency medical procedures. Air ambulance crews are pilots with experienced in flying in difficult conditions, paramedics or emergency medical technicians, nurses and a physician. Every member of an air ambulance crew are highly trained and able to work under high stress. They all provide the necessary support and medical care to the patients in flight.
9/11
Today, Americans solemnly remembered and mourned the lives lost seven years ago in the worst terror attacks on the nation, a tragedy that President Bush said brought "extraordinary acts of courage" and heroism from ordinary citizens. 2,749 people died in the collapse of the twin towers (World trade Center), 184 people died when a jetliner flew into the Pentagon and 40 people aboard United Flight 93 died in the Pennsylvania field.
Photo by: Bert Is Evil!
YouTube: Charice to sing with Celine Dion in Madison Square Garden
By Ramil Digal Gulle, abs-cbnNEWS.com |
"Hi Charice. Hi sweetheart. I have to tell you that I am speechless, to start with--and it's not a good way to start--I have, hmm, I have heard you sing. I have seen some, a little bit of your life story. And I am extremely ecstatic like the rest of the world who is watching right now. I can tell you that we have lots of things in common. And I also had a mother, still have a mother, who is my strength. My passion I carry in my heart. And so my beauty. And David Foster, you cannot even think of finding somebody even better than that to bring the best out of you. You have more talent than most people."
These were the words of a mother with a seven-year-old son who spoke to 15-year-old Filipina singer Charice Pempengco during an episode of Oprah. Charice, who has been the toast of music lovers all over the world, has probably heard similar praise before.
The difference is, the mother speaking via video conference from Washington, D.C. happens to be Celine Dion.
The magical moment, the words, the shocked expression on Charice's face when she realizes it's Celine Dion talking to her, are all captured in a YouTube link sent to abs-cbnNEWS.com. It's all there at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AkLjVJOH41U
But that's not all. Dion goes on with her message to Charice with even more good news for the young Filipina:
"You can sing. You can speak and sing with your heart. You can play the guitar... And you can have dreams because your life story is quite a painful one. Thank God your strength comes from your mother and your heart will go on and I'm pretty sure of that.
"And if I may I would love to propose something. I would love to do something very special with you. Next week, I'm gonna be singing at Madison Square Garden and I would love to ask you to come and sing a duet with me. And we can sing together. Maybe we can sing "Because You Loved Me", and maybe we can dedicate this song to your mother. So I hope you can travel and come in New York to meet with me," Dion told Charice.
According to www.oprah.com, Dion will perform at Madison Square Garden on September 15 and 16. (For the complete list of tour dates and venues go to this link: http://www.oprah.com/article/oprahshow/20080908_tows_celine)
Dream come true
Charice has met with a measure of international success but that moment with Dion is so far the peak experience for the former. Charice has always been open about her admiration for Dion, revealing that the very first song she learned to perform was the Canadian superstar's "My Heart Will Go On" which was the love theme of the Hollywood global blockbuster "Titanic".
It wasn't exactly God speaking to Charice, but that was probably the closest the Filipina singer could get to a similar experience. This was Celine Dion inviting her to sing a duet in Madison Square Garden!
No other Filipino singer has ever been bestowed with such an honor by a singer of such immense, global stature as Dion.
Dion in her message also told Oprah, "You have somebody amazing", referring to the Filipina.
Dion, who earlier told Charice that she could find no better person than David Foster to bring out her talent, then told Foster:
"David, take good care of that girl."
Dion is currently on a worldwide tour and will perform in every major city in North America. Dion's Madison Square Garden performance is part of that tour--and now Charice has received a personal invitation from the superstar to sing there as well.
Under wraps
abs-cbnNEWS.com a few months ago already received unconfirmed reports that there were talks for Charice to perform with "somebody really, really big" in the musical firmament. However, there was no way to confirm if the news was true, nor the identity of the "really big" music superstar.
All sources available to abs-cbnNEWS.com were keeping information about the talks very tightly under wraps.
Until the YouTube links were emailed to abs-cbnNEWS.com by an alert reader.
The Oprah episode did a substantial report about Charice, her career and the painful experiences in her life and her triumphs, including an exclusive performance with international tenor Andrea Bocelli in Tuscany. You can watch the report on http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ii4jUSmFwUA
Perhaps, this story of a young Filipina singer's success is just what we need to hear to make us feel better, especially with all the bad news coming to us about our Court of Appeals, which has begun to seem very unappealing by the day.
If only, like Charice, more of us could reach for better, loftier things for ourselves and our fellow Filipinos, at a time when even some supposedly honorable members of the judiciary seem to have become comfortable debasing themselves.
as of 09/10/2008 6:45 PM
Click Here to Read More..Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?
The new 10-million Zimbabwe note is the equivalent of about $4(US) at the dominant black market exchange rate. Zimbabweans will be soon lining their pockets with 10-million-dollar bills. The central bank announced last thursday it would increase the denomination of the nation's highest bank note more than tenfold to keep pace with the world's highest inflation rate, officially estimated at 25,000 percent annually. Independent financial institutions say real inflation is closer to 150,000 percent.
Zimbabwe is in there 10th year of economic crisis, marked by the world's highest rate of inflation, the fastest shrinking gross domestic product in a country not in a state of war, the most rapidly collapsing currency and unemployment of over 80%. A year ago, the highest denomination was 10,000 Zimbabwe dollars, then worth about $7, now it is worth about 1/3 of 1 cent (US).
Obama: 'Lipstick on a pig'
Amie Parnes reports from Lebanon, VA:
Obama poked fun of McCain and Palin's new "change" mantra.
"You can put lipstick on a pig," he said as the crowd cheered. "It's still a pig."
"You can wrap an old fish in a piece of paper called change. It's still gonna stink."
"We've had enough of the same old thing."
The crowd apparently took the "lipstick" line as a reference to Palin, who described the difference between a hockey mom and a pit bull in a single word: "lipstick."
UPDATE: The McCain campaign is now saying Obama called Palin a pig, which he didn't. The Obama campaign notes that "lipstick on a pig" is a fairly common idiom Obama often uses, as in a recent Washington Post interview. McCain has also used the phrase.
Though on a day when Obama's surrogates were joking that Palin's record can't be concealed with lipstick, it was hard for those following the campaign not to hear the echo.
UPDATE: Obama aide Anita Dunn responds to the McCain campaign's claim that Obama compared Palin to a pig:
Enough is enough. The McCain campaign’s attack tonight is a pathetic attempt to play the gender card about the use of a common analogy – the same analogy that Senator McCain himself used about Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton’s health care plan just last year. This phony lecture on gender sensitivity is the height of cynicism and lays bare the increasingly dishonorable campaign John McCain has chosen to run.
'Fringe,' 'Privileged' Make Their Debuts Tonight
Roger Catlin | TV EYE
September 9, 2008
Joshua Jackson and Anna Torv star in "Fringe" tonight at 8 on Fox. It begins with a plane crash. (MCT / September 7, 2008)
J.J. Abrams' new series, " Fringe" (Fox, 8 p.m.), begins like his " Lost," with an opening airline tragedy setting the stage for the rest of the series. But the premiere drags on more like "Alias," with Anna Torv portraying the female agent trying to crack the mysteries of the dead plane, whose inhabitants' skin has melted off.
She works with a discredited scientist whose first idea is to cook up LSD. Hoping to grow a feverish fan base like that of "Lost," they drop all kinds of clues, visual and otherwise, in a manner that seems forced. Still, this may represent the best the fall has to offer.
Tonight's other premiere, "Privileged" (The CW, 9 p.m.) is yet another show about teens in the realm of the super-rich. This one is set in Palm Beach, where the super-quirky Megan (JoAnna Garcia of "Reba") has been hired to tutor a couple of the most spoiled brats. Meant to complement the new "90210" (The CW, 8 p.m.), it's more likely to be overshadowed by it.
Remote Patrol
With conventions over, the next big thing on the political calendar is the debates. To prepare, frequent moderator Jim Lehrer looks back on highlights from past debates. "Debating Our Destiny II" (CPTV, 9 p.m.) updates the original 2000 show that covered debates back to 1976, with new interviews from all but one of those involved in the last two cycles of debates. There's too much to cover in an hour, and it goes by quite quickly.
Denis Leary hosts the fifth "Fashion Rocks" ( CBS, 9 p.m.), taped Friday at Radio City Music Hall, featuring Justin Timberlake, Beyoncé, Black Eyed Peas, Kid Rock, Keith Urban, Lil' Wayne, Mariah Carey, Rihanna, Chris Brown and Lynyrd Skynrd in various duets.
The most annoying collection of people on TV today is, without a doubt, the stylist and staff of "The Rachel Zoe Project" (Bravo, 11 p.m.), the newest in the network's effort, after "Flipping Out" and "Million Dollar Listing," to present America's most off-putting people.
BET's first scripted show is a fresh take on the black sitcom, with a singular point of view. A comic named Hadjii wrote, produces and stars in "Somebodies" (BET, 10:30 p.m.). It's worth watching.
Susan Koch does a splendid job covering the sport and the social issues surrounding the Homeless World Cup soccer tournament in her compelling documentary "Kicking It" (ESPN2, 9 p.m.), narrated by Colin Farrell.