Bush Bombs Microsoft

Apple is HUGE

Apple is HUGE. Take a bite of my iPod!

G-ZUS LOVES...

30. January 2006

30. January 2006

Brokeback Mountain Wins Most Golden Globes

Honoring political bents without off-putting podium vents, the 63rd annual Golden Globe Awards sparked show-biz's awards season Monday night with wins for Brokeback Mountain as best movie drama and Walk the Line as best musical or comedy.
Line also won two top Globes for actors, while Mountain also won for directing and screenplay.
With no host, just a parade of gowned and tuxedoed presenters, the show zipped through 24 awards for TV and film excellence, spreading the wealth to new faces (Steve Carell for TV's The Office) along with the old (no-show Paul Newman for TV movie Empire Falls). Sir Anthony Hopkins, 68, was honored with the lifetime Cecil B. DeMille Award.
Underdog film newcomer Felicity Huffman was the night's most heartening winner, taking best actress for a film drama for playing a man bent on becoming a woman in Transamerica. Philip Seymour Hoffman — his "knees shaking" — was equally agog for being named best actor for a drama as the flamboyantly gay Truman Capote in Capote.
But Brokeback Mountain's gay-cowboy drama led film winners with four Globes, from director Ang Lee to best original song, A Love That Will Never Grow Old, to screenwriters Diana Ossana and Texan Larry McMurtry.
But for all the stars' preening, politics — not fluff — often reigned, including George Clooney's win as best supporting actor in a drama for oil biz exposé Syriana.
"These are tough questions to ask," he said of the film, then made way for Weisz to claim her Globe for best supporting actress in a drama for pharmaceutical-shenanigan saga The Constant Gardener.
Similarly, best foreign film didn't go to inspired Chinese action flick Kung Fu Hustle, but to Palestine's Paradise Now, about suicide bombers in Tel Aviv.
Honors for politicking also went to TV, with Geena Davis taking best actress in a TV drama as the first woman president in Commander in Chief. But the Globes also celebrated women's naughty side, with Desperate Housewives winning as best TV musical or comedy series. Best TV drama went to the supernatural Survivor, aka Lost.

Gore Calls for Investigation of Illegal Bush Acts

Former Vice President Al Gore, charging that President Bush's record on civil liberties posed a "grave danger" to America's constitutional freedoms, on Monday urged the appointment of a special counsel to investigate Bush's authorization of warrantless domestic surveillance by the National Security Agency.
In a detailed and impassioned speech sponsored by liberal and conservative groups, Gore said that although much remained unknown about the spying program, "what we do know … virtually compels the conclusion that the president of the United States has been breaking the law, repeatedly and insistently."
Gore, the Democratic nominee who lost to Bush in the bitterly disputed 2000 presidential race, also said Congress "should hold comprehensive … hearings into these serious allegations of criminal behavior on the part of the president."
Since acknowledging in December the existence of the surveillance program, Bush has said it targeted only people in the United States linked to terrorists and "is fully consistent with my constitutional responsibilities and authorities."
Bush said that his constitutional power as commander in chief and the congressional resolution authorizing him to use military force in response to the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks provided a legal basis for such espionage activities.
Many Democrats and some Republicans have disputed those assertions, and the nonpartisan Congressional Research Service, in a study released this month, questioned the surveillance's legality.

Music With a Twist: Sony's Gay Music

Sony Music and the founder of a gay cable network are forming a record label that will feature gay, lesbian and transgender musicians.
The label will be called Music With A Twist. It was co-founded by Matt Farber, who created the Logo channel to target gay audiences.
The label plans to use talent scouts to find emerging artist who have generated a buzz in the gay community and who have potential for mass appeal.
Financial terms fo the deal have not been disclosed.
Music With A Twist plans to sign artists covering a variety of music genres. It will also release compilations of songs by established artists.
Editor's note: "Music With A Twist" is a really lame, lame, LAME name for a music label. Hopefully, they think up something better soon.

Man in Flamboyant Dress Says NO to Gay Marriage

Pope Benedict, speaking out on hot topics that will figure in the campaigning for this year's Italian general elections, on Thursday condemned gay marriage and the use of the so-called "abortion pill."
He was immediately attacked by gay leaders and leftist politicians who accused him of interfering in domestic affairs.
Benedict, speaking to political leaders of the Rome region, said marriage was not a "casual, sociological entity" but "a question of the correct relationship between a man and a woman."
Italy goes to the polls on April 9 and the Church's position on a host of issues could play a significant role in the result.
The elections will pit former European Commission president Romano Prodi's center-left grouping known as "The Union" against Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's ruling center-right.
Italy's Catholic Church has already served notice to the center-left that it will fight any move to recognize civil partnership for unwed heterosexual couples and gay couples.
Prodi has promised some form of recognition for unmarried couples but has stopped short of supporting gay marriage.
In his address, the Pope said the defense of traditional marriage was "not a peculiarity of Catholic moral teaching but part of an elementary truth regarding our common humanity."
"The Pope is interfering heavily in Italian politics and behaving like the leader of a political party," said Franco Grillini, a leftist parliamentarian who is gay.
Gay unions are already legal in several European countries, including traditionally Catholic Spain. Britain last month introduced a law allowing gays to formalize their relationships.
Italy's center-left supports legal recognition for gay or unwed heterosexual couples similar to that in France, which in 1999 granted all couples the right to form civil unions. French unmarried couples have the right to joint social security, limited inheritance rights and other benefits.

Tom Cruise: Satan's Minion

Swank: "Cruise furthers the cult of Scientology as Satan uses this means by which to direct eternal souls away from Christ." Even after selling his soul to Satan and hoodwinking Katie Holmes, Cruise cannot dispell the gay rumors.

According to late news, Hollywood superstar Tom Cruise has been accused by an American pastor of working for Satan, because of his Scientology beliefs.
Cruise, who is arguably Hollywood's most outspoken member of the controversial Church of Scientology and joined in 1990, while married to Mimi Rogers, was accused by the pastor of directing the eternal souls away from Christ.
Pastor J. Grant Swank Jr has written on the PostChronicle website: "Satan takes all praise and glory from Redeemer Christ for all honor and esteem granted [Scientology founder L. Ron] Hubbard and his wild spheres of inner ascendancy,"
"Cruise, like many other famous individuals, particularly actors, furthers the cult of Scientology as Satan uses this means by which to direct eternal souls away from Christ to Hubbard."
Recently Cruise has been reported to have risen to one of the highest echelons of the Church of Scientology, known as "Operating Thetan Seven" or OT-VII , and it has been suggested that Cruise's increasing willingness to talk openly about Scientology may be a reflection of this.
Cruise's fiancée, Katie Holmes, has recently begun studying Scientology, which Cruise says does not conflict with her Roman Catholic upbringing.
As of 2005, Tom Cruise has begun campaigning on behalf of the Church of Scientology before politicians and government officials around the world.

Eminem Going At It Again

Slim Shady and his ex-wife are going to get married again.
Kim Mathers has applied for a license to marry Marshall Bruce Mathers III, aka Eminem, the Macomb County clerk's office said Wednesday. The license was to be ready on Thursday.
The couple has 33 days from the application date to remarry in Michigan, but information on the wedding has been scant since the rap superstar announced in December that the two would get back together.
Eminem and the woman known to hip-hop fans merely as "Kim" reconciled in late 2004. They had married in 1999 and divorced in 2001 in an ugly legal fight that included a custody battle over his young daughter.
Both grew up in suburbs along Eight Mile Road, Detroit's northern border.

Britney Beats Christina and Mariah... at Being Worst Dressed

At about the same time each year, 10 women in Hollywood are recognized by Mr. Blackwell, a former designer/self-appointed critic whose principal accomplishment in the world of fashion has been to make a name for himself by slamming celebs for fashion faux pas committed over the course of the previous 12 months. Blackwell's 46th annual "Worst Dressed" list — riddled with big names and unrestrained, stinging, and often rhyming barbs — anoints Britney Spears 2005's queen of fashion don'ts.
According to The Associated Press, Blackwell blasted Britney's style, calling it "over-the-hill Lolita," and stating that "[w]hen it comes to Couture Chaos, this Tacky Terror should take a bow."
Others to receive Blackwell's seal of disapproval included Paris Hilton — a repeat offender who's made the list three years running — who he said "still looks like yesterday's cheesecake ... with a side of kitsch;" Mary-Kate Olsen, who Blackwell said dresses in "bag lady rags" and looks "depressingly decayed;" and Jessica Simpson, who he said "resembles a cut-rate Rapunzel — slingin' hash in a Vegas diner."
Blackwell set his sights on Lindsay Lohan ("The Teen Scream defines fashion fright," he wrote. "Looks like she's aged 30 years overnight"), Mariah Carey ("The world applauds your musical emancipation — but please leave that body to our imagination"), Anna Nicole Smith (or in Blackwell's words, "Queen Kong"), Eva Longoria ("Gorgeous face, garish taste. ... What a waste"), Renée Zellweger ("She looks like a painted pumpkin on a pogo stick") and Shakira ("Coiffure by Medusa, clothes by the Marquis De Sade").
But Blackwell's game isn't all about the hate. He had kinder words for some of Hollywood's best-clad ladies. Natalie Portman, Reese Witherspoon, Kate Moss, Kirsten Dunst, Kathy Hilton, Nicole Kidman and Scarlett Johansson are among those dubbed the "Fabulous Fashion Independents of 2005" by Blackwell.

How Many Patches Before Windows Falls Apart??

Microsoft released two more critical patches on Tuesday - days after it released an emergency fix for a critical WMF vulnerability that has been exploited by hackers and virus writers. The two latest updates - which, unlike the WMF patch, came out as part of Microsoft's regular Patch Tuesday update cycle - fix a flaw in the way Microsoft Windows processes embedded web fonts.
Exploitation of these vulnerabilities creates a means for hackers to execute arbitrary code or cause a denial of service on a vulnerable system. The earlier WMF vulnerability remains the easiest to exploit, but security vendors warn that the embedded web-forms flaw also caries a computer worm risk.
Alan Bentley, UK managing director at security tools firm PatchLink, commented: "It has clearly been a bad year for downloadable file formats in the Windows world and it is only 10 days into the New Year. The new patches show some critical issues in Microsoft WMF, MS-TNEF and Web Font download file formats that can all allow remote code execution.

Angelina Jolie Preggers with Brad Pitt's Baby

The actress Angelina Jolie is expecting a baby with fellow actor Brad Pitt, an American showbusiness magazine has reported.
According to People magazine, Jolie told a charity aid worker: "Yes, I'm pregnant."
Jolie is said to have made the comment in Santo Domingo, in the Dominican Republic, where she is filming The Good Shepherd with Matt Damon.
She is also working with Yele Haiti, a charity for the empowerment of Haitian citizens.
The pregnancy has been confirmed by representatives of both stars, People magazine added, and the baby is said to be due in the summer.
It would be Jolie's first biological child. She already has two adopted children, son Maddox, four, from Cambodia, and one-year-old daughter Zahara, from Ethiopia.
Pitt, 42, who has no children from his four-year marriage to Jennifer Aniston, has talked of wanting a family for years. Last month it was announced that he was seeking to become the adoptive father of Jolie's children.
Pitt and Aniston announced their separation a year ago, and Aniston filed for divorce in March, citing irreconcilable differences. Pitt has denied that Jolie was the reason for the split.

It's All Mac, Baby.

Steve Jobs ``reintroduced'' people to Apple computers Tuesday at Macworld -- unveiling the company's first Intel-powered machines as part of the company's strategy to be at the center of people's digital lives.
The launch of a new iMac and the debut of the MacBook Pro laptop with Intel chips came six months earlier than the Cupertino company said they would -- an impressive bit of engineering muscle that surprised Apple watchers.
Jobs & Co. even persuaded Intel Chief Executive Paul Otellini to help usher in the new era. Arriving in a cloud of smoke wearing a clean-room ``bunny'' suit, Otellini declared, ``Steve, I want to report that Intel is ready.'' The setup harkened back to Intel commercials in the 1990s, in which clean-room workers danced to disco music.
``It's Macworld. We are going to spend the rest of the day talking about the Mac,'' Jobs said shortly into his keynote speech before a jammed Moscone Center auditorium.
Focusing on its computers was an attempt by Jobs to show the company hasn't become all-iPod, all-iTunes, all the time. Rather than just making digital music and video available over the Internet, Apple wants to show people it is producing machines beyond the iPod on which people can watch, listen and store their entertainment.
``This is a company that helps shape the vision and direction of the industry,'' said American Technology Research analyst Shaw Wu. ``Apple made portable music cool again. For the longest time, it wasn't cool.''

New application for iLife

In addition to the new computers, Jobs showed off the latest version of Apple's digital lifestyle software, iLife '06, which includes a new application called iWeb. The application allows a person to publish a Web site for blogs, photos, video and podcasting on the company's .Mac online service.

And while the company focused on all things Mac Tuesday, it is clear that more announcements will come later this year. Analysts speculate the new offerings could include a plasma TV, a new iPod shuffle and a living-room device to bring music and video from the Internet to the television.
Jobs said the entire Mac computer line will get a new Intel engine by year's end.
``We have a lot of launch vehicles for the rest of the year'' to introduce new gadgets, said Dave Russell, senior director of Apple's portable and wireless group. ``It used to be Macworld. This Macworld was about the Mac. If we do nothing else than invite people to take another look at the Mac, we'll be happy.''
The new iMac -- which still has all its components built into a slender monitor that's available at 17 or 20 inches wide -- will be twice as fast as the previous version. It also comes with Front Row software and a remote that allows a person to use an iMac from across the room -- to listen to music, flip through photo slide shows or watch videos.
The MacBook Pro -- in a slick silver case and only an inch thick and weighing 5.6 pounds -- clocks in four times faster than its predecessor, the PowerBook G4. Both machines will run on Intel's new chip, the Core Duo processor, which combines two processors onto one chip. The Core Duo allows the computers to run multiple programs at the same time, but use a third less battery power and generate less heat.
``When you get your hands on one of these machines, I think you're going to like them,'' Jobs said. ``We could not be happier.''

Quick turnaround

Intel and Apple announced their partnership in June, and, at the time, many thought such a quick turnaround wouldn't be possible.
``It was engineering, it was challenging, it was fun,'' Otellini said. ``We had over 1,000 people working on this.''
Rick Doherty, an analyst at Envisioneering Group, said Apple could sell as many as 8 million to 10 million of the speedy new Macs this year as consumers who own iPods begin to look at the company's other offerings. In 2005, it sold about 4 million Macs.
``This proves that nobody can engineer or move in the market as fast as Apple,'' Doherty said. ``It's just amazing. This speed will cause a lot of comparisons'' to computers that run on rival Microsoft's Windows operating system.
``The Mac is back,'' he said.
It's not that the Apple vision is a revolutionary one, Wu observed.
But the company has a way of turning bland beige computer boxes into white objects of desire. And all the pieces fit well together, from the software that operates the thin, portable iPod music players to the iTunes Web site that delivers the songs, and now video.
``It's like a symphony,'' Wu said. ``Everything has to work in sync. That has been the biggest problem Apple's competitors face. Even at CES, with all of these announcements -- a lot of these products are not integrated. Remember, the iPod has been out for four years. Every year, you hear it's going to die, and every year they sell more. Apple is extending its franchise into other areas.''

No video offerings

If there was any disappointment, it was the lack of a big announcement about more video offerings through the company's iTunes online music and video store, Wu said. Apple, a pioneer in selling video downloads, announced Tuesday that episodes of NBC's ``Saturday Night Live'' will be available to buy through iTunes.
In October, Apple and Walt Disney created a partnership to allow people to download episodes of ABC's hit TV shows such as ``Lost'' and ``Desperate Housewives'' through iTunes.

Jobs began his hour-and-45-minute presentation with a glimpse of the financial power the iPod brings to the company.
During the holiday season, Apple recorded its highest quarterly revenue in its 30-year history, $5.7 billion, Jobs said. About 26 million people visited the company's 135 retail stores during the holidays. And Apple sold 14 million iPods, blowing away the most optimistic expectations of analysts. The company sold 4.5 million iPods for the same period a year ago.
Apple shares closed at an all-time high of $80.86, and continued to rise in after-hours trading.
The Macworld staging continued to the very end, when Jobs and Otellini were joined by former Intel chief Andy Grove. The three left the stage and waded through the audience.

Republicans Protect Alito from Democratic Questioning

Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito came under aggressive questioning Wednesday from Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee who accused him of inconsistencies on issues ranging from voting rights to ethics to his membership in a conservative organization.
On the third day of confirmation hearings, Democrats also expressed frustration as Alito described the landmark 1973 ruling legalizing abortion as "an important precedent" but declined to echo Chief Justice John Roberts, who has called it settled law.
Republicans on the panel dismissed the criticism and defended Alito, President Bush's choice to replace retiring Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, as a conservative jurist with a solid 15-year record on the federal appeals court.
Republicans hold the majority in the Senate 55-44 with one independent and Alito is expected to win confirmation to the high court when the Senate votes later this month. The Democrats' only hope of scuttling the nomination rests with defections among the GOP ranks and solid opposition among its own members.
After challenging the 55-year-old Alito's court record and Reagan-era writings on Tuesday, Democrats took a new tack in accusing him of inconsistency.
"A number of us have been troubled by what we see as inconsistencies in some of the answers," Sen. Pat Leahy of Vermont, the panel's ranking Democrat, told Alito.
Sen. Richard Durbin of Illinois cited Alito's testimony Tuesday in which he said he would have an open mind if faced with the question of abortion on the Supreme Court. The senator said the nominee's writings and testimony suggested otherwise, with "a mind that sadly is closed in some instances."
Chief Justice John Roberts has described Roe v. Wade, the 1973 ruling, as settled law. Alito said the ruling "is an important precedent of the Supreme Court," but he declined Durbin's repeated prodding to use the term "settled law."
On the Republican side, Sen. Sam Brownback of Kansas said some Supreme Court decisions are indefensible and invite reconsideration. The court, Brownback said, had revisited some 200 cases for that very reason.

James Frey Does Larry King

James Frey, whose best-selling memoir about substance abuse, "A Million Little Pieces," has come under intense scrutiny for alleged fabrications, has agreed to give his first interview since the controversy broke a few days ago.
He will appear Wednesday night on CNN's "Larry King Live."
Bridget Leininger of CNN said Tuesday that Frey, whose 2003 book became a sensation last fall after Oprah Winfrey picked it for her book club, would not be interviewed for the entire hour-long program, but offered no other details. Spokeswomen for Frey and for his publisher, Doubleday, declined comment about his reasons for doing the show.
Frey's book has sold millions of copies, making him a hero among recovering addicts. But on Sunday an investigative Web site alleged substantial inaccuracies, accusing him of making inflated claims about his criminal record and about his involvement in an accident that killed two high school students.
"Police reports, court records, interviews with law enforcement personnel, and other sources have put the lie to many key sections of Frey's book," according to an article that appeared on http://www.thesmokinggun.com.
Frey did acknowledge some embellishments to The Smoking Gun but his only comments since the story came out have been in a posting on his Web site, defending his work. "I stand by my book, and my life," he wrote.
Also Tuesday, Doubleday issued a statement of support:
"In publishing Mr. Frey, we decided `A Million Little Pieces' was his story, told in his own way, and he represented to us that his version of events was true to his recollections.
"Recent accusations against him notwithstanding, the power of the overall reading experience is such that the book remains a deeply inspiring and redemptive story for millions of readers."
Doubleday spokeswoman Alison Rich acknowledged that the publisher is in "constant communication" with Frey, but declined to discuss the content of those conversations or any specific allegations about his work.
"We don't deem the allegations necessary to investigate," she said.

Colin Farrell Licks Pussy, Squelches Gay Rumors

Colin Farrell has forced an internet site to close down after it attempted to sell copies of a sex tape which shows the actor engaging in explicit acts with playboy model Nicole Narain.
The 'Alexander' star and the glamour model were left fuming after discovering the tape - which is alleged to show the two stars engaged in a variety of sex acts, including several positions from the Kama Sutra - for sale for $14.9 on website dirtycolin.com.
Narain's lawyer, Leodis Matthews, and Farrell's lawyer, Martin Singer, joined forces to get the Federal District Court in Los Angeles to shut down the website, and has warned legal action against anyone who attempts to sell the illicit recording.
Farrell's publicist, Danica Smith, said: "A website attempting to distribute an unauthorized tape of Colin Farrell was shut down. Mr. Farrell will take legal action against anyone who tries to distribute this tape."
Matthews said: "We're extremely upset. This is a black-market release. Nicole is not getting a dime from this. We're outraged - $14.95 is a ridiculous figure."
A Superior Court judge in Los Angeles has issued an order temporarily barring the sale, distribution or display of the tape - which also contains footage of a naked Narain poking out her pierced tongue and winking at the camera, while Colin says: "I could do this for breakfast, lunch and dinner."

It's All MacBook Pro: Fastest Notebook Ever

Of course, no Steve Jobs keynote would be complete without his trademark “one more thing.” This year’s was a doozy: a new laptop computer called the MacBook Pro. That’s right — no more PowerBook.
The MacBook pro features an Intel Duo Core chip that runs four to five times faster than the PowerBook G4, according to Jobs — he called it the fastest notebook ever. All this, in a chassis that’s actually slimmer than Apple’s 17-inch PowerBook G4 model, and weighs in at 5.6 pounds. It features a 15.4-inch LCD screen that’s as bright as Apple’s desktop Cinema Displays.
The new MacBook Pro features a built-in iSight camera, much like Apple’s iMac systems, and an integrated InfraRed (IR) sensor supports Apple’s remote control, which can operate Front Row — the software that helps turn a Mac into a media center, which Apple first introduced in a refreshed iMac model in 2005.
Apple is taking orders today, but does not expect to begin shipping the MacBook Pro until sometime in February. A 1.67GHz model will cost $1,999. A 1.83GHz model will cost $2,499.

Apple's Holiday Revenue at $5.7B

Apple Computer Inc. on Tuesday reported a record $5.7 billion in sales during the holiday quarter, topping Wall Street expectations as it sold nearly three times as many iPods as it did in the same period a year ago.
Speaking at the Macworld Expo, CEO Steve Jobs said the company has now sold 42 million of the popular digital music players.
"That's 100 sold every minute 24-7," he said during the Macworld Expo show Tuesday. "And it still wasn't enough."
Apple sold 14 million iPods in the holiday quarter and its iTunes music store has sold 850 million songs to date, said Jobs.
In his speech, Jobs said Apple also updated its iLife digital lifestyle suite, building in support for the automatic sharing of photos among family friends -- even those without Macintosh computers.
The latest version of iPhoto will let Mac shutterbugs share pictures much like bloggers and podcasters share content.
"This is podcasting for photos," Jobs said.
With a few clicks, users can post an online feed to which others -- including Windows users -- can subscribe. As changes are made to the album, subscribers automatically receive the updates.
The new photo program also now supports more than 250,000 photos and enables one-click support for giving pictures an antique or other effect. It also includes a template for creating picture-based calendars, he said.
The iLife suite also will enable the one-click export of iMovie video to iPods as well as a simple, drag-and-drop method of creating DVDs in iDVD. That program also will support third-party DVD burners.
Shares of Apple jumped $3.95, or 5.2 percent, to $80 on the Nasdaq Stock Market.

Intel Inside the New iMac

Using the new Core Duo chip from Intel, Apple's new iMac, which goes on sale today in 17 and 20-inch versions, is two to three times faster than its predecessor, according to Jobs' keynote at MacWorld. It's available in the same design as before, with the same prices.
Both cores of the new dual-core Intel chip are faster than the G5 was, according to the benchmarks Jobs showed on the screen. Mac OS X v10.4.4, which ships on the new machine, is running natively on the Intel microprocessor. What's more, Apple's new iLife '06 and iWork '06 applications have been produced as "universal binaries," which means they'll also run natively.
The new Intel iMac begins shipping TODAY!

Apple iPod Radio Remote

Apple Computer Inc on Tuesday unveiled a remote control with FM radio capabilities for its iPod music player at the annual MacWorld Expo.
The iPod Radio Remote enables users to skip tracks and adjust the volume of their iPod even when it's in a pocket or backpack and listen to FM radio stations while displaying station and song information on their iPod screen.

What Will Steve Jobs Pull Out of His Hat (or Pocket)?

Apple Computer Inc. had no booth of its own at last week's massive annual Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. It didn't need one.
Apple's iPods were everywhere, the name of the company on myriad lips.
CEO Steve Jobs prefers to be the star of his own show and that's the plan Tuesday as he takes center stage at the Macworld Expo. Apple observers will be amazed if Jobs doesn't announce a riveting new product to keep up his company's steamrolling momentum.
Last year, Jobs used his keynote at the annual San Francisco conference to unveil the iPod shuffle -- the company's first flash memory-based audio player -- and the Mac mini, Apple's first foray in the affordable PC market.
On the eve of this year's Macworld, speculation revolved around Apple's planned move to microprocessors made by Intel Corp. The two companies announced a partnership in June, and many analysts expect Apple to consummate the deal with a product as early as Tuesday -- six months ahead of schedule.
Whether the union delivers a more powerful Macintosh laptop or a Mac mini geared to fit more comfortably in the living room to display music, photos, video through a television remains to be seen.
But any new product could help buttress the rising fortunes of Apple, which has been on a revenue and stock market tear.
In October, the Cupertino, Calif.-based company posted record revenue of nearly $14 billion for its full fiscal year. Fourth-quarter income more than quadrupled on sizzling sales of iPods and strong computer shipments.
Apple stock, which closed Monday at $76.05, down 25 cents, has more than doubled from a year ago.
"We view this keynote as a milestone and catalyst as it could set the tone for Apple and technology in 2006," American Technology Research analyst Shaw Wu wrote in a note Monday, reiterating his buy rating.
Many anticipate Apple will also seek to stake out a spot in the so-called digital living room, where the worlds of computing and home entertainment centers converge.
Apple seemed to lay the foundation for such a move last fall when it incorporated a new application called "Front Row" in its new iMac G5 computers that allows users to access music, movies or photos from across a room using a remote control.
The company also jumpstarted the video-on-the-go movement with its introduction of a video-playing iPod and announcements of the online sale of hit TV shows and music videos for $1.99 each.

Hollywood Shoots Self in Foot

It's getting harder to be a film award judge all over the world. According to the Boing Boing blog, British Film Academy screeners were recently sent copies of Steven Spielberg's latest movie "Munich" encoded to play only in North American DVD players . The awards panelists had been previously been sent special DVD players from the Dolby-owned Cinea, which encrypts the movies so they are harder to pirate, but the wrong region code made this batch of discs wholly unplayable.
The studios are doing their utmost to make sure these awards candidates don't leak out onto the Internet, and wind up being swapped on file-swapping networks. But this might not be quite the balance they're looking for.

Pink Rides the Motocross

Punky pop singer Pink and her thrill-seeker fiance, motocross racer and “The Surreal Life” co-star Carey Hart, got hitched Saturday in Costa Rica, reports People magazine.
The tattooed twosome exchanged vows in front of more than 100 guests (including Lisa Marie Presley) in a nondenominational sunset ceremony on the beach at the Four Seasons resort.
“We just love the beach, so we knew we wanted it to be at the beach,” the 26-year-old singer explained to People.
“We wanted it very fun and non-traditional,” Hart added. “We’re spiritual, but we’re not religious.”
Pink, whose real name is Alecia Moore, and Hart met at the 2001 X Games, broke up for a while in 2003, and got engaged in June.
The unconventional songstress took a chance and proposed to her beau while he sped around the track during a competition in Mammoth Lakes, Calif.
She held up a sign that read, “Will You Marry Me?” as he raced past. On his following lap, the singer posted another sign that read, “I’m serious!” Hart got the message and ditched his race to accept!
For Hart, the answer was easy. “I knew within the first few weeks after meeting her that I wanted to be with her for the rest of my life,” he told People.
In November he disclosed that it is their humility that keeps their relationship real. “I ride dirt bikes, she sings; but I’m still the same white-trash kid, and she’s the same girl from Philly.”
Hart also revealed how he plans to prove his devotion to Pink. “Once we get married, I’m gonna tattoo her name down my ring finger. I’m a sap,” he said.
This is the first marriage for both Pink and Hart, who plan to go snowboarding along with their four dogs for their honeymoon.

Bushism: Alito Will Soon Be Qualified

What a difference a word makes. President Bush takes enough shit for abusing the English language on a daily basis. Though he apparently also gets by with a little help from his friends. In today’s emailed remarks to the WH Press Pool Bush is quoted as saying:
“Sam Alito is imminently qualified to be a member of the bench. I'm not the only person who feels that way.”
You know, as in he’s about to become qualified. We’re not sure if that comes after surviving Chuck Schumer’s made-for-tv talking points, or after Alito assures the Judiciary Committee he does not in fact drink the blood of small children or maintain relations with the dead.
Anyway, about fifteen minutes later the WH Press Office was quick to email out a correction informing us that Bush said Alito is “eminently” qualified. As in, you know, actually well qualified.

Ride the "Holy Roller" Roller CoasterFloat in the "Jesus Walked On Water" Swimming Pool

The Israeli government is planning to give up a large slice of land to American Christian evangelicals to build a biblical theme park by the Sea of Galilee where Jesus is said to have walked on water and fed 5,000 with five loaves and two fish.

A consortium of Christian groups, led by the television evangelist Pat Robertson, is in negotiation with the Israeli ministry of tourism and a deal is expected in the coming months. The project is expected to bring up to 1 million extra tourists a year but an undeclared benefit will be the cementing of a political alliance between the Israeli rightwing and the American Christian right.

However, the alliance has not been welcomed by all Israelis, including some who fear the ultimate aim of the evangelicals is the conversion of the Jews to Christianity rather than support for Israel.

Jonathan Pulik, a spokesman for the Israeli ministry of tourism, said the Christian market was very important for Israel's tourism industry. "We would like to give them more of a reason to come here. We would be willing to lease the land to them free of charge and they would finance the construction."

Did Jesus Exist? Of Course Not, But Italian Court to Decide

Forget the U.S. debate over intelligent design versus evolution.
An Italian court is tackling Jesus -- and whether the Roman Catholic Church may be breaking the law by teaching that he existed 2,000 years ago.
The case pits against each other two men in their 70s, who are from the same central Italian town and even went to the same seminary school in their teenage years.
The defendant, Enrico Righi, went on to become a priest writing for the parish newspaper. The plaintiff, Luigi Cascioli, became a vocal atheist who, after years of legal wrangling, is set to get his day in court later this month.
"I started this lawsuit because I wanted to deal the final blow against the Church, the bearer of obscurantism and regression," Cascioli told Reuters.
Cascioli says Righi, and by extension the whole Church, broke two Italian laws. The first is "Abuso di Credulita Popolare" (Abuse of Popular Belief) meant to protect people against being swindled or conned. The second crime, he says, is "Sostituzione di Persona," or impersonation.
"The Church constructed Christ upon the personality of John of Gamala," Cascioli claimed, referring to the 1st century Jew who fought against the Roman army.
A court in Viterbo will hear from Righi, who has yet to be indicted, at a January 27 preliminary hearing meant to determine whether the case has enough merit to go forward.
"In my book, 'The Fable of Christ,' I present proof Jesus did not exist as a historic figure. He must now refute this by showing proof of Christ's existence," Cascioli said.
Speaking to Reuters, Righi, 76, sounded frustrated by the case and baffled as to why Cascioli -- who, like him, came from the town of Bagnoregio -- singled him out in his crusade against the Church.
"We're both from Bagnoregio, both of us. We were in seminary together. Then he took a different path and we didn't see each other anymore," Righi said.
"Since I'm a priest, and I write in the parish newspaper, he is now suing me because I 'trick' the people."
Righi claims there is plenty of evidence to support the existence of Jesus, including historical texts.
He also claims that justice is on his side. The judge presiding over the hearing has tried, repeatedly, to dismiss the case -- prompting appeals from Cascioli.
"Cascioli says he didn't exist. And I said that he did," he said. "The judge will decide if Christ exists or not."
Even Cascioli admits that the odds are against him, especially in Roman Catholic Italy.
"It would take a miracle to win," he joked.

First Native American Gay Marriage (In Modern Times) Upheld

The top court of the Cherokee Nation has declined to strike down a gay marriage in what is seen as a pioneering case in American Indian country, the couple and officials said on Wednesday.
Cherokee tribal members Kathy Reynolds, 29, and Dawn McKinley, 34, married in May 2004 in Oklahoma, just weeks after the city of San Francisco ignited a national debate on gay marriage by briefly allowing same-sex couples to wed.
Gay rights advocates say the pair are the first registered same-sex marriage in Indian country.
Because tribal law at the time allowed same-sex marriages, a tribal clerk gave them a wedding certificate. But members in the Tribal Council sued, saying the marriage would damage the reputation of the Cherokees, and the law was later changed.
In a December 22 decision announced on Wednesday, the Judicial Appeals Tribunal of the Cherokee Nation, the tribe's highest court in Tahlequah, Oklahoma, rejected the request for an injunction against the marriage.
"Members of the Tribal Council, like private Cherokee citizens, must demonstrate a specific particularized harm," the court ruled. "In the present case, the Council members fail to demonstrate the requisite harm."
Historians say Native American culture before the arrival of European settlers tolerated homosexuality, although the settlers' religious teachings ultimately turned the tribes against it.
"Since the tribe has become so Westernized and adopted Christian religions and European ways, they strayed away from traditional Cherokee values of indifference," Reynolds told Reuters. "Cherokees are very private where they respect each other and respect how they live."

FEDERAL GOVERNMENT
The lawyer for the Tribal Council, Todd Hembree, said it was also possible that the U.S. government would have to recognize the marriage because of the sovereign status of Indian tribes, which could, in theory at least, make them eligible for federal tax benefits denied to date to gay couples.
Lena Ayoub, an attorney who represented Reynolds and McKinley, said the federal government has not recognized any same-sex state marriages to date and called the federal obligation to recognize sovereign tribal marriage "a very complicated area of the law."

Bush Continues His Quest to Turn the USA into a Soviet-Style Dictatorship: Begins Spying on Prominent Journalists

In an interview with NYT reporter and author James Risen recently, NBC News correspondent Andrea Mitchell asked this very pointed question about the Bush administration's domestic spying program:

MITCHELL: Do you have any information about reporters being swept up in this net? RISEN: No, I don't. It's not clear to me. That's one of the questions we'll have to look into the future. Were there abuses of this program or not? I don't know the answer to that MITCHELL: You don't have any information, for instance, that a very prominent journalist, Christiane Amanpour, might have been eavesdropped upon? RISEN: No, no I hadn't heard that.

After AMERICAblog highlighted the excerpt this afternoon, the reference to Amanpour was removed from the transcript. (Here is the edited version.)
Here are questions that deserve answers tonight:
> Why did Mitchell ask specifically about Amanpour?
> Does Amanpour believe she was eavesdropped upon? Does she have any evidence of this?
> Why did MSNBC.com remove the reference to Amanpour from the transcript?

David Letterman Rips Bill O'Reilly A New One

Bill joined David last night on the Late Show and found that Letterman wasn't buying his phony war on Christmas deal. David also wasn't happy about his attacking Cindy Sheehan, the Iraq war and a lot of what Bill has to say in general.

Before O'Reilly says something negative about Letterman, he should be reminded what Bill said about David in the past:

"Mr. Letterman is a smart guy who can spot a phony with telescopic accuracy and expects his guests to bring something to the table. If a guest begins to sink on this show, the bottom is a long way down."

I guess Bill has a long way to climb up.

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Cat Calls 911

Police aren't sure how else to explain it. But when an officer walked into an apartment Thursday night to answer a 911 call, an orange-and-tan striped cat was lying by a telephone on the living room floor. The cat's owner, Gary Rosheisen, was on the ground near his bed having fallen out of his wheelchair.
Rosheisen said his cat, Tommy, must have hit the right buttons to call 911.
"I know it sounds kind of weird," Officer Patrick Daugherty said, unsuccessfully searching for some other explanation.
Rosheisen said he couldn't get up because of pain from osteoporosis and ministrokes that disrupt his balance. He also wasn't wearing his medical-alert necklace and couldn't reach a cord above his pillow that alerts paramedics that he needs help.
Daugherty said police received a 911 call from Rosheisen's apartment, but there was no one on the phone. Police called back to make sure everything was OK, and when no one answered, they decided to check things out.
That's when Daugherty found Tommy next to the phone.
Rosheisen got the cat three years ago to help lower his blood pressure. He tried to train him to call 911, unsure if the training ever stuck.
The phone in the living room is always on the floor, and there are 12 small buttons -- including a speed dial for 911 right above the button for the speaker phone.
"He's my hero," Rosheisen said.

Lindsay Lohan Attacked

Lindsay Lohan was being treated at a hospital for an attack of asthma, her publicist said Tuesday.
"She is resting comfortably," spokeswoman Leslie Sloane said.
The 19-year-old actress-pop star was in Miami to celebrate New Year's Eve. She reportedly was admitted to the hospital Monday night.
Lohan has stared in "Herbie: Fully Loaded," "The Parent Trap" and "Mean Girls." She recently released her sophomore album, "A Little More Personal (Raw)."

New Disney/ABC Content for iPods and iTunes

The Walt Disney Company on Tuesday announced that it would offer additional content from many of its networks including ESPN and ABC Sports, ABC Entertainment and Touchstone Television, ABC Family, ABC News, Buena Vista Television, Disney Channel, and SOAPnet, as well as content produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation.
Sports fans will get a big boost as the network offers condensed versions of all four BCS Bowl Games, Tostitos Fiesta Bowl and Nokia Sugar Bowl, the Orange Bowl and the Rose Bowl.
Later this month ESPN will release the Best Of The X Games; “SportsCentury” interviews from ESPN Classic’s biography series; and select ESPN Original Entertainment programs — including “Knight School,” the forthcoming reality program featuring Texas Tech basketball coach Bobby Knight, which will premiere on iTunes.
Other Disney shows coming to iTunes include “Wildfire,” “Kim Possible,” “The Proud Family” and SOAPnet’s original biography series “Soapography.”
Disney also said that video podcasts of Good Morning America” and the “World News Tonight” webcast, as well as ABC News Now’s “Money Minute,” “Medical Minute” and “Buzz Cut” will be available.

Microsoft Windows Users At HUGE RISK: Do not view any images with your PC. BUY A MAC NOW!!!

The new year is off to a rocky start at Microsoft, where security experts are scrambling to confront a potentially massive virus threat to Windows PCs.
According to a report Tuesday in the Financial Times, the latest vulnerability involves a flaw which allows hackers to infect computers using programs inserted into image files. The threat was discovered last week. But it mushroomed over the weekend, when a group of hackers published the source code they used to exploit the flaw in WMF files.
What makes this threat particularly vicious, according to the Times, is that unwitting victims can infect their computers simply by viewing a web page, e-mail, or instant message that includes a contaminated image. That differs from most virus attacks, which require a user to actually download an infected file.
"The potential [security threat] is huge," Mikko Hypponen, chief research officer at F-Secure, an antivirus company, told the Times. "It's probably bigger than for any other vulnerability we've seen.
"Any version of Windows is vulnerable right now," said Mr. Hypponen, including every Windows system shipped since 1990.
Microsoft said in a security bulletin on its Web site, "we are working closely with our antivirus partners and aiding law enforcement in its investigation."

Narnia Topples Kong

The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe has toppled King Kong to reclaim the top spot at the US box office.
The adaptation of CS Lewis' story took $32.8m at the North American box office over the weekend and Monday, ending King Kong's two-week reign.
The Narnia movie also topped the international box office, taking $53.5m outside the US in that time.
US box office takings for 2005 totalled $8.9bn, down 5% from 2004, monitor Exhibitor Relations said.
The number of movie tickets sold in the US in 2005 fell by 7% to their lowest level since 1997.

US BOX OFFICE CHART
1. The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe
2. King Kong
3. Fun With Dick and Jane
4. Cheaper By the Dozen 2
5. Rumor Has It
6. The Family Stone
7. Memoirs of a Geisha
8. The Ringer
9. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
10. Munich
Source: Exhibitor Relations

Jim Carrey comedy Fun With Dick and Jane took $21m in North America over the holiday weekend, at number three in the box office chart.
Director Steven Spielberg's latest film Munich - about Israel's attempt to find Palestinian militants who killed 11 Israeli athletes at the 1972 Olympic Games - reached 10th place during its first week on limited release.
The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe, starring Tilda Swinton and James McAvoy, is the first of the Chronicles of Narnia series to be made into a big-budget feature film.
The Disney film follows the Pevensie children, who discover a wardrobe which is a gateway to the magical land of Narnia.
The movie has taken a total of $450.3m at the global box office - including North America - since its release last month.
In addition to its US success, the movie is currently number one in the UK, Australia, France, Germany and Russia among others.

New Boytoy for Kate Moss

Kate Moss has begun the new year with a new man on her arm.
Moss and her new love interest have been enjoying a skiing holiday in Aspen, Colorado, where they are staying in a chalet with members of Moss’s family.
Little is known about the mystery man but British tabloids report that his name is Jamie, he is a Briton and he is 20 years old, making him 11 years Moss’s junior.
It is believed Moss was introduced to Jamie, who has long hair and a nose ring, by mutual friend Sam Branson, the male model and would-be musician son of Sir Richard Branson.
Moss recently split from Babyshambles frontman Pete Doherty, 26, after being exposed by the Mirror newspaper for taking cocaine. Doherty is a self-confessed junkie and Moss is rumoured to be considering relocating to the US to escape his influence.

Eminem's Friend Obie Shot

Rapper Obie Trice was shot early Saturday morning in his native Detroit while driving on the freeway. The 28-year-old rapper and friend of Eminem was driving his SUV on the Lodge Freeway when the bullet flew through his rear window and hit him in the head. Police say that the bullet came from another vehicle on the freeway. Despite being injured, Trice was able to steer his car off of the freeway into Southfield, Michigan. Once off the road, his girlfriend contacted the police. Trice was taken to Providence hospital and was released a little later that day. His girlfriend was unharmed in the incident. Police are still searching for more information about the shooting.
Obie Trice’s second album on Eminem’s Shady Records, “Second Round on Me,” is scheduled for release this summer.

Pierce Brosnan As Father Christmas?

After a successful run in the movies as James Bond, Pierce Brosnan has moved on to a new chapter in his career as a successful producer and actor.
In the film "The Matador," Brosnan plays a conflicted hitman.
"It's a crisis of confidence, yeah," Brosnan said. "It's an outrageous little script that came across our desk and it's turned out to be this outrageous movie, too, written by Richard Shepard.
I play Julian Noble and he's in Mexico City and he realizes he can't kill people anymore. He's having a hard day at the office."
Noble is a loner who reaches out for a friendship with a businessman played by Greg Kinnear.
"It's really what happens when two guys meet at a bar," said Brosnan. "They meet in a bar in Mexico City and therein hangs the tale. My character is lost, adrift and saturated in booze and who knows what. Greg's character is this very affable, charming fellow from Denver in Mexico City for the weekend. We become good friends."
"It was a bit like a play, this film. The scenes are very long with 12- to 15-page scenes. It was a three-hander between Hope Davis, Greg and myself," he said.
Brosnan says the role was "complete liberation. I could go wherever I wanted to go with the performance, with the character. You kind of like the character. There is a vulnerability to this man. He is a pathetic vulgarian.
The film was first seen at Sundance in early 2005. Roger Ebert said it was the best acting Brosnan has ever done.
Brosnan has received a Golden Globe nomination as best actor in a musical, movie or comedy for his performance.
As for life after Bond, how does Brosnan really feel?
"It's a new chapter in my life and a new chapter for Daniel Craig who's going to do a great job. He's a great actor and a good mate and I wish him well."
Smith says see the movie for no other reason than the showstopping scene where Brosnan runs through a hotel lobby in nothing but his shoes and underwear.
Up next for Brosnan is a Civil war-era movie with Liam Neeson.