Archive for May 1st, 2008
- In: fans | for | Is | It | Madonna | New York Times | The | Wait | Worth
- Leave a Comment
Madonna performs at Roseland on Wednesday in New York City. More Photos >
Halfway through her 32-minute set on Wednesday night at the Roseland Ballroom in Manhattan, Madonna offered a message of sympathy.
“All you people I saw sleeping in the street last night,” she said, “this song is for you.”
It was “Hung Up,” about the agony of waiting. And as she finished the song, she added, just in case the message wasn’t clear: “Anybody who knows me knows how much I hate to wait.”
New York may be a city of the impatient, but for Madonna’s fans, Wednesday’s show proved that seeing her for free in a 2,200-capacity hall — minuscule by her usual touring standards — was something worth waiting for. And waiting for a very long time.
The line outside Roseland, on West 52nd Street, formed 60 hours before show time. By late Tuesday it had stretched around the block as the faithful stood and sat and slept and caffeinated themselves for the chance to score one of the 750 wrist bands that would guarantee free admission.
Erica Gabriel, a 28-year-old makeup artist, waited through the night on line with friends. Once duly wrist-banded some time after 6 a.m., she returned home to prepare the elaborate, swooping hairstyle and “stewardess-Madonna-tricky-tranny look” that she sported early Wednesday evening — as she waited on line again to receive a second wristband.
“Gays don’t camp out,” said one of Ms. Gabriel’s friends, as the group laughed, “but we’ll camp out for this.”
Even those who joined the queue relatively late proved to be professionals of a sort.
“I’m not fanatical,” said Walter Sharpe, 36, an interior designer from Brooklyn. “But I do collect Madonna magazine covers, and I’ve got maybe 170 of them.”
- In: entertainment | Gisele Bundchen | high-earning | list | Models | of | Reuters | tops
- Leave a Comment
(Reuters) – Brazilian Gisele Bundchen is the world’s top supermodel with estimated earnings of $35 million during the past year, according to new ranking released on Wednesday.
She more than doubled the estimated $14 million earned by Heidi Klum, who came in at No. 2 on the list by Forbes.com, followed by Kate Moss with $7.5 million, Adriana Lima with $7 million and Doutzen Kroes with $6 million.
Forbes.com said that although Bundchen finished her lucrative Victoria’s Secret contract last year, she continues to juggle 20 other modeling jobs.
“The 27-year-old continues to bag new contracts, noticeably with Pantene and a cosmetics giant yet to be named. Her face graces ads for Disney, Nivea, Vogue eyewear and Aquascutum, the U.K.-based luxury line,” Forbes.com said.
“Her line of Grendene sandals, Ipanema by Gisele, banks her about $6 million a year. And her romance with New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady keeps her in the tabloids,” it added.
The web site said that while Klum is still a Victoria’s Secret model, the mother of three is “more of a media and retail mogul” these days with her U.S. “Project Runway” and “Germany’s Next Top Model” hosting duties and lines of jewelry, jeans and skincare.
- In: A | ailing | Breaking Entertainment News | hits | Idol | note | on | Paula Abdul | Reuters | sour
- Leave a Comment
(Hollywood Reporter) – Scandal has always suited “American Idol.” From accusations of voting irregularities to the secret personal histories of contestants, Fox’s unequaled reality hit produces a flurry of new controversies every season.
Judge Paula Abdul alone has been responsible for countless woozy YouTube moments and at least one severe alleged infraction — a reported romantic relationship with a contestant during the show’s second season.
The more alarmed and critical the media headlines, the more “Idol” has thrived in the ratings.
“‘Idol’ is all about cast and controversy,” said Fox president of alternative entertainment Mike Darnell in a recent interview. “So as soon as you get the right ingredients, the ratings go up again.”
But with the show’s viewership levels currently at historic lows, will the latest “Idol” incident give the show a curiosity-driven viewership bump? Or further discourage its maturing audience?
On Tuesday’s episode, a last-minute procedural change resulted in the judges critiquing contestants’ first round of performances instead of waiting until the end of the second round. Abdul gave a negative review of contestant Jason Castro’s two songs.
- In: cheerleader | cover-up | cricket | in | Indian | Oddly Enough | Reuters
- Leave a Comment
drawControls();
(Reuters) – One Indian cricket team has withdrawn cheerleaders from matches while others are being told to cover up, after protests that their dances and skimpy outfits were offensive to conservative Indians.
Cheerleaders, many imported from abroad, were hired to liven up India’s new $900 million domestic cricket league in which eight teams play a shortened version of the traditional game.
But while drum players, blaring music and the presence of Bollywood stars cheering among spectators may have livened up stadiums, cheerleaders may be one spectacle too far.
“At the right time of course we will be open to this,” Vijay Vancheswar, vice-president of GMR group that owns the Delhi Daredevils, told local media on Wednesday.
“Having said that, it is a question of priorities and the priority now is to play cricket and there will be no cheerleaders for now,” he said.
The sight of many foreign women and Indians dancing in high boots and skimpy shorts sparked anger from both Hindu nationalists, who opposed their open sexuality, and some leftist parties who said it crudely copied Western culture.
“The manner in which semi-clad girls keep shaking their limbs is in bad taste,” Uddhav Thackeray, head of the hardline Hindu nationalist Shiv Sena party was quoted as saying in the Times of India.
U.S. terrorism report finds Al Qaeda attacks rose in Pakistan – Los Angeles Times
Posted on: May 1, 2008
The State Department’s annual report says the group killed four times as many people last year from its haven in a tribal area.
Al Qaeda used a haven in Pakistan’s tribal areas to double the number of attacks in that country and kill four times as many people there in 2007, says a State Department report to Congress released Wednesday.
At a news briefing, Ambassador Dell L. Dailey, the State Department’s top counter-terrorism official, stopped short of blaming Pakistan for the increase and said the terrorist network was “weaker now than it was at the 9/11 time frame.”
The annual terrorism report itself, however, says that a primary reason for the terrorist network’s resurgence is a much-criticized cease-fire last year between the Pakistani federal government and tribal leaders beyond its authority near the border with Afghanistan. The agreement enabled Al Qaeda to more freely travel, train and plan attacks around the world, the report says.
Overall, there were nearly the same number of terrorist attacks worldwide in 2007 as the year before — about 14,500. But many more people were killed, especially as the number of suicide bombers rose, says the 312-page report, which is required by Congress and compiled using statistics from the National Counterterrorism Center.
Suicide bombings worldwide were up about 50%. Attackers have shifted their tactics, more often traveling on foot and using explosives-laden backpacks to strike in crowded areas rather than relying on vehicles that could be deterred by heightened security.
“I think it’s a fair statement that around the globe people are getting increasingly efficient at killing other people,” said Russell E. Travers, deputy director of the National Counterterrorism Center, at the news briefing.
One such attack in December in the garrison town of Rawalpindi, Pakistan, killed at least 20 people, including former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto as she campaigned for elections.
Overall, an estimated 22,685 people were killed in terrorist attacks around the world in 2007, a 9% increase from 2006. The number of injured increased 15%, to 44,310, the report says. The numbers do not include military personnel on active duty or anyone working in an official capacity on behalf of the U.S. government.
As in previous years, the majority of terrorist attacks chronicled in the report occurred in Iraq. The number there dipped slightly in the last year, but still accounted for 60% of worldwide terrorism fatalities, including 17 of the 19 Americans killed, the report says. Two other Americans were killed in Afghanistan.
The report is considered to be the U.S. government’s benchmark in objective data on terrorist attacks, with some analysis on trends included to inform Congress and other policymakers, the American public and U.S. allies.
- In: Bid | Board | Meets | Microsoft | New York Times | on | YAHOO
- Leave a Comment
Microsoft’s chief executive, Steven A. Ballmer, in persuasion mode before a technology fair in March. Mr. Ballmer is said to have made calls recently with a pitch to large Yahoo shareholders.
Microsoft’s directors met Wednesday to discuss how to proceed with the company’s attempted takeover of Yahoo, according to a person briefed on the discussions.
The board was expected to consider a range of options, including Microsoft raising its offer in an attempt to break the stalemate between the companies, this person said.
In recent days, Microsoft has considered increasing the bid, currently valued at $29.06 a share, to $32 or $33, said this person, who asked not to be identified because he was not authorized to speak about the discussions.
Microsoft’s chief executive Steven A. Ballmer, has personally called some large Yahoo shareholders to get their support for a bid in that range.
But Microsoft executives have been frustrated by signs that such shareholders are holding out for an even higher offer — in the range of $35 to $37 a share. Without that higher offer, those shareholders have been unwilling to press Yahoo’s management into entering serious negotiations, this person said.
A Microsoft spokesman declined to comment.
Earlier in April, Mr. Ballmer threatened to start a proxy fight to oust Yahoo’s board if the two companies did not reach a negotiated deal by April 26. The deadline passed without an agreement or substantive negotiations between the companies.
Why AT&T May Deep-Discount the iPhone
Posted on: May 1, 2008
- In: ATT | Deep-Discount | iphone | May | The | Why
- Leave a Comment
Why AT&T May Deep-Discount the iPhone: “With competitive pressures mounting, the phone company may cut the iPhone’s price to boost demand—and cement its relationship with Apple”
The big thing about the next iPhone was supposed to high-speed Internet access and tools for business. Instead, it’s looking like iPhone 2.0 is all about price and that ever-awkward relationship between Apple and AT&T.
With less than two months to go before Steve Jobs takes the stage at Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference, where he’s expected to unveil a new iPhone, it appears that AT&T may not be convinced that new bells and whistles will be enough to get droves of new customers to switch from other wireless carriers. So after a year of charting a new wireless business model by selling the vaunted iPhone at premium prices, the nation’s biggest phone company may resort to the oldest trick in the cellular book: big discounts.
Although it has sent millions of new customers AT&T’s way, this unique market advantage known as the iPhone will only last so long. With every passing month, rival device makers are introducing new handhelds that attempt to replicate the wide array of innovations—starting with sheer simplicity—that Apple (AAPL) used to rock the wireless world less than a year ago. None of these new phones has duplicated Apple’s formula for success yet, but it may be only a matter of time.
Stimulating Demand
Published reports that first appeared on the Web site of Fortune Magazine suggest that AT&T (T), which has an exclusive five-year deal to sell the iPhone in the U.S., is prepared to subsidize the device by as much as $200, slicing the purchase price as low as $199 for customers who sign a two-year service contract. Apple and AT&T declined to comment on the matter.
Such a discount could cause a surge in demand. At last count, Apple had sold some 5.4 million units, the vast majority of them for AT&T’s network, even with price tags of $400 to $600—essentially unheard of in the U.S. cellular market. Impressively, AT&T says 40% of its iPhone users are new customers. Yet with rival smartphones like Research In Motion’s (RIMM) BlackBerry and a new Palm (PALM) Treo selling for as little at $99 at some carriers, competitive pressures are building.
- In: Chief Revenue Officer | Forces | G.S.A. | New York Times | Out | White House
- Leave a Comment
Lurita A. Doan has been forced out as head of the General Services Administration, the federal agency that oversees billions of dollars in contracts and manages thousands of government-owned buildings.
In a stormy two-year tenure as the agency’s administrator, Ms. Doan was accused of improperly mixing government business with politics and of trying to steer government contracts to her friends. Democrats in Congress said she violated the Hatch Act, which makes it illegal for government employees to take action that could influence an election.
Ms. Doan’s resignation was requested by the White House on Tuesday and takes effect immediately, the agency said Wednesday. Ms. Doan said in a statement, “It has been a great privilege to serve our nation and a great president.”
The agency said that its deputy administrator, David L. Bibb, a career employee, would take over, at least for the time being.
Much of the criticism of Ms. Doan came after it became known that on Jan. 26, 2007, a deputy to Karl Rove, then President Bush’s chief political adviser, gave a briefing to employees of her agency that identified Congressional Democrats the Republicans hoped to unseat in 2008, as well as Republican incumbents who seemed vulnerable.
Several people at that meeting said later that Ms. Doan had asked how her agency could be used “to help our candidates.” Ms. Doan said she did not remember making that remark.
- In: Advance | chip | design | H.P. Reports Big | Memory | New York Times
- Leave a Comment
Hewlett-Packard scientists reported Wednesday in the science journal Nature that they have designed a simple circuit element that they believe will make it possible to build tiny powerful computers that could imitate biological functions.
R. Stanley Williams, Hewlett-Packard’s director of the quantum science research group, and his team designed a circuit element that may make it possible to build tiny powerful computers.
The device, called a memristor, would be used to build extremely dense computer memory chips that use far less power than today’s DRAM memory chips. Manufacturers of today’s chips are rapidly reaching the limit on how much smaller chips can be.
The memristor, an electrical resistor with memory properties, may also make it possible to fashion advanced logic circuits, a class of reprogrammable chips known as field programmable gate arrays, that are widely used for rapid prototyping of new circuits and for custom-made chips that need to be manufactured quickly.
Potentially even more tantalizing is the ability of the memristors to store and retrieve a vast array of intermediate values, not just the binary 1s and 0s conventional chips use. This allows them to function like biological synapses and makes them ideal for many artificial intelligence applications ranging from machine vision to understanding speech.
Independent researchers said that it seemed likely that the memristor might relatively quickly be applied in computer memories, but that other applications could be more challenging. Typically, technology advances are not adopted unless they offer large advantages in cost or performance over the technologies they are replacing.
“Whether it will be useful for other large-scale applications is unclear at this point,” said Wolfgang Porod, director of the Center for Nano Science and Technology at the University of Notre Dame.
The technology should be fairly quickly commercialized, said R. Stanley Williams, director of the quantum science research group at Hewlett-Packard. “This is on a fast track.”
- In: Advance | chip | design | H.P. Reports Big | Memory | New York Times
- Leave a Comment
Hewlett-Packard scientists reported Wednesday in the science journal Nature that they have designed a simple circuit element that they believe will make it possible to build tiny powerful computers that could imitate biological functions.
R. Stanley Williams, Hewlett-Packard’s director of the quantum science research group, and his team designed a circuit element that may make it possible to build tiny powerful computers.
The device, called a memristor, would be used to build extremely dense computer memory chips that use far less power than today’s DRAM memory chips. Manufacturers of today’s chips are rapidly reaching the limit on how much smaller chips can be.
The memristor, an electrical resistor with memory properties, may also make it possible to fashion advanced logic circuits, a class of reprogrammable chips known as field programmable gate arrays, that are widely used for rapid prototyping of new circuits and for custom-made chips that need to be manufactured quickly.
Potentially even more tantalizing is the ability of the memristors to store and retrieve a vast array of intermediate values, not just the binary 1s and 0s conventional chips use. This allows them to function like biological synapses and makes them ideal for many artificial intelligence applications ranging from machine vision to understanding speech.
Independent researchers said that it seemed likely that the memristor might relatively quickly be applied in computer memories, but that other applications could be more challenging. Typically, technology advances are not adopted unless they offer large advantages in cost or performance over the technologies they are replacing.
“Whether it will be useful for other large-scale applications is unclear at this point,” said Wolfgang Porod, director of the Center for Nano Science and Technology at the University of Notre Dame.
The technology should be fairly quickly commercialized, said R. Stanley Williams, director of the quantum science research group at Hewlett-Packard. “This is on a fast track.”
Huffington Post - huffingtonpost.wordpress.com 