denismerri wedding blog: August 2011

Wednesday, August 31, 2011

Game Scores #1 Debut With R.E.D. Album

Jay-Z and Kanye West's Watch the Throne drops down to #2 on Billboard chart.
By Gil Kaufman

The Game
Photo: Jason Merritt/ Getty Images

After more delays than a space shuttle launch, Compton rapper The Game will finally have his reward next week when his endlessly pushed-back fourth effort, The R.E.D. Album, debuts at #1 on the Billboard 200 albums chart. According to figures provided by SoundScan, the disc moved just under 98,000 copies, enough to grab the top spot but well below the first-week figures for his 2008 album LAX, which opened with 239,000 in sales.

Either way, it's just enough to beat out Jay-Z and Kanye West's Watch the Throne, which drops to #2 in its third week, as sales dove 47 percent to 94,000 for a three-week total just north of 707,000. Among the new entries in the top 10 is a Barbra Streisand collection, What Matters Most — Barbra Streisand Sings the Lyrics of Alan and Marilyn Bergman (#4, 66,000), the debut from country supergroup Pistol Annies, Hell on Heels (#6, 42,000), which consists of Miranda Lambert, Ashley Monroe, and Angaleena Presley, and Muppets: The Green Album (#8, 30,000), with modern interpretations of the loveable puppets' songs by OK Go, Weezer, My Morning Jacket, Amy Lee of Evanescence and the Fray.

The rest of the top 10: Adele's 21 (#3, 82,000), NOW 39 (#5, 44,000), Luke Bryan's Tailgates & Tanlines (#7, 35,000), Jason Aldean's My Kinda Party (#9, 29,000) and Eric Church's Chief (#10, 24,000).

Further down the line, Pavement singer Stephen Malkmus and his band the Jicks come in at #43 with Mirror Traffic (8,000), and 30 Seconds to Mars land at #76 with their new Unplugged set (6,000). Lil Wayne immediately jumped to the top of the iTunes album charts after Tha Carter IV dropped digitally following the VMAs on Sunday. He was followed by the Pistol Annies, Game, Adele, Jay and Kanye, Mumford & Sons' Sigh No More, the Red Hot Chili Peppers' I'm With You, the Muppets album, Foster the People's Torches and Rihanna's resurgent Loud.

Maroon 5 continue to dominate the singles chart with "Moves Like Jagger," while Foster the People are right behind with "Pumped Up Kicks," Gym Class Heroes make a strong showing with "Stereo Hearts" (featuring Maroon's Adam Levine) and Rihanna has plenty to toast as "Cheers (Drink to That)" comes in at #4. Rounding out the tally: Bad Meets Evil's "Lighters," LMFAO's "Party Rock Anthem," Wayne's "She Will," Lady Gaga's "You and I," Nicki Minaj's "Super Bass" and OneRepublic's Good Life."

Things will surely be shaken up next week when Wayne's Tha Carter IV crashes the charts with estimates that it could sell nearly 1 million copies. Also debuting are the Chili Peppers, as well as David Guetta, VMA pre-show performers Cobra Starship and Lenny Kravitz.

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Tuesday, August 30, 2011

You can still win an iPad 2 from Vonage!

If you recall, earlier in the month, we held a contest to give one of our readers an iPad 2. This contest helped to promote Vonage’s Time To Call VoIP application which makes it super easy to place international phone calls from your iPhone. The app doesn’t require you to create a new account to [...]

Source: http://the-gadgeteer.com/2011/08/24/you-can-still-win-an-ipad-2-from-vonage/

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Monday, August 29, 2011

'Boardwalk Empire' Trailer: 'Heads Will Roll' (Video)

The second season of HBO's Prohibition-era drama series, starring Steve Buscemi, premieres Sept. 25.

HBO has released a new trailer for the upcoming season of its Prohibition-era drama series Boardwalk Empire.

The clip starts out on a lighthearted note before turning dark, giving hints of what's to come in the second season

"Heads will roll, gentlemen," says Agent Nelson Van Alden (Michael Shannon), who is working to shut down the alcohol trade.

The trailer is much different from the one HBO released earlier this month; that clip features corrupt politician Nucky Thompson (Steve Buscemi) strolling down the Atlantic City boardwalk exchanging ominous glances with all of the other castmembers.

Empire's second season debuts at 9 p.m. Sept. 25.

[ comments ]

Source: http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/boardwalk-empire-trailer-heads-will-228979?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+thr%2Fnews+%28The+Hollywood+Reporter+-+Top+Stories%29

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Magic: The Self-Inflating Bike Tire

Believe it or not, I have actually read complaints from people on cycling forums where they whine about having to pump up their tires once a month. Presumably these slobs never wash the dishes, either. Or even get out of bed.
But while I can’t fix their filthy kitchens, I can point them to the PumpTire, [...]

Source: http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2011/08/magic-the-self-inflating-bike-tire/

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Sunday, August 28, 2011

Sofia Coppola Weds Phoenix Singer Thomas Mars

The couple, who has two daughters, married in Italy.
By Kelley L. Carter

Sofia Coppola and Phoenix's Thomas Mars
Photo: Getty Images

Oscar-winner Sofia Coppola and her longtime rocker boyfriend, Thomas Mars, tied the knot Saturday (August 27) in Italy.

Coppola and Mars, frontman for Phoenix, said "I do" at a civil ceremony in the southern Italian hamlet of Bernalda, the hometown of Coppola's grandparents. People.com reported that about 80 people attended the ceremony at a historic building owned by the bride's famous father, director Francis Ford Coppola, who walked her down the aisle.

She was dressed in a lavender gown designed by Azzedine Alaia, and the ceremony was officiated by the town's mayor, Leonardo Chiruzzi.

"Everything went well," Chiruzzi told the Associated Press. "It was simple, calm, in the garden."

Another famous director, George Lucas, was in attendance. After the evening ceremony, the guests feasted on cheeses, figs, salads, pasta, fish, pork and, of course, the family's wine.

The couple announced their engagement in May and have two children: daughters Romy, 4, and Cosima, 15 months.

Earlier this year, Mars said his group was working on the follow-up to their breakout album, Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix.

"We're meeting an orchestra," Mars told Pedestrian.tv.

Bassist Deck D'Arcy added: "We're going to record a bunch of percussionists in [Australian beach town] Byron Bay."

"It's a test," Mars explained. "If it works, we'll probably come back and record something that's going to be on the album."

Related Artists

Phoenix

Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1669800/sofia-coppola-pheonix-thomas-mars-married.jhtml

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Saturday, August 27, 2011

Recording Labels Sue YouTube Downloader Website, Fail To Grasp The Insignificance Of Their Actions

The recording industry doesn't have the most respectable history when it comes to lawsuits. Between asking for millions for trivial acts of piracy, and asking potentially for trillions in more serious cases, they've shown that they're not only completely disconnected from reality, but totally unheeding of the actual effects of their litigation. So it's not surprising to see them tilting at yet another windmill. Today's target is TubeFire, a site that should be familiar to you, at least in principle. It allows you to download and convert YouTube videos to a format more easily watched offline (FLV files can be tricky). You give it the URL, it churns for a bit, and then you can download the video in MP4 or another format. Clearly this re-containering of free content is a grave threat to the recording industry, and must be stopped at all costs. So 25 of the world's largest labels have gotten together and sued them.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/in7OCRAnckY/

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Deal of the Day ? Dell XPS 8300 Quad-Core i7 with Blu-ray and 24? LCD

Today?s LogicBUY Deal is a Dell XPS 8300 desktop with Blu-ray and a 24? LCD for $1149.99.� Features: integrated 7.1 with THX TruStudio PC sound, 460W power supply, Windows 7. Core i7 with 8GB memory, Blu-ray, 2TB hard disk, 2 year warranty, Wireless-N PCle card, and 24? Dell ST2420L LCD monitor:� $1932.99 – $633 off [...]

Source: http://the-gadgeteer.com/2011/08/25/deal-of-the-day-%e2%80%93-dell-xps-8300-quad-core-i7-with-blu-ray-and-24%e2%80%9d-lcd/

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Friday, August 26, 2011

You can still win an iPad 2 from Vonage!

Source: http://the-gadgeteer.com/2011/08/24/you-can-still-win-an-ipad-2-from-vonage/

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Thursday, August 25, 2011

Ten One Design Announces new Pogo Sketch Pro Stylus

Do you enjoy making art with your iPad or Android tablet? If so, you probably prefer using a stylus instead of your finger when drawing. There are quite a few capacitive styli on the market, and now there’s another. Ten One Design, the company that has brought us the Pogo Stylus has just announced the [...]

Source: http://the-gadgeteer.com/2011/08/24/ten-one-design-announces-new-pogo-sketch-pro-stylus/

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Wednesday, August 24, 2011

Motorcycle + Salt + Electricity = Landspeed Record

As a motorcycle rider as much as I love my MotoGP bike racing (go Stoner !!), as a Citizen of Planet Earth I always wonder how much of our precious fossil fuel is used up during a weekend of racing �(and that’s not even taking into account transport to and from events and other things). [...]

Source: http://the-gadgeteer.com/2011/08/21/motorcycle-electricity-landspeed-record/

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Tuesday, August 23, 2011

Epson Announces Two New All-in-One Artisan Printers

Epson has announced the latest entries into their wireless all-in-one range, the Artisan 730 and Artisan 837. �Both of these printers have fast print speeds of 9.6 ISO ppm black and 9.1 ISO ppm color single side or 4.9 ISO ppm black and 4.7 ISO ppm color two-sided pages. �They feature automatic double-sided printing to [...]

Source: http://the-gadgeteer.com/2011/08/19/epson-announces-two-new-all-in-one-artisan-printers/

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Sunday, August 21, 2011

HP Liquidates the TouchPad for $99

Hewlett-Packard is selling off their remaining stock of 16gb TouchPads for $99 on their website and through various retailers in the US and Canada. While I haven’t see the reduction yet on the 32gb model that price is supposed to drop to $150 in the near future. BestBuy has announced that they are allowing customers [...]

Source: http://the-gadgeteer.com/2011/08/20/hp-liquidates-the-touchpad-for-99/

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Saturday, August 20, 2011

Report: HP?S WebOS Ran Twice as Fast on iPad

It certainly wasn’t poorly performing software that killed the TouchPad.
Sources at The Next Web reports that HP’s webOS team hacked an iPad 2 to run the software — and it ended up running more than twice as fast on Apple’s tablet as on the TouchPad.
Even before the TouchPad tablet or Pre smartphone were officially released, [...]

Source: http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2011/08/webos-on-ipad/

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Apparently Ebooks Are Now Killing The Desire To Write. Sure.

A couple of days ago, I took issue with those who whine that ebooks are killing publishing. In fact, I argued, “The Golden Era Of Books Isn?t Over. The Golden Era Of Books Is�Now“. Apparently, though, not everyone agrees. In an interview with the BBC’s World At One radio program, Booker Prize winning author Graham Swift claimed (with a straight face) that ebooks might actually discourage new writers from writing. He said: “I think the tendency will be that writers will get even less than they get now for their work and sadly that could mean that some potential writers will see that they can’t make a living, they will give up and the world would be poorer for the books they might have written, so in that way it is quite a serious prospect.” You can read my response here, on The Awl. Spoiler alert: I don’t agree.� At all.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/D_LEHpYCe0Q/

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Google+ Rolls Out Verified Profiles, Still Struggles With Real-Name Policy

William Shatner, rejoice! Earlier today, Wen-Ai Yu from the Google+ team announced with a post on Google+ and an accompanying YouTube video that the social network now boasts 'verification badges' for celebrities, public figures, but also people who have been added to an (undefined) 'large' number of Circles, with the promise to expand the verified profile system in the near future. This is in line with an earlier report from CNN's Mark Milian, who caught wind of Google's 'celebrity acquisition plan' a month ago.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/xBVWZKJOAMw/

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Friday, August 19, 2011

Cane 2.0: The Tacit Is Hand-Mounted Sonar For The Vision Impaired

Every once in a while you see an invention that seems a long time coming. The Tacit, a hand-mounted system that pings surroundings and transmits distance information to the user, is one of those. While the reliable white cane and occasional accommodations for the blind and vision impaired ameliorate the difficulty of navigating the world sans sight, technological advances that are both useful and ready for deployment are few and far between. We've seen a lot of research into artificial vision systems, and there are often hacked-together projects by people personally concerned with issues like vision or mobility — we've seen a Kinect-powered navigation system, the Eyewriter, and Ken Yankelvitz's paraplegic-accessible controllers. This project is an amazing example of what one guy can do with a soldering iron, some off-the-shelf parts, and an inventive mind. Did I mention it's open source, and only costs around $100 to make?

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/dp9jBTwQTc0/

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Sony DEV5 Looks Like Luke Skywalker?s Binoculars

[/caption]
Now you too can track down Sand People and hunt the horizon for lonely, brown-robed old Jedis with Sony’s new NEX binoculars. The binos, named DEV3 and DEV5, pack a CMOS sensor, two lenses and two electronic eyepieces instead of the usual light-folding optical prism design. Because of this all-electronic pipeline, you can also snap [...]

Source: http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2011/08/sony-dev5-looks-like-luke-skywalkers-binoculars/

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Thursday, August 18, 2011

Soundscience rockus 3D|2.1 Speaker System

Soundscience promises that these rockus 3D|2.1 speakers, designed by Antec, sound as good as they look. �The satellite midrange speakers are made of anodized aluminum to reduce vibration and minimize distortion. �The active subwoofer with passive radiator technology delivers as much bass as bigger subwoofers. �Drivers are 3D-optimized for Soundscience’s 3Dsst technology so you can [...]

Source: http://the-gadgeteer.com/2011/08/16/soundscience-rockus-3d2-1-speaker-system/

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Lady Gaga's 'Yoü And I' Personas: Who Are Yuyi And Jo Calderone?

Gaga video makes its TV debut tonight at 7:49 p.m. ET/PT on MTV and Logo.
By Jocelyn Vena

Lady Gaga
Photo: WireImage

Lady Gaga's "Yoü and I" video is eye candy — if your type of eye candy involves freaky sci-fi love stories, that is. The Laurieann Gibson-directed video, which makes its television debut tonight at 7:49 p.m. ET/PT on MTV and Logo during "MTV First: Lady Gaga," certainly recalls many of the personas in Gaga's world.

Lady Gaga's musical director recalls how "Yoü and I" came to be.

There are nods to many of Gaga's past incarnations. When she stands at a crossroads in a big hat, the image is reminiscent of "Telephone" Gaga. When she sits nearly makeup-free at her piano in the cornfields, there are touches of the teary-eyed makeup-less Gaga from the "Bad Romance" video. Flashes of her wedding may remind fans of the wedding dress she wore in the "Judas" clip. Robot Gaga's facial structures recall some of the steampunk looks of her "Alejandro" video. Those are only a few of the nods to past personas from her own videography.

Go behind the scenes of a top-secret Lady Gaga shoot.

But there are two other significant personas that fans of the singer will recognize from the Gaga-verse, her male alter ego, Jo Calderone, and her mermaid alter ego, Yuyi. But those not as familiar with all things Gaga might be wondering just who these two are.

Jo Calderone first appeared in Vogue Hommes Japan last September. In the issue, Jo revealed how he knows the superstar and fans were teased as to the nature of their relationship. "[My occupation is] mechanic for my dad's business. This is the first time I've had my picture taken. Well, I always helped my dad at work, since I was a kid. I thought it would be fun to have my picture taken," he said in the issue.

As for how he feels about Gaga, he shared, "She's f---in' beautiful, and funny, and interesting. I was a little nervous for Nick to start shooting. She said, 'Don't be baby, you were born this way.' I took her out after. The rest is private." He later reemerged on the single art for the song "You And I."

Fans first learned of Yuyi back in June, when Gaga teased that at some point she'd be the "reincarnation" of Gaga's "birth+artistic spirit." She appeared as a version of that mermaid figure during her performance on France's "Le Grand Journal" in June. Last month, on her official Tumblr, she posted a photo of herself as a mermaid figure, this time in a wheelchair, when she performed in Sydney.

Don't miss the television premiere of the "Yoü and I" video during "MTV First: Lady Gaga," Thursday night at 7:49 p.m. ET on MTV and Logo, followed by a live Q&A with Gaga and her fans on MTV.com. Tweet your questions for the Mother Monster with the hashtag #MTVGaga.

Related Videos

Lady Gaga Ready For Live 'Yoü And I' Q&A!

Related Artists

Lady Gaga

Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1669240/lady-gaga-you-and-i-yuyi-jo-calderone.jhtml

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Hungry in Paris at 2am ? Try the 24 Hour Baguette Dispenser

If you are lucky enough to visit Paris in August you may notice that many of the 33,000+ bakeries are closed and that there are no 24 hour convenience stores.� Why you ask?� The answer is simple, August is the month that many Parisians take off for vacation and the country does not have the [...]

Source: http://the-gadgeteer.com/2011/08/16/hungry-in-paris-at-2am-try-the-24-hour-baguette-dispenser/

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Wednesday, August 17, 2011

Pricey New BlackBerry Has Way Too Many Caveats

With its hefty price tag and software quickly approaching its sell-by date, the upcoming Bold 9900 from RIM isn’t bold, it’s brash.
RIM announced the Bold 9900’s pending release Wednesday morning, and it’s one of five new smartphones RIM will debut before year’s end. On paper, the Bold 9900 looks like a strong smartphone contender. It [...]

Source: http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2011/08/blackberry-bold-smartphone-rim/

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Ford to Sell Solar Panel System Alongside Electric Cars

Ford Motor Company is teaming up with San Jose-based solar panel maker SunPower to offer a rooftop solar system option which will be sold alongside the upcoming Ford Focus EV. The "Drive Green for Life" program, as it's being called, involves mounting solar panels on a customer's home. These panels wouldn't be used just to charge the Focus itself, however. They actually help offset the cost that comes with having to charge the car, something which most electric car owners do every night.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/dw60IdPw14M/

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Foursquare And Skype Coming To Playstation Vita

During a press conference at the Gamescom gaming conference in Cologne, Sony announced a few new features for their new handheld console, the Vita (watch our hands-on at E3 here). Among them were support for Foursquare and Skype. The references were made while talking about the 3G capabilities of the $300 model, but it wasn't implied that a 3G connection would be required. More powerful than most phones and sporting a large, bright touchscreen and dual cameras, the Vita should be able to handle these services perfectly well. There was no demonstration and no screenshots, though, so the UI is still a mystery. It's also unclear whether it will integrate with the Vita's other, more system-wide social tools.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/B5Qod7WbGe4/

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Tuesday, August 16, 2011

Google Buys Motorola

Wow. Google just announced they are buying Motorola. It looks like the main issue is patents: Our acquisition of Motorola will increase competition by strengthening Google?s patent portfolio, which will enable us to better protect Android from anti-competitive threats from Microsoft, Apple and other companies. They make a point of stressing that Android will remain [...]

Source: http://the-gadgeteer.com/2011/08/15/google-buys-motorola/

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GetchaBooks Letsya Getcha College Textbooks Widdout Da Hassle

GetchaBooks, founded by three youngsters (two who are still undergrads at Tufts), has just announced an expanded and improved database of classes and books, pushing the number of schools available in their unique interface from 600 to 1,275. GetchaBooks is different from other services like Chegg and Textbooks.com in that the search system is centered around courses. Rather than typing in "Advanced Dance Movement For Accountancy Students" into a search box, you select your school, your courses, and sections. GetchaBooks then searches its database of courses and finds the required reading for each course.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/T_8FF5vjCu8/

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No Room for a Digital Photo Frame on your Desktop? Put One in your Mouse!

It seems like Brando is always coming up with a product that makes you go “huh?”. Their latest offering is a USB optical mouse with a built in digital photo frame. It has 8MB memory which allows you to store up to 50 photos that will display on the the 1.5″ LCD located in the [...]

Source: http://the-gadgeteer.com/2011/08/13/no-room-for-a-digital-photo-frame-on-your-desktop-put-one-in-your-mouse/

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Monday, August 15, 2011

By Buying Motorola, Google Can Now Do Whatever The Heck They Want With Android

With the announcement of their planned $12.5B Motorola Mobility acquisition this morning, Google is buying a lot of stuff. They're buying 20,000 employees (almost doubling their headcount.) They're buying an absurdly daunting armory of over 24,000 patents (I mean, come on: Motorola has the patent on the cell phone.) But there's one more thing that Google's buying, and it's one that shifts up the Android game all together: nearly 30% of Android's existing marketshare in the U.S. After years of owning next to none of the hardware marketshare for their own software platform (even the so-called "Google phone" Nexus devices are made by HTC and Samsung), Google has just become Android's 2nd biggest manufacturer.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/Z1qgCxquJQ0/

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Foursquare And MTV Team Up To Offer Trip To VMAS!

Photo: Foursquare Labs, inc.

Sure, watching Bruno Mars, Lil Wayne, Chris Brown, Adele and Young the Giant perform at the 2011 MTV Video Music Awards from your couch is cool. But what if you could actually watch from inside the Nokia Theatre?

MTV has teamed up with Foursquare for a unique contest that could land you and a friend a pair of seats at the August 28 awards blowout in Los Angeles. All you have to do is follow MTV on Foursquare and then drop into any music venue or record store between now and August 19 to scoop up the limited 2011 VMA Moonman badge, which will automatically enter you to win a trip and tickets for two to the big show. The sweepstakes ends next Friday, but you can still get the badge until the day of the broadcast.

The sweepstakes is open to residents of the contiguous United States who are 18 or older, with a randomly selected winner to be chosen on or around August 22. The winner will receive two round-trip coach tickets to Los Angeles, hotel accommodations and two tickets to the VMAs.

The initial slate of VMA presenters includes Jonah Hill, Rick Ross, Selena Gomez, Seth Rogen, Kim Kardashian and Odd Future, with more to be announced soon.

The 28th annual MTV Video Music Awards will air live on Sunday, August 28, from the Nokia Theatre in Los Angeles at 9 p.m. ET/PT. See the list of nominees, revisit last year's highlights and vote for your favorites in the general categories by visiting VMA.MTV.com.

Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1669024/vma-foursquare-moonman-badge-2011.jhtml

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Harry Potter's No. 1 Foreign Box Office Rank Seized by 'The Smurfs'

The 3D animation grosses $60 million overseas, sending 'Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows Part 2' to third place; 'Cowboys & Aliens' is off to a slow start at foreign box office.

After a month atop the box office charts on the foreign theatrical circuit, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows ? Part 2 was finally shoved aside by The Smurfs, which finished No. 1 for the first time with an estimated weekend take of $60 million collected from 10,285 locations in 44 markets.

Returns for the 3D Sony Animation coproduction about the tiny blue creatures? adventures in New York City were substantially bolstered by a $12.5 million five-day opening surge in China at 2,766 venues. A first place bow in Russia provided $4.48 million from 669 situations while a U.K. debut kicked in $6.57 over five days from 444 situations.

PHOTOS: 8 Billion Dollar Babies: Movies That Have Crossed The 10 Figure Mark

The Smurfs has accumulated a foreign gross total of $141.1 million since it opened overseas on July 27.

For its part, Warner?s Deathly Hallows dropped to third place with a weekend tally of $30 million garnered from 61 foreign markets, hoisting its offshore gross total to a humongous $857.8 million after five rounds of foreign release.

Making a tepid debut overseas in 14 markets via Paramount was Cowboys & Aliens, director Jon Favreau?s sci-fi-western hybrid starring Daniel Craig and Harrison Ford. Opening weekend at 1,315 screens came in at $7 million, with $2.8 million coming from 600 screens in Russia.

PHOTOS: Best and Worst Alien Movies

No. 2 on the weekend was 20th Century Fox?s Rise of the Planet of the Apes, which recorded substantial first place spots in the U.K. ($9.65 million from 484 locations), France ($8.7 million from 702 sites) and in Germany ($4.6 million from 724 situations). Overall, Rise came up with $40.5 million from 6,238 venues in 40 territories for an overseas cume of $75 million.

No. 4 was Warner Bros.? Green Lantern, which has had tough sledding in overseas markets to date. Weekend take bounced to $14.2 million thanks to a No. 1 bow in Australia ($3.1 million from 400 locations) and a strong debut in Mexico ($4.3 million registered at 1.593 spots).

PHOTOS: 10 Top Summer Superheroes of All-Time

Pixar?s Cars 2 from Disney finished fifth on the weekend, pushing its foreign gross total to $290 million thanks to an eighth frame gross of $13.1 million garnered from 45 markets. Worldwide tally for the 3D animation stands at $476 million.

Two Paramount releases, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen and Captain America: The First Avenger, drew similar weekend grosses -- $12.5 million from 7,570 sites in 62 markets for the former, $12.2 million from 4,948 situations in 45 territories for Captain America.

Transformers logged a strong Japan weekend -- thanks to Obon school holidays ? and came up with $4.6 million from 322 situations. The Michael Bay action title has grossed $724 million overseas thus far. Captain America from Marvel Studios has registered $128.3 million since opening offshore on July 22.

Director J.J. Abrams? Super 8 is closing in on the $100-million foreign gross mark ($94.5 million) thanks to a $9.5 million weekend at 3,150 locations in 54 markets. Weekend openings in five territories included a $1.2 million bow at 215 creens in Brazil.)

PHOTOS: Summer Movie Guide

Bridesmaids drew $5.4 million from 2,100 locations in 39 territories, pushing its overseas cume to $98.1 million. Distributor Universal expects the female- oriented comedy to break the $100-million foreign mark by Tuesday.

Also registering $5.4 million ? from 2,140 situations in 37 markets ? was Warner?s comedy-drama Horrible Bosses. Overseas cume so far comes in at $35 million.

Fox?s Mr. Popper?s Penguins raised its overseas gross total to $90.3 million after a $4.7 million weekend at 2,880 sites in 33 territories. A No. 1 Italy debut furnished $1.3 million at 290 screens.

Zookeeper, Sony?s talking animals comedy starring Kevin James, came up with a weekend gross of $3.8 million from 2,040 screens in 38 markets for a cume of $56.2 million. For its part, Sony?s Bad Teacher, starring Cameron Diaz, drew $3 million from 1,470 sites in 35 territories for a foreign cume of $94 million.

Sony introduced its German-language production, Resturlaub (Residual Leave) in Germany, Austria and in German-speaking Switzerland. Director Gregor Schnitzler?s comedy drew $2.7 million overall from 498 screens.

Other international cumes: DreamWorks Animation/Paramount?s Kung Fu Panda 2, $453 million (with a Japan opening due this week); Fox?s Glee The 3D Concert Movie, $1.2 million (in opener at 292 sites); Universal?s Fast Five, $395.6 million; Fox?s Monte Carlo, $7.4 million; Fox?s X-Men: First Class, $206.5 million; Fox?s Rio, $342.5 million; and Fox?s Assalto ao Banco Central, $9.95 million in Brazil only.

Source: http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/harry-potters-no-1-foreign-222936

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Sunday, August 14, 2011

This Electric Plane Is Powered By Its Own By Solar Hangar

Aviation enthusiasts interested in greener flying might put an Elektra One plane on their wish lists. PC-Aero's electric aircraft can fly for up to three hours on one charge with a 100mph cruising speed. The charging happens inside a solar-powered hangar included in the plane's anticipated purchase price of $145,000.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/YHv7Y-z5z_E/

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Glorious Images Of Apple?s New Spaceship Headquarters

As we noted in June, Apple is building what is sure to be the coolest office building ever in Cuptertino, CA. The building is so important to the company that no less than Steve Jobs went to a Cupertino City Council meeting a couple months ago to seal the deal. They were eating out of his hand. All the rest is really a formality at this point. "There is no chance that we're saying no," Cupertino Mayor Gilbert Wong said after the meeting. Today, Cupertino released more detailed plans about the project on the city's website. Known as "Apple Campus 2" to the city, the project will be built on a 175 acre area near the 280 highway. The total building will be approximately 2.8 million square feet, will feature a 1,000 seat auditorium (perfect for all but Apple's biggest events), a fitness center, 300,000 square feet of research facilities, a power plant, and underground parking. But all of that sounds boring, what you really need to see is what it looks like: a giant, flying saucer-like loop. Luckily Cupertino included Apple's proposal documents which include many new renderings of the project.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/pBosoxMdv64/

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Gargoyle Router ? A Not So Ugly Solution to Bandwidth Monitoring and Quotas ? Mini Review

GARGOYLE- [gahr-goil] NOUN – a�grotesquely�carved figure of a human or animal Gargoyle Router �is an alternative firmware for a number of different routers that allows you to monitor bandwidth usage by user �and set and enforce bandwidth quotas on particular users. Let me preface this review with a warning. I’m an alternate firmware junkie. Any [...]

Source: http://the-gadgeteer.com/2011/08/11/gargoyle-router-a-not-so-ugly-solution-to-bandwidth-monitoring-and-quotas-mini-review/

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Lenovo Thinkpad Tablet ? The Cure for Business?

Is the corporate world ready for Android ? Is Android ready for the corporate world? Lenovo seems to want us to think so. Due for release on August 23, the new Thinkpad Tablet is being pitched firmly at the corporate market. This 10.1″ WXGA , IPS, Gorilla Glass unit comes with Android 3.1, 64GB storage, [...]

Source: http://the-gadgeteer.com/2011/08/12/lenovo-thinkpad-tablet-the-cure-for-business/

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Saturday, August 13, 2011

Kanye's 'Otis' Beat Gets A Statik Selektah Makeover

DJ explains to Mixtape Daily how he re-created the sample for Jadakiss and Styles P.
By Rob Markman

Kanye West and Jay-Z
Photo: Kevin Mazur/ WireImage

Behind the Beats: Statik Selektah

When the Throne's "Otis" premiered on New York radio in late July, rap fans weren't the only ones who took notice. MCs like the LOX's Jadakiss and Styles P wanted in on a piece of the action as well, so they sought out the Otis Redding-sampling instrumental. Only problem is, with all the secrecy that surrounded the recording and subsequent release of Watch the Throne and its singles, most knew that 'Ye was keeping the beat he produced very close. Luckily for the Yonkers, New York, wordsmiths, their friend DJ Statik Selektah is a wizard on the beat machine.

"I was literally on the way to my Shade 45 show, and I saw Styles and Jada on Twitter going back and forth like, 'I'm trying to get the instrumental, I'm trying to get the instrumental,' " Statik told Mixtape Daily. "Everybody knows how crazy it would be if they got it."

Statik, who has produced for Bun B, Nas and fellow Bostonian Termanology, was leaving his Showoff Bassment studio space on his way to his radio gig but decided to take a few minutes to lend a helping hand to 'Kiss and Styles.

Read how Jadakiss and Styles P came up with their version of "Otis."

The first order of business was locating Redding's 1966 version of "Try a Little Tenderness," the sample which Hov and Yeezy's "Otis" is built upon. "I'm not gonna front, I didn't know what Otis Redding song it was, but I went on Google and just typed it in and it came up," Statik admitted. "I looked up the song, brought it up and just through the song, found that part of the song that they used and just put it in [software program] Serato and then looped it."

After chopping up and recording the sample, he added an extra note to mirror Kanye's original production, and five minutes later, he had his own version of "Otis." While the beat was close to Yeezy's musical concoction, there was one thing missing, Statik admits. "He added an ill 808 under there," Stat said of the main difference between his and the Throne's version of the beat. "That's how you know there are a lot of fake Otis instrumentals because there is no 808 on any of them."

He then emailed the beat to Styles and Jadakiss. "He sent it over nice and looped up, so then once we got it, [it took] maybe like 24 hours [to record]," 'Kiss said.

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Welcome To Jay-Z And Kanye West's 'Watch The Throne' Week

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Watch The Throne Fans Rave Over Pop-Up Store, 'Otis' Vid

MTV News crashed Jay-Z and Kanye's pop-up store in NYC to speak to Throne fans.
By Rob Markman, with reporting by Steven Roberts

Kanye West and Jay-Z
Photo: Kevin Mazur/WireImageGetty Images/

NEW YORK — "We were at our office and one of my colleagues said, 'I just saw on Twitter that there is a new pop-up shop that's selling Watch the Throne," said a man identified only by his Twitter handle @hiprobbie. "So we ran down here to check it out." And just like that, fans scurried down to 201 Mulberry Street, in the SoHo section of Manhattan, to celebrate the physical retail release of Jay-Z and Kanye West's combo album.

Things started off slowly at first. MTV News was on the scene at approximately 11:30 a.m. ET and the storefront, which was wrapped in a gold Riccardo Tisci-designed print, was barren out front. It wasn't until noon, when MTV broke the news and folks from Kanye's camp began to tweet about the surprise retail space, that fans started to show up.

At about 1 p.m. ET, fans were let in to the surprise store, where the Throne album was sold and the album's art was displayed. The biggest attraction: the chopped-and-screwed Maybach from Hov and Yeezy's "Otis" video, which premiered on MTV on Thursday.

"That's the first thing you see when you get in the store is the Maybach, and it's all tore up," hip-hop fan Max Lockie said. "The engine's exposed, the doors are ripped off, the trunk's split open so you can see the inside of it."

Dorian Talker was equally excited to see the tricked-out whip, which will eventually be auctioned off for charity, though he did express just a bit of disappointment. "I would've liked it better if Jay-Z and Kanye had been in the car, but, you know, you get what you get," he said.

See what car expert Myles Kovacs estimates the Maybach's work cost.

The pop-up store caps off an exciting week in which fans waited until Monday's early morning hours to purchase the album on iTunes. Then on Thursday, Throne fanatics got to see WTT first visual component when the "Otis" video debuted. On Friday, folks were still buzzing.

"It was dope. What I liked about the video most was it seemed like they were having a good time," Jonas Guerrero said. "They were stuntin' on a whole 'nother level. The whole big Riccardo Tisci flag on the back, and they were all smiles ... I haven't seen a video like that in a long time."

What did our panel of tastemakers have to say about the "Otis" vid? Check it out here.

Talker agreed. He applauded the video's director for letting Jay and 'Ye just let it all hang out. "I think Spike Jonze just allowed Kanye and Jay-Z to do their thing," he said. "It wasn't overly conceptual, which I think was a benefit to the video."

What do you think of the "Otis" video? Tell us in the comments.

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Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1669026/watch-the-throne-pop-up-store-new-york.jhtml

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Jay-Z And Kanye's 'Otis' Video: Maybach Massacre

Subtly swaggadocious video, directed by Spike Jonze, sees the dynamic duo chopping up a Maybach — just for the heck of it.
By James Montgomery

Photo: Getty Images

It would be darn-near impossible for Jay-Z and Kanye West's "Otis" video to match the braggadocious blitz of the song itself, but give them credit for at least coming close.

Because while the Spike-Jonze directed clip (which just premiered on MTV and MTV.com) doesn't feature a single Gulfstream G450, Cuban cigar, Hermes clutch or Benz, it is still a subtly swagged-out affair — a cocksure, cool thing in which the dynamic duo take a saber saw to a glistening new Maybach and turn it into a tricked-out "Thunderdome" cruiser, then do doughnuts in a parking lot with a gaggle of models packed in the back.

Oh, and there are some fireworks too.

And really, on the swag scale, that ranks somewhere between 10 and 30 thousand 100 million, which certainly makes "Otis" one of the more assured videos to come down the pipeline in a long while. And give credit to all parties involved that they realized they really didn't need to do much of anything else in the clip; after all, 'Ye, Hov and Jonze are certainly three of the biggest stars in the world, and their collaboration could've easily devolved into the realm of self-parody (see the late, not-so-great Diddy and Nas team-up "Hate Me Now"). Instead, we get a video that's little more than a couple of dudes (and Aziz Ansari) tooling around in a parking lot — which, really, is all "Otis" needs to be.

Because like Watch the Throne, the album from which it comes, the main attraction of "Otis" lies in the fact that it features roughly 50 percent of the biggest rap names in the game (not to say the song isn't also great, because it is). There's a genuine thrill in watching West and Jay hang over each other while delivering their verses or crack up behind the wheel of the Maybach; in a way, it's like we're getting a tiny glimpse into their private world. And that's what makes the video such a treat.

What do the critics think of Watch the Throne?

Unlike his previous collaborations with West — the maudlin short film "We Were Once a Fairytale" or the deceptively simple "Flashing Lights" — with "Otis," Jonze plays it relatively straight. There are the same tracking shots he's used in old Beastie Boys videos, and the blown-out color palette recalls even earlier work like R.E.M.'s "Crush With Eyeliner" or "Electrolite." He's staying true to his roots, which, given the caliber of everyone involved, is an accomplishment in its own right.

So while "Otis" might not be what you were expecting, in a lot of ways, it's even more. There's an unabashed joy to it, and there's no denying the power of its singular image, either: slicing and dicing a Maybach (average sticker price: $380,000) is a bold, ballsy declaration, indeed. One that speaks louder than a million boasts.

What did you think of the "Otis" video? Share your thoughts on Facebook or tweet your reactions and videos @MTVNews with the hashtag #MTVOtis!

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Friday, August 12, 2011

Amazon Sends Kindle to the Cloud

Over the past few years Amazon has created Kindle reading software for just about every electronic device in existence. Today, they announced they were taking the Kindle to the cloud with their HTML5 based reader.� Now anyone running Google’s Chrome, Apple’s Safari on Windows or Mac OSX or Apple’s Mobile Safari on the iPad, iPod [...]

Source: http://the-gadgeteer.com/2011/08/10/amazon-sends-kindle-to-the-cloud/

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Facebook Revamps App Canvas Page, Includes Ticker For Game Updates And Full Screen Option

Facebook has just spilled the beans on its games-related announcement for today: A more streamlined, engaged App Canvas page, including a ticker for game updates (see below). Canvas Pages, for those unaware, are the "blank canvas" that apps get to occupy on Facebook.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/vG7XImBN1GU/

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Box Office Preview: Four New Films Battle 'Apes'

'Final Destination 5,' 'The Help,' '30 Minutes or Less' and 'Glee: The 3D Concert Movie' try to unseat Fox's king of the cinematic jungle.

Source: http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/box-office-preview-four-new-222331

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Thursday, August 11, 2011

Miranda Cosgrove Injured In Bus Accident

'iCarly' star postpones tour dates after breaking her ankle early Thursday morning.
By Jocelyn Vena

Miranda Cosgrove
Photo: Getty Images

"iCarly" star Miranda Cosgrove was injured in a bus accident early on Thursday (August 11), her rep confirmed to MTV News. The 18-year-old actress/singer, who is currently on her summer tour, was not seriously injured but did suffer a broken ankle.

"Miranda Cosgrove's tour bus was involved in an accident early this morning in Illinois on I-70, just outside of Vandalia," her rep said in a statement. Cosgrove had been traveling from a Wednesday night show in Ohio to Kansas for her Friday stop on the Dancing Crazy Tour. "There were five passengers on the bus, and Miranda suffered a broken ankle. At this time, we are told everyone will be fine.

"Because of this, her tour is postponed until further notice," the statement concludes. "Miranda thanks everyone for their understanding and support."

The tour had dates slated through October, when it was going to wrap up in Arizona. She was about halfway through the jaunt, which kicked off in Ohio last month.

Cosgrove recently appeared in the Best Coast video for the track "Our Deal." The '50s-themed clip features some of Hollywood's biggest up-and-comers like Cosgrove, Chloë Moretz, Tyler Posey and Donald Glover, and was directed by someone else who understands the transition from child star to adult A-lister, Drew Barrymore. "I had a great time," Cosgrove said. "I've been watching Drew Barrymore movies ever since I was really little, so I was nervous to meet her."

Leave your well-wishes for Miranda Cosgrove in the comments below!

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Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1668878/miranda-cosgrove-bus-accident.jhtml

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Photo Stats Turns iPhone EXIF Data into Beautiful Infographics

Photo Stats is an iPhone app that neither edits your photos nor organizes them. Instead, it makes cool infographics that let you know a lot more about your photos.
You all know about EXIF metadata, but I bet that the only time you ever look at it is to quickly check which camera or lens you [...]

Source: http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2011/08/photo-stats-turns-iphone-exif-data-into-beautiful-infographics/

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Nerd Romance: Leica Lens Ring Ring

If the Leica Guy (Matthew B. Harrison) had any doubt as to the marrying potential of his wife-to-be, it surely evaporated when he saw the wedding gift she got for him: a custom made Leica ring, modeled on a lens aperture ring.
The detail is astonishing, from the Leica typeface through to lens model (50mm Noctilux-M [...]

Source: http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2011/08/nerd-romance-leica-lens-ring-ring/

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Wednesday, August 10, 2011

Justin Bieber, Selena Gomez Nude Statue: What Does It Mean?

'Teenage celebrities [are] exploited early, earlier than what is legal, and the media fuels that,' artist Daniel Edwards tells MTV News.
By Jocelyn Vena

Daniel Edwards' "Justin and Selena as One" sculpture
Photo: Daniel Edwards/ Cory Allen Contemporary Art

The Internet was abuzz this week when controversial artist Daniel Edwards released his latest piece of art: a nude statue of Justin Bieber and Selena Gomez with the words "Justin & Selena Forever" inscribed at the base of the statue.

The bronze statue, called "Justin and Selena as One," plays on the idea of Adam and Eve, with Bieber wearing a strategically placed maple leaf and Gomez wearing a strategically placed Texas Lone Star — references to Justin's native Canada and Selena's home state. But Edwards told MTV News the images aren't meant to be provocative for the sake of being provocative.

"Really, can you think of any teenage couple that's bigger or been bigger than them? Also, for my point of view, when I look at it, there's a lot of interesting components to it," he said of the piece, which will be on display at Dallas' New Fine Arts. "That was pretty much the obvious point of entry. She is 19, so that takes away a little bit of the edge, I think, but the fact that he's 17, that was totally the point of it.

"I tried to find my entry into making a comment on that very thing that happens time and again to teenage celebrities, where they're kind of exploited early, earlier than what is legal, and the media fuels that as best they can," he continued. "I guess I'm making my commentary about that particular thing that happens."

The statue also comments on the "double standard" for males and females in the industry. "It only seems to hit the young ladies a lot worse than the men. It's still there. You see all those beach photos of the two of them. My children are young, but I think I would be freaked out if I saw images of them like that on the Internet," he said, noting that being a father definitely informs his work.

"If I hadn't had kids, I think the work would be a lot more provocative, visually," he said. "But with kids, I always have to make sure it's something I'm comfortable with them seeing. There's a certain line I'm not willing to cross with my kids in the house."

Of all the ways to portray the two teen superstars, Edwards felt that the biblical reference was the perfect way to make his commentary work. "It's not for the sake of presenting religion. ... I think it's mostly because, from an art-history standpoint, a young couple is always Adam and Eve," he said. "And so I always try to position my work in historical reference. ... It's a way of giving it a bit of a historical context."

What do you think of the statue? Let us know in the comments below.

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Kno Brings 100,000 Textbooks To Facebook, Adds QuizMe And Journal To iPad

"We are not trying to redefine the textbook," Kno CEO Osman Rashid tells me, "we are trying to redefine how you learn." Today, Kno is taking a big steps towards making digital textbooks more social by making 100,000 college textbooks available both on its Website and on Facebook. The Textbooks for Facebook app and site will present the books via an HTML5 reader. So students who buy a book via Kno's iPad app, can now read them online or on Facebook. They can post study questions and comments to their news feeds, with an eye towards creating full-fledged study groups down the line. Kno is also adding new study features into its iPad app. In the video above, VP of marketing Ousama Haffar demos QuizMe and Journal. QuizMe creates a test out of any labeled diagram in a digital textbook. It blacks out the labels and lets you test yourself with multiple choice answers, which works well with biology or anatomy diagrams. The Journal is a digital notebook in the form of an activity stream.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/iLvOyWThnVs/

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Amazon Kindle locally available in Australia ? woohoo!

Aussie ( potential ) �e-readers rejoice.�No longer will you have to muck around with exchange rates and overseas freight ( albeit very fast 3-4 day turnaround from the US ) to obtain your Amazon Kindle. Both Dick Smith Electronics and Big W are showing the Kindle and accessories available on their websites.�Both sites show �it [...]

Source: http://the-gadgeteer.com/2011/08/07/amazon-kindle-locally-available-in-australia-woohoo/

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Tuesday, August 9, 2011

Gavin DeGraw Hospitalized After New York Assault

Unknown group of men attacked the 'I Don't Want to Be' singer early Monday.
By Gil Kaufman

Gavin DeGraw
Photo: Getty Images

Singer Gavin DeGraw remained hospitalized on Tuesday (August 9) after being beaten by a group of unknown men in New York's East Village early Monday morning. DeGraw suffered a concussion, a broken nose and other injuries, his rep told MTV News.

Police continue to investigate the incident. A DeGraw spokesperson released a statement on Monday revealing that the singer was taken to Bellevue Hospital in an ambulance and is still being held for observation. The assault forced the "I Don't Want to Be" singer to cancel a Tuesday show in Saratoga Springs, New York, where he was slated to open for Maroon 5 and Train. He is also scheduled to appear on "Live! With Regis and Kelly" on Wednesday and participate in a LiveStream performance session for fans that same day. It is unknown whether he will be able to make those appearances.

The New York Post reported that New York native DeGraw, 34, had been out drinking with a group of friends late Sunday night before splitting off by himself. The attack occurred after 3:50 a.m. and police do not believe it was a robbery attempt. A New York Police Department press officer told MTV News that there was no update on the case as of Tuesday morning and that no arrests had been made. The spokesperson also confirmed reports that after the beating, DeGraw continued walking and was struck by a taxi, though he was not seriously injured in that incident.

A spokesperson for the singer confirmed to MTV News on Tuesday that he had been hospitalized and was being treated for his injuries. "Gavin DeGraw is currently recovering and in stable condition at Bellevue Hospital where he was taken late Sunday night by ambulance after he was attacked by a group of assailants. He suffers from a concussion, broken nose, black eyes, cuts and bruises. The police are conducting an investigation of the attack.

"Gavin and his family appreciate everyone's concern at this time," the statement continued. "We have no information yet regarding his upcoming concert dates and promotion for his new album."

The singer is preparing to release his fifth album, Sweeter, on September 20. According to Billboard, it features collaborations with OneRepublic's Ryan Tedder — who helped pen the first single, "Not Over You" — as well as production by Butch Walker (Pink, Weezer). The story also noted that DeGraw and his brother are about to open the second of their National Underground bars, this one in Nashville, after the success of the first one, located on the Lower East Side of New York.

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Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1668694/gavin-degraw-hospitalized-assault-new-york.jhtml

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Jay-Z, Kanye West's Throne Defies Radio Rules

While lacking conventional single, Watch the Throne tracks 'Lift Off,' 'No Church in the Wild' and 'N---as in Paris' trend on Twitter.
By Rob Markman

Kanye West
Photo: Flanigan/ FilmMagic

Nothing Jay-Z and Kanye West have done leading up to Monday's release of Watch the Throne has been conventional. While most rap artists look to impact radio with a big crossover single before they drop their album, the Throne handled things a bit differently.

Yes, there was the release of the Lex Luger-produced "H.A.M.," which now stands as a bonus track on the deluxe version of WTT. Then there was "Otis" of course, but with no catchy chorus, the Redding-sampled track hardly screams crossover. Shade 45 DJ Statik Selektah said he doesn't think Jay and Kanye still need to conform to radio — he actually believes the opposite: "I think Jay and Kanye could put out an a cappella song and it'll get played," the DJ told MTV News.

Check out our photos of Jay and Kanye recording Watch the Throne.

Sucker Free and Power 105.1's DJ Envy agrees. While "Otis" doesn't fit the exact formula for a hit, Envy said radio has picked it up for one simple reason: It's a good record. "The first single, 'Otis,' if you wanna call it a single, it's not a radio record but it's been added on so many different radio stations, which I think is dope," he said. "You still play it in the club, and it's a hot record."

Because of their respective musical accomplishments, Hot 97's DJ Kast One said the Throne are the exceptions to the radio rule. "They're in a different type of space: It's Jay-Z and Kanye — they're arguably two of the biggest rappers, I wanna say, ever," he said.

Shade 45's DJ Wonder echoed that sentiment: "With Jay-Z and Kanye, they're so iconic that it's not going to make a difference what they decided to do; people are gonna want it."

It's not that Watch the Throne has a shortage of likeable records. Since its release Monday, songs like "Lift Off," "No Church in the Wild" and "N---as in Paris" have all become trending topics on Twitter.

Conventional wisdom says that Watch the Throne will eventually produce a number of records for radio, but it doesn't seem that Hov and Yeezy necessarily planned for that while recording the album. DJ Khaled argues that when artists go in with the aim of recording for radio, they end up losing authenticity. "I think people that go in the studio saying, 'I'm making a radio record' is when they start goin' in the wrong direction. It's called, make a great record," he said. "When you start thinking, 'Oh, I should put a little sprinkle and make it radio,' sometimes that hurts you because it's not authentic."

Share your review of Watch the Throne in the comments below.

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Video: Functioning CNC Mill Created From LEGO

While I may have created some sweet spaceships in my days constructing LEGO, I never guessed how serious people would get with their blocky creations. Guns, computer cases, even a Tetris-playing device and a robotic hand. So I shouldn't be surprised that someone has created a CNC mill with their Mindstorms NXT set. Check out the video inside.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/waQStzHsoQg/

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