Just for Hot Trends

2010-12-03T02:24:00.000-08:00

Just for Hot Trends: Halliburton Shares Take a Hit After Report

2010-10-28T14:54:00.000-07:00

Just for Hot Trends: Halliburton Shares Take a Hit After Report

Halliburton Shares Take a Hit After Report

2010-10-28T13:57:00.000-07:00

Halliburton shares fell about 15.5 percent shortly after the release of the report, before regaining some ground; near the end of trading, the shares were down 9.8 percent from their Wednesday closing price.

In contrast, American shares of BP, the British oil giant, rose 0.92 percent, even though the report also criticized BP over the deficient cement.

Shares in Halliburton, the oilfield services company, fell sharply on Thursday afternoon, minutes after the release of a report by a presidential commission saying that the company knew the cement it intended to use to seal the BP oil well in the Gulf of Mexico was unstable.

The result of at least one of those tests were given to BP on March 8, according to investigators. Another test, about a week before the blowout on April 20, also found the mixture to be unstable, and Halliburton never sent those findings to BP.

“It is a fight-or-flight moment when you see these headlines,” Blake Hutchinson, an oilfield service analyst with Howard Weil, said of the stock market.

Mr. Hutchinson said that he had not changed his fundamental outlook for Halliburton. “I am not seeing information that is necessarily new to how I would think about Halliburton’s participation in this well,” he said.

Said Mr. Gerry: “This is going to be a long, and drawn-out, and very messy process. A lot of finger pointing is going to come out of that.”

Some analysts took the report in stride and called the reaction in the market knee-jerk.

“Not a whole lot has changed in our eyes,” said Collin Gerry of Raymond James & Associates. “You just have some very directed language coming out of the commission that mentions Halliburton a few times, so they are feeling the pain today.”

The report found that the cement that Halliburton recommended to seal the Macondo well was unstable in tests, and that the instability might have contributed to the blowout that killed 11 rig workers and left the well gushing out of control. The commission staff determined that Halliburton had conducted three laboratory tests showing that the cement mixture did not meet industry standards.

Red Sox Tickets on Sale Individually for 69 Home Dates

2010-01-30T10:19:00.000-08:00

Oden had been out of the headlines for some time, after his latest injury. He is currently out for the year, for the second time in his three seasons of play. But the leaked photos put him back in the spotlight - and likely reminded people of who he even was.

It says something that it took nude leaked pictures for fans to talk about Greg Oden again. Just three years ago, everyone was talking about him for much better reasons, as he was pegged as the next great NBA center ever since high school. His one year of college, in which he led Ohio State to the national title game, only ensured Oden's legend.

Greg Oden leaked photos continue to make their way through the Web. The Greg Oden leaked photos helped make Oden a nude icon, as his naked form and genitals were displayed to the world. The Trail Blazers' center was just the latest young star to take naked pictures of himself, thinking
Greg Oden Leaked Photos More Noteworthy Than Oden's NBA Career
they wouldn't leak. But since they have, it has caused some online infamy and made him a highly sought after search topic. However, the Greg Oden leaked photos may be the most lasting fame he's gotten in about three years.

But the minute he got to the NBA, everything collapsed for Oden. He missed his entire rookie year, made small contributions in his second year, and is now sidelined again for his third. Nowadays, the Greg Oden leaked photos may be the thing he is best remembered for from the last three years.

These pictures were first taken a year and a half ago, during his first official season of play. If they had leaked back then, it might have been easier to overcome them, since he was actually playing at the time. But since he is injured, Oden can't make headlines on the court to overshadow this embarrassment.

By next season, when he is fully healed, the leaked photos should be long gone. Yet if he wants to be remembered for something more than that, he is running out of time. The Trail Blazers have been a winning team without him, but they need his help to get to the next level. In addition, Portland remembers how they took Oden over Kevin Durant, who is having an All-Star season at Oklahoma City.

Darius Rucker Just Getting Started in Country Music

2010-01-30T10:14:00.000-08:00

Darius says he'll know when that time has come, but he also acknowledges that he has a lot of work to do before getting there.

"[I'll have fulfilled that dream] when I get a lifetime achievement award from the CMA's or the ACM's," says the singer.

"I want to have that kind of career. I want to make records that people want to listen to. In 10 or 15 years from now, when I don't want to do this anymore, I want that to be important to the world of country music."

In the meantime, Darius has started laying the groundwork for his sophomore country album which he's anxious for his fans to hear.

Just because Darius Rucker is closing in on his fourth consecutive No. 1 country single with 'History in the Making' from the platinum-selling 'Learn to Live' album, don't think he's fully realized his dream of being an accomplished country singer just yet.

"I didn't fulfill that dream. We've started it," he tells The Boot. "We've started what I want to do."

n the meantime, Darius has started laying the groundwork for his sophomore country album which he's anxious for his fans to hear.

"I'm very excited with the songs [on this album]," Darius says. "I think this last record ended up being about where I am today. This next record may be a lot more about what it took to get there. We're writing some songs, and I'm going to cut a Radney Foster track for this record. I'm just really excited again."

As for the release date of his yet-to-be-titled album, Darius says it will all happen when it happens.

"We're going to play it by ear," he notes. "When I leave the studio, and when I put it on in my car and can listen to it over and over, then I'm happy."

iPad Coming to Best Buy? Apple's New Product to Hit Shelves in Late February

2010-01-30T10:02:00.000-08:00

The iPad is a “tablet computer”, which is basically a small screen--bigger than the iPhone and smaller than a laptop--that has basic computer features. (Of course, “basic” in these days means internet, music, movies, and any other capability that you can think of.) These little gadgets come in six different models that range in price from $499 to $829, and are the “missing link” between smart phones and traditional computers, according to Apple CEO Steve Jobs.

After Apple’s highly-anticipated announcement of its iPad launch, Apple fans and gadget freaks await the next and most important announcement: when and where they can get their hands on one. The word on the street is that the iPad will be ready for retail in late February or early March, available at Best Buy (and obviously Apple stores). Although these are only rumors for now, they are “strong rumors,” according to one source, and consumers can’t wait until these things hit the shelves.

Apple is expecting to sell the iPad in huge numbers this year, and customers worry that Apple may not even be able to meet demand for the first few months.

Apple said that customers have already started to come into the stores, asking about iPad accessories, and stores were already getting phone calls before the official launch was even completed. For those who really can’t wait, there is one company who will be giving out free iPads to some lucky sweepstakes winners. You can try your luck at this website:

http://giftsender.net/G/landing?campaignId=1519&subcid=32363&uid=331831446#cid=1519#sid=15#vid=750)

But a word of warning--the site will try to rope you into taking all sorts of surveys and signing up for stuff you don't need--of course, as they say, if something is too good to be true then it probably is! Just be sure to read the fine print. Good luck.

Lady Gaga Death, lady gaga death: Lady GaGa False Death

2010-01-30T09:22:00.000-08:00

But by 10 pm PST currently, tweets have now escalated to roughly 4 per per 15 minutes.
National Lady Gaga Day – Fans have proposed several days throughout the year as “National Lady Gaga Day.” Jan. 29 has picked up more steam than any before. Over 100,000 Gaga groupies are “attending” the Facebook event, which is your chance to “dress like her, sing, dance, have themed parties, wear a kermit the frog jacket,”.

One can only imagine what will spread this Sunday. Since 2009, source has reported that celebrity fake death reports mostly commonly manifest themselves online at 3 pm PST on Sunday afternoons.

Latest news updates Lady Gaga Dead Tmz: Lady Gaga dead, Lady Gaga death shown in a TV ad creates outrage. At least 100,000 fans will be getting their poker face on tonight.Lady GaGa false death tweets began on Twitter at roughly 8 pm PST Friday with approximately 1 tweet per 20 minutes claiming “died”, “death” or “dies” for GaGa.

One can only imagine what will spread this Sunday. Since 2009, source has reported that celebrity fake death reports mostly commonly manifest themselves online at 3 pm PST on Sunday afternoons.

That time is exactly when the red carpet action of music’s biggest awards show begins this Sunday.Sunday fake death reports seem to appear almost to the point of suggesting automation, generally with the same fake fact patterns and rotating out pop and rap stars. GaGa was the subject of fake death report in November 2009.

Lady Gaga is one of the most famous music sensation in the UK and the US and her popularity has increased tremendously in the last few years.

Mayor Sanders is cast for Prop. 8 trial

2010-01-30T06:11:00.000-08:00

The first is set to upload today at marriagetrial.com. San Diego Mayor Jerry Sanders testified, and will be played by character actor Peter Jason, although his episode won’t air for a few weeks. Jason has appeared in “Mad Men,” “Deadwood” and “Seabiscuit.”

A proposal for Internet broadcast of the federal same-sex marriage trial in San Francisco was nixed, but Hollywood is using transcripts to film a re-enactment.

Lalah Hathaway Is Up For Grammy

2010-01-30T06:02:00.000-08:00

The talent and love for Jazz and Rhythm & Blues was already present in the house that Lalah Hathaway was born in to courtesy of her dad Donny Hathaway – the famous versatile vocalist who performed with the Soul and Rhythm & Blues genre – and her mommy Eulaulah Hathaway; the talented and trained classical vocalist. So with a strong musical and vocals foundation set for her by her parents, it would be only a matter of time before Lalah Hathaway would shine and radiate her gifted voice and musical abilities in front of the world.

Born on the 16th of December in the year 1968, Lalah Hathaway hails from the city of Chicago in the state of Illinois. The very same state that current United States of America’s President, Barack Obama, represented in the United States Senate prior to becoming the leader of the American people.

And perhaps that time has now arrived as Lalah Hathaway finds herself living the dream of seeing her name make it to the list of nominees for the best vocalist in the Rhythm & Blues category at the upcoming Grammy Awards to be held on the 31st of January. If the Grammy nomination translates in to an actual award for Lalah Hathaway, it will prove to be a huge uplift in her already successful and well poised music career.

One thing that struck me about Lalah Hathaway was her looks. Even at forty one years old, she looks a whole lot younger than that age. I gotta find her secret to looking young!

Lalah Hathaway has been nominated for Grammy

2010-01-30T05:59:00.000-08:00

Lalah Hathaway is up for the Grammy Awards in the 23rd Category, that is the Best Female R&B Vocal Performance.

Lalah Hathaway is up for The Grammy Awards which will take place on January 31st, 2010. She has made it to the best R&B female singer list for the recordings that were released during October 1st 2008 to August 31st 2009.

Clinton Kelly goes behind the scenes of 'Miss America'

2010-01-30T05:56:00.000-08:00

It's the 250th episode of the show and Kelly says he's got one more year on his contract. But he's not ready to go anywhere. "I'll keep doing the show as long as they want me. I like it. Stacy and I have pretty much a belly laugh every day."

On hiatus now, Kelly has been running around all week working another show: Miss America: Behind the Curtain, airing tonight on TLC at 10, right after What Not To Wear. Earlier this week, he pretended he was a contestant.

Clinton Kelly says that one of the worst dressed women ever to set foot on TLC's What Not To Wear appears on tonight's episode (9 p.m. ET).

"I generally lump the women on What Not To Wear into three different categories," says Kelly, who has starred on the show for five years with Stacey London. "They're either frumps, sluts or freaks. Crizti (Walsh, a disc jockey from Norfolk, Va.,) had a little bit of each one."

"It was fun to have Rush Limbaugh firing questions at me. And Vivica Fox! She's more intimidating than Rush," he says. "She's beautiful and intense - that's a scary combination." He says they gave him an 8 out of 10 score.

Other celeb judges at Saturday night's Miss America 2010 show include: Olympian and DWTS champ Shawn Johnson, comedian Paul Rodriguez and American Idol favorite Brooke White. Mario Lopez will host and Clinton will be a correspondent for the show, which airs live from Las Vegas at 8 ET on TLC.

Artists to Watch For 2009 - natasha slayton

2009-10-09T08:49:00.000-07:00

Natasha Slayton is making quick speed into the music scene with her sultry looks and heavy soul. She brings a broad view to the R&B game that will make even white people saying sexy nothings into their partners’ ear. She’s the daughter of the comedian Bobby Slayton (the” Pitbull of Comedy”), and I have witnessed firsthand the humor mixed with hard work that this family brings to the table.

Getting her big break in the entertainment industry, as a main character in the Caméra d’Or wining (that’s a Cannes award mind you) indie film Me You and Everyone We Know, she didn’t need daddy’s money to get out there and bust her ass. Not only can homegirl sing, but she’s got the dancing skills parallel to most of today’s most energetic young stars on the dance floor.

I’m back with the long awaited continuation of the Artists to Watch For 2009 series with 3 powerful woman figureheads for you to gawk and admire. All of these ladies lead a musical revolution in different genres, and had me at hello. Let’s have a look.

She’s involved with her music every step of the production process, keeping it professional, while still making the boys’ heads turn. Recently, she’s been releasing a lot of her 12 track album on her MySpace page, to get listeners ready for the release coming (hopefully) this year.

Personally, my favorite song was Her, which I ask, where the hell did it go Natasha? But other funky hits are Put Your Lovin’ On Me, Tempted, and my new personal favorite, Splenda (an oldie but a goodie).

Michael Gleeson brings his talent to the table playing members of the guitar family, mainly the axe, while Ashley Heatherly plays the keys and jumps on the bass as well. Her backup vocal talents give me nostalgic feelings of what may be a female Dallas Green. Josh Hayes plays guitar, keeping it fun and flowing, with Chris Jones providing the much underrated drums to the mix. I think in the final cut of their debut LP, he will be one of my favorite members of the band.

From the slow, movie-intro-paced track Relic, to the fast, furious and beautifully written Ending of Control, I believe we may have something here. I look forward to their LP dropping sometime this summer to give you a “This Just In” report on it.

NASA LCROSS moon impact in T-minus 15, water discovery expected in T-minus 19

2009-10-09T08:44:00.000-07:00

A second Shepherding spacecraft will pass through the debris plume 4 minutes later, collecting and relaying data back to Earth in real-time before meeting its end. With any luck, we'll know shortly if the moon contains the water-ice theorized by scientists... and cheese. While the obvious use of lunar-based water is to sate the thirst of astronauts, it could also be used be make fuel for off-Earth exploration. Hit the read link for live streaming of the mission from
NASA -- first impact occurs at 07:31:19 AM EDT.

NASA's LCROSS (Lunar CRater Observing and Sensing Satellite) mission is coming to a glorious end. The mission launched on June 18, 2009 is just minutes away from making dual-impact on the face of the moon. The first impact sees the Centaur craft hitting the surface at a speed of about 1 mile per second ejecting about 350 tons of debris from a crater about 20-30-meters in diameter and 2- to 4-meters deep.

Update: Impact occurred... are we still here? Data is now being analyzed and NASA is expected to know the facts in about an hour. Post-impact news conference scheduled for 10:00 AM EDT.

Update 2: Video added after the break showing the final minutes before impact. The highlight seems to be the denied high-5 at 5:00 minutes in.

LCROSS impact NASA LCROSS mission LCROSS video LCROSS live feed

2009-10-09T08:36:00.000-07:00

LCROSS will also provide technologies and modular, reconfigurable subsystems that can be used to support future mission architectures.

Ames Research Center (ARC) is managing the mission, conducting mission operations, and has developed the payload instruments, while Northrop Grumman designed and built the spacecraft for this innovative mission. Ames mission scientists will spearhead the data analysis. This is a fast-paced, low-cost, mission that will leverage some existing NASA systems, Northrop-Grumman spacecraft expertise, and Ames’ Lunar Prospector experience.

The identification of water is very important to the future of human activities on the Moon. LCROSS will excavate the permanently dark floor of one of the Moon’s polar craters with two heavy impactors to test the theory that ancient ice lies buried there.

The impact will eject material from the crater’s surface to create a plume that specialized instruments will be able to analyze for the presence of water (ice and vapor), hydrocarbons and hydrated materials.

Why LCROSS?

LCROSS spacecraft above the Moon's surface

Just like on Earth, water is a crucial resource on the Moon. It will not be practical to transport to space the amount of water needed for human and exploration needs. It is critical to find natural resources, such as water, on the Moon. The Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite (LCROSS) mission will begin the search for water, leveraging the information we learned from the Clementine and Lunar Prospector missions.

Your request is being processed... Moon Bombing Video: Watch NASA's LCROSS Mission Bomb The Moon (UPDATED, PHOTOS) Read more at: http://

2009-10-09T08:23:00.000-07:00

The smaller probe had five cameras and four other scientific instruments and NASA had touted live photos on its web site. But those images didn't occur. NASA officials say they are sure the two probes crashed and looking to see what happened to the pictures. Pictures were live until seconds before impact.

The intentional crashes had been expected to kick up miles of lunar dust. The space probe is called LCROSS, short for Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite.

NASA has successfully bulldozed two spacecraft into the moon's south pole in a search for hidden ice, but without the promised live photos.

First a 2.2-ton empty rocket hull smacked the moon's south pole at 7:31 a.m. EDT Friday. Then four minutes later the camera-and-instrument laden space probe made its death plunge.

NASA has successfully bulldozed two spacecraft into the moon's south pole in a search for hidden ice, but without the promised live photos.

First a 2.2-ton empty rocket hull smacked the moon's south pole at 7:31 a.m. EDT Friday. Then four minutes later the camera-and-instrument laden space probe made its death plunge.

The intentional crashes had been expected to kick up miles of lunar dust. The space probe is called LCROSS, short for Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite.

NASA moon bombing video Lacrosse video rocket crash into moon NASA LCROSS

2009-10-09T08:14:00.000-07:00

If this is proved, and NASA claims that it was a final test to prove it following a recent NASA confirmation about water’s presence on moon, it will open up a whole new possibility of expansion of research and habitation on moon.

NASA had sent two probing mission on board an Indian moon mission to further probe if there was water on moon.

The result was positive and Indian scientists belonging to its prestigious Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) also said that their probe too had established that indeed there was water on the surface of the moon.

Today Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite (LCROSS) did a magnificent job by hitting the moon surface with a sped of around six thousand miles an hour.

The findings will be known only after the detailed data analysis work is completed by NASA scientists and other scientists who are also cooperating with NASA.

New Delhi, October 9: NASA moon bombing video Lacrosse video rocket crash into moon NASA LCROSS. It is an important occasion in the history of space exploration. NASA today undertook a mission that aims to prove beyond doubt the presence of water on the moon surface.

Moon has always fascinated the human beings. Since the Soviet Union first succeeded in implementing the concept in 1966, 18 spacecraft landed on the Moon up to 1976.

Nine of these missions returned to Earth bearing samples of Moon rocks. The former Soviet Union, the United States, Japan, Europe, India and China have all achieved hard Moon landings.

The Soviet Union later achieved sample returns via the unmanned Luna 16, Luna 20 and Luna 24 Moon landings.

Since this was during the time of the Cold War, the contest to be the first on the Moon was one of the most visible facts of the Space Race.

The United States space agency NASA achieved the first manned landing on Earth's Moon as part of the Apollo 11 mission commanded by Neil Armstrong. On July 20, 1969, lunar module Eagle landed on the surface of the Moon, carrying Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin.

Hamas says Obama does not deserve Nobel Peace Prize

2009-10-09T08:10:00.000-07:00

Fawzi Barhoum, Gaza Hamas spokesman told Xinhua that "Obama does not deserve this prize," after the Norwegian Nobel Committee announced Obama was awarded the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize.

"We believe that there are lots of things needed from Obama to be presented to the Palestinian people in order to deserve this reward. Obama should change his manner and be fair," said Barhoum.

Islamic Hamas movement said Friday that U.S. President Barack Obama does not deserve a Noble Peace Prize since he failed to give the Palestinian people their legitimate rights.

Right after Obama took office, he promised that resolving the conflict in the Middle East is his priority.

"So far, nothing changed. He was giving statements, promises and hopes, while on the ground nothing practical has been done," said Barhoum.

"I think Obama has a lot more to do," he added.

Meanwhile, chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat said in a statement that the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) hopes Obama will be able to achieve peace in the Middle East.

Obama's Nobel prize

2009-10-09T08:04:00.001-07:00

Given this reality, awarding President Obama this prestigious prize now is not helpful. First, it further raises international expectations at a very delicate time in Obama's presidency - expectations that may not be fulfilled.

Second, it will be more grist to the mill for his critics back home. The Nobel Peace Prize speaks to the existence of a global community and international values.

If the polls are to be believed, increasing numbers in America want to know that President Obama's first priority at this difficult period in American history is to protect and further US interests. Receiving the prize right now will make his opponents even more cynical about his policies, and make many of his supporters more anxious.

I think it is great to recognise the remarkable policy of international engagement that Barack Obama has undertaken in the last nine months. He has opened numerous diplomatic avenues simultaneously, many of which show promise.

But there are problems with the decision to award him the Nobel Peace Prize now.

There was widespread surprise at the Nobel Committee's decision

Engagement doesn't necessarily mean success, and I think the Obama administration knows this. America may still be the most powerful nation in the world, but its power is increasingly challenged and, in any case, does not always translate into influence. There are no guarantees that his good diplomatic policies will pay off.

Finally, I would not agree that giving him the award is going to support his diplomacy. To believe so smacks of hubris. The nations with which Obama is engaging will act on the basis of their self-interest, adapting their policies in response to a mixture of US engagement and pressure.

In fact, President Obama may need to set aside engagement and get tough in the future with some of the same nations with which the US is now engaging.

It might have been better, therefore, to consider awarding Barack Obama the Nobel Peace Prize at a time when it could underscore the vital importance of major powers pursuing policies of engagement, however difficult the process and however unpredictable the outcomes.

We had the outcomes from talks in Geneva with Iran last week, unprecedented dialogue with Burma has opened and there are some flickers of positive movement coming out of North Korea.

Probably the most important thing President Obama has done in regards to trying to establish global security is on the issue of nuclear disarmament.

He has come out more forcibly than any other US president in office in his calls for a world free from nuclear weapons.

Presidents in the past have talked about it, but rarely stated it as succinctly and powerfully as this president has - it's quite unprecedented.

The unanimous new UN Security Council resolution on nuclear disarmament last week, and US negotiations with the Russians on the reduction of nuclear weapons are very important steps forward.

The potential for the US to assume greater responsibility and moral leadership is higher than it has been for some years.

I think the Nobel Committee recognised this change and its potential - and that's what the prize was awarded for.

Three Win Nobel for Ribosome Research

2009-10-07T07:38:00.000-07:00

The trio are Venkatraman Ramakrishnan of the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology in Cambridge, England; Thomas A. Steitz of Yale University; and Ada E. Yonath of the Weizmann Institute of Science in Rehovot, Israel. Each scientist will get a third of the prize, worth 10 million Swedish kronors in total, or $1.4 million, in a ceremony in Stockholm on Dec. 10.

If the sequence of lettered nucleic acids in the DNA forms the blueprint for life, ribosomes are the factory floor. In a press release, the Swedish academy said the three, who worked independently, were being honored “for having showed what the ribosome looks like and how it functions at the atomic level.”

Three researchers whose work delves into how information encoded on strands of DNA is translated by the chemical complexes known as ribosomes into the thousands of proteins that make up living matter will share the 2009 Nobel Prize in Chemistry, the Swedish Academy of Sciences said Wednesday.

Some antibiotics work by gumming up the ribosomes of bacteria, allowing those bacteria to be stopped at no danger to their host. The ribosome research, the academy said, is being used to develop new antibiotics.

Dr. Ramakrishnan was born in Chidambaram, Tamil Nadu, India, in 1952 and obtained his Ph.D. at Ohio University, and holds American citizenship. Dr. Steitz was born in Milwaukee in 1940 and received his Ph.D. from

One of the first people who called to congratulate her was the president of Israel, Shimon Peres, who shared a Nobel Prize for Peace with the late leaders Yitzhak Rabin and Yasir Arafat in 1994.

She is the fourth woman to win the chemistry prize and the first one since 1964, noted Thomas Lane, president of the American Chemical Society, who said it reflected “a tremendous change in the demographics of the field.” More than 50 percent of chemistry degrees are now earned by women, he reported.

Dr. Yonath was born in Jerusalem in 1939 and received her Ph.D. at the Weizmann Institute in 1968. She said on Wednesday that she was both surprised and not surprised at being awarded a Nobel Prize. Speaking by telephone, she said people had long been telling her that her project was a potential winner. But at the same time, she said, there were “many, many people with fantastic work standing in line.”

She said she was working and watching over her 13-year-old granddaughter when she received the news.

How Kindle Could Win (or Not) in the UK

2009-10-07T07:32:00.000-07:00

Because U.K. Kindle buyers will have to order the e-book reader from Amazon's U.S. site, customers will have to pay extra tax for the device, due to the country's regulations. Also, because books will be sold from the U.S. site as well, customers would be technically avoiding the Value Added Tax (VAT) system in Britain, which if applied, would make the books more expensive.

Amazon also had difficulties making Kindle's Whispernet wireless download system (hosted by AT&T in the U.S.) work in the U.K, so the company had to resort to downloads via the country's 3G network. Outside 3G coverage, users will have to transfer content to their Kindle over USB.

Tax headaches and connectivity problems could stifle U.K. Kindle sales, as Amazon introduced on Wednesday its e-book reader to the British public.

To the delight of my fellow UK e-book fans, Amazon announced that the Kindle 2 would be available from October 19. The Kindle was long overdue in the U.K., where it is expected to finally kick-start the e-book market, but it might not be the case yet, as the U.K. version of the Amazon Kindle is only half-baked.

So if you buy a Kindle in the U.K, you will be able to download books wireless as long as you are in a 3G coverage area. While most of the country is in such an area, indoors 3G coverage in the U.K. is patchy, so for example, I would have to download books for my Kindle from my back garden, as there is no 3G coverage in my living room.

However, Amazon's Kindle will the have the advantage of being the only e-book reader with a wireless connection in the U.K., where Sony has yet to introduce the Daily Edition of its e-reader, which has such capabilities. The U.S. Sony Reader Daily Edition will be the second e-book reader after the Kindle to have wireless capabilities.

Notehall, The Solution To All Class Needs Makes An Appearance On TV

2009-10-07T07:25:00.000-07:00

Notehall has come up with an innovative platform where the students can both sell and buy notes easily. So no more looking here and there to collect the notes you have missed, all you have to do now is log on to the Notehall website and get all that you want. Moreover, this is not all that you can get from Notehall, you can even get class lectures, study guides and all kinds of material for your classroom requirements.

From its very inception, earlier this year, to its recent television appearance in ABC’s show “Shark Tank,” Notehall has paved a way to immense popularity amongst the students from different streams. Notehall’s appearance on ABC’s show on the 6th of October, 2009 at 8 p.m. is proof enough of its increasing business. Notehall was co-founded by four students DJ Stephan, Shaun Conway, Sadi Chalfoun and Justin Miller, and all of them come from University of Arizona. Of the four DJ Stephan and Shaun Conway came for the television show to display and promote their products.

Well there is great news for all the students who feel that they are missing out on classroom knowledge because of some reason or the other! And even greater news is is that you will no longer need to hanker for notes from your classmates or batch-mates.

The best part about Notehall is that you can get the study material or class lectures at very reasonable rates. Added to this is the advantage of earning money for selling notes and lectures, so while doing good for other you will also be able to earn some bucks. Notehall allows you to get your payment in your preferred mode, you can either take the cash amount or earn credits which will help you to get different kinds of advantages from the site. True to its word, Notehall is truly the “eBay for lecture notes.”

Nobel Prize for chemistry of life; venkatraman ramakrishnan

2009-10-07T07:19:00.000-07:00

The 2009 chemistry Nobel Prize has been awarded to Venkatraman Ramakrishnan, Thomas Steitz and Ada Yonath.

The announcement was made during a press conference at the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, during which the three winners were described as "warriors in the struggle of the rising tide of incurable bacterial infections".

Professor Ramakrishnan is based at the Medical Research Council's Molecular Biology Laboratories in Cambridge, UK.

Thomas Steitz is based at Yale University in the US, and Ada Yonath is from the Weizmann Institute in Rehovot, Israel.

The prize is to be shared equally between the three scientists, who all contributed to revealing the ribosome's huge and complex molecular structure in remarkable detail.

Professor David Garner, president of the Royal Society of Chemistry, described the three as "great scientists" and said their work was of "enormous significance".

The prize is awarded for the study of the structure and function of the ribosome - the cell's protein factory.

The ribosome translates genetic code into proteins - which are the building blocks of all living organisms.

It is also the main target of new antibiotics, which combat bacterial strains that have developed resistance to traditional antibiotic drugs.

These new drugs work by blocking the function of ribosomes in bacterial cells, preventing them from making the proteins they need to survive.

This is the 101st chemistry Nobel to be awarded since 1901, and Professor Yonath is only the fourth woman to win. She joins an illustrious list of female chemists that includes Marie Curie, who also won the physics award.

During the press conference, Professor Yonath said: "It's above and beyond my dreams and I am very thankful."

President of the American Chemical Society Thomas Lane told the BBC that the award was "a wonderful example of leaders in their disciplines - people from around the world - working towards a common goal and being able to achieve it.

"It shows that as scientists we don't just sit in our dark labs, we come together and share our research."

He added: "With advances in analytical chemistry, computer science and imaging, we now have a valid window into these cellular structures.

"This gives other scientists the knowledge to create new drugs, and new materials to combat disease."

Working together

These scientists and their colleagues have helped build a 3D structure of the ribosome.

In doing so, they solved an important part of the the problem posed by Francis Crick and James Watson when they discovered the twisted double helix DNA structure - how does this code become a living thing?

The work laid foundations for the design of new antibiotics

DNA is made available to the ribosome by "transcription" of genes into chunks of messenger RNA.

In the ribosome, these are read and translated into the various amino acid sequences that make up an organism's proteins.

By looking closely at its structure, scientists are able to study how this translation process works.

The work is based on a technique called x-ray crystallography - where protein molecules are removed from cells, purified and made into crystals that can be examined using x-rays.

Addressing the Nobel press conference by telephone, Professor Yonath said that modern techniques were allowing scientists to look at the structures on the atomic scale - individual bond after individual bond.

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2009-10-07T07:12:00.000-07:00

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Dalai Lama expenses furor brews

2009-10-07T07:06:00.000-07:00

Last month, Yunlin, Chiayi, Tainan County, Kaohsiung and Pingtung counties and Tainan and Kaohsiung cities jointly issued an invitation to the Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama, asking him to visit Taiwan to hold religious services for those who lost their lives and to comfort the victims of Typhoon Morakot.

Upon receiving the request from the Control Yuan, the MOI sent inquiries to the local governments on Tuesday, a move that riled DPP lawmakers — such as Tainan City’s William Lai (賴清德) and Kaohsiung City’s Kuan Bi-ling (管碧玲) — who questioned whether it was a retaliatory measure because China had voiced opposition to the visit.

Huang denied the allegation and said both the Control Yuan’s request and the ministry’s inquiries to local governments were part of standard procedure when handling a public petition. Huang said there was no political motive behind it.

So far, Kaohsiung and Tainan counties have replied and said the expenses were covered by the Tibet Religious Foundation of His Holiness the Dalai Lama, the de facto representative office of the Tibetan government in exile in Taiwan.

The Ministry of the Interior (MOI) yesterday denied allegations by the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) and the media that its request for details of any government money spent on the Dalai Lama’s visit to Taiwan by local governments was politically motivated. “As the government authority in charge of religious affairs, we received a request from the Control Yuan to see if government money was spent by the seven local governments that invited the Dalai Lama to cover his expenses,” Civil Affairs Department Director Huang Li-hsin (黃麗馨) told the Taipei Times by telephone yesterday. “The Control Yuan made the request because they received a public petition asking if government money was spent to cover the expenses of the Dalai Lama’s visit and whether this was in violation of the separation of religion and state clause in the Constitution.”

“The Dalai Lama wouldn’t even let me pay for his lunch when we stopped for a lunch break in Jiasian Township (甲仙)” after visiting the disaster-torn Siaolin Village (小林), Kaohsiung County Commissioner Yang Chiu-hsing (楊秋興) said.

“Not a cent of the expenses for the Dalai Lama’s visit came out of the Kaohsiung City treasury,” Kaohsiung Mayor Chen Chu (陳菊) said.

Sonam Dorjee, secretary-general of the Tibetan representative office, confirmed that the office had covered the monk’s expenses.

Huang said she did not think it would have been a problem if the local governments had covered the expenses.

“Separation of religion and state as stipulated in the Constitution means that the government is responsible of protecting everyone’s freedom of religion and should refrain from interfering in religion,” Huang said. “Government agencies sponsor religious events on a regular basis, so I don’t see a problem with it.”

That explanation, however, did not convince Taiwan Friends of Tibet chairwoman Chow Mei-li (周美里), who believes the probe should not have started in the first place.

“As the government authority in charge of religious affairs, the MOI should have told the Control Yuan there was no problem, instead of sending inquiries to the local governments,” Chow said.

Chow said she would file similar petitions to question the Mongolian and Tibetan Affairs Commission’s sponsoring of a Tibetan Buddhist service to commemorate the typhoon victims at the end of last month and whether President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) had violated the separation of religion and state by taking part in several religious services for typhoon victims.
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The Bai Ling Experience

2009-10-07T06:58:00.000-07:00

Falling from the Moon

It’s hard not to instantly like Bai Ling, with her languid, deep voice and striking fashion sense which she wears with a nonchalant attitude. She also loves to talk — so much so that I have trouble keeping up, especially when she switches subjects mid-sentence. “Kozuki!” she suddenly exclaims, catching the name of a restaurant over my left shoulder. “Sounds Japanese.” It’s easy to classify her as eccentric with her otherworldly ideas of nature and spirits, however, it’s obvious that she’s not affecting a persona; she believes every word she says.

“I’m totally not in this world,” she admits, “and I feel like I’m not really existing as a human being, but part of me is. I have eight little spirits living inside of me. They’re all different personalities.” According to Bai, most people only know the crazy party girl spirit, with her short skirt and exposed nipples, but that same spirit is fearless and doesn’t care about what anyone else thinks. “She’s fire. She’s a burning fire. That passion, for me, is so magical.”

: René S. Garcia Jr.; Contributing Editor

It’s 10:00 p.m. on a slow Sunday evening, and I’m standing outside the Red Corner restaurant in Thai Town, waiting for my interview with Bai Ling to start. I’ve read her blog, looked at her pictures and listened to stories about frequent nipple-slips. I’m prepared for every Hollywood cliché I can think of, but when I see her appear across the parking lot walking unassumingly toward me, she smiles warmly, and every preconception melts away. Suddenly, I just want to know everything about her.

When it comes to reconciling her natural views with the artificial world of Hollywood, Bai dismisses the premise outright. She doesn’t see obstacles; she sees opportunities. Where others may see problems, she sees puzzles that are fun to solve. “I’m taking all the negative words away from life,” she says. “When you take a situation as a difficulty, you become bitter.”

Beyond simply thinking good thoughts, she also tries to view situations fairly from all angles. Recently, she was caught running late for the Toronto premier of her new film, A Beautiful Life, and didn’t have time to find a proper room to slip into her gown. So she used an airport restroom to change, which quickly turned into a bad idea. Women started pouring in, accosting her and wanting to find out if she was Bai Ling. The women pressed her, even after Bai asked them to leave her alone and not look at her while she dressed. Finally, Bai ran flustered to her awaiting limo where she finished getting ready. Then, in a moment rare for most people, she laughed off the situation. “That lady probably thought I was the crazy one since I was naked in the ladies room.”

More than just PR for her film, Bai went to Toronto for a humanitarian cause as well. She participated in the Rally for Kids with Cancer, coming in a respectable 9^th place out of 21. “I was so busy and tired, but I promised I’d go. I just hope all this money will go to the hospital and to the children. No matter what part I supported, if I’m not there, it’s going to be less. So I’m there.”

When it comes to good causes, Bai Ling tries to separate herself from other celebrities by truly being part of the event or situation and taking a very active role. When Taiwan was hit by the Morakot typhoon recently, Bai secured her own passage to the most heavily damaged area, even after she was warned that there would be no press there. For Bai Ling, this was not a PR stunt and she didn’t just want to donate money. She asked for the most difficult job, whether it was cooking food or scrubbing floors. Bai also offered comfort to the survivors by listening to their heartbreaking stories of losing everything. “I held their hands,” she says, “and I felt like their family.”