Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg told a live audience yesterday that if he were to create Facebook again today, user information would by default be public, not private as it was for years until the company changed dramatically in December.
In a six-minute interview on stage with TechCrunch founder Michael Arrington, Zuckerberg spent 60 seconds talking about Facebook's privacy policies. His statements were of major importance for the world's largest social network - and his arguments in favor of an about-face on privacy deserve close scrutiny.
Zuckerberg offered roughly 8 sentences in response to Arrington's question about where privacy was going on Facebook and around the web. The question was referencing the changes Facebook underwent last month. Your name, profile picture, gender, current city, networks, Friends List, and all the pages you subscribe to are now publicly available information on Facebook. This means everyone on the web can see it; it is searchable. I'll post Zuckerberg's sentences on their own first, then follow up with the questions they raise in my mind. You can also watch the video below, the privacy part we transcribe is from 3:00 to 4:00.
See also: Why Facebook is Wrong: Privacy is Still Important
Zuckerberg:
"When I got started in my dorm room at Harvard, the question a lot of people asked was 'why would I want to put any information on the Internet at all? Why would I want to have a website?'
"And then in the last 5 or 6 years, blogging has taken off in a huge way and all these different services that have people sharing all this information. People have really gotten comfortable not only sharing more information and different kinds, but more openly and with more people. That social norm is just something that has evolved over time.
"We view it as our role in the system to constantly be innovating and be updating what our system is to reflect what the current social norms are.
"A lot of companies would be trapped by the conventions and their legacies of what they've built, doing a privacy change - doing a privacy change for 350 million users is not the kind of thing that a lot of companies would do. But we viewed that as a really important thing, to always keep a beginner's mind and what would we do if we were starting the company now and we decided that these would be the social norms now and we just went for it."
That's Not a Believable Explanation
This is a radical change from the way that Zuckerberg pounded on the importance of user privacy for years. That your information would only be visible to the people you accept as friends was fundamental to the DNA of the social network that hundreds of millions of people have joined over these past few years. Privacy control, he told me less than 2 years ago, is "the vector around which Facebook operates."
I don't buy Zuckerberg's argument that Facebook is now only reflecting the changes that society is undergoing. I think Facebook itself is a major agent of social change and by acting otherwise Zuckerberg is being arrogant and condescending.
Perhaps the new privacy controls will prove sufficient. Perhaps Facebook's pushing our culture away from privacy will end up being a good thing. The way the company is going about it makes me very uncomfortable, though, and some of the changes are clearly bad. It is clearly bad to no longer allow people to keep the pages they subscribe to private on Facebook.
This major reversal, backed-up by superficial explanations, makes me wonder if Facebook's changing philosophies about privacy are just convenient stories to tell while the company shifts its strategy to exert control over the future of the web.
Facebook's Different Stories
First the company kept user data siloed inside its site alone, saying that a high degree of user privacy would make users comfortable enough to share more information with a smaller number of trusted people.
Now that it has 350 million people signed up and connected to their friends and family in a way they never have been before - now Facebook decides that the initial, privacy-centric, contract with users is out of date. That users actually want to share openly, with the world at large, and incidentally (as Facebook's Director of Public Policy Barry Schnitt told us in December) that it's time for increased pageviews and advertising revenue, too.
The Flimsy Evidence
What makes Facebook think the world is becoming more public and less private? Zuckerberg cites the rise of blogging "and all these different services that have people sharing all this information." That last part must mean Twitter, right? But blogging is tiny compared to Facebook! It's made a big impact on the world, but only because it perhaps doubled or tripled the small percentage of people online who publish long-form text content. Not very many people write blogs, almost everyone is on Facebook.
Facebook's Barry Schnitt told us last month that he too believes the world is becoming more open and his evidence is Twitter, MySpace, comments posted to newspaper websites and the rise of Reality TV.
But Facebook is bigger and is growing much faster than all of those other things. Do they really expect us to believe that the popularity of reality TV is evidence that users want their Facebook friends lists and fan pages made permanently public? Why cite those kinds phenomena as evidence that the red hot social network needs to change its ways?
The company's justifications of the claim that they are reflecting broader social trends just aren't credible. A much more believable explanation is that Facebook wants user information to be made public and so they "just went for it," to use Zuckerberg's words from yesterday.
(Why didn't Arrington press Zuckerberg on stage about this? The rise of blogging is evidence that Facebook needs to change its fundamental stance on privacy?)
This is Very Important
Facebook allows everyday people to share the minutiae of their daily lives with trusted friends and family, to easily distribute photos and videos - if you use it regularly you know how it has made a very real impact on families and social groups that used to communicate very infrequently. Accessible social networking technology changes communication between people in a way similar to if not as intensely as the introduction of the telephone and the printing press. It changes the fabric of peoples' lives together. 350 million people signed up for Facebook under the belief their information could be shared just between trusted friends. Now the company says that's old news, that people are changing. I don't believe it.
I think Facebook is just saying that because that's what it wants to be true.
Whether less privacy is good or bad is another matter, the change of the contract with users based on feigned concern for users' desires is offensive and makes any further moves by Facebook suspect.
See also: Why Facebook is Wrong: Privacy is Still Important
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See Also
* The Facebook Phone: Five Theories About What It Could Mean
* The Best Social Network You've Never Heard of Gets Bought Out
* Native Apps Account for Half of Mobile Internet Traffic
* Several Hundred Thousand Germans Opt Out of Google Street View
* Cartoon: The Only Constant
Thursday, September 23, 2010
Thursday, July 8, 2010
Captain Piccard's Solar Impulse completes first full test flight, nears another frontier (video)
We've tracked this solar-powered tub from its announcement last year, through its first runway tests, past the little hop that counted as its first flight, and now we've arrived at the HB-SIA's first legitimate test flight. The Solar Impulse, brainchild of one Bertrand Piccard, took the upward plunge into the skies yesterday, successfully rising to 5,500 feet and a speed of 30 knots before gliding down gently and calling the whole thing an unqualified success. You can find video of the event after the break. A nighttime test flight is planned for later this year, after which a bulkier production model will be cobbled together with the intent of reaching the final goal of circumnavigating the globe by 2012.
Primetime Emmy Awards
The Primetime Emmy® Awards salute excellence in national primetime programming, presenting top honors at the annual Creative Arts gala and Primetime Awards telecast. A number of special awards, like the Governors Award and Bob Hope Humanitarian Award (more on those below), may be bestowed during these ceremonies as well.
The first Emmy® Awards ceremony was held on January 25, 1949, at the Hollywood Athletic Club, and was devoted solely to programming that originated from Los Angeles, where the Television Academy was founded. Over time, the Emmys expanded to include programming aired throughout the United States.
Today, the Primetime Emmy® is a symbol of peer recognition from over 15,000 Television Academy members. Members from more than two-dozen peer groups vote for the category of competition in their field of expertise.
2010 Primetime Emmy Awards
More
2009 Primetime Emmy Awards
More
2008 Primetime Emmy Awards
More
2007 Primetime Emmy Awards
More
2006 Primetime Emmy Awards
More
Special Honors
In addition to the many categories of Primetime Emmy Awards presented to programs and individuals for production and performance excellence, some very prestigious special honors, such as the Governors Award, are bestowed during the Primetime Emmys.
The Governors Award
The Television Academy Board of Governors bestows its esteemed Governors Award upon individuals, companies or organizations who have made a substantial impact and demonstrated the extraordinary use of television.
The Board's presented recent Governors Award recipient Sheila Nevins, president of HBO Documentary Films, with her award during the 2009 Creative Arts Emmy® Awards gala.
The Bob Hope Humanitarian Award
The Television Academy Board of Governors established the Bob Hope Humanitarian Award in 2002, as a tribute to the the iconic career and life of Bob Hope. This high honor is a nod to the Hope's more than fifty years of pioneering contributions to the radio and television industries, both as family mediums and as platforms for sociopolitical commentary.
The special Hope Humanitarian honor is not bound to be given annually with the traditional categories of Emmys, only as deemed fitting and approved by the Hope Humanitarian Award selection committee (composed of Academy members) and a representative of the Bob and Dolores Hope Charitable Foundation. Since its establishment, three honorees — Oprah Winfrey, Bill Cosby and Danny Thomas (presented posthumously, accepted by his daughter, actress Marlo Thomas) — have received the Hope Award.
The Syd Cassyd Founders Award
The Syd Cassyd Founders Award — named in honor of the Television Academy’s founder — was created to recognize members who have made a significant positive impact on the Academy through their efforts and service over many years of involvement.
Like the Hope Award, the Syd Cassyd Founders Award is not bound to be given annually with the traditional categories of Emmys. The Cassyd honor was bestowed for only the time ninth ever, in 2009 to longtime Television Academy attorney and advisor Dixon Q. Dern.
The first Emmy® Awards ceremony was held on January 25, 1949, at the Hollywood Athletic Club, and was devoted solely to programming that originated from Los Angeles, where the Television Academy was founded. Over time, the Emmys expanded to include programming aired throughout the United States.
Today, the Primetime Emmy® is a symbol of peer recognition from over 15,000 Television Academy members. Members from more than two-dozen peer groups vote for the category of competition in their field of expertise.
2010 Primetime Emmy Awards
More
2009 Primetime Emmy Awards
More
2008 Primetime Emmy AwardsMore
2007 Primetime Emmy Awards
More
More
Special Honors
In addition to the many categories of Primetime Emmy Awards presented to programs and individuals for production and performance excellence, some very prestigious special honors, such as the Governors Award, are bestowed during the Primetime Emmys.
The Governors Award
The Television Academy Board of Governors bestows its esteemed Governors Award upon individuals, companies or organizations who have made a substantial impact and demonstrated the extraordinary use of television.
The Board's presented recent Governors Award recipient Sheila Nevins, president of HBO Documentary Films, with her award during the 2009 Creative Arts Emmy® Awards gala.
The Bob Hope Humanitarian Award
The Television Academy Board of Governors established the Bob Hope Humanitarian Award in 2002, as a tribute to the the iconic career and life of Bob Hope. This high honor is a nod to the Hope's more than fifty years of pioneering contributions to the radio and television industries, both as family mediums and as platforms for sociopolitical commentary.
The special Hope Humanitarian honor is not bound to be given annually with the traditional categories of Emmys, only as deemed fitting and approved by the Hope Humanitarian Award selection committee (composed of Academy members) and a representative of the Bob and Dolores Hope Charitable Foundation. Since its establishment, three honorees — Oprah Winfrey, Bill Cosby and Danny Thomas (presented posthumously, accepted by his daughter, actress Marlo Thomas) — have received the Hope Award.
The Syd Cassyd Founders Award
The Syd Cassyd Founders Award — named in honor of the Television Academy’s founder — was created to recognize members who have made a significant positive impact on the Academy through their efforts and service over many years of involvement.
Like the Hope Award, the Syd Cassyd Founders Award is not bound to be given annually with the traditional categories of Emmys. The Cassyd honor was bestowed for only the time ninth ever, in 2009 to longtime Television Academy attorney and advisor Dixon Q. Dern.
A peaceful Europe – the beginnings of cooperation
The European Union is set up with the aim of ending the frequent and bloody wars between neighbours, which culminated in the Second World War. As of 1950, the European Coal and Steel Community begins to unite European countries economically and politically in order to secure lasting peace. The six founders are Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg and the Netherlands. The 1950s are dominated by a cold war between east and west. Protests in Hungary against the Communist regime are put down by Soviet tanks in 1956; while the following year, 1957, the Soviet Union takes the lead in the space race, when it launches the first man-made space satellite, Sputnik 1. Also in 1957, the Treaty of Rome creates the European Economic Community (EEC), or ‘Common Market’.
Read more about the decade 1945 -1959 Fall of Berlin Wall and the unification of Germany.
(Video: 481 Kb - 17 s)
The changing face of Europe - the fall of the Berlin Wall
The Polish trade union, Solidarność, and its leader Lech Walesa, become household names across Europe and the world following the Gdansk shipyard strikes in the summer of 1980. In 1981, Greece becomes the 10th member of the EU and Spain and Portugal follow five years later. In 1987 the Single European Act is signed. This is a treaty which provides the basis for a vast six-year programme aimed at sorting out the problems with the free-flow of trade across EU borders and thus creates the ‘Single Market’. There is major political upheaval when, on 9 November 1989, the Berlin Wall is pulled down and the border between East and West Germany is opened for the first time in 28 years, this leads to the reunification of Germany when both East and West Germany are united in October 1990.
Read more about the decade 1980 -1989
The ‘Swinging Sixties’ – a period of economic growth
The 1960s sees the emergence of 'youth culture’, with groups such as The Beatles attracting huge crowds of teenage fans wherever they appear, helping to stimulate a cultural revolution and widening the generation gap. It is a good period for the economy, helped by the fact that EU countries stop charging custom duties when they trade with each other. They also agree joint control over food production, so that everybody now has enough to eat - and soon there is even surplus agricultural produce. May 1968 becomes famous for student riots in Paris, and many changes in society and behaviour become associated with the so-called ‘68 generation’.
Read more about the decade 1960 -1969
A growing Community – the first Enlargement
Denmark, Ireland and the United Kingdom join the European Union on 1 January 1973, raising the number of member states to nine. The short, yet brutal, Arab-Israeli war of October 1973 result in an energy crisis and economic problems in Europe. The last right-wing dictatorships in Europe come to an end with the overthrow of the Salazar regime in Portugal in 1974 and the death of General Franco of Spain in 1975. The EU regional policy starts to transfer huge sums to create jobs and infrastructure in poorer areas. The European Parliament increases its influence in EU affairs and in 1979 all citizens can, for the first time, elect their members directly.
Read more about the decade 1970 -1979
A Europe without frontiers
With the collapse of communism across central and eastern Europe, Europeans become closer neighbours. In 1993 the Single Market is completed with the the 'four freedoms' of: movement of goods, services, people and money. The 1990s is also the decade of two treaties, the ‘Maastricht’ Treaty on European Union in 1993 and the Treaty of Amsterdam in 1999. People are concerned about how to protect the environment and also how Europeans can act together when it comes to security and defence matters. In 1995 the EU gains three more new members, Austria, Finland and Sweden. A small village in Luxembourg gives its name to the ‘Schengen’ agreements that gradually allow people to travel without having their passports checked at the borders. Millions of young people study in other countries with EU support. Communication is made easier as more and more people start using mobile phones and the internet.
Read more about the decade 1990 -1999
Read more about the decade 1945 -1959 Fall of Berlin Wall and the unification of Germany.
(Video: 481 Kb - 17 s)
The changing face of Europe - the fall of the Berlin Wall
The Polish trade union, Solidarność, and its leader Lech Walesa, become household names across Europe and the world following the Gdansk shipyard strikes in the summer of 1980. In 1981, Greece becomes the 10th member of the EU and Spain and Portugal follow five years later. In 1987 the Single European Act is signed. This is a treaty which provides the basis for a vast six-year programme aimed at sorting out the problems with the free-flow of trade across EU borders and thus creates the ‘Single Market’. There is major political upheaval when, on 9 November 1989, the Berlin Wall is pulled down and the border between East and West Germany is opened for the first time in 28 years, this leads to the reunification of Germany when both East and West Germany are united in October 1990.
Read more about the decade 1980 -1989
The 1960s sees the emergence of 'youth culture’, with groups such as The Beatles attracting huge crowds of teenage fans wherever they appear, helping to stimulate a cultural revolution and widening the generation gap. It is a good period for the economy, helped by the fact that EU countries stop charging custom duties when they trade with each other. They also agree joint control over food production, so that everybody now has enough to eat - and soon there is even surplus agricultural produce. May 1968 becomes famous for student riots in Paris, and many changes in society and behaviour become associated with the so-called ‘68 generation’.
Read more about the decade 1960 -1969
A growing Community – the first Enlargement
Denmark, Ireland and the United Kingdom join the European Union on 1 January 1973, raising the number of member states to nine. The short, yet brutal, Arab-Israeli war of October 1973 result in an energy crisis and economic problems in Europe. The last right-wing dictatorships in Europe come to an end with the overthrow of the Salazar regime in Portugal in 1974 and the death of General Franco of Spain in 1975. The EU regional policy starts to transfer huge sums to create jobs and infrastructure in poorer areas. The European Parliament increases its influence in EU affairs and in 1979 all citizens can, for the first time, elect their members directly.
Read more about the decade 1970 -1979
With the collapse of communism across central and eastern Europe, Europeans become closer neighbours. In 1993 the Single Market is completed with the the 'four freedoms' of: movement of goods, services, people and money. The 1990s is also the decade of two treaties, the ‘Maastricht’ Treaty on European Union in 1993 and the Treaty of Amsterdam in 1999. People are concerned about how to protect the environment and also how Europeans can act together when it comes to security and defence matters. In 1995 the EU gains three more new members, Austria, Finland and Sweden. A small village in Luxembourg gives its name to the ‘Schengen’ agreements that gradually allow people to travel without having their passports checked at the borders. Millions of young people study in other countries with EU support. Communication is made easier as more and more people start using mobile phones and the internet.
Read more about the decade 1990 -1999
A decade of further expansion
The euro is the new currency for many Europeans. 11 September 2001 becomes synonymous with the 'War on Terror' after hijacked airliners are flown into buildings in New York and Washington. EU countries begin to work much more closely together to fight crime. The political divisions between east and west Europe are finally declared healed when no fewer than 10 new countries join the EU in 2004. Many people think that it is time for Europe to have a constitution but what sort of constitution is by no means easy to agree, so the debate on the future of Europe rages on.
Consolation prize for Germany, Uruguay
Football | FIFA World CupTM
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08/07/2010, 11:36
Two-time winners Uruguay and three-time champions Germany will clash on Saturday in a match that neither side wanted to be contesting - the play-off to decide third place.
Both coaches, Oscar Tabarez of Uruguay and Germany's Joachim Loew will have a job on their hands to rouse their players for one last effort after losing their semifinals to the Netherlands and Spain respectively.
The Uruguayans have an advantage in that they will have had an extra day to absorb their disappointment and 63-year-old Tabarez is known to be a shrewd motivator of men.
He has already been firm in his resolve, following the 3-2 defeat by the Dutch, that they will put aside the loss and aim to finish third, going one better than their performance in 1970.
"To use a term that is common in the team -- we have to bury this match and get over our sorrow," said Tabarez, in his second spell in charge, having guided Uruguay to the last 16 in 1990.
"We must give a good image like the one we delivered against the Netherlands on the pitch, to show people in football that Uruguay wants to play at an equal level with others.
"We want to show that this is a team with pride, despite our limitations, and this third-place play-off match is important for this reason."
He will definitely have Ajax hitman Luis Suarez back after he served his one match suspension for being sent off for punching the ball off the line in the quarterfinal against Ghana.
That will counter-balance the possibility of inspirational strike partner Diego Forlan missing the match through injury.
The 31-year-old Atletico Madrid star -- scorer of four goals in the finals -- carried the unspecified injury throughout the loss to the Dutch but Tabarez is confident he can play some sort of role in the match.
Unlike the South Americans, Germany will feel third or fourth place is a poor consolation for the chance of a fourth title.
The out-of-contract Loew, though, will want his side to bow out of this tournament on a high, not least because it could be his last match in charge of a team that he has effectively shaped.
"The players are devastated but I would still like to congratulate them on the way they played throughout the tournament," said Loew following the Spanish reverse.
"We have to try and wake them up tomorrow (Thursday) because we still have another match -- the third place play-off against Uruguay -- to play."
For one German player too there remains the possibility of leaving his permanent mark on the World Cup.
Miroslav Klose, who is unlikely to be part of the next squad in 2014 when he will be 36, needs two goals against Uruguay to pass Brazil's Ronaldo as the all-time World Cup leading goalscorer. He has already bagged 14 in three World Cups.
German team will be back for more, but will Loew?
DURBAN, South Africa — Germany's young players will be older, more experienced and quite possibly better by the time of the next World Cup. Whether coach Joachim Loew will be there to guide them is uncertain.
Loew has remained silent on his future after contract extension negotiations with the German soccer federation broke down. A decision is expected soon after the World Cup ends Sunday.
The coach says the group he picked — a multicultural team playing with flair and skill — has a bright future no matter who is leading it. Germany reached the semifinals for the third straight tournament and can finish third, just as it did four years ago at home.
"This team will remain together," Loew said after Wednesday's 1-0 semifinal loss to Spain. "This team has very good players and many possibilities. No matter who is in charge, it will stay together. The team's development is not at its end, it has just began.
"We wanted to achieve a lot and we are disappointed not to have gone through to the final. But I must give my players compliments how they played at this tournament. We gave everything. We gave our best."
Loew's team will now play Uruguay in Saturday's third-place match in Port Elizabeth, with the coach saying his team wants to end the tournament in style. The Germans could be without striker Miroslav Klose, who has a back injury.
The game also could be Loew's last in charge. The 50-year-old coach fell out with the federation in February over several issues, including pay and staffing decisions.
Federation president Theo Zwanziger has said he would like Loew to stay and the players also have backed him.
"We need a good coach and he's a very good coach," captain Philipp Lahm said. "But it's not our decision."
Lahm said the team was disappointed by the semifinal loss to Spain, the team that also beat Germany 1-0 in the 2008 European Championship final. That was Loew's first major tournament in charge.
"But we played a very good tournament here. We have a lot of quality and we'll work more to be able to play for the title again," Lahm said. "It's good that I have a few more years ahead of me. We have the chance to mix it up with the top teams for years to come."
Germany arrived in South Africa with its second-youngest World Cup team ever and unsure of its true potential. A 4-1 victory over England in the second round and then 4-0 over Argentina raised hopes of the country's fourth World Cup title.
But Germany ran into a very polished Spain team performing at its best and had its shortcomings exposed.
"We can learn from this game," Loew assistant Hansi Flick said Thursday. "These young players can develop further and we can work to achieve a higher technical level. There is a lot of potential in this group and a great team spirit.
"We can play very good football and our attack was world-class."
Germany faces another tricky decision. Michael Ballack, its longtime captain and leader, missed the World Cup with an ankle injury. He wants to return — but Lahm wants to keep the captaincy.
"I spoke honestly. When it's fun you want to continue and I am having fun. It's not a power struggle, the power is with the coach. I have no problem whatsoever if Ballack comes back and wants the captaincy. It's not my job to say who gets it," Lahm said.
"I am not going to give him back my armband voluntarily but I have no problem if the coach gives it back to him."
Germany will be flying home Sunday and, unlike four years ago when the team showed up at a stage in Berlin to be celebrated by tens of thousands of home fans, there will be no party this time.
"We wanted more than third place," Lahm said. "We felt it wouldn't be appropriate to have a party."
Loew has remained silent on his future after contract extension negotiations with the German soccer federation broke down. A decision is expected soon after the World Cup ends Sunday.
The coach says the group he picked — a multicultural team playing with flair and skill — has a bright future no matter who is leading it. Germany reached the semifinals for the third straight tournament and can finish third, just as it did four years ago at home.
"This team will remain together," Loew said after Wednesday's 1-0 semifinal loss to Spain. "This team has very good players and many possibilities. No matter who is in charge, it will stay together. The team's development is not at its end, it has just began.
"We wanted to achieve a lot and we are disappointed not to have gone through to the final. But I must give my players compliments how they played at this tournament. We gave everything. We gave our best."
Loew's team will now play Uruguay in Saturday's third-place match in Port Elizabeth, with the coach saying his team wants to end the tournament in style. The Germans could be without striker Miroslav Klose, who has a back injury.
The game also could be Loew's last in charge. The 50-year-old coach fell out with the federation in February over several issues, including pay and staffing decisions.
Federation president Theo Zwanziger has said he would like Loew to stay and the players also have backed him.
"We need a good coach and he's a very good coach," captain Philipp Lahm said. "But it's not our decision."
Lahm said the team was disappointed by the semifinal loss to Spain, the team that also beat Germany 1-0 in the 2008 European Championship final. That was Loew's first major tournament in charge.
"But we played a very good tournament here. We have a lot of quality and we'll work more to be able to play for the title again," Lahm said. "It's good that I have a few more years ahead of me. We have the chance to mix it up with the top teams for years to come."
Germany arrived in South Africa with its second-youngest World Cup team ever and unsure of its true potential. A 4-1 victory over England in the second round and then 4-0 over Argentina raised hopes of the country's fourth World Cup title.
But Germany ran into a very polished Spain team performing at its best and had its shortcomings exposed.
"We can learn from this game," Loew assistant Hansi Flick said Thursday. "These young players can develop further and we can work to achieve a higher technical level. There is a lot of potential in this group and a great team spirit.
"We can play very good football and our attack was world-class."
Germany faces another tricky decision. Michael Ballack, its longtime captain and leader, missed the World Cup with an ankle injury. He wants to return — but Lahm wants to keep the captaincy.
"I spoke honestly. When it's fun you want to continue and I am having fun. It's not a power struggle, the power is with the coach. I have no problem whatsoever if Ballack comes back and wants the captaincy. It's not my job to say who gets it," Lahm said.
"I am not going to give him back my armband voluntarily but I have no problem if the coach gives it back to him."
Germany will be flying home Sunday and, unlike four years ago when the team showed up at a stage in Berlin to be celebrated by tens of thousands of home fans, there will be no party this time.
"We wanted more than third place," Lahm said. "We felt it wouldn't be appropriate to have a party."
Report: LeBron James plans to sign with Miami
Sources tell Chris Broussard of ESPN that Cavs forward LeBron James will announce tonight that he will sign with the Miami Heat.
James will make his announcement live during The Decision, a special on ESPN starting at 9 p.m.
Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports is reporting that James’ inner circle has told several members of the league that James is going to Miami.
Sources also told ESPN that New Orleans Hornets guard Chris Paul is urging James to stay in Cleveland to be coached by Byron Scott. He coached Paul in New Orleans from 2005 to 2009.
The talk of James to Miami heated up earlier this week. Top free agents Chris Bosh and Dwayne Wade said they’d sign with the Heat for a lower rate so they could get James.
Miami is able to sign all three after the NBA salary cap was elevated to $58 million, which is about $2 million more than teams expected.
James will make his announcement live during The Decision, a special on ESPN starting at 9 p.m.
Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports is reporting that James’ inner circle has told several members of the league that James is going to Miami.
Sources also told ESPN that New Orleans Hornets guard Chris Paul is urging James to stay in Cleveland to be coached by Byron Scott. He coached Paul in New Orleans from 2005 to 2009.
The talk of James to Miami heated up earlier this week. Top free agents Chris Bosh and Dwayne Wade said they’d sign with the Heat for a lower rate so they could get James.
Miami is able to sign all three after the NBA salary cap was elevated to $58 million, which is about $2 million more than teams expected.
Lindsay Lohan to get powerful drugs in jail?
Actress Lindsay Lohan is enjoying her last few days as a free woman.
On July 20, she must surrender in a Beverly Hills courtroom and be hauled off to jail to start her 90-day sentence for violating her probation.
What will life be like for Lohan in jail?
Pictures: Lindsay Lohan's day in court
As an inmate at the Century Regional Detention Facility near Los Angeles, CBS News correspondent Ben Tracy reports, life will be very different for the starlet.
Melanie Bromley, West Coast bureau chief of Us Weekly, told CBS News, "This is going to be a huge transition for Lindsay Lohan. She's used to living a very free lifestyle doing what she wants to do -- now she'll be in solitary confinement."
Lohan, Tracy said, will spend a majority of her time in a jail cell. She'll spend all but about one hour of her day there.
Lohan won't have a cell phone, computer, or cigarettes. The jail is smoke-free.
Also, the only drugs she can take are those prescribed by a doctor. But her probation report lists five powerful medications currently prescribed to Lohan, including Adderall, Dilaudid and Zoloft.
Tracy noted Lohan won't be getting the star treatment in jail, but her celebrity does buy her one thing: her own jail cell. Authorities say it's for her safety and the other inmates.
An inmate who was just released from the same jail says the notoriously social actress won't enjoy the peace and quiet.
Daniela Aguilar, a former jail inmate, told CBS News, "She's probably going to go crazy in there. It's going to be hard for her cause she's not going to have no one to talk to."
Lohan will be locked up the same jail where Paris Hilton was held in 2007 for a probation violation. Lohan herself was behind bars here for 84 minutes that same year after she was arrested for drunk driving and cocaine possession -- the crimes that started her legal mess that's lasted for nearly three years.
Lohan cried Tuesday as she pleaded with the judge for mercy. It didn't work.
Judge Marsha Revel told Lohan, "You're someone who cheats and doesn't think it's cheating until they're caught."
Yet while Lohan was sentenced to 90 days in jail and then rehab, thanks to overcrowding, authorities say, she is likely to serve just about three weeks.
On July 20, she must surrender in a Beverly Hills courtroom and be hauled off to jail to start her 90-day sentence for violating her probation.
What will life be like for Lohan in jail?
Pictures: Lindsay Lohan's day in court
As an inmate at the Century Regional Detention Facility near Los Angeles, CBS News correspondent Ben Tracy reports, life will be very different for the starlet.
Melanie Bromley, West Coast bureau chief of Us Weekly, told CBS News, "This is going to be a huge transition for Lindsay Lohan. She's used to living a very free lifestyle doing what she wants to do -- now she'll be in solitary confinement."
Lohan, Tracy said, will spend a majority of her time in a jail cell. She'll spend all but about one hour of her day there.
Lohan won't have a cell phone, computer, or cigarettes. The jail is smoke-free.
Also, the only drugs she can take are those prescribed by a doctor. But her probation report lists five powerful medications currently prescribed to Lohan, including Adderall, Dilaudid and Zoloft.
Tracy noted Lohan won't be getting the star treatment in jail, but her celebrity does buy her one thing: her own jail cell. Authorities say it's for her safety and the other inmates.
An inmate who was just released from the same jail says the notoriously social actress won't enjoy the peace and quiet.
Daniela Aguilar, a former jail inmate, told CBS News, "She's probably going to go crazy in there. It's going to be hard for her cause she's not going to have no one to talk to."
Lohan will be locked up the same jail where Paris Hilton was held in 2007 for a probation violation. Lohan herself was behind bars here for 84 minutes that same year after she was arrested for drunk driving and cocaine possession -- the crimes that started her legal mess that's lasted for nearly three years.
Lohan cried Tuesday as she pleaded with the judge for mercy. It didn't work.
Judge Marsha Revel told Lohan, "You're someone who cheats and doesn't think it's cheating until they're caught."
Yet while Lohan was sentenced to 90 days in jail and then rehab, thanks to overcrowding, authorities say, she is likely to serve just about three weeks.
Moscow 'offers former Russian colonel and nuclear expert to U.S. in Cold War-style spy swap to bring Anna Chapman home'
Last updated at 9:11 AM on 8th July 2010
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* Kremlin 'keen to sidestep potential embarrassment of court testimony'
* Ten alleged spies set for first court appearance together
* Accused could plead guilty to lowest charges before being deported
Anna Chapman, also known as Anya Kushchenko, the 28-year-old was arrested in Manhattan, where she ran a $2 million real estate business
A Cold War-style spy swap for the alleged Russian agents is being hammered out.
All ten Russians held by the U.S. - including 'femme fatale' Anna Chapman - will reportedly be exchanged for ten prisoners being held in Russian jails who have spied for the West.
The swap could begin as early as today, with Britain playing a pivotal role.
It is reportedly being hurried through to minimise the diplomatic fall-out between Washington and Moscow - and it means the U.S. will avoid sensitive intelligence techniques being made public in court.
The Kremlin will also be keen to sidestep the embarrassment of Chapman and others giving testimony on their espionage.
Its willingness to negotiate suggests that grave damage could have been done to the reputation of the Russian spy service if a trial had gone ahead.
The deal was revealed by a lawyer for nuclear researcher Igor Sutyagin, jailed in 2005 for 15 years for spying for a British company the Russians claimed was a front for the CIA.
He was moved yesterday from a high-security prison in Arctic Russia to Moscow pending an expected release today to Britain.
Another believed to be on the swap list is Sergey Skripal, an FSB intelligence service colonel sent to prison for 13 years after being convicted of passing secrets to Britain
In further signs of movement, a bail hearing in Virginia for three alleged spies was cancelled and two other alleged spies waived their right to a local hearing in Boston and were being sent to New York.
U.S. Under-Secretary of State for Political Affairs William Burns, a former American ambassador to Moscow, met Russian ambassador Sergey Kislyak yesterday.
The deal was revealed by a lawyer for nuclear researcher Igor Sutyagin, jailed in 2005 for 15 years for spying for a British company the Russians claimed was a front for the CIA
All-American: Cynthia and Richard Murphy, seen here at a typical American 'cook out', convincingly embraced their new way of lifeMeanwhile, a U.S. lawyer for one of 11 people accused of spying for Russia said their case could be resolved as early as this afternoon.
The indictment unsealed for the first time yesterday, showed they had all been charged with conspiring to act as secret agents and charged nine of them with conspiracy to commit money laundering.
It demanded that those accused of money laundering return any assets used in the offence.
OTHER 'SPY SWAPS'
Glienicker Bridge spanned east and west Berlin. It featured in three spy swaps during the Cold War
Russia has always prided itself on bringing trusted agents back to Moscow at all costs, and Washington has agreed to swaps before.
KGB Colonel Rudolf Abel, arrested in the U.S. in the late 1950s, was freed in 1962 in exchange for Gary Powers, pilot of a U2 spy plane that was shot down over the Soviet Union in 1960. The swap took place on the Glienicke Bridge between West Berlin and Potsdam in East Germany.
Britain struck a deal with Moscow in 1969 to release Peter and Helen Kroger from prison early in exchange for the freedom of lecturer Gerald Brooke, who was jailed for espionage in the Soviet Union. The Krogers were part of a group of five agents arrested for passing on secrets from the Royal Navy's underwater warfare establishment at Portland, southern England.
Guenter Guillaume - an agent for East Germany's Stasi who was unmasked among the closest aides of West German Chancellor Willy Brandt - was exchanged for captured Western agents. He had served eight years of a 13-year jail sentence before he was handed over to East Germany in 1981.
Chapman's lawyer, Robert Baum, said the case might be settled when she and the other nine people appear in court in New York later today, raising the possibility of guilty pleas to the lowest charges and deportation from the country.
'There's a good possibility that the case will be resolved at the initial court appearance tomorrow,' he said Wednesday.
The U.S. spies held in Russia would be released, with some heading to Britain.
Sutyagin's lawyer Anna Stavitskaya said last night: 'He is going to be exchanged for the people who are being accused of espionage in the United States. It is a one-for- one exchange
So each of those detained in the United States will be swapped for one person from Russia.'
Sutyagin's brother Dmitry said he would be given a pardon and transferred to Vienna, from where he would fly to London.
'The Americans presented a list of people for whom they were ready to exchange the people accused of espionage. Igor was among them,' he said.
It appears that the Obama administration proposed the spy swap as a way of getting the espionage drama out of the headlines, enabling both sides to continue towards 'warm' relations without impediments.
'It's a common practice. It's been done numerous times,' a U.S. official said.
Relatively quick guilty pleas would avoid lengthy trials that could strain relations between the two countries, he added.
Ten members of an alleged spy ring were arrested in the U.S. last month on suspicion of spying for Russia.
An 11th suspect was detained in Cyprus before fleeing after being granted bail. Russia has always prided itself on bringing trusted agents back to Moscow at all costs and Washington has agreed to swaps before.
Despite steadily improving relations between the countries, diplomats say both sides continue to spy on each other.
The Russian Foreign Ministry and the country's prison service both refused to comment, as did the U.S. Department of Justice.
U.S. District Judge Kimba Wood, who has been assigned the case, signed an order yesterday requiring that defendant Vicky Pelaez remain detained until the judge can hear an appeal by the government of a $250,000 bail package that was approved last week by a magistrate judge.
The bail hearing was set for Friday for Pelaez, a U.S. citizen.
Anna 'married for passport'
Damning evidence that alleged Russian spy Anna Chapman may have married a Briton to obtain a passport can be revealed.
An email sent by the 28-year-old redhead to a former boyfriend in Russia raises new questions over her four-year marriage to Alex Chapman.
In it she boasts: 'We lived together for the first year, then after we got married, we moved to London.
'Then I dumped him, got the passport and continued living in London-on my own, without him.'
MI5 is probing whether the glamorous daughter of a senior KGB agent deliberately targeted her husband to obtain a British passport and help Russia infiltrate the West.
Former police investigator Vyacheslav Serkov, 29, who shared a 'real teenage love story' with Anna, said that on one occasion he asked her why she was not living in London and she replied: 'Why do I need to be there all the time? I've got the citizenship now.'
The 10 alleged Russian spies and their paymaster
Ten Russians were arrested in four locations in the eastern United States, where some led seemingly typical suburban lives. An 11th suspect was arrested in Cyprus but has disappeared.
Christopher Metsos, an alleged member of a Russian spy ring
CHRISTOPHER ROBERT METSOS
Metsos, who purports to be Canadian, was arrested in Cyprus on June 29 before disappearing while he was free on bail. He is accused of receiving and distributing money to the group and of conspiracy to commit money laundering. According to the U.S. Justice Department, he was given payments by a Russian official affiliated with Moscow's mission to the United Nations in a spy novel style 'brush-pass' handoff and buried money in rural New York that was recovered two years later by another suspect.
RICHARD and CYNTHIA MURPHY
The married couple were arrested at their house in Montclair, New Jersey. Both claimed to be U.S. citizens, he born in Philadelphia and she in New York, according to court documents. No birth certificate was found for him in Philadelphia, leading officials to believe he assumed a false identity.
DONALD HOWARD HEATHFIELD and TRACEY LEE ANN FOLEY
Arrested at their Boston townhouse, they purported to be naturalised U.S. citizens from Canada. Heathfield allegedly met a U.S. government employee on nuclear weapons research, a criminal complaint said. Heathfield may have assumed the identity of a Canadian man who died in 2005, court papers said.
MICHAEL ZOTTOLI and PATRICIA MILLS
After living in Seattle, the couple moved in 2009 to an apartment in Arlington, Virginia, near Washington, D.C., where they were arrested. Zottoli claimed to be a U.S. citizen, while Mills said she was Canadian, court papers said. After their arrest, they revealed their real names as Mikhail Kutzik and Natalia Pereverzeva and said they were from Russia, according to a letter prosecutors filed with the court. Zottoli allegedly dug up the package of money Metsos had buried.
Patricia Mills, left, and Michael Zottoli, accused of being spies for Russia, in federal court in Alexandria, Virginia on Friday
JUAN LAZARO and VICKY PELAEZ
The married couple were arrested at their home in Yonkers, New York. Pelaez, a columnist for the New York Spanish-language daily El Diario, is the only suspect granted release pending trial. The government has appealed that decision and a bail hearing is set for Friday. Lazaro has said he is a Peruvian citizen, born in Uruguay. Both traveled to South America to meet Russian government representatives, court documents said. U.S. prosecutors have said Lazaro told them he was born in Siberia but his attorney has subsequently denied this.
ANNA CHAPMAN
Also known as Anya Kushchenko, the 28-year-old was arrested in Manhattan, where she ran a $2 million real estate business, her lawyer said in court last week. The New York Post and other media have reported Chapman was often spotted at popular night clubs. She is the only one not charged with conspiracy to commit money laundering.
MIKHAIL SEMENKO
Arrested at his home in Arlington, he is accused of using sophisticated communications equipment and making incriminating statements to an undercover agent posing as a Russian official.
Sunday, July 4, 2010
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Velasquez On Tap For UFC 116 Winner
Probably as soon as possible,” UFC President Dana White said about the timing for Velasquez’s title shot. “Cain’s been waiting a long time. As long as one of these guys comes out healthy.”
cain velasquezBeyond the UFC heavyweight title and likely recognition as the top heavyweight, the winner of Brock Lesnar and Shane Carwin have another prize waiting after they fight, but it’s not nearly as nice as a gold belt or worldwide adulation.
It’s 8-0 wrecking machine Cain Velasquez, who will get the next title shot after Lesnar and Carwin battle it out, and the fight will happen sooner rather than later.
Velasquez’s status as the next contender has been known for some time, but now it appears that if the winner of Lesnar and Carwin is healthy after their fight Saturday night, a second heavyweight title fight could happen in the coming months.
“Probably as soon as possible,” UFC President Dana White said about the timing for Velasquez’s title shot. “Cain’s been waiting a long time. As long as one of these guys comes out healthy.”
It’s no easy road after Velasquez either as White has also said that the upcoming fight in August between Junior Dos Santos and Roy Nelson will also hold title implications. The winner of that fight will be the next contender to the throne.
“Realistically, the heavyweight division’s never been more stacked. This is a great fight between two real heavyweights on Saturday night, and whoever wins, Cain Velasquez is waiting in the wings to fight the winner,” said White.
“Then whoever wins that fight, we’ve got (Junior) Dos Santos and ‘Big Country’ (Roy Nelson) fighting, the winner of that fight’s waiting for the next guy.”
Dos Santos has been a rising star ever since his first-round flattening of Fabricio Werdum in his UFC debut and Nelson was the winner of “The Ultimate Fighter” reality show with several big wins prior to his UFC tenure. Both have become viable contenders.
Velasquez will be in attendance at the fights on Saturday night, and will watch with great interest, ready to take on the winner as soon as possible.
By Damon Martin/MMAWeekly.com
Last Updated on Friday, 02 July 2010 18:04
It's My Time Now PDF Print E-mail
Written by Administrator
Friday, 05 March 2010 12:20
"It's My Time Now"
cain velasquez tattoo brown prideDeep in the heart of the Acer Arena in Sydney, Cain Velasquez waited.
He was thousands of miles from his home and loved ones, preparing to fight in the main event of a major UFC show for the first time in his career. In a few short minutes, Velasquez would walk down the aisle to face his toughest challenge yet. Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira became a icon in the sport by defying the odds, by taking enough punishment to fell a horse and still pull out miraculous victories. Nogueira was struck by a car as a child, a terrible accident that few believed he’d survive. But Nogueira was a fighter, and the only physical reminder of that day was the deep scar crossing his back. He was still considered to be one of the top fight heavyweights in the world, and his game was on a different level than anything Velasquez had seen thus far.
cain velasquezBeyond the UFC heavyweight title and likely recognition as the top heavyweight, the winner of Brock Lesnar and Shane Carwin have another prize waiting after they fight, but it’s not nearly as nice as a gold belt or worldwide adulation.
It’s 8-0 wrecking machine Cain Velasquez, who will get the next title shot after Lesnar and Carwin battle it out, and the fight will happen sooner rather than later.
Velasquez’s status as the next contender has been known for some time, but now it appears that if the winner of Lesnar and Carwin is healthy after their fight Saturday night, a second heavyweight title fight could happen in the coming months.
“Probably as soon as possible,” UFC President Dana White said about the timing for Velasquez’s title shot. “Cain’s been waiting a long time. As long as one of these guys comes out healthy.”
It’s no easy road after Velasquez either as White has also said that the upcoming fight in August between Junior Dos Santos and Roy Nelson will also hold title implications. The winner of that fight will be the next contender to the throne.
“Realistically, the heavyweight division’s never been more stacked. This is a great fight between two real heavyweights on Saturday night, and whoever wins, Cain Velasquez is waiting in the wings to fight the winner,” said White.
“Then whoever wins that fight, we’ve got (Junior) Dos Santos and ‘Big Country’ (Roy Nelson) fighting, the winner of that fight’s waiting for the next guy.”
Dos Santos has been a rising star ever since his first-round flattening of Fabricio Werdum in his UFC debut and Nelson was the winner of “The Ultimate Fighter” reality show with several big wins prior to his UFC tenure. Both have become viable contenders.
Velasquez will be in attendance at the fights on Saturday night, and will watch with great interest, ready to take on the winner as soon as possible.
By Damon Martin/MMAWeekly.com
Last Updated on Friday, 02 July 2010 18:04
It's My Time Now PDF Print E-mail
Written by Administrator
Friday, 05 March 2010 12:20
"It's My Time Now"
cain velasquez tattoo brown prideDeep in the heart of the Acer Arena in Sydney, Cain Velasquez waited.
He was thousands of miles from his home and loved ones, preparing to fight in the main event of a major UFC show for the first time in his career. In a few short minutes, Velasquez would walk down the aisle to face his toughest challenge yet. Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira became a icon in the sport by defying the odds, by taking enough punishment to fell a horse and still pull out miraculous victories. Nogueira was struck by a car as a child, a terrible accident that few believed he’d survive. But Nogueira was a fighter, and the only physical reminder of that day was the deep scar crossing his back. He was still considered to be one of the top fight heavyweights in the world, and his game was on a different level than anything Velasquez had seen thus far.
UFC 116 Results - Brock Lesnar vs. Shane Carwin Results
ho's The Big Man On Campus - Lesnar or Carwin?
By Robert Rousseau, About.com Guide
See More About:
* brock lesnar
* shane carwin
* ufc 117
* wanderlei silva
* wrestling
Click the links below to find out what the results of UFC 116 were. Here's a hint: Brock Lesnar still has his championship belt.
1. Brock Lesnar Submits Shane Carwin By Arm Triangle Choke
Probably weren't expecting a Lesnar submission victory, were you?
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2. Chris Leben Submits Yoshihiro Akiyama
We're talking about the biggest victory of Chris Leben's career.
3. The Rest of UFC 116
Stephan Bonnar defeats Krzysztof Soszynski by TKO at 3:08 of round two.
Chris Lytle defeats Matt Brown by armbar at 2:02 of round two.
George Sotiropoulos defeats Kurt Pellegrino by unanimous decision.
Brendan Schaub defeats Chris Tuchscherer by first round TKO.
Ricardo Romero defeats Seth Petruzelli via second round armbar.
Kendall Grove defeats Goran Reljic by split decision.
Gerald Harris defeats Dave Branch by third round TKO.
Daniel Roberts defeats Forrest Petz by split decision.
Jon Madsen defeats Karlos Vemola by unanimous decision.
Suggested Reading
* UFC 115 Results
* Brock Lesnar Biography
* Shane Carwin Biography
Other Articles Of Interest
* UFC 117 Fight Card
* Heavyweight MMA Rankings
MMA & UFC
* TUF 11 Finale Keith Jardine vs. Matt Hamill Results
* Chuck Liddell vs. Rich Franklin UFC 115 Prediction
* UFC 115 Chuck Liddell vs. Rich Franklin Results
* Strikeforce St. Louis Alistair Overeem vs Brett Rogers Results
* UFC 114 Quinton Rampage Jackson vs. Rashad Evans Results
Robert Rousseau
Robert Rousseau
Martial Arts Guide
* Sign up for my Newsletter
* My Blog
* My Forum
By Robert Rousseau, About.com Guide
See More About:
* brock lesnar
* shane carwin
* ufc 117
* wanderlei silva
* wrestling
Click the links below to find out what the results of UFC 116 were. Here's a hint: Brock Lesnar still has his championship belt.
1. Brock Lesnar Submits Shane Carwin By Arm Triangle Choke
Probably weren't expecting a Lesnar submission victory, were you?
Sponsored Links
Kindergarten SenseiMobil Martial Arts Business Teach @ Kindergartens & Daycareswww.kindergartensensei.com
Beginner Self DefenseSimple techniques using Krav Maga $65 for the first month of classes.www.oneworldsdf.com
Hexafluoroethane R-116Customized C2F6/Halocarbon-116 Fast delivery. Competitive pricing.www.electronicfluorocarbons.com
2. Chris Leben Submits Yoshihiro Akiyama
We're talking about the biggest victory of Chris Leben's career.
3. The Rest of UFC 116
Stephan Bonnar defeats Krzysztof Soszynski by TKO at 3:08 of round two.
Chris Lytle defeats Matt Brown by armbar at 2:02 of round two.
George Sotiropoulos defeats Kurt Pellegrino by unanimous decision.
Brendan Schaub defeats Chris Tuchscherer by first round TKO.
Ricardo Romero defeats Seth Petruzelli via second round armbar.
Kendall Grove defeats Goran Reljic by split decision.
Gerald Harris defeats Dave Branch by third round TKO.
Daniel Roberts defeats Forrest Petz by split decision.
Jon Madsen defeats Karlos Vemola by unanimous decision.
Suggested Reading
* UFC 115 Results
* Brock Lesnar Biography
* Shane Carwin Biography
Other Articles Of Interest
* UFC 117 Fight Card
* Heavyweight MMA Rankings
MMA & UFC
* TUF 11 Finale Keith Jardine vs. Matt Hamill Results
* Chuck Liddell vs. Rich Franklin UFC 115 Prediction
* UFC 115 Chuck Liddell vs. Rich Franklin Results
* Strikeforce St. Louis Alistair Overeem vs Brett Rogers Results
* UFC 114 Quinton Rampage Jackson vs. Rashad Evans Results
Robert Rousseau
Robert Rousseau
Martial Arts Guide
* Sign up for my Newsletter
* My Blog
* My Forum
Fourth of July Fireworks 2010 in Washington DC
Washington DC is a spectacular place to celebrate July 4th! The National Mall, with Washington DC’s monuments and the U. S. Capitol in the background, forms a beautiful and patriotic backdrop to America's Independence Day celebrations. This is an all-day event in the nation's capital, beginning with a parade along Constitution Avenue and ending with a spectacular display of fireworks over the Washington Monument. Following is a guide to all of the 4th of July events on the National Mall.
For alternative fireworks locations around the region, see pages 2 and 3.
The 4th of July celebrations in Washington, DC are among the most attended events of the year and many people arrive early to stake out a seat on the lawn. There are plenty of activities scheduled throughout the day to keep the whole family busy.
Getting to the National Mall
The best way to get to the National Mall is to take the Metro. Stations nearby include Metro Center, Gallery Place-Chinatown, Judiciary Square, Federal Triangle and L'Enfant Plaza.The Smithsonian Metro station will be closed for most of the day for security reasons. The station will reopen for entry-only shortly after the fireworks show has concluded to help get people home. It typically takes 1 ½ to 2 hours to clear the Mall after the fireworks.
Public access to the National Mall begins at 10:00 a.m., with all visitors required to enter via a security checkpoint. Read more about getting to the National Mall, public transportation, parking, security and road closures.
Washington, DC’s Independence Day Parade
Parade Start Time: 11:45 a.m.
Parade Route: Constitution Avenue and 7th to 17th Sts.
See a map of the parade route
Washington, DC’s 4th of July Parade features marching bands, military and specialty units, floats, and VIP's. The parade draws a large crowd, so plan to arrive early to stake out a good viewing spot. Read more about the National Independence Day Parade
Smithsonian Folklife Festival
The annual event includes daily and evening music and dance performances, crafts and cooking demonstrations, storytelling and discussions of cultural issues. The themes of the 2010 program will be: México Profundo: A Deeper Mexico, Asian Pacific American Connections and Smithsonian Inside Out. The hours on the 4th of July are 11 a.m to 5 p.m. Read more about the Smithsonian Folklife Festival.
4th of July at the National Archives
The National Archives celebrates the 4th of July with special family programming celebrating the signing of the Declaration of Independence. Visit the National Archives Building for this special birthday party from 10:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. See the schedule of events.
White House Visitor Center Family Events
Between 9:00 a.m. and 3:00 p.m., stop at the White House Visitor Center and enjoy games, crafts and other activities celebrating America's Birthday. National Park Service rangers and volunteers will give you the opportunity to sample the sights, sounds, activities and personages that helped finalize the Declaration of Independence and create the United States of America on July 4, 1776.
Concert on the Washington Monument Grounds
Beginning at 6:00 p.m. the U.S. Navy Band perfroms on the Southwest corner of the grounds of the Washington Monument. The concert includes the talents of the U.S. Navy Concert Band, the Sea Chanters chorus, and the Cruisers, their rock and top-40 ensemble. That portion ends at 7:30 p.m., to be followed by a vignette by the National Park Service. At 8:00 p.m., the Navy Band Commodores Jazz ensemble will perform with special guest Jane Monheit. This portion promptly concludes at 9:10 p.m. for the fireworks display.
A Capitol Fourth Concert
Time: 8 - 9:30 p.m. (Admittance begins at 3 p.m.)
Location: West Lawn of the U. S. Capitol
A 4th of July tradition in the nation's capital includes a live concert by the National Symphony Orchestra and several pop artists performing patriotic music on the West Lawn of the U.S. Capitol Building. The concert and show is followed by a spectacular display of fireworks over the Washington Monument. The concert is free and open to the public. No tickets are necessary. The annual event will be broadcast live on WETA TV 26 with a repeat airing at 10:00 p.m. See photos of A Capitol Fourth and performers from the 2010 concert.
4th of July Fireworks on the National Mall
Fireworks Time: At dark, usually around 9:15 p.m. Rain Date: July 5th
Launch Location: The fireworks are launched from the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool and light up the sky over the Washington Monument. See Photos of the Fireworks
Best Places to View the National Mall Fireworks
* U.S. Capitol
* Lincoln Memorial
* Jefferson Memorial
* FDR Memorial
* East Potomac Park
* Rooftop Bars in Washington DC
* Southwest Waterfront 4th of July Festival (tickets required)
* Rooftop of the W Hotel (tickets required)
* Anywhere along the National Mall between 14th Street and the Capitol
* Aboard a cruise along the Potomac River (tickets required)
Spectacular views of the fireworks can also be seen from the Marine Corps War Memorial (Iwo Jima) in Arlington, Virginia near the Rosslyn Metro station and areas along the Virginia side of the Potomac River that can be reached from George Washington Memorial Parkway. You may park at the Gravely Point parking lot, which is about a quarter mile from the 14th Street Bridge. Another great place to watch the fireworks is from the Air Force Memorial on Columbia Pike.
For alternative fireworks locations around the region, see pages 2 and 3.
The 4th of July celebrations in Washington, DC are among the most attended events of the year and many people arrive early to stake out a seat on the lawn. There are plenty of activities scheduled throughout the day to keep the whole family busy.
Getting to the National Mall
The best way to get to the National Mall is to take the Metro. Stations nearby include Metro Center, Gallery Place-Chinatown, Judiciary Square, Federal Triangle and L'Enfant Plaza.The Smithsonian Metro station will be closed for most of the day for security reasons. The station will reopen for entry-only shortly after the fireworks show has concluded to help get people home. It typically takes 1 ½ to 2 hours to clear the Mall after the fireworks.
Public access to the National Mall begins at 10:00 a.m., with all visitors required to enter via a security checkpoint. Read more about getting to the National Mall, public transportation, parking, security and road closures.
Washington, DC’s Independence Day Parade
Parade Start Time: 11:45 a.m.
Parade Route: Constitution Avenue and 7th to 17th Sts.
See a map of the parade route
Washington, DC’s 4th of July Parade features marching bands, military and specialty units, floats, and VIP's. The parade draws a large crowd, so plan to arrive early to stake out a good viewing spot. Read more about the National Independence Day Parade
Smithsonian Folklife Festival
The annual event includes daily and evening music and dance performances, crafts and cooking demonstrations, storytelling and discussions of cultural issues. The themes of the 2010 program will be: México Profundo: A Deeper Mexico, Asian Pacific American Connections and Smithsonian Inside Out. The hours on the 4th of July are 11 a.m to 5 p.m. Read more about the Smithsonian Folklife Festival.
4th of July at the National Archives
The National Archives celebrates the 4th of July with special family programming celebrating the signing of the Declaration of Independence. Visit the National Archives Building for this special birthday party from 10:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. See the schedule of events.
White House Visitor Center Family Events
Between 9:00 a.m. and 3:00 p.m., stop at the White House Visitor Center and enjoy games, crafts and other activities celebrating America's Birthday. National Park Service rangers and volunteers will give you the opportunity to sample the sights, sounds, activities and personages that helped finalize the Declaration of Independence and create the United States of America on July 4, 1776.
Concert on the Washington Monument Grounds
Beginning at 6:00 p.m. the U.S. Navy Band perfroms on the Southwest corner of the grounds of the Washington Monument. The concert includes the talents of the U.S. Navy Concert Band, the Sea Chanters chorus, and the Cruisers, their rock and top-40 ensemble. That portion ends at 7:30 p.m., to be followed by a vignette by the National Park Service. At 8:00 p.m., the Navy Band Commodores Jazz ensemble will perform with special guest Jane Monheit. This portion promptly concludes at 9:10 p.m. for the fireworks display.
A Capitol Fourth Concert
Time: 8 - 9:30 p.m. (Admittance begins at 3 p.m.)
Location: West Lawn of the U. S. Capitol
A 4th of July tradition in the nation's capital includes a live concert by the National Symphony Orchestra and several pop artists performing patriotic music on the West Lawn of the U.S. Capitol Building. The concert and show is followed by a spectacular display of fireworks over the Washington Monument. The concert is free and open to the public. No tickets are necessary. The annual event will be broadcast live on WETA TV 26 with a repeat airing at 10:00 p.m. See photos of A Capitol Fourth and performers from the 2010 concert.
4th of July Fireworks on the National Mall
Fireworks Time: At dark, usually around 9:15 p.m. Rain Date: July 5th
Launch Location: The fireworks are launched from the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool and light up the sky over the Washington Monument. See Photos of the Fireworks
Best Places to View the National Mall Fireworks
* U.S. Capitol
* Lincoln Memorial
* Jefferson Memorial
* FDR Memorial
* East Potomac Park
* Rooftop Bars in Washington DC
* Southwest Waterfront 4th of July Festival (tickets required)
* Rooftop of the W Hotel (tickets required)
* Anywhere along the National Mall between 14th Street and the Capitol
* Aboard a cruise along the Potomac River (tickets required)
Spectacular views of the fireworks can also be seen from the Marine Corps War Memorial (Iwo Jima) in Arlington, Virginia near the Rosslyn Metro station and areas along the Virginia side of the Potomac River that can be reached from George Washington Memorial Parkway. You may park at the Gravely Point parking lot, which is about a quarter mile from the 14th Street Bridge. Another great place to watch the fireworks is from the Air Force Memorial on Columbia Pike.
* Independence Day July 4th *
On July 4, 1776, we claimed our independence from Britain and Democracy was born. Every day thousands leave their homeland to come to the "land of the free and the home of the brave" so they can begin their American Dream.
The United States is truly a diverse nation made up of dynamic people. Each year on July 4, Americans celebrate that freedom and independence with barbecues, picnics, and family gatherings. Through the Internet we are learning about and communicating with people of different nations, with different languages and different races throughout the world. Bringing the world closer with understanding and knowledge can only benefit all nations.
We invite all nations to celebrate with Americans online this Fourth of July.
Happy Birthday, America!
“I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the Republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.”
Full text of the Star Spangled Banner
The United States is truly a diverse nation made up of dynamic people. Each year on July 4, Americans celebrate that freedom and independence with barbecues, picnics, and family gatherings. Through the Internet we are learning about and communicating with people of different nations, with different languages and different races throughout the world. Bringing the world closer with understanding and knowledge can only benefit all nations.
We invite all nations to celebrate with Americans online this Fourth of July.
Happy Birthday, America!
“I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the Republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.”
Full text of the Star Spangled Banner
UFC 116 LESNAR vs CARWIN RESULTS LIVE! UFC Live Results! UFC ULTIMATE FIGHTER WEC STRIKFORCE Emelianenko vs Werdum BELLATOR FIGHT RESULTS NEWS & PICT
FIGHT RESULTS NEWS & PICTURES
* UFC 116 Results LIVE! Lesnar vs Carwin Results
* STRIKEFORCE FEDOR vs WERDUM RESULTS LIVE!
* Court McGee wins Ultimate Fighter Season 11 Results
* Round 5 sent me images of the new 'Ultimate Collector Series3' figures and they look sick!
* Liddell vs Franklin results
UFC 116 Results Live - Lesnar vs Carwin Results
UFC 116 Results LIVE!
I will be posting LIVE RESULTS for UFC 116 Lesnar vs Carwin! It's going to be a great night of fights! UFC 116!…read more
Fedor vs Werdum Results
Fedor vs Werdum Results LIVE!
Check out the results for STRIKEFORCES "FEDOR EMELIANENKO vs FABRICIO WERDUM" LIVE! Also Smith vs Cung Le 2 and Cris Cyborg vs Jan Finney!…read more
Court McGee wins the Ultimate Fighter Season 11
Court McGee wins TUF 11!
Court McGee dominates Kris McGray to win the 11th season of the Ultimate fighter! Court s a class act and will be great for the UFC…read more
Round 5 sent me images of the new 'Ultimate Collector Series3' figures and they look sick!
Round 5 'Ultimate Collector Series 3' figures
Round 5 sent me images of the new 'Ultimate Collector Series3' figures and they look sick!…read more
UFC 115 Results
UFC 115 Results! Liddell vs Franklin
It’s been a dream match of fight fans for years, and this this weekend, two of the greatest champs in the history of the UFC face off at the first UFC show in Vancouver, British Columbia…read more
UFC UNDISPUTED 2010 GIVEAWAY! UFC 114 Fight Results Court McGee Interview - Court McGee Ultimate Fighter Contestant Season 11 Recap Results Chuck Liddell Action Figure Giveaway! MMA Hotties! Hot Ring Girls! Babes of MMA!
Freakinmma.com provides UFC Live Results! Come back the night of fights for UFC Fight Results Live. We also are your source for MMA News, not rummors! We have pictures, desktop wallpapers, and more on UFC, WEC, STRIKEFORCE, AFFLICTION, Bellator Fighting Championships and all things MMA. We even have a MMA Chat room where you can talk it up with fellow fans and fighters!
Hot New Pictures
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Ultimate Fighter Season 10
THE ULTIMATE FIGHTER
12/2/2009
FreakinMMA is your place for UFC Live results, news, rumores, pictures, wallpapers, and more! This is a fansite from a fan for all the other Mixed Martial Arts fans out there! UFC Results Live!
Mixed martial arts (MMA) is a full contact combat sport that allows a wide variety of fighting techniques, from a mixture of martial arts traditions and non-traditions, to be used in competitions. The rules allow the use of striking and grappling techniques, both while standing and on the ground. Such competitions allow martial artists of different backgrounds to compete. The UFC even spawned a very successful reality show The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) which will be in it's 9th season this year!
Modern mixed martial arts competition became popular in the United States in 1993 with the founding of The Ultimate Fighting Championship. Initially based on finding the most effective martial arts for real unarmed combat situations, competitors of various arts fought one another with next to no rules. In the following decade, MMA promoters adopted many additional rules aimed at increasing safety for competitors and to promote mainstream acceptance of the sport. Now there are several MMA organizations that put on fights including World Extreme Cagefighting (WEC), Strikeforce, Affliction, Throwdown, Jeremy Horn's Elite Fight Night, and many many more. As time goes on we will cover more leagues and post UFC 115 Results, WEC, AFFLICTION, STRIKEFORCE, THROWDOWN, TUF, Ultimate Fighter Recap, UFC FIGHT RESULTS, PICTURES, and more.
www.FreakinMMA.com is your place for UFC WEC AFFLICTION STRIKFORCE FIGHT RESULTS NEWS FIGHT CARDS MMA CHAT ROOM WALLPAPER and More! A FanSite from a fan for the fans! UFC Live Results! UFC 107 Results Live! Penn vs. Sanchez.
* UFC 116 Results LIVE! Lesnar vs Carwin Results
* STRIKEFORCE FEDOR vs WERDUM RESULTS LIVE!
* Court McGee wins Ultimate Fighter Season 11 Results
* Round 5 sent me images of the new 'Ultimate Collector Series3' figures and they look sick!
* Liddell vs Franklin results
UFC 116 Results Live - Lesnar vs Carwin Results
UFC 116 Results LIVE!
I will be posting LIVE RESULTS for UFC 116 Lesnar vs Carwin! It's going to be a great night of fights! UFC 116!…read more
Fedor vs Werdum Results
Fedor vs Werdum Results LIVE!
Check out the results for STRIKEFORCES "FEDOR EMELIANENKO vs FABRICIO WERDUM" LIVE! Also Smith vs Cung Le 2 and Cris Cyborg vs Jan Finney!…read more
Court McGee wins the Ultimate Fighter Season 11
Court McGee wins TUF 11!
Court McGee dominates Kris McGray to win the 11th season of the Ultimate fighter! Court s a class act and will be great for the UFC…read more
Round 5 sent me images of the new 'Ultimate Collector Series3' figures and they look sick!
Round 5 'Ultimate Collector Series 3' figures
Round 5 sent me images of the new 'Ultimate Collector Series3' figures and they look sick!…read more
UFC 115 Results
UFC 115 Results! Liddell vs Franklin
It’s been a dream match of fight fans for years, and this this weekend, two of the greatest champs in the history of the UFC face off at the first UFC show in Vancouver, British Columbia…read more
UFC UNDISPUTED 2010 GIVEAWAY! UFC 114 Fight Results Court McGee Interview - Court McGee Ultimate Fighter Contestant Season 11 Recap Results Chuck Liddell Action Figure Giveaway! MMA Hotties! Hot Ring Girls! Babes of MMA!
Freakinmma.com provides UFC Live Results! Come back the night of fights for UFC Fight Results Live. We also are your source for MMA News, not rummors! We have pictures, desktop wallpapers, and more on UFC, WEC, STRIKEFORCE, AFFLICTION, Bellator Fighting Championships and all things MMA. We even have a MMA Chat room where you can talk it up with fellow fans and fighters!
Hot New Pictures
Added: 7/2/2010 11:29:18 PM
UFC
7/2/2010
Added: 7/2/2010 11:29:18 PM
UFC
7/2/2010
Added: 7/2/2010 11:29:18 PM
UFC
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Added: 7/2/2010 11:29:17 PM
UFC
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Added: 7/2/2010 11:29:17 PM
UFC
7/2/2010
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Added: 7/2/2010 11:29:17 PM
UFC
7/2/2010
Hot New Wallpapers
UFC 116 Wallpaper
UFC
6/28/2010
fedor emelianenko walpaper #2
STRIKEFORCE
12/8/2009
Fedor Emelianenko walpaper #1
STRIKEFORCE
12/8/2009
Ultimate Fighter Season 10
THE ULTIMATE FIGHTER
12/2/2009
FreakinMMA is your place for UFC Live results, news, rumores, pictures, wallpapers, and more! This is a fansite from a fan for all the other Mixed Martial Arts fans out there! UFC Results Live!
Mixed martial arts (MMA) is a full contact combat sport that allows a wide variety of fighting techniques, from a mixture of martial arts traditions and non-traditions, to be used in competitions. The rules allow the use of striking and grappling techniques, both while standing and on the ground. Such competitions allow martial artists of different backgrounds to compete. The UFC even spawned a very successful reality show The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) which will be in it's 9th season this year!
Modern mixed martial arts competition became popular in the United States in 1993 with the founding of The Ultimate Fighting Championship. Initially based on finding the most effective martial arts for real unarmed combat situations, competitors of various arts fought one another with next to no rules. In the following decade, MMA promoters adopted many additional rules aimed at increasing safety for competitors and to promote mainstream acceptance of the sport. Now there are several MMA organizations that put on fights including World Extreme Cagefighting (WEC), Strikeforce, Affliction, Throwdown, Jeremy Horn's Elite Fight Night, and many many more. As time goes on we will cover more leagues and post UFC 115 Results, WEC, AFFLICTION, STRIKEFORCE, THROWDOWN, TUF, Ultimate Fighter Recap, UFC FIGHT RESULTS, PICTURES, and more.
www.FreakinMMA.com is your place for UFC WEC AFFLICTION STRIKFORCE FIGHT RESULTS NEWS FIGHT CARDS MMA CHAT ROOM WALLPAPER and More! A FanSite from a fan for the fans! UFC Live Results! UFC 107 Results Live! Penn vs. Sanchez.
Gadget Lab
Gadget Lab Podcast: The Death of Kin and Other Wireless Drama
* By Brian X. Chen Email Author
* July 2, 2010 |
* 3:32 pm |
* Categories: Gadget Lab Podcasts
*
In this episode of the Gadget Lab video podcast, the usual nerds talk about all things mobile. First, they mourn over the death of the Kin while reflecting on what Microsoft did wrong. They also talk about what Apple apparently did wrong with the iPhone 4 antenna, which loses signal when held the “wrong” way.
Elsewhere in the mobile world, Intel says it’s hoping to ship its first mobile chips in phones starting next year. We’ll see if that ever happens — and if their efforts will even matter by then. On the other hand, something we’ve wanted on mobiles devices for a long time has finally arrived: Hulu. Unfortunately it comes at a price.
You can also get the Gadget Lab video podcast via iTunes, or if you don’t want to be distracted by our mugs, check out the Gadget Lab audio podcast. Prefer RSS? You can subscribe to the Gadget Lab video or audio podcast feeds.
See Also:
* Gadget Lab Podcast: Droid X, iPhone 4, Android 2.2
* Gadget Lab Podcast Returns: E3 Gadgets, Dolby 7.1 and More …
Tags: antennas, iphone 4, Kin, Microsoft, Phones, podcasts, videos
* Post Comment |
* 2 Comments and 0 Reactions |
* Permalink
Back to top
Motorola Droid Rules Android
* By Priya Ganapati Email Author
* July 2, 2010 |
* 2:07 pm |
* Categories: Phones
*
Motorola’s Droid is the most popular phone among Android users, followed by HTC Hero, while Google’s Nexus One ranks tenth on the list, according to a monthly metrics report from mobile advertising firm AdMob. AdMob has ranked the top ten Android smartphones by market share.
The data is based on 12.7 million Android phones in the AdMob network in May. It’s also why the HTC Evo, released in the first week of June, is missing from the mix.
About 21 percent Android users have the Droid, while 16 percent users own the HTC Hero. Just 2 percent of Android phone users have Google’s Nexus One phone, says AdMob.
Motorola launched the Droid in November 2009 and made it available exclusively on Verizon Wireless. And despite the gaggle of Android phones launched every month, the Droid has been holding strong.
The only Android phone that could challenge the Droid’s position is the HTC Evo, which is available exclusively on Sprint. It will be interesting to see if the Evo can beat the Droid, though Sprint has a smaller marketing budget and fewer subscribers than Verizon.
Here’s a chart that shows the popularity of different Android smarpthones.
About 67 percent of Android users are in North America while China is the second largest market for Android with 13 percent of Android users coming from the country, says AdMob.
Combined HTC and Motorola have 83 percent share among Android devices. Since the Android OS debuted in 2008, the two companies have been on a roll, churning out phones faster than consumers can keep up with.
Continue Reading “Motorola Droid Rules Android” »
Tags: AdMob, android, Droid, Evo, Hero, HTC, market, motorola, Nexus One, popularity, sales, share
* Post Comment |
* 7 Comments and 2 Reactions |
* Permalink
Back to top
Rumor Repeat: Apple TV to Gain iOS-Based Overhaul
* By Brian X. Chen Email Author
* July 2, 2010 |
* 1:52 pm |
* Categories: Media Players
*
The Apple TV might receive a software overhaul based on the iOS operating system powering the iPad, iPhone and iPod Touch, sources have told The New York Times.
While anonymous sources claimed the company was planning a software upgrade for the set-top box, they noted that it was unclear whether Apple would introduce new hardware as well. NY Times writer Nick Bilton also said he’d heard that Apple’s newest hires included people with a background in television.
Some of these claims come in line with a recent rumor published by Engadget, which said Apple was planning to introduce a $100 Apple TV running iOS. The blog claimed the hardware would be redone as well — a minimal gadget described as an “iPhone without a screen,” containing only two ports: a power socket and a video-out.
In earnings calls, Apple executives have repeatedly called Apple TV a “hobby,” implying it has not been a breakthrough hit like the iPhone or iPod. Video entertainment has been a tough nut for Apple to crack, as the set-top box market is packed with competitors offering a multitude of ways to watch video. In addition, cable companies subsidize set-top boxes that include a DVR for recording programs.
An iOS-based Apple TV sounds feasible, though it remains a question as to how exactly such a device would work, since the interface is controlled by multitouch gestures. We would be surprised if Apple didn’t somehow incorporate its iPhone, iPod Touch or iPad as a controller. For gaming, the iPhone 4 is especially powerful as it contains a gyrosocope, making it even better than Nintendo’s Wiimote. However, it would seem strange if Apple sold an Apple TV that required a pricey iOS device as a controller.
Apple declined to comment on this story.
See Also:
* Apple TV Prototype Sells on eBay for 46 Bucks
* 5 Reasons Why Apple TV Rules, 5 Reasons Why it Sucks
* Why Apple TV Must Evolve to Avoid Extinction
* What We Want in an Apple TV
Image of a current Apple TV menu: Apple
Tags: Apple, Apple TV, rumors, video
* Post Comment |
* 4 Comments and 0 Reactions |
* Permalink
Back to top
Read More http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/#ixzz0siUpiOcF
* By Brian X. Chen Email Author
* July 2, 2010 |
* 3:32 pm |
* Categories: Gadget Lab Podcasts
*
In this episode of the Gadget Lab video podcast, the usual nerds talk about all things mobile. First, they mourn over the death of the Kin while reflecting on what Microsoft did wrong. They also talk about what Apple apparently did wrong with the iPhone 4 antenna, which loses signal when held the “wrong” way.
Elsewhere in the mobile world, Intel says it’s hoping to ship its first mobile chips in phones starting next year. We’ll see if that ever happens — and if their efforts will even matter by then. On the other hand, something we’ve wanted on mobiles devices for a long time has finally arrived: Hulu. Unfortunately it comes at a price.
You can also get the Gadget Lab video podcast via iTunes, or if you don’t want to be distracted by our mugs, check out the Gadget Lab audio podcast. Prefer RSS? You can subscribe to the Gadget Lab video or audio podcast feeds.
See Also:
* Gadget Lab Podcast: Droid X, iPhone 4, Android 2.2
* Gadget Lab Podcast Returns: E3 Gadgets, Dolby 7.1 and More …
Tags: antennas, iphone 4, Kin, Microsoft, Phones, podcasts, videos
* Post Comment |
* 2 Comments and 0 Reactions |
* Permalink
Back to top
Motorola Droid Rules Android
* By Priya Ganapati Email Author
* July 2, 2010 |
* 2:07 pm |
* Categories: Phones
*
Motorola’s Droid is the most popular phone among Android users, followed by HTC Hero, while Google’s Nexus One ranks tenth on the list, according to a monthly metrics report from mobile advertising firm AdMob. AdMob has ranked the top ten Android smartphones by market share.
The data is based on 12.7 million Android phones in the AdMob network in May. It’s also why the HTC Evo, released in the first week of June, is missing from the mix.
About 21 percent Android users have the Droid, while 16 percent users own the HTC Hero. Just 2 percent of Android phone users have Google’s Nexus One phone, says AdMob.
Motorola launched the Droid in November 2009 and made it available exclusively on Verizon Wireless. And despite the gaggle of Android phones launched every month, the Droid has been holding strong.
The only Android phone that could challenge the Droid’s position is the HTC Evo, which is available exclusively on Sprint. It will be interesting to see if the Evo can beat the Droid, though Sprint has a smaller marketing budget and fewer subscribers than Verizon.
Here’s a chart that shows the popularity of different Android smarpthones.
About 67 percent of Android users are in North America while China is the second largest market for Android with 13 percent of Android users coming from the country, says AdMob.
Combined HTC and Motorola have 83 percent share among Android devices. Since the Android OS debuted in 2008, the two companies have been on a roll, churning out phones faster than consumers can keep up with.
Continue Reading “Motorola Droid Rules Android” »
Tags: AdMob, android, Droid, Evo, Hero, HTC, market, motorola, Nexus One, popularity, sales, share
* Post Comment |
* 7 Comments and 2 Reactions |
* Permalink
Back to top
Rumor Repeat: Apple TV to Gain iOS-Based Overhaul
* By Brian X. Chen Email Author
* July 2, 2010 |
* 1:52 pm |
* Categories: Media Players
*
The Apple TV might receive a software overhaul based on the iOS operating system powering the iPad, iPhone and iPod Touch, sources have told The New York Times.
While anonymous sources claimed the company was planning a software upgrade for the set-top box, they noted that it was unclear whether Apple would introduce new hardware as well. NY Times writer Nick Bilton also said he’d heard that Apple’s newest hires included people with a background in television.
Some of these claims come in line with a recent rumor published by Engadget, which said Apple was planning to introduce a $100 Apple TV running iOS. The blog claimed the hardware would be redone as well — a minimal gadget described as an “iPhone without a screen,” containing only two ports: a power socket and a video-out.
In earnings calls, Apple executives have repeatedly called Apple TV a “hobby,” implying it has not been a breakthrough hit like the iPhone or iPod. Video entertainment has been a tough nut for Apple to crack, as the set-top box market is packed with competitors offering a multitude of ways to watch video. In addition, cable companies subsidize set-top boxes that include a DVR for recording programs.
An iOS-based Apple TV sounds feasible, though it remains a question as to how exactly such a device would work, since the interface is controlled by multitouch gestures. We would be surprised if Apple didn’t somehow incorporate its iPhone, iPod Touch or iPad as a controller. For gaming, the iPhone 4 is especially powerful as it contains a gyrosocope, making it even better than Nintendo’s Wiimote. However, it would seem strange if Apple sold an Apple TV that required a pricey iOS device as a controller.
Apple declined to comment on this story.
See Also:
* Apple TV Prototype Sells on eBay for 46 Bucks
* 5 Reasons Why Apple TV Rules, 5 Reasons Why it Sucks
* Why Apple TV Must Evolve to Avoid Extinction
* What We Want in an Apple TV
Image of a current Apple TV menu: Apple
Tags: Apple, Apple TV, rumors, video
* Post Comment |
* 4 Comments and 0 Reactions |
* Permalink
Back to top
Read More http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/#ixzz0siUpiOcF
Saturday, July 3, 2010
Clay Guida and Brendan Schaub will get their Moment in the Sun on UFC Unleashed
K2-xl_tiny by Zak Woods on Mar 23, 2010 5:00 PM EDT Comment 5 comments
photo via ufc.com
photo via ufc.com
View full size photo »
A few fans were upset that only one of the three first round finishes ended up being on the broadcast card that night.
It seems the UFC heard the cries of foul, and Brendan Schaub's first round KO victory over Chase Gromley, and Clay Guida's submission victory over Shannon Gugerty will be shown on Wednesday's episode of UFC Unleashed.
Also on Wednesday is the final episode of UFC Primetime: St. Pierre vs. Hardy.
SBN coverage of UFC on Versus: Vera vs. Jones
0 recs | Comment 5 comments |
photo via ufc.com
photo via ufc.com
View full size photo »
A few fans were upset that only one of the three first round finishes ended up being on the broadcast card that night.
It seems the UFC heard the cries of foul, and Brendan Schaub's first round KO victory over Chase Gromley, and Clay Guida's submission victory over Shannon Gugerty will be shown on Wednesday's episode of UFC Unleashed.
Also on Wednesday is the final episode of UFC Primetime: St. Pierre vs. Hardy.
SBN coverage of UFC on Versus: Vera vs. Jones
0 recs | Comment 5 comments |
Brendan Schaub
Brendan Schaub by PlayStation.Blog.Deutschland.
PlayStation Blog Kommentargewinnspiel UFC Undisputed 2010
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PlayStation Blog Kommentargewinnspiel UFC Undisputed 2010
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Sign up for a free account, or sign in (if you're already a member).
Meet Me In St. Louis - Variations on Swing Album Review
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Top Headlines
* PHOTOS SHOW PRINCE MICHAEL IS JACKSONS SON
* LUCASFILM FOUND GUILTY OF DISCRIMINATION AGAINST PREGNANT WOMAN
* BIEBER AND BEADLES REUNITE IN THE BAHAMAS
* KATHERINE JACKSON TO RELEASE MICHAEL MOVIE
* EMINEM STORMS TO THE TOP OF EUROPEAN CHART
Meet Me In St Louis - Variations on Swing Album Review
Meet Me In St Louis
Variations on Swing
Album Review
Never judge a book by its cover they say - good advice, as sometimes it's actually a completely different book slipped inside the cover. With a name like Meet Me In St Louis, and a beautifully non-descript, hazy cover, the brain naturally expects perhaps a sensitive indie offering of mellow tunes.
The plot thickens with the song titles though. 'The Torso Has Been Severed in Mid Thorax', 'I Am Champagne And You Are Shit' Maybe this is something other than that which we expected? Listen to the tunes and it's like meeting a Rottweiler dressed up as a cuddly puppy.
Meet Me In St. Louis are a pure revelation. Angular, stark and technically beautiful, they peddle a gorgeous hybrid of eclectic noise. Without wanting to offer too many lazy comparisons, this would easily be at home on the mighty Dischord records, and shares similarities with Faraquet, HP Zinker and perhaps on a more contemporary tip, At The Drive In. It's altogether a more mature and considered approach to the whole affair though, blending cutting, jagged riffs with a carefully considered sensitivity.
If you fancy something refreshingly different, try MMISL. This is one amazing Brit album you can truly look forward to growing on you.
Richard Edge
Comment on this story Write for us
Site - http://www.meetmeinstlouis.co.uk
Meet Me In St. Louis Newsletter
Subscribe to this news alert service to receive news and reviews on Meet Me In St. Louis
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Top Headlines
* PHOTOS SHOW PRINCE MICHAEL IS JACKSONS SON
* LUCASFILM FOUND GUILTY OF DISCRIMINATION AGAINST PREGNANT WOMAN
* BIEBER AND BEADLES REUNITE IN THE BAHAMAS
* KATHERINE JACKSON TO RELEASE MICHAEL MOVIE
* EMINEM STORMS TO THE TOP OF EUROPEAN CHART
Meet Me In St Louis - Variations on Swing Album Review
Meet Me In St Louis
Variations on Swing
Album Review
Never judge a book by its cover they say - good advice, as sometimes it's actually a completely different book slipped inside the cover. With a name like Meet Me In St Louis, and a beautifully non-descript, hazy cover, the brain naturally expects perhaps a sensitive indie offering of mellow tunes.
The plot thickens with the song titles though. 'The Torso Has Been Severed in Mid Thorax', 'I Am Champagne And You Are Shit' Maybe this is something other than that which we expected? Listen to the tunes and it's like meeting a Rottweiler dressed up as a cuddly puppy.
Meet Me In St. Louis are a pure revelation. Angular, stark and technically beautiful, they peddle a gorgeous hybrid of eclectic noise. Without wanting to offer too many lazy comparisons, this would easily be at home on the mighty Dischord records, and shares similarities with Faraquet, HP Zinker and perhaps on a more contemporary tip, At The Drive In. It's altogether a more mature and considered approach to the whole affair though, blending cutting, jagged riffs with a carefully considered sensitivity.
If you fancy something refreshingly different, try MMISL. This is one amazing Brit album you can truly look forward to growing on you.
Richard Edge
Comment on this story Write for us
Site - http://www.meetmeinstlouis.co.uk
Meet Me In St. Louis Newsletter
Subscribe to this news alert service to receive news and reviews on Meet Me In St. Louis
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Die Another Day
Die Another Day (2002) is the twentieth spy film in the James Bond series, and the fourth and last film to star Pierce Brosnan as the fictional MI6 agent James Bond; it is also the last Bond film of the original timeline with the series being rebooted with Casino Royale. In the pre-title sequence, Bond leads a mission to North Korea, during which he is found out and, after seemingly killing a rogue North Korean colonel, he is captured and imprisoned. More than a year later, Bond is released as part of a prisoner exchange, and, surmising that someone within the British government betrayed him, he follows a trail of clues in an effort to earn redemption by finding his betrayer and learning the intentions of Gustav Graves, who in typical Bond fashion, is not all that he seems.
Die Another Day, produced by Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli, and directed by Lee Tamahori, marks the franchise's 40th anniversary. The series began in 1962 with Sean Connery starring as Bond in U.K.'s Dr. No. Die Another Day includes references to each of the preceding films and also alludes to several Bond novels.
The 2002 film received mixed reviews—some critics praised Lee Tamahori's work on the film, while others claimed the plot was damaged by excessive use of CGI. Thus lauded by some and despite criticism, it was the highest-grossing James Bond film to that date.
Contents
[hide]
* 1 Plot
* 2 Cast
* 3 Production
o 3.1 Filming
o 3.2 Music
* 4 References to other films
* 5 Marketing tie-ins
* 6 Release and reception
* 7 Novelization
* 8 References
* 9 External links
[edit] Plot
James Bond infiltrates a North Korean military base belonging to Colonel Tan-Sun Moon, and poses as an arms dealer trading African conflict diamonds for weaponry. Bond attempts to assassinate Moon, but has his true identity revealed by Zao, Moon’s assistant, during the transaction when someone transmits Bond's top-secret MI6 personnel file to Zao. A hovercraft chase results in the disfiguring of Zao’s face and the apparent death of Colonel Moon after Bond runs him off a cliff. Bond is captured and imprisoned by the Colonel’s father, General Moon, and subsequently tortured.
After fourteen months of captivity, Bond is traded on the Korean border for Zao in a prisoner exchange. Bond is informed by M that his 00 status has been suspended. His freedom was a result of the Americans and MI6 believing he was hemorrhaging sensitive information to North Korea during his torture and they wanted to get him back under their control before he was able let out any more information. Bond, knowing that he never revealed any information, instead surmises that someone within MI6 betrayed him, first by revealing his identity to Moon and Zao, and then by revealing the identities of deep-cover operatives who were subsequently assassinated, attributed to his "breaking" under torture.
Nonetheless, M explains he is to be transported to the Falkland Islands where he will be detained indefinitely until he is no longer a threat. By intentionally stopping his heart rate through meditation, Bond manages to escape his recovery room off the shore of Hong Kong and learns through a Chinese Intelligence contact that Zao is in Havana, Cuba. While in Havana, Bond meets and has sex with NSA agent Giacinta 'Jinx' Johnson, although at the time neither are aware of the other's profession.
Bond and Jinx meet in Cuba.
Bond follows Zao and Jinx to a gene therapy clinic where patients can have their appearances altered through DNA restructuring. Jinx is posing as a client to find information on Zao, but Bond finds him first. Zao escapes Bond and Jinx, but leaves evidence of several conflict diamonds bearing the laser signature of British tycoon Sir Gustav Graves. Bond later encounters Graves at a London fencing club along with his assistant Miranda Frost, also an undercover MI6 agent. Bond is invited to Iceland for a scientific demonstration after showing Graves one of his diamonds.
At the demonstration in Iceland, Graves unveils a new orbital mirror satellite (dubbed “Icarus”) the ostensible purpose of which is to harness solar energy and focus it to areas of earth to provide day and year-round sunshine for crop development. Jinx, who is at the ceremony now posing as a journalist, infiltrates the command center of the Iceland mansion and locates Zao, who is using the same gene therapy equipment found in Cuba. She is shocked unconscious and thanks to Bonds intervention avoids being tortured using a laser. Bonds rescue attempt sees the death of Mr. Kil. After seeing Zao, Bond realizes that Colonel Moon survived their original encounter and is using the technology to assume the identity and appearance of Gustav Graves.
Bond confronts Graves, but Frost arrives to reveal herself as the traitor and the one who exposed Bond in North Korea. Frost has also tampered with Bond’s gun when they slept together the night before. Bond escapes onto the ice and is pursued by the solar beam of the Icarus satellite, controlled by Moon. Bond returns to the facility to rescue Jinx, where he is discovered and chased by Zao. Zao dies after Bond tricks him into crashing his car into a flooded portion of the facility and causing a chandelier to fall on him. Bond then revives a drowned Jinx in the hot water pool in Graves' biodome.
From left: Gustav Graves, Miranda Frost, Verity, James Bond.
Bond and Jinx then pursue Graves and Frost to the Korean peninsula and stow away on Graves' cargo plane. Graves reveals his true identity to his father, General Moon, and the purpose of the Icarus satellite. He plans to cut a path through the Korean Demilitarized Zone with concentrated sunlight, allowing North Korean troops to invade South Korea and reunite the countries through force. General Moon disapproves of the plan, and is murdered by his son.
Bond engages Graves in a fist fight to stop the attack while Jinx attempts to regain control of the plane although Frost finds and subsequently engages Jinx in a sword fight. During the simultaneous fights the plane passes through the Icarus beam and is severely damaged. Jinx kills Frost, and Bond is able to pull a ripcord from Graves' attached parachute (which draws him closer to the door) and then electrocute him, which sends him flying out the plane, only to be ingested by the engine. Bond and Jinx escape the disintegrating plane via a helicopter in the cargo hold along with a stash of Graves’ diamonds. They take shelter and use the diamonds as part of sexual play, but state that they will return them eventually.
[edit] Cast
* Pierce Brosnan as James Bond 007, an MI6 agent who is betrayed during a mission and subsequently dismissed under accusations that he leaked information to North Korea. Once reinstated with MI6, he tracks down Zao and uncovers a plot to reunite North and South Korea using military force.
* Halle Berry as Giacinta 'Jinx' Johnson, an NSA agent who collaborates with Bond to track Zao and find his connection to the mysterious Gustav Graves. Berry described her character, Jinx, as "more modern" than her counterparts from previous films, "fashion-forward", and "the next step in the evolution of women in the Bond movies."[2] According to an ITV news poll, Jinx was voted the fourth toughest on-screen girl of all time.[3]
* Toby Stephens as Gustav Graves, Main antagonist. A British entrepreneur, though actually is Colonel Moon, who changed his appearance with the assistance of gene therapy technology and creates a satellite that uses diamonds to bring sunshine to the world at night. His real aim, however, is to assist North Korea's conquest of South Korea by destroying a mine field along the DMZ and taking out nuclear warheads fired by North Korea's enemies.
* Rick Yune as Zao, a North Korean who helps Graves implement his plans. Yune described Zao as one of the most "extreme" looking Bond villains; Yune's makeup—which included the implantation of real diamonds—required three hours.[4]
* Rosamund Pike as Miranda Frost, a double agent who initially poses as Bond's ally but later reveals herself to be an affiliate of Graves. Of filming her scenes with Brosnan, Pike said "We had pretty fantastic sex." But movie producers decided much of the footage was "too hot" and the sex scenes were trimmed.[5]
* Judi Dench as M, the strict head of MI6 who revokes Bond's licence to kill when he is released from prison, but later re-enlists him to help foil Graves' scheme.
* Will Yun Lee as Colonel Moon, a rogue North Korean army colonel who, though Bond thinks him dead after their first encounter, is found to be alive, and has altered his appearance to take on the identity of British tycoon Gustav Graves.
* Kenneth Tsang as General Moon, Colonel Moon's father. He is a strong advocate of North Korea's peaceful reunion with the South. He opposes his son's plan for reunification through violent conquest and is killed by his son for what the ex-colonel perceives as a lack of vision.
* John Cleese as Q, MI6's "quartermaster" who supplies Bond with multi-purpose vehicles and gadgets which prove useful in the latter's mission. Having previously played the role of Q's protege "R" in The World Is Not Enough, Cleese takes over the role of Q following Desmond Llewelyn's death. He pointedly refers to his predecessor when discussing some of his own work.
* Rachel Grant as Peaceful Fountains of Desire, a Chinese agent working for Mr Chang, undercover as a masseuse.
* Emilio Echevarría as Raoul, the manager of a Havana cigar factory, and a British sleeper. He helps Bond find Zao in Cuba.
* Samantha Bond as Miss Moneypenny, M's secretary.
* Lawrence Makoare as Mr. Kil, one of Gustav Graves' henchmen.
* David Decio as Mr. Kil's PA, Mr. Kil's personal assistant.
* Michael Madsen as Damian Falco, a high-ranking official in the NSA. In a 2002 interview Madsen remarked that "It's not a big role, but it's somewhat pivotal in that it introduces a new recurring character."[6]
* Madonna as Verity, Bond's fencing instructor.
[edit] Production
Die Another Day, produced by Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli, and directed by Lee Tamahori, marks the franchise's 40th anniversary. The series began in 1962 with Sean Connery starring as Bond in U.K.'s Dr. No. Die Another Day includes references to each of the preceding films and also alludes to several Bond novels.
The 2002 film received mixed reviews—some critics praised Lee Tamahori's work on the film, while others claimed the plot was damaged by excessive use of CGI. Thus lauded by some and despite criticism, it was the highest-grossing James Bond film to that date.
Contents
[hide]
* 1 Plot
* 2 Cast
* 3 Production
o 3.1 Filming
o 3.2 Music
* 4 References to other films
* 5 Marketing tie-ins
* 6 Release and reception
* 7 Novelization
* 8 References
* 9 External links
[edit] Plot
James Bond infiltrates a North Korean military base belonging to Colonel Tan-Sun Moon, and poses as an arms dealer trading African conflict diamonds for weaponry. Bond attempts to assassinate Moon, but has his true identity revealed by Zao, Moon’s assistant, during the transaction when someone transmits Bond's top-secret MI6 personnel file to Zao. A hovercraft chase results in the disfiguring of Zao’s face and the apparent death of Colonel Moon after Bond runs him off a cliff. Bond is captured and imprisoned by the Colonel’s father, General Moon, and subsequently tortured.
After fourteen months of captivity, Bond is traded on the Korean border for Zao in a prisoner exchange. Bond is informed by M that his 00 status has been suspended. His freedom was a result of the Americans and MI6 believing he was hemorrhaging sensitive information to North Korea during his torture and they wanted to get him back under their control before he was able let out any more information. Bond, knowing that he never revealed any information, instead surmises that someone within MI6 betrayed him, first by revealing his identity to Moon and Zao, and then by revealing the identities of deep-cover operatives who were subsequently assassinated, attributed to his "breaking" under torture.
Nonetheless, M explains he is to be transported to the Falkland Islands where he will be detained indefinitely until he is no longer a threat. By intentionally stopping his heart rate through meditation, Bond manages to escape his recovery room off the shore of Hong Kong and learns through a Chinese Intelligence contact that Zao is in Havana, Cuba. While in Havana, Bond meets and has sex with NSA agent Giacinta 'Jinx' Johnson, although at the time neither are aware of the other's profession.
Bond and Jinx meet in Cuba.
Bond follows Zao and Jinx to a gene therapy clinic where patients can have their appearances altered through DNA restructuring. Jinx is posing as a client to find information on Zao, but Bond finds him first. Zao escapes Bond and Jinx, but leaves evidence of several conflict diamonds bearing the laser signature of British tycoon Sir Gustav Graves. Bond later encounters Graves at a London fencing club along with his assistant Miranda Frost, also an undercover MI6 agent. Bond is invited to Iceland for a scientific demonstration after showing Graves one of his diamonds.
At the demonstration in Iceland, Graves unveils a new orbital mirror satellite (dubbed “Icarus”) the ostensible purpose of which is to harness solar energy and focus it to areas of earth to provide day and year-round sunshine for crop development. Jinx, who is at the ceremony now posing as a journalist, infiltrates the command center of the Iceland mansion and locates Zao, who is using the same gene therapy equipment found in Cuba. She is shocked unconscious and thanks to Bonds intervention avoids being tortured using a laser. Bonds rescue attempt sees the death of Mr. Kil. After seeing Zao, Bond realizes that Colonel Moon survived their original encounter and is using the technology to assume the identity and appearance of Gustav Graves.
Bond confronts Graves, but Frost arrives to reveal herself as the traitor and the one who exposed Bond in North Korea. Frost has also tampered with Bond’s gun when they slept together the night before. Bond escapes onto the ice and is pursued by the solar beam of the Icarus satellite, controlled by Moon. Bond returns to the facility to rescue Jinx, where he is discovered and chased by Zao. Zao dies after Bond tricks him into crashing his car into a flooded portion of the facility and causing a chandelier to fall on him. Bond then revives a drowned Jinx in the hot water pool in Graves' biodome.
From left: Gustav Graves, Miranda Frost, Verity, James Bond.
Bond and Jinx then pursue Graves and Frost to the Korean peninsula and stow away on Graves' cargo plane. Graves reveals his true identity to his father, General Moon, and the purpose of the Icarus satellite. He plans to cut a path through the Korean Demilitarized Zone with concentrated sunlight, allowing North Korean troops to invade South Korea and reunite the countries through force. General Moon disapproves of the plan, and is murdered by his son.
Bond engages Graves in a fist fight to stop the attack while Jinx attempts to regain control of the plane although Frost finds and subsequently engages Jinx in a sword fight. During the simultaneous fights the plane passes through the Icarus beam and is severely damaged. Jinx kills Frost, and Bond is able to pull a ripcord from Graves' attached parachute (which draws him closer to the door) and then electrocute him, which sends him flying out the plane, only to be ingested by the engine. Bond and Jinx escape the disintegrating plane via a helicopter in the cargo hold along with a stash of Graves’ diamonds. They take shelter and use the diamonds as part of sexual play, but state that they will return them eventually.
[edit] Cast
* Pierce Brosnan as James Bond 007, an MI6 agent who is betrayed during a mission and subsequently dismissed under accusations that he leaked information to North Korea. Once reinstated with MI6, he tracks down Zao and uncovers a plot to reunite North and South Korea using military force.
* Halle Berry as Giacinta 'Jinx' Johnson, an NSA agent who collaborates with Bond to track Zao and find his connection to the mysterious Gustav Graves. Berry described her character, Jinx, as "more modern" than her counterparts from previous films, "fashion-forward", and "the next step in the evolution of women in the Bond movies."[2] According to an ITV news poll, Jinx was voted the fourth toughest on-screen girl of all time.[3]
* Toby Stephens as Gustav Graves, Main antagonist. A British entrepreneur, though actually is Colonel Moon, who changed his appearance with the assistance of gene therapy technology and creates a satellite that uses diamonds to bring sunshine to the world at night. His real aim, however, is to assist North Korea's conquest of South Korea by destroying a mine field along the DMZ and taking out nuclear warheads fired by North Korea's enemies.
* Rick Yune as Zao, a North Korean who helps Graves implement his plans. Yune described Zao as one of the most "extreme" looking Bond villains; Yune's makeup—which included the implantation of real diamonds—required three hours.[4]
* Rosamund Pike as Miranda Frost, a double agent who initially poses as Bond's ally but later reveals herself to be an affiliate of Graves. Of filming her scenes with Brosnan, Pike said "We had pretty fantastic sex." But movie producers decided much of the footage was "too hot" and the sex scenes were trimmed.[5]
* Judi Dench as M, the strict head of MI6 who revokes Bond's licence to kill when he is released from prison, but later re-enlists him to help foil Graves' scheme.
* Will Yun Lee as Colonel Moon, a rogue North Korean army colonel who, though Bond thinks him dead after their first encounter, is found to be alive, and has altered his appearance to take on the identity of British tycoon Gustav Graves.
* Kenneth Tsang as General Moon, Colonel Moon's father. He is a strong advocate of North Korea's peaceful reunion with the South. He opposes his son's plan for reunification through violent conquest and is killed by his son for what the ex-colonel perceives as a lack of vision.
* John Cleese as Q, MI6's "quartermaster" who supplies Bond with multi-purpose vehicles and gadgets which prove useful in the latter's mission. Having previously played the role of Q's protege "R" in The World Is Not Enough, Cleese takes over the role of Q following Desmond Llewelyn's death. He pointedly refers to his predecessor when discussing some of his own work.
* Rachel Grant as Peaceful Fountains of Desire, a Chinese agent working for Mr Chang, undercover as a masseuse.
* Emilio Echevarría as Raoul, the manager of a Havana cigar factory, and a British sleeper. He helps Bond find Zao in Cuba.
* Samantha Bond as Miss Moneypenny, M's secretary.
* Lawrence Makoare as Mr. Kil, one of Gustav Graves' henchmen.
* David Decio as Mr. Kil's PA, Mr. Kil's personal assistant.
* Michael Madsen as Damian Falco, a high-ranking official in the NSA. In a 2002 interview Madsen remarked that "It's not a big role, but it's somewhat pivotal in that it introduces a new recurring character."[6]
* Madonna as Verity, Bond's fencing instructor.
[edit] Production
Darius Rucker
Darius Rucker (born May 13, 1966) is an American musician. He first gained fame as the lead singer and rhythm guitarist of the rock band Hootie & the Blowfish, of which he has been a member since the band's foundation in 1986. In 2008, Rucker began a solo career in country music.
Rucker has recorded two solo albums: Back to Then in 2002 on Hidden Beach Recordings, followed by Learn to Live in 2008 on Capitol Records Nashville. Its first three singles—"Don't Think I Don't Think About It", "It Won't Be Like This for Long" and "Alright"—have all reached Number One on the U.S. Hot Country Songs chart, followed by the #3 "History in the Making." The album itself has been certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America for U.S. shipments of one million copies.
Contents
[hide]
* 1 Early life
* 2 Career with Hootie and the Blowfish
* 3 Solo career
o 3.1 R&B career
o 3.2 Country music
* 4 Personal life
* 5 Discography
o 5.1 Studio albums
o 5.2 Singles
o 5.3 Other charted songs
o 5.4 Music videos
* 6 References
* 7 External links
[edit] Early life
Rucker was born and raised in Charleston, South Carolina, and his family history there goes back generations.[1] His single mother Carolyn,[2] who was a nurse, raised him with his five siblings: three sisters and two brothers. According to Rucker, his father was "never around" and Rucker only saw him before church on Sundays; his father was in a gospel band called The Rolling Stones.[3] Rucker has said that he had a "typical Southern, African-American upbringing." His family attended church every Sunday, were economically poor and, at one point, his mom, her two sisters, his grandmother and 14 children were all living in a three-bedroom home. However, he says that he looks back on his childhood "with very fond memories."[1] His sister, L'Corine, recalled that singing "was always his dream."[1]
[edit] Career with Hootie and the Blowfish
Main article: Hootie and the Blowfish
Rucker has been the lead singer of Hootie & the Blowfish since its formation in 1986. He met fellow band members, Mark Bryan, Jim "Soni" Sonefeld, and Dean Felber, while attending the University of South Carolina. Bryan heard Rucker singing in the shower, and the two became a duo, playing R.E.M. covers at a local hangout called Hooters.[4] They eventually recruited Felber. Sonefield finally joined in 1989.[4] As a member of Hootie & the Blowfish, he has recorded five studio albums: Cracked Rear View, Fairweather Johnson, Musical Chairs, Hootie & the Blowfish, and Looking for Lucky. All five albums feature songs that Rucker, Bryan and Felber wrote. As the frontman, Rucker began to be called simply "Hootie" in the media, though the band title combines the nicknames of his college friends.[2][5]
Rucker's signature contribution to the band is his baritone voice that Rolling Stone called "ingratiating,"[6] TIME called it "low, gruff, [and] charismatic,"[3] and Entertainment Weekly characterized it as a "barrelhouse growl."[7] He brought additional attention as the sole African-American member of a rock band with otherwise white members. Rucker said they "flipped" the formula of the all black band with a white frontman, like Frank Sinatra performing with Count Basie.[5] Musically, he was sometimes criticized or spoofed for not being "black enough".[4] Saturday Night Live ran a sketch of Rucker leading beer-drinking, white, frat boys in a counter-march to Louis Farrakhan's Million Man March.[3][8] He also received death threats for singing the Hootie song "Drowning," a protest song against the flying of the Confederate flag above the South Carolina statehouse.[3] The other band members were protective of Rucker in regards to the issue, and had a policy of generally ignoring racists and their comments.[4]
Shortly after gaining a measure of fame, Felber and Rucker (who consider themselves best friends) moved into an apartment in Columbia, South Carolina.[4]
With Rucker's recognizability as the frontman of a successful band came increased opportunities. In October 1995, Rucker was asked to sing the national anthem at the World Series.[8] Frank Sinatra invited Rucker to sing at his 80th birthday party; Rucker sang "The Lady is a Tramp."[9] That same week, he made a voice cameo in an episode of the sitcom Friends.[8] He also joined Nanci Griffith on the song "Gulf Coast Highway" from her 1997 album Blue Roses from the Moons.[10]
Rucker encouraged Atlantic Records to agree to a deal with Edwin McCain, and made a guest appearance on McCain's debut album, Honor Among Thieves (album).[11]
[edit] Solo career
[edit] R&B career
Rucker in a Burger King commercial for the Tendercrisp Bacon Cheddar Ranch sandwich.
In 2001, he made his solo R&B debut album, The Return of Mongo Slade, for Atlantic Records. Because of contractual changes, it was never released by the label.[12] Hidden Beach Recordings, an independent label, acquired the masters from Atlantic and released the album as Back to Then in July 2002.[12] The album included work from the production team of Jill Scott (A Touch of Jazz) and she made an appearance on the track "Hold On."[13]
Rucker appeared on a pop-star edition of the quiz show Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? in July 2001.[14]
He also portrayed a singing cowboy in a television commercial for the fast food chain Burger King, promoting their TenderCrisp Bacon Cheddar Ranch sandwich in 2005. In the commercial, he sang a jingle set to the tune of "Big Rock Candy Mountain."[15]
[edit] Country music
In early 2008, Rucker signed to Capitol Records Nashville as the beginning of a career in country music. His first solo single, "Don't Think I Don't Think About It" (which he co-wrote with Clay Mills) debuted at #51 on the Billboard Hot Country Songs charts for the week of May 3, 2008. It is the first single from his second album, Learn to Live, which was produced by Frank Rogers.[16] Rucker also made his Grand Ole Opry debut in July 2008.[17] "Don't Think I Don't Think About It" reached Top 20 on the country charts in July 2008, making him the first African-American singer to reach Top 20 on the country charts since Charley Pride in 1988.[18] The single reached number one in September,[19] making Rucker the first solo, African-American artist to chart a number one country hit since Pride's "Night Games" in 1983.[20]
Darius Rucker, lead singer of Hootie and the Blowfish, sings to a crowd during an Operation Pacific Greetings tour concert
Learn to Live was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) on February 6, 2009, and received a platinum certification on August 7, 2009.[21] Its lead single, "Don't Think I Don't Think About It", gave Rucker his first chart-topping country hit and was certified gold. The album's next single, "It Won't Be Like This for Long", spent three weeks at the top of the country charts in mid 2009. Its follow-up, "Alright", became Rucker's third straight number one hit, making him the first country music singer to have his or her first three singles reach number one since Wynonna achieved that feat in 1992.[22] The album's fourth single, "History in the Making" was released in September.
You see a lot of people doing a one-off, saying, 'This is my country record.' But this is a career I'm trying to build. The people that say that they don't get it, I'll let the music speak for itself. I plan to do a lot of country records.[23]
Rucker, Billboard, 2008
Rucker's entry into the country world was met with some intrigue, largely because of his history as a rock musician and because he is an African American. Billboard magazine said that "there's a sense of purpose that makes Rucker feel like a member of the country family, rather than calculating interloper."[24] Rucker made visits to various country stations around the US, explaining that he was aware that he was the "new kid on the block."[25] Mike Culotta, the program director of the Tampa, Florida radio station WQYK-FM expected that Rucker would be "somebody who would have entitlement," but instead said that "Darius engaged everybody."[26] When Rucker found that "Don't Think I Don't Think About It" went to number one, he cried.[27] On November 11, 2009, Rucker won the Country Music Association New Artist of the Year award (formerly known as the Horizon Award), making him the first African American to do so (since the award was introduced in 1981). [28] Only one other African American has won at the CMA; Charley Pride, who won entertainer of the year in 1971 and male vocalist in 1971-72.
[edit] Personal life
Rucker is a Miami Dolphins fan, and has a tattoo of their logo.[29] He also likes the film Stir Crazy, which he has seen more than 100 times.[4]
Rucker's mother died in November 1992 of a sudden heart attack,[2] and he took her death hard.[4] His grief inspired two Hootie songs: "I'm Goin' Home" and "Not Even the Trees."[3][4] On April 21, 1995, Rucker became a father to a daughter, Carolyn Pearl Phillips. The girl's mother is Rucker's former girlfriend and the subject of "Let Her Cry."[1] Daniella Rose—his second daughter and his first with his wife Beth—was born on May 16, 2001 in Charleston, South Carolina.[30] The song "Where Were You" is about Rucker's strained relationship with his father, and was only released in Europe, where Rucker figured his father would probably never hear it.[3] His country single "Alright" was inspired by his marriage to his wife, Beth.[31]
Rucker is close friends with golfer Tiger Woods, whom he met in a bar when Woods was 18. Rucker sang at the golfer's wedding and at his father's funeral.[32]
[edit] Discography
[edit] Studio albums
Year Album details Peak chart positions[19] Certifications
(sales threshold)
US Country US US R&B US Heat CAN Country
2002 Back to Then
* Release date: July 30, 2002
* Label: Hidden Beach Records
— 127 43 1 —
2008 Learn to Live
* Release date: September 16, 2008
* Label: Capitol Nashville
1 5 — — 10
* US: Platinum[21]
"—" denotes releases that did not chart
[edit] Singles
Year Single Peak chart positions[19][33] Certifications
(sales threshold) Album
US Country US CAN Country CAN
2008 "Don't Think I Don't Think About It" 1 35 3 47
* US: Gold[34]
Learn to Live
"It Won't Be Like This for Long" 1 36 1 59
* US: Gold[34]
2009 "Alright" 1 30 2 61
* US: Gold[34]
"History in the Making" 3 61 3 73
2010 "Come Back Song"A 44
TBD
"—" denotes releases that did not chart
Notes
* ACurrent single.
[edit] Other charted songs
Year Single Peak chart positions Album
US Country US AC CAN Country CAN AC
2009 "Winter Wonderland" 49 — — — Country for Christmas
"Candy Cane Christmas" 32 16 36 13 Non-album song
"—" denotes releases that did not chart
[edit] Music videos
Year Video Director
2002 "Exodus" Mark Engal
2003 "Wild One" Chris Robbins
2008 "Don't Think I Don't Think About It" Wayne Isham
"Winter Wonderland"
2009 "It Won't Be Like This for Long"
"Alright"
"History in the Making" Shane Drake
`
Rucker has recorded two solo albums: Back to Then in 2002 on Hidden Beach Recordings, followed by Learn to Live in 2008 on Capitol Records Nashville. Its first three singles—"Don't Think I Don't Think About It", "It Won't Be Like This for Long" and "Alright"—have all reached Number One on the U.S. Hot Country Songs chart, followed by the #3 "History in the Making." The album itself has been certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America for U.S. shipments of one million copies.
Contents
[hide]
* 1 Early life
* 2 Career with Hootie and the Blowfish
* 3 Solo career
o 3.1 R&B career
o 3.2 Country music
* 4 Personal life
* 5 Discography
o 5.1 Studio albums
o 5.2 Singles
o 5.3 Other charted songs
o 5.4 Music videos
* 6 References
* 7 External links
[edit] Early life
Rucker was born and raised in Charleston, South Carolina, and his family history there goes back generations.[1] His single mother Carolyn,[2] who was a nurse, raised him with his five siblings: three sisters and two brothers. According to Rucker, his father was "never around" and Rucker only saw him before church on Sundays; his father was in a gospel band called The Rolling Stones.[3] Rucker has said that he had a "typical Southern, African-American upbringing." His family attended church every Sunday, were economically poor and, at one point, his mom, her two sisters, his grandmother and 14 children were all living in a three-bedroom home. However, he says that he looks back on his childhood "with very fond memories."[1] His sister, L'Corine, recalled that singing "was always his dream."[1]
[edit] Career with Hootie and the Blowfish
Main article: Hootie and the Blowfish
Rucker has been the lead singer of Hootie & the Blowfish since its formation in 1986. He met fellow band members, Mark Bryan, Jim "Soni" Sonefeld, and Dean Felber, while attending the University of South Carolina. Bryan heard Rucker singing in the shower, and the two became a duo, playing R.E.M. covers at a local hangout called Hooters.[4] They eventually recruited Felber. Sonefield finally joined in 1989.[4] As a member of Hootie & the Blowfish, he has recorded five studio albums: Cracked Rear View, Fairweather Johnson, Musical Chairs, Hootie & the Blowfish, and Looking for Lucky. All five albums feature songs that Rucker, Bryan and Felber wrote. As the frontman, Rucker began to be called simply "Hootie" in the media, though the band title combines the nicknames of his college friends.[2][5]
Rucker's signature contribution to the band is his baritone voice that Rolling Stone called "ingratiating,"[6] TIME called it "low, gruff, [and] charismatic,"[3] and Entertainment Weekly characterized it as a "barrelhouse growl."[7] He brought additional attention as the sole African-American member of a rock band with otherwise white members. Rucker said they "flipped" the formula of the all black band with a white frontman, like Frank Sinatra performing with Count Basie.[5] Musically, he was sometimes criticized or spoofed for not being "black enough".[4] Saturday Night Live ran a sketch of Rucker leading beer-drinking, white, frat boys in a counter-march to Louis Farrakhan's Million Man March.[3][8] He also received death threats for singing the Hootie song "Drowning," a protest song against the flying of the Confederate flag above the South Carolina statehouse.[3] The other band members were protective of Rucker in regards to the issue, and had a policy of generally ignoring racists and their comments.[4]
Shortly after gaining a measure of fame, Felber and Rucker (who consider themselves best friends) moved into an apartment in Columbia, South Carolina.[4]
With Rucker's recognizability as the frontman of a successful band came increased opportunities. In October 1995, Rucker was asked to sing the national anthem at the World Series.[8] Frank Sinatra invited Rucker to sing at his 80th birthday party; Rucker sang "The Lady is a Tramp."[9] That same week, he made a voice cameo in an episode of the sitcom Friends.[8] He also joined Nanci Griffith on the song "Gulf Coast Highway" from her 1997 album Blue Roses from the Moons.[10]
Rucker encouraged Atlantic Records to agree to a deal with Edwin McCain, and made a guest appearance on McCain's debut album, Honor Among Thieves (album).[11]
[edit] Solo career
[edit] R&B career
Rucker in a Burger King commercial for the Tendercrisp Bacon Cheddar Ranch sandwich.
In 2001, he made his solo R&B debut album, The Return of Mongo Slade, for Atlantic Records. Because of contractual changes, it was never released by the label.[12] Hidden Beach Recordings, an independent label, acquired the masters from Atlantic and released the album as Back to Then in July 2002.[12] The album included work from the production team of Jill Scott (A Touch of Jazz) and she made an appearance on the track "Hold On."[13]
Rucker appeared on a pop-star edition of the quiz show Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? in July 2001.[14]
He also portrayed a singing cowboy in a television commercial for the fast food chain Burger King, promoting their TenderCrisp Bacon Cheddar Ranch sandwich in 2005. In the commercial, he sang a jingle set to the tune of "Big Rock Candy Mountain."[15]
[edit] Country music
In early 2008, Rucker signed to Capitol Records Nashville as the beginning of a career in country music. His first solo single, "Don't Think I Don't Think About It" (which he co-wrote with Clay Mills) debuted at #51 on the Billboard Hot Country Songs charts for the week of May 3, 2008. It is the first single from his second album, Learn to Live, which was produced by Frank Rogers.[16] Rucker also made his Grand Ole Opry debut in July 2008.[17] "Don't Think I Don't Think About It" reached Top 20 on the country charts in July 2008, making him the first African-American singer to reach Top 20 on the country charts since Charley Pride in 1988.[18] The single reached number one in September,[19] making Rucker the first solo, African-American artist to chart a number one country hit since Pride's "Night Games" in 1983.[20]
Darius Rucker, lead singer of Hootie and the Blowfish, sings to a crowd during an Operation Pacific Greetings tour concert
Learn to Live was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) on February 6, 2009, and received a platinum certification on August 7, 2009.[21] Its lead single, "Don't Think I Don't Think About It", gave Rucker his first chart-topping country hit and was certified gold. The album's next single, "It Won't Be Like This for Long", spent three weeks at the top of the country charts in mid 2009. Its follow-up, "Alright", became Rucker's third straight number one hit, making him the first country music singer to have his or her first three singles reach number one since Wynonna achieved that feat in 1992.[22] The album's fourth single, "History in the Making" was released in September.
You see a lot of people doing a one-off, saying, 'This is my country record.' But this is a career I'm trying to build. The people that say that they don't get it, I'll let the music speak for itself. I plan to do a lot of country records.[23]
Rucker, Billboard, 2008
Rucker's entry into the country world was met with some intrigue, largely because of his history as a rock musician and because he is an African American. Billboard magazine said that "there's a sense of purpose that makes Rucker feel like a member of the country family, rather than calculating interloper."[24] Rucker made visits to various country stations around the US, explaining that he was aware that he was the "new kid on the block."[25] Mike Culotta, the program director of the Tampa, Florida radio station WQYK-FM expected that Rucker would be "somebody who would have entitlement," but instead said that "Darius engaged everybody."[26] When Rucker found that "Don't Think I Don't Think About It" went to number one, he cried.[27] On November 11, 2009, Rucker won the Country Music Association New Artist of the Year award (formerly known as the Horizon Award), making him the first African American to do so (since the award was introduced in 1981). [28] Only one other African American has won at the CMA; Charley Pride, who won entertainer of the year in 1971 and male vocalist in 1971-72.
[edit] Personal life
Rucker is a Miami Dolphins fan, and has a tattoo of their logo.[29] He also likes the film Stir Crazy, which he has seen more than 100 times.[4]
Rucker's mother died in November 1992 of a sudden heart attack,[2] and he took her death hard.[4] His grief inspired two Hootie songs: "I'm Goin' Home" and "Not Even the Trees."[3][4] On April 21, 1995, Rucker became a father to a daughter, Carolyn Pearl Phillips. The girl's mother is Rucker's former girlfriend and the subject of "Let Her Cry."[1] Daniella Rose—his second daughter and his first with his wife Beth—was born on May 16, 2001 in Charleston, South Carolina.[30] The song "Where Were You" is about Rucker's strained relationship with his father, and was only released in Europe, where Rucker figured his father would probably never hear it.[3] His country single "Alright" was inspired by his marriage to his wife, Beth.[31]
Rucker is close friends with golfer Tiger Woods, whom he met in a bar when Woods was 18. Rucker sang at the golfer's wedding and at his father's funeral.[32]
[edit] Discography
[edit] Studio albums
Year Album details Peak chart positions[19] Certifications
(sales threshold)
US Country US US R&B US Heat CAN Country
2002 Back to Then
* Release date: July 30, 2002
* Label: Hidden Beach Records
— 127 43 1 —
2008 Learn to Live
* Release date: September 16, 2008
* Label: Capitol Nashville
1 5 — — 10
* US: Platinum[21]
"—" denotes releases that did not chart
[edit] Singles
Year Single Peak chart positions[19][33] Certifications
(sales threshold) Album
US Country US CAN Country CAN
2008 "Don't Think I Don't Think About It" 1 35 3 47
* US: Gold[34]
Learn to Live
"It Won't Be Like This for Long" 1 36 1 59
* US: Gold[34]
2009 "Alright" 1 30 2 61
* US: Gold[34]
"History in the Making" 3 61 3 73
2010 "Come Back Song"A 44
TBD
"—" denotes releases that did not chart
Notes
* ACurrent single.
[edit] Other charted songs
Year Single Peak chart positions Album
US Country US AC CAN Country CAN AC
2009 "Winter Wonderland" 49 — — — Country for Christmas
"Candy Cane Christmas" 32 16 36 13 Non-album song
"—" denotes releases that did not chart
[edit] Music videos
Year Video Director
2002 "Exodus" Mark Engal
2003 "Wild One" Chris Robbins
2008 "Don't Think I Don't Think About It" Wayne Isham
"Winter Wonderland"
2009 "It Won't Be Like This for Long"
"Alright"
"History in the Making" Shane Drake
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